By Autumn Leva, VP of Strategy for Family Policy Alliance
Yesterday was an amazing day for children and families in two states—and for the Christian and other faith-based adoption agencies who serve them.
Late last night, the Kansas Legislature passed the Adoption Protection Act, making Kansas the ninth state to protect the right of faith-based adoption agencies to continue their good work. Kansas followed Oklahoma, which also passed a similar measure yesterday.
You may be wondering why we need laws to protect faith-based adoption agencies. The reason is that radical Leftist activists like the ACLU and leading LGBT activist groups want to see faith-based adoption agencies shut down across the country. They believe that agencies whose mission is to place children without a family in a loving home with a mother and a father is “discriminatory.” They’d rather see these agencies forced to close down—resulting in less opportunities for children to find a forever family—than to let them continue to live out their faith in their adoption ministry.
This just further underscores how the Left values its political agenda over what’s best for children.
But, unlike states such as Massachusetts and Illinois that have already actively pushed out faith-based adoption providers, Kansas and Oklahoma joined the growing trend to protect faith-based agencies and the children they serve.
Eric Teetsel is President of Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, our ally in the Sunflower State, who helped lead the efforts on the Adoption Protection Act in Kansas. He shared with us what the bill means for his state:
“While other states shut down faith-based providers by establishing a radical, left-wing sexual litmus test, Kansas has made clear: everyone is welcome here.”
Eric also described how God worked in an amazing way to make the bill’s passage possible—even after the nation’s leading LGBT advocacy group falsely claimed that over 80 businesses opposed protecting faith-based adoption agencies and sent its president personally to the state to lobby against the bill!
“Getting the Adoption Protection Act over the line was a battle from the beginning, and – on the final day – needed four separate votes to pass.
On the first of those votes, we got the 60 we needed, but knew we had to get to 63 on “final action.” Weeks and weeks of work and we had just a few hours to find 3 more votes. But, do you know what yesterday was? National Day of Prayer.
And – get this – just before the critical House vote, a troupe of bagpipers and drummers began to play under the Capitol dome. The tune? Amazing Grace.
Read more on what happened in Kansas last night
Isn’t that incredible?
We give God all the glory for the victories in Kansas and Oklahoma!
You can help!
If you would like to join us in helping faith-based adoption agencies, we are looking for Believers to urge their U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators to pass a federal bill that will protect these incredible and selfless faith-based adoption providers across the country!
Through our Action Center, you can send an instant message to your own lawmakers.
Thank you for your help as we work together to keep kids first!
When your state legislature is flooded with bills, how do you discern which are worthy of your support?
Eric Teetsel, president of Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, shares from personal experience how he makes that sometimes difficult decision. His insights are true for every state in the country.
Learn more about Family Policy Alliance of Kansas.
Gov. Sam Brownback has signed 18 pro-life bills covering a broad range of issues that all go toward protecting pre-born babies.
Paul Weber, president of Family Policy Alliance, asks him how to stand strong in the face of adversarial courts.
Learn more about the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas.
by Eric Teetsel, president, Family Policy Alliance of Kansas
I was put to shame last week.
This is what happened. A friend told my wife that a doctor had given a talk at her women’s group at church on transgender issues. My wife mentioned it to me. Curious, I asked for more details.
I learned that the speaker was Beth Sonneville, a chaplain at Children’s Mercy Hospital. The purpose of her presentation was to make a biblical argument in favor of transgenderism.
Her argument included Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Apparently, per Sonneville, this passage says that God contains both male and female, and since we are all created in God’s image, we each have male and female within us.
Sonneville also used Galatians 3:28 – or part of it anyway. The passage she used was, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one”.
It’s a lie. Like the serpent in the Garden, Sonneville twists God’s word to further her pernicious influence.
Genesis 1:27 is fundamental in the Bible’s instruction on human sexuality, but it is not the only word on the subject. A proper understanding of any verse must take into account the full counsel of God’s word. In this case, the Bible provides a fuller account in Genesis 2, and fuller explication of Genesis 1:27 from both Paul and Jesus Himself in Matthew 19, among other teachings.
Genesis 2 provides “the rest of the story” of the creation of Adam and Eve. Here we find Adam in the Garden alone. For the first time, God’s pattern of creation and affirmation is interrupted. Whereas before the LORD surveyed everything He made and saw that it was good, in response to Adam’s loneliness God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him,” (18).
God says a creation in which man is without woman is “not good.” We are complementary pieces. At the close of chapter 2, the Bible says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh,” (24).
In his letter to the Church in Ephesus, Paul quotes this verse from Genesis and reveals that the one flesh union of husband and wife is a living picture of a magnificent spiritual reality. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church,” (3:32).
Contrary to Sonneville, the implication of the Imago Dei for human sexuality is not that each of us contains male and female, but rather that the duality of male and female was instituted by God as part of a created order that brings distinct halves together in marriage in demonstration of God’s love for His Church.
Sonneville’s twisting of Galatians 3:28 is even more obvious and damnable. She simply left out the crucial clause at the end: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Emphasis added.)
Put aside for a moment the male and female aspect of this verse. What exactly does Sonneville think Paul was saying about Jews and Greeks? Slave and free? If you apply the logic of her conclusion, Paul was not only eliminating sexual distinctions but ethnic and class distinctions as well. That would be odd for Paul, who later relies on his dual citizenship as both a Jew and a Roman in his appeal to Caesar (Acts 25) and who exhorts bondservants to obey their masters and masters to be good to their slaves (Ephesians 6).
