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Coffee with Kirk – Today’s Politics Bring Opportunity · Pregnancy Help Podcast

0:02
Hey. This is Kirk W and welcome to
0:04
coffee with Kirk in the pregnancy health podcast.
0:08
Today, we're gonna do something a little bit
0:09
different. I normally don't talk about politics and
0:13
we're not going to really get into that
0:15
today, but I do believe
0:17
In today's crazy political culture,
0:20
there's a lesson for us in pregnancy health
0:23
ministry. Now Tell you, if I was gonna
0:25
talk to you about current events and what's
0:27
happening.
0:28
The headlines that I see today is I
0:30
record this,
0:32
they'll change in 24 hour And so we're
0:34
not gonna get into the details of what's
0:36
happening. I'm certainly not going to tell you
0:38
what to think about all of this because
0:40
it moves and changes.
0:42
Every 30 seconds it seems like.
0:44
But I do believe there's a lesson here
0:46
for us,
0:48
and I'd love to spend a little bit
0:50
of time taking you back
0:52
and then walking us forward as to our
0:55
role
0:56
in all of this craziness that we're seeing
0:58
right now.
0:59
Wanna take you back to 19 92.
1:02
I was a basically a new director of
1:04
a pregnancy help center. I guess I'd been
1:06
on board about a year and a half.
1:09
And in 19 92,
1:11
president George H w Bush,
1:14
led our a country.
1:15
He was a moderately pro like president.
1:19
He had followed Ronald Reagan, Ronald. Reagan was
1:21
my first vote for president, which tells you
1:23
how old I was.
1:25
I voted for ron Reagan because I honestly
1:28
believe is an 18 year old freshman in
1:30
college that Reagan would appoint supreme court justices
1:34
who would overturn Roe and all of that
1:36
business would be behind us within about 10
1:38
or 12 years.
1:40
As we know now that didn't happen,
1:43
He then gave way to his vice president,
1:46
President George h w Bush,
1:48
who ran against Bill Clinton, no more history
1:51
lesson.
1:52
Except you and I both know, Bill Clinton
1:54
won that election.
1:56
And when he did that night, I was
1:59
getting phone calls,
2:01
from friends, I was counted because of our
2:03
ministry, I was seen as the maybe the
2:05
pro life leader in the community. And so
2:08
political questions would often come to me.
2:10
And I got several calls
2:12
that night. No emails because we didn't have
2:14
emails, but I got phone calls.
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And 1 of the ones I remember from
2:19
a friend named Tammy, she said, what are
2:21
we going to do now?
2:24
And I understand the sentiment. All of a
2:26
sudden for the first time since
2:29
this issue came to the forefront because in
2:31
76,
2:33
both
2:34
presidential candidates were moderately pro choice.
2:37
But in 19 80, that changed with moral
2:39
majority and different things at group,
2:41
which really gal a Christian community to vote
2:44
pro life for the first time in 19
2:47
80. So for the first time,
2:49
Since the pro life community was galvanized
2:52
voting,
2:53
we had a pro choice president. So it
2:55
was a fair question. What?
2:57
Are we going to do?
2:59
And at that point, it hit me, I
3:01
said, you know, I really believe this could
3:03
be a time we rise up.
3:06
As the church, I believe our ministry is
3:08
going to grow
3:09
exponentially because of this.
3:11
And I believe we're going to make a
3:13
difference in places we had not made can
3:15
made a difference before.
3:17
Just to be real with you, I wasn't
3:19
happy about the outcome of the election, but
3:20
I did see opportunity there. I And sure
3:23
enough, That's what happened to arm industry.
3:26
And over the years,
3:28
we began to grow, and I think a
3:30
lot of it was because people were looking
3:32
for an outlet besides the political
3:34
to put forth their pro for lack of
3:37
a better word.
3:39
To put action to their faith and what
3:41
they believed.
