Abortion. Do little lives matter?

Posted on Jul 7, 2020 in Evangelism, Society |

Abortion. Do little lives matter?

Did you know that over 350,000 babies have been killed in the last six months right here in the United States?

Did you know that thousands of those deaths occurred at four buildings here in DFW?

Who will speak up for the unborn babies who cannot speak for themselves?

With the thousands of churches and the hundreds of thousands of Christians a metropolitan area like Dallas-Fort Worth, many people assume that an enormous number of Christian volunteers are making efforts to reach these ladies and save the children. However, that is far from reality. Until lately, on most days, there were no Christians present at the DFW abortion clinics to try to dissuade the mothers from ending the life within them. Recently, there has been an increase of individuals from a few small churches who are trying to do something about this.

Our church, The Church At Pecan Creek, in Denton, Texas, is one of them. We have several volunteers who have gone to the abortion centers for a long time, but lately, even more, are being moved to help. For instance, Kyle and Morgan (both members of our church) went to the Fort Worth abortion clinic a couple of months ago just to observe the scene. However, they found themselves shocked and in tears from what they witnessed. Both of them were heartbroken and overcome with a passionate desire to do something.

Not long after the eyewitness account, Kyle came the elders of our church and asked if one of us would like to organize an outreach at these facilities. However, upon hearing his passion and desire to create a plan of action, we felt that he was the man for the job. Kyle is learning more weekly and is working with others to create a schedule so that there will be Christians present at the abortion centers every day of the week. If you have any questions about this subject, you can email us at findoutmore@thechurchatpecancreek.com.

Since then, our church has partnered with End Abortion Now, an established ministry that seeks to end abortion, share the gospel, meet the needs of mothers, train volunteers, and even provide adoption opportunities. You, or your church, can find out more about End Abortion Now here.

Can you make a difference?

Yes. Here is a perfect example of how God used one of our church members to reach a mother and to save a life. Jude, a 20-year-old young lady with a passion and love of others, had the opportunity to speak to a lady walking into the abortion clinic to terminate the life of her unborn child. The conversation went well, the lady changed her mind, left the clinic, and even sent Jude this text a month later:

“Hi Jude, I don’t know if you remember me, but we had met at the abortion clinic I was about to abort my baby and I saw you and your friends of your church there and after talking to you and one of your friends I had decided not to and we had found out this past Monday that we were going to be having a girl and now I believe I’m 17 weeks and me and my husband are so thrilled because we have three boys and we only had one girl and he had been praying for a girl and I can’t be more thankful for you and your friends for saving my baby because I constantly think if I would’ve had the abortion we wouldn’t be this thrilled to be expecting our baby girl in October and he’s very excited so I just want to thank you and let you know that not a day goes by that I constantly don’t think about you and what you did for me. Thank you so much God bless you.”

What would have happened if there was no Christian voice present that day to speak with this lady? A life was saved and a mother’s perspective was changed, thanks to one young lady being willing to give up her Saturday morning of rest to go to death’s door and do what she could do to save a life. One person can make a difference!

What can you do to help?

Pray for those who are ministering at the abortion centers. It takes a particular person to deal with the stress, anxiety, heaviness, and pressures of this ministry. Many times, they receive enormous amounts of hatred from some of those there to have an abortion. Such ministry is tough on the mind and the soul. Pray for boldness, compassion, clarity of thought, clear proclamation of the truth, and opportunities to share the gospel.

Pray that lives would be changed. The people arriving to abort their babies need help. Some of them are victims of sex trafficking; some are in despair; some arrive proudly. However, one thing is obvious; they are all blinded by sin. What they need the most is a new heart with new desires to live for God. Such a change can only come through the gospel. Pray that our volunteers would have the opportunity to share the truth about abortion, save babies, love on the ladies, and to share the gospel.

Volunteer. You are under no pressure from our church to volunteer, but if you are interested, you may choose to go to one of the abortion centers with other volunteers to observe, pray, or even speak with one of the mothers. Also, if you do not want to volunteer regularly, there is much to be gained by going even once to take in the reality of the number of daily abortions, the lives being affected, and the pressures of ministering there.

