My Daddy

My dad passed away Saturday morning. I was in the remote wilderness of Yellowstone with my sister, with limited, spotty cell service. The text made it through that he had died. We could not easily leave the wilderness till our allotted snowcoach could take us out Sunday. We cross-country skied in the magnificent beauty of Yellowstone knowing Dad would have wanted us to do this crazy adventure. 

Dad was the most unusual man I know. He was a genius and valued learning, inquisitive minds, creative problem solving, and his family. 

I was an animal lover and desperately wanted a cat when I was little. Dad got me the cat and then suffered years of asthma as a result. He never told me nor urged us to get rid of Frisky. It was a living example of sacrificial love.

He bought me a bicycle instead of the horse I wanted. However, the love of biking became as ardent a passion for me as animals. My bike became my best friend. 

He also loved biking himself. In 1976, he sent me on a bicycle trip across Virginia, one of the most exciting times of my young life. It was not a cheap trip but he knew how much I would love it.He always tried to nurture our passions, especially unusual quirky ones.

Around that same time, despite being a very heavy man, he wanted to do a century ride – 100 miles on his bike and asked me to accompany him. In one day we covered 100 miles. We tiredly pedaled across the finish line in the dark, but we had made it. The course officials had already all packed up and gone home. We were the last of the finishers to complete the course, but we completed it and my dad and I both knew that is what mattered.           

Every Sunday, Dad took the family on a drive. He always found new, free adventures, like little league baseball games and ice cream. Dad had a gorgeous booming voice and shared a love of musicals with me. We would sing together as loud as we could as our family drove through the countryside. I loved those rides. 

It’s funny how sometimes the things that mortify us as children become our fondest memories. My loud, opinionated, always right, quirky dad had a gift closet. Whoever came to visit never left without a gift. The gifts were as nutty as he was but his love language was giving. And he gave abundantly. I would often cringe at the gifts he would pull out. I didn’t realize then the generosity of spirit those gifts represented. 

I do now. 

Whenever my world fell apart, Dad was there for me. Always. I love him so much and deeply miss him. 

In the last few months, he seemed to be thinking more and more about God. We’d catch him watching religious shows. When I shared the Gospel(again) as I often do and did, he told me if he had known all he knew now about the evidence for God, he may have arrived at a different conclusion. I told him it was not too late. He could still come to the conclusion that God exists and sent Jesus to bear the penalty for sin that we deserved. 

Near the very end, he told my cousin that he would rather be in heaven than here on earth. For Dad, that was a major concession and I cling to the hope that Jesus had finally become his truth as He is mine. 

There is never enough time or energy or understanding to write a full tribute to such a complex men who lived such a long life. These are just snippets of a father I deeply loved and I am praying that when I leave this world, I will see him again. 

Further, I urge that whoever is reading this would carefully analyze the scripture that speaks of our heavenly Father’s deep love for us and how He longs for all of us to return to Him and submit our hearts and our souls and our lives to His will. 

May this verse be true for you:

2 Timothy 4:7-8 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Elijah calling down fire from heaven

1 Kings 18:24,31-39 

[24] Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire---he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” [31] Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” [32] With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. [33] He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” [34] “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. [35] The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. [36] At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. [37] Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” [38] Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. [39] When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord---he is God! The Lord---he is God!”

Miracles always abound at the sidewalks of the abortion center if we open our eyes to see them. I have many wonderful stories that have built my faith steadily over the years that I’ve been a Sidewalk Counselor with Cities 4 Life in front of the busiest abortion center in the Southeast. But yesterday‘s event may have been one of my favorites.

Elijah,  a fellow Sidewalk Counselor pictured in the photo above, was up the street from the abortion center offering our free help, hope, and resources. One of the “pro-choice” women followed him telling him she was going to show him that her God was stronger than his God.

“No car will stop for you, proving that my God is stronger than yours,“ she said.
“We will see whose God is stronger,” Elijah answered, “If my God stops a car, you will know that my God is stronger than yours.”

A few cars passed without stopping, and the “pro-choice“ woman was smirking. But then, a car stopped. Elijah spoke with the driver, offering our resources and told her that her child was precious in the sight of God. It turns out, she had been praying for words from God that would turn her from this path she really did not want to be on. She accepted his offer to go on the HELP Monroe Pregnancy Center RV with the mobile ultrasound unit parked on the curb while the “pro-choice” women watched. 

The woman went on the RV, saw her baby, and was astonished by how developed the little tyke was. She’d had no idea about the extent of the miracle of eager life she carried. She unequivocally and joyfully Chose Life! for her child and Cities 4 Life will be helping her along with our partner ministries.

God does not always show up in this immediate, specific manner. When he does, silencing the spiritual forces of evil so soundly, my heart rejoices.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord---he is God! The Lord---he is God!”

