Hope in the Midst of Despair

In every effort, and every war for a cause, a shadow eventually passes over the righteous. It blocks out the sun, leaving one bitter and cold, grasping for some foot or hand hold to anchor on to, to keep from being swept up in the dreariness of despair, deceit and fatigue. One searches frantically for any sign of light, for love and the fountain of living water that once poured inspiration so freely into your heart and spirit. “Where is it?” you ask. Where has my heart gone? Is there no more hope? You feel as if you have striven to the very end of your being, to the very end of your inspiration. Every last ounce of Passion in you has been poured into your work, and now you are left dry, lifeless, without cause, purpose, or the means to muster the strength you need to go on. But fear not my brothers and sisters. This happens to all of us, and it is the pivotal point in our journey where we can either falter and completely fade away into darkness, or we can persevere and blossom into strong warriors of God, victorious to our last breath. This is because to persevere is to have faith – to pursue Christ as the foundation of our being and the giver of our passion and strength. The shadow we see is nothing more than the common playground bully. It can pose a threat…if you’ll let it. It has no real power or sway, save only that which you grant it. But if you’ll arise from the darkness and shout into its grisly maw saying “I will not be destroyed! I will not go quietly into the night! For I am a child of God, and I am in the service and inheritance of the Lord! Every weapon formed against me shall not prosper, and every tongue raised against me shall be shown to be in the wrong! My God is mighty, and my cause is righteous, and my God will never abandon me. So be gone despair, In Jesus’ Name!” , that shadow will have no choice but to pass over you as the angel of death did over the Israelites in Egypt. Keep to the Word! Hold on to His promise! He will never let you down, and He will not let you fail if you pursue him with a righteous heart! When we are laid low, we are made great! When we are brought down, that is the time to fight the hardest and to throw off the oppressive cloak of spiritual fatigue and passionless despair! Take Joy in all things, and be praiseful and exalt Him in every situation. As Paul did from his prison cell, so you too can persevere and remain faithful, continuing to have an impact and champion the cause! Be the victor you are meant to be. Hold on to the hope you have in Jesus, the cause He gives you, and never look back. What we do in the face of adversity is what has the greatest impact on the world, and on ourselves. Take up the sword of the spirit. Gird your loins with truth. Don the helmet of Salvation. Apparel your feet with the Gospel, and raise up the Shield of Faith. March into battle with these, and with God in your heart every foe that comes against you shall be laid to waste, spiritually speaking, for our weapons are not carnal but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. This is a war, and we are the soldiers. Challenges come with the territory, but victory comes with faith! Keep on coming! Rock the very foundations of the enemy and persevere! WE are the knights of this era- the champions of this hour. Light is coming for the heart that holds on! As believers we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So I encourage you as a brother in Christ to keep on keeping on. The flesh grows weary but the spirit is willing. Look to God in your time of need and encouragement and look to each other, for we are all servants of the most high God, and in working together in His name, victory is a thing assured. If you are wounded and are tempted to despair, remember this – you serve Jehovah Raapha, God who heals. This battle is not over yet, and it will take much more than fatigue to bring our God down! Amen.

Action

America and Liberty make an inseparable couple. They always have been, since the beginning of this nation. But somewhere along the line, we took our liberties too far, to the point that they now encroach upon the liberties of others. This violates the concept of liberty for all Americans. As heinous as this seems, it is far more horrifying than that. The most important liberty, the most essential right that we are treading on is the right to life. And we are taking this right away from those who cannot yet walk, those who cannot yet see, and those who cannot yet speak. Yet they can feel and think and dream all too well. Yet we are slaughtering them. Some of us have never physically brought harm to those of which I speak. But by our silence and gross apathy, we might as well be the ones that burn them with saline solution, or rip them apart with a vacuum, or suck out their brain tissue with syringes, or, in some cases, behead them. If we do not speak out, nay, if we do not take action, then by our indifference we are killing millions of babies each year- all because we took the notion of liberty too far, and placed convenience and self above the value of human life and love. Never before did we refuse to admit that those still within the womb were living human beings. We only decided to change that after we decided that abortion was an easy way out – in order to justify what we know is murder. The numbers of babies killed each year by abortion far outdo anything that Hitler or Stalin accomplished with their brutal fascist tactics and concentration camps. When we Americans regain our conscience, we will realize that we bear the shame of the wanton deaths of not one, but many generations. Wake up! We spend our time fighting amongst ourselves – going at each others’ throats over who hurt which politician’s feelings with a nasty comment. While all of the nation’s attention is focused on the death of one man who merely entertained us and may have even molested children, and on the fact that someone in the limelight used the word retard in reference to Sarah Palin, millions of innocent babies are dying at the hands of our own countrymen. Ask yourself – do you love this country enough to admit when it is doing something wrong and to stand up to do something about it? We need focus, we need to re-evaluate our priorities, and we need action – not just talk. That’s why you probably won’t see as many articles from me as you have in the past. I’ll still write, but action is needed as well, and I am working to start an organization within my school that will spread the pro life cause and raise awareness about abortion and the alternatives to it. Please keep me in your prayers, and in God’s name with His help, do your part to stop the genocide of American infants. Life is a sacred gift from God. One which we have no right to take from those who have not forfeited it through crime or otherwise. Who knows who we may save. Perhaps the one who will discover the cure for cancer is yet to be born. God Bless.

