Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking.

AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000. Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

Citation: Donna Schaper, All Is Calm (St. Mary’s Press, 1999), p. 54

Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion – – Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion.

• In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2008, nearly 50 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).
• In 2007, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,954), NYC(90,870), and Texas (80,886); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (9), South Dakota (707), and North Dakota (1,235) (CDC).
• The 2007 abortion ratios by state ranged from a low of 58 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho and South Dakota (Wyoming had too few abortions for reliable tabulation) to a high of 737 abortions per 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).
• The annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States doubled between 1973 and 1979, and peaked in 1990. There was a slow but steady decline through the 1990′s. The number of annual abortions decreased by 2% between 2000 and 2007, with a slight spike in 2006. (CDC)
• In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
• In 2005, the abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

• In 2007, 84% of all abortions were performed on unmarried women (CDC).
• Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions; women between 25-29 obtained 24% (CDC).
• 50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17% (AGI).
• In 2007, adolescents under 15 years obtained .05% of all abortions, but had the highest abortion ratio, 768 abortions for every 1,000 live births (CDC).
• 47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion (AGI).
• Black women are more than 4.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely (AGI).
• 37% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 28% identify themselves as Catholic (AGI).
• At current rates, nearly one-third of American women will have an abortion (AGI).

WHY ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

• On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

WHEN DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?

• 88-92% of all abortions happen during the first trimester, prior to the 13th week of gestation (AGI/CDC).

HOW ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

• In 2007, 86% of abortions were performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation[D&E]). Most curettage abortions are suction procedures (CDC).
• Medical abortions made up approximately 12% of all abortions reported (CDC).

WHO IS PERFORMING ABORTIONS?

• The number of abortion providers declined by 11% between 1996 and 2000 (from 2,042 to 1,819). It declined another 2% between 2000 and 2005 (from 1,819 to 1,787) It has remained stable between 2005 and 2008 (1,787 to 1,793). (AGI).
• Forty-two percent of providers offer very early abortions (during the first four weeks’ gestation) and 95% offer abortion at eight weeks. Sixty-four percent of providers offer at least some second-trimester abortion services (13 weeks or later), and 20% offer abortion after 20 weeks. Eleven percent of all abortion providers offer abortions past 24 weeks (AGI).

ABORTION FATALITY

• In 2007, 6 women died as a result of complications from known legal induced abortion (CDC).
• The number of deaths attributable to legal induced abortion was highest before the 1980s (CDC).
• In 1972 (the year before abortion was federally legalized), a total of 24 women died from causes known to be associated with legal abortions, and 39 died as a result of known illegal abortions(CDC).

THE COST OF ABORTION

• In 2009, the average cost of a nonhospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks of gestation was $451 (AGI).

MEDICAL ABORTION

• In 2005, 57% of abortion providers, or 1,026 facilities, provided one or more types of medical abortions, a 70% increase from the first half of 2001. At least 10% of nonhospital abortion providers offer only medication abortion services (AGI).
• In 2005, an estimated 161,100 early medication abortions were performed in nonhospital facilities (AGI).
• Medication abortion accounted for 17% of all abortions in 2008 (AGI).

ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION

• Induced abortions usually result from unintended pregnancies, which often occur despite the use ofcontraception (CDC).
• 54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use (AGI).
• 8% of women having abortions have never used a method of birth control (AGI).
• 9 in 10 women at risk of unintended pregnancy are using a contraceptive method (AGI).

ABORTION AND MINORS

• 40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI).
• 35 states currently enforce parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking an abortion: AL,AR, AZ, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI , MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC,SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. The Supreme Court ruled that minors must have the alternative of seeking a court order authorizing the procedure (AGI).

