It Adds Up When You Do The Math

I don't know how often I have heard it said in various ways by fellow believers:

"Unfortunately, at this time the church does not have the people, the power, nor the funds, to make an impact on the evil of abortion in this country." 

"We cannot really do anything but vote, give to pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers, pray, and hope for the best. There is nothing else we can do that will make a difference."

I for one, want to counter this sentiment with truth.  And I will take only one aspect of action in which the church needs to participate.

Let's take into consideration a very practical use of numbers.  Let’s say that 15,000 Christians within an hour of an abortion mill in any given city decided to love their preborn neighbors in word, deed, and truth.  I hasten to say that this would be but a fraction of the believers who attend Bible preaching congregations.  But these 15,000 individuals set aside time in their very busy lives to be present at the death camp.  What would that accomplish?

If just 59 of the 15,000 went to that abortuary on one day, 

and then a different 59 went the next day, 

and then another 59 went the day after, and on, and on...

you would have 59 Christians at the mill EVERY SINGLE DAY of the YEAR without ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL having been there twice. 

Imagine, 59 Christians, exercising various roles at the Gates of Death—Preaching the Gospel. Pleading for the lives of little image-bearers. Praying fervently on site for God to work in hearts. Providing help, information, and resources at the entry. Provoking with signs, etc.

What if they chose to take on a little more?  If each person in the multitude of 15,000 committed to stand just one day a month, that would mean that the mill would have 483 Christians outside it EVERY DAY with each person only giving one day a month to plead for the lives of the innocent and provide truth to all who enter (and that is if every month had 31 days; 5 months have fewer).

This by itself would have a HUGE impact on the business that sheds innocent blood.  This would clearly showcase the Gospel to the lost, deliver numerous babies from slaughter, and shut down the mills!  When 1% of the church will show up regularly to stand at the abortion mill, abortion business places will shut down. Darkness cannot stand the presence of Light.  

I well remember the morning in Pensacola in 2006, out in front of a baby butcher shop, when a police officer looked at me and my friend, and said "This must not be a real issue for the church, since you two are the only ones here."  In the middle of a conservative Christian "stronghold", surrounded by hundreds of churches, and only two Christians were standing as emissaries for Christ at the Gates of Death.  What message is the church sending the world by our silence and absence from the field? 
God has commanded us to "love our neighbour as ourselves", "visit the fatherless in their affliction", to "open [our] mouth" and "plead the cause of the poor and needy", to do "justice and equity".

Prayer is never meant to be a substitute for obedience.  Imagine if Isaiah had said in prayer, "Here am I; send someone else!" (Isaiah 6).  I would that the thousands upon thousands of believers in every city would learn about, get involved, and then engage for their pre-born neighbors being slaughtered!  I would that they would take God's command to "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the case of all such are as appointed to destruction" (Proverbs 31:8) at His word.  Truly God has made Himself clear, and has given us all we need to make a huge impact simply by assembling as His ambassadors at the Gates of Death (not to mention all the other ways to effect abolition of this evil). It is not enough, nor honest, neither is it consistently "Christian" for us to say, "We cannot make a difference right now."

Let us stop being silent, absent, and negligent.  

Let us be OBEDIENT, and watch what our God will do.

"Some want to live within sound of church and chapel bell.                                                                             I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."  C.T. Studd

Abortion must be abolished.

Christian, in This Bloody Day

"We live in a day of slaughter,
When folks do slay both son and daughter.

When parents want to give "no room",
And target those inside the womb.

Christian, in this bloody day,
Will you now your Lord obey?

Who will go to stand for Christ?
To the gates of child sacrifice?

Will you go the Truth to speak?
Seek to stand up for the weak?

Bring the Gospel, the lost to reach?
Take your stand inside the breach?

Will cold weather make you balk?
Or a ways you have to walk?

No matter what they say in town?
Even if folks at church do frown?

Will you go if others don't?
Whether sinners give heed--or if they won't?

Will you love in word AND deed
Open mouth, for the poor to plead?

So love mercy, do what is just;
Now walk humbly, in God trust.

As for fruit, remember what is:
Duty is ours. Results are HIS."

[Written by an abolitionist the same morning he stood alone at the gates of death, declaring truth, pleading for lives, and begging God for more laborers on the final lines.  Written the same day this photo was taken.]


Abortion must be abolished.

Children at the Gates of Death

Psalm 8:2 "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."

Psalm 127:4-5 "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."

Little ones are needed to be present at the gates of death when possible.  Here are a few thoughts as to why:

1. Because if they are there, then a parent is more likely to be there, and grownups are needed there too.

2. It is good for them to work with their family in doing service for the Lord Jesus Christ.  They can get to see the parents engage and learn many vital lessons.

3. Because they are a testimony to those who are committing murder upon the preborn, being a stark reminder that children are to be cherished, not crushed.

Children are often more tender towards the need than adults, not so apathetic, nor having been so hardened by sin and worship of convenience.

As someone who was included in Christian ministry and evangelism with my parents since I can remember, and as a parent now who has had and loves to have my own children with me at the mill, I can testify of much blessing, discipleship, and fruit it can afford to parent and children.

