Repent As We Stand Up For Religious Freedom By Jim McGarvey

Thousands of Americans, including many Christians, will be participating in Stand Up For Religious Freedom rallies across the nation this Friday March 23. We will gather in prayer and public witness to oppose the recent Health and Human Services’ mandate announced by the Obama administration. May I suggest two Biblical mandates that should guide our prayers and response to the challenge before us.  

First, the Church must begin by repenting of its own sin. The apostle Peter wrote, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17 NIV) 

We need to repent of our sexual sin. In the Spring 2012 edition of Insight, a publication of the National Association of Evangelicals, it is reported that, 

“Eighty percent of unmarried evangelicals between the ages of 18 and 29 have had sex. That’s 4 out of 5. Sixty-four percent have had sex within the last year...These single Christians are getting pregnant - 30 percent of unmarried evangelicals have been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant.”

There is a direct link between sexual immorality and abortion, 83% of all aborted children being concieved out of wedlock.

We need to repent of the Church’s complicity with abortion. Insight also reports that “Thirty-two percent of all unplanned pregnancies among evangelicals end in abortion.” According to Focus on the Family, 250,000 evangelical women choose abortion each year in America; 5.6 million women in evangelical churches have aborted unwanted children; and one out of six women who have an abortion are evangelical Christians."  (heartlink.org). 

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI “In Brief” 2008) reports that 43% of women having abortions identify themselves as Protestant and 27% as Roman Catholic. That represents 70% of all abortions. As Rev. John Ensor has pointed out, if Christians stopped having abortions, abortion clinics would close because it would be difficult to remain in business having lost 70% of their clients.

Insight concludes, “Abortion is happening in the Body of Christ, and it’s time for us to talk about it.” May I suggest that a good place to begin the conversation is with a call for repentance. 

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV). This is God’s plan for us to experience His forgiveness, grace and restoration. 

Abortion is a gospel issue. 

We need to repent of our hypocrisy. Just last week Dr. R. C. Sproul Jr. wrote a blog about the response of Christians to the recently published article by two Australian ethicists outlining why they considered “after birth” abortions to be ethical. (“Savorless Salt” at http://rcsprouljunior.blogspot.com/) He concludes with these words,

“We expose our hypocrisy, our callowness and shallowness when we protest after-birth abortion, sex-selection abortion, partial-birth abortion, late-term abortion, unsafe, unregulated abortion, Obamacare funded abortion, all the while living a business-as-usual life in the face of babies being butchered in our neighborhoods every day. The evil of killing babies is that they are babies, no matter their age, no matter whether they are born, no matter how they came to be, no matter what butchering technique is used. We, the living, must repent. Lord have mercy on our souls, and the souls of the babies we destroy.”

The healing of our land depends more on the Church repenting than anything anyone else can do. I almost hesitate to cite 2 Chronicles 7:13,14 because it is so often quoted. But I will anyway, because it could very well be the most under-practiced quoted Scripture in the Bible.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

I hear the Lord saying to Solomon and the people of Israel,

“When you, my people, who under my judgment, turn to me in humility and turn (repent) from your sin, I’ll forgive and heal your land.” I think Peter was familiar with that passage. No mention of the sin of a politician, judge or authority figure. No, it’s, “if my people” - that’s us. That’s where it begins. We’re responsible to get the ball rolling. Our repentant prayer  unlocks the outpouring of Divine healing and prosperity.

As Americans today, we face threats to our freedoms perhaps unprecedented in our  two hundred plus years of history. If that is true, what better time to put God’s call to humility and repentance and His promise of healing, to the test.

Secondly, we must involve ourselves in intercession for President Obama and every other elected official, judge and person in position of authority. The apostle Paul’s instruction,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”  (1 Timothy 2:1-6 NIV)

Whether we are a supporter of President Obama or one who opposes his policies, we are instructed to pray for him. 

Have you ever wondered why the command to pray for those in authority is followed by a clear declaration of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and man? Could it be that God wants to change the heart of those who serve Him in government positions - in response to our humility, repentance, and obedience in prayer? Could Paul be reminding us that in God’s plan, His Son Jesus Christ is the only provision for their salvation and that is of paramount importance from the Divine perspective?

I will take a stand for religious freedom. But it will be from a posture of bowing in humility and repentance, first of all for my sin, the sin of the Church and then the sin of the nation. And it will include heartfelt intercession for those who serve this nation as leaders - a prayer for salvation if they do not know Christ, a prayer of blessing, and a prayer for God’s intervention in the affairs of a nation that is rapidly sliding down a slippery and precipitous pathway, as it turns its back on God.

