Thursday, May 30, 2013

Standing in the Gap - May 30, 2013





Acts 18:9 ~ And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent.” 


This verse was given to me this morning by a dear brother in Christ, Rapule, to whom I was explaining my fear of going to the abortion mill; but being compelled by God, knew He would give me strength to accomplish the task to which He had called me..   This verse, along with the prayers of many dear Facebook friends, brought me great comfort and boldness to stand in the gap and speak God’s word.

My son, youngest daughter and I arrived to meet up with fellow abolitionists, Pastor Dale, Jillian and her daughter.  

As the clinic workers arrived, Pastor Dale spoke with them and told them there was a better way and that they shouldn’t be killing black babies.  One of the workers said, “We kill white babies, too, and Hispanic and Chinese.”  Though her comment was made in sarcasm, I was struck by the fact that she KNOWS they are killing babies and she is ok with that.

Cars began pulling in, and at least one couple went around the back where we could not speak to them.  The others who came walked past us to the front of the clinic.   Each time they did Pastor Dale would speak to the women and try to give them info.  One woman who came with two other women did take the info, but they went inside any way. 

A man and woman pulled up in an SUV with small children.  She got out of the car and walked past us to go into the clinic.  As Pastor Dale approached her to speak with her and give her information, her escort came out of the vehicle and asked us what he was saying to her.  Jillian and I explained that he was sharing the truth about abortion and God’s word and that he wanted her to know there were other options.  The man said he didn’t think that anyone can make a choice for someone else.  Jillian and I explained fetal development that she was making a choice of death for her baby and that Jillian had some information if he would take it in to her, she may make the correct choice.   We found out his name is Shawn and hers is Tonya.  They have three children together, whom we could see in the SUV.   They are not together now and Tonya is now pregnant by another man, so she chose to end this baby’s life.   He said that people have to make hard choices in life and Jillian gave him a beautiful testimony from her life that I know moved him as it did me.  Pastor Dale explained to Shawn that he was also guilty of murder for driving her there, as the man who drives the get-a-way car is also responsible for the bank robbery.  Shawn told us he was raised in church.  That his grandma took him every week but that it’s too hard to follow all the rules and no one can be that good.  We shared the gospel with him and had many good discussions with him.  He was very respectful and really listening, I could tell the Holy Spirit was pricking his conscience, yet he kept saying he believed in God but would wait for judgment day.  We warned him that it is appointed for man once to die and then the judgment.    Jillian shared the law with him and asked what his fate would be on judgment day according to the law.  He knew it would be hell, but he still didn’t seem to fully comprehend.  I told him that God brought us together today to share the gospel with him and warn him of the wrath to come for those who do not believe, because neither Jillian nor I were going to go today and he wasn’t planning on getting out of the car.  I told him God brought him there to hear the truth of His word so that he could repent of his sins and believe in Jesus; because he KNOWS there is a God and we will all be judged.  He knows the truth, but he is suppressing it to live how he wants to live. Shawn actually made a very astute observation about grace that I’m not sure many understand.  He said he can’t “play” with God and say he’s going to live for God and then go on living and doing whatever he wants and then say “Oh, I’m sorry God,” then keep repeating the cycle.  I agreed with him that God knows our hearts and what he described is not true repentance.   There was so much more to our conversation, but it’s impossible to recount it all here.  We spoke with him for quite a long time.  Many scriptures were shared and a lot of good discussion.  As he was leaving, we gave him a lot of information and asked him to go home and read it and pray and ask God to show him the truth.   Jillian asked if she could pray for him.  He said she could, so we closed our time with him in prayer.  We made oen final plea to him to take the information to Tonya or ask her to come out and speak with us but he said he couldn’t do that and then he left with the kids.  Please pray for Shawn and for Tonya.  I still have hope that she left the killing place, though she probably did not and hope that they will both repent and believe in Jesus.

