Posts Tagged ‘Justice’
Red X for Freedom
Posted in Justice, Passion, tagged #EnditMovement, 268 Generation, 27 million, Atlanta, Brothels, End It, End it Movement, End Slavery, February 27, Freedom, Hand, Houston, human trafficking, IJM, In it to End It, International Justice Mission, Justice, modern-day slavery, Passion, Passion 2013, Passion 2014, Red X, Shine a Light on Slavery, Slavery, Students on January 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
IJM
Posted in Justice, tagged At the End of Slavery, Gary Haugen, Hope, human trafficking, IJM, International Justice Mission, Justice, PhoenixONE, Ray of Hope, Sex Trafficking, Slavery on December 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »
International Justice Mission was just here in Phoenix doing some promotional work and showing their movie At the End of Slavery. I’m a huge advocate for what they are doing and always willing to share how God is using them to help abolish slavery.
“If history has shown us that the monster of slavery assumes new forms, it has also shown us that its oppressive systems crumble in the face of those who heartily oppose them. It is our collective responsibility to oppose slavery in the time given to us. History is on our side.”
-At the End of Slavery:
The Battle for Justice in our Time
Gosnell Murder Trial
Posted in Justice, tagged 3801 Lancaster, abortion, Gosnell, Gosnell murder trial, Justice, Kermit Gosnell, late-term abortions, media, murder, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, The Gospel Coalition on May 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
This is a story of injustice that I have been following for the past few months. Today, justice prevailed. Reblogged from The Gospel Coalition:
UPDATE: Kermit Gosnell was found guilty today of three counts of first-degree murder. Because the major news media initially refused to cover the story, many people are unaware of the extent of the atrocities committed by the Philadelphia abortionist. TGC is reposting this entry to provide context and background for this breaking news story.
Kermit Gosnell, 72, is an abortionist on trial in Pennsylvania for murder and infanticide. Here are 9 things you should know about the Gosnell case:
1. Gosnell was arrested in January 2011, charged with eight counts of murder: one patient who allegedly died under his care after a botched abortion, and seven infants supposedly born alive whose spinal cords Gosnell allegedly severed with scissors.
2. According to prosecutors in Philadelphia, Gosnell catered to minorities, immigrants, and poor women, and made millions of dollars over 30 years performing illegal and late-term abortions in squalid and barbaric conditions. Gosnell took extra precautions with white women from the suburbs, according to the grand jury report. He allegedly ushered them into a slightly cleaner area because he thought they would be more likely to file a complaint.
3. Women paid $325 for first-trimester abortions and $1,600 to $3,000 for abortions up to 30 weeks. The clinic took in up to $15,000 a day, said authorities. Although abortions after the 24th week are illegal, Gosnell allegedly aborted and killed babies in the sixth and seventh months of pregnancy and charged more for bigger babies.
4. According to the grand jury report, the clinic reeked of animal urine and the furniture and blankets were stained with blood. Medical instruments found in the practice had not been properly sterilized. State officials have failed to visit or inspect his abortion clinic since 1993. Prosecutors also claim that Gosnell is not certified in either gynecology or obstetrics.
5. Prosecutors say that none of Gosnell’s staff, including his wife, were licensed nurses or doctors and that a 15-year-old student performed anesthesia with potentially lethal narcotics.
6. A woman who worked for Gosnell testified that she was called back to a room at his abortion clinic in Philadelphia where the bodies of aborted babies were kept to hear one screaming amid a shelf-full of dead babies. “I can’t describe it,” says the woman. “It sounded like a little alien.” She says the body of the child was about 18 to 24 inches long and was one of the largest babies she had seen delivered during abortion procedures at Gosnell’s clinic.
7. On January 31, 1998, a then 15 year old Robyn Reid sought an abortion from Gosnell’s clinic. Once she was in the clinic, though, Reid, an 87-pound teenager at the time, told Gosnell she changed her mind about the abortion. She claims Gosnell got upset, ripped off her clothes, restrained her, and repeatedly told her, “This is the same care that I would give to my own daughter.” Reid regained consciousness 12 hours later at her aunt’s home, with the abortion having been completed against her will.
8. Gosnell’s arrest and trial have received almost no coverage by the national media. During the early part of the trial ABC, CBS and NBC did not cover the trial at all, yet gave 41 minutes and 26 seconds of air time to the story of Mike Rice, the Rutgers basketball coach who was fired for verbally and physically abusing his players.
