And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29)
These words rang across a bloody battlefield as the evil side taunted and the righteous side trembled. The least likely among them, not even a warrior, asked this question and reminded them all why they were fighting.
Sometimes circumstances are giants in our eyes. We get intimidated, much like Israel’s fighting force in 1 Samuel, and we forget the cause in which we are fighting. Many times these circumstances make us believe “facts” that actually aren’t true at all. These once brave warriors saw this giant and believed he could not be stopped. He was too big, had too many giants coming behind him, and had goaded them for so long they started believing what Goliath was saying.
The truth was, all this battle needed was one brave young man to step forward realizing God only wanted that willing vessel to show himself strong and the rest is history. The story continues in 1 Samuel 52 after David kills Goliath, with a sentence that always makes me sit up taller and my heart beat a little faster, “Then the men of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines.”
That verse reminds me of a Billy Graham quote, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” How true is this in the battles we fight today? Sometimes we just need someone to take that first step so many others will follow.
One of the greatest battles we have waging right now is for the lives of our unborn children. January 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade1 decision to legalize abortion. Forty. Years. Many of you reading this article have never known a world without abortion, but I’m here to tell you that, in your lifetime, we can see this horror end.
I have always heard that if a lie is repeated enough times we start to believe it as truth. Well, let me dispel two lies the pro-abortion side has told us that we have believed as a society and have put in to practice. I have to admit I believed these lies to justify my own abortion in 1985. The years following included terrible drug and alcohol abuse and a failed suicide attempt. But it was a simple Bible study, much like the one SaveOne offers now, that helped me find my way back to Christ, my ultimate healer. I am now a walking billboard for God’s grace over my sin and I want others to know the availability of this same healing for the most dreadful of choices.
The first lie was when they told us abortion was a woman’s right to choose. The pro-abortion side of this cause was ingenious, I have to admit, in making this choice all about the woman. This left the weaker sex alone and susceptible and it closed the mouths of the leaders in our lives. This lie took men out of the equation and stripped them of any decency, respect, or rights concerning the lives of their children. At this moment there is not one law in existence that protects a man’s right to his child. Abandoning these men is a gross negligence with an agenda that is obvious to promote abortion and to prey on the vulnerable. I have had countless men come through our offices with one common thread in their tear-stained speech, “I didn’t feel like I could say anything.” This is not just a woman’s issue, but also a man’s issue, as well as a family crisis. We have to include both the man and the woman equally in the healing process to help make our families whole again.
The second lie was when they told us abortion was a political issue. The Scriptures clearly tell us God’s heart when it comes to innocent human life. Throughout God’s Word we are told (Psalms 22, 51, and 139) how precious human life is, Deuteronomy 30 simply tells us to choose life so we may live. John 10:10 is the dividing line of the Bible. We can filter everything we do through this verse. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV) It is that simple. Abortion steals, kills, and destroys life so therefore it comes from the enemy. The church has a clear directive in God’s Word to fight the enemy and to protect Jesus-giving life. It is our issue, we own it, and it is time we take it back!
Making us believe abortion was a political issue closed the mouths of some of the most powerful men and women on earth.our pastors. What other platform gives a truth-telling, scripture-quoting person a captive audience at least once a week? Think about that. To take the enemies most powerful issue, abortion, out of the hands of the church was truly brilliant. They made us believe we could not talk about it from our pulpits, they made us believe standing for life would cause too many controversies in our congregations, and they made us believe we would somehow get in trouble regarding our not for profit statuses if we try to tackle this issue. I am telling you it is just not true. Allowing politicians to deal with this issue pretty much guaranteed us nothing would ever be done about it. And forty years later here we sit. Legalized child-killing has grown to be a multi-million dollar business;2 your and my tax dollars every day go to fund this monstrosity;3 and fifty-four million children are dead on our watches.4
Those are big circumstances that seem like a giant too large to face, and a giant we certainly would not want to fight. Remember, all it took to kill Goliath was one brave young man. I truly believe we can kill this giant in our country by helping those who have already experienced the choice of abortion. Then we will build an army of men and women who become the same walking billboards able to tell the truth, from personal experience, of what abortion truly does to a person and their family. No one can argue with personal experience. That’s why Revelation tells us we overcome the enemy by the word of our testimony. This is what we’re doing every day through SaveOne offered at local churches across our country.
When the church takes this issue back, you shed the stereotype that Christians are critical, judgmental people. Your church becomes known as a place where people can truly turn to for help, even in these tough cases. You create a culture of healthy, whole people who go daily in to their communities, families, and workplaces as able-bodied truth tellers. You cause those who after years of suffering in silence, to find help and they become loyal congregants who are thankful they had a place to turn. You educate those in your church who are pro-abortion to see another side of this debate and possibly change their mindset. You create a place for a young man or woman to turn if they are caught in an unplanned pregnancy, encouraging their choices to become healthy choices, not those made in secrecy and shame. Abortion recovery is truly the greatest way to save unborn babies.
You see, through your actions pastor, you create a nation of believers who are healed from this choice and will never make the choice of abortion again. And through your actions we will see abortion become unthinkable before it becomes illegal. We do not have to hope every four years that finally an administration gets elected who will do the right thing. WE can do the right thing now! It starts by speaking about abortion from our pulpits and offering abortion recovery through every local church in every city and state across our nation.
It is time we take this issue back and place it where it belongs, in the local church. We are the only entity able to care for the 54 million women and 54 million men in America who have personally experienced this choice. If we raise this army to be vocal truth-tellers think of the difference we would make. We would sound an alarm that would ring true around the world. We could affect nations such as China and Russia who are the only two that have higher abortion rates than the U.S.5
David was told repeatedly in a short amount of time that he couldn’t kill Goliath. One thing that resonates with me is that he never wavered in his belief that he could. For David knew he wasn’t the one actually killing Goliath but the God of Heaven’s army had his back and would win the war for him. So what if we make some people angry, and cause a little controversy in our churches? Just as David did, we have an audience of One to make happy and protecting human life is certainly something that makes God’s face shine upon us. It is time the most powerful men and women in our nation take this issue back and change the course of history for the most innocent among us.
One more thing I want to point out about David. He did not spend months praying about killing Goliath, he did not ask opinions about killing Goliath, he did not ponder if he had time to kill Goliath, and he did not wonder if it was in the budget to kill Goliath, no, Scripture says, “He RAN to battle.” Does that just make you want to stand and shout? He RAN to battle! That is faith. Let’s be remembered by our children and grandchildren as running to battle, not allowing this travesty to happen on our watches any longer. Being the men and women of faith that didn’t back down but instead rose, shouted, and welcomed every broken man and woman to our churches and watching God’s healing power restore and transform marriages and families.
We can build this army of truth tellers by offering abortion recovery and never forgetting David’s words, “Is there not a cause?”
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1http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZS.html
2http://www.plannedparenthood.org/images/PPFA_final_fy_2011.pdf The latest annual P/L statement from America’s largest abortion provider (link no longer available)
3http://michellemalkin.com/2008/06/04/planned-parenthoods-obscene-profits
4http://www.christianliferesources.com/article/u-s-abortion-statistics-by-year-1973-current-1042
5http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/30/china-abortion-statistics