(Go to http://standupforreligiousfreedom.com/ for further information)

The Fort Lauderdale Rally for Religious Freedom will be held at the Federal Building located at E 299 Broward Blvd. from 12 noon to 1:00 pm.

Day 24 of the 40 Days For Life - It's a Battle for Truth

I was at the 40 Days For Life prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Pembroke PInes this afternoon. There was a lot of client traffic in and out of the clinic. 

I was told by Sharon, the campaign leader for this prayer site, that abortions are not performed on Friday afternoons. So presumably the clients were there for other reasons including perhaps securing an appointment for an abortion or drugs for chemical abortions.

I noticed more clients bringing their children with them today than at the other times.

I think it would be a difficult place to bring children if one knew that just down the hall at a different time of day the lives of unborn children are being violently murdered while still in the womb of their mothers. 

Just today I read that Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, killed 329,445 unborn children in 2010 which generated an income of over $148 million.

(see http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-numbers-planned-parenthood-doesnt-want-you-to-know?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8921c1fcb0-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines_03_16_2012&utm_medium=email)

Jesus identified who is behind the killing. Speaking to those he knew were intent on killing him, He said, "...you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my word.” (John 8:37) and then a few verses later, “...you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.” (vs. 40) Then Jesus identified who their father was. “You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murdered from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NIV)

Chilling words when applied to the abortion industry but a perfect fit. Murder often, if not always, surrounds itself with lies. It’s always at odds with the truth. 

Jesus identified the enemy. It is not the abortion promoting politician. It is not the abortionist. It is not the abortion minded mother, the abortion clinic counselor or the abortion clinic owners. They, unknowingly, are his victims as well.

As I see the women go in and out I’m aware of the deception that is endemic to the abortion industry. The four words I have heard over and over from the post-abortive is, “They lied to me.” One study of those having abortions revealed that,

“Even though the majority felt rushed and uncertain, 67% received no counseling; 79% were not told about alternatives to abortion.” (VM Rue et. al.,  Medical Science Monitor) So much for having the opportunity to make an “informed” choice.

So we share truth with the signs we hold and we pray. Strategically. While “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) “...the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV)

We do not have personal access to the clients, but we rely on the ministry of His Spirit as we intercede for them. Christ has not left us without weapons. 

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.(John 16:2-11 NIV)

His Spirit can access the hearts of those behind closed doors and out of our sight.

Abortion is a gospel issue. This is the inescapable truth that the Church is still wrestling with. There is a political fight to be fought. There are social implications to be wrestled with. But first and foremost, when seen through a Biblical paradigm, abortion is a spiritual issue. The battle will be won or lost at that level. 

The enemy has been identified. His strategy has been exposed. Our weapons have been issued - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. He waits for His body the Church to enlist and engage the enemy. 

You can join the remaining 16 days of this campaign of prayer and fasting by going to 

http://40daysforlife.com/miami/index.cfm?load=page&page=2.

Jim McGarvey

Church for Life

Serving the Church in its response to America’s abortion crisis as it: communicates the Biblical message of the sanctity of human life; ministers healing and restoration to the post-abortive; and provides compassionate and practical help to those at risk for abortion.
  

Day 18 of 40 Days for Life - At War for Life

Today a young woman gets out of her parked car and walks toward the shopping plaza. I hope she’s going to the salon to get her hair done. But no, she walks past the hair salon without stopping. Maybe she has come to shop at the dollar store next door. No, she walks past that store as well, and heads...to the Planned Parenthood “Health” Center adjacent to the dollar store. 

In front of the clinic she stops, pauses momentarily, then enters behind the reflective glass door....to an appointment to kill her child? I’ll probably never know for sure. I do know that over 50% of women who have abortions feel they have no choice and over 70% are never told about alternatives.

If an abortion is imminent for this woman and her child, I have no other recourse than to pray. Appropriately, the next Scripture I planned to meditate on to guide my prayer after she drove up was Ephesians 6:10-13.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (NIV)

So I enter the struggle and pray for her.

Then there are the young men - waiting outside the glass walls of the abortion clinic. They were there Wednesday and again today. Standing - seated - waiting...for what? As I prayed today for a young man sitting on the bench near the clinic door, his back to the facility where perhaps his son or daughter is meeting a violent death at the hands of an abortionist, tears begin to well up in my eyes. Does he know what he is doing? Or perhaps he does but has no say in the fate of his child. 

I become restless - pacing back and forth. I’m not sure why. Perhaps a sense of helplessness. It hurts to think of his loss. This is personal. My only grandson was born out of wedlock. So are 83% of all aborted children. My grandson was unplanned as are most aborted babies...but by the grace of God not unwanted. 