Take up Your Cross

When the Nazi regime took over Germany, and began to exterminate the Jews, among others, very few German citizens spoke up about it. Those who did were silenced by torture or death. But the common diagnosis among the German people was apathy and ignorance. Some did not know of the terrors their leader was inflicting upon millions of innocent people, nor did they wish to know about it. Others chose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend as if it were not happening, while still others who had been brainwashed by the Nazi regime were avid supporters of the barbaric practice. If ever signs of genocide or a war were to rear their ugly heads, you would do something about it would you not? I mean, you wouldn’t just sit their while your freedoms, as well as those of your family and friends were trampled by the evils of a twisted following, would you? Then tell me, why do you sit and do nothing today? There is a genocide going on right in our own back yards- in our hospitals and in medical clinics. An evil has crept into the infrastructure of our society like a cancerous wraith, an evil that is destroying our children before they take their first breath- before they see the light of day or feel the loving embrace of their mothers. “How could this be?” you ask. “How could I not know of this? Surely we as American citizens, and as Christians would not stand for such a thing as genocide?” You have known of this, and you have heard of the genocide- but you have heard it under a different label- Abortion. This country has gone through all sorts of terrible phases- slavery, segregation. Racism etc.- and we have all heard of the atrocious lynching of black Americans in years past. From 1882 to 1962 3446 African Americans were wantonly murdered by lynching. It is a terrible and shameful fact, but it does not constitute genocide. But that number (3446) is surpassed in less than three days by abortion of black babies alone. Tell me that does not constitute genocide! Tell me that it is not wrong or immoral! Anyone who says that would not have a leg to stand upon. If this does not disturb you, or inspire you to action, then look at this quote “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population" (Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood). My friends, we have been deceived. This thing we call abortion- this escape from the inconvenience of giving birth and the difficulty of raising children is just another name for genocide. And this time, it does not apply to just one race, but all peoples. We are being systematically wiped out, and we are supporting that. But what happened to those inalienable rights that we once so revered- the Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Because of our inaction, our ignorance, and our poor voting choices, we have trampled them beneath our feet, and stripped our children of their humanity. We have taken away their right to life, thereby destroying their liberty, and utterly preventing any chance for the pursuit of happiness. Does the constitution mean nothing? Is all that our forefathers died and fought for, all that our soldiers are risking their live for, nothing? Are we but dogs that our lives can be cast aside in the name of convenience? Do we no longer value life or the love that our children give us? What have we wrought? Do not let this be the end. We can reverse this horrible cycle, and gain back our liberty, and the lives of our children. Stand up for what is right, do not let the wanton deaths of millions of American infants go unwept and unheeded. Take up this cause! Take up your cross! It is for the infants who have been destroyed and the infants in the womb that we must do this. You may ask, “Why should I care that millions of children who have no relation to or effect on me are being killed? Isn’t it the mother’s choice what she does to her body? Who am I to say differently, especially if the children are not alive yet?” If you ask this, then consider these facts:

At 3 weeks from conception, a baby's heart begins to beat; at 6 weeks, brainwaves are measurable -- both before most of the earliest abortions. -Abort73.com

