"Abortion is...not an act of selfishness"?

Last week while participating in the 40 Days For Life Fort Lauderdale prayer vigil, I watched as abortionist Dr. Theodor Lehrer measured the base of the large blue and white ALL WOMENS CENTER (954) 772 HELP sign with a tape measure. I figured he was planning something - now I know what he had in mind.

Arriving at the center today (day 26) 

I saw the new bright red, white lettered sign that had been erected since last week -

VOTE WOMENS LIVES, HEALTH AND JUSTICE.

"In a perfect world, every pregnancy should be an invited guest in the woman’s body and a wanted potential addition to her family. Unfortunately, our world - and practically everything we can think of - is far from perfect...

The ultimate decision to get an abortion is a personal matter and not an act of selfishness. It can be an act of caring about yourself and about others."

You will find these words on the All Womens Center's (AWC) website under the "counseling" section.

There is a mixed message here. I agree that our world is not "perfect."

For years now, I have been pointing out that over 50% of women who have abortions feel they have no choice. Therefore, those of us who oppose abortion should not trivialize the circumstances many women are facing in an unplanned pregnancy. Instead it should lead to a compassionate and practical response by the Church.

Frederica Mathewes-Green identifies some of the reasons (difficult circumstances) why women have abortions:

forced by their mother
father opposed (keeping the child)
persuaded by husband or boyfriend 
no other option given
loss of family support
would have been kicked out
persuaded by the clinic
(Real Choices)

This is a complex issue for many women. AWC is right. It's not a "perfect" world. But to then conclude that abortion is "not an act of selfishness" but "can be an act of caring about yourself and about others," is an oxymoron.

EVERY abortion unjustly takes the life of another human being. AWC comes close to admitting that: "...every pregnancy should be an invited guest in the woman’s body and a wanted potential addition to her family." (emphasis mine) The words "invited" and "wanted" expose the deception upon which the pro-abortion argument is based. Since Roe v. Wade, "choice" has given a mother license to kill her unborn child.

You cannot extend to a woman the right (choice) to kill her unborn child, as the Court has done, without at the same time, denying her child the right to live. As Randy Alcorn has written,

"To be prochoice about someone's right to kill is to be anti choice about someone else's right to life....The prochoice position always overlooks the victim's right to choose...And the babies don't choose abortion."  (Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments)

Where is the "VOTE...JUSTICE" for the unborn in abortion?

The glaring inconsistency of the new bright red sign, once again confirms the deception inherent in abortion. Jesus exposed the devil's character and strategy when he said,

"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 fire department does not fight fires from the fire station. Doctors don't perform life saving surgery from their homes. Police don't prevent crime sitting around police headquarters.

Abortion is a gospel issue. 40 Days for Life, is an opportunity for the Church to proclaim life saving truth and grace as it engages the spiritual forces behind abortion where the child killing takes place, for, "...where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."

James' challenge finds no better application than here.

"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)

There are no greater orphans than the unborn abandoned by their mother and father at an abortion clinic and for the reasons noted above, many mothers having abortions are functionally widows. 

Earlier in that same chapter James wrote,

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22 NIV)

You can find further information or register to join the prayer vigil, by going to

www.40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale.

Why Fast to End Abortion

(This is a slightly edited version of a message I gave at the Mid-Point Rally of 40 Days For Life Fort Lauderdale, on October 18, 2012, Day 23 of the prayer and fasting campaign.)

Last Friday, well into the second hour of my vigil at the All Womens Center, I watched a man, perhaps in his mid thirties pull into the parking lot and enter the center alone. About twenty minutes or so later, he and a women left the center, got into their late model automobile and drove off. From everything I had observed over that last hour or so, they had just made an irreversible decision and taken the life of their child.

I was overwhelmed with a vicarious sense of their loss. It was emotionally painful with tears of sorrow, even momentary sobs.

You see, at least two things had contributed to that visceral response. First of all, I realized this couple had just denied themselves the privilege of ever looking into the eyes of their child. They would never know the unique and distinct personality of a child God had meant for them.