9. The 3801 Lancaster Film Project is an ongoing documentary series about Kermit Gosnell, the Women’s Medical Society, and the cover-up by state and local oversight agencies.
(Warning: The video contains graphic images.)
Catalyst West Coast ’13
Posted in Catalyst, tagged Brad Lomenick, California, Catalyst, Catalyst West Coast, Catalyst West Coast 2013, CCEF, CCEF national conference, church leaders, conferences, counseling, death, God, Irvine, Justice, leaders, leadership, leadership training, MAKE, mentoring, Missional Community, Newport Beach, Passion, Passion 2013, PhoenixONE, road trip, Spiritual Growth, sunset, The Justice Conference, Worship on April 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Road trips are always a great way to process things. It gives you the opportunity to reflect and ponder life. This road trip in particular has been good for me because I’ve experienced so much recently and God has been working in my life as a result of these experiences. I’ve experienced the death of both my Grandmother and my uncle in the past two weeks. I had a wonderful Holy Week in which I was able to proclaim my faith in baptism. I’m doing life with some pretty amazing people and my family has bonded together in ways I haven’t seen in a long time. God is good and my Grandmother’s death has drawn me closer to Him. I’m headed out to Catalyst West Coast in Irvine, California. I first went to Catalyst in 2009 with a team of leaders from my previous church. I attended the year after as well and haven’t been back since. Now I find myself being called to these conferences to soak in some teaching and to learn from those that are leading the church today. God has been preparing my heart for some big plans recently and has been opening many doors for me already. I attended a conference for my counseling college in the Fall and started to pray to God about what He wanted me to do with the courses that I have been taking. Not too long later, God started to bring young men into my life in search of mentorship and now I am finding myself pouring into the lives of several men as of late. My spiritual life grew closer to God through worship and He has further shaped my heart to be a part of being a voice for this generation by seeking change in this world. This grew out of attending Passion in Atlanta. God further aligned my heart to His heart for justice in Philadelphia by the example of those that spearheaded the movement for justice before me. Now God is calling me back into leadership. I just completely eight weeks of leadership training, joined my church counseling team and started a missional community. Catalyst is a wonderful conference of teaching and equipping leaders in ministry and I’m excited He has called me to come back. I saw Brad Lomenick speak a couple of months back at PhoenixONE and it was confirmation that God wanted me to be back here in Irvine. I also have many friends from the many years I was in ministry that are going to be here and I’m excited to spend time with them. After arriving, I spent my first night in worship praising the Lord for how great He is on the beaches of Newport Beach watching the sun go down.
Shine a Light on Slavery
Posted in Justice, Passion, tagged #EnditMovement, 268 Generation, 27 million, April 9, Arizona State University, Atlanta, awareness, awareness is doing the work, Chris Tomlin, coalition partners, End It, End it Movement, End It Movement Road Team, End It Road Team, END IT Sunday, Francis Chan, Georgia Dome, God, Headed to the Dome, human trafficking, In it to End It, Indifference is not an option, Jesus Christ, Justice, Lecrae, Matt Hasselbeck, Mission Community Church, Mission Young Adults, modern-day slavery, MYA, Nick Cannon, Passion, Passion 2013, rescue, Sex Trafficking, Shine a Light, Shine a Light on Slavery, Slavery, Times Square, x on hand on April 9, 2013| 2 Comments »
WE ARE ALL IN IT TO END IT!
Today is Shine a Light on Slavery Day. This is the target day for End it Movement to reach the masses about the 27 million people being held in modern-day slavery and sex trafficking. This movement started in January at Passion 2013 and has made a lot of noise since. Everywhere college students and young adults are finding creative ways to talk about this issue. Many celebrities have jumped on board to use their star status to raise awareness. Awareness is doing the work and End It exists to help educate us about this injustice. We are the generation that can be a voice for those without one and put an end to slavery. Indifference is not an option. Draw a red X on your hand and talk to people about this. Go to EnditMovement.com and sign the pledge that says you are in it to END IT!
END IT Sunday!
Times Square IS IN IT TO END IT!
The campus of Arizona State University is IN IT TO END IT!
