IS THERE ABSOLUTE TRUTH?

The belief that Jesus Christ alone is the saviour of humanity and the only way to salvation has been a foundational tenet of Christianity from its beginning.  At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke to his disciples about the way to heaven. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6.) 

Jesus went on to promise “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept.” (verse 16-17) After Christ’s Ascension, Peter was filled with the holy Spirit (as promised) and proclaimed this about Jesus: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4.12)  Pretty clear, pretty exclusive. The Apostle Timothy was equally clear: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2.5)

Unpopular message

This sort of message is not generally welcome to our age of pseudo-pluralism where truth is relative and people want to hear about many paths to God.  But if the testimony of Jesus, Peter and Timothy are to be believed, this is not true. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ.  Should I believe those who espouse that all religions are basically the same and there are many paths to God, or should I believe Jesus, Saints Peter and Timothy.  Hmmm, I wonder who it will be ? 

Truth is rarely fashionable—but it is knowable.  The truth is knowable because Jesus Christ is truth and the He is the saviour of the world, and we can know Him.

21^st century relativism

Many people in the 21^st Century no longer accept that there is such a thing as truth, and certainly no such thing as absolute truth. To them, the only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth—there’s no right and wrong, only opinions.  All ethics are situational.  (Actually, if there’s no such thing as right and wrong then the concept of ethics is meaningless.)  Everybody is tolerant of everything; the only thing not to be tolerated is intolerance. What we are experience is the liberal left's emerging as intolerance of any views except their own. And as we see with the left's intolerance of even laws that don't meet with their approval. We witness that with violence such the riots in Minneapolis and Los Angeles in open defiance of law and order.

People must rely on laws as the only recourse for moral direction. But even laws can be changed with a simple majority vote and a stroke of a legislative pen. In a world of relativism, there is no higher Truth that exists apart from what legislatures declare and enforce. The final arbiter of truth is power. Change the government and what was right and true yesterday is replaced by a different government and a new set of standards and a different set of lawmakers. What was previously unthinkable can becomes the law of the land. Germany showed us that in the last century.

 

Without a higher moral Law or standard for people to agree upon and follow (or an author and giver of that higher Law or standard), all that’s left is consensus of those who are most powerful and cunning. If there’s no lawgiver, no Messiah to save us from ourselves, then ultimately most people will find no meaning or purpose to life, no truth, life will have no intrinsic value.   

Society may have to hunt down and jail criminals like Paul Bernardo or John Wayne Gacy to protect itself.  But if we seriously believe there is no such thing a right and wrong, no truth, then it’s pointless condemning what they did. After all, when they committed their sexual abductions, tortures and murders, their personal definition of truth may have been dominance and self-gratification.  Somebody may interject to say, “They had no right to impose their views on others or kill those women!”  Why not?  If there is no right or wrong, then there’s no basis to make such a claim.   

What is truth?

That’s why I find 21^st Century relativists suspect. In one breath they maintain there is no objective right and wrong, no absolute Truth.  In the next breath they’re decrying the destruction of the rain forests, or using animals in medical experimentation, or they’re marching in the streets against globalization or lawful deportation of illegal aliens. Methinks the relativist believes in objective truth more than he’s letting on and he expects the rest of us to agree (or at least acquiesce). Why? Well, according to the relativist, each person has his personal truth, his own standard of right and wrong, and he must not inflict his standards or morals on others. But that is exactly what relativists are doing when they march in the streets shouting and waving banners or destroying property. 

Now, if there is such a thing as objective truth, where does it come from? Christianity says Jesus is the Truth. His crucifixion and Resurrection gave rise to a tidal wave of love and hope for millions of people for more than two thousand years. 

Each person must decide if Jesus is the only saviour of the world. Personally, I’ve concluded the answer is Yes. Christ has utterly changed my life for forty-five years.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AN ALL-PERVADING PRESENCE?

They say artificial intelligence (AI) knows all about everyone who has an Internet footprint: It knows who you are, where you live, what you do. Really? Out of curiosity I asked AI about myself. Its response is below. Hmmm. The only thing it got wrong was the number of my grandchildren (7 not 5). Very quick. 