My mind was filled with the imagery of looking into the eyes and the joy I have of knowing my three and a half year old grandson Adrian, who himself was the result of an unplanned pregnancy. Born out of wedlock, but by the grace of God given a chance to live by his mother. [Most aborted children are conceived out of wedlock.]

He and his mother have lived with us for over three years now. Just the day before, it had been "Papa time" when I cared for Adrian as his mother went to work late that afternoon. We had spent several precious hours together down at the beach and the jetty.

Secondly, on that Friday, every client that went in or exited during the two hours I stood alone in front of the center, were African American. For five years I have been working in the African American church community seeking to sound the alarm of the genocidal effect of abortion in America's Black community.

At Friday's vigil, I realized that I was witnessing Black Genocide, and it was not easy to watch.

The founder of World Vision, the late Dr. Bob Pierce once said,

"Break my heart with the things that break the heart of God." That was his heart cry.

In April of 2009, Christine J Gardner, writing in "Christianity Today" commented on those words.

"...that is precisely the experience of the biblical prophets. They saw the abuse of the people God loved with his eye and loved them with his heart--and thus they wept with the tears and decried injustice with his voice." She continues, "If... the primary purpose of fasting is to draw near to God's heart, a true fast will result in our seeing as God sees and weeping over injustice as God weeps over it." (CT 04-05-99 "Hungry For God," pg. 31)

If that were the only result we experienced from prayer and fasting in the 40 Day For Life Fort Lauderdale campaign, may I suggest to you, that alone would be worth it.

What am I saying? This fast gives God the opportunity to do something not just regarding the evil of abortion, but an opportunity for God to do something in our hearts as those he has called to the work of ending abortion and to a ministry of intercession on behalf of the unborn.

Andrew Murray, wrote,

"Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God." (With Christ in the School of Prayer)

Last week after returning from one of the vigils I told my wife, "I feel God is, 'schooling me,' to use a word from my children's generation, "as I participate in the prayer vigil." And I welcome it, as He is teaching me how to respond to America's abortion crisis as I gain a better understanding of how He views all of this.

And that is exactly what the Church is wrestling with, or should be wrestling with today. What does God think of all of this? I believe that is one thing God wants to do for us through this season of prayer and fasting at the All Womens Center or as you fast and pray from some other location.

Yes, we are there to access His power and intervention to end abortion. Yes, we are there to intercede on behalf of the post-abortive who walk out of that clinic never to be the same again. Yes we are there to intercede for the salvation of clinic staff and employees.

But I believe of equal importance, is that God wants to "school us." In other words, He wants to birth His heart for the unborn in our hearts. He wants to break our hearts with the injustice that breaks His heart. And He wants to do this by drawing us to Himself.

Friends, that is a key component of fasting and prayer. It is not just a by-product of fasting but the very the fabric of fasting and prayer.

You see, the intimacy and fellowship with the Lord experienced in prayer and fasting becomes the very conduit through which He touches and changes our lives, freeing us to respond in compassion and love to those both deceived and blinded to what they are doing by their participation in abortion.

Remember that, to God, knowing Him, is far more important than what we do for Him.

God is continually seeking to be given a larger place in our lives. He wants a larger place in our affections. He jealously wants to deepen the intimacy of our personal relationship with Him, knowing, that out of that love relationship, we become more useful to him.

In Matthew 9, Jesus was asked why his disciples did not fast as did the disciples of John and the Pharisees. Perhaps you remember Jesus' response, in verse 15,

"How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed the issue of fasting as recorded in Matthew 6:16-18,

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Two observations from these passages - first, Jesus assumed his followers would fast. He says "when you fast" not "if" you fast. It wasn't a matter of "if." It was a matter of "when." He said, the day would come when his disciples would fast in his absence.

Second, motive is key. He exposed the hypocrisy of those who fasted to be seen. We fast to the Lord, not to gain the recognition of man. On the contrary, we fast to humble ourselves before the Lord.

