Bible and Newspaper #1

Coming home from a recent conference in Washington, D.C., I'm trying to be more courageous. But I'm also faced with the reality that being a pastor, and ministering to a diverse group of folks... I can't always link and share and say everything that I want to...

So, here is what I am going to do.

I'm going to continue to encourage us to look at the world with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. And when stuff comes up that affects us all, I'm going to try to point out where our church has spoken on the issue and how we have interpreted scriptures.

So, for the first one, we might as well dive right in to the hard stuff: Abortion.

I do not believe abortion can be seen as a starkly black and white issue - all are bad or all are good... real lives of real people are bound up in these life and death decisions. And no matter what choices we have made, our task as Christians is love and care for one another - to help people heal and to be whole.

For those of us who are United Methodist and from Iowa, I encourage you to read House File 153 and to hold it in light with our own denominational position on abortion and our best understandings of scripture. Both Exodus 21 and Psalm 139 come to mind... one does not hold embryos, fetuses, or any unborn child to the same standard of life and the other does.

And perhaps, also think of the implications of such a law.  How would it affect birth control which in part prevents the implantation of fertilized eggs?  How would it affect emergency contraceptives? How would it affect the decision making process when the life of the mother is at risk if pregnancy is carried to term?

And not related to the issue, what does it mean for checks and balances that included in this bill it is written the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over a portion of our legislation.

Pray, read, and if you feel led, call your state representantive. As a citizen of this state, you have a voice... as a person of faith, you have something to say.