To sign up to receive the Lifewatch newsletter or to witness to the Gospel of Life in your congregation or annual conference, contact:
Mrs. Cindy Evans
Administrator/Publicity and Outreach Coordinator
PO Box 306 Cottleville, MO 63338
636-294-2344 cindy@lifewatch.org
To respond to our Lifewatch newsletter, contact:
Rev. Paul T. Stallsworth
Lifewatch Editor
902 Pinckney Street
Whiteville , NC 28472
910-642-3376 paulstallsworth@nccumc.org
(01/23/18) On day 1 of a woman’s pregnancy,
the fertilized egg contains the plans for
every detail of human development, including
the child’s sex, hair and eye color, and
height
Source: “Making an
Informed Decision About Your Pregnancy”
brochure. published by Frontlines
Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI. 1994
(01/16/18) "There is a 48-year-old woman,
born in Texas, who should be dead right now.
In fact, she should have never been born.
Forty-three years ago, the Supreme Court
decided that the Texas law that prevented
Jan Roe from ending the life of her unborn
daughter was unconstitutional. But by the
time the Supreme Court issued its decision
in 1973, she
had already been born and adopted by a
family—likely not knowing that all that ink
spilled in Roe v. Wade was about her."
(01/09/18) The ANNUAL LIFEWATCH
WORSHIP SERVICE will be held at
9:30 am on Friday, January 19, 2018
at the United Methodist Building,
100 Maryland Avenue in Washington, DC.
(As you face the US Supreme Court, the UM
Building stands directly to the left.) The
Rev. Dr. David F. Watson, professor of New
Testament and Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Academic Dean at United
Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH, will
give the sermon. Later the same day,
following the March for Life, please join us
again at 3:00 pm in the UM Building for our
Lifewatch Board meeting.
All are invited to attend. We hope
to see you there!
Source:
Lifewatch/TUMAS. For questions, please call
our office, 636-294-2344.
(01/03/18) “True freedom is not found
through sexual “liberation,” but through
healthy boundaries. True freedom is found
through recognizing human dignity. True
freedom is found in living according to our
design. As countercultural as it is, true
freedom can only be found through embracing
the biblical view of relationships, sex, and
marriage.”
(12/27/2017) When Kaito Kryvenchuk’s parents
learned that he probably was going to die,
they could have given up all hope and took
their doctors’ advice to abort him. Instead,
the Canadian family decided that their
unborn son deserved a chance at life – even
a one in 50,000 chance.
(12/19/2017) "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the beginning. ....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory
of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth."
Source: John 1:1-2, 14 (NIV)
(12/12/2017) "The human embryo ... possesses
from the beginning the internal resources
and active disposition to develop himself or
herself to full maturity; all he or she
needs is a suitable environment and
nutrition. The direction of his or her
growth is not extrinsically determined, but
the embryo is internally directing his or
her growth toward full maturity. .... an
embryo (and fetus) is a human being at a
certain (early) stage of development - the
embryonic (or fetal) stage. In abortion,
what is killed is a human being, a whole
living member of the species homo sapiens,
the same kind of entity as you or I, only at
an earlier stage of development."
(12/05/2017) "The consequences of this
casting aside of traditional morality and
embracing the 'liberation of the instincts'
have by now become obvious: Children raised
without fathers, the dismantling of the
family, venereal plagues, high rates of
divorce, the sexual precocity of teenaged
minors, millions of abortions and their
psychological trauma, the humiliation and
dishonor that comes from being used as a
thing for another's pleasure, and all the
wider social dysfunctions that have
followed. And women have borne the brunt of
these changes. No amount of pop-theorizing
or feminist bluster has erased the natural
differences between the sexes. And men, by
nature sexually predatory, have been the
biggest beneficiaries."
(11/28/2017) The 2018 Annual Lifewatch
Service of Worship and Board Meeting will
take place on Friday, January 19, 2018 in
Washington, DC. The worship service,
featuring Rev. Dr. David F. Watson,
Professor of New Testament at United
Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, will
be held in the Chapel of the United
Methodist Building (100
Maryland Avenue, NE) at 9:30 am.
Following the noon March for Life, our
annual board meeting begins at 3:00 pm in a
conference room in the UM Building. We
invite you to organize a group and join us
for worship and work for the Gospel of Life.
Source: Lifewatch/Taskforce of
United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality
(11/21/2017) "... baby girl Stensrud's case
is such an important one to discuss. Not as
a 'gotcha!' to all pro-choice advocates. But
simply as a difficult moral question that
bears examining. Because 21 weeks four days
- the gestational age of baby girl Stensrud
- is within the legal limit for abortion in
some states. So if, at birth, baby girl
Stensrud was a human being whose survival
was hoped for and prayed for, and medically
intervened for, then shouldn't any baby of
that gestational age be a human being as
well? Can a person only be a person when you
want him to be?"