Justice Conference Pre-Conference Breakout Sessions
Posted in Justice, Justice Conference, tagged A Knock At Midnight, Alli Worthington, Blissfully Domestic, Breakout Sessions, But then the holy spirit revives my soul again, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discouraged, Food for the Hungry, Freedom, Google+, John M. Perkins, Justice, Justice Conference, Justice Conference 2013, liberty, Lindsey Nobles, Martin Luther King, MLK, Mother Theresa, New Wine, New Wineskins, Paul Louis Metzger, Philadelphia, Pre-conference, Project 7, Seth Wells, social media, The Grove church, The Justice Conference, Twitter, youtube on February 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The Justice Conference had some pre-conference breakout sessions you can choose from. I was pretty overwhelmed with all the choices, so I looked for ones that fit with what God was doing in my own life. I bumped into my friend Seth Wells and the staff from The Grove church here in Phoenix. I was encouraged by seeing some familiar faces here taking a part in justice.
The first session I attended was Paul Metzger’s Sustaining a Justice Movement: How did John M Perkins, Mother Theresa, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer do it? Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the Founder and Director of The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins – a catalyst for cultivating a community of people brought together around a shared vision of bearing witness to Christ in contemporary culture.
He started the session off by showing this video from Dr. Martin Luther King’s A Knock at Midnight. While pursuing justice, we will get discouraged because it isn’t easy . I loved this video and found it very encouraging.
Take comfort from the stories of those who have gone before us. Solidarity is key – Paul Metzger
Paul spoke on behalf of those who pursued justice first and by Jesus and his example to pursue justice. A justice movement is sustained by knowing that Jesus alone can and will sustain it. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). He mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison and Dietrich’s example of how he reacted to his enemies. We in America like to say “lets take back America”, but Jesus laid down his life for His enemies.
– Philippians 2:1-11 – Believe in the suffering God (cultural engagement, not disengagement). Believe in the Resurrected God (This is the end – for me the beginning of life – Bonhoeffer)
– See Jesus in relation to the poor (ex:Mother Theresa)
– Sense your own poverty in relation to the poor (don’t look at others like we have so much and they have so little)
– Lay down you life for your friends (we can’t do it alone)
– Invest in people (ex: John Perkins, Jesus and the woman at the well)
– Invite people to partner with you (relational structures)
– Don’t operate out of a sense of entitlement (the gospel frees people)
– Be creative in your sufferings (it’s not an obstacle)
– Focus on integrity and faithfulness, not success (ex: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James 1:27)
– Focus on Christ’s identity (Bonhoeffer’s poem: Who Am I?)
Who am I? They often tell me
I step out from my cell
calm and cheerful and poised,
like a squire from his manor.Who am I? They often tell me
I speak with my guards
freely, friendly and clear,
as though I were the one in charge.Who am I? They also tell me
I bear days of calamity
serenely, smiling and proud,
like accustomed to victory.Am I really what others say of me?
Or am I only what I know of myself?
Restless, yearning, sick, like a caged bird,
struggling for life breath, as if I were being strangled,
starving for colors, for flowers, for birdsong,
thirsting for kind words, human closeness,
shaking with rage at power lust and pettiest insult,
tossed about, waiting for great things to happen,
helplessly fearing for friends so far away,
too tired and empty to pray, to think, to work,
weary and ready to take my leave of it all?Who am I? This one or the other?
Am I this one today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? Before others a hypocrite
and in my own eyes a pitiful, whimpering weakling?
Or is what remains in me like a defeated army,
Fleeing in disarray from victory already won?Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, thou knowest me; O God, I am thine!
Don’t operate out of a sense of entitlement, but a debt of gratitude – Paul Metzger
Paul Metzger
The next breakout session I went to was on social media and was hosted by Lindsey Nobels. I have followed Lindsey’s blog since her days at Project 7. She is now Director of Speakers and Strategic Partnerships for Food for the Hungry and it was a blessing to finally meet her. She interviewed Alli Worthington – blogger and founder of Blissfully Domestic on Social Media for the activist: How to build and empower online communities to serve your cause.
Lindsey Nobles and Alli Worthington
I’m a big fan of starting things before you’re ready. Do all the work you can while you have the time – Alli Worthington
Highlights:
– Do 2 or 3 social media sites and do them well
– Send status updates here and there that link to your site
– Twitter is the best (I agree with her). YouTube is good because people love videos. Google+ is on the rise
– The more human you can be, the better. Companies that don’t do well don’t engage with people well. Plan a strategy and be honest with people
– It’s ok to fail. Try different social media outlets. No correlations between followers and the amount of ‘likes’
– Ok to get negative feedback. If you aren’t, you are not doing a good job. Not everyone will like your cause
– Work on who you are before you get started
– Focus on email marketing more than anything with links to Facebook and twitter. Be visual and engaging.
– Safety is important
