Running Towards Danger

I took this artsy desert hiking photo a few minutes before I was certain my life was over. I was blissfully hiking all alone in the desert as I do each morning before spending the day with my folks. It was a cooler morning than the rest of the week had been with dark rain clouds gathering on the horizon. The sun jabbed holes in the cloud cover, so the lighting was eerie and beautiful. Not another creature was stirring for miles upon desolate miles all around me.

UNTIL......

I was about a quarter mile from my sister’s home when a chorus of very loud, very near coyote yips and howls shredded the silence. They sounded like they were right behind me. I could not see any, but it sounded like several animals and they were together and nearby. I have heard coyotes many times in the evenings in the desert. One will howl and another will answer from a distance. This was not like that. This was the sound of several coyotes together. I suspected they had cornered a prey judging from the frenzied chorus. 

I hoped I was not the prey.

I know better than to run from a prey-driven canine. It just encourages them to chase. However, I did not see the coyotes, so I prayed they did not see me and I took off as though my life depended on it. Frankly, that is how I felt: absolutely terror-stricken. People who live in the desert and encounter coyotes regularly may not have been afraid. I was terrified. One coyote I could handle with my walking stick as a weapon. I didn’t think I could take on a pack.

I sprinted as fast as I could go. 

The horrifiying howls intensified. My sister’s house was now in sight. I reached her gate and honestly felt like my heart would burst out of my chest if I didn’t stop running. Since I still did not see the coyotes, I slowed to a trot, sucking in huge gasps of oxygen. My chest hurt. I stumbled into her house.

Now my fear switched to the fact that my heart hurt and I was ready to keel over with a heart attack.  I looked out the window. A car had pulled in front of the house. A woman jumped out and ran down a path to the nearby desert wash towards the coyote howls. Was she crazy??? I figured she had lost a dog or some pet to the pack and was going in to rescue it.  

I didn’t see how the saga played out. My walk was over for the day. I went to shower. When I was done, the car, the woman, and the coyote howls were all gone.

Who runs towards danger? Who knows someone or something is about to die and throws all caution to the wind to rescue those who are perishing? Who risks certain death to save those who cannot save themselves?

I thought of this week when three abortion workers have called or texted to tell me they want OUT of the business. They are soul sick and weary. They wanted out but all felt trapped and powerless. Who could save them?

Jesus, fully man but also fully God, had the power to obliterate all those who clamored for His death. He could have called down lightning, floods, pestilence, or pointed a finger and zapped every one of His executioners. He could have told God He had no interest in paying the penalty for the sins of wretched humanity. He could have hopped off the cross at any moment and refused to die a gruesome death for people who not only were not worthy but were actively working to destroy Him in the midst of His incomprehensible sacrifice.

But He stayed on the cross, he endured the torment, He willingly faced death to save those who could not save themselves. This is what I shared with the abortion workers. They could leave. They could be forgiven. They could find a place of eternal safety.

By His wounds, we are healed.

I pray the same is true of the woman’s dog.

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1 John 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When God Calls, Don’t Drop It

I was walking in this beautiful desert when my phone rang. This was a miracle since there is no cell reception usually in this sparsely populated section of the desert. It was the second day in a row that my phone had unexpectedly rung while I was in Tucson visiting my parents. In both cases, it was an abortion worker who wanted out of the industry and had been told to call me.

Over the past month, several workers have left the abortion center. All have a similar story. All feel their soul is being destroyed and they cannot take it any more. All expressed a distancing or complete severing of their ability to pray or go to church or feel worthy to approach God. All cried as they told me their stories. All hung on my every word as I shared the hope and truth of God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ. All committed their lives to Jesus. All sent me a text or email shortly thereafter telling me they had not felt such joy and hope in a long time.

The two miraculous phone calls I fielded over the past two days followed the same glorious pattern. I stood on a hilltop in the desert as I shared the Gospel. I knew if I kept walking, I would lose the call and this call was too important to lose. Someone’s eternity was hanging on that call.