(11/14/2017) "[A] pro-life lawsuit against a
California statute that requires pregnancy
centers to promote abortions is heading to
the nation's highest court. The California
law ["Reproductive FACT Act, AB775"], upheld
by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in
October, forces pro-life pregnancy centers
to promote abortions. Tom Glessner,
president and CEO of the National Institute
of Family and Life Advocates, said his group
was appealing the case to the Supreme Court,
arguing that the law violates both free
speech and religious freedom."
(11/07/2017) "All 50 states have/ safe haven
laws to protect newborn babies from
abandonment and infanticide. Save haven laws
allow mothers in crisis to leave their
newborns in a safe environment, such as a
hospital or fire station, without questions
or repercussions. .... If you or someone you
know would like more information about
relinquishing a newborn child, please call
1-866-99BABY1 or go to www.SafeHavenLaw.com."
(10/31/2017) "... I refuse to be poisoned by
bitterness - that's no way to live....
Through my Catholic faith I have learnt to
forgive. It doesn't make what happened okay,
but it releases you from the pain. We are
all human and we all make mistakes."
(10/24/2017) ""Abortion-rights supporters
often point out that laws requiring parental
consent for abortions can mean that
embarrassed teenagers won't get the services
they need. And it's true that many girls did
resort to unsafe abortions when it wasn't
legal. But without parental consent, men can
get girls pregnant and then pressure them to
have abortions without anyone who cares
about them finding out."
(10/17/2017) "The early church was
decidedly, vocally, and courageously
pro-life and opposed to abortion. One of the
earliest documents of Christianity after the
New Testament is the Didache, dated to
around AD 80-120. The teaching describes two
ways: the way of life and the way of death.
The way of life demands that Christians
'shall not murder a child by abortion nor
commit infanticide.' Both abortion and
infanticide were common in the Roman Empire.
Christians were forbidden to murder any
child, born or unborn."
(10/10/2017) "In normal conception, a sex
cell of the father, a sperm, unites with a
sex cell of the mother, an ovum. Within the
chromosomes of these sex cells are the DNA
molecules which constitute the information
that guides the development of the new
individual brought into being when the sperm
and ovum fuse. When fertilization occurs,
the 23 chromosomes of the sperm unite with
the 23 chromosomes of the ovum. At the end
of this process there is produced an
entirely new and distinct organism,
originally a single cell. This organism, the
human embryo, begins to grow by the normal
process of cell division - it divides into 2
cells, then 4, 8, 16, and so on (the
divisions are not simultaneous, so there is
a 3-cell stage, and so on). This embryo
gradually develops all of the organs and
organ systems necessary for the full
functioning of a mature human being."
(10/03/2017) "A large majority of the public
holds internally inconsistent views on
abortion. For instance, considering just
three related issues – the legality of
abortion, the morality of abortion, and the
age at which the fetus becomes human – more
than three out of four adults have views
that do not match. One out of seven adults
(14%) emerged as consistently pro-abortion
while only 8% were consistently pro-life."
Father, you have created us in body and soul
To honor you and our neighbor
And to receive honor and respect in return.
Our bodies are sacred.
They reflect you, our Creator.
And we hold sacred
The bodies of all the children in the womb.
Lord, we are saddened
That these children are being killed,
And saddened again
That their body parts are being harvested and sold.
Have mercy on our nation.
Have mercy on those who are perpetrating these evils.
As more and more people become aware of this,
Turn their hearts towards you,
The Fountain of life and love.
Give consolation to all who have had abortions,
And give wisdom to our public officials
That they may respond adequately
To the corruption found in the abortion industry.
Grant that we,
The People of Life and the People of Mercy,
May recommit ourselves to building a nation
Without abortion and without the many evils that flow from us.
May we choose life;
May we choose mercy;
May we choose your Kingdom!
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source of the prayer: Father Frank Pavone, President of the National Pro-Life Religious Council (of which Lifewatch is a member) and National Director of Priests for Life.
Out of obedience to Jesus Christ, the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) will work to create in church and society esteem for human life at its most vulnerable, specifically for the unborn child and for the Woman who contemplates abortion. Therefore, TUMAS's first goal is to win the hearts and minds of United Methodists, to engage in abortion-prevention through theological, pastoral and social emphases that support human life."
THESE ANNUAL EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON JANUARY 22, 2014 (WEDS.) AT THE UNITED METHODIST BUILDING, 100 MARYLAND AVENUE NE, WASHINGTON, DC
9:30 a.m. LIFEWATCH SERVICE OF WORSHIP WITH BISHOP KENNETH H. CARTER, JR. (FL AREA) PREACHING
3:00 p.m. LIFEWATCH BOARD MEETING