The story focuses on Hannah, a college freshman who learns from her adoptive parents that she is the survivor of a failed abortion. The movie is powerful and compelling without being preachy and judgmental. Indeed, I would rank it among the most powerful movies I’ve ever seen.

The second sermon I ever preached was on the incredible value of life and the inconceivable atrocity of abortion. A local pastor pulled me aside after the message and gave me these words of admonition: “Thom, those are the type sermons that will get you in trouble. You need to stay away from them if you want to have a long ministry.”

I was stunned. In my naïveté, I had assumed that most all Christians, especially Christian leaders, would rally around the cause of life for the defenseless unborn. My sermon, I didn’t think, was either abrasive or graphic. I simply shared God’s Word from my heart about the sanctity of life.

My first church out of seminary was in St. Petersburg, Fla. I was honored to serve on the board of a local crisis pregnancy center. I heard countless stories of babies that were saved from abortion. But my eyes were open even wider when a couple showed me their newly adopted baby. Then they told me that their baby was adopted through the same crisis pregnancy center. They also told me the story that their daughter’s biological mother was precariously close to having an abortion before she visited the crisis pregnancy center.

That precious baby mesmerized me. She was in perfect health. She was totally and completely loved by her parents. She was beautiful. But if the intervention had not taken place, she would have been dead.

I have remained active in the cause to save unborn children through different ways over the years. But I confess, since I came to lead LifeWay over six years ago, I have not done much toward this critical cause. I have even wondered how God might lead me to provide leadership where I have been recently silent.

Then I previewed the movie October Baby.

I admit that I shed tears during and after the movie. I was moved. The movie and its message were powerful.

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