Unplanned - - A Reflection and Movie Review

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you....

Jeremiah 1:5a (ESV)

Yesterday was one of those historic days where the events themselves just made an odd alignment in my soul.  First of all, it was our older son's 24th birthday.  So, my mind wandered back to that day when I gave birth to that nearly 10-pound baby.  God richly blessed us in the conception department.  It took little time for me to become pregnant with either of our sons.  I remember back in 1996 - - I felt we needed to start "trying" ahead of the schedule I wanted our second child to arrive on.  My hope was to have another mid-to-late spring birth, as our first son had been.  But, "trying" took all of one cycle and behold!  I was pregnant again.  My heart goes out to women who so desperately want to conceive and, for a myriad of reasons, just can't.  This very moment, friends are working through the adoption process . . . with a foreign country.  It is very difficult to adopt an American baby.  There just are not many babies who survive in order to become adopted here.

Then, also yesterday, I kept for the first time, my 3-month old great nephew all day.  I have committed to doing this one day a week for the foreseeable future.  He is a sweet, adorable baby and, although I smelled like baby puke from 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., I enjoyed every moment of our time together.
By 6:35 p.m., Hubs and I were relaxing in a movie theater, popcorn and coke for dinner, watching insipid "pre-previews" until the movie, "Unplanned" began.  Last night was opening night.  Hubs had not wanted to go see this film; he went with me as an act of love.  And, I understand and appreciate that so much.

Never having been a girl to "look away" or to shy away from a fight, I have long been familiar with the American "fight for life".  I know how critical it is to financially support those who make such films, because, otherwise, the true, undistorted message of God's truth will not "get out there".  I so appreciate Mike Lindell, yes, the "My Pillow Guy", who was the executive producer of this film.  That means he bankrolled it.  Otherwise, it could not have been made.  The filmmakers said they had tried twice to bring the film to fruition, and their efforts had been frustrated both times.  I believe this is because God wanted this film to premiere at this time - - - a time when some states are enacting pro-death legislation (NY, VA, among others), and other are enacting strong pro-life legislation (GA, OH, etc.)  This fight will eventually return to SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States.

It occurred to me, while musing on the bloody legacy of Roe v. Wade this morning, that most of the people I now know could have been legally aborted by their mothers - - people I love and could not imagine my life without could simply have never existed at all outside the womb.  Over 61 million US babies' lives taken through abortion in the past 36 years!1

"Unplanned" is a movie of deep woundedness and supernatural redemption.  The film is based on the true story of Abby Johnson, who "rose" to be the youngest clinic director in the history of Planned Parenthood.  I watched her interview this morning on national TV.  She said it was hard to lay out the most intimate details of her personal life for all the world to see.  No kidding.... The movie goes beyond frank to being brutally honest.  The scene where Abby witnesses a late-term abortion - - I simply could not watch.  I just bowed my head and cried.

The movie gives an even-handed treatment of the topic, showing that fringe element of ugliness on the alt-right side of the issue as well as the pervasive evil at the core of Planned Parenthood.  I commend the filmmakers for their honesty.  Not all who call themselves "pro-life" are compassionate toward women who, through their own choices or not, find themselves faced with heart-rending decisions.  I do not condone or support such tactics, even though I am staunchly pro-life.  Y'all, Jesus deal with these situations similarly to how he dealt with the Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11) or the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42).  Jesus would NOT dress up in a Halloween costume as The Grim Reaper and scream invectives at sorrowing women in the worst crises of their lives.

There was another weird confluence yesterday, and I alluded to it above.  Here in my home state of Georgia the legislature passed the most restrictive anti-abortion bill in the nation.  And, the governor, himself pro-life, will sign it in a few days.  It will certainly be challenged in the liberal courts.  But, for now, those who believe in the sanctity of human life are rejoicing.  Well, most are.  There is a small element dissing the legislation because it allows for some exceptions.  I call this the "all or nothing" approach.  In the American system of governance one rarely achieves "everything" desired.  Compromise is a part of the process.  That Georgia was able to get this bill passed is in itself a miracle of God.  Why rail against it because it "does not go far enough"?  Thousands of babies' lives will be saved in Georgia because of this legislation.  I believe we should rejoice in that.

