“We Ain’t No Baby Killers”. A Message of Hope

I have received several texts from women I work with the past few days. These moms all have something in common. They met our Cities4Life teams on their way in to the abortion center with the intent to kill their baby.  Instead, they chose life, and all of them came to submit their lives to Jesus. Here are their texts:

Another mom who preferred I not post her photo told me, “I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.” Her son is now three years old and she called me yesterday to tell me she was helping another woman in hard circumstances because “I remembered how you all helped me.”

Yesterday, a car pulled over to the curb while our Cities4Life team was on the sidewalk. The driver told me her sister was here for an abortion. I went to the passenger side to offer our help and resources. The woman was conflicted, but quickly agreed she would like to see her baby on the ultrasound. While I was talking to her, a woman with the water department came over. I had shared a little of the Gospel with her earlier, when I was alone on the sidewalk and she and her partner were fixing a leak.  She had said she was a follower of Jesus and she was against abortion. She recognized the woman I was talking to! Small world God was making even more small at that moment! Then a car roared down the street and parked behind the one of the abortion minded woman. A man leaped out and came to the woman.

“What are you doing here???”he said, “We ain’t no baby killers!”  He turned out to be the woman’s brother.

I was able to share the Gospel while we waited for our partner ministry RV from Help Monroe Pregnancy Center to arrive with the nurse and mobile ultrasound unit. The two sisters listened intently while I emphasized that claiming Jesus as Lord cannot be just words. Jesus Himself warns us that “if you love me, you will obey be.”  They both claimed they knew Jesus as Lord, but admitted their lifestyle did not reflect that. 

“I will challenge you then to consider deeply what you have said and what Jesus says. Is He Lord if you willingly disregard what He says?”

In the end, the woman was not pregnant, but the encounter with our Cities4Life team was no accident. God always knows and always sees what His children must hear. Praise Him for using us to advance the glory of His Kingdom.

Join us? Click HERE for info.

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2 Corinthians 12:9 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Joshua 1:9 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

LIstening to God on My Kayak

A perfect day for kayaking! A perfect way to find peace in the midst of the intensity of struggle on the sidewalks of the abortion centers lately. We always face adversity. Life is filled with adversity. Sometimes, however, the adversity is ferocious. That is the season we are in right now as laborers for Cities4Life ministry to abortion minded women. 

God prevails, His word is proclaimed, and we stand for the unborn in obedience to His call...but it has been more difficult than ever lately. Miracles still occur and many women still choose life and are grateful we are there. It is immensely rewarding to know that we are standing for something so critically important as the sanctity of every human life created by God.

But it is not always easy.

So the river which was remarkably devoid of many other boats was a balm to my soul. On the drive to the river, I heard a sermon about a ministry to troubled kids. The pastor described how the group sat in a big circle and did an exercise listening to God. I was very moved as I heard the stories of kids who did not know God trying to discern if what they heard in their heart and mind during that time was God speaking to them..

So as I kayaked, I listened to what God was trying to say to me. This video describes what I heard. I pray it will bless and encourage you all, especially those who are facing an upstream battle against the wind today.

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2 Corinthians 4:8-9 

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

1 Peter 5:10 

  

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Proverbs 24:10 

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

How to Discourage Unwanted Advances

So, I was on a bike ride, enjoying immensely the chance to chat with God, enjoy His creation, and not have to speak to a single soul. However, I paused at a water fountain, where a man at least ten years older than me started chatting with me. He seemed harmless. He was asking about my bike which is a VERY cool bike. It folds in thirds so it can fit in a suitcase. I love it and despite looking a little clownish, it is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden. He told me about his upcoming knee surgery. I told him I would pray it went well. Which I did as soon as I started back on my journey. 

I was happily tooling along on my little folding bike when I heard a voice beside me, “Ah, the folding bike lady again.”

The old dude with knee issues had caught up to me and now wanted to chit chat. I am NOT the continual feast of patient Godliness I try to convey on Facebook and other social media. Truth be told, I was annoyed. I wanted to be left alone. I have little down time from ministry, and when I do, I just want to retreat to a quiet place by myself.

