Archive for the 'General' Category

As many of you already know, TeenSpeak 2007 was a great success! We had over 80 teens participate in a day filled with stimulating and informative talks, YouTube pro-life videos, and a superb lunch.

Vicki Thorn gave an excellent talk on the psychology behind why teens choose abortion. John Jansen talked about the problems with “comprehensive” sex ed, Eric Scheidler let us all in on what the pro-aborts are thinking and I ended the day with an inspiring talk on how to talk to about abortion. We hope that if you were unable to attend the event, you will order them. You won’t be disappointed.

I had an interesting conversation at the library the other day. My daughter was playing with some dolls and gave one to a woman who was there with her own daughter who was about four or five. This sparked some small talk between us. As we casually chatted she asked me if Hannah was my only child. I said yes and asked the same of her little girl. She said yes and that they weren’t planning on having anymore. I didn’t say much – after all I barely knew her. We chatted a bit more. She was from New York and just recently moved to DeKalb. (more…)

Again, here is the essay question:

Think Again: What can you do to help another teen reconsider his or her thinking on abortion?

And the winner of the $1,000.00 scholarship? Sarah Halbur of Joliet, IL. Have a read. It think you’ll agree she did a splendid job. Congratulations, Sarah!

Second place, a $500.00 scholarship, went to Mary Hatfield also of Joliet, IL. Her essay follows Sarah’s. Well done, Mary!

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At the March for Life, we saw tons of flyers advertising the movie Bella. I haven’t seen it myself, but I’ve heard some good things about it.

I also recently came across a trailer for another upcoming movie, The Substance of Things Hoped For, an independent film that also deals with abortion. Check it out — it looks to be pretty good:

I’m going to be a guest on the Drew Mariani Show Friday afternoon, January 19, at 3:30 pm (central time).

Father Frank Hoffman — “Father Rocky” — will be guest hosting.

You can listen online here.

Tune in if you can!

I’m looking forward to meeting other pro-life bloggers who will be attending the Blogs for Life Conference before the March next Monday in Washington, DC.

See you there!

“I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right.”

Courageous. Selfless. Humble.

We can all learn from this man’s example.

Today the Catholic Church remembers the Massacre of the Holy Innocents.

Amy Welborn comments on the day’s significance:

It is the story of sinful humanity, this day, the story of our failure, in every age, across time and cultures. See, the gift of a child, the gift of a child deliberately fashioned in love by God says, see - here is innocence, beauty, the chance to love sacrificially and joyfully, the chance to see and treasure hope and delight dancing across unique little faces, each fashioned by God,. Can you do it?

How will you respond to this gift, this helplessness, these arms, these eyes, this new presence? Will you accept this little one in joy?

The answer, across cultures, is invariably - no.

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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men”.

For those of you who have always wanted to know how to link, italiticize, bold, etc., in your blog comments but didn’t know how, thank Chris Johnson for this post, a simple lesson on how to use HTML tags.

HT: Amy Welborn

For Catholics, today is an important day, as it is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

First, it’s important to know what the Church teaches (and what she does not teach) regarding this belief:

It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is the Virgin Birth. Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit,” in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what “immaculate” means: without stain.

It’s interesting to note that the Church places greater importance on this day, when she commemorates the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, than on the day she commemorates Mary’s birth — celebrated, appropriately enough, nine months from today, on September 8. (more…)

Last month, we received a call from a youth minister at a local parish who was looking for a speaker to give a pro-life presentation to the church’s teens.

When we get requests like this, Annie and I normally offer to give our standard pro-life presentation (titled, simply enough, “Pro-Life 101”), which examines a number of different aspects surrounding abortion. (It’s about a 45 minute presentation.)

This wasn’t quite what the youth minister was looking for. Instead, she was looking for a somewhat shorter and somewhat more theoretical talk that would explain the underpinnings of the Church’s teachings on life issues generally.

No problem, I said, as I had given a talk along these lines last year.

So, I kept putting off preparing for the upcoming talk, as I figured I would basically be able to use the same one I’d given last year. At most, I thought I’d need to make only a few minor changes. (more…)

Eric is asking bloggers to link to “Ye Olde McWalBucks Shoppe”, a post at his other blog, Square Zero.

Check it out, and you’ll see why.

Recently, we’ve received numerous e-mails from high school and college students across the country who are seeking information on abortion for research papers they’re working on.

We expect this number to continue to grow in the next few weeks of December — a peak time for term papers.

When we receive e-mails like these, we first recommend that students check out our Q & A section here.

We also offer to mail a complimentary student packet, consisting of a wide variety of pro-life literature.

If you would like one of these free student packets for yourself or for someone else, you can place your order here.

For those of you who live in or near Omaha, Nebraska, I’m going to be a guest on the Loving Life program on KVSS Radio 88.9FM from 4:30 to 5:00 (central time) this afternoon to promote GFL’s newly revised Pro-Life Curriculum.

Tune in if you have the chance.