Years ago, long before I realized I was an abolitionist, I was one of very few (only two) Christians in Pensacola who regularly stood at the gates of death.

I remember a police officer telling us, "This must not be a big issue for Christianity, because Pensacola is FULL of Christians, and you are the only two here."

We became alarmed and brokenhearted over the silence, absence, and negligence on the part of our brothers and sisters in Christ concerning the slaughter in our midst.

We began to exhort fellow Christians in our church, and other fellowships, and invited them to join us.

After some time, we numbered four to six, coming just about every week.

Then, the pastor of our small Baptist church began to come out with his family.  He had eight children, not all of them "little children", but the majority were teens and younger at the time.  They came and became an incredible encouragement and asset in the battle for lives and souls.

But it wasn't just the pastor's family who came.  The church followed, and soon there were over 30 Christians every Friday (their kill day).  As a body, we started making signs and banners, we put up a billboard, exposing the abortion mill, we intentionally memorized hymns to sing as a group at the gates of death.

We saw fellow believers from over six different local churches standing regularly for Christ and the preborn.  My family and I moved membership to a closer church for the sake of my sister's commute, who was in college at the time, and soon the pastor and members of that church as well joined the engagement.

We stood united in Christ for life and life everlasting, taking turns preaching, pleading, provoking the heart, offering help, all praying and praising the Lord of heaven in song.  A book could be written about all the adventures and lessons learned outside that death camp.

The abortion mill was eventually shut down, and months later another abortion business opened up again, at least a new name and management, and then shut down for good.  It is now an empty lot.

There was another mill in the city that also shut down for awhile, reopened, and I know of at least three churches who sent members to plead and preach there, though recently I heard that it may be closed once more.

A couple years back, I was talking with that pastor, and thanked him for coming out and leading the body in righteous opposition of that evil in the city.

He told me that the reason he went in the first place was because of his children.  They kept begging him to let them go and stand with us.  He didn't feel right about letting them go alone, and eventually decided to come with them to make sure they would be safe.

Then he saw the people going in and killing their children, and the Lord gripped his soul in the necessity of being there.

And the church followed.  That was a MIGHTY turning point at the devil's doorstep.

I thank God for that pastor and that church, and I thank God for the children who kept asking to go and speak up for their neighbors.

Children are needed at the gates of death.

Abortion must be abolished.

Do The Math

I don't know how often I have heard it said in various ways by fellow believers:

"Unfortunately, at this time the church does not have the people, the power, nor the funds, to make an impact on the evil of abortion in this country." 

"We cannot really do anything but vote, give to pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers, pray, and hope for the best.  There is nothing else we can do that will make a difference."

I for one, want to counter this sentiment with truth.  Let's take into consideration a very practical use of numbers.  

There has been a campaign across this nation for Christians to gather and pray at their state capitols.  Franklin Graham has spearheaded it, and thousands of churches, families, and individuals have turned out to hear exhortation and pray together in public squares.  Pastors and Christian leaders have encouraged these gatherings, and they have been well attended.

In Nashville, Tennessee, it was reported that about 9,000 gathered to pray in that state's capitol city on May 3rd of this year.  Let me repeat that.  That is NINE THOUSAND believers who intentionally took time out of their busy lives that specific day!  They organized, and went and stood in a multitude to pray.

Incidentally, just one mile from where those 9,000 gathered to pray about the sins and needs of this country, stands a building where the murder of innocent and helpless babies is committed.  That is an altar of human sacrifice to the god of Self.  Babies are butchered there six days a week.  Just eight miles away from that prayer gathering in another direction  is another murder mill, where four abortionists murder babies on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.  

And yet on most days there is NO ONE standing regularly, or even occasionally, to bring the Gospel into conflict with those who are committing the gross sin of homicide (in the worst degree, on the most vulnerable victim)!  NO ONE standing to declare God's truth and mercy to those who are shedding innocent blood.  

There is a problem with this.

Especially since there are over 600,000 people living in the city of Nashville, and nearly 1,000 churches in the Nashville area!  

Those few Christians who do make it a point to go to those specific Tennessee abortion mills are abolitionists who drive 45 minutes to several hours to stand for Christ and those made in His image. 

Again, there is a problem with that.  

I well remember the morning in Pensacola in 2006, out in front of a baby butcher shop, when a police officer looked at me and my friend, and said "This must not be a real issue for the church, since you two are the only ones here."  In the middle of a conservative Christian "stronghold", surrounded by hundreds of churches, and only two Christians were standing as emissaries for Christ at the Gates of Death.  What message is the church sending the world by our silence and absence from the field? 

The watchword of the Decision America Tour campaign has been "Pray.  Vote.  Engage."

I would like to put some focus on the word "Engage."  What effect would it have if we did?

Since 9,000 individuals were able to schedule several hours out of their very busy lives to gather and pray (and I am sure that abortion was possibly one of the prayer targets), let's just take that number and play with it for a while.  Consider the impact if 9,000 Christians chose to love their neighbors by showing up when they were scheduled to be killed.

