Jerry – Page 16 – Family Council

Good News from 40 Days for Life!

Oct 24, 2014JerryAbortion40 Days for Life, Abortion, Life, Pro-life

A_Cross_of_Candle_Light 40 Days for Life is beginning to wind down its second prayer vigil for the year. As we have said before, this is an opportunity for Christians to gather and pray that abortion will end in America.

Today, Shawn Carney–one of the organizers of 40 Days for Life–shared the following story from South Carolina,

“John, a 40 Days for Life volunteer, was praying outside the abortion center when a client stopped to ask him if he was the valet parking attendant. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but I’d like to talk to you before you go in there!’

The woman took him up on his offer and explained that she already had two children and she wasn’t sure she could handle a third. John talked to her, reassured her, and told her about the nearby pregnancy center that could help her with all of her concerns.

The woman went into the abortion center and returned 30 or 40 minutes later, proudly showing John her ultrasound and telling him that she had decided to keep her baby. John sent her on her way with the contact information for the pregnancy center.

All told, 40 Days for Life estimates about 300 babies have been saved from abortion in the past month because of volunteers like John. What a remarkable testimony!

If you would like to be part of 40 Days for Life in Arkansas, there is still time. Click here for details on prayer vigils in Little Rock and Fayetteville.

Photo By Wing-Chi Poon [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Catholic Bishops Release “Faithful Citizenship” Guide

Oct 24, 2014JerryCurrent EventsCurrent Events, Religion

This week, Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock cited the “Faithful Citizenship” document released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a homily posted on The Arkansas Catholic‘s website.

In his homily, Bishop Taylor said,

“To help us sort out what to do, the bishops of the United States issue — or re-issue — for every election cycle a ‘Faithful Citizenship’ document to help us make a prudential judgment regarding how best to ‘Give to God what is God’s’ in the difficult and confusing choices before us. This is not just a matter of opposing evil; it also requires that we work actively to do good.”

The Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the document in two forms: A short summary and a lengthier Call to Political Responsibility.

(more…)

Idaho, Houston Show Consequences of “Nondiscrimination” Ordinances

Oct 22, 2014JerryReligious FreedomHouston, LGBTQ, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, SOGI Ordinances

For several days we have followed two stories related to religious liberty in America.

The first is from Houston, where city officials are leaning hard on local pastors in order to get the ministers to cough up communications related to homosexuality and the city’s “nondiscrimination” ordinance.

The second is in Idaho, where–again, because of a “nondiscrimination” ordinance–two ministers face fines and jail time for declining to perform a same-sex wedding at their wedding chapel.

Both situations underscore the unintended consequences of these city ordinances. When cities start writing special protections for homosexuals and transgender people into the city code, they open people of faith to the threat of litigation and criminal prosecution.

(more…)