Clearly, Galatians 3:28 is not the literal elimination of every differentiating human characteristic. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of the reality of those differences. Paul’s point is not that differences don’t exist, but that they do exist but shouldn’t preclude Christians from fellowshipping together under the banner of the one ultimate characteristic they share: devotion to Christ.
My friend says Sonneville has done several of these presentations in the Kansas City area. She says women rave about the talk. Unfortunately, no one was there to rebuke her false teaching and correct it. The Church has been asleep while the proponents of an anti-biblical sexual ideology have methodically been making their rounds.
For this I apologize. I won’t allow these voices to go unchallenged any longer.
The Family Policy Alliance of Kansas will begin building a network of churches and ministry leaders committed to upholding biblical truths on matters of life, human sexuality, and religious freedom.
We do this to ensure the integrity of the Gospel, yes, and because we understand that the Gospel is desperately needed throughout the world. We will engage opposing voices in person and in print, speaking, preaching, debating and testifying because we know that if God’s word is true than it is good, and if it is good then it is necessary if our neighbors are to thrive.
Will you help me?
Here’s are three things you can do:
First, pray. Please don’t mistake this for some lame head fake towards holiness. Our appeals to the Creator of the Universe are a proclamation that there is an authority higher than any school board, legislature, or Congress. Prayer is, therefore, a political act. And a radical one.
Second, get in the game. This isn’t as daunting as it may sound. Identify your state representative and state senator. (Here’s a tool that makes it easy: Action Center.) Email them and invite them to join you for a coffee. Get to know them. Tell them about yourself. Tell them you will be praying for them. Over time, email them to encourage them and congratulate them. And, when the time comes, tell them what you expect them to do. Remember, they work for you.
I can’t emphasize too strongly the power of such an effort. Almost nobody bothers with their local representatives. Most people don’t even know their name. If you establish a positive, respectful relationship you will influence them.
Third, we need to know your stories. This session, we are working closely with legislators to craft a Student Protection Act. This commonsense bill will require public schools to limit bathrooms, locker rooms, and other similar spaces to members of one sex. It also instructs school leaders to provide reasonable accommodations for students who are not comfortable in such a setting, for whatever reason.
Make no mistake, despite our efforts to provide a safe, fair environment for all students this law will be attacked as hateful, bigoted, and mean. Its supporters will be held accountable for the bullying, depression, and even suicide of LGBTQ students. It’s already happening.
The best way to counter these narratives is to speak up for the safety and wellbeing of their children.
Learn more about Family Policy Alliance of Kansas.
He’s been part of the family movement for years. Now, Eric Teetsel is taking the helm of Family Policy Alliance of Kansas.
Today, you’ll meet Eric and learn why he’s excited to lead our Kansas group as they work to help families thrive.
If you live in Kansas, we encourage you to like the state Facebook page and bookmark the website.
The media often act as if the only election is for the presidency. But so much more is at stake.
Top on the list is control of the U.S. Senate. That is critical for many reasons, especially for confirming or rejecting judicial nominees.
One example of a critical Senate race is in Florida, where Family Policy Alliance already has field staff on the ground. They’re leading teams who are calling and knocking on doors—reaching key pro-family citizens who are inconsistent voters and need your encouragement to go vote this November.
“We are thankful to partner with Family Policy Alliance in this year’s critical efforts to get pro-family voters to the polls,” says John Stemberger, president of Family Policy Alliance’s state group Florida Family Action. “This is the kind of on-the-ground work that wins elections, and we are grateful for the strategic support of the Family Policy Alliance team, which makes this project successful.”
Also, Family Policy Alliance is focused on key state legislative races that could make a huge difference in protecting life and religious freedom. For example, a change of just three seats in the Kentucky House could pave the way for passage of a host of pro- family protections that are currently being blocked.
And because judges so often strike down pro-family legislation, Family Policy Alliance is working to hold judges accountable. Among states we are focused on is Kansas, where several activist liberal judges are facing key retention votes.
Every candidate would have you believe that their race is the most important. But Family Policy Alliance does the digging for you to find the races around the country that really matter the most—and where additional resources will make a difference for your values.
That’s why one of the smartest ways for you to support pro-family election efforts is by investing in your Family Policy Alliance. When you do, you’ll influence the outcome of important down-ticket races. Will you partner with Family Policy Alliance today, to educate and rally pro-family Americans to the polls this fall?
Florida Governor urged to sign HB 1411 bill into law.
The Florida Legislature passed HB 1411, a bill that cuts state funding to abortion facilities, including Planned Parenthood.
If signed into law, the money that would have gone to Planned Parenthood now goes to hundreds of deserving low-cost community health clinics and women’s health centers.
“Republicans in the Florida Legislature are to be commended,” said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, “for showing leadership and for doing the right thing by passing this historic piece of legislation.”
The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature. If signed, Florida would join Texas, Utah, Kansas, New Hampshire, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana in defunding Planned Parenthood.
“On behalf of thousands of Floridians who object to their taxes going to fund Planned Parenthood,” Stemberger said, “I continue to urge Gov. Scott to sign this good bill into law.”