Taking one mill into consideration: If just 24 of the 9,000 went to that abortuary on one day, and then a different 24 went the next day, and then another 24 went the next day, and on, and on...you would have 24 Christians at the mill EVERY SINGLE DAY of the YEAR without ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL having been there twice. 

Imagine, 24 Christians, exercising various roles at the Gates of Death—

• Preaching the Gospel. 
• Pleading for the lives of little image-bearers. 
• Praying fervently on site for God to work in hearts.
• Providing help, information, and resources at the entry.
• Provoking with signs, etc.

What if they chose to take on both mills?  If each person in the multitude of 9,000 committed to stand, representing Christ and pleading the cause of the poor and needy (as Scripture commands) outside the Gates of Death one day a month, that would mean that each of those two abortion mills would have 145 Christians outside it EVERY DAY with each person only giving one day a month to plead for the lives of the innocent and provide truth to all who enter (and that is if every month had 31 days; 5 months have fewer).

This by itself would have a HUGE impact on the business that sheds innocent blood.  This would clearly showcase the Gospel to the lost deliver numerous babies from slaughter, and shut down both mills!

For sake of clarity, I must state that I am not at all against Christians gathering in small or huge numbers, privately or publicly to earnestly and fervently pray for revival and a turn in this nation.  I am merely using that example to show what can happen when national Christian leaders and local area pastors encourage the church to "show up!"  They show up!

Why is there not a greater cry for action?  A greater plea to engage?  

Why is the plight of the unborn and the Christian biblical response not campaigned for every Sunday from behind the pulpits of our churches?

The reality of this post is that thousands are gathering for an event to pray about the sins and needs of this country, and yet one mile away from that crowded site, almost no one is gathering to regularly or even occasionally "engage" those who are committing this crime against God, their own children, and their own conscience.  Oh, that after everyone bowed in prayer at that Nashville rally to beseech the Almighty God, those 9,000 had then been directed to march down to Planned Parenthood and actively love their neighbors who were being murdered that very day—some to preach, some to pray, some to plead, some to provide help, and all to provoke as God's word commands, calling to repentance, and seeking the abolition of abortion.

Francis Schaeffer said that every abortion mill should have a sign out front that says, "Open by permission of the church." Please let that quote hit hard!

I saw a billboard in Arkansas that said, 
"When 1% of the church shows up to stand at the abortion mill, Abortion will cease in Arkansas."  That would be true in any state of the union.  Darkness cannot stand the presence of Light.  

God has commanded us to "love our neighbour as ourselves", "visit the fatherless in their affliction", to "open our mouths" and "plead the cause of the poor and needy", to do "justice and equity".

But even though God has made Himself clear, and has given us all we need to make a huge impact simply by assembling as His ambassadors at the Gates of Death (not to mention all the other ways to effect abolition of this evil), it is not enough, nor honest, neither is it "Christian" for us to say, "All we can do is pray."

Prayer is never meant to be a substitute for obedience.  Imagine if Isaiah said in prayer, "Here am I; send someone else!" (Isaiah 6).

I would that the thousands upon thousands of believers in every city would learn about, get involved, and then engage for their pre-born neighbors being slaughtered!  I would that they would take God's command to "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the case of all such are as appointed to destruction" (Proverbs 31:8) at His word.  I fear that it is far easier to go to an event then it is to do the inconvenient thing.  

"Some want to live within sound of church and chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."  C.T. Studd

[Note: the 9,000 number used as an example in this post is simply taken from the number of attendees at that one city event.  If we took instead the real number of Christians and Bible believing assemblies in Nashville, or another major city (like the Kansas City region), the number of Christians activated could easily be larger, and have even more impact.]

[Note also: Going to the abortion mills is ONLY ONE way that Christians can engage justly on behalf of our preborn neighbors.  There are many areas in which we are to seek to be active in doing justly, as God requires.  Seeding the culture with literature, declaring truth and destroying misinformation, exposing the holocaust to the public in various forums, social media interaction, starting the conversation, exhorting the brethren, utilizing your car as a vehicle of agitation, putting the symbol and message of abolition out to be seen on clothing, products, etc.  Right at the top must also be prodding our elected leaders to abolish the murder of abortion instead of simply regulating it!]  Imagine if 9,000 Christians in the Greater City Area chose to do all those things as well!

The church MUST take right ground, and engage.

Abortion must be abolished.

Let Their SHOCKING INDIFFERENCE Make an Impact on YOU!

Lamentations 1:12 "Is it NOTHING to you, all ye that pass by?"

I recently saw a surveillance video clip filmed in another country of a person on a motorcycle being hit by a car, and being left in the intersection of two busy streets.  For the entire rest of the clip, cars, buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians pass right on by, not pausing to see if the man is okay or even alive.  It was really shocking and chilling. 

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6KnqNePBl0

Was it "NOTHING" to those people, that they could just "PASS BY"?

Makes me think of the apathy of most Christians and people in general, concerning the murder of our society's weakest citizens who are slaughtered every day.  Only to make the parallel fit better, there should be multiple people hit and lying prone in the road, 3,000+ by the end of the day.

