Prayer Before Politics

Today was day 7 of 40 Days for Life Fort Lauderdale. Based on statistics provided by the Florida Agency For Health Care Administration, 6,480 unborn children lost their lives to abortion in Broward County in the first six months of 2012.

That translates to the loss of 243 unborn babies in Broward County since the 40 Days for Life campaign began seven days ago and 243 mothers and fathers that will live the rest of their lives bearing the guilt, shame, sorrow, regrets, and any number of other emotional, psychological and spiritual problems traced back to the decision to kill their own young.

When you stand in front of these "death houses" praying and watching the clients coming and going, it puts a "face" on the statistics.

Today, again, I prayed alone for almost an hour until the two other volunteers (pictured) came to pray around noon. The first client I saw was a young woman - perhaps college age - who exited the clinic and walked to a car parked next door where an older woman (her mother?) was waiting. The face of the young woman was conflicted. I saw at least three other women, two accompanied by men, enter the clinic during my vigil.

In speaking to someone about the prospects of his pastor supporting the 40 Days for Life campaign, I was told his pastor would not deal with abortion because it was too "political."

While acknowledging there is a political side to abortion, since it was legalized by  U. S. Supreme Court in 1973, and a political fight to be fought, I wish pastors using that excuse to sidestep the issue, would stand in front of a clinic for an hour and look into the eyes of those who become the victims of this "political" issue. Perhaps then their pastoral (shepherding) instinct would kick in as they witness the human tragedy that is endemic to abortion.

Taking the liberty to speak plainly here, I can't think of any "issue" that is more spiritual than abortion. The transforming power of the gospel is what will end abortion and if pastors don't get it, we have a problem. The delay and difficulty pastors and the Church have had in coming to terms with abortion for the last 40 years, is the reason abortion is still alive and well, continuing to take the lives of over 3,300 unborn children every day in the USA.

We believe through prayer and fasting we can access God's power to end abortion. Can you imagine how God would respond to the church lining the street, in humility, compassion and faith, fasting and praying for the end of abortion, the salvation of abortion providers and forgiveness, healing and restoration of those who have been touched by an abortion?

Jesus exposes the devil's role in abortion, contrasting it with his mission,

"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."   (John 10:10  NIV)

And the words of John declare the ultimate outcome,

"The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." 1 John 3:8  (NIV)

No mention of politics, only a spiritual battle with sin and the devil, a battle that 

has been won through the gospel,

"...having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." 

(Colossians 2:15 NIV)

You can go to www.40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale to register and sign up to join the prayer vigil. Put prayer before politics and see what God does.

(You can find information regarding 40 Days for Life campaigns in over 300 other cities by going to www.40daysforlife.com)

I'm Hoping History Repeats Itself

"In the 1830s, American abolitionists, led by Evangelical Protestants, gained momentum in their battle to end slavery. Abolitionists believed that slavery was a national sin, and that it was the moral obligation of every American to help eradicate it from the American landscape by gradually freeing the slaves and returning them to Africa."

("I Will Be Heard!" Abolitionism in America, Cornell University Library)

According to the historical accounts, a spiritual revival, the Second Great Awakening of the 1820's, had a great impact the efforts of Christians to end slavery.

"Although antislavery sentiment had existed during the American Revolution, and abolitionist Benjamin Lundy began his work early in the 19th century, the abolition movement did not reach crusading proportions until the 1830s. One of its mainsprings was the growing influence of evangelical religion, with its religious fervor, its moral urgency to end sinful practices, and its vision of human perfection. The preaching of Lyman Beecher and Nathaniel Taylor in New England and the religious revivals that began in W New York state in 1824 under Charles G. Finney and swept much of the North, created a powerful impulse toward social reform—emancipation of the slaves as well as temperance, foreign missions, and women's rights. Outstanding among Charles Finney's converts were Theodore D. Weld and the brothers Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan." (http://www.us-civilwar.com/abolitionist.htm) 

In other words, spiritual regeneration through the gospel of Jesus Christ transformed lives in such a way that their faith drove them to not only oppose slavery but led to efforts to abolish slavery.

According to History.com,

"...the abolitionist movement did not coalesce into a militant crusade until the 1830s. In the previous decade, as much of the North underwent the social disruption associated with the spread of manufacturing and commerce, powerful evangelical religious movements arose to impart spiritual direction to society. By stressing the moral imperative to end sinful practices and each person's responsibility to uphold God's will in society, preachers like Lyman Beecher, Nathaniel Taylor, and Charles G. Finney in what came to be called the Second Great Awakening led massive religious revivals in the 1820s that gave a major impetus to the later emergence of abolitionism as well as to such other reforming crusades as temperance, pacifism, and women's rights. By the early 1830s, Theodore D. Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, and Elizur Wright, Jr., all spiritually nourished by revivalism, had taken up the cause of 'immediate emancipation.'"