Earlier on my watch this was the text, 

“ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  (John 8:44 NIV)

The devil is the enemy. We are at war with him. The one who has come “to steal and kill and  destroy” (John 10:10) has also successfully deceived many moms and dads, many doctors and nurses, many counselors and many owners of abortion facilities. 

It is a real war with real victims - preborn human beings (over 3,300 per day), their post abortive mothers and fathers, their grandmothers and grandfathers and other family members who will never meet them.

We must stand in the gap for the helpless, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27 NIV)

The victims of abortion are the most destitute of all orphans - not just abandoned by parents but murdered. Many of their mothers are the widows - pressured, manipulated, even coerced into killing their own young by those closest to them.

“...though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5  NIV)

(I am participating in a 40 Days For Life prayer and fasting vigil at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Pembroke Pines Florida. You can be involved in the 40 Days For Life effort at an abortion clinic by going to http://www.40daysforlife.com/ for further information.)

The Deception - Murder Link

“‘I think it is interesting you are crying for me, but I see no reason for that. All I am doing is having an abortion. It does not seem like a big deal to me. I have aborted before and everything went fine, so I have no reason to think this time will be any different. Abortion is a very simple procedure, it is over in a very few minutes, and only takes about 10 - 12 hours to be back to normal, with a great feeling of relief. I do not think there is any reason to for you to be concerned for me. From past experiences I am sure I will be fine, it is nice to know that someone cares for me.’
~ Kayla, as she is about to kill her 5th baby”

Those words were posted on March 3, 2012 by Facebook friend, Pro-life advocate Patte Smith who does sidewalk counseling.

My comment to her post:

Deception goes hand in hand with murder. Jesus said as much, "He was a murder from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and father of lies." (John 8:44) 

This woman, probably unknowingly, has given herself to the clutches of Satan. This abortion epidemic is endemically a spiritual war. 

The unborn are the victims of a war between heaven and hell and the church is largely sitting on the sidelines, lacking spiritual discernment and or the will to intervene in the spiritual warfare necessary to break the powers of darkness. 

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form, and you have bee given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority...Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:8,15)

Prayer and the End of Abortion

Thanks to the leadership of Respect Life of the Archdiocese of Miami, 40 Days for Life has finally come to Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the abortion capital of the Southeast United States. Thousands more will be praying at 249 additional sites across America and in four other countries.

Why fast and pray for forty days in front of an abortion clinic? 

Abortion is first and foremost a spiritual issue. According to Jesus, Satan is a murderer, a liar and the father of all lies (John 8:44). He "...comes to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10 ESV). Based on these statements, I believe Satan is the architect of abortion. Murder and deception are endemic to the abortion industry, making abortion a Satanic enterprise.

Our first strategy, therefore, in bringing an end to abortion, is prayer.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:11-13 ESV)

Jesus Christ has triumphed over Satan and the demonic forces behind abortion, "...having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:25 NIV) 

The Church is the only institution spiritually equipped to engage the Satanic forces behind abortion. Therefore, the Church should lead the effort to end abortion.

Abortion is a gospel issue. The gospel can change the heart of an abortion minded mother to make a life affirming decision. The gospel can change the heart of those who participate and are invested in the abortion industry and those in government protecting the state sanctioned killing. The gospel alone provides the hope of forgiveness, healing and restoration for the post-abortive. 

Here is our mandate, 

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)

Is prayer changing the abortion industry?

Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life Campaign Director, recently reported some of the results of the last seven prayer campaigns:

*15,000+ church congregations have participated in 40 Days for Life campaigns

    

* Reports document 5,045 lives that have been spared from abortion -- and those are just the ones we know about

* 61 abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry

* 21 abortion facilities have completely shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns outside their doors

* Women and men have been spared from the effects of abortion, including a lifetime of regrets

  

* Many people with past abortion experiences have begun post-abortion healing and recovery

The responsibility to end abortion lies with the Church. Jesus promised, “...the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 

According to ChristianNewsWire.com (02-08-12), 

“With 251 locations, this will be the largest springtime 40 Days for Life campaign in history. 40 Days for Life consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of constant, peaceful vigil outside abortion centers and Planned Parenthood offices and 40 days of pro-life community outreach.”

If you live in Southeast Florida, you may sign up to pray for an hour (or more) a week - for six weeks in front of Planned Parenthood's abortion clinic in Pembroke Pines or Choice For Women in Miami. If not find an abortion facility in your area. See the list of participating communities and sign up online at: www.40daysforlife.com/location.

The Truth Protects the Unborn

(This is the response to a Facebook posting advocating that “government get OUT of peoples personal lives” and let “...people and families make there own decisions based on there beliefs about this [abortion] issue.)