Before the call did finally drop, the abortion worker told me she would never go back to that shameful job. She has asked Jesus to be Lord, and prayed a beautiful prayer of faith and submission and repentance. She texted me instantly, “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much better I feel.”

Actually, I do. I once was lost and now am found. I know exactly how she feels.

I stood on the mountaintop gazing at the incredible expanse of God’s beautiful creation all around me and praised Him for His mercy and grace.

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Luke 19:10 

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 15:1-32 

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ...

Spring Will Come, but Only For the Living

This is me on the frigid sidewalks of the abortion center wearing every warm thing I own. I could be smiling, though for the life of me, cannot remember why. I suspect my mouth is frozen in that position. It was a brutally cold week, and it was discouraging to see so many obvious college students flocking to the abortion center all week. Many had college stickers on their car windows. They seemed very determined to abort and there were few interactions. One woman chose life, but as far as we know, the rest of the college group aborted.

Just in time to return for the Spring Semester.

One day, this frigid weather will pass and the little pond near the abortion center will thaw. The ice will melt and flowers will bud again. But all those babies will never feel the sun on their tiny faces, or smell the sweet scent of Spring. And all those young people on the cusp of adulthood will have dealt with adversity by taking an innocent human being’s life.

I defrosted at home and packed my suitcase. Today,  I will be in sunny Tucson visiting my sister and my folks. I hear it will be 70 degrees. I probably will bask in the warmth of my family and the sun, and won’t be blogging for a week. Our volunteers on the sidewalk could use some help. Maybe you would like to go pray, or maybe you have a personal story you can share with these abortion-minded women. Maybe you remember how it felt to be young and feel like your whole world is ending when life takes a detour that is not what you had planned. Maybe you can remind these young women on their hurdle to destruction that no one should ever make a life or death decision in crisis situations. 

Situations, like the weather, will change. 

But not for those babies who are dead. Spring will come, but only for the living.

Click HERE for information about volunteering.

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Psalm 139:16 

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.

A Step Into Sin City or Away From It

My sister Wendy got her boyfriend a trip to Vegas for Christmas.  They both HATE Vegas for the sinful over-the-top city that it is. However, my sister has to go to Vegas on business trips and quickly discovered that all AROUND Vegas are wonderful, gorgeous nature hikes. She demonstrates one of the most important lessons I have learned as a Sidewalk counselor at the Southeast’s busiest abortion center.

EVEN standing right next to the pit of Hell, God provides HOPE and BEAUTY and a path out of destruction to Glory.

Go towards that PIT and you surrender to the enemy of your soul.

Take a step away and explore the path that is redemptive instead and you will find PEACE for your soul.

Towards evil, or away from it. Your choice always. I love that my sister chose to show Matthew the paths of beauty and light and simple, yet profound joy.

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Ezekiel 33:11 

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die

What is a Human Being Worth?

Do we look cold in the seven degree freeze? Well yes, yes we were, but the joy of the Lord warmed our hearts, if not our toes. Three women chose life at the abortion center yesterday. It was jam packed, spilling over into the second parking lot which was terribly disturbing. It looked like the college kids were getting in their abortions before winter break ended.  That was sad, but perhaps the saddest sight was a father counting out bills and handing them to his son to pay for his grandchild to be killed.

I called out to him, “What is a human being worth? What price can you put on a child?  God says that baby is precious, as all human beings are, with a sacred value all of us have. All humans are made in God’s image and infinitely valued by Him.”

He ignored me.

When I got home, I was pondering my question to the man. What is a human being worth? Saving me from cancer cost about $200,000. Am I worth that? I decided to check what scripture tells me, since that is my final authority.

Matthew 6: 27 gives us some clues: Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

That is a rhetorical question. Clearly, God is implying we are indeed of more value than birds. God is even specific in Matthew 10:31 regarding which birds we exceed in value: Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

We are more highly esteemed by God not of just one sparrow... but of many sparrows.

In Luke 12:6-7 God again points out that many sparrows are NOTHING compared to our value.  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

I was beginning to wonder if we were only a notch above sparrows, but nothing else... BUT then, the following verses clarified further that we are not just valued above birds.