(Abolitionist Movement, History.com)

History shows that the end of slavery was linked to this spiritual revival that impacted our nation in a profound way and "nourished" Christian leaders to respond to the morally repugnant institution of slavery.

Could there be a lesson here for 21st century America? Perhaps America will not get serious about ending abortion until there is another spiritual awakening.

Maybe it will take another spiritual awakening for the church to end it's preoccupation with entertainment and "cultural relevance" and apply the gospel in its response to state sanctioned killing of unborn children.

Maybe it will take another spiritual revival to awaken the conscience of America's clergy to the impunity with which the unborn are routinely slaughtered in the communities where they live and minister.

Maybe it will take another Great Awakening to prompt the church to respond in practical compassion to those at risk for abortion and to offer the gospel message of forgiveness, healing and restoration to the millions of post-abortive in and out of the church.

I'm hoping history will repeat itself. That is one reason I am participating in 40 Days for Life Fort Lauderdale prayer and fasting campaign to end abortion. God can end abortion in America. We are calling out to Him for His intervention.

Join us by going to www.40daysforlife.com to locate one of the 315 cities across this nation where prayer vigils are in progress. 40 Days for Life goes through November 4.

This Really Matters!

On average, 1,200 African American unborn babies are aborted every day in America - 16 million since abortion was legalized in 1973.
As a result, African Americans are the only minority in America that are declining in population because their birthrate is now below the replacement level.

If this trend continues, it is only a matter of time before there are no more Blacks in America.

This is the goal of the eugenists behind the abortion cartel. Before you dismiss this as another conspiracy theory, watch the documentary, "Maafa21 Black Genocide in 21st Century America" free online at www.maafa21.com.

You owe it to America's future.

Why We Pray - Day 3 of 40 Days for Life Fort Lauderdale

According to the Florida Agency For Health Care Administration, 12,001 unborn children were aborted in Broward County in 2012.

That is an average of 33 children a day. AHCA reports that 6,480 unborn have been aborted in the first six months of 2012. That is why we are holding a prayer vigil in front of the All Women's Medical Center located at 2100 E. Commercial Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Pastor Randy Alcorn has written,

“According to the Scriptures, there are spiritual beings present here, righteous angels and fallen angels, and we are under attack. There is a battle for our minds, and a battle for our souls: It’s not fiction, it’s not imagination; it’s revealed reality. There is great spiritual warfare associated with the issue of abortion.”  (Pro-life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments, pg. 353)

He's right. The struggle between light and darkness, life and death, the devil and the church began thousands of years ago, as recorded by Moses,

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15 NIV)

As Eric Holmberg has said,  

“In the battle for life against child sacrifice in all its many permutations, the enmity that is between the seed of the woman, the church, and the seed of the serpent, the Devil, finds perhaps its greatest expression. This is where heaven and hell meet.”

("The Abortion Matrix" DVD (www.forerunner.com)

Jesus was explicit in identifying who was behind murder when he exposed the apostasy of the religious leaders who opposed his claim to Deity.

"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)

Here is the devil's job description according to Jesus. It fits the abortion industry like a custom fit glove - deception and murder. 

So we pray, recognizing that,

"The on who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." (1 John 3:8 NIV)

Ending abortion is Church business. When I arrived at the clinic this afternoon, there was one lone prayer vigil volunteer standing in front of the ten foot high black fence. After he left, again as on day one, I stood alone until another volunteer joined me. I shared this thought with him - what would God do if there were hundreds of believers lining the boulevard for blocks - pouring out their hearts to God to end abortion?

Join with us in interceeding for the protection of the unborn; that mothers and fathers would choose life; for the conversion of Dr. Lehrer and the abortion clinic workers; for healing and forgiveness for those who have been involved in abortion; and that abortion will come to an end in Fort Lauderdale and America.

Read over those requests again. This will not happen without the intervention of God. Come Church, join the struggle against "the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

Pastors - lead your congregation into the spiritual blessing America desperately needs. Wrap abortion in the gospel, proclaiming liberty and freedom to those bound by the deception of the devil and extend healing and restoration to the post-abortive throgh the gospel.

40 Days for Life prayer and fasting campaigns are taking place in 315 cities across America. You can go to www.40daysforlife.com to locate a campaign near you and register to participate in prayer to end abortion in America.

Day One of 40 Days for Life - A Day of Atonement message - to the All Women's Medical Clinic

Yesterday was the first day of the Fort Lauderdale 40 Days for Life's prayer vigil at the All Women's Medical Center located at 2100 E. Commercial Blvd. I signed up for the twelve noon hour and upon arrival, found only one other 40 Days for Life (40DL) volunteer at the clinic.