Cities 4 Life

What’s Your Excuse? A Pro-life Conselor’s Testimony

Courtney joined us almost a year ago on the sidewalks of the abortion center, speaking on behalf of the unborn. Her story is powerful, reminding us that we all have a perspective that is unique and a life story that can touch others in our obedient service to God. Listen as Courtney explains what brought her to the sidewalks to speak for LIFE.

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                I choose to stand with Cities 4 Life on the sidewalk of the busiest abortion center in the southeast because I believe it is a passion God has put in my heart and called me to. My interest in pro-life/abortion started back in middle school, when I first began writing papers about this debated topic. In doing research for my school papers, I was appalled at the truth behind Roe v. Wade, which continued to fuel my passion for spreading the truth and Good News. The truth that God is sovereign over all and a good Father has steered my life.

 Pro-life is a natural passion of my heart because I was a baby that other mothers might have chosen to abort. My mother had me (a biracial baby, which was still pretty rare in 1989) one month after turning 17 years old. I grew up watching my mother struggle to provide the best life for me that she could afford. When my mom was 23, both of her parents had passed away and she was alone raising me and two of my older cousins. I witnessed my mother make a lot of sacrifices and struggle for the sake and well-being of us three children. 

I was also very fortunate to be raised in church. My grandmother began taking my cousin and me to church with her, and my mother continued to take us after my grandmother passed away. I grew up in a primarily white community, so I was often the only colored person in a room. I always felt welcome and was often validated through Psalms 139:13-16 (“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment laid out before a single day had passed.”)

My life journey thus far has all been a testament to God knowing me before I was born, knitting me together in my mother’s womb, and laying out every moment of my life. God loves us so recklessly, in that He will leave the 99 to go after the 1 who is lost. He has continued to pursue me and woo me back to Him every time I have strayed. 

This past year, God spoke to me about needing to volunteer and share His Good News with others, just as Christians before me had done to help grow my faith and bring me back to Him. As an undergrad in Wilmington, NC, I had volunteered with a pregnancy care center, so knew that I was interested in doing something similar here. My sister’s friend is involved with Love Life Charlotte and suggested I look into that organization. I had also been trying out a new church that had promoted the big Love Life Prayer Walk the previous fall, so felt some confirmation by that familiarity and agreed to research the organization. 

I began praying about this decision.  Even though I felt God’s nudges, I continued to procrastinate about even viewing the website. I happened to be scrolling on facebook one evening when a post about Cities4Life popped up.  I felt God say “Well, what’s your excuse now?” 

I immediately clicked on the link, reviewed the website, and submitted my volunteer form. 

Being on the sidewalks has only strengthened my urge and desire to be out there spreading the truth. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rules and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

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What’s your excuse?  Click HERE to join us!

Court Building Declares Defend the Fatherless While Trying Those Who Do

I was in court...again...as a witness for the defense. Three of our Cities4Life members were fighting citations that attempted to shut down their first amendment right to speak on the sidewalks of the Southeast’s busiest abortion center. The crime? Stepping onto a driveway to hand our life saving resources to a woman who stopped her car and reached out for the information. 

Meanwhile, the DA refused to even hear the case of the security guard at that same abortion center who was seen on video and by dozens of witnesses choking and assaulting a pro-life worker who went on the property to help a woman who had been vomiting for an hour. She did not think anyone was offering help and was terribly distraught. When the police arrived a few minutes later at the scene, in a call to 911 made by me as the incident was unfolding, the security guard had fled. Could not be found. I have photographs of the finger marks on the worker’s neck. The next day she was in the ER for pain and swelling in her neck. Those records are also available. The reason the DA gave for not even bringing the case to trial? Lack of evidence.

One of the pro-life defendants posed with his girlfriend in the photo above after appearing in court for being cited for handing literature to a mother who wanted information about choosing life over abortion for her baby. He stands beneath the message chiseled in stone on the building which represents justice in our city:

“Defend the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy.” Psalm 82:3

Just be careful not to take one step in the driveway to do so...

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Walk Away and Don’t Look Back- One Man’s Story of Leaving a Life of Sin for Jesus

Aaron is one of Cities4Life relatively new volunteers. He felt God leading him to speak the truth of the Gospel on the sidewalks of the Southeast’s busiest abortion center. He knew what it was to feel desperate and trapped in a life of sin, and believed he could help the abortion-minded women find the same redemption and hope he found through Christ.  His testimony demonstrates that God can transform anyone, rescue any of us from the deepest pits, and redeem us for an amazing purpose. I am honored to work with Aaron— a humble, gentle, and faith-filled man of God. I am sure his story will encourage you as it encouraged me.