I may be too ancient to quite remember, but the old guy with the knee problems seemed to be hitting on me.

I was trying the distant, rude approach, but that was NOT working. He was definitely flirting. OOOO ICK.

Then I heard a voice. HIS voice. “Vicky, you are not glorifying me.”  I hung my head. This old man was having an operation to replace his knees in two weeks. What if he died and no one had ever told him about Jesus? God was clear. I was the designated pinch hitter. I don’t remember the whole discussion, but here are some excerpts.

“So, if you were to hit a deer because you are not paying attention,” I said, “And die today, where are you going? Heaven or hell?”

“Neither,” he said.

“You mean you will just vanish, all that conscious being that is now talking with me will be gone forever?”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe in God?”

“No. It is fable made up by people. I have seen far too much evil in the world to believe in God.”

“You are right about all the evil...the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all need Jesus who came to earth to pay the penalty for sin that we deserved.”

“How can you believe the Bible!”he snorted, “A book made up by a bunch of men.”

“How did the universe begin?”

“The Big Bang.”

“Most people agree,” I said, “So did something come out of nothing?”

“Yes.”

“I see. And let me ask you, is there anything in the universe that you can think of that doesn’t have a cause? For example, if a ball is rolling...did something cause it to roll? Or can it roll all by itself from a standstill?”

“Yes it can. Gravity.”

“Gravity CAUSED it to roll if it is on an incline. It has a cause. A force we call gravity. Can you think of anyway it could have rolled without a cause?”

“I find it incredible you choose to believe in a God as creator when all societies have their made up creation stories.”

“Does it strike you as unusual that the stories are so similar? What if they are similar because they are based on fact? What if you are wrong? What if you meet God on judgement day and find out I am right? That you will stand before God and give an accounting of your life but you rejected God who created the universe and you? What will you say to God?”

“Nothing, because God doesn’t exist.”

At this point, he was becoming angry. We had reached the parking lot at the other end of the greenway. He got off his bike and moved away from me. I followed because now I knew God’s purpose in this encounter. I had to bring the discussion to a conclusion.

“The Bible says all creation declares the glory of God and if you seek Him, you will find Him. I challenge you to ask Him to help you find Him. I promise He will.”

“That will never happen,” he said.

“Well I am praying for you that it does.”

“I don’t need you to pray for me.” 

“I will anyway. God bless you.”

And as I biked away, I did pray for him. I also chuckled how I had never thought to use the Gospel to discourage unwanted advances. However, I should have. Nothing confronts and repels an unfaithful heart so effectively as the Gospel. It’s now firmly in the tool kit with my bike pump.

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Colossians 4:5-6   

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

2 Timothy 1:8 

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

City Restrictions Decrease Likelihood of Life Choice

This beautiful mother and her precious baby met me in very different circumstances. Overwhelmed with an unplanned pregnancy and the fears of telling her parents, Sonya (not her real name) went to the abortion center. She saw the HELP Pregnancy Center RV and the line of Cities4Life Sidewalk counselors as she drove in. Something tugged at her heart. As we hear from so many women, she thought it all might be a sign from God.

Sonya saw her child on the mobile ultrasound aboard the RV, and heard a clear Gospel presentation. However, while she tentatively chose life...for now... she did not feel she was ready to submit her life to Jesus. We of course offered her our full array of help and resources. None of our help is contingent on a faith commitment. However, we unabashedly share the reason for our hope and convictions regarding the intrinsic worth and value of the unborn. For a few weeks, she wavered. She did not tell her parents of her pregnancy, still contemplating abortion.

I stayed in touch, as I do with all the moms I initially counsel. I sent her daily Bible verses, and spoke with her regularly about God and the precious nature of her child. I knew she had finally reached a turning point when she texted me, “I told my mom. She took it really well.”  Then came the text I had most been waiting for: “I think I am ready to ask Jesus to be my Lord.”

This morning, many months later, I received this picture with the exultant words: Baby’s here! Soo happy to have given him life!