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So in a way for our ministry, that
3:44
was a good time. We grew... We began
3:46
to
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ultrasound came about during those years,
3:50
for our ministries with Tom Gl and Diff,
3:53
and all of that, So he came out
3:55
in about 95, and began talking about this.
3:58
Tom can correct me on this, but he
4:01
began talking about putting ultrasound in thousand centers
4:04
across this country back in about 94 95.
4:08
During those Clinton years. So we saw good
4:10
things happen during that time.
4:13
Fast forward if we can to today.
4:17
And again, I won't go into all the
4:18
political news of the day because it will
4:21
change.
4:23
No profit but that much, I know.
4:26
Right now, I believe
4:28
this is an incredibly
4:31
Important time for the church. That's us, and
4:34
we'll talk about that in a minute
4:35
to see
4:37
this issue not as a problem
4:40
but has an opportunity.
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Because if we look at it from a
4:44
big picture perspective. Right now,
4:46
we have 1 party
4:48
that wants to not only revert back to
4:51
Ro way, but to take that even a
4:54
step further and cod abortion as a human
4:57
right
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not only to birth, but in some places
5:01
even after birth.
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We have another political party that seems be
5:07
backtracking on this issue. And I'm not here
5:10
to debate that or talk about whether that's
5:12
good bad and different.
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But it is a fact that 1 party
5:16
to is stepping back from this issue and
5:18
trying to bring in a larger tent of
5:21
people
5:22
to make sure that they win the election,
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and
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again, there are different views on this, but
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that's just what we're looking at at this
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moment.
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And I believe this is an incredible
5:35
opportunity.
5:36
Because I do believe the church. And when
5:39
I say the church, III go back to
5:41
the original
5:43
definition that Jesus might put forth. That word
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that Greek Word ec, which is a gathering
5:48
of people.
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And in Jesus day, the church was such
5:52
a fledgling thing. In fact, it didn't really
5:55
launch until he ascended to heaven. But as
5:57
he talk about his coming church, we're talking
6:00
about a gathering of 12
6:02
than a group of a hundred some odd,
6:05
and then Peter's first sermon, which led to
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3000 joining, basically,
6:10
not even overnight, but day,
6:12
in the second chapter of x. So we're
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talking about that original group of people when
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I give you this definition.
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That's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking
6:20
about organizational structure of today, I'm talking about
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that original
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bunch of people that rag tag bunch
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of people who are not movers in shu
6:30
acres of people who are just regular,
6:32
regular for the most part that time Jewish,
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and then we brought in Greeks and others,
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acres
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But
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that
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definition would look something like this.
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The church is the called out group of
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people
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empowered by the holy spirit
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to continue the work of Jesus on this
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earth.
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My pastor gave me that definition, so shout
6:53
out with Tom Hayden
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of North field Church in Gall, Tennessee for
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that definition, which he he cobb together different
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definitions to pull that and put it to
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me and I thought man, that... That's really
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who we are. We're we're the called out
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group of people and power by the holy
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spirit to continue the work of Jesus
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on this earth and another shout out goes
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to Drill Ga who said, if you read
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the book of acts, we're like the book
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of acts, the 2020
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fourth chapter.
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Right now because that's who we are. We're
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the church
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we're the church putting forth the work of
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Jesus on this earth, continuing his work
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and we, the pregnancy help community are part
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of that church. And I know we get
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into, Okay. You're a para church ministry in
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this
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that's not really what I'm talking about.
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What I'm talking about is you and me
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are arms and hands and feet of the
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church.
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And we in the pregnancy health community
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are a particular
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part of the church that speaks into this
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issue of life
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and does the work of Jesus regarding the
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work of life.
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So as we look at that definition,
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And we look at who we are as
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a part of the church, not an out
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not another
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not a non church,
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entity, but as part of the church,
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I look at this and I say what
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an amazing
8:21
opportunity for us, is happening right now in
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front of our eyes.