A baby can survive birth at 6 months. A baby can see, hear and taste at 7 months. Abortion is legal in the US throughout all 9 months of pregnancy. -Abort73.com

Over 1 million children are killed by abortion in this country every year. Over 4,000 each day, 12 every 5 minutes, 1 every 25 seconds. -Abort73.com

It’s impossible for you not to know a woman who has had an abortion, because nearly one in four women have had one. -Abort73.com

If you’re a teenager, you should take abortion seriously. For every two of you, there’s one person missing. -Abort73.com

During her odyssey in the womb [a fetus] will smile, recognize her mother's voice and maybe even dream. -Abort73.com

4D scans reveal that babies have REM sleep. This could be a sign that the fetus, still with a month to go before being born, is already dreaming. -Abort73.com

Statistics show that a soldier's chances of survival in the front lines of combat are greater than an unborn child's avoiding abortion. -Abort73.com

What should be the safest place to live in America -- a mother's womb -- is now the most dangerous place. -Abort73.com

If it's morally reprehensible to kill a developing human being after birth, why is it permissible to kill a developing human being before birth? -Abort73.com

It is illegal to execute a pregnant woman because the fetus living inside her is a distinct human being who can't be executed for another's crimes. -Abort73.com

The Jews, as well as "unfit" Germans, had a "choice" most Germans did not. This meant that the Nazis saw abortion as a very useful weapon. -Abort73.com

"We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population" (Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood). -Abort73.com

A Black baby is almost as likely to be aborted as he is to be born. He is 4.8 times more likely to be aborted than a White baby. -Abort73.com

Without abortion and the strategic placement of abortion clinics in minority areas the Black community in America would be 30% larger than it is. -Abort73.com

Between 1882 and 1962, 3446 Blacks were lynched. That number is surpassed in less than three days by abortion. -Abort73.com

Abortion has affected the Black community more than slavery itself. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the Black vote will be insignificant. -Abort73.com

43% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% identify themselves as Catholic. -Abort73.com

40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion. -Abort73.com

Emotional, mental and psychological disorders are 63% more likely after abortion than delivery. -Abort73.com

Women who abort are 6 times more likely to commit suicide than women who carry their baby to term. -Abort73.com

A woman who has had an abortion is at least 50% more likely to contract breast cancer by age 45. 182,000 American women develop it each year. -Abort73.com

If the 50 million legally aborted children and their children were alive to vote abortion would be illegalized by the popular vote. -Abort73.com

Between 1970 and 1981, the time period in which abortion was legalized, the frequency of ectopic pregnancies increased by 300%. -Abort73.com

There is a twofold to threefold increased risk of spontaneous abortion for women with two or more previous induced abortions. -Abort73.com

This evil is so widespread that we may have killed some of the greatest inventors, authors, scientists and leaders of our time. Do not let the legislative body turn our country into a nation of serial killers. Do not stand idly by while those of us who can not stand are being systematically wiped out. Defend those who cannot defend themselves. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and the needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
And for those of you teens who do not think much of yourselves, or who think you must be older to have an impact: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
Bring an end to this atrocity. Bring justice to the nation. Let Righteousness reign.