AI Overview

Learn more

Mark Davis Pickup is a Canadian Christian author and advocate. He is known for his work on issues related to disability, human life, and assisted suicide. He has written extensively and given numerous speeches on these topics. He currently resides in Beaumont, AB, with his wife and family. 

Here's a more detailed look at his work and background:

·       Advocate for Life and Disability:

Mark Pickup is a prominent voice in the pro-life movement and a strong advocate for the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. 

·       Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis:

He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 30, which significantly impacted his life and career path. 

·       Writer and Speaker:

After leaving the workforce due to his condition, he dedicated himself to writing, speaking, and advocating on issues he felt strongly about. 

·       Author of "To be, or not to be...":

He wrote a documentary, "To be, or not to be... the Human Family. (A disabled man's plea)," which focused on the issue of assisted suicide and the dignity of human life. 

·       HumanLifeMatters.org:

He runs a blog called HumanLifeMatters.org where he writes about Christian faith, ethics, and his views on various issues. 

·       Multiple Awards:

He has received several awards for his work, including a Governor General's Medal for community service and the Monsignor Bill Irwin Award for Ethical Excellence. 

·       Family:

He lives in Beaumont, AB, with his wife LaRee, and they have two children and five grandchildren. 

 

IS THERE ABSOLUTE TRUTH?

The belief that Jesus Christ alone is the saviour of humanity and the only way to salvation has been a foundational tenet of Christianity from its beginning.  At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke to his disciples about the way to heaven. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6.) 

Jesus went on to promise “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept.” (verse 16-17) After Christ’s Ascension, Peter was filled with the holy Spirit (as promised) and proclaimed this about Jesus: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4.12)  Pretty clear, pretty exclusive. The Apostle Timothy was equally clear: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2.5)

Unpopular message

This sort of message is not generally welcome to our age of pseudo-pluralism where truth is relative and people want to hear about many paths to God.  But if the testimony of Jesus, Peter and Timothy are to be believed, this is not true. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ.  Should I believe those who espouse that all religions are basically the same and there are many paths to God, or should I believe Jesus, Saints Peter and Timothy.  Hmmm, I wonder who it will be ? 

Truth is rarely fashionable—but it is knowable.  The truth is knowable because Jesus Christ is truth and the He is the saviour of the world, and we can know Him.

21^st century relativism

Many people in the 21^st Century no longer accept that there is such a thing as truth, and certainly no such thing as absolute truth. To them, the only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth—there’s no right and wrong, only opinions.  All ethics are situational.  (Actually, if there’s no such thing as right and wrong then the concept of ethics is meaningless.)  Everybody is tolerant of everything; the only thing not to be tolerated is intolerance. What we are experience is the liberal left's emerging as intolerance of any views except their own. And as we see with the left's intolerance of even laws that don't meet with their approval. We witness that with violence such the riots in Minneapolis and Los Angeles in open defiance of law and order.

People must rely on laws as the only recourse for moral direction. But even laws can be changed with a simple majority vote and a stroke of a legislative pen. In a world of relativism, there is no higher Truth that exists apart from what legislatures declare and enforce. The final arbiter of truth is power. Change the government and what was right and true yesterday is usurped by a new set of standards and a different set of lawmakers. What was previously unthinkable can becomes the law of the land. Germany showed us that in the last century.

 

Without a higher moral Law or standard for people to agree upon and follow (or an author and giver of that higher Law or standard), all that’s left is consensus of those who are most powerful and cunning. If there’s no lawgiver, no Messiah to save us from ourselves, then ultimately most people will find no meaning or purpose to life, no truth, life will have no intrinsic value.   

Society may have to hunt down and jail criminals like Paul Bernardo or John Wayne Gacy to protect itself.  But if we seriously believe there is no such thing a right and wrong, no truth, then it’s pointless condemning what they did. After all, when they committed their sexual abductions, tortures and murders, their personal definition of truth may have been dominance and self-gratification.  Somebody may interject to say, “They had no right to impose their views on others or kill those women!”  Why not?  If there is no right and wrong, then there’s no basis to make such a claim.  

What is truth?