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Because we look at the political, it is
8:28
in chaos, and I can promise you
8:31
that even though I record this a few
8:33
days before you're hearing it.
8:35
I can promise you that we're still going
8:38
to be in chaos next week.
8:40
Nobody's going to come in in the next
8:42
few days or weeks or months and say,
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okay, we've got this. Everything's fine in the
8:47
political world.
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Regardless of who gets elected.
8:51
We're going to see chaos in the political
8:54
world.
8:55
In fact, we even saw chaos after the
8:58
Dog's decision.
9:00
Some things got settled. Some states move forward
9:04
and put forth what they already had on
9:05
the books, which roll back Roe wade, other
9:09
other states, cod Roe wade in some ways,
9:12
even when beyond Roe wade,
9:15
we've got all 50 states doing different things.
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We even had some states that
9:21
that
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put forth,
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reasonable
9:24
legislation to curve abortion and then have it
9:27
overturned by votes.
9:28
So again, chaos in the political world.
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So where are people going to look?
9:35
Where are other parts of the church
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going to look for answers?
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We've looked to the political
9:43
since way back.
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And I would say 19 80 with that
9:47
election when we thought, you know what? We
9:48
can solve this in many ways politically.
9:52
We can solve it through legislation. We can
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solve it through court decisions.
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And while I I will say, I'll be
9:59
the first to say that there are things
10:01
that public servants can do in the legislative
10:04
realm. There are things that judges can do
10:07
in the judicial realm.
10:09
But ultimately, the answer
10:11
was
10:12
is and will always be the church
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because we must change the culture of the
10:19
day.
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That's our job
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My leg
10:23
cannot change the culture.
10:25
Can do good things and I've got friends
10:27
and legislative branches all over the country.
10:30
And I just, I plow them for their
10:32
work and they're getting up and fighting these
10:34
battles in the state houses and in Washington.
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I'm thankful for the judges who have backbone
10:40
bones
10:41
and and put to forth decisions which defend
10:44
life.
10:45
But ultimately the answer is always going to
10:49
be the church, and we,
10:52
are the church's arm into the life issue.
10:56
We cannot
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forget that because it's easy for even me.
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I'm watching the news a lot more.
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And I know many of you are watching
11:04
the news a lot more these days because
11:06
again, it's changing
11:07
every 2 to 3 hours something you is
11:09
having.
11:11
But as we look at this, I think
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we need to come back,
11:15
gather around our tables in our pregnancy health
11:18
ministries, whatever they are.
11:19
Pregnancy health medical clinics, resource centers,
11:23
maternity homes, adoption agencies wherever we serve sidewalks,
11:28
wherever we serve,
11:30
we need to look and say we are
11:32
the church.
11:34
We are the ultimate
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answer to this.
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We move the culture.
11:39
It is Jesus working through us, which moves
11:42
the culture.
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And I truly believe this is a time
11:47
when compassion
11:49
can take the lead on this issue. And
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this is our wheelhouse as the church. The
11:55
church is defined by its compassion. I, we
11:58
can go through the story of the good
12:00
samaritan, which
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I'll probably do that in... I'm writing a
12:03
book called savings Sam scenario, and and boy,
12:06
that's about 3 or 4 chapters of the
12:08
book.
12:09
If we look at the good samaritan, let's
12:11
remember that Jesus
12:13
was asked a question, how do I inherit
12:15
eternal life?
12:17
And as he answered that question,
12:20
he used a story
12:21
of a Samaritan who having compassion reached out
12:25
to a wounded man on the side of
12:27
the road.
12:28
And as he concluded that story
12:32
We had the ph
12:34
described the who at... The lawyer whatever we
12:36
wanna call him.
12:38
And Jesus asked him he said, okay.
12:40
Who was a neighbor to that man,
12:43
and the ph he said described said the
12:46
1 who had mercy on him,
12:48
the 1 who showed compassion.