We can shake our heads at the indifference of those passing this intersection, AND YET in our OWN nation, in many of our OWN cities, innocent human beings are being murdered DOWN THE STREET from our OWN homes and churches.

How many of us paused this week and went to the local abortion facility, stretching out our hands to warn the wicked and rescue the man on that Jericho road (babies being sacrificed in our cities)?  

And how many of us turned our eyes, and passed on by because we had things too important, more important than putting aside a portion of the day to endeavor to see lives and souls saved?

These are lives that we KNOW are in danger of being killed intentionally.  We KNOW WHEN and WHERE the crime is taking place too!

Yet, how many of us went about our business...
As if those image-bearers of God were not REALLY people?  
As if the shedding of their innocent blood was not REALLY murder?
As if God does not REALLY see this murder and our inaction?
As if He does not REALLY hear their blood cry for justice?
As if He will not REALLY judge individuals and nations for how they treat the vulnerable fatherless?

REALLY?

Psalm 94:
8 "Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?"

9 "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?  he that formed the eye, shall he not see?"

10 "He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct?  he that teacheth man wisdom shall not he know?"

Some of you may think harshly concerning the people who drove, biked, and walked past this individual lying in the street, and rightly so.  What they did was unjust, calloused, and evil.  Let's just say that some of them were Christians.  Do you think it would be enough if they said, "Well, I am praying for that guy"?

GOD FORBID!  That is NOT loving your neighbour.  You would be right to rebuke them, pleading with tears and calling them to REPENT and HELP the wounded man!  If you did not warn those passing Christians, you would not be loving THEM!

Why do we Christians in America excuse our own inaction at the plight of over a million children intentionally butchered every year?  

Why do we think that we are okay, to merely say, "Well, I am praying for them"?

Prayer is good, but NOT when it is the substitute for OBEDIENCE.

Lamentations 1:12 "Is it nothing to YOU, all YE that pass by?"

Let us hear the rebuke of Christian brothers who love us and desire for us to engage!  To bring the light of the Gospel in the face of this evil darkness!  To awaken others to the abomination and call to repentance! To rescue the perishing and pluck them from the jaws of the wicked!  TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOUR!

To HEAR and HEED the warning of our Father in Heaven:

Proverbs 24:
11 "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;"

12 "If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?  and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?  and shalt not he render to to every man according to his works?"

Here is an EQUATION:

Bystander Effect = Depraved Indifference = Pathetic Apathy = SIN

Pretty much SUMS it up.

The SOLUTION?  REPENTANCE before God and OBEDIENCE to His word 
(You know, that commands us to love our neighbours, preach the Gospel that saves, visit the fatherless in their affliction, open our mouths for the dumb, lift up our voice like a trumpet, speak truth in a world that loves lies, stand in the gap, be salt and light, cease to do evil, learn to do well, rescue the perishing, do all things to His glory, deliver the spoil from the hand of the oppressor, do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with our God)!  

Thus, the opposite of Indifference is seen - Godly Fear, Love, and Zeal.  Then there will be a DIFFERENCE, in our lives, and in the fruit that God produces IN us, to the praise of HIS Glory, and the turning of this world UP SIDE DOWN.

 This is a matter of LIFE and DEATH, TIME and ETERNITY.  

Let US ALLOW the SHOCKING INDIFFERENCE in that video to make an impact, a DIFFERENCE on OUR WAYS.

There is still time to win a battle before the sun goes down. Abortion must be abolished.

Active Application of AGAPE to Annihilate Apathy

Take a look at the front driver door of this Mitsubishi.  It has words that are derived from I Corinthians 13, the passage in the Bible known around the world as the "LOVE Chapter".

Describing LOVE, the sticker says---
"Is not easily angered, ALWAYS protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres: LOVE Never FAILS."

This is evidently a car of those who are willing to profess Christ out in public, to let it be known that they are Christians.  I think that having bumper stickers on one's vehicle, etc., with Scripture, and messages that represent our Lord, the Gospel, and righteousness is a good way to provoke thought in passersby, start conversations, and spread truth.  It is part of being a testimony for Christ wherever you go.  I personally make it a practice to have Christ-honoring messages on my car, and have many brothers and sisters in Christ who do the same.    

Now, you may ask, "Why is Kevan showing us this picture?  We've all seen similar stickers and know their purpose.  What is the point or the problem?"

HERE'S THE PROBLEM...That picture was taken as the family in that car drove into an abortion mill in order to have one of their children ABORTED.  BUTCHERED.  MURDERED.

[It happened in Nashville a week ago, on Saturday, February the 6th, 2016.  The photo was taken by a grieved abolitionist who was there to represent Christ at the gates of death.]

Think of it, a car with words from the Love Chapter went to a child sacrifice center to do the exact OPPOSITE of what LOVE is to their child!

(Sadly this is NOT a rare occurrence.  I have myself seen cars with fish symbols and Christian logos entering these places to murder the innocent.  Dear friends of ours have seen cars with bumper stickers representing local churches down the street, driven by those claiming to be Christians.  We have heard people say, "I will be in church tomorrow!"  More professing evangelicals will go to these baby butcheries as customers this week than as representatives of Christ for those made in His image!)

