Planned Parenthood director steps down

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DIRECTOR HAS CHANGE OF HEART (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Abby Johnson stepped down as the director of the Planned Parenthood office in Bryan, Texas, because of a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. She said, “I just thought I can’t do this any more, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it” (“Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns,” KBTX News 3, Nov. 2, 2009). Johnson, who worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, says, “I feel so pure in heart. I don’t have this guilt. I don’t have this burden on me anymore. And that’s how I know that this conversion was a spiritual conversion.” Johnson says that Planned Parenthood has focused on “getting more abortions in the door.” She now supports the Coalition for Life and prays for volunteers outside the Planned Parenthood facility. The organization has sued Johnson and Coalition for Life, claiming that they “would be irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information.” Indeed, the truth hurts!

From Way of Life

The Star Spangled Banner - Verse 4

Thought Verse 4 ( which no one ever sings anymore ) would be appropriate for a Veterans Day commemoration!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Amen and Amen ( Wonder why they don't sing this one at sporting events?????)

Legalist - Defined!

The term 'legalist' is so casually thrown around today. Do we really understand legalism? Simply put, legalism is attaching something to the saving grace of God. If we put our own rules, standards, or ideas alongside the grace of God, making them a prerequisite for salvation, than we are indeed a legalist.

Simply having rules to govern ourselves does not make us a legalist. Rules are necessary. Isn't it interesting that when God made Adam and Eve - He set boundaries for them. He placed them in the garden as a home; He gave them the job of keeping that garden and naming the animals; and He gave them one rule - do not eat of that tree! There was no sin, no peer pressure, no bad influences - yet God still knew that mankind needed some structure.

If we state that cursing is wrong - than we have made a rule based upon the truths of scripture. If we state that someone who is saved could not possibly curse - than we are a legalist.

God came back!!

While preaching Sunday on Genesis 3 and the introduction of sin upon earth - I was hit with this very thought: after Adam and Eve had sinned and realized their shame, they hid themselves in the trees when God returned. They were obviously scared to face God because of their disobedience, but I wonder if they were more scared wondering whether or not He would come back at all! They had disrupted their holy relationship with the Almighty God. What if, during the cool of the day, God had just not returned. Of course, He did come back!! His LOVE is not dependent upon our state - it is unconditional!! They were scared to face Him; BUT He Came BACK!!

Unbelief in Prayer

The only thing that limits God when it comes to blessings He has in store for us; is our UNBELIEF! Prayer can do anything that God can do; and God can do ANYTHING!!!

Pastor Wes

Bounds on Prayer and Devotion

"A feeble, lively, showy religious activity may spring from many causes. There is much running around, much stirring about, much going here and there in todays church life. But sad to say, the spirit of genuine, heartfelt devotion is strangely lacking." -E.M.Bounds-

Assurance of Salvation

I am asked frequently about having assurance of one's salvation. Let me tell you how I know that I am saved:

I Know that I am Saved because:

1. The Bible tells me so. The Word of God tells us that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". Therefore: since I did what the Bible tells me to do - based upon the authority of the Word of God - I am saved!

2. I am convicted when I sin. When I sin, I am not content or peaceful until I ask forgiveness for it.

3. I have a "peace that passeth all understanding". I have a peace in my heart the world cannot understand.

4. I have a "hunger and thirst" for spiritual things. I cannot go without the "food and water" from scripture, prayer, and worship.

5. I have a love for people that compels me to tell others about Him. I do not always act upon that as I should, but I have a deep concern for the lost.

Pastor Gunther - from the message of 7/26/2009 at Cedar Hill Baptist Church