The abortionist, Martin Ruddock, pulled in in his Mercedes while Jillian and I were talking with Shawn.  My daughter said that he made a face at them and gave them the middle finger.   Pastor Dale said that he helped pioneer the partial birth abortion procedure and that he does abortions up to 28 weeks, which is 7 months!!! They have had many conversations and run-ins over many years.  Please pray for Martin and ask God to change his heart of stone to a heart of flesh through repentance and belief in Jesus.   Pray that his eyes will be opened and he will stop murdering babies and harming their mothers.

After a couple hours, we were joined by dear sisters in Christ, Sandy and Jean, who are older women with gentle, quiet spirits.  What a blessing it was to see them standing up for life; and it was a joy to talk with them.   They were encouraged to see the teens there.  We left shortly after and they continued to stand the gap.

The day was sad in that we did not see any women change their minds so we know babies died today and women were scarred.  Pastor Dale said he has personally seen many change their minds and leave the killing place, so that gives me hope.   I am also hopeful because we know at least one man heard the Gospel today which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

Thank you for those of you who partnered with us in prayer as I put out a last minute plea.  Your prayers and support mean so much to us.  We would love it if those of you in the area would join us.  The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are truly few.

In Christ,
Laura






  1. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
    Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
    Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
    Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save

    Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
    Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
  2. Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
    Waiting the penitent child to receive;
    Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
    He will forgive if they only believe.
  3. Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
    Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
    Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
    Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
  4. Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
    Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
    Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
    Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

          Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
          Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Monday, May 13, 2013

"Do You Hate Me?"

"Do you hate me?"
Often times, over Facebook I will find a thread with those who are unsaved, to share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with them. Facebook is a great mission field, if you can't be out and about on the street due to health, or don't yet, feel comfortable face-to-face witnessing.
I recommend sharing the Gospel over the internet, through various different means. Just plant a seed, the Lord will do the rest. (1 Cor. 3:6-8) Just share Bible verses! As it states in Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Perhaps my favorite thing to call the Living Word of God is the "Sword of the Lord." (Judges 7:20) What thing of more importance is there? Ask the Lord to give you a heart for people, that Loves the lost like He does; ask the God of Love to fill you with Himself - you need not be a fluent speaker. I know I'm not!
If you don't know what to say, there are many great resources, to help you out in the beginning of  how to Biblically present the Gospel, to a lost and dying world. This world needs Jesus!

            "Do you hate me?"

I was recently holding a conversation with a lady who I will call, "Karen". She was rather bitter and hateful; it was obvious she hated the God of the Bible and at points was difficult to hold a conversation with due to the mockery and hatred that she put forth. After a while, the only thing worthwhile doing is telling these dear people to "Repent and trust in Christ." To respond to foolish
arguments, will only pull you down to their level of foolishness. The Bible says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you also be like him. (Proverbs 26:4)
I was about to tell her I needed to go,  and for reasons unknown to me, she told me she was a lesbian and then asked, "Do you hate me? Christians are hypocrites!"   Her question came across as genuine and now I understood a bit more, why she was so hardened and hateful. I told her, " No, 'Karen', I do not hate you. Christians are called to love people, to warn you about Hell, to you of the forgiveness found in the Lord Jesus Christ..."

I think 'Karen' was a bit shocked by my response, and must have been treated very poorly by Christians in the past. They have claimed the name of Christ, and yet did not imitate Him. How very sad. How do we expect the world to accept our message, if we do not "speak the Truth in love"?
 Christian, if you try and imitate Jesus Christ in your own strength, you will be a miserable replica. However, if you allow Jesus Christ to fill you with Himself, He will, and Jesus is very good at being God. You can't manifest enough Love on your own, to love those who hate you and spit upon your face; but God can! You can't keep your human pride from showing up and showing "partiality" to other people, but God can!

