Spent the day at the All Points North: Facing Truth Pro-Life conference today. It was amazing. One of the speakers, Vicki Thorn, spoke on The Bio-Chemistry of sex. My favorite topic...
Unfortunately, she only had an hour or so to fit all the info in, and then had to run to catch her flight home as she is due in Europe, so we had to scribble everything down quickly so we could do some more research ourselves later.
Amazing stuff. I mean crazy amazing. I learned so much and once again, I'm awed at the incredible way God has put us all together. I also found something of comfort since losing my Elam, as did another lady there who had experience several miscarriages. Vicki was speaking about the ethics of surrogate mothers, and mentioned how every unborn baby leaves cells in his or her mother, which are then shared with any subsequent unborn babies in that womb. My little Leila then has some of her big brother's cells, along with some of mine, and all her older brothers and sisters. We are actually made up, not only of our parents, but of our older siblings. How cool. I will never look at that term "Family Unit" quite the same way again. Nor will I look at the Scripture "they two shall be one flesh" the same again either. I knew already that the seminal fluid of men is absorbed by the woman's body, but I never thought of it the way she pointed out. Something along the lines of "Better be careful about who you have sex with, ladies. Do you really want him to become a part of your very essence?" Hmmm..."Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?" Man, it just comes to life. I walked out of there thinking, you know, even if we don't understand God's laws, He surely knows what He's talking about. I sure have an entire new respect for my marriage now. I rode home next to Will thinking...he's really a part of me. I am really a part of his body. Fascinating.
So much more we learned...bcp's and male behaviour, abortion trauma, crisis pregnacy, how pheromones correlate with menstruation and sexual maturity, breastmilk, stages of breast cells changes during pregnancy, the father's biological changes during pregnancy (God just thought of everything, didn't He?) which is really vital when dealing with perinatal loss of any sort, brain development, etc. Perhaps I'll post the audio when I get it, but you can also order The Biology of The Theology of The Body Audio CD, and/or What They Didn't Tell You in Sex Ed".... DVD to get the whole scoop. You won't be sorry you did.
On a side note...I find it very disheartening that there aren't more evangelicals wanting to learn about these things। Much of what was spoken about today was very practical information for anyone dealing with women (and men) in crisis. How love can cover a multitude of sins...and it certainly can. I mean, whoever would have thought to buy an abortion minded woman a week of massages, with no pressure, to calm her nerves and clear her head? To just let an angry person have their say and respond with no more than a gentle touch? How many of us know how to help a post-abortive woman to recover from an abortion physically and emotionally in the aftermath? It was even pointed out that perhaps the term "post abortion syndrome" is not a very accurate term as the word 'syndrome' implies a disease, only what a woman experiences after an abortion is not a disease, but natural.
I know many of my evangelical brothers and sisters have an issue with there being only catholics in these presentations, but I believe that's to our shame. I also believe we both learn from each other. I was very moved by the genuine love these people expressed for all sides of this issue. Even love extended to the infamous abortion provider/Snowflake award winner Morgentaler. I also got to hear an amazing testimony from a man, hungry for Jesus, who cried out to Jesus and gave his "life, future and past" to Jesus on the floor of a catholic church after witnessing "the little old ladies praying" with ferverence. "They actually believed all that stuff!"
It was beautiful to hear how Jesus changed his life and restored him from a history of abortion and homosexuality.
Anyways...gotta get some sleep. Long day tomorrow again. They'll be speaking on abortion and mental health. Another important topic.
Unfortunately, she only had an hour or so to fit all the info in, and then had to run to catch her flight home as she is due in Europe, so we had to scribble everything down quickly so we could do some more research ourselves later.
Amazing stuff. I mean crazy amazing. I learned so much and once again, I'm awed at the incredible way God has put us all together. I also found something of comfort since losing my Elam, as did another lady there who had experience several miscarriages. Vicki was speaking about the ethics of surrogate mothers, and mentioned how every unborn baby leaves cells in his or her mother, which are then shared with any subsequent unborn babies in that womb. My little Leila then has some of her big brother's cells, along with some of mine, and all her older brothers and sisters. We are actually made up, not only of our parents, but of our older siblings. How cool. I will never look at that term "Family Unit" quite the same way again. Nor will I look at the Scripture "they two shall be one flesh" the same again either. I knew already that the seminal fluid of men is absorbed by the woman's body, but I never thought of it the way she pointed out. Something along the lines of "Better be careful about who you have sex with, ladies. Do you really want him to become a part of your very essence?" Hmmm..."Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?" Man, it just comes to life. I walked out of there thinking, you know, even if we don't understand God's laws, He surely knows what He's talking about. I sure have an entire new respect for my marriage now. I rode home next to Will thinking...he's really a part of me. I am really a part of his body. Fascinating.
So much more we learned...bcp's and male behaviour, abortion trauma, crisis pregnacy, how pheromones correlate with menstruation and sexual maturity, breastmilk, stages of breast cells changes during pregnancy, the father's biological changes during pregnancy (God just thought of everything, didn't He?) which is really vital when dealing with perinatal loss of any sort, brain development, etc. Perhaps I'll post the audio when I get it, but you can also order The Biology of The Theology of The Body Audio CD, and/or What They Didn't Tell You in Sex Ed".... DVD to get the whole scoop. You won't be sorry you did.