Unfortunately, when she left, I was the only 40DL volunteer for the next hour and a half. (Please go to the prayer vigil website, www.40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale and sign up to join the vigil. We need more intercessors!)

The imposing black metal gate remained shut today as the clinic was closed, presumably in observance of Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is the holiest day of the year for those of the Jewish faith, a day of fasting, prayer and repentance.

It is ironic that a business that majors in shedding innocent blood of unborn children (abortion) would be closed on the Day of Atonement. 

The shedding of blood was central to the Day of Atonement. (See Leviticus 16.) As J. Barton Paine has written,

"An atonement is, literally a 'covering,' a ransom that averts one's punishment...  atonement furnished a covering over the sin, provides an intervening sacrifice to bear the punishment that would otherwise fall upon us, should God 'see through to our sin.'"

Of course, Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of what was foreshadowed by the Day of Atonement. As the writer to the Hebrews says of Christ,

He did not enter [the Holy of Holies] by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption...the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, [will] cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!   (Hebrews 9:11-14 NIV)

That is why we pray in front of the All Womens Center. 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. The gospel alone provides the hope of forgiveness, healing and restoration for the post-abortive.

Only God can bring this about. That is why we fast and pray. The words of the prophet Azariah to King Asa of Judah, (2 Chronicles 15:2)

“The Lord is with you when you are with him.

If you seek him, he will be found by you.”

The ten foot high black fence that surrounds the entrance and parking lot of this abortion facility is intimidating. Apparently designed to secure the privacy of those at work inside. But I prayed, alone, out loud, very loud, to an empty building - knowing that a ten foot high black metal fence, as impregnable as it looks, cannot keep out the Spirit of God, and the building, though closed for business, might not be empty. After all, abortion is a satanic enterprise (John 8:44), so should any of his legions be within hearing of my voice, I shouted, among others Scriptures, these words from the Apostle Paul,

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He 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 2:9,15  (NIV)

A Day of Atonement message to the All Women's Medical Clinic.

"If you seek him, he will be found by you..."

Prayer being the first work of ministry, you would think the Church would be willing to go to prayer to end abortion especially in light of the staggering loss of over fifty million unborn children since abortion was legalized in 1973.

40 Days For Life, launches forty days of prayer and fasting, today, September 26 in 315 cites across America.

You may go to www.40daysforlife.com to sign up to pray in one of the 315 cities where 40 Days for Life prayer vigils are being held.

Prayer changes things. Fasting expresses the urgency of our desire as well as our dependence on God to do what only He can do.

The words of the Lord to King Asa, King of Judah, through the prophet Azariah, still hold true today. After the Lord gave the King a great victory over a formidable enemy, Azariah said,

"The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you…"(2 Chronicles 15:2)

Fasting is an invitation for God's intervention. Church, let's get up out of the pew and onto our knees. The future of our nation and the lives of millions of unborn children depend on it.

Grace and Truth - They're Inseparable

A while back when reading 2 Timothy 2:23-26, I realized I had found an apologetic protocol for engaging those who have misunderstood or rejected truth. Verses 23-25a of the New Living Translation says,

"Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments [controversies] that only start fights [quarrels]. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.”

The protocol is fairly simple in concept, though perhaps more difficult in practice. We begin by avoiding a quarrel. A quarrel is not just a discussion between those of two opposing viewpoints, but “an angry argument or disagreement” or a “verbal conflict between antagonists.” Engaging in a quarrel leaves a lot of room for pride, self-righteousness and any number of other fleshly responses.

Then we are instructed to be be kind which certainly enhances our next effort to gently correct or instruct the one opposed to the truth.

This sets the stage for the apologist, identifying the attitude with which we are to respond to those who oppose the truth. It’s a tall order, but well within the grasp of the believer if we take the ministry of the Holy Spirit seriously. He has given us a panoply of graces, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23), to both subdue our pride and flesh but also grace us with a winsomeness and attractive demeanor. Verses 25-26 continues,

“correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (ESV)

The ultimate objective is two fold - a change of heart, should God in His sovereignty grant repentance, and freedom, an escape from the devil’s trap.

“Come to their senses” has been translated “may return to soberness,” parallel both to the plight of unbelievers described in 1 Corinthians 4:4, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers,” and the need for being “rescued from the domain (kingdom) of darkness and transferred...to the kingdom of his beloved Son” in Colossians 1:13 (ESV).

Those who remain under the dominion of satan have lost the ability to see reality and therefore grasp the truth. Therefore, this apologetic protocol recognizes the need for an escape from the “snare of the devil” similar to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6,

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (ESV)

This protocol, then, involves both sharing the truth of the gospel and living the gospel by the way in which we share the truth.

Paul instructed the Colossians,

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:5 NIV)

It comes down to this, grace and truth are inseparable, both in the message we proclaim and the manner in which we proclaim the message.