Often times hidden behind all that bitterness and hatred is a searching heart, such as in the case with 'Karen'. A person who is searching for someone to Love them. We are all people and after a while, of being treated wrong, by so-called Christians, you become bitter.We aren't called to accept people's actions, or sins, but we ARE called to Love people enough to tell them of Jesus and warn them of their sins. No one goes to Hell because they are homosexual, you end up in Hell for ALL your sins against a Holy God and ultimately rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Savior. Christians are guilty of putting sins such as homosexuality on the "top-of-the-sin-list" when in reality sins such as homosexuality aren't even listed in the top six things the Lord hates! (Proverbs 6:16-19) Pride is number one!  Don't you think we ought to pay attention to Scripture more?  I'm not claiming to perfect, and I have a lot to work on. One thing I do know is that Scripture proclaims we are ALL sinners, that we all need Jesus, and the Lord puts forth a list of sins that we will have to give an account for; one of which is the sin of pride.

Christian, are you guilty of the sin of pride, by looking down on other peoples' sins?

If so, you need to repent and ask forgiveness. Continually examine yourself against God's Word, to be sure that you are in right relationship with God. Ask the Lord to give you a Love for people, regardless of what their sin may be. Point out sin, righteousness and warn of Judgment and the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ alone, by faith alone.

Do we all not suffer from the same human condition called sin? It's just different levels of depravity - that's it. Period. We were ALL created for God's Glory, and are made in the Image of God.The only difference between others and myself, is I have been Justified though Christ Jesus. I have been "Redeemed from the power and penalty of sin." -- I am a former slave to my sin -- but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus our Lord! I AM NO better than anyone, I'm just justified. If you hate someone, God sees you as a murder. We all struggle with pride. The number one sin God hates is Pride - which is looking down on people - regardless of the sin. We need to examine ourselves, dear Christian, that we do not put ourself as having a "lofty-eye" towards the unsaved, or a respector of persons...why? Because God is not.


 Don't trust your heart, to tell you if you are in right relationship with God, and loving others. Your heart will deceive you. Jeremiah 17:9/ “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Acts 10:34-35/ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

James 2:1-13/ My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
  2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
  3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
  6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

"Do you hate me?" words that will play in my heart and mind for a long time. It breaks my heart the way others have been treated, by Christians, who are called to Love people. We're all guilty of it. May someone warn me, if I slip into the sin of pride. Do you truly love the lost, dear Christian? Ask Jesus to help you.


This song speaks of not having a high-and-lofty look, or pride about how much better you are than other people. We all need Jesus. As Christians we are allowed to make a righteous judgment. Love the lost like Jesus does.


"A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when the forget-me-nots have withered. Carve you name on hearts, no on marble."
~Charles H. Spurgeon

Luke 6:31-32 and 35, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. ...But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”


In the love of Christ,

Rachelle ~ Abolitionist  ~ A//A
                                                             What is the gospel?


   “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you're not saved yourself, be sure of that!”
Charles H. Spurgeon

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Standing In The Gap - May 11, 2013 -

Thank you to all who prayed for us. Here's and update of our time at the killing place.

The Day Before Mother’s Day :’(
May 11, 2013

It was a cold, overcast day today and threatening to rain. Emily and I prayed and then headed to the killing place. When we arrived, we met fellow abolitionists, Rachelle, Elaine, Phil, and Charity and Ed, a kind older Catholic man who is there just about every Saturday.

We greeted everyone and took our places; and Phil prayed over us for God’s protection and for Him to soften hearts and put an end to this place.

The first cars pulled in. They didn’t stop; just drove down the driveway and around the back to where they would be ushered in by Judy, the “escort” and the security guard. Rachelle read scripture and called out to them to talk with us and spare the babies’ lives. Unfortunately there was no response.

Several cars pulled in and out to go to the dry cleaners in a building that shares the parking lot. One was an SUV with the license plate Acts 8:8. Ed pointed it out to me, so I pulled out the Bible and looked up the passage. It reads, “4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.” We engaged him about the verse and found out his name is Mark and he is from a church not far from the killing place called City of Joy and they had come out to the clinic at one point. He felt that he should speak to his church about being a presence there as it would be more effective to see people they know from the neighborhood in front of the clinic and might deter some. I hope Mark actually does speak to his church and that they come out.