That’s why I find 21^st Century relativists suspect. In one breath they maintain there is no objective right and wrong, no absolute Truth.  In the next breath they’re decrying the destruction of the rain forests, or using animals in medical experimentation, or they’re marching in the streets against globalization or lawful deportation of illegal aliens. Methinks the relativist believes in objective truth more than he’s letting on and he expects the rest of us to agree (or at least acquiesce). Why? Well, according to the relativist, each person has his personal truth, his own standard of right and wrong, and he must not inflict his standards or morals on others. But that is exactly what relativists are doing when they march in the streets shouting and waving banners and destroying property. Even politicians like the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, are defying legal enforce under federal law which supersedes state and local laws. If politicians can pick and choose  which they will obey and which law they will ignore or defy, what's to stop people under their authority denying or defying state or municipal laws? What good for the goose is good for the gander. 

Now, if there is such a thing as objective truth, where does it come from? Christianity says Jesus is the Truth. His crucifixion and Resurrection gave rise to a tidal wave of love and hope for millions of people for more than two thousand years. 

Each person must decide if Jesus is the only saviour of the world. Personally, I’ve concluded the answer is Yes. Christ has utterly changed my life for forty-five years.

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

 

Turn Your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full upon His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

The hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus was written by Helen Howarth Lemmel in 1922. Helen went blind in her mid-forties.  Her husband left her destitute. She was blind when she wrote the beloved hymn Turn Your eyes Upon Jesus.

What she lacked in earthly possessions was made up by her blazing living faith in Christ. She continued in Christian serve well into her 90s. She could not see with the eyes of her body, but she had 20/20 vision when it came to seeing with the eyes of her heart and soul. Hymnologist Bill Cottrill wrote this about Helen Lemmel:

“The frail old woman sits at a table in her tiny room in Seattle, Washington. Before her is a small plastic organ–one such as a child might have. But, as she fingers the keys and sings, her poor surroundings seem to fade from view, her face shines with the light of heaven, and tears trickle down her time-lined cheeks. Perhaps in her mind she is seated at a majestic pipe organ in some ornate cathedral. But the place doesn’t matter. She is intent on worshiping her Saviour.

The woman’s name is Helen. In her nineties at the time described, and with little of this world’s goods, her faith sustained her.”[2]

Adult acquired disability is a terrible shock. What was is no more. For Helen Lemmel it was blindness beginning in her 40s. For me it was progressive disability of multiple sclerosis beginning at the age of 30. 

I am a witness to the truth of Helen’s beautiful hymn. In my wide-eyed terror of serious neurological disease and a creeping paralysis that took me from being healthy and able bodied to triplegic (paralysis in three limbs). Her hymn strikes a full chord. The things of earth did grow strangely dim—like catastrophic disability—when I kept my eyes on that wonderful face of Jesus.

When I was at a certain point of disability when legs no longer worked and I had serious paralysis in my right arm, my artist son drew a picture of Jesus portrayed by Robert Powell in the 1977 TV series Jesus of Nazareth. It was my favourite portrayal of Jesus until Passion of the Christ (2004). 

I’m 72 now. Most of my adult life has been battling aggressive MS. Christ has been with me (and my wife) every step of that journey. I’ll keep your eyes upon Jesus. It won’t be long before I stand before His wonderful face. 

“Now we see a poor reflection as in a mirror; Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” —1 Corinthians 13.12 

---

[1] Inspired by Hebrews 12:1-2. 

[2] Robert Cottril, Today in 1864 — Hellen Lemmel Born, (Wordwise: With Robert Cottrill, 14 November 2022    https://wordwisebiblestudies.com/today-in-1864-helen-lemmel-born/

 

FELLOWSHIP FOR PERFORMING ARTS: GOSPEL OF MARK 16

Max Mclean is a talented actor. He is the founder and artistic director of Christian Fellowship for Performing Arts. I invite you to watch his 3:56-minute rendition of the Gospel of Mark Chapter 16. 

Click the link below and enjoy!

Mark 16

PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN SWINDOLL THOMPSON (Chuck Swindoll's daughter)

 

Colleen Swindoll Thompson has a wonderful podcast called Reframing Ministries. It’s part of the radio ministry of her father, Chuck Swindoll, called Insight For Living.  What is Reframing Ministries? See a short 3:44 YouTube clip explaining it. Click here.

