Gosnell Abortion Associate Should Have Googled Procedure
Abortion
Excuses
Ignorance
Source:
"Kermit Gosnell Defense Starts Monday In Philly Abortion Trial" By MARYCLAIRE DALE, published HUFFINGTON POST, 04/22/13
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Contributed By:
Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-04-24
Scripture:
Matthew 7:23
Author:
Illustration Exchange
As the murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell (accused of the medical malpractice killings of one woman and at least seven babies who somehow survived their abortions*) moves into the defense phase, insights are coming to light concerning others involved in the proceedings.
One such person is Gosnell's associate, Stephen Massof, a medically trained practitioner who graduated from St. George's University Medical School in Grenada in 1998, but was never licensed to practice medicine in the U.S. In separate but related charges, Massof has pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder.
According to news sources, Massof and other staff members testified that Gosnell taught them to 'snip' babies in the top of the spine after the abortion procedure. "I trusted him," Massof testified. "I believed he knew what he was talking about. I should have Googled."
It will be interesting to hear what the court thinks about Massof's defense by ignorance--that he, a supposedly trained medical practitioner, blindly "trusted" Gosnell's directives.
If only he'd "Googled" it.
*Update: As of 4/23/13, charges were dropped in the deaths of 3 of the 7 babies.
Like Masoff, many will stand before the court of the ultimate Judge, God Himself, blindly trusting what they've been told is true. They will claim ignorance and offer such lame excuses as, "Lord, we didn't know we were guilty of sin. We didn't understand that salvation was by grace alone. We were only trusting what the world told us."
There's no doubt how this Judge will respond. "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:23).
Rest assured that on that day you will not only be held accountable for what you know, but for what you could have known if you had cared enough to seek out the truth.
Don't stand condemned before God wishing you had "Googled" it.
Don't Try This At Home
Sin
Ignorance
Presumption
Source:
“Minister shoots self in church” By Jim Schoettler, Times-Union staff writer, Saturday, September 26, 1998
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Contributed By:
Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-09-19
Scripture:
1 Corinthians 10:12
Author:
Illustration Exchange
The Florida Times-Union reported in 1998:
“A Jacksonville youth minister using a handgun to preach about guns and sin was critically injured after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a blank.
“Melvyn Nurse, 35, was preaching to a group of several hundred adults and youths at the Livingway Christian Fellowship Church International late Thursday when the accident occurred about 10:30 p.m. Nurse's wife and some of his children were in attendance in the church at 6415 N. Pearl St., witnesses said.
“Pastor Anthony Speight said Nurse had fired the gun over his head several times without it going off, so the shooting caught the congregation by surprise. He was using Russian roulette to make a point about the consequences of sin, witnesses said. …
'’He wanted to let the young people know that living in sin or going back into sin after they've come to the Lord is like a game of Russian roulette.’
'’'He fired and then he fell. I thought it was part of the sermon, that he was supposed to fall,'’ Speight said. ‘'When I got up there I saw blood on the carpet. They congregants said, 'Pastor, this is real. Something has happened.' I began to pray for him and had someone call the fire station next door.'”
In response to the story, an unknown blogger wrote:
“As tragic as the following events may be, here's a real Teachable Moment. Blank rounds are comprised of a wad of cardboard and packing material around the kind of explosive charge that one might expect to find in, say, a bullet. When a blank is fired, the packing material shoots out of the gun's barrel at high speed, with potentially lethal results. It may not be a chunk of metal, but they say a soap bubble moving at high enough speed can kill you, if you put your head in its path. …
“What he really illustrated, you may suggest, is the deadliness of ignorance, the terrible impact of misjudging the power of the potent props and toys that society places at our disposal. He stood before a crowd of eager souls, you may say, and presumed to help them know evil without even knowing the deadly capacity in his own hands.”
"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Deadly Instructions
Good Works
Guidance
Ignorance
Source:
“Denver 911 Apologizes for Deadly Instructions” By COLLEEN CURRY, ABC News – Tue, Apr 3, 2012
Link to Source:
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Contributed By:
Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-04-16
Scripture:
Titus 3:5
; Ephesians 2:8
Author:
Illustration Exchange
ABC News reports,
A Denver man who called 911 to report a threatening road-rage encounter reluctantly followed a 911 dispatcher's order to return to the scene of the crime, where he was fatally shot while waiting for police. Jimma Reat, a 26-year-old immigrant from Sudan, was traveling with his brother, cousin, and other passengers early Sunday morning, when a road-rage incident occurred at around 4 a.m., according to ABC affiliate KMGH. Reat's cousin, Ran Pal, called 911 and reported that the occupants of a red Jeep had thrown bottles at their car, breaking the windows and threatening the people in the car, according to the report.
The group was already on their way home when, according to witness accounts, the dispatcher insisted they return to the scene if they wanted an officer to respond and take a report. Reat argued the point, but in the end agreed to return when told they’d receive no assistance otherwise.
Sadly, the perpetrators were still in the vicinity. They saw the vehicle return and continued their assault, shooting Jimma Reat dead in the process.
Carl Simpson, executive director of Denver 911, told ABC affiliate KMGH that he was “deeply saddened” by the events and admitted that the dispatcher did not follow “upper level” events protocol, instead treating the incident like a “lower level” event such as a simple fender bender.
Clearly, the dispatcher in this case was not malicious in his intent. His desire was to help, but his protocol playbook led the victims right back into danger.
Have you ever turned to an expert for help only to be given the wrong counsel? It's an annoyance when the issue is of minor importance, a "lower level" concern. But to be misguided when it comes to the "upper level" concerns of life can be deadly.
Every day scared, confused, desperate people turn to religion and "spiritual advisors" for guidance, for protection, for assurance. To often, the help they're given does nothing more than send them back into harms way, back to a life of failed striving, compounding guilt and mounting shame. When our sins are treated as "lower lever" concerns, like a fender bender, we are sent right back into danger.
Sadly, the worlds protocol playbook knows nothing of God's mercy and saving grace. It’s not that these religious institutions and “spiritual advisors have conscious, malicious intent. They simply lack the knowledge of God's playbook, so they are not equipped to counsel according to the “higher level” protocol which offers forgiveness and new life in Christ.
“For it’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us” (Titus 3:5, cf. Ephesians 2:8-9).