Please mourn with us over this murder, over the abominations of our people.
Pray for God to bring that family to repentance.
Pray for all professing Christians who participate in or are apathetic to the slaughter of their preborn neighbour.

Christians may be troubled at hearing this, but feel helpless.  But what can we do?  We can do what is right.

What is really needed is for the church of Jesus Christ to awaken from the slumber of ease and compromise, repent, arise, and be present at the gates of death. We are ambassadors for Christ, are we not?   SO, let us be "speaking the truth in LOVE" as He commanded, loving as He loved, demonstrating that LOVE in embracing the "least of these".

The LOVE that is found in I Corinthians 13 is CHARITY (agape LOVE).  We find it described in the passage.  Let us take just a portion!

I Corinthians 13:4-8
4 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,"
5 "Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;"
6 "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
8 "Charity never faileth..."

Here is the incredible description of Agape love, selfless intentional love, which gives to others needs without motive of personal reward.  The Bible in this passage (as in some others) uses the English word charity, which denotes giving, not in a weak, insipid way (that it may be thought of today, as many words have become shallow in our understanding), but the TRUE meaning of CHARITY.

The Latin root of the word carries the meaning of giving something "dear, costly, and beloved".  The Greek word charis is the word often translated grace in the Bible, giving with kindness to need.  This CHARITY love is not merely a feeling, but an action!  It is the lovingkindness extended to another.  This CHARITY is the love of heroes, who will put aside their own agendas, their own comforts, even their own lives, to take the hit for someone else, to rescue the weak and poor in their distress.  This is compassion with clout.  This actually makes a difference.

This love is the love which God so loved us with, that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16).  
It is the love wherewith Jesus Christ loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5).
It is the love that a husband is to demonstrate toward his wife, in giving up himself for her (Ephesians 5:25).
It is the love with which we are to love both our God (in response to His great love for us) and our neighbour (Mark 12:30-31; I John 4:19).

Notice the denial of selfishness in the passage: CHARITY does NOT envy, does does NOT "vaunt (boast) itself" or get "puffed up".  It does NOT allow itself to behave "unseemly" or be "easily provoked", but is humbly harnessed to the task.  NOR does it think evil.  CHARITY "seeketh NOT her own".  Love is not demanding or following "my own way", but holding onto that which is right and true for all.  Another word for selfishness, or going my own way is "iniquity".  See that love "Rejoiceth NOT in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth".  

I fear that one reason that most Christians are not showing this powerful love to the unborn in distress by confronting the culture of child sacrifice with the Gospel, and standing at the gates of death to deliver the weak with our mouths (Proverbs 12:6; 31:8-9), is because we are allowing our own selfishness (iniquity) to abound in our own lives.

The Scripture says, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Matthew 24:12).  Thus, our compassion in action to the littlest among us grows shallow and cold.  Oh, we care (at some level), but we don't charis.  We don't stop, and stoop over, and weep, and lose sleep at night in begging God to use us the next day outside Planned Parenthood to rescue lives and souls.  Our love (as the church) for the poorest, most needy, and most vulnerable people has grown cold.  And millions and millions of little ones have been slaughtered as a consequence.  Chilling, isn't it? 

It is called APATHY.  DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE.  Because we have our own plans for the day, our own cares, that don't include the inconvenience of pleading for our neighbour who is getting murdered down the street.  Being Apathetic is PATHETIC.  

The question is: Will we remain in our selfishness?  Or will we turn from it, and say, "Down Self, Christ is my King!"  Will we cast off our Cowardice?  Our Callousness?  Our Comfortlovingness?  To do what?  To take up the burden for the little ones!  To do as Job, and search out the cause we know not, to rescue the innocent from the jaws of the wicked!  To open our mouths in this generation, and speak for those who have no voice!  To bring the truth of Life and the Gospel with the Clout of CHARITY!  As the church of Jesus Christ, we must repent of loving our own ways, our own building projects, and our own pet peeves over the needs of others.  We must rise and engage for the abolition of this great evil!  This abomination, which is a bomb in our nation, bringing destruction and the judgment of God!

Let us NOT condone this evil by our silence!
Let us be shaken and awakened and go to the battle with the Gospel on our lips!
Let us forsake the slack hand of laziness and be diligent with all our might!

LET US PUT APATHY TO DEATH!

Consider two more characteristics of CHARITY: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind"

What is "SUFFERING LONG"?  To patiently bear a burden for a long time; to persevere in the face of offense and insult for the sake of another or a righteous cause.  To incorrigibly endure till the task is completed.

Suffer long?  That is not quite the description of the aspiration of the American church at large today (I must admit, it's not my greatest aspiration either).  We naturally want to avoid suffering, to get fast food, short checkout lines, easy living, comfortable situations, quick fixes, and answers to prayer right away.  Patience for us is often waiting without complaining for the popcorn to finish in the microwave.