12:51
And Jesus basically said there's your answer. You
12:53
wanna inherit eternal life,
12:55
be a person of compassion.
12:57
Now, there's so much more to it, and
12:59
I won't get into all the theology, but
13:01
I'll say this.
13:02
And I may have said it before on
13:03
this podcast. I'm not sure I've said different
13:05
settings.
13:07
But I'll say this. What Jesus is trying
13:09
to say to me, Kirk is,
13:12
look.
13:13
If you go out and talk about your
13:15
faith. That you're not a person of compassion.
13:19
It's all
13:20
cleaning symbols as Paul would later say.
13:24
You are defined by your compassion. Christianity is
13:27
defined by its compassion.
13:29
And I truly believe that the church is
13:32
looking for a place right now
13:35
to put forth its compassion.
13:38
Once again, I don't know how many times
13:40
God has to us this lesson.
13:43
While the political realm is important.
13:46
And it has its place, and I encourage
13:48
everybody. So some will say nope, I've stepped
13:50
out of politics. That's fine.
13:52
But I would say this. There's that literally
13:54
nothing wrong with being involved in public square,
13:57
but ultimately,
13:59
it is our compassion which defines us. Our
14:01
compassion in the public square perhaps.
14:04
That doesn't mean we doesn't mean we set
14:06
us aside our principles
14:08
because compassion and principles coexist really well.
14:11
It's not a binary choice between compassion
14:15
and our principles. We know what we believe.
14:17
We believe it's so strongly that we're willing
14:20
to roll up our sleeves and get dirty
14:23
for that young lady who comes in our
14:24
door, that young man who's never known what
14:27
a father is.
14:28
We roll up our sleeves and we pour
14:30
out everything
14:32
we have in compassion for them.
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This is a time.
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When our compassion
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should shine.
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And this is a time when we can
14:42
go to our churches,
14:44
and we can say you know what?
14:46
We are the church just like you are
14:49
in a different realm doing different things,
14:52
but we are the church's action arm on
14:54
the life issue.
14:56
This is not a political issue.
14:59
This is a compassion issue.
15:01
As I've heard it said before by drill
15:03
and others, this is a gospel issue.
15:07
We go out and we bring compassion to
15:09
the issue of life.
15:12
As we do this, a culture can change.
15:16
I believe it. I believe it's taken longer
15:19
than I thought it would,
15:21
but this is a time when lot of
15:22
people.
15:24
Are absolutely confused with the chaotic mass we
15:27
have in this political world.
15:30
And right now, let's just be honest. A
15:32
political world is not dealing with this issue.
15:36
Like I said, we've got 1 party who
15:38
wants to take it even further
15:40
take abortion even further. We've got another party,
15:43
which is kinda backtracking a little bit.
15:46
How far, I don't know. Not for me
15:49
to figure out.
15:50
But with the all that going on,
15:53
we bring compassion to the issue, and I
15:56
do believe that ultimately
15:58
We and I wrote it in the book
15:59
the wall many, many years ago, now, I
16:02
think it came out in 20 13,
16:04
I said that I believe that if we
16:07
become the first choice for those facing unexpected
16:09
pregnancies,
16:10
the second choice will ultimately
16:13
disappear.
16:14
I think this is a time when with
16:16
all the chaos that we see in our
16:18
culture,
16:19
we are the rock,
16:21
which says on the most
16:23
divisive,
16:25
controversial issue of our time, the most contentious
16:28
social issue of our time.
16:30
We bring compassion.
16:33
We bring hope and we are going to
16:36
keep doing this and we invite you, churches
16:39
in our community to join us in different
16:41
ways, and I don't wanna get into, oh,
16:43
we can get in their budgets. That's not
16:45
what I mean at all.
16:46
What I mean is we need you to
16:48
partner with us
16:49
in different ways,
16:51
because this
16:53
As everybody looks at Washington or our state
16:56
houses across the country.