If we allow truth, and therefore jurisprudence, to be defined subjectively by “...people and families [who] make there own decisions based on there beliefs about this issue,” we will live in anarchy and moral chaos. For example one group could advocate their right to have sex with your underage children and according to your premise, they should have the right to do so.

Society and its laws must appeal to a moral standard that transcends their own human inclinations. Hence western civilization, flawed as it has been, has been built on both natural law (e.g. it is counter intuitive for a mother to kill its young) and transcendent law, in the West historically Judeo-Christian values. 

That is the philosophical underpinning of the U. S. Constitution.

The founding fathers understood this and therefore charged government with the responsibility, of among other things, protecting human life, noting that these “self-evident” “rights” had their source in “their Creator,” not government, politicians, or any other human institution. 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (emphasis mine)

Justice Harry Blackmun who wrote the prevailing argument in Roe v. Wade, acknowledged that his case would fail if the personhood of the unborn could be established. Here is what he wrote, "If this suggestion of personhood [of the unborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment." 

Subsequent to the writing of Roe v. Wade in 1973, with the discovery of DNA, it has been scientifically established that the unborn are human from the moment of conception. That debate is over. 

For example, Professor Micheline Matthews-Roth, M.D. of Harvard University Medical School, agrees, "…It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception." I could site  endless numbers of scientists who have drawn the same conclusion from the medical/scientific evidence. 

Therefore pro-life apologist, Scott Klusendorf, is correct when he says that, "…elective abortion unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being. ..killing him or her to benefit others is a serious moral wrong."

The advocates for a woman’s right to kill her unborn child know they have lost the argument that life in the womb is merely a "tissue mass" or a "product of conception." 

From both a legal and moral perspective, therefore, the central issue in the abortion debate is not "women's rights" or a “woman’s right to choose,” but the "human rights, the "civil rights" of the unborn. You cannot extend to a woman the right to kill her unborn child, as the U. S. Court has done, without at the same time denying her child the “unalienable” right to live, guaranteed by the U. S. constitution.

The question we should ask is, in light of the irrefutable evidence 

that life begins at conception, why has the Supreme Court not reversed its ruling that denied the personhood of the unborn?

Why do politicians continue to support state sanctioned killing of unborn children?

Perhaps John Piper has exposed the reason. He writes, 

"…when people benefit from wrongdoing or wrong-thinking,

they will turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the mounting evidence for what is right and what is true.The mind selectively sees what will justify the desires of the heart. In the end that is what must be changed."

That is why the abortion issue is ultimately a gospel issue. Jesus Christ alone, can change the human heart to embrace the truth revealed both in nature (science) and the His revelation of truth to man, the Bible. 

Listen to the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday message, given January 29, 2012 at Pines Baptist Church entitled. "The Gospel, Abortion & the Church," from which much of this response came. Listen online or download from their media site The Sanctity of Life - January 29 at http://www.pinesbapt...hurch.org/media

Power Through Weakness - It Might Be a Tough Sell

I read it this morning. "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness," says the Lord, via the Apostle Paul. It's a tough lesson to learn. Evidently took Paul a while, "Three times I begged the Lord to take it away,” the “...thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.”  (2 Corinthians 12:8.9 NLT)

But it evidently paid off. The Lord turned his perspective around, "So now I boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." In fact what he said next sounds counter-intuitive to most of us,

“That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecution, and troubles that I suffer for Christ.” (verse 10)

But the weakness paid off, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” It’s the gospel all over again. Death precedes life. That is the road Christ followed - it’s the only way he could atone for our sin. 

Evidently it’s the only way to follow Him. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV).

There’s the secret to life and ministry. His grace and power. Giving Him the right to live through us, “...so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

But we keep getting in the way. The battle with the world. It grabs hold of us - through the lusts of our own flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of who we are and what we have - if we play with it. Or the proving ground of character - getting along with people - those God has placed in our lives - our wife and children, our friends, those we minister to and with, and those who live around us.

It’s when our weaknesses take center stage - they stare us in the face, even embarrass us - that Paul says, don’t walk away from them. Turn them into an opportunity to humble yourself before the Lord and others. That is the posture from which you can be rescued, for God’s “...power works best in weakness.” Your weakness becomes your best friend.

Can you imagine consistently living in that truth? What would ministry look like? Success would no longer be measured by size, numbers, personality and prominence. No need to modify the gospel to enhance its appeal, enlarge the audience or mitigate its offense. No need for gimmicks, glamor, sound and stage shows in place of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. He would suffice. 

And we would “...take pleasure in [our] weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecution, and troubles that [we] suffer for Christ.”

It might be a tough sell.