Posted on 07/30/2007 3:29:14 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Forgiveness is available to those suffering from the silent sin of abortion.
One in three women will have an abortion by the age of 45, and half of those will have a second abortion. Despite the church's view on this controversial topic, more than 70 percent of these women consider themselves religious or Christian.
In her ministry work, author Mary Comm has learned there are few places for people to turn in the Christian community following the trauma of having or participating in an abortion, leaving them vulnerable and susceptible to depression, shame, addiction and other negative coping mechanisms now recognized as post-abortion syndrome (PAS). In her book Secret Sin: When God's People Choose Abortion (Morgan James Publishing, March 2007), Comm gives other Christians the knowledge, understanding and compassion necessary to help those who have suffered from the shame of past abortions.
Comm describes how many women feel trapped and pressured into their abortion and need to view the church as a safe haven to discuss their dilemma, but that many Christian women and men will not seek help from Christian friends and their church family after abortions because of the guilt of their sin. Comm encourages pastors and other church leaders to create a safe atmosphere of forgiveness in order to transform the lives of these women. Comm raises awareness of those suffering silently due to past abortions and empowers not only church leaders but the entire congregation to minister Christ's love, forgiveness and reconciliation to the broken hearts and hurting souls in their community and how to create a safe haven for abortion recovery in their church.
Secret Sin was written by a Christian who believes that the millions of walking wounded who suffer the grief from a secret abortion need to forgive themselves and realize that they are not alone and that God still loves them. Comm gives advice to these women and men on how to find peace, but also to those who have the power to reach out and show them God's true love.
"Jesus heals broken hearts and souls of women in need of forgiveness. If we Christians cannot show them the grace and mercy of Jesus then who will?" asks Comm.
Comm reveals:
Why even pro-life women feel forced into abortions The spiritual, physical and emotional toll of abortion Who all can be affected by one person's abortion Why Christians should have compassion for those suffering from past abortions
Mary Comm is the president of In Our Midst Ministries, Inc. a non-profit organization begun in 2004 for the dual purposes of raising awareness in the church regarding those suffering silently due to a past abortion, and equip¬ping churches with the knowledge and information needed to meet these hurting people at the point of their need.
To schedule an interview, for review copies or information on placing an excerpt in your publication, please contact Mary Comm at In Our Midst Ministries, (970) 669-1096.
www.rachelsvineyard.org Teresa burke says there weekend Retreats have almost 50% men now who regret their partners abortion the retreats started as exclusively women now almost 50-50...
“Secret Sin was written by a Christian who believes that the millions of walking wounded who suffer the grief from a secret abortion need to forgive themselves”
I agree that all sinners need to repent and seek God’s forgiveness, but whence this moral imperative to “forgive themselves?” Is that just so we can “feel good about ourselves,” as though we had never committed our terrible deed? Where is our right to that?
Ditto. It isn’t themselves they sinned against. The notes you sound seem to be missing from the article.
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
In hopes fort hose contemplating an abortion, will read this article and, find, with abortion comes this shame and guilt.
I would hope they will not follow through with the procedure.
“forgive themselves?” Is that just so we can “feel good about ourselves,” as though we had never committed our terrible deed? Where is our right to that?
Forgiving oneself does not equate with acting as if “we never committed our terrible deed”. Thank God you’ve never been there. It’s not for the sake of “feel good”, it’s the ability to learn from a terrible mistake and go on to “live” again afterward.
“Thank God you’ve never been there.”
You know what they say about assuming.
“Forgiving oneself does not equate with acting as if “we never committed our terrible deed”.
Sounds to me like it does.
“Sounds to me like it does.”
You’re entitled to your opinion. Peace be with you.
My son was talked into being the only male panelist on an Austin public access TV call-in show a few years ago.
The topic was, “Do you feel the same way about your abortion now?”
The the panelists were all homeschoolers who admitted they had no knowledge about the emotions involved in abortion, and wanted people to call in with their experiences.
The show turned into a MALE call-in.
Dozens of guys with broken hearts were talking about the child who would have been x years old now, and how with the laws as they are, they were powerless to do anything.
There are lots of victims of abortion.
It’s the man’s job to take care of the pregnant woman and child. Why are men made stronger and more analytical? It’s to perform a role, a function, same as women who connect with thier young children in a way that no man does (the flip side of being analytical I think). The men, many of them anyway, now know that they failed as men when they didn’t do everything they could to save the baby and protect and help the woman so she wasn’t led into killing their child. So there is a lot of grief, especially when the men realize the world lied to them when they were told over and over and over that abortion is no big deal, ok, just a fetus, etc.
Many of the male callers were probably even relieved by the abortion at the time, such an easy solution, only to realize years and years later that they killed their own child.
How many men and women aborted only to never find “Mr. or Miss Right” and are left with no one but a bunch of colleagues at work and sordid memories . . .
“Many of the male callers were probably even relieved by the abortion at the time, such an easy solution, only to realize years and years later that they killed their own child.”
My son was profoundly affected by what he heard.
We had told him that sex outside marriage has consequences, but this drove it home.
He barely dates now, and keeps things friendly and light because he knows he’s not ready for marriage.
He barely dates now, and keeps things friendly and light because he knows he’s not ready for marriage.
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Good place to be (wise and young). Wish more of our boys could step away from the secular culture and discipline themselves before they make mistakes rather than after.
“Wish more of our boys could step away from the secular culture and discipline themselves before they make mistakes rather than after.”
Indeed. My question, though, is why we have to allow our secular culture to be as it is. What happened to our right to order our society as we see fit?
It used to be that the default was to reject depravity. Now the default is to embrace depravity. How did that come about, and why aren’t we up in arms about it?
Indeed. My question, though, is why we have to allow our secular culture to be as it is. What happened to our right to order our society as we see fit?
It used to be that the default was to reject depravity. Now the default is to embrace depravity. How did that come about, and why aren’t we up in arms about it?
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I blame “Playboy.” It created a sea change in the late fifties and early sixties in male attitudes towards sex; things that men would have been ashamed of ten years earlier they were told to be proud of and they believed it. The guy that gets girls is successful, even in the estimation of their church going fathers. I see it all the time. A wink at the boys when they are with a girl when the family should be telling them to be more serious and find the one right girl rather than ten or twenty or fifty girls that aren’t taken seriously and only open the boy to risk of STD’s, unplanned pregnancy, and a sort of hardened “next” kind of attitude. It ultimately hurts the boys just as much as the girls in my opinion; worse in a way since the men after the divorce have big child support payments and little time with or influence over the children. Basically, the men get all kinds of sex early in their lives and then have their families broken up even if they try their best to keep the family together because the whole relationship in marriage is tainted by the culture and what the two have internalized from it. The “next” attitude doesn’t end just because two people are married.
Everyone needs to read of God’s reaction to King Manasseh of Judah when he repented of all the evil he had done as king of Judah. (While he was in prison in Babylon, of all places-ever wonder why its a desert?) Anyway, God actually heard his prayer of total regret, and let him go home. When Manasseh went home, he tore down all the alters where child sacrifice had been practiced, and made sure it didn’t happen again. Let God teach you how He deals with those who have done this. We can do no less.
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