Lately, we have been told by some police officers that we may no longer step into the driveway to offer our information, resources, and help to the women who drive to the abortion center. Moms like Sonya would not have received the booklet or the opportunity to speak with us that saved her baby’s life and led to her committing her own life to Christ. We have been warned that even if a car stops, reaches out to take our information, and no other cars are in sight...we will be ticketed if we step one step into the driveway. (We are not stepping onto private property mind you...we are staying on the public sidewalk that crosses the driveway.)

Please understand the irony here. In the abortion center, it is legal for human babies to be dismembered and destroyed by the dozens...but it is illegal for our counselors to step one foot onto a public walkway across a driveway  to offer someone the hope and resources that would assist them in choosing to let the baby live.

Federal law says we may not hinder or interfere with the forward progress of any vehicle. We do not. We are always on the side of the car, never in front impeding forward movement per the law. There has NEVER been a single accident or incident involving a single safety issue in the decade that Cities4Life has been doing this. Furthermore, Federal Law supports not only our freedom to speak to these women, but our freedom to distribute literature to those willing to take it. Diseminating pamphlets is a federally protected form of free speech. Yet our counselors have been threatened with tickets and even arrest if we step towards the driver of a stopped car in the driveway who reaches out for our information.

If this concerns you, please contact our chief of Police, Kerr Putney, at kputney@cmpd.org

Meanwhile, our Cities4Life teams will do our best to continue to let conflicted women like Sonya know that there is help for them that can persuade them to choose life rather than abortion. And we will rejoice over the picture depicting the miracle of a beaming mother cradling the precious child she had no idea she could love so completely.

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Deuteronomy 28: 1-6

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

God Sent a Miracle To a Mom Considering Abortion

7 week 5 day old baby in utero of the mom in this story

I was praying as I always do on the way to the sidewalk of the busiest abortion center in the Southeast yesterday. However, my prayers took on a new twist. 

“Lord, please cast away all doubt. Let me trust you and have faith that no matter what happens out there, our team will know with assurance that you are in control. Bring us the conflicted women, and Lord, give me the opportunity to share the Gospel.”

What happened was nothing short of miraculous. God always sends miracles...every breath of life is a miracle...but this was one I have never experienced before. I don’t really even know quite how to process what happened, so I will just tell the story which I was given permission to share.

One of our Cities4Life counselors, Megan called me over to help counsel a woman who had stopped to talk with her on her way down the street to the abortion center. Megan had done a stupendous job sharing resources and offering help, but this woman —G— was really giving in to fear and despair over relationship issues with her boyfriend. I asked “What would God have you do?”  Instantly, her face fell, and she was silent. She knew.

Our RV from Monroe HELP Pregnancy Center with the mobile ultrasound unit was out for repairs but we offered to make an appointment right away with the nearby pregnancy resource center (PRC). Megan even volunteered to lead her there. While Megan got her car and called to make the appointment, trusting the woman would agree to it,  I continued my ‘God’ talk. She said she was not feeling very well and she patted her chest. I told her about how I felt like I was having a heart attack right before I submitted my life to Jesus. I don’t recall EVER telling an abortion-minded mom this story while counseling carside, but felt prompted to do so. This plays into the story later....

Megan led G to PRC, keeping us updated all along the way. The boyfriend met them and accompanied G to the PRC. Megan had a great opportunity to minister to both of them. I had other obligations that afternoon and told G I would call her later to share our resources and help. Megan texted me to let me know that G was feeling excited upon seeing the baby on the ultrasound, but she was still sounding like abortion was not off the table.

When I got home, I called G as I had promised. She told me she felt better, a little, but still overwhelmed. One thing led to another and I shared the Gospel. She had a really hard time with the concept of Jesus paying the penalty she owed...she knew it was not fair...yet she was crushed by her own guilt and shame over a past abortion and now was headed down that same path. So as we chatted, she said she wanted (desperately!) to find forgiveness and strength in Christ. A LONG discussion of Lordship ensued. So many people claim to love Jesus and proclaim Him as Lord, but then disregard His clear commands. Is He really Lord if He does not rule your behavior?

She agreed, after much discussion, that she had not been following God. She had never asked Jesus to be Lord, but now she was ready to submit her life to Him. She was tired of where her rebellion from God had led her. She wanted me to pray with her to offer her life to God’s control.  I started the prayer of salvation, telling her I would be quiet now, and she could speak to God herself.  