I was interviewed by Colleen on her podcast in 2019, shortly after the Lord raised me from years in an electric wheelchair and paralysis as an old man, after more than 30 years with aggressive MS and paralysis. 

It has been 6 years since the interview. I am still walking! To listen to that interview, click here   — Mark

CURRENCY OF MY SOUL

Decades of suffering with aggressive degenerative disability (MS) caused me to deal in the currency of my soul. It has been tough slugging because it deals with the essence of my being and how I saw myself in the world and how I acted and reacted in and to the world. My first 30 years were healthy and athletic, and then I was disabled using cane(s), crutches and wheelchairs. Who was I? What had I become? Why? How was I to deal with the sorrow and grief that coursed through my veins, breaking my heart and the hearts of those who loved me. 

With God's help, I was able to cross my river of grief at my adult-acquired disability to discover a new self. The old self was gone as surely as if I had died. I needed to grieve my loss, then search for a new self and a new self-identity. A new Mark emerged—different to be sure—but no less alive or vital than the previous Mark. My soul answered Yes to the fundamental question: Is life worth living, even if it seems to be in hopeless circumstances? Victor Frankel was a survivor of Nazi death camps. In his remarkable book Man's Search For Meaning, he wrote:

    "In the consciousness of one's inner value is anchored in higher more spiritual things and cannot be shaken by camp life. But how many free men, let alone prisoners possess it?"

I could relate to this. My wheelchair was a prison for my broken body, but it also liberated me spiritually by driving me inward to deal with my inner brokenness. I had to deal with the darkness of sin. Frankel also wrote: "If there is to be any meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering."

This struck a full chord. My journey with the neurological degeneration of MS served as a purifying fire. Some men are guilty of sins of the flesh, gluttony, jealousy or envy, fits of anger, alcohol or drug abuse. I am guilty of the worst sin: Pride. Pride was what made the devil the devil!

I needed to be brought low and have that infernal pride crushed. I think MS was God's tool. There were times when I could not dress myself or tie my own shoes, times when I needed to be propped up in my electric wheelchair to keep me from sagging to one side or the other, times when I needed to be diapered, times when I couldn't speak and my hearing was affected. Times when my vision was impaired so much I couldn't read, times when my hands were too weak to cut the meat on my dish at meals. Someone else had to do it for me. Creeping paralysis made me triplegic (the loss of use of three limbs).  We had to build a wheelchair-accessible home. There were times when I was virtually bedridden and needed a hoist to get me out of bed. I needed to come to a necessary point where I was dependent on others to do many basic daily things. I needed humiliation and shame to understand that I was not in charge of my life and that my pride and independence needed to give way to humility of interdependence. My health was gone. My career was over at the age of thirty-eight then put out to pasture. The only thing left to me was love (both human and divine). I needed to surrender every shard of my life to Christ and be willing to accept whatever His will might be. I needed to become content in whatever state I found myself in because the Holy Spirit was with me and in me. It was in surrender that I found freedom. 

Then God released me from my wheelchair, seven years ago, to walk again as an old man.

I will be 72 in May. I've been married to the love of my life for 52
years. My wife and I love Christ. We have contentment and peace. If I had to go back into that electric wheelchair gathering dust in an unused bedroom, for whatever years I have left, I will still praise God. My every 'Why' has been answered in Christ.

MDP

AN UPDATE ABOUT A LITTLE ORPHAN WHO IS AN ORPHAN NO MORE

 This is an update to my previous blog post, "An Orphan Gets a Second Chance at a Forever Family." 

Our little one is here in Canada with us. She is absolutely enthralled with snow. She has made her first snow angel. 

Her first seven years were tumultuous and traumatic. It's going to be a long hard journey for her to heal. But with psychological help, a stable loving home, and God's healing touch, I pray she will be able to reconcile her broken heart with the past and move ahead to reach her full potential. Thank you Lord for answered prayers. 

With all the frenzy of raising two seven-year-old ex-orphans, it is such a blessing but also exhausting for my daughter and her husband.  They must take time for themselves. I've encouraged them to make time for themselves. They mustn't burn the candle at both ends. Rest is important to be at one's best as a parent (and grandparent).

