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  You may or may not be familiar with the ‘Frederick Experiment’. Back in the thirteenth century, the German king, Frederick II, conducted a cruel experiment intended to discover what language children would naturally grow up to speak if never spoken to. King Frederick took babies from their mothers at birth and placed them in the care of nurses who were forbidden to speak in their presence. But a second rule was imposed, as well: the nurses were not allowed to touch the infants other than for basic hygiene and feeding needs. In other words, no cuddling, hugging, kisses, cooing, etc. To his great dismay, Frederick’s experiment was cut short, but not before something tragically significant regarding human nature was revealed... the babies grew up to speak no language at all... because they all died. Not only do we as spiritual newborns in Christ need a steady diet of spiritual food (God’s word), we also find ‘Comfort’ that comes with abiding in His presence (John 14:16). When a person
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  Food...comfort... and protection. Those are the three significant offerings a mother provides to her newborn, especially in those very early days after birth. You could even make the case those benefits are at work prior to birth while still in the womb. As I mentioned previously, if you have ever witnessed the birth of a new calf, lamb, goat, deer, etc., those new babies tend to stay close on the heels of their mother, especially in those early days. They just instinctively know that is where their source of food, comfort and protection are to be found. Continuing on in our lesson comparing natural birth to spiritual birth, we find once again, striking similarities in scripture that offer us helpful insight as to how we too, can grow so that Christ might be ‘formed in us’ as well. (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:29). And you might be surprised how it all points back to the importance and the necessity of ‘abiding in Christ’. Take 1 Pet. 2:2 for example, where he writes: “as newborn babes, de
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  Over the years, I have come to notice that when someone we know ‘announces’ to the world they are pregnant, and usually early on... as in being just a ‘few weeks pregnant’, my wife, (the L&D nurse) cringes silently. She only does this because she is fully aware that any number of things can happen in those early stages of development that can lead to heartbreak. In other words, ‘conception’ is no guarantee that a fully developed baby will appear nine months later. IYKYK. Yeah...I would read that last sentence again. Paul seemed to express similar angst himself, in his letter to the Galatians. When you get some time, look at Gal. 4:19 and read it in several translations. I would suggest using the Biblegateway site for easy access to a host of translations. He seems to indicate there that Christ being ‘fully formed’ in us...is no ‘sure thing’. He too, must have realized that any number of things can happen along the way. In fact, Jesus when sharing one of His most important par
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  How anyone can come to understand the process of human development along with witnessing a human birth...and still claim to be an ‘atheist’ is beyond me. I just don’t have words or the ability to explain or comprehend  that. (Ps. 14:1) There are so many fascinating stages to me, when it comes to how a human is formed and then born alive. But one stage of this development that really intrigues me is the fact that when conception takes place and the male sperm joins with the mother’s egg and it is fertilized, at that moment in time, all the ‘data’ (chromosomes) of that soon to be human being has now been ’downloaded’, the hard-wiring is in place, and many of the future physical traits and characteristics of that person have been determined. i.e.- hair and eye color, body type, etc. Obviously it is not evident at this early stage...but give it time for ‘nature’ to take its course... And so it is when we undergo the ‘spiritual rebirthing process’ and ‘become...children of God’. (John 1
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  Being married to a very gifted and talented L&D nurse, I have heard the expression said on multiple occasion that a pregnancy is “not viable until 22-24 weeks”. A ‘full term’ child is usually born at 39-40 weeks. Babies that are delivered at 36 weeks are for the most part, fully developed and 'healthy'... however, there are still risks and complications possible. What does this mean? Well, if you are pregnant and end up in the hospital about to have a pre-mature birth and you are in that 22-28 week time period, your baby will be immediately taken to the NICU where they are taken care of by a highly trained staff of doctors and nurses, along with some very expensive medical equipment. And for anyone who has been down that road, you know it is longer than just an ‘overnight stay’. Prior to these medical advancements, any baby born prior to 26 weeks stood little chance of surviving. And even today, with those advancements, any baby born prior to 22 weeks is not even consid
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  Today’s post will make little sense if you have not yet read what I shared here yesterday. I know some of us tend to roll our eyes and scoff some, when we hear ‘other gospels’ out there suggest all a person needs to do is ‘walk an aisle, repeat a prayer’, and then immediately are told they are now a ‘child of God and a guaranteed room in heaven is waiting on them’. That is not to suggest that someone who hears some form of the gospel and responds with a broken and contrite heart, maybe ‘raising a hand’ or going forward to an altar’ where they ‘pray to receive Christ’ is not a bad start. Let’s be honest here without getting overly graphic...many a child have been ‘naturally’ ‘conceived under a great variety of ‘occasions’, settings and/or circumstances. Personally speaking my own ‘spiritual conception’ took place in a pick-up truck following a very simple, yet sincere prayer. There were no tears or goose-bumps or angelic music playing while this took place. But it was a start, a begi
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  I am probably stepping outside my area of comfort level in understanding here, but bear with me as we began talking yesterday...about the spiritual ‘rebirth’ we must all undergo if we have any hopes or inclination of seeing and entering the kingdom of God. (John 3:3-5) As we all know, medical advancements have increased by leaps and bounds, especially in the area of treating infertility. Many people today have been blessed with the gift of a child by undergoing a process known as ‘in-vitro fertilization’(IVF). Basically, the sperm of the father is injected into the extracted egg of a mother and this takes place in a petri dish or test tube, as in outside the body. The result produces an embryo which is then at some point in time, implanted back into the mother where it attaches, and a fetus is formed in the womb. Nine months later, out comes a new baby. Pretty amazing stuff for sure. To the best of my knowledge though, no embryo has ever been fully brought to development outside
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