On a side note...I find it very disheartening that there aren't more evangelicals wanting to learn about these things। Much of what was spoken about today was very practical information for anyone dealing with women (and men) in crisis. How love can cover a multitude of sins...and it certainly can. I mean, whoever would have thought to buy an abortion minded woman a week of massages, with no pressure, to calm her nerves and clear her head? To just let an angry person have their say and respond with no more than a gentle touch? How many of us know how to help a post-abortive woman to recover from an abortion physically and emotionally in the aftermath? It was even pointed out that perhaps the term "post abortion syndrome" is not a very accurate term as the word 'syndrome' implies a disease, only what a woman experiences after an abortion is not a disease, but natural.
I know many of my evangelical brothers and sisters have an issue with there being only catholics in these presentations, but I believe that's to our shame. I also believe we both learn from each other. I was very moved by the genuine love these people expressed for all sides of this issue. Even love extended to the infamous abortion provider/Snowflake award winner Morgentaler. I also got to hear an amazing testimony from a man, hungry for Jesus, who cried out to Jesus and gave his "life, future and past" to Jesus on the floor of a catholic church after witnessing "the little old ladies praying" with ferverence. "They actually believed all that stuff!"
It was beautiful to hear how Jesus changed his life and restored him from a history of abortion and homosexuality.
Anyways...gotta get some sleep. Long day tomorrow again. They'll be speaking on abortion and mental health. Another important topic.
4 comments:
Des, you aways surprise me, I have actually read this for a few days now, thinking about it. I want to learn more.
I think the problem with Evangelicals is we sometimes get hung up on our separatism... can't associate with Catholics, etc. Even if they are experts or have valuable information. Yet we'll watch secular shows, movies, music, news and have no problem with being non-sectarian. So we won't associate with those who are "in the know" just because of their beliefs, or worse yet, because they are a WOMAN! I am considered an expert on domestic abuse, yet, can I get into most churches with our ministry of educating, equipping and empowering the churches to minister effectively? No, because.... ta da... I am a woman! I often get relegated to "the women's ministry"... and it infuriates me!
But I digress.... thanks for the post...
Kate...
I don't know if you're going to see this, but I just checked out "Christian Coalition Against Domestic Abuse" and had to comment... but I didn't see anywhere to comment.
You are so right on...and I also find it quite aggravating how so many of our churches refuse to become equipped to deal with these issues. With more and more people being called out of this ever degenerating world and into the church, we had better get ready to deal with these things. Homes saturated in abuse, be it physical, emotional, or verbal) are becoming the norm now.
I often find myself caught in the trap of believing domestic abuse wouldn't happen in homes of 'real' Christians (thus questioning the salvation of those [including myself] in my own home), but the fact is we are justified at conversion, NOT sanctified.
The biggest problem I see in the church when it comes to domestic abuse of any sort is the "stay the abuse and pray" and the message being sent to women (unwittingly perhaps?) that ultimately it's their fault. "Your husband wouldn't abuse your child so much or so severely if only you would stay out of it", "You just need to have more faith", "if you would only submit to his leadership he wouldn't resort to hitting you".
There is a sermon called "when the wife won't follow" by C.J. Mahaney? that speaks to this exact belief. He makes it clear that neither anger nor any sinful behaviour is the product of others. God may use others to let you know it's there, but they are NEVER cause of it.
As I said before, the more young families of this generation and the next we have coming out of the world and into the church, the more the church will need to be prepared for these issues. These generations have not been taught how to deal with conflict and most have come from broken and abusive homes. Women are often confused about what to do...where their priorities should be...what conflict is tolerable and what is not... and the church is failing miserably. Most often sending her home to deal with it alone and make her decisions without proper counsel. This leaves her believing "it's really not that bad" or "it's really my fault."
I commented to my husband not too long ago that we know we have a problem when the world is holding us to higher standards than the church is. Some of the things the church tolerates in homes would never be tolerated by the world. Funny that, hu?
Keep up the good work!
Desley, sorry you could not comment. There is an email section... and my email is katej@ccada.org. I have not started a blog yet, and am hoping to find time this month... I have waited hoping for more time to devote to it, but it never seems to come so I should bite the bullet and just do it!
To your comment, I agree with everything you said. Too often women are told they if they submitted more, let him discipline more, trusted him more, then he would handle things correctly and there would be no abuse. No where is the man given ultimate responsibility for his behaviors, as he is and therfore she is not a good enough wife/mother and it is her fault. I was once told that my husband was abusive to my sons because I interfered with his discipline and I needed to trust him more. I tried that, (the things we do because our "leaders say to try it, OMG) he was more abusive to them and I HAD to intervene.
And I especially like your point about the standards of the world vs. the standards of the church. I've even had clients whose pastors told them in essence that the world standards were not God's standards and therefore submission and headship were His design and the world did nto understand, therefore a husband had a right to gain and maintain control as he saw fit. God's standards are higher than the world's. It's the church that has lowered the standards. It took my many years to figure that out.
Anyway, thanks for your comments. I'll let you know when I have a blog up and running and welcome your thoughtful comments.
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