Let us CHOOSE to "suffer long", to TAKE TIME to go to the child sacrifice center, to see the need ourselves.  To INTENTIONALLY do what may be INCONVENIENT, to hold out our hands to offer help and hope as our neighbours are being carried away to slaughter, even when it is cold outside or hot outside, even when those we call to choose to ignore, curse, or mock us.  Why should we not learn to be longsuffering, seeing that God is longsuffering (Isaiah 65:2; II Peter 3:9), and calls us to be as well (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 1:11; 3:12; II Timothy 4:2).  Let us choose to spend and be spent, showing this LOVE, as Paul did, no matter the response: "And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved" (II Corinthians 12:15).

What about the other characteristic of CHARITY love?

"and is KIND"  What does it mean to be kind?  To put others before oneself; disposed to do good to others, supply needs, and assist in distresses; to see and act.  It was first used in this way during the age of chivalry (circa AD1300), and conveyed the idea of being courteous, doing noble deeds, righting wrong, and aid those in danger.  The word kind is connected to the word kindred, as in family, giving the concept of treating someone, even the stranger beaten on the road and left for dead, "like family."  Being kind is not minding your own business.

How would you pray and plead for the unborn child if he or she were YOUR own flesh and blood? Would you stand idly by if someone was going to kill YOUR child under protection of the "law"?  Or would you plead for their lives as if your own life depended on it?

O, LORD!  Let us not slumber while the weak are destroyed!  Let us not fail to visit the fatherless in their affliction!  Let us not remain apathetic!  Let us win battles for You before the sun goes down on this generation!

Rather than merely having the words of Charity on our cars and in our mouths while we continue our own selfish ways, let us show the world true CHARITY in our lives, by engaging our culture in society and on site for the sake of Jesus Christ and those who bear His image, till human abortion is abolished.

CHARITY "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

"CHARITY never faileth"

Abortion must be abolished.

Your Child, Your Friends, Your Call...

Here's a thought. 

What if you knew that your child was going to be taken and brutally murdered tomorrow? 

Let’s say that you know where he or she will be taken, where the crime will happen.  You know the address.  You know the very building.  You know that the child will be gagged so as not to cry out for themselves, and cannot escape on their own. 

Let us also say that due to an evil and corrupt society, this atrocious act is allowed by law.  That no police, no government official can or will stop it.

The only recourse there is in this society, is for someone to be there when the delivery person arrives, and plead for the life of your child before they bring him or her inside to be slaughtered?  If the delivery person is persuaded to turn from their part in this violent crime, your child could be rescued from death.  

What do you do?

You probably are saying, “What do you mean, ‘What do I do?’  I am going to be there.  Nothing could keep me from it!  Lock me in a room, and I will claw through the door, the window, the wall with my bare hands, to get out and be there!  I am going to call out with all my might, and seek to save my child, by reasoning, by pleading.  That is my child we are talking about!”

Let’s add another twist.  Let’s say you can’t go.  You are stuck in bed, a paraplegic, completely immobile.  But you have a phone. And on that phone, you have your friends' numbers listed.  What do you do?

Perhaps you are saying, “If I couldn’t go, I would call every person on that list!  I would beg every one of my friends and ask, urge, even beg them to go for me!  I would plead with them to PLEASE, take time off from their busy schedules, and go to the murder scene, in an effort to speak up for my child!  In the hopes that the delivery person would not carry out their part in the murder, but that my child might be spared!  Like I said, I would contact every person who calls themselves my friend, and say, If you love me at all, go for me, and speak to them on behalf of my child!”

What would you think, if your friend saw you were calling and put his or her phone on vibrate, so they could keep watching the game, or Bachelorettes Got Talent?  What if they answered, but said that they couldn’t go because they were going to be occupied around that time: at work, or going fishing, or endeavoring to beat the next level of Duty's Creed?  So they couldn't respond to your call for help.

What if they said, “The weather doesn’t look good enough for me to go out”, or “That is the only morning I can sleep in”?  What if they said, “I might feel uncomfortable out there.”  

How would you feel?  Your child is slated to be murdered tomorrow, and they are more concerned about their own convenience!

Well, my fellow Christian, let me be crystal clear on a subject.

Every child is made in the image of God.  He is the God that grants conception (Ruth 4:13), Who opens and closes the womb (Genesis 30:2,22).  From the moment of conception, a child is present: “a virgin shall conceive” (Isaiah 7:14). See that same verse quoted in the New Testament: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child” (Matthew 1:23).  Children, we are told, “are the heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psalm 127:3).  They belong to Him.  This includes preborn children.  He forms them wonderfully in the womb, knows them thoroughly, and thinks much of them (Psalm 139:13-17).  

Those children are God’s: Precious little ones in the womb, image-bearers of the Creator, the most innocent and most vulnerable in our society. 

And over 3,000 of them will be murdered tomorrow in this country.  And another 3,000+ the next day.  And on and on.  Moreover, due to mankind’s rebellion and corrupted state, our culture will not come to the aid of these children.  They will turn a blind eye, and have even made mischief by law to allow their destruction.  There are lurking places across our land where they "murder the innocent" (Psalm 10:8).  These children have no voice, and no hope of escape on their own.  These children, made by God in His image are being sacrificed to the god of Self.  God says concerning the little ones who are sacrificed, "...thou hast slain my children..." (Ezekiel 16:21; see also 23:37).