Check this out:

1 Peter 1:18-19 

[18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

We are apparently of more value than silver or gold. 

And further, our redemption was bought with the precious blood of Christ Jesus...God’s only begotten son. Wow. I mean, really...think about that. 

In case we miss the enormity of this message, God mentions it over and over again in various ways.

Ephesians 2:4-10

[4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions---it is by grace you have been saved. [6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--- [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If this doesn’t make you feel infinitely valued, I don’t know what will. We were DEAD in our sin, hopelessly lost, and Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners,  and then in victory, conquered death not only for Him, but for you and me, seating us in Heaven which we clearly did not deserve.

Sadly, the grandfather finished counting the money and handed it to his son who hurried back into the abortion center. As God would have it, even this little tragic vignette was not outside His power to redeem. One of our counselors stayed in the bitter cold waiting to speak to the man. He incredibly knew the man from a class they had attended together. Though the man ignored all of us through the morning, in the afternoon he stopped to speak with Andrew. Andrew handed him our literature with many verses that speak of how deeply God values human life. Maybe the man will understand not only the doomed baby’s worth, but his own worth before God.

He who showed no mercy for his grandchild doesn’t deserve God’s mercy...but then, none of us do.

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Romans 5:8 NIV

[8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What Will Sustain Us Through the Bitter Days of Bombogenesis?

I checked the weather this morning to see how many layers I will need to put on to survive my four or so hours on the sidewalks of the Southeast’s busiest abortion center. I will be attempting to speak in the frosty air to abortion-minded moms along with my Cities4Life team to encourage them to choose life, and to offer the help and resources to make that choice easier.

BOMBOGENESIS the weather headline declared.

What is bombogenesis? It is a low pressure system that drops so cataclysmically that, like a bomb, it dramatically intensifies storm potential. Usually occurring in winter, it is responsible for some of the most devastating snow storms and cold. 

Lovely. How many layers does it take to survive bombogenesis?

The windchill will be 7 degrees when I arrive on the sidewalk this morning. 7. SEVEN degrees. Folks, that is colder than upstate NY from which I fled to this supposedly balmy southern clime. 

But sadly, even bombogenesis will not stop abortion minded women on their own path of destruction so I will go stand in the cold for as long as I can stand it.  (For the record, my electric gloves have no visible effect below 30 degrees.) If you can recommend ( or even better: send) electric gloves that work in bombogenesis conditions, please let me know. I will pay almost anything.

However, as I sit in my warm home, contemplating what my next few hours will be like, there is a warming thought. Babies who might otherwise die might be saved if we are there to encourage and offer hope to those moms with their frozen hearts.

I was reading scientific studies about the power of hope the other day. There is no doubt that one of the strongest inducements to forge ahead with life even in very dark and ominous days is the presence of HOPE. When we lose hope, we lose the will to live. 

What gives us hope?

Something better is ahead. If we believe there is light at the end of the tunnel even if we cannot see it, we are sometimes willing to crawl further in the darkness. If there is relief of pain promised, we are able to endure what might otherwise be unbearable. If there is peace that will evolve out of all this turmoil, we can sometimes forge through the mess. If there is someone who will catch us if we stumble over the abyss and carry us safely to the other side, our fears might not overcome our strength to stay the course.

There IS. The name of hope is Jesus.

One of my favorite verses in Jeremiah, which I quote often on the sidewalks is: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The promise of God’s eternal hope is offered repeatedly throughout the Bible.

Romans 5:2-5 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Where do we find this hope? Titus 2:13 tells us unequivocally: Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Our hope is in Jesus. The light at the end of the tunnel, the cessation of pain, the peace, comfort, and eternal safety we all long for  rests in Jesus. Our hope for eternity where all is as it should be is fulfilled when we put our trust and faith in Him.

I will call this HOPE-O-GENESIS: the miraculous intensifying of hope such that despair and desperation are obliterated by the blinding truth of abundant eternal life in Christ.  That is what will sustain me, the women I encounter today, and I pray you as well in these bitter cold days.