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I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ at one the toughest times in my life. At the time, I was not necessarily looking for Christ, although I used to share that “I found Jesus in 2009”. Somewhere along the line, a Christian woman with much wisdom corrected me by saying, “Aaron, Jesus was never lost. Jesus found you”. I appreciate people telling me the truth, even though it’s not always easy to take at the time. I remember during those three months of June, July, and August of that year, two people helping me in that way. The one said, “Aaron, you need a moral compass”. The other said, “Aaron, you can’t straddle the fence”. There was actually a third that comes to mind, but I will save that interaction for later.

This second statement was actually made by someone I got high with a couple of times that summer, but he was speaking truth. He saw me, at that point, talking about the Lord, and witnessed me reading the Bible. But he also saw me still with my boyfriend of three years, and still dabbling with crystal meth, and going to bathhouses. God was so patient with me. His Spirit was working in my life in a really amazing way. The lifestyle was becoming less  and less appealing. The drugs weren’t taking me where they used to. The sexual immorality was resulting in shame and guilt, and I would afterward read the Bible to deal with it. And that’s the other amazing thing. All of a sudden, the Bible wasn’t just another book. Jesus became so real to me. He really drew me, as the Scripture says, “with cords of kindness” (Hosea 11:4). I remember an especially vivid memory in a park in Seattle where I lived at the time, as I was reading Luke 23, how Jesus appeared to me, as He did to the men in that chapter. I didn’t physically see Him, but I knew He wasn’t in the grave anymore. I think it was in that instant I saw it was Him I had been looking for in “all the wrong places”.

The first statement, “Aaron you need a moral compass”, is something I didn’t connect with the Bible at the time that statement was made to me, but later, as time went on, and I continued to spend time in it, I came to realize that that is what God was saying through that woman. “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) God Himself was changing my attitude about the Bible, even as He was changing my attitude about the sin in my life. Being born-again is the greatest miracle, I believe, that the Lord performs. I saw how Jesus was becoming precious to me, and I desired to spend time with Him in His Word, and praying to Him. 

He began over time to give me a desire that others would know Him as I did. His was the third voice I referred to earlier, that spoke gently, but authoritatively to my heart in August of 2009, “Aaron, walk away and don’t look back”. That August was really the start of my new life in Christ. I have not touched drugs or alcohol since then, and I left the sexual immorality behind. God has put a fear in me that causes me to walk circumspectly, knowing that I must guard my heart, for it is the wellspring of life (see Proverbs 4:23).

So why I do I feel compelled to minister outside the abortion clinic? Because I know that Jesus Christ is the answer for the mothers and dads and babies, and also the workers at the clinic. His Word is my authority for saying this. His Spirit, and the transformation He has brought about in my life makes me to desire that those there would come to know Christ in the way that I do. His Word to me, is His word to those who come to the clinic: “Walk away, and don’t look back”. As Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “Repent, and believe the gospel”.

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If Aaron’s story inspires you to volunteer with us and be light in the darkness, click HERE for further information.

Will This Be The Year of Obedience to Christ?

The New Year. A time for fresh starts, clean slates, renewed hopes and dreams and promises.

The local abortion center is closed, so I am home, resting, rather than standing in the rain (again) to speak for the unborn. I was there yesterday with our Cities4Life team however. It was raining (again) but two women left without aborting their child. That closed the year with at least 503 babies saved at that terrible place. Cause for rejoicing. Still... so many were slaughtered...

The past year there has been more opposition from the “pro-choice” crowd. They have become more aggressive blocking our access to the women, ripping our information with life-changing resources out of women’s hands, and cajoling those inclined to choose life to instead just ignore us and do what they came to do.

Frontline ministry at an abortion center is not for the timid or thin-skinned. It is not for those who think following God leads to ease, comfort, and material blessing on every front. It is not for those who are so focused on pre-conceived results that discouragement quickly sets in.

But it is for those who take the biblical admonition seriously to “rescue those being led away to death; hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” Or to “speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, and to defend the rights of the vulnerable.” It is for those who feel obedience to Christ far exceeds the lure of worldly comfort or sometimes evident sign of success.

Yesterday, one of the “prochoice” women interupted my discussion with a young mother who was actually interested in our offer of a free ultrasound. She led that conflicted woman into the clinic, and told her she could not enter the clinic with the information I had given her, information that alone has changed some women’s minds on abortion. She took it from her and threw it in the trash.

That “pro-choice” woman had a water bottle that she set nearby on the curb as she tried to block us from handing out our helpful information and resources. The bottle said, “Shout your abortion.”  It attempted to celebrate the choice to dismember living human babies. It proudly trumpeted the delight in women killing their own children. It made a grievous, barbaric, gruesome murder of a baby appear to be a source of triumph.

It just made me sad...and sick at heart.

But it is a New Year. Perhaps this will be the year abortion will end. If not, our teams will be back on the sidewalk every day the abortion center is open. Would you consider joining us this year?

Click HERE for information.

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Ephesians 4:22-24 

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.