7 Things I Learned This Week-#60

I've had quite a week!

My Gym Membership

I had frozen my gym membership at Fitness 19 and then learned that it is now unfrozen when I saw the charge on my credit card. It would have been nice if they had sent me a reminder notification that it would be active again in January. Now it's another 30 days before I can cancel it for good. I'll be charged again this month and again in March! I am canceling because I just don't go enough to get my money's worth and when I do go, I find myself thinking I'd rather be doing something else. Ho hum, how did I know I was going to want to cancel completely back when I froze it? I hate throwing my money away like this!

The Bachelor

According to US WEEKLY (March 2010), Ali will be the next Bachelorette. Apparently, her new employer has approved her to have the time off. It said Facebook was the employer that told her to get back to work or she'd lose her job.

Banking

I learned that if I change my e-savings account to a different account, I can earn a higher interest. How did I learn this? I asked. You would think banks could just have a set rate for all savings accounts and make it simple, but no, everything has to be a hassle. I asked why they didn't tell me about this sooner and was told it's just new and there will be some commercials about it. I would think they could have put a simple message to me through my on-line banking about this. Don't they know people would like to get as high an interest as possible on their savings??? You may want to check out other options at your bank.

American Heart Month

At John's post on EZGreatLife: "Getting To The Heart Of The Problem", I learned that February is American Heart Month. It's quite a good post he wrote about his scary experience with heart attack symptoms worth a trip over there.

Firefox Browser

Thanks to Rebecca at Freaky Frugalite, I finally was able to get my Firefox Browser open and working again. Boy, did I miss that! She left me a detailed step-by-step comment on my I Even Multi-task When I Relax post.

I Was Hacked On Twitter

Yes, Monday I learned someone hacked my Twitter account--very upsetting! For more details read Yikes, I Didn't Send That!

Tourette Syndrome

When watching "Front of the Class" on the Hallmark Channel I learned about Tourette Syndrome which is an incurable condition that causes people to make strange noises and movements at random times which they can't control. This movie was very good because it showed a boy with this condition who wanted to be a teacher and pursued his dream and became one of the best! Gerard also read the book and you can read his review at Zemek's Updates.

Visit Half-Past Kissin' Time for more Friday Fragments.

Tweet This

Will God Forgive Abortion?

Last Sunday our Pastor answered one of the tough questions that was submitted to him by a member of our congregation that was “I had an abortion. Can God forgive me?” My initial quick response was “Yes, how is he going to have a whole sermon on that?”

He invited two women who have had abortions to come and share their story of how they found forgiveness when they attended a HEART workshop and it was very interesting! First though, he made the point that in God’s eyes, sin is sin and all sin separates us from God, whether it’s just a lie or a murder. This is based on lists of sins found in Galatians 5:19 and also in Proverbs 6:16-19.

Pastor Dan pointed out that abortion is a sin because life begins in the womb as indicated in Psalm 139:13-14. “Do not kill” is one of the commandments (Exodus 20:13). The penalty for sin is death, eternal separation from God but the gift of God is life through God’s Son, Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 and But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)

Jesus died for everyone while we were still sinners and paid that price. If we accept Christ death on the cross was for us and repent of our sin, we can be forgiven!

These women shared that they felt guilty after the abortion and participated in self-destructive behavior such as drugs, alcohol, divorce and even attempted suicide which are all common among women who have abortions. The one woman got actively involved in pro choice in order to help herself feel better. Both these women had a hard time forgiving themselves for aborting their babies. Both had different reasons. One did it because after her first baby, she just didn’t want to go through the pain of having another so aborted her second child. The other woman who shared was from a troubled home and looked for love in the wrong places. When she got pregnant with a man’s child who she did not love, she did not want to keep the baby because she didn’t think she could love it.

Both these women shared that they found a workshop called Healing Effects of Abortion Related Trauma connection with The Cleveland Pregnancy Center. Through this 7-week confidential, Christ-centered workshop designed for those who have experienced abortion, they found forgiveness. I John 1:9 says that, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” No exceptions! It doesn’t say, “except for abortion or murder or lying.”

By thinking God would not forgive them, they were told that they were ascribing more power to the sin than to Christ’s shed blood which really got their attention. "Christ died once for all, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." --I Peter 3:18

These women explained that most keep the fact they had an abortion to as few people as possible and really don’t want anyone to find out about it. That is why this workshop is strictly confidential. If you had an abortion and feel your life is messed up and there’s no hope, give the Cleveland Pregnancy Center a call at 440-243-2520 and just ask about the HEART workshop. There is forgiveness and help for you available. I hope this post will help someone find it.

Pastor Dan of Parma Heights Baptist Church is preaching on tough questions submitted to him by members of our congregation for the summer. I thought this was a great idea and submitted a couple of my own (this one wasn't mine if you're wondering). Most likely, I'll post summaries each week on my Zemeks' Updates blog under either the "Parma Heights Baptist Church" or "Life Is Tough but God Is Good" sections. Only the exceptionally good ones will make it to this blog.