MDP

AFTER A FALSE START AN ORPHAN GETS A SECOND CHANCE TO HAVE A FOREVER FAMILY

 My daughter, Ronaele, is in the process of trying to take legal guardianship of another Haitian orphan whose American adoption failed. She has written that little girl's story and appeal below. (That would make both children in the photo my grandchildren!) My daughter has a heart for orphaned kids and I have a heart for grandchildren. Like arrows, I have a quiver full (to use a Biblical phrase. Psalm 127:3-5)

They were orphans from Haiti, who were torn apart by international adoption. Sophie (our daughter) lives in Canada, Alicha (her best friend & crib-mate from the orphanage), is in Texas.

The last time they saw each other was May 16, 2023 – in Haiti at their orphanage. We took a harrowing flight, to pick up our daughter (Sophie) as kidnappings and killings overtook Port-au-Prince. Once we were handed Sophie, we boarded our plane and white-knuckled it out of Haiti, hoping bullets didn’t pepper the plane. 

What was to come for Sophie’s best friend just 11 months later was another story altogether. She was evacuated in a now historic rescue of a few of Haiti’s orphans by a US military evacuation. Alicha was among six orphans who endured this particular life & death evacuation, however, her real fight would start once she reached US soil. Six days after her arrival, her adoptive parents were suddenly dealing with a family crisis that threatened the future of her life in Texas. We fought to bring her to Canada last May, but the process was too overwhelming for the parents and complications that forced us to back off. By August, it was clear that it was not meant to be (yet) and we tried to pick up the pieces of my daughter's broken heart. We lost contact with the family to preserve our hearts from further heartbreak. They would have to find each other later in life ... but God wasn't done.

THE BACK STORY:

SOPHIE-our daughter, was brought home to Canada in 2023 after an 8 1/2 year adoption process. To say the adoption program in Haiti is broken, is an understatement. Born in the slums of Cite Soleil, her mother somehow managed safe passage of newborn Sophie to a nearby hospital. Cite Soleil is a place that people go to, but they usually don’t make it out. When she had gained weight, she was brought to an orphanage in the hills above Port-au-Prince, where she remained until she was six.

ALICHA: Sophie’s crib and soul-mate, arrived at the orphanage two months after Sophie in 2017. She too, was abandoned by a similar fate. 

Sophie’s happy ending was supposed to end in Alberta, Canada.  Alicha would settle in Texas, USA after her evacuation last Easter. It was supposed to be a happy ending.

It was not. 

What was really strange was that Sophie AND Alicha’s story was unusually long. Almost a decade passed (our paperwork started before for Sophie's adoption before she was born!). The same was true for Alicha's original adoptive family in Texas. Both girls' files were persistently delayed…and almost simultaneously in how the central authority was processing their files. The other families matched to children at the same orphanage had left with their kids after four or five years in the process, so how these two best friends managed to “wait for each other” was a baffling phenomenon since the Central Authority is not involved in the friendships of kids, nor do they care. But this was not a friendship; they were crib-mates since birth—sisters in every sense, except genetics. It wasn’t long before I was able to track down the adoptive family for Alicha (the little girl that was always in on Sophie’s zoom calls in Haiti). 

All hell broke loose in February 2024, trapping orphans from freedom & throwing their adoptive families into mental anguish.

I know … I was on a chat with Alicha’s adoptive mom. As the US Embassy was trying (after multiple failed attempts) to land the helicopter in the night— bullets were flying. Would any of these kids have to take one? Alicia’s evacuation could have easily been our reality, it was luck of the draw who you were matched to. Alicha could have just as easily been ours—but, our little angel, Sophie, was fast asleep in her bed, while Alicha was fighting for her freedom and life. I assure you, with every word, I tried to console the mother. It futile. An adopted home-bound orphan is a valuable asset to Haiti’s gangs. We were acutely aware of this and the dangers the child was facing. It meant foreign money was attached to that child. And so is love. 