Fight the FOCA - Support Life

I love this nation, and this place. I love our life, and our peace. I love God, and what He has given us. But what does He want us to do with His gifts? To do nothing but that which concerns the self? To stand idly by while so many atrocities happen in our very back yard? To be nothing, and to champion nothing? To let His cause drown in the murk of our fellow man’s evil plans and manipulations? No, but that would not affect us, would it? I mean, it’s not as if there were any sacrifices made for me, to ensure my eternal life, and the liberties I enjoy in the epicenter of freedom. It’s not as if my right to life was bought with the blood of others, right? I mean, it’s not as if God himself laid down the life of His Son so that I might live…so that everyone might live, right? But if He did, and if others died for my political liberty and the freedoms I enjoy today, who has any right to take those gifts away from those to whom they were given, including me? We have laws that ensure that. They aren’t lacking are they? They haven’t been twisted to justify robbing people of the sacred gift of life have they? Yes…they have. And what are we going to do about it? When our forefathers saw their liberties jeopardized, did they lie down and surrender. Did they let themselves become slaves to an unjust nation? Did they not rise up, and snatch back their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness from the very maw of tyranny and oppression? What were all the revolutions for? How did people like William Wilberforce, or William Wallace, or Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin even matter? They mattered because they stood for something bigger than themselves. They stood for freedom. Now there is a new unjust tyranny that clutches at the lives of millions. A tyranny that would devour men’s rights to Life, destroy their liberty, and give them pain instead of a chance to pursue happiness. Abortion is that tyranny, and if we do nothing, we will grant it limitless power with the Freedom of Choice Act. With that act, we sign our souls away…and the souls of millions of innocent unborn children who will never see the light of day, but only feel the pain of death. We need to take back what is ours, what is the children’s. We need to take it in our grasp and wrench it from the unjust claws of evil and tyranny. Breathe Life back into the American Dream! Give life to millions! Life that was paid for with the blood of the Divine, and the blood of soldiers- that was paid for by every day citizens and martyrs for Liberty. We are America. We are children of God. And we will not, can not, stay silent and motionless while our rights are stripped from us, and from those who are defenseless! We will start a revolution- an abolition! Any and all forms of Genocide must become nothing but history. They must stop now, and we must stop them now. Stand against the Freedom of Choice Act. Get as many followers as you can to petition congressman to oppose us. Under President Reagan, legislators feared the people. Let them fear us again, and let the lives of millions of children flourish. How long do you think another generation of lukewarm Christians can be tolerated, or even survive? The moment we stop fighting, Is the moment that evil takes the throne. It will be the moment that death smiles at us all, and truly all we will be able to do is smile back. Well when death rears it ugly head, we don’t have to smile. We can fight, and we can prevent it from taking the children of our nation before their time. They have so much to give us, the least we could give them is Life.

If the Freedom of Choice Act is passed, "The bill would give women the right women the right to file civil suits agaisnt any person or government agency that sought to limit their ability to get an abortion." Here are some links to two versions of the same flier created by Nicole Tera that will tell you all about the Freedom of Choice Act. Make copies of them and spread them amongst your friends, your school, your church, leave stacks at hospitals, post them in the street, spread them everywhere! If we don't start to convince people that the FOCA is wrong now, it will be hard to convince them when it is reintroduced to congress. If yo are friends with Nicole, you can go to her notes and find more links to sites that will educate you about abortion and ways that you can help bring a final end to abortion. If you aren't, tell me and I can give you the links. God Bless.

http://www.cryaction.com/foca_flier.pdf

http://www.cryaction.com/foca_flier_bw.pdf

What you can do to help stop abortion.

I know that there are a lot of people out there who are horrified and grieved about the legalized genocide of babies taking place in our country. Some of you have very powerful personal testimonies concerning abortion, and others of you are driven because of the injustice and cruelty that is being forced upon the innocent and defenseless, or maybe you just have a real heart for young children. Whatever your reasons, your feelings of anger and sorrow towards this issue are noble ones, but there is more that you can do besides being personally opposed to it. God calls us to do what is necessary, and to defend those that cannot defend themselves, not just to say that we are opposed to this, or that we support that- we must put our faith into action. Let God take your feelings of sorrow or anger or your passion, and let him use these to turn them into something beautiful and powerful. Let him work through you and use the gifts he has given you to glorify him, and bring justice to those to whom the right to life would be denied. Writers, let world see how much mightier the pen is than the sword. Write with a passion and conviction that could not be quenched by the mightiest deluge. Spread awareness about abortion and send letters and petitions to government officials, calling for an end to this brutal atrocity. Stand up and let your voice be heard! Let freedom ring from every mountain top, every hill, and every valley. With your pen, you can break the chains of death. You can put a stop to all of this, and give the right of life back to every human being in our nation. For those of you whose talent is music, you don’t have to achieve “Bono status” for people to listen to you and for you to have an impact. Any impact, no matter how large or small, matters. You can write songs about this subject or others that you feel passionate about, and you can transcend the stereotypes of the everyday teen garage band, or the amateur song writer. Your music can spread the message of justice and love everywhere, even to other countries. If there is one language that is truly universal, it is that of love and of music. You can post your work on youtube, or google video, or even make free cd’s. You can play your music in your community, or at your school if they have some sort of time during the day that you could use for that, or even at your church- because God knows that just because people say that they’re Christian doesn’t mean that they have the facts straight. These are but a few examples of what you can do, and your options aren’t limited to art either. If organizing or leading is your thing, you can start pro life groups in your community and at school to help support the cause by raising money for pro life organizations and spreading the truth throughout your community. I know that some of you who read this might think that you’re just a kid, or that maybe in a few years you can start to make a difference. But you don’t have to wait, and you are never too young to have an impact or to do something that matters. Jeremiah 1:7 says: “Do not say ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah was just a child when God called him to be a prophet to the nations, but God was still able to use him. I think that God wants to use us no matter how old or young or messed up we are. You don’t have to be perfect for God to use you. Look at Peter. God called him to lay the foundation for the Church, and he had denied Jesus three times during Jesus’ trial. There is no one he cannot use, and no one he cannot change for the better. So stand up for what is right, stand up for the innocent, stand with Jesus and “no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue raised against you in judgment shall be shown to be in the wrong, for you are in the service and inheritance of the Lord.” -Psalms . Whatever you do, do it in Love. No matter what it is, as long as there is one person to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, righteousness has not been extinguished.