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Colossians 1:27   

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Psalm 130:7 

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

Psalm 147:11 

But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Will You Have the Right Answer When God Asks You?

Do you know that the first question recorded by a human being in the Bible is: Am I my brother’s keeper?

This is a wonderful thing to ponder as we enter this first day of a new year. In essence, the questioner is asking: does the interest of others affect how I live my life? Do I have a responsibility to others’ well-being?

It is a very important question. I think of it often as I stand in the frigid cold on the sidewalks of the Southeast’s busiest abortion center.

Five hundred women  that we know of chose life in 2017 at the busy abortion center where Cities4LIfe ministers to abortion minded women. 37 that I know of asked Jesus to be Lord of their lives. My prayer for 2018 is that double that amount or more will choose life, and Jesus,  and that the abortion center will shut down once and for all. Several abortion workers left the abortion center as well in 2017, and are being helped by Abby Johnson’s ministry, And Then There Were None, along with our ministry and Lovelife Charlotte’s help.

Meanwhile, the ‘pro-choice’ crowd continues to oppose our efforts to help these moms and workers, and routinely tell us that what is happening in that abortion center is “none of our business.”  Any talk of God or the healing power of Jesus in broken lives is ridiculed and maligned.

Am I my brother’s keeper?

God first posed a question to Cain after he killed his brother, Abel. Cain was trying to cover up the murder, and foolishly thought God would be none the wiser if Cain hedged God’s query. This is what God asked Cain: Where is your brother, Abel?

Now in case you are wondering, God knew the answer. God knew exactly what had happened to Abel. Why did He pose the question then? 

He was giving Cain every opportunity to face head on what he had done, to repent, to be honest with God and understand how selfish pride and anger had driven him into grievous sin. The question also implies that Cain should know his brother's whereabouts. Cain had a responsibility to God and to his brother, Abel. God makes that clear in framing the question.

Am I my brother’s keeper? 

What does Cain reveal about himself in his answer to God? He reveals character issues most of us can probably relate to. When caught in sin, we try to pretend we are not responsible. We respond in self-righteous anger and indignation. We pretend no one has the right to question us at all, not even God. We hide from what we did, and try to hide it from others. We evade a direct answer to avoid the consequence or the critical self-examination required of us.

How does God respond? ARE we our brother’s keeper or not?

Genesis 4:10  The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

God reveals that not only does He know what Cain has done, but the innocent blood of his brother cries out to God. God hates the shedding of innocent blood. Instantly, God punishes Cain and thus reveals His answer. 

Yes, we are our brother’s keeper. We cannot stand idly by when made aware of the shedding of innocent human beings’ blood. We cannot pretend we do not hear the blood of the innocent crying out to us. As much as we are able, we are responsible to act on behalf of the innocent. All human beings are our brothers, our sisters, made in the image of a Holy Father. 

In his wonderful sermon titled Am I My Brother’s Keeper, Charles Spurgeon makes the additional point that if we know the truth about trusting in Jesus as Lord and believing in His atoning sacrifice as payment for our sins and don’t do everything possible to share that truth, we share the guilt of our brother going to Hell. 

I love what he says. The sermon is well worth reading in its entirety, but here is a snippet that makes a critical point:

And, you saved ones, you owe much to God, but do not think that you are saved for your own special benefit alone. It is a great benefit to you, but grace is bestowed on you like light, that you may give it to others who are in darkness; bestowed on you as the bread that was given by our Lord to his disciples, that they might share it among the multitude, that all might eat and be filled. Think of this—that the power to do good involves the responsibility to do it wherever that power exists; and so, as far as you have any ability, you are by that very fact constituted as your brother’s keeper.

Click HERE for sermon.

So I stand on the sidewalk and when the ‘prochoice’ people tell me the death of millions of innocent babies by abortion is none of my business, or that I should not speak the Gospel in that dark place of despair and desperation, I know better. 

I am my brother’s keeper.

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A new year, a new chance to be a part of a culture of life. Please join us. Click here to learn more about being a Cities4Life volunteer.

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“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:19‬ ‭