David said, "I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting" (Psalm 35:13)

And Peter's spiritual principle is so appropriate here, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  (1 Peter 5:5) Through fasting, we position ourselves for an out-pouring of God's grace.

And as we noted last time [in my message, "Strategic Prayer" at the Kick Off Rally] from King Jehoshaphat's experience,  fasting is a means of communicating our desperate need of God or our desperate need of his help or intervention.

I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember the era when telegrams were used. I remember as a boy growing up in Japan in the 1950's and 60's that my parents used them. Remember, back then there was no internet , no skyping,  no emails or texting. It took several weeks to get an airmail letter from the States.

There were telephones of course, but we rarely received phone calls from the States or made calls to the States because it was cost prohibitive, around $25 a minute. So telegrams were used to send important messages quickly. 

When the man came to the door and delivered the telegram it wasn't set aside to be read at a later time. No, if a telegram came you knew it was important. You opened it and read it immediately. I remember seeing some of those telegrams. There was no concern for proper syntax, just the minimum number of words to get the message across. You paid for telegrams by the number of words you used.

Through the 40 Days for Life campaign, we are sending God a telegram. We need His help. Each of us personally need his help to do what he has called us to do. We urgently need his intervention, on behalf of the unborn threatened by abortion; on behalf of those employed at the All Womens Center; on behalf of the clients of the center; on behalf of the post-abortive and on behalf of our nation.

Again, Arthur Wallis, in God's Chosen Fast he writes,

"Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven."

This is God's provision for us to call upon Him not only for His help but to seek to know His heart and passion for the unborn as we move into deeper fellowship with Him.

Who Are They Trying To Keep Out? - Day 16 of 40 Days For Life

For me the hardest part of the prayer vigil is watching those who have just had an abortion exit the facility.

Today, after I had been there for a while, a man who looked to be in his mid thirties drove his late model 3.5L high output muscle car into the parking lot and entered the clinic alone. About fifteen minutes later he came out accompanied by a woman with a troubled look on her face. After helping her into the car, the African American couple drove away.

As they pulled out onto Commercial Boulevard, I was overcome with emotion, tears came, then loud sobbing as I thought of what I had just witnessed. Two apparently successful people had just terminated the life of their child.

It's painful to think of their loss - they would never look into the eyes of that child, never hold him/her in those early months of infancy, never hear their first words, take their first steps...
And then there's the thought of what lies ahead for these two parents as they face life changing and often life-long post-abortive problems.

Just before they pulled out, another car pulled into the parking lot, a couple in their early twenties, also African American, with a silver fish emblem on the back of their SUV. The young girl got out and entered the clinic and the young man began to pull out of the parking lot. His window was down, so I asked, "Which one of you is a follower of Jesus?" He was amiable but I could not hear his response due to the traffic noise. I said, "You have a Jesus sticker on your car." In our brief exchange, he said he had never killed any children and I understood him to say that the young woman he had just dropped off at the clinic was not there for an abortion.

I had been there going on two hours when another African American couple, perhaps in their mid twenties, came out of the clinic and walked passed me to the parking lot to the west.

Could all of this been prevented? Earlier, after the man in the muscle car pulled in, I had wondered if he and his companion had ever heard their pastor preach about abortion? Then the SUV with the Jesus symbol pulled in.

What's troubling is that most pastors avoid speaking about abortion from the pulpit. Perhaps the greatest danger to America's unborn will prove to be the silence of the American pulpit. So I pray for pastors while I'm at the vigil.

For the past five years, I have spent most of my time as a pro-life advocate, working in the local African American community.