When she started speaking, I could NOT believe what she said to God. I was praying too...but folks, I took notes so prayed with my eyes open because her words were so humbling and...mind boggling. I didn’t want to misquote what I could hardly process that I was hearing.

She said, “Lord, when I woke up this morning I saw Vicky’s face in the curtains over my window. I told my boyfriend that I saw a face, and told him to look. He saw a face too...but he saw a skull. I told him it was not a skull, it was a woman’s face. Then today, Lord, when Megan called Vicky over, I saw that it was her face that I had seen this morning. I knew that face. I felt something different this morning, my chest was so painful. It hurt me. Vicky didn’t know that, but then she told me about how when she asked you to be Lord, she felt her chest hurt. Just like mine was hurting. That’s the truth Lord. And when I saw my boyfriend before we went to the PRC, I told him that face I saw this morning...I met her and she talked to me. Jesus you sent them to help me and I want you to enter my heart, and I want to live for you. I need your strength....”

She told me later she has had visions before, many times when she was younger. When she started walking away from God, the visions stopped. Yet the morning of the planned abortion, she knew God was showing her that she had a choice...life or death. Her boyfriend saw the skull...she saw life.

This will be a hard day to top. 

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Acts 7:56   

And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Acts 7:55 

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 2:38   

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:17  

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

God Sent You All Here Just For Us

I was told that there is no “Human Disposal” law in North Carolina, thus the babies dismembered at the local abortion center can be legally dumped down the garbage disposal. However, further searching revealed that a 2015 law requires the fetal remains be buried, cremated, or incinerated. Thus, the baby remains are often put in a biohazard bag and taken away with “medical waste.” This saddens me deeply but to do what we do urging Moms to choose life on the sidewalk of abortion centers, we cannot focus on the sorrow ... I choose to focus on the joy. 

It may be hard to believe there is joy in that place, but read on. Settle back with a cup of coffee and be ready to find redemption and joy,  even in this dark and evil place where Cities4Life and its partner ministry Help Pregnancy Center minister every day the abortion center is open. HELP Pregnancy Center sends an RV each day which parks on the curb of the abortion center. It is equipped with a mobile ultrasound and staffed by nurses and trained sonographers.

I am the volunteer coordinator, and the one you will contact because you are so convicted that God is telling you to put down your coffee at the end of this blog and join us! We have several new volunteers, all of which are at a point where they are well trained to handle whatever comes their way. To set the scene, yesterday I was on the microphone as the twenty or so women were lining up at the door to abort their babies. I was speaking to the women as I always do about the sacred, precious nature of their babies made in God’s image, the humanity and development of their unborn child, the hope and help of our network of supporters and resources, and the barbarity of abortion. This particular morning, I felt God nudging me to speak about coercion to abort. I usually only speak about that if I see what I suspect is coercion. I did not see anything of the sort, but spent at least five or ten minutes reminding the women that no one can coerce another person to abort or threaten them if they do not abort. I told them that was illegal, and all they had to do was yell “Help” inside the center or run to us and we would call the police and help them.

The women filed in and I headed up the road to encourage cars to pull over to take our information before they reached the evil darkness of the abortion center. One of our new volunteers, Natalie, was posted at the driveway. Some of our volunteers were clustering and calling out to two women who had left the abortion center. Shortly thereafter,  a car roared out of the center’s lot and zoomed past me at about sixty miles an hour. The driver looked majorly TICKED OFF.

It turns out, a young girl had stormed out of the abortion center and refused to return. Her mother started yelling at her, “You get back in line!” Then she noticed our volunteers watching and calling out to the girl offering help. The mom let go of her daughter’s arm, and they got in the car and zoomed away. Undoubtedly, if we had not been there, that girl would have had no support in challenging her mother’s coercion to abort. One of our counselors later told me about how her own mother had tried to force her to abort and how damaging that had been. I have heard countless stories of teens forced to abort against their own conscience and convictions and the lasting trauma that resulted. The “pro-choice” crowd doesn’t like to talk about coercion though some statistics suggest 60% of abortions are coerced in one way or another.