Educate. Learn more about abortion, and learn about what you can do to educate yourself and others about the truth of the matter. We will be offering occasional education on abortion ministry at our church. Feel free just to come, learn, and increase in awareness. Here are two fantastic documentaries to get you caught up quickly, both of them are free to watch on YouTube:

Questions often arise from those viewing the ministry at abortion centers, such as:

Why do some volunteers speak so loudly at the abortion centers? Volunteers are not allowed on the property of the abortion centers and have to remain far away. If one foot is placed on the private property, the police are called. Most of the time, speaking at a regular volume will simply not traverse the distance needed to be heard by those walking in to have an abortion. The abortion centers also provide escorts for the ladies that meet them at the cars to help ensure that the ladies do not change their minds. You may also notice that our volunteers have a sense of extreme urgency when they are at the abortion centers. This is because the women are walking from their cars into a building to end the life of their unborn children. The journey from the car to the building takes only 20-30 seconds.

Put yourself in the shoes of the ones trying to minister to these ladies. Think about the content, volume, and emotion that you might feel as you try to stop an abortion from 50 feet away, and you only have 20 seconds to do so. Hopefully, by understanding the situation better, you know that the purpose is not to just yell for yelling’s sake, but to speak loud enough to be heard.

Why do some volunteers use their phones to record activity at the abortion centers?

Videos provide a witness to any criminal activity aimed at them. As you might have seen, a gun was drawn on one of our friends a couple of months ago at the Fort Worth abortion center. Police can use the footage if needed.
Most law enforcement officers do an excellent job of keeping the peace and performing their job in a just manner. However, on rare occasions, an officer will make an unjust command for the Christians to stop speaking and even write a citation for doing so (as was the case last month in Dallas). Fortunately, that entire episode was recorded and will hopefully be used in court.
Many of those arriving to have an abortion are hoping to end the life within them in secrecy. However, when they arrive and see witnesses in the parking lot, some even with cameras, it is hoped that the exposure might cause them to pause and reconsider their decision.
Videos also allow multitudes of Christians who never have gone to the abortion mills to be exposed to the realities of abortion. Think about it; except for a few volunteers with their phone cameras at these facilities, there is no media attention given to the 3300 innocent babies who are murdered each day in the U.S. The hope is that more people will be made more aware of the atrocities being committed, and take steps to help, volunteer, educate, and pray that abortion is abolished.

Where do the abortions take place in DFW? These four abortion centers are not used for women’s health; they are used strictly for abortion. Every day, hundreds of pregnant women arrive at the centers. Moments later, the women exit the building leaving their children to be discarded as medical waste. These are the four Abortion Centers in DFW:

Be praying that these doctors will repent and return to their oaths to protect life, not take it. We also pray that these places of abortion would be permanently shut down, as has been the case with over 2,000 other abortion centers.

This is just one more way in which we can seek to spread the light of Jesus to a dark and dying world. Pray for all involved in this ministry, and for those who they are trying to reach. Pray that many more ladies will stop, listen, and change their minds before aborting their babies. Pray that the gospel of Jesus would be proclaimed. Pray that people would repent of sin and believe in the life-saving and life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Evangelism, Taking Jesus to the Streets (of Denton)! Part 4: Objections to Evangelism

Posted on Feb 25, 2020 in Evangelism |

Feb '20

Evangelism, Pecan Creek Church, Denton, Texas

Evangelism
Taking Jesus to the Streets (of Denton)! — Part 4
Objections to Evangelism

Objections are nothing new.

Not a Saturday evening of evangelism has ever gone by that I have not received opposition for sharing the gospel in a public setting. And if you share the gospel very often, you too will have people object and oppose what you are doing. However, this should not surprise us for the Apostles, Christ himself, and many Christians throughout church history have experienced opposition to gospel proclamation.

Does opposition to evangelism mean that it should not be done? Of course, not. We must obey God rather than man!

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4: 18-20).

Who is objecting?