"the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Edmund Burke

The Case For Life: Part 1

There are issues abound in this world that people have been willing to argue about, stand up for, and die for. They range from issues over which band we think is better, to standing up against genocide in Darfur. I think that, as humans, we can all agree that if someone were to try and take away our right to life, we would not just stand around and argue over whether it is right, we would do something about it. The issue of life and the preservation thereof, supersedes every other, and so it is easy to say that we would act against any threat to it. Life is far more important than rock bands, clothing, possessions, and just about everything. And by this point, you’re probably saying “Thank you captain obvious. You’re a real free thinker you are.” But what if someone else’s right to life was being taken away- someone too weak or too outmatched to defend themselves? You’d do something about it, right? I thought you would. If you saw anything like that happen, you would definitely stand up for the person being threatened. But there is a menace that prowls after the lives of the innocent. A menace that has masked itself with labels such as “legal”, and tricked us with deceptive logic like “It isn’t alive until it has taken its first breath” and “Its okay if you don’t want the baby, you shouldn’t have to pay for one just because you made a mistake.” That menace has a name– abortion. People have been deceived into thinking that reality is whatever they judge it to be, and that right and wrong are relative to what they choose to believe. But whether or not you believe it, killing innocent children is wrong. But we don’t have to tolerate it. We are called to do what is necessary, and to defend the poor and the defenseless. So take up the cause. Wave your banner high. Do something about it. Send letters to your congressmen or even to the President. Organize peaceful protests and pro life groups. As long as we remain silent, millions of innocent children will be wantonly slaughtered. But if we become active, and if we act with the passion and love of Jesus Christ scripture says that “where 2 or more are gathered in My name I am in the midst of them.” All things are possible through Christ who strengthens us and together we can bring a stop to this murderous atrocity. We are generation: change, as Zach Hunter, the founder of Loose Change to Loosen Chains, says. Teens all over the country have created groups designed to deal with specific issues like fighting modern slavery and drought and starvation. This issue is no different than those. Rise to the occasion and do anything within your means to bring an end to the evil that is abortion.
For those of you who are pro choice, but weep or feel sorrow over the babies and children that were killed in Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz- why? How is that any different than what is going on today. Abortion is painless you say? So were the gas chambers. And with each child that died in those camps, who knows how many brilliant future scientists, writers, philanthropists, and doctors were killed. Who knows if one of them would have discovered the cure for cancer, or helped to end world hunger? And with each child killed before their first breath, how many more brilliant futures and contributions are being systematically snuffed out before their time? By taking away their life, one takes what is not theirs to take, and hinders potential that could make the world a better place. If you make a mistake, there is forgiveness. But Why should a child have to pay for your sins? Is not murder worse than loving out of wedlock anyway? There are orphanages and foster homes you could send the child to. But believe me, I think you will find the gift of someone who loves you from the first time they see you, and completely trusts you with their life and heart is a gift that is too hard to pass up. Do the right thing. Stand up to be counted amongst the ranks of those who will fight for the cause of an equal opportunity to life for everyone. Stand up for the little ones who so freely give us their love and who can’t defend themselves. Help stop legalized genocide. Stand with Christ

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart"
Jeremiah 1:5