So what is God doing?  He is the Father of the fatherless (Psalm 68:5), Who will uphold the one who is abandoned even by parents (Psalm 27:10).  But how has He chosen to work in this world?  HE IS CALLING.  He calls on His body, the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  

WE, who have been saved by the precious blood of the Lamb (I Peter 1:19)!  

WE, who are not our own (I Corinthians 6:19)!  

WE, who say we love Him (I John 4:19)!   

WE, who are called His friends (John 15:15)!

We are to be His feet, His mouth, His hands (I Corinthians 12:27).  We are to go out, to speak out, to hold out our hands in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ, in the cause of those who cannot plead for themselves.

“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.  Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9).  

We are to visit vulnerable children and women in their affliction (James 1:27).  We are to “preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).      

These children are image-bearers of the God you adore.  He is calling every one who calls himself or herself His friend; for YOU to go and plead for their lives, to lift up YOUR voice to stand for righteousness and against wickedness, to do the work of an ambassador for Christ!  

If His friends are not listening to His call, who will go?  

Will YOU respond to GOD'S CALL?

Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

Abortion must be abolished.

O Earth, Earth, Earth, Hear the Word of the LORD!

How did you spend your Earth Day?  

I spent the morning standing and preaching publicly against pollution.  WHAT POLLUTION?  One of the worst kinds.  The shedding of the blood of the innocent.

God talks about blood pollution:
 "And shed INNOCENT BLOOD, even the BLOOD of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and THE LAND WAS POLLUTED WITH BLOOD" (Psalm 106:38).

 "Wherefore I poured my fury upon them FOR THE BLOOD that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they HAD POLLUTED IT:" (Ezekiel 36:18).

 "Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is POLLUTED WITH BLOOD" (Hosea 6:8).

I was standing at the edge of the property of Planned Parenthood, the site where people sacrifice their sons and their daughters to the god of Self.  

SO there I was on Earth Day, that some parent may not deprive their preborn child of a Birthday.

It was an honour to stand at the gates of death, and use Earth Day as a springboard to speak on behalf of the Maker of Heaven and Earth.  There were so many verses to use.  Here are a few:

To call aloud, "O Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD!" (Jeremiah 22:29).  

To make it clear that "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).  

That "shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25).  

That He "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness..." (Acts 17:31).  

That "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

"...That the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14). 

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15).

"For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker" (Psalm 95:3-6).

There were a good number of hymns to sing at the mill this morning too.  Here's a favorite verse:

"This is my Father's world
Oh let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong 
Seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet

This is my Father's world
The battle is not done
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be one."

The battle is NOT done.  There is STILL time to win a battle before the sun goes down.

Perhaps you are being moved by the Spirit to stand with me, and engage in the battle for lives and souls.  Let me know!  God's people are needed to line the sidewalks outside this mill and speak in the name of Jesus Christ, in the cause of the poor and needy, for the sake of the good of the very souls who pursue their children's demise!   

Hitler, the Holocaust, and Honor

It was a CRITICAL MOMENT in History...

Place and Time: Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II
Problem: Holocaust of the Jewish People
Players: the church of Jesus Christ

A train with box cars filled to the gills with men, women, and children of Jewish descent was headed for the "camps".  Many such trains rode the rails to the horrific places of suffering, cruelty, and death.  This train snaked its way through cities, villages, and the empty countryside toward its dark destination.  As the engine pulled its crowded cattle cars through yet another town, the passengers, looking through the slats, spied a church building ahead, not far from the tracks.  The train halted for some minutes.  A worship service was in session, and they could hear the sound of hymns being sung.  The Jews in the train lifted up their voices and began to scream for help, for rescue, for aid.  The members inside heard their desperate cries, but instead of rushing to see what they could do, they turned up the volume of the pipe organ and sang louder to drown out the disturbing sound of the needy people heading to destruction. 

Singing a little louder, they did nothing, and GREAT SHAME is on the over 50 million Christians in Germany and Europe who let the Holocaust happen without opposition and intervention. 

At that critical moment, so much of those in Nazi controlled Europe did nothing.  God was not glorified by their praises, when they chose to be silent about the slaughter around them. In choosing to remain comfortable they dishonored their Savior's Name! So in the day of battle the people of God in large part failed to obey.  Failed to do what Jesus would do.  Failed to stand for righteousness when truth was fallen in the street.  Failed to be the church in a culture that pursued the death of the innocents.  What a shame and reproach!

BUT NOT ALL in that day failed.

Nicholas Winton, a young British man in his twenties, rescued 669 Jewish children destined for death camps from the Nazis, and arranged for them to have homes, smuggling them to Great Britain.

Irena Sendlerowa, a young Polish woman, secretly saved over 2,000 little Jewish children from the Ghettos and sure death through sewers, in suitcases, and boxes. 

Casper ten Boom, a Christian grandfather from the Netherlands and his family, rescued many Jews, making their home into a refuge and "hiding place" for the hunted.  The ten Boom family risked both life and liberty to "obey God rather than man" and deliver those that were "drawn unto death".  