16:58
This is the church's answer to the life
17:01
issue.
17:03
I want you to be confident in that
17:05
that when you go into the office,
17:09
when you get on your mobile unit,
17:13
when you go out in the community,
17:15
we are the answer
17:18
because
17:19
I don't know what's going to happen with
17:21
legislation or anything else, but we must move
17:24
the culture.
17:26
The only way to move the culture is
17:28
for the church to be the church.
17:31
For them to look at us,
17:33
not as the people who are saying God,
17:36
God does say at this or that.
17:39
But for them to look us and say,
17:41
those are the people reaching wounded on the
17:44
side of the road.
17:45
Those are the people I want to be
17:47
like
17:48
Those are the people
17:50
or reaching out to the hurting to the
17:53
broken
17:54
and giving them hope once again. Those are
17:57
the ones. Those Christians over there are the
17:59
ones who take the person
18:01
who's battling with a past divorce and trying
18:03
to figure out how it makes sense in
18:05
her or his life,
18:07
those are the people who are providing them
18:09
hope.
18:10
Guys, I gotta tell you this.
18:12
Than we do have the answer.
18:15
The society is begging for it right now.
18:18
They're begging to see someone step up and
18:21
be people of compassion. We've been doing this
18:23
all along, but I think it's time for
18:25
us to
18:27
shout it from the rooftops in different ways.
18:29
If you're ever speaking to the media,
18:32
you're the ones who say we bring compassion
18:34
to this issue.
18:36
This is what we do.
18:38
And go through exactly what we do. We
18:40
go to churches and say we need you
18:42
to help us because just like
18:45
the Good samaritan
18:46
found that wounded person on the side of
18:48
the road
18:49
and brought compassion to his life.
18:52
We bring compassion to the hurting and the
18:54
broken. We need volunteers.
18:57
We need you to join us,
18:59
as a bridge so that you can be
19:02
a safe haven for those that we're serving
19:04
through our center,
19:06
you can be a safe haven for them
19:07
on Sunday morning or whatever day you meet.
19:11
We need you to join us in this
19:13
project. This mighty project to move our culture
19:17
this is what we need.
19:19
And so I want you to be encouraged
19:22
today
19:23
as we wrap this up, be encouraged.
19:26
All along is the political has played out
19:28
over the last 50 some odd.
19:32
All along
19:34
God has been trying to say point back
19:37
to the church.
19:39
Let's remember what the church does.
19:42
Let's keep in mind exactly what the church
19:44
does.
19:45
We are the people of compassion who bring
19:48
compassion to this issue.
19:49
We need you to join us.
19:51
And if you do this,
19:53
if you begin to be louder about who
19:56
you are not the not an abrasive way.
19:59
But to highlight the compassion of what you
20:01
do,
20:02
I believe this culture is right to listen.
20:05
And I in this is gonna sound crazy,
20:07
but
20:08
Through
20:09
health community,
20:10
the Lord can bring
20:13
awakening to this country.
20:15
Folks are turned off by what all the
20:17
craziness that's going on.
20:20
But you know, you know what? They're never
20:22
turned off by compassion and that's you.
20:25
Let's keep at it.
20:27
Let's tell the church we're here. Let's invite
20:29
them into our centers to play a greater
20:32
role and folks, let's move this culture.
20:36
Toward life.
20:38
I hope you have a great day. You
20:40
can find me on subs
20:42
kirk weld dot subs dot com what it
20:44
is But you can find me there every
20:46
week.
20:48
And if you need me, it's kirk kirk
20:49
walton dot com. Just drop me an email.
20:51
It will be great to hear from. Me.
20:53
Have a great day. Thank you for listening
20:56
to this little section of coffee with Kirk.
21:00
Thanks for listening to this episode of a
21:01
pregnancy health podcast
21:03
If you're looking for resources to help build
21:05
the relationship between pregnancy help and the church,
21:07
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