Natalie came up the road to inform me of what had transpired and then returned to her post. Almost immediately, a car drove down the street towards the abortion center. It slowed down but did not stop for me. It did stop for Natalie. It pulled over to the curb and two women got out. I could tell it was likely another young girl and her mother. Within seconds both were clearly crying and enveloped in the arms of our counselors. Then they walked to the RV, counselors’ arms around their shoulders.

The young girl had confided to her mother that morning she thought she was pregnant. The mother was devastated. They headed to the abortion center, but both were distraught as they believed in God and knew abortion was wrong. When they stopped for Natalie and she offered our free help and resources, both women began to cry and told Natalie, “God sent you all here just for us.”

The time on the RV was spent strengthening the mom and her daughter in their faith and trust of God. Importantly, as Liz, the Cities4Life counselor, and Sherry, the nurse, shared truth with them, the two held each others’ hands. Lines of communication that had been closed were opened. Frank discussions about sexual behavior and God’s protective plans for chastity and obedience to His commands were explored. In the end, the girl turned out not to be pregnant, but what they received on the RV was life changing. Absorbing the truth of God always is.

Natalie hurried up the road to tell me what had happened. She was glowing. It was the first woman that had stopped for her and changed her mind about abortion. Natalie was overflowing with joy. She had been discouraged that morning over a few items outside her control. How like God to reward His good and faithful servant with a blessing of redemption to remind her how He is in control, and if we trust Him, it will be okay.

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Addendum: after writing the blog today, I got a call from another fairly new young counselor who had gone to the abortion center to support her brother who wanted to spend the morning there speaking for the unborn. A young mother stopped for Angela, decided she would keep her baby, and Angela gave her my name and number for help. Angela, like Natalie was overcome with excitement and joy that God had used her!

I just got a call, and my phone said No Caller ID. I answered and a tremulous voice said one sentence, “Thank you...I’m keeping my baby.”

1 Peter 3:15 

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Just WHO is Interfering with Choice?

This year, over 330 women have gone to the abortion center intending to destroy their child, and instead turned away. They chose life, and every one of them that requested the help of Cities4Life ministry and its partner ministries has received it. Countless lives have been transformed by the redemptive message of the Gospel and the tangible help of loving Christians and the network of pro-life ministries in our city.

Friday, I was calling out to a woman sitting on the steps outside the abortion center. I suspected she had a friend in the center, so was sharing life affirming information: 

The truth of God. The truth of tangible resources and help we could offer. The truth of human development in the womb. The truth of the devastation of abortion. 

I don’t always use a megaphone because I don’t want to look like a cheerleader, but the more days and longer I am on the sidewalks of the abortion center, the more compromised my vocal cords become. I need the megaphone for my quiet voice to reach the women.

At any rate, as I was calling out, one of the “pro-choice” women tried to block me by standing an inch from me and holding two 3x4 foot foam signs in my face. I am an avid biker, runner, and kayaker...so could probably outlast anyone on that sidewalk in a pacing contest. I spoke while pacing back and forth. It would have been comical watching the “pro-choice” woman try to stay even with me, especially when I did quick pivots, had it not been a life or death struggle for the baby involved. I KNOW that our ministry can help those women and babies. 

Why would the people who espouse the religion of CHOICE not want this choice to be heard?

“This is harassment,” the ‘Pro-choice’ woman cried, whipping out her phone to videotape me, “She doesn’t want to listen to you.”

“Ma’am,” I said to the woman, “Do you want me to stop talking?” 

“No,” she said, “I may not listen but you don’t have to stop talking.”

So I didn’t stop. Not till she told me that she had heard enough now.

One woman chose life, and stopped in the driveway and tried to reach out for our information. Three ‘pro-choice’ people blocked her from our counselor and screamed at her to drive on, move out of the driveway. She drove away, without our name and number and countless resources that could help her in her pregnancy and early years with that baby.