Redemption.  Oh how I thank God for His grace!  Only God can forgive my sins, your sins, the sins of anyone who throws themselves into His loving, forgiving, restoring arms.  This film does not leave the viewer without hope.  Hope is a thread woven throughout the movie, hallelujah!  Please go see it in a theater this weekend, if possible.  Take a pro-choice friend!  In doing so you will be supporting the efforts of those who are trying to save unborn lives.  Your support matters, whether you speak with your prayers, with your money, with your time, or all of those!  Locally, our pro-life center, The Hope Center of Woodstock, is having a Walk for Life, on April 27th, 9:00 a.m.  Learn more here:  supporthopecenter.com

#SaveTheBabyHumans

13For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^a
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV)

Source:

1    http://www.numberofabortions.com/

A Twisted Mind

Perusing Proverbs 12 this morning a verse reminded me of the current kerfuffle with Harvey Weinstein.

Honestly, I did not know who he was until the dust started kicking up.  Maybe you don't know who he is either.  If that is the case, in a nutshell, he was a Hollywood power mogul.  Apparently, he had a lot of money and wielded a lot of power.  If you were on his good side, your movies got made or you got plum roles in potential blockbusters.

This was particularly true if you are a woman.

Apparently, Mr. Weinstein applied tremendous pressure to aspiring A-list actresses to trade him their sexual favors for prominent roles or other advancement in the film industry.

Proverbs 12:8 (NET) - - -

A person is praised in accordance with his wisdom, but the one who has a twisted mind is despised. 

The collective response to Mr. Weinstein's behavior was, at first, muted.  Those "in the know" overlooked it because of his power over them, or because of his contributions to their political campaigns or, ... etc.

Then, as more and more victims came forward to speak out, it became more expedient to condemn his behavior.  And, so, more prominent "former allies" began to speak out against what he had done.

Don't miss this point:  he was not castigated for what he had done.  He became despised because he had become more of a liability than an asset.

That is sad.  And, it is a perfect illustration of what people do who have a "sliding scale" of morality, a view of morality that shifts and turns, based on circumstances.

Before you start tsk-tsking and cluck-clucking, let me ask you this: are we ever guilty of the same?

As Christians, we ought to always, without equivocation, stand against sexual perversion in all of its forms.  One of the reasons Weinstein was thrown down from his pinnacle of success is that his behavior was heterosexual, albeit predatory.  Hollywood is rife with pedophiles, as is Washington, according to some.  Yet, do we hear that behavior called out?  And, what about homosexuality?  Few dare to speak out against the current "pet" perversion of this age.

Yet, the Bible is clear that God established sexuality, and that He intended sexual behavior to be solely between one man and one woman, within the confines of marriage.  (I won't delve into a dissertation here to defend that statement because most of you know it is true, and defense of that is not the point of this post.)

The bigger question, and the point of this post, is whether we will have the faith and the courage to stand up and speak out against "twisted minds".  To do so is not unloving.  To do so is extremely loving, because speaking the truth in love is what Jesus did.  He did not speak specifically to deviant sexual behavior beyond adultery because, in his day, deviant sexual behavior in the Jewish community was in no way allowed.  He did, however, tell both the woman at the well (John 4:1-42) and the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:3-11) that their sin separated them from God and that they should turn their backs on their sinful pasts (repent).  He also made it abundantly clear to the men standing with stones in their hands that their own sins needed confronting as much as did the woman's.

Erick Erickson did a podcast on this topic yesterday1, and his point is the same as mine here.  If we are indeed possessing both faith and God's wisdom, we will not let evil run unchecked.  Instead, we will call it out, in all its various forms, no matter the cost.  Some will say that this is "judging", which Christ spoke against.  But, again, this is a twisting of scripture, a taking out of context to serve nefarious purposes.  When we, as believers, stand strong for the truth of God, even at the risk of disunity in the Body, we are doing what Jesus himself would do.  And, in the context of Matthew 7, Jesus is speaking to a closely-defined group of people, the Jews.  In other words, it was a "family of God" sermon.  The intent was not to avoid judging sin when sin is encountered, but rather to not falsely or sanctimoniously judge the motives of a fellow believer.

An excellent resource to help us engage our culture with both love and truth is Citizen magazine2, published by Focus on the Family.  The lead article in the most recent issue addresses treating with love those plagued by gender-dysphoria.  Celebrating 30 years of ministry next month, Citizen has long been an outstanding partner in assisting the everyday Christian in navigating through cultural minefields with integrity, perseverance, truth and love. I highly recommend a subscription!

It all boils down to the gospel, really.  How much are we willing to sacrifice to proclaim to an unbelieving world that our holiness and our love are genuine, and that they are authentic by-products of a faith-powered relationship with the One and Only?  Will we sacrifice to affirm that hope and freedom from sin's curse are only found in Jesus?


Sources:

1    https://www.spreaker.com/user/ewerickson/dragon-slayers

2    https://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues