Even if you're not heading to Washington, D.C., January 21–22 for the
March for Life event, block out some time those two
days because you'll be able to attend some of the events in the
comfort of your own home. Focus on the Family and The Ethics and
Religious Liberty Commission will host Evangelicals for
Life, a major pro-life conference held in
conjunction with the March for Life event.
The event will take place in Washington, D.C., at the Hyatt Regency
Washington on Capitol Hill. Evangelicals from across the country will
gather to hear from leading speakers, such as David Platt, Russell
Moore, Jim Daly, Kelly Rosati, and others—to be equipped and encouraged
to become a voice for life! The event will also be simulcast
for FREE so individuals, churches, and
organizations from coast-to-coast and around the world can take part.
Speakers will encourage evangelicals to engage the culture on issues of
abortion and end-of-life decisions, and the event will affirm the
evangelical belief in the sanctity of life, that every life matters to
God and is created in His image.
Thrift Schooling readers will receive 15% off their
registration by using the
code FocusLife.
What Pro-Life Really Means
By Daniel Darling
It was a flippant comment by the spokesmen for a presidential candidate:
“It doesn’t matter. They’re just Muslims.” But it made shudder. This is how societies begin to dehumanize a people group, and every
generation of Christians is responsible to face this thinking and fight
it. This is what it means to be a pro-life champion.
We are pro-life because we are pro-human dignity. It is the uniquely
Christian message that sees in every soul a person created in the image
of God.
When Planned Parenthood and their allies say, “That’s just a fetus,” we
say, “No, that’s a baby, a human life, that deserves dignity and
respect.”
When corrupt profiteers look at vulnerable young girls and boys and say,
“They are just a commodity to be trafficked for money,” we say, “No,
they are boys and girls created in the image of God and deserving of
dignity and respect.”
When eugenicists look at the elderly and say, “They are just burdens to
be managed,” we say, “No, human dignity is not defined by utility, but
is a unique gift given by God.”
When politicians look at immigrants and say, “They are a drain on
society,” we say, “No, they are created in the image of God and worthy
of kindness, welcoming, and respect.”
When ISIS brutally dehumanizes its victims—Christians, Muslims, Jews,
and anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their ideology—and they say, “They
are just infidels,” we say, by our acts of justice, “No, they are people
created in the image of God and worthy of life and respect.”
When the disabled are marginalized, we say, “No, each was created in the
image of God and is worthy of our full love and acceptance.”
Even in our discourse, even when we look across the aisle, across the
screen, across the table at someone who doesn’t share our beliefs, we
say to ourselves, “This person is worthy of respect and dignity because
they too were created in the image of God.”
Human dignity, the intrinsic worth of every human soul, is not just a
once-every-four-years mantra for voter guides and political scorecards.
We live out the image of God as a way of life, and we seek justice wherever
human dignity is compromised.
This is why ERLC and Focus on the Family join hands to help raise up a
new generation of evangelicals who are passionate about the sanctity of
human life. This why you should come to Washington, D.C., this January
to the Evangelicals for Life event or participate via the free simulcast
at your church or on your computer.
You should join Evangelicals for Life, not simply to make a powerful
stand in the nation’s capital. You should come, not simply to be stirred
by the gifted speakers. You should come, not only to fellowship and
strategize with other champions for life.
You should be a part of of Evangelicals for Life because God is calling
you, in this time and in your sphere of influence, to be a voice for
human dignity.
Answer for yourself what it means to have a pro-life, whole-life vision.
Discover where your gifts and talents best serve the kingdom of God in
this way, and send a message to the world that your Christianity compels
you to look every human being in the eye and not see what everyone
sees. You see in them the image of their Creator.
Daniel Darling
is the Vice President for Communications
for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist
Convention (ERLC), the co-sponsor of the Evangelicals for Life
conference.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in pastoral
ministry from Dayspring Bible College and has studied at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is currently pursuing a
Master’s Degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his
wife Angela have four children and reside in the Nashville area. They
attend Green Hill Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, where Dan serves as
Pastor of Teaching and Discipleship.
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