The FACE act (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) prohibits certain activity by “protesters” outside abortion clinics. We cannot obstruct or interfere with traffic or people in and out of the clinic. Challenges to the FACE act went to the Supreme Court level with the determination that sidewalk counselors could step towards cars or pedestrians to offer them literature as long as we did not hinder or interfere their forward progress. The FACE act specifically defines “interfere” as “to restrict a person’s freedom of movement.”

A couple of days ago, a policeman told us we could not step across the driveway to offer literature to a stopped car as it was “interfering” with the vehicle’s progress. He said it was based on a city ordinance. I asked him to define interference. He said it was not defined. I asked if he knew about the FACE act which did define interference and did give us the right to step towards a car to offer literature. He was not familiar with it. I asked if a city ordinance could be in violation of a Federal law. He said he was just doing what he was told by his superiors to do. However, we showed him the FACE act and the definition of interference and how it conflicted with what the city was claiming we could not do. He said he would get back to us.

That day, I received a text from a mom in an abusive situation, under threat of homelessness, who stopped for our literature earlier in the week. She saw her twins on our ultrasound, chose life, received a whole host of resources and help, including domestic violence resources and counsel, job assistance, housing resources, and free counseling for both her and her estranged husband. In a week, nearly every issue she presented as the reason to abort has been  altered. She said she is so excited about her twins...and so grateful to us for “interfering” in her plans to abort.

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Today is my birthday. Rather than sending me the gifts you had planned to FedEx my way (;-D), consider sending a donation to Cities4Life to help fund legal counsel in fighting the attempts to shut us down. Maybe a baby doomed to die at that abortion center will instead be celebrating a birthday...like this one:

Isaiah 55:11 

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

When Did God Say She Had No Value?

I received this text late last night from one of the moms I met on the sidewalks of the busiest abortion center in the Southeast. She drove in determined to abort, but stopped long enough to take our Cities4Life  information offering hope and help with my name and number on it. She left that day, after looking through the pamphlet (Tiny Hands by Leanne Stevenson). Her baby is alive and well, and this young mother is tired and overwhelmed, but completely transformed by the love of God and love for her baby.

That’s why our teams stand on the sidewalks in the past two weeks of rain and thunder storms, the stifling heat and humidity of summer, the numbing cold of winter. Human life is of priceless value.

A couple of days ago, I met a pastor standing on the sidewalk. He was not there to speak on behalf of the unborn, or to offer the truth of God’s word about the sacred duty of all of us to protect those who are vulnerable...It is not that there is a paucity of such verses. The Bible is filled with them. The Bible uses the same word for the unborn and the born baby. God makes no distinction. Below is a smattering of such verses:

Jeremiah 1:5 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:13-16 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Exodus 20:13 

“You shall not murder.

Genesis 9:6  

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Genesis 1:27 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Luke 1:41 

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

Jeremiah 1:4-5 

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Isaiah 49:1   

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.

Proverbs 24:11   

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

Proverbs 31:8-10

Speak for those who cannot speak; seek justice for all those on the verge of destruction. Speak up, judge righteously,  and defend the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.

The pastor was there to “support a congregant” who was standing on the sidewalk trying to prevent us from handing literature to the women, speaking to them and offering our resources that might not only change their minds about abortion but their lives, and the transformative truth of the Gospel. The Pastor told us “abortion is a grey area.”

Really? I am usually not filled with fury on the sidewalk, but this filled me with fury. No wonder women stream into the abortion center confused about God’s clear word on the sanctity of life, the call to protect those who cannot protect themselves, God’s love for humanity from the moment of conception, and the abomination of shedding innocent blood.

This is a plea to every pastor who loves the word of God. Preach from the pulpit the truth about the sacred value of human life. Preach about our call to protect the innocent, the voiceless. Preach about God’s love of of every human being not from birth but from the moment of conception. Until you have stood for a long period of time and heard countless women defend the slaughtering of their own children because “God is a forgiving God...this baby is better off dead anyway...it is not the right time for a baby....” you cannot understand the damage and destruction that ensues from letting any person who loves God think abortion is a “grey area.”

This photo is of the same baby in utero and then a couple of months later. 

When did God start loving her? 

When did God say it was okay to kill her? 

When did God say she had no value? 

When did she deserve our protection?