JEFFERSON CITY – Twenty-five years ago, L.P. Cook and his wife, Amy, welcomed their twin sons into the world. But there was a problem. The twins came two-and-a-half months early.
“Dangerously early,” L.P. Cook, pastor of Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit, said. “In fact, our son Jeremiah – one of our twin boys – had a cerebral hemorrhage right at birth or just before that,” Cook said.
JEFFERSON CITY – L.P. Cook, pastor of Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit, shares a testimony about his son, Jeremiah, and the precious value of every life. (Pathway photo)
Because of this and other complications, he added, Jeremiah “was left with profound developmental delays, cerebral palsy.”
Cook was one of a few Missouri Baptists who spoke and prayed at a pro-life rally in the Missouri Capitol, June 24, celebrating the first anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to reverse its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The “Keep Missouri Pro-Life Rally” was organized by Missouri Right to Life.
Before praying, Cook shared his family’s testimony about the sanctity of life.
‘Sometimes, you don’t know
what you’ve got until it’s gone’
Twenty-five years ago, Cook said, neither doctors nor parents could have foreseen the complications in Jeremiah’s health, and no one ever raised questions about the possibility of abortion. Though they never would have considered this option, Cook said he’s glad he never had to face the choice.
“There would be those today who would say, ‘Wouldn’t you rather have things be different? Wouldn’t it have been better?’ And I can say unequivocally, ‘No, it wouldn’t have been better. My life was blessed by Jeremiah.’”
“Sometimes,” Cook added, with a quaver in his voice, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”
Last fall, on the morning of Oct. 31, Jeremiah stopped breathing and, by the following day, he passed away in the hospital. As they processed this news, Cook’s wife asked whether Jeremiah’s organs could be donated.
Despite his doubts about whether this would be possible, Cook agreed to look into this possibility, and some donations were successfully made.
“We have the great joy of seeing different lives continue today because of Jeremiah’s life,” Cook said.
“I’m glad that our lives have been touched by Jeremiah. I’m glad that his two siblings … are better today because they learned how to care for one with, appropriately we say, special needs.
“I’m thankful for life,” Cook said, “and I can say without a doubt that every second of every life is precious from conception to natural death.”
“Over the last several decades,” he added, “we have prayed for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and God has granted our prayers now a year ago.” Praising pro-life maternity homes, crisis pregnancy centers and similar ministries, Cook challenged members of the pro-life movement to “show to the world what has always been true” of the pro-life movement: namely, that “the pro-life issue is not a choice between babies and mothers” and that pro-life advocates seek to help both unborn babies and their families to flourish.
LIFE: Love, Intimacy/Individuality, Family, Eternity
Missouri Baptist ministry couple Mike and Becky Quinn also shared during the pro-life rally, spelling out the value of LIFE through an acrostic: Love, Intimacy/Individuality, Family, Eternity. Both serve on staff at Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City – Mike as staff evangelist and Becky as director of women’s ministries.
• Love: “The world says ‘love is love,’ signifying an indulgent, sinful self-seeking kind of emotion,” Mike said. “This results in a world filled with all kinds of depravity.” By contrast, he added, Jesus Christ shows us true love.
JEFFERSON CITY – Becky Quinn (left), director of women’s ministries at Concord Baptist Church here shares how God knows the intimate details of every person’s life. She and her husband Mike Quinn (right), staff evangelist at Concord Baptist Church, were guest speakers at the “Keep Missouri Pro-Life” rally here, June 24.(Pathway photo)
“As our nation moves further away from our Judeo-Christian foundation, we’re witnessing the dire result all around us,” Mike said. “So many innocent lives have been lost to abortion. And, as a result, the dignity and sanctity of human life has suffered. God loves from the womb to the tomb. Life and death are to be in his hands.
“Jesus condensed all the commandments into these two: to love God with all your heart, soul, mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves,” he added. “We need to get back to these basics: Love God, love others. When Christians love God sacrificially, taking up our cross and following Him, and (when) we love others selflessly, only then will we give the world what it needs – God’s love.”
• Intimacy/Individuality: God is “intimately involved in our everyday lives,” Becky said. Though He created the heavens and the earth, He knows each individual human and designed them uniquely.
“Our great and all powerful God spoke this world into existence,” Becky said. “He flung the stars into their places. And He set the planets in motion and now he holds it all together. That omnipotent God knows the smallest detail about you, and He desires to be personal and intimate with you.”
“In recent years,” she added, “technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. Ultrasound enables us to see inside the womb, and clearly know that little human beings are being miraculously formed. The lies of the past have gaslighted our culture into thinking that this (preborn baby) really isn’t alive or human at all, but merely tissue to be disposed of. Well, these lies have been exposed now.
“But you know, the truth of God’s Word in Psalm 139 had contradicted these things long before science caught up. The Bible tells us that God wants us over these precious little souls, even in the hidden parts of their mother’s body. … The Psalmist declares these babies are fearfully and wonderfully made. Precious, unique, one of a kind blessings.”
• Family: Mike defended God’s ideal for marriage and the family, though he recognized that “within our broken world ideals are rarely realized.” Christian families, he said, aren’t perfect, but they turn to God, depending on Him as they seek to live out His principles and create a godly, nurturing home life.
Sadly, God’s ideal for raising families is under attack today.
JEFFERSON CITY – Dusty Klein, pastor of Cedar Grove Baptist Church, Holts Summit, and husband to Missouri Right to Life Executive Director Susan Klein, thanks pro-life Missourians for their faithfulness in defending unborn life.
“Many areas of our society,” Mike said, “have come to see children as a burden, as a liability. … Children are to be received as an expression of God’s goodness and grace and not as a curse or inconvenience.
“There are some organizations in our state that are working to change Missouri’s Constitution to make abortion a constitutional right,” he added. “We need to support and pray for our Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who’s trying to protect our Constitution. We need to continue to stand for life.”
• Eternity: “Aren’t you glad,” Becky said, “that this life is not all there is?” There is life after death and (there is) eternity. This is wonderful and peaceful news for some. And for others, this is a terrifying and worrisome thought.”
Becky shared that bad news that all have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory, but she also shared the good news about how God offers every sinner salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus alone saves, she said, but He offers His salvation to all who place their trust in Him.
She closed with a challenge from Deuteronomy 30:19 – “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life.”
“Missouri friends, choose life,” she said. “Let’s work together to keep Missouri pro-life.”
Dusty Klein, pastor of Cedar Grove Baptist Church, Holts Summit, and husband to Missouri Right to Life Executive Director Susan Klein, thanked pro-life Missourians for their faithfulness in defending unborn life and offered a benediction to conclude the rally.