Taking Your Next Step In Following Jesus Christ

We all want a good return on our investments. Whether it is an investment of money or time, we want to make sure we are receiving the most we can. What do we get if we are willing to meet the requirements of following Jesus? We don't have to wonder because Jesus tells us what we will get in return in the same passage that He gives the requirements.

There are prerequisites to things in life. Whether it is a certain class to take or a certain age to meet, there are requirements that must be met in order to do some things in life. Jesus gives is two requirements that are absolutely essential to following Him. We will unpack each requirement and see how we can fulfill it in order to follow Him.

We all have people that we follow on social media, YouTube, sports, and in church. We decide who we will and will not follow. For some, we follow intently and could tell you everything about them. Yet for others, we clicked follow but rarely see them. Jesus gives us a very personal invitation to follow Him and for this episode we want to evaluate our lives to see who it is we are really following. We want to make a commitment to follow him for this semester.

People will have specific questions that we need to be prepared to answer. On this episode we talk through questions and statements like these:

• Doesn’t the Bible justify abortion since it is silent on abortion?

• You shouldn’t push your beliefs on other women. 

• The Supreme Court decision is setting women back.

• What about embryonic stem cell research?

• Until pro-lifers are ready to help each pregnant woman, they need to shut-up. 

• If the embryo (who doesn’t have a brain yet) is so valuable it cannot be killed by abortion, how do you justify pulling the plug on brain dead individuals?

People will have specific questions that we need to be prepared to answer. On this episode we talk through these two:

• Shouldn’t abortion be allowed in cases of rape and incest?

• Doesn’t a woman have a right to her own body? (My body, my choice.)

In this episode, we talk about some practical tools you can use to engage people in conversation such as: using logical reasoning, engaging with questions, bringing in the toddler, and revealing the forgiveness and healing found in the Gospel.

Satan has placed a mental block, according to 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, in people's minds in order to prevent the truth from being received. Our goal is to identify what that mental block is and try to remove it. Our goal is to engage people in conversation not to silence them. To do so, we must present the truth in love and compassion. This can open up a dialogue to discover the mental block and to share the truth to remove it. 

What determines when a person receives the right to life that every other human being possesses? Is it based on the size of the human? Is it based on the level of development? Is it based on its location or its degree of dependence upon another human being. These are the criteria that pro-choice and pro-abortion advocates insist a human must meet before it can have human rights. If this is the case then there is no such thing as human equality. It would be based on what a person can do or not do.

The abortion issues boils down the this question, What is the unborn? How we answer this questions will determine how we answer the issue of abortion. On this episode, we will establish that the unborn is a distinct human being and not some other kind of thing that transitions into a human being after delivery. We will also establish that the unborn is living from the moment of conception. To say otherwise goes against the findings of science.

The Personhood Theory driving abortion produces inequality among humans! If a human being becomes a person who has the right to life based on degree of any kind then all humans are not equal. Humans do not receive their value and dignity based on what they can do but rather on the kind of thing they are - a human being.   

Have you ever wondered how people who are pro-abortion and pro-choice can be so passionate on their view. What is their basis or starting point? Everyone has a worldview that is their starting point for determine everything else in life. The Secular Worldview produces  the Personhood theory which is the driving force behind abortion and also other social issues. Even many Christians are adopting the personhood theory. 

As believers, we have a foundation for our view on abortion. It is not relative to what we think, prefer, or want. Our view is based on what God says. This episode examines just exactly what God says about abortion which will establish a strong foundation as we move forward to communicate with others on this issue.

Words and definitions have meaning. Thoughts and beliefs are comprised of these words and the meaning each carries. How we discuss and talk about abortion is vital to having a correct understanding of this issue. We will talk about misleading definitions and establishing an accurate definition. We will see how pro-choice/pro-abortion proponents try to make abortion sound as common and non-violent as possible. Lastly, we will examine what science says about when life begins. 

Doing nothing on a moral issue is not being neutral, it is neglect. The moral issue we want to discuss in the upcoming weeks is abortion. It is easy to get weary and tired of the debate, the politics of abortion, the media, the semantics, the differing sides, and the emotions. If we are not careful we can become numb and apathetic towards this issue especially if abortion never affects us personally. Jesus teaches us in Luke 10:30-37 that remaining neutral on a moral issue is neglect.  

Living like Jesus is a lifestyle that we have to adopt or put on. It deals with taking Jesus serious not only as a Savior but as a teacher. Jesus lived the most joyful, fulfilled, and purpose driven life ever lived on earth. Living like Jesus is making the most of your life.