The World
Those whose sinful hearts love the sinful system of this world hate God and hate those who represent Him. Jesus warned His disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:17). And John the Apostle said “do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). So, it is clear that the world will oppose anyone who preaches Christ. The reason many Christians are unaware of the hatred is often that the world sees no difference in the Christian and themselves. But, begin to speak openly about the gospel, and get ready to experience hatred.

Religious folks
We also know that the most religious people of the time such as the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees opposed Jesus Christ and His Apostles. They put Jesus to death and tried to do the same to those who followed Him. Even though these the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees were extremely tedious in the practice religion, they were greatly opposed to God. Just because someone is religious does not mean that they are right with God. The Sanhedrin, the council of 71 of the top religious men of the day are the very ones who put Christ to death and persecuted the Apostles. This was done in the name of God, yet it was a god of their own making, not the One True God. And of course, such hatred of God and God’s gospel did not stop with the hatred received by the Apostles.

Professing Christians
Christians opposed to evangelism? That’s right… many Christians disagree with street preaching. I, myself, once rejected it. Then I eventually searched the Scriptures and by the grace of God, the Lord changed my heart. So, I completely understand. I also understand that not all open-air/street preaching is the same. I admit that there are certainly bad examples of street preaching just as there are bad examples of pulpit preaching as well. However, I am saying that virtually every single week, I see biblical preachers who proclaim the gospel in a kind, gentle, and respectful manner in the public forum receive hate from those who profess to be Christians.

What are the objections of some professing Christians?

Well, here are some of the ones that I hear the most:

Q: Is street preaching even effective?
We cannot base “success” on pragmatism (numbers of converts or any other measurable results). Noah “a preacher of righteousness” found favor in God’s sight. And only seven people out of the entire world were spared from God’s wrath through his tireless efforts. The Old Testament Prophets were rejected and despised despite their faithful dedication to proclaiming the word of God. Neither Jesus’s earthly ministry nor Paul’s ministry to the Jews produced stellar numbers in their lifetimes. So, in light of these examples, results based on numbers should not be our focus. Instead, let us be obedient and faithful to Christ knowing that we can trust His promises.

Q: Have your efforts produced any fruit?
Many times, we have seen people respond positively to the open preaching of the word of God. However, even if we do not see any fruit, it does not matter. Although we may not see an outward response, God still may be doing a regenerative work in their hearts. The Word (the gospel) is the seed and we are to be sowers and waterers of that seed. We trust that through our efforts God will bring the increase in His time (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8, 1 Corinthians 3:6).

Q: Are there not better ways to engage the lost?
What matters is that the gospel is preached and people hear the word of Christ. There are numerous examples of this being accomplished through Open-Air preaching, open reading of the Scriptures and street evangelism throughout the Bible (2 Peter 2:5, 1 Kings 8:54-56, Ezra 10:9-14, Nehemiah 8:1-8, Jeremiah 7:1-3, Jonah 3:1-5, Isaiah 5:29; Amos 5:10, Matthew 3:1-2; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3, Matthew 5-7, Luke 9:5-7, Acts 3:11-26, Acts 8:6-8, Acts 13:44-52, Acts 18:27-28, Acts 17:22-34).

Q: Won’t people be offended?
Yes, and no. The same message which offends some is the same message that saves others. Why would the message of God’s love, mercy, and grace offend anyone? Why would anyone reject His free gifts of forgiveness and eternal life? It’s clear. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:18a that, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing…” Unless God’s Spirit moves in the hearts of unbelievers they will be offended by the gospel, reject the Word of God and consider the message and the messenger to be foolish (1 Corinthians 2:14). They are offended not because the message of the gospel is wrong, but because it is right. So, if it is right why are they offended? Because, “this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

Conclusion
If no one ever taught you, let me be the first to warn you that opposition to the proclamation of the gospel is sure to come. And such hostility is to be expected from those who openly reject Christianity and religious zealots alike. However, such hatred did not stop the mouth of Jesus Christ or the Apostles from the public proclamation of the gospel, and neither should the hatred we encounter stop us. The gospel must be believed in for salvation, but how can people believe it unless they hear it, and how can they hear it unless Christians like you and me are willing to tell them.

~Jeff Patton