Advancements in the fields of science and medicine have led to an increased awareness of what occurs at the various stages of pregnancy. It has been discovered that many significant developmental milestones occur long before birth. The first eight weeks following conception are when most body parts and all body systems appear and begin functioning. Five weeks after conception, the spinal cord, brain, and heart have already started formation. On the sixth week, the heart (with all four chambers) is pumping blood to the brain and throughout the body. By the eighth week, brainwaves have can be recorded as well as a response to light and touch. At 12 weeks, yawning has been observed, fingerprints have begun formation, and some bones begin to harden. Technological advancements have provided profound discoveries in the immense development that occurs during even the first trimester of pregnancy. And yet, as the abortion debate continues, new questions have started to su...
Anytime someone asks me how God speaks to us today, my first response is through the Bible. God's primary means of communicating to us about who he is and who we are is found in his own revelation to us in Scripture. In the Old Testament, he speaks to us throughout history, through poetry, through his law, and by the mouths of his prophets. In the New Testament, he speaks through his Son - Jesus, as we read the eye-witness accounts of the gospels, see the creation and confession of the early church, and are encouraged by the writings of the apostles. God primarily speaks through his word... but he can also speak through our circumstances, through situations and other people. This morning, I was reminded of the latter. In our Sunday School class, we have decided to devote one Sunday each month to focus on prayer. Rather than have prayer be the two shorter bookends to a longer lesson or lengthy discussion, one Sunday each month we have decided to invert our "order of se...