Wisdom for Your Weekend is your regular installment of what we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web. Presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from Pastor J.D., this is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
This Sunday (January 21), churches around the country will be celebrating Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Coinciding with the anniversary of the January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, SOHL Sunday is an opportunity for us to celebrate God’s gift of life, while recommitting ourselves to protect human life at every stage.
Podcast of the Week
How Should You Build an Adoption Culture in Your Church? Russell Moore. The responsibility and privilege of honoring human life isn’t just a matter of opposing abortion. It’s seen in the ways that we, the church, care for the vulnerable, broken, or forgotten people in our community. But how do we catalyze our churches to catch this vision? Moore talks about the key elements involved in every church that has a “adoption culture.”
Articles of the Week
Overcoming Pro-Abortion Peer Pressure with Facts, Marvin Olasky and Frederica Mathewes-Green. Previously a staunch advocate of the pro-choice cause, Mathewes-Green dramatically changed her viewpoint after reading an account of an actual abortion. Mathewes-Green is now one of the more outspoken voices for the cause of life, calling herself a “pro-life feminist.” Her interview with Olasky shows her passion and reveals an important perspective on the pro-life movement, which is healthier now than it has ever been.
Sanctity of Life Sunday: Testimony and Resources, Brad Hambrick. For many, the conversation about abortion evokes distinctly personal emotions. Some of you have abortion in your past, and the church wants to walk with you through the challenges of that healing process. As Brad, our Pastor of Counseling, points out here, we’re thankful for those members of our church who have experienced grace in the midst of abortion. You can see one such story in Brad’s collection of resources here. He also highlights a number of articles that help us minister to everyone involved in these abortion stories.
Justice, Dr. King, and Sanctity of Human Life, KJ Hill. We tend to think of caring for the vulnerable and promoting justice as two distinct (but equally good) things. But the biblical picture ties justice to both compassion and mercy. If we aren’t caring for the poor, the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow—what Bible scholars often call the “quartet of the vulnerable”—then we have left justice by the wayside.
Three Reasons Christians Should Consider Fostering, Wake County Social Worker. An enormous—but often overlooked—step in caring for orphans is foster care. There are few ministries that more tangibly display the beauty of the gospel and the tremendous value of all human life than the grueling experience of fostering. Being a foster parent is exhausting, maddening, and heart-breaking—which is precisely why more Christians need to do it.