During the two hours I was at the clinic today, everyone that entered or exited the clinic were African American. Most of the other days I have been at the vigil, I have noticed that about half of the clients are Black. Today I realize I had a front row seat witnessing what Black pro-life leaders call Black Genocide.*
Here's why they use of that term:
- 16 million black babies killed since Roe v. Wade (1973)
- 452,00 per year (2005)**
- 1,238 killed per day**
- Black women are 06% of the population
- Black women have 30% of all abortions
  (Allen Guttmacher Institute 2011)
  (**National Vital Statistics Report, October 2009)

The result of these starling numbers is that in Black America, death outpaces life, in other words there is an annual Black life deficit. The African American birthrate is now below replacement level. Blacks are the only minority in America declining in population. I wish pastors would come and see with their own eyes what I witnessed today.

As I stood and paced back and forth in front of the ten foot black steel spiked fence that surrounds the parking lot of the clinic, I wondered, "Who are they trying to keep out?" After all, the killing is going on inside.

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

Today, as every day since 1973, the Architect of Abortion is having his way and equally tragic is the fact hat I was standing alone for most of those two hours.

James 1:27 came to mind.

"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."  (NIV)

There are no greater orphans than the unborn who are abandoned by their mother and father to a gruesome death. Equally tragic is the "religion" of the American church that remains absent and largely silent in the face of America's greatest holocaust.

(You can join the prayer vigil by going to www.40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale to register and sign up on the vigil schedule.)

* For documentation on Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry's targeting of Black America,
see "Maafa 21 Black Genocide in 21st Century American" free online at www.maafa21.com and visit www.toomanyaborted.org, my friend Rev. Clenard Childress' www.blackgenocide.org or my friend Rev. Arnold Culbreath's www.protectingblacklife.org

"Do You Understand This?"

It was busy Monday at the All Women's Clinic (AWC) during the two and a half hours that I was there to pray. During my vigil I watched as two women, accompanied by individuals who had been waiting for them, exited the clinic after having, to use the words of AWC's website, "the contents of the uterus" removed.

AWC is where Theodor Lehrer, M.D. plies his trade. According to his website (http://www.allwomensclinic.com) he runs a "full service OBG practice" that is "licensed by the State of Florida and is also accredited by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), the Women's Emergency Network (WEN) and by other women's networks."

Dr. Lehrer is "...a Board Certified M.D., Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and  Gynecology and is a recognized expert in his field." But that is not all. His impressive credentials include membership in the Florida Medical Association, the Broward County Medical Association, the William Little Obstetrical and Gynecologic Society, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, the Society of Laparo-Endoscopic Surgeons, the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, and "other medical organizations." In addition he has "unlimited active hospital privileges in major Obstetrics and Gynecology" at Broward General Medical Center.

Impressive credentials for a professional abortionist, considered by the state and medical community to be  well qualified to remove "the contents of the uterus" from those seeking to benefit from his 38 years of medical experience and expertise.

A young African American woman, perhaps still in her teens, walked down the sidewalk approaching the AWC from the west. She walked right by me as I held a sign that read,

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"- God

Ten stunning words from God, defining a relationship between the Creator and the prophet Jeremiah even before there was any physical manifestation of the prophet in the womb. A bold statement affirming the unique and distinct personhood of the unborn.

She took a few steps past me, and then just before walking through the gate of the clinic, turned and took another look at the ten words on the sign accompanied by a photo of a first trimester fetus (Latin for "young one").

I found myself asking her, "Do you understand this?"

She said yes, and proceeded to enter the AWC.

Ten or fifteen minutes later she left the clinic and walked past me heading west down the sidewalk.

I pray Scripture at the vigil. One appropriate to this encounter is printed on the Prayer Guide I prepared and made available to the prayer vigil volunteers, Hebrews 4:11-12 (NIV)

^"For the word of God is alive 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."

According to their website, the AWC recognizes that it "...has the ethical and legal responsibility to ensure that...patients receive true and accurate information and make their decision voluntarily and without manipulation, coercion or misinformation."

I have yet to find any information on their website that identifies exactly what "the contents of the uterus" is. That is one reason, as the Church, we pray and bear public witness to God's truth regarding life in the womb in front of this facility where human life is routinely eliminated by a well credentialed abortionist.

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." James 5:11 (NIV)

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)