What price do you put on love? And what about the price of freedom? What would you pay for that? What’s it worth? Angels were perched on each tiny shoulder that night. Whisked away after the helicopter’s third attempt—bullets flying like skittles. Critical documents, however, were left behind in the ordeal—which would prove to be a major hurdle for us. MAJOR. 

February 11, 2025: “The Text”. The day life changed for us. The adoptive family was once again in an impossible situation. Plus Alicha's trauma of losing her old life in Haiti, her loss of Sophie, her nannies, plus whatever she saw in the 3-day evacuation, had spiralled into the reality we have now! It was clear the girls couldn't do life apart. We are scrambling to pick up the baton, ANY baton to get her reunited with Sophie before we lose her forever to the re-adoption program in the USA. This must not happen! I will fight till the end to not let this happen.

The girls are lost without each other. like peanut-butter-and-jam. I cannot fill the hole in my daughter’s heart from the loss of Alicha either. This seems to be an impossible situation, with many wheels turning;  we are working with four lawyers to find a resolution to this tragic circumstance. The GoFundMe funds raised will be used for legal fees, agency fees, medical expenses and trauma therapy. (To help click HERE). 

Simply put, we do not want to have to ask the former adoptive parents for any further financial assistance once Alicha is here. They have been through enough. We will pick up the pieces as best we can for all involved, God willing.

The path ahead is a heavy one, but this will be Alicha's chance at healing—together with Sophie. We’re humbly asking our global Christian village to assist so we can concentrate on Alicha and not the costs that we and her adoptive family are facing to pull this off. We are honoured that their story has touched so many hearts across (at least) three countries and we beg that you please share, far and wide. These girls are living a testament to the power of love, loyalty, and friendship. 

There are still miracles playing out in the land most have given up on. Haiti's children, with their futures lying in the balance between gunshots and lullabies. If you listen carefully, the children have lessons for us all. Hope is never lost. And we need our Christian village in 2025. Despite our fear and worry, we brace for the fight of a lifetime, to reunite two orphans after a very VERY long & broken road back to each other.

“ I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.”  

—John 14:18

Help us be the Lord's vehicle for Him to come to them, now and forever. Thank you and God bless. — Ronaele Pound

MY CHRISTIAN PRO-LIFE MOVIE SCREENPLAY HAS A NEW WEBSITE

 

The website for my screenplay TRANSCEND is up and running. I still have some tweaking to do, but it's up. To view it, click here. You can also link to the website by Googling "Transcend to love movie" (or www.transcendtolovemovie.com)". Click my name on the cover page of the website for some background about me. 

Please send this link to fellow Christians in your circle of influence.  Thank you. (Click on my name on the cover page to see the second page.)

TRANSCEND has an evangelistic mission. Not only will this movie speak to women considering abortion, but it will also speak to people whose marriages are impacted by a catastrophic disability. It concludes with an actual miracle experienced as an old man! Here's a story synopsis. It's loosely autobiographical.

Logline: A young couple experiences a devastating degenerative disease that teaches them to trust God even when the stakes are horribly high.

 

Genre: Christian romance. 

 

Story Synopsis:  Mark Davis is a senior high school student in the fictional city of Leedsborough, Colorado. He is the pampered only child of George and Betty Davis who are prominent citizens in their small city.  George is a gentle adoring father who indulges Mark too much. Betty is a domineering, strong-willed mother.  She’s also a snob. Betty thinks Mark spends too much time with his new high school girlfriend from “across the tracks,” LaRee Picton. This causes family friction. After an acrimonious exchange between Mark and Betty, his father suggests he and Mark go downhill skiing. (His father is the peacemaker of the family.) While Mark and George are skiing, George has a massive heart attack and dies in Mark’s arms. 

 

After the funeral, LaRee tells Mark she is pregnant with their baby. Betty is very angry and provides no support, only condemnation. Mark feels trapped and pressures LaRee to have an abortion. LaRee comes from a broken home and has few resources. Feeling alone and abandoned by Mark, LaRee sadly and reluctantly has an abortion, after which they break up.  

 

A few years later, LaRee and Mark meet at college and fall in love again. They decide to marry but Mark’s mother is adamantly opposed—especially if her son is going to marry LaRee Picton! Mark and LaRee elope. Betty is infuriated and stops talking to them. After 6 months, Mark finally makes overtures to his mother, and they visit Betty at her home in Leedsborough. Unfortunately, the attempt at reconciliation goes badly. Mark and LaRee get into a bitter argument with Betty over the abortion and abruptly leave.  