Just reading snippets of what these (and others, like Peter van Woerden, and Hans and Sophie Scholl) did in their day can stir the reader with esteem, and we nod our heads in agreement.  They did right.  They were people of honor!  The organ volume raisers did wrong.  And I'm sure that we think that if we had lived in such a day, we are certain we would have been in the hero class, who would have done courageously as well.

At least we hope so.

But let us really consider that question.  Get out the mirror.  What if YOU lived during the Holocaust?  In Nazi occupied Europe?  Would YOU be like the ten Boom family?  Or the church organ "boomers".

What if YOU knew of a Nazi death camp only an hour away from YOUR home?  Would YOU go, at the peril of YOUR life, and try to rescue Jews being taken to that camp?  Perhaps you think, "Of course!" or maybe "I hope I would."

You know, Christians back then probably had excuses.  I mean if caught, they could be killed or imprisoned!  The Nazi regime was brutal.  And so they let others be slaughtered instead.  We still shake our heads in disapproval at their inaction, but we understand their fear.

BUT WHAT IF Nazi Germany's rules had been different?  What if they recognized and respected a citizen's right of "freedom of speech"?  What if they were allowed to say they didn't agree, and did not have to fear the Nazi's vengeance?  No death.  No prison.  No fine. They could speak out against it with immunity.  That would remove the excuses, right?  We would be even more adamant that they should have not been silent as millions were slain! Even more shame would fall on the heads of those who neglected their duty.

Let's go back to YOU in Nazi Germany, and the death camp an hour away.  

What if YOU were allowed to stand at the barbed war fence and call out for the lives of the Jews, even as they were being escorted to the gas chambers?

What if each guard had the freedom to choose to release the Jew he was leading, if YOU persuaded him that it was wrong for the Jew to be slain?

And even if they didn't listen, at least YOU had done the right thing, and before God would be clean of the guilt of the blood of the innocent. 

Would YOU go?  Would YOU take time out of YOUR busy schedule, of work time, leisure time, etc., to speak for their lives?  How often would YOU go?

That even one life could be saved?  That even if none were saved, that you were on the right side of history.  That the name of Jesus would be exalted, rather than cast in the dirt because His people didn't care enough lift their voice to speak truth in a generation that loved lies.

We may shake our heads at the inaction and apathy of those believers during the Holocaust of the Jews, But WHAT ABOUT TODAY?  What about the Holocaust of unborn babies IN OUR GENERATION?  Hitler slew about 6,000,000 Jews.  The United States alone has slain over 75,000,000 million, just counting recorded abortions.  We passed Hitler's count years ago!  So what are churches in America doing about the slaughter in their midst?  What are YOU doing right now?  

Suddenly exYOUses arise!  If we speak out against the murder of babies are we in danger of imprisonment?  Not yet.  Fines?  Not yet.  Death?  Not yet.  Our excuses are that "We are too busy."  "It is inconvenient."  "Someone may laugh at us."  "It won't change anything."  Face it!  We are apathetic and our excuses are pathetic!  We are filled with a depraved indifference.  We have LESS excuse than the German Christians.  And thus MORE shame is on us if we be silent.

Consider the following 4 verses:

Proverbs 31:8-9 "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

Proverbs 24:11-12 "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth thy soul doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?"

These are words from our God and King, He who created us, saved us, bought us with His blood, and Whose we are.  It is a commission to the people of God.

In my region of the United States, there are thousands of Gospel preaching churches, hundreds of thousands of believers in Jesus.  There are also several places that exist to murder babies under color of law.  Yet, when the doors are open for people to bring their babies to be butchered, WHERE IS THE CHURCH? Why are they not present?  Why are they not at the gates of death, preaching the Gospel, pleading the cause for those who cannot speak for themselves, and providing truth and help for parents and children in this critical time?   

One survey I read from years ago concluded that only 2% of professing Bible believing Christians in this country witness of the Gospel regularly.  That is a pitiful number.  I have never heard a survey about Christian activity at abortion mills, but fear that the percentage of Bible believing Christians in the United States who have stood for life outside a baby "death camp" even one time is still lower than that.  

Where are YOU, Christian?  Why are YOU not at the gates of death?  Will YOU repent, and obey YOUR Father in heaven?

I Corinthians 15:34 "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame."

Francis Schaeffer said that "Abortion exists by permission of the church."  I believe that if even only 1% of the church membership of Christian churches did their duty and stood regularly outside of the abortion mills, the death camps would shut down in their area.  If churches in this country actually repented and acted as the church should in a culture that kills its children, abortion would be abolished from our land.  And Jesus Christ would be glorified.  What will future Christians say of YOUR generation?  What will they think of YOUR response to the Preborn Holocaust, this critical moment in history?  And more importantly, what will YOUR Saviour say when YOU stand before Him, and this issue, so dear to the heart of God, is raised?  

Hans Scholl said, "It's high time that Christians made up their minds to do something...What are we going to show in the way of resistance...when all this terror is over?  We will be standing empty-handed.  We will have no answer when we are asked: What did you do about it?"

To speak for the innocent is not merely an obligation.  It is an honor!

There is still time to win battle before the sun goes down.

Abortion must be abolished.