We were also joined by fellow abolitionists, a really adorable family: Jillian, Derrick and their children Hannah and Michael, as well as Dan, Linda, Patty and two lovely older Catholic ladies that are there faithfully, Lauretta and Betty.

The securi
ty guard and Judy tried to intimidate us and often came up to the front to listen in on what we were saying as we talked with people passing by. It was great because they don’t intimidate us and they got to hear the gospel as we were sharing it with others.

One of those we shared with was a young man named, Amir. He was walking to the gas station with a gas can and I asked him if he knew what went on in the building. He said, “No.” When I explained it, his eyes widened and he listened as I told him about the horrors perpetrated on women. I asked him if he knows Jesus and he said that he did because his grandmother always took him to church. I went through the law and the gospel with him and he said he had repented and believed. We prayed with him and gave him tracts, 180 card, abortion info, etc… he thanked us and went on his way. Later he passed back by and said hello to us.

We also spoke with a man named, Corinthian, who brought his best friend for an abortion. She was inside and we tried to convince him to bring her out to talk to us. Dan, Rachelle and I engaged him about fetal development from an embryology textbook. Dan showed him pictures of aborted babies, and Rachelle pleaded with. He said that he couldn’t change her mind, though he didn’t agree with her. He laid out a story about her having 3 kids and breaking up with her boyfriend. Then during the breakup she became pregnant by another man. She got back with her boyfriend but didn’t want him to know of the pregnancy, so she was aborting. We continued to plead with Corinthian to ask her not to cover up the pregnancy by murdering her baby. He said he would talk to her but didn’t come back. The security guard and Judy also were listening in on this conversation.

Several more cars pulled in, one with a younger looking teen slumped down in the back seat; and Rachelle, Elaine, Dan and Jillian continued to call out to women to speak with us and spare their babies, but to no avail. We continued to engage people walking by and gave out tracts and drop cards.

A man pulled in to the parking lot next to the building and got out and asked us why we are doing this and do we think it will make any difference? Dan, Rachelle and I engaged him and shared why we are doing what we are doing. It was a very interesting conversation. He said he does not agree with abortion, but would never stand out and try to persuade others not to do it because they are going to do what they are going to do. Dan, Rachelle and I continued to speak with him and found out he is a Jehovah’s Witness. We shared the law and the gospel with him and he continued to tell us we were wrong. Though the conversation was animated, as he was quite a character, it was respectful and we spoke with him for quite a while and he was presented with the truth of God’s word. We have him a lot of literature before he headed off. This conversation also drew the attention of the security guard and Judy. I believe they were looking for a reason to say we were harassing people, but we weren’t and they got to hear the gospel again.

I lost count of how many cars came in that day, but it was an especially sad day with Mother’s Day being tomorrow. I was sad thinking how these women thought that by killing their children, they were no longer mothers. The reality is once you are a mother you are always a mother. They are now mothers of dead children. It was heartbreaking. Rachelle, Elaine, Emily and I left around 11:30am as we were very cold from being there close to 4 hours; and the others continued to stay and preach the gospel and plead for babies’ lives.
Thank you so much to all of you who prayed. You were as much a part of the ministry today as we were; and we couldn’t do it without your prayers and the power of the Holy Spirit. Please keep praying for those we encountered today and for those I mentioned who are regularly at the killing place. There are so many killing places and so few who are willing to go. The field is white unto harvest but the laborers are truly few.

Please consider how you can get involved in your area. We could also use your help with materials to distribute to women. One generous Facebook friend has ordered 60 Tiny Hands Books for us to give to the mothers. I can’t wait to receive them. Thank you for your generosity. There are many items we could use from tracts, 180 movies, AHA materials, baby blankets, hats, booties, items for the mothers and more. Please message me if you are willing to help.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

~ L. B.


 



Rescue The Perishing ~ Hymn
 
 
 
 
 
 

          "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
       But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? ~ Micah 6:8 (NKJV)