 

Mark finishes his college course and begins working for The Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research and Client Services. LaRee begins sidewalk counselling outside an abortion clinic to try and assuage her guilt about her own abortion.  Mark and LaRee become Christians and reconcile with Betty. Things could not be better! They start a family and buy a house in the suburbs.  

 

Suddenly and without warning, Mark develops aggressive multiple sclerosis and descends into severe disability. Mark and LaRee grieve the onset of an incurable disease. Their hearts are broken. They feel abandoned by Betty and abandoned by their church. Mark and LaRee nearly break up! 

 

Mark finds a new purpose to his life advocating across North America for disability rights, inclusion, and life with dignity. But his disease progresses to the point where he is eventually placed in a nursing home. Mark prays—just as he has done so often before—that God would allow him to walk again. He does not care if it's only for a short time and with crutches, a walker, or canes. He thinks that his prayer is too late: His brain is riddled with plaque, and his legs are useless, withered from years of paralysis. Then something unexpected, inexplicable, and wonderful happens. Long-lost function returns! God raises Mark out of his electric wheelchair to walk again!

 

LaRee and Mark learn another lesson. Never presume the future. That is for God alone to know.  Nobody knows what lies beyond the present. All they know is that God’s love is there too!  Mark and LaRee discover that the only thing that really matters in life is love. They are finally at peace with God and themselves.

 

Mark

AN UPLIFTING CHRISTIAN AUTISM STORY: (suitable for family-friendly TV or streaming series)

President Donald Trump recently cited that autism rates have been dramatically rising since the 1970s, From 1 in 10,000  births to 1 in 31 children born n 2025 (1 in 45 adults). My autistic grandson has developed a film story idea called Stephen's Redemption. It explores the challenging and lonely world of an autistic teen. It is a timely and powerful Christian story that focuses a spotlight on issues many autistic people face and  holds up a candle of Christ's hope and love for those dealing with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

 

Logline: After his mother's untimely death, autistic teen Stephen Pierce flees his alcoholic father's Montana ranch with nothing but a bag of clothes and his rusty old truck (leaving behind his dog ). Homeless, friendless and jobless, everything seems to go wrong for Stephen, until he meets a pastor's daughter who helps him find faith, purpose, meaning and a place where he and his dog belong.

My grandson, Carson Pound (23) has Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning autism). Despite this, God has given him an exceptional talent: Acting. (see his IMDb here). He has been in the acting industry since the age of 10, and is a graduate of the Vancouver Film School. Carson recently developed an excellent story idea for a Christian, family-friendly 3-part series for TV or streaming service, called Stephen's Redemption. He made a short video about his story idea. See here

HumanLifeMatters is looking for someone to produce Stephen's Redemption. Investors are needed. I can be contacted at HumanLifeMatters@shaw.ca or by telephone: (780) 929-9230.

Carson can be contacted by email at carsonpound100@gmail.com or by telephone: 1-403-470-2226. 

Respectfully,

Mark Davis Pickup

HumanLifeMatters

Blog: www.HumanLifeMatters.org*

*HumanLifeMatters is dedicated to the sanctity of marriage and all human life within a Christian worldview.

SOME GRIEFS FROM WHICH WE NEVER TRULY RECOVER

 I want to share a short testimony by Dr. Sheila Harding to the Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan about Canada's descent into euthanasia acceptance. Her desire to see medicine return to its Hippocratic tradition reflects her optimism for the future. I am proud to call Sheila and her husband Terry personal friends. She refers to their son Ross whom I knew. 

A couple of years after Ross died at the age of ten, Dr. Harding met another Canadian stalwart against assisted suicide and euthanasia, palliative care nurse Jean Echlin. Jean was a beautiful old woman who lost a son decades earlier in 1962. Sheila asked the white-haired old woman when the grief subsided. Jean replied, "I'll tell you when it happens." 

There are some griefs in life from which we never truly recover. 

 Click the link below.

Dr. Harding testimony