ABORTION AND PUBLIC FUNDS

• The U.S. Congress has barred the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, except when the woman’s life would be endangered by a full-term pregnancy or in cases of rape or incest (AGI).
• 17 states (AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) do use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds (virtually all from the state) (AGI).

http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/

Myth #2: Women need abortion for health reasons.
Fact: An Alan Guttmacher Institute survey found that nearly one-half of women obtaining abortions said they used no means to control conception during the month they got pregnant.
Fact: Only 7 percent of all abortions are done for the mother’s physical or psychological health. Rape and incest are cited as reasons for less than 1 percent of all abortions.
Fact: Nationally, 77.8 percent of women obtaining abortions are unmarried. The statistics strongly suggest abortion is used as birth control.*

Myth #3: No one knows when human life begins.
Fact: The California Medical Association referred to “the scientific fact, which everyone really knows, that human life begins at conception and is continuous whether intra- or extra-uterine until death.”

Myth #4: Abortion is an unfortunate necessity and doesn’t happen often.
Fact: More than 1.5 million abortions took place during 1992 in the United States.*

Myth #5: We need abortion to reduce child abuse. Wanted children will not become abused children.
Fact: Abortion has done nothing to reduce child abuse. Statistics show the overall change from 1976 to 1992 has been a growth of 331 percent in child abuse cases in the United States.*

Myth #6: The typical abortive woman is a poor, minority teen.
Fact: more than one-half of women getting abortions are between the ages of 20–29, and statistics show nearly two-thirds of abortions are performed on white women.*

—Right to Life Michigan
AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000. Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

In May 2006, Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association published a study conducted by the National Science Foundation revealing that certain ionic air purifiers (those using a process called ozonolysis) actually pollute their environment. Here’s how it works. Ionic air purifiers function by charging airborne particles through a process called ionization. Once charged, these particles then stick to metal electrodes. Theoretically, the air is cleaner after passing through the purifier because it has fewer particles. However, the study found that the ionization process itself produces ozone. This gas is helpful when located way up in the atmosphere because it blocks harmful UV rays. However, at the surface of the earth, ozone is better known as smog. Human exposure to high levels of ozone can cause damaged lungs, shortness of breath, throat irritation, and a worsening of asthma.

Study leader Sergey Nizkorodov, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Irvine, said, “People operating air purifiers indoors are more prone to being exposed to ozone levels in excess of public health standards.” Indeed, the study revealed that some homes and cars using indoor air purifiers registered ozone levels exceeding 350 parts per billion, which would trigger a Stage 2 Smog Alert if measured outside.

In 2005, the acting chairperson of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) delivered this warning about ionic air purifiers that use ozonolysis: “These machines are insidious. Marketed as a strong defense against indoor air pollution, they emit ozone, the same chemical that the ARB and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been trying to eliminate from our air for decades. More chilling is that some people susceptible to the ill effects of ozone will eagerly bring these Trojan horses home.”

In the same way, in our efforts to be pure in God’s sight, we can make our problems even worse. If we try to make ourselves clean before God by relying on our own goodness rather than on the cross of Jesus Christ, we make ourselves even more unclean in the sight of God.

—Robert Roy Britt, “Isn’t It Ionic? Air Purifiers Make Smog,” LiveScience.com (May 9, 2006)

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (335–336). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith.

They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.

The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.

Citation: Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace? (Zondervan, 1997)

Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion – – Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion.

You may think that boredom is a minor matter. Everyone gets bored sometimes; it’s only natural. But let me tell you something about boredom and this dangerous apathy that is creeping over the land and over the minds and hearts of the people. Man is the only one of God’s creatures who is capable of being bored, although I’ve seen animals in a zoo that look very bored! No other living thing except man can ever be bored with itself or its surroundings. This is very significant, for the Creator never does anything without a purpose, and if He gave man the capacity for boredom, He did it for a purpose.

Boredom is one of the sure ways to measure your own inner emptiness! It’s as accurate as a thermometer for telling just how hollow your inner spirit really is. The person who is thoroughly bored is living and working in a vacuum. His inner self is a vacuum, and there is nothing that nature resents more than a vacuum. It is one of the unfailing rules of this universe that all vacuums must be filled, and filled immediately.

Billy Graham. Peace with God: The Secret Happiness (pp. 9-10). Kindle Edition.