23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"
Here, Jesus exercised a spiritual solution. He was discerning about the type of spirit that He was dealing with, and He used the resources of heaven to proclaim victory over it. Later, when His disciples asked Him why they could not cast the demonic spirit out, He said that, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." He demonstrated His power, and He challenged His disciples to do what it takes to walk in victory. Today on The Meeting House, I will share, based on some words from a pastor in the Panhandle, dealing with spiritual discernment and intervention. We have to be willing to do what it takes in order for us and others to be set free.
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There's a passage in 2nd Corinthians 10 that sets up the spiritual battle in which all of us are engaged:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
The scene has become a familiar one on Good Friday at abortion clinics across the nation: the Pro-Life Action League holds an event called the “Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion.” The official announcement from the organization reads, “On a bleak Friday afternoon nearly 2,000 years ago, our savior Jesus Christ was crucified at Golgotha, ‘the place of the skull, adding, “Today, we have our own Golgotha: the abortion clinic, where His image is violently destroyed, again and again, by abortion.”
That is from an article on the Daily Beast website, which reported on a rather unusual counter-event that happened at a Michigan Planned Parenthood clinic last Friday. Jex Blackmore, who made headlines last December for blogging about her experience with medical abortion and members of the Satanic Temple showed up at the clinic in Ann Arbor. In images from the protest, Blackmore can be seen wearing a crown of thorns and a faux pregnancy belly while carrying a cross meant to symbolize “the burden of oppressive mandates endured by women,” as the Satanic Temple noted in a press release.
The contrast was stark: the Pro-Life Action League participants kneeled with a sign that said, "We Are Praying for You and Your Baby," as they moved through the Stations of the Cross in a prayer vigil. The Satanic Temple members walked behind Blackmore, who was carrying a cross, wearing suits bearing the names of the Michigan legislators who sponsored recent bills dealing with abortion - one would require abortion providers to be licensed as surgical outpatient facilities, another would cut funding to health-care providers that offer abortion. Behind the protesters, an activist wore a leather jacket emblazoned with a middle finger and held up a grayscale American flag. Blackmore is quoted as saying "In the current abortion debate...it’s not the fetus, nor the church that suffers—but women who bear the greatest burden.”
WND.com offered an article about the events of Ann Arbor and the messages that were sent through the encounter. Cheryl Sullinger, vice-president of Operation Rescue, is quoted as saying, “The satanic demonstration in support of Planned Parenthood reveals the truth that abortion is all about evil-doing and rebellion to God, in whose image each of us is made,” adding, “Taking innocent life is the ultimate expression of hatred toward God. There is nothing virtuous about abortion, and the satanists’ support for it is evidence that proves the point.”
Florida pastor Carl Gallups, of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, who has been a guest on The Meeting House, offered some strong perspective. He said, “In 1973, Roe v. Wade opened the Pandora’s Box of America’s new Culture of Death,” adding, “Paradoxically, in that very same year, the Federal Endangered Species Act was passed – giving federal protection to turtle eggs and eagles’ nests, under penalty of heavy fines and/or imprisonment. In 1973, we determined that it was perfectly acceptable to kill humans in their ‘nests,’ but not eagles or turtles. If one cannot see the demonic impetus behind this depraved manner of thinking, then their spiritual discernment is non-existent.”
Gallups also noted, “It is a fact that 36 percent of all abortions in America are performed upon African Americans...Yet, the black population makes up less than 13 percent of America’s total population. Knowing that Planned Parenthood was founded by eugenicist Margaret Sanger, and in light of the recent undercover video revelations of Planned Parenthood’s selling of baby body parts and their willingness to take donations designated to help in aborting ‘certain populations,’ a discerning person would have to see the evil associated with the foundation principles, and current practices, of Planned Parenthood. Accordingly, I am not surprised that a satanist group would be actively involved in trying to thwart the spiritual intervention attempts of Christian organizations made outside of certain abortion clinics."
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
The scene has become a familiar one on Good Friday at abortion clinics across the nation: the Pro-Life Action League holds an event called the “Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion.” The official announcement from the organization reads, “On a bleak Friday afternoon nearly 2,000 years ago, our savior Jesus Christ was crucified at Golgotha, ‘the place of the skull, adding, “Today, we have our own Golgotha: the abortion clinic, where His image is violently destroyed, again and again, by abortion.”
That is from an article on the Daily Beast website, which reported on a rather unusual counter-event that happened at a Michigan Planned Parenthood clinic last Friday. Jex Blackmore, who made headlines last December for blogging about her experience with medical abortion and members of the Satanic Temple showed up at the clinic in Ann Arbor. In images from the protest, Blackmore can be seen wearing a crown of thorns and a faux pregnancy belly while carrying a cross meant to symbolize “the burden of oppressive mandates endured by women,” as the Satanic Temple noted in a press release.
The contrast was stark: the Pro-Life Action League participants kneeled with a sign that said, "We Are Praying for You and Your Baby," as they moved through the Stations of the Cross in a prayer vigil. The Satanic Temple members walked behind Blackmore, who was carrying a cross, wearing suits bearing the names of the Michigan legislators who sponsored recent bills dealing with abortion - one would require abortion providers to be licensed as surgical outpatient facilities, another would cut funding to health-care providers that offer abortion. Behind the protesters, an activist wore a leather jacket emblazoned with a middle finger and held up a grayscale American flag. Blackmore is quoted as saying "In the current abortion debate...it’s not the fetus, nor the church that suffers—but women who bear the greatest burden.”
WND.com offered an article about the events of Ann Arbor and the messages that were sent through the encounter. Cheryl Sullinger, vice-president of Operation Rescue, is quoted as saying, “The satanic demonstration in support of Planned Parenthood reveals the truth that abortion is all about evil-doing and rebellion to God, in whose image each of us is made,” adding, “Taking innocent life is the ultimate expression of hatred toward God. There is nothing virtuous about abortion, and the satanists’ support for it is evidence that proves the point.”
Florida pastor Carl Gallups, of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, who has been a guest on The Meeting House, offered some strong perspective. He said, “In 1973, Roe v. Wade opened the Pandora’s Box of America’s new Culture of Death,” adding, “Paradoxically, in that very same year, the Federal Endangered Species Act was passed – giving federal protection to turtle eggs and eagles’ nests, under penalty of heavy fines and/or imprisonment. In 1973, we determined that it was perfectly acceptable to kill humans in their ‘nests,’ but not eagles or turtles. If one cannot see the demonic impetus behind this depraved manner of thinking, then their spiritual discernment is non-existent.”
Gallups also noted, “It is a fact that 36 percent of all abortions in America are performed upon African Americans...Yet, the black population makes up less than 13 percent of America’s total population. Knowing that Planned Parenthood was founded by eugenicist Margaret Sanger, and in light of the recent undercover video revelations of Planned Parenthood’s selling of baby body parts and their willingness to take donations designated to help in aborting ‘certain populations,’ a discerning person would have to see the evil associated with the foundation principles, and current practices, of Planned Parenthood. Accordingly, I am not surprised that a satanist group would be actively involved in trying to thwart the spiritual intervention attempts of Christian organizations made outside of certain abortion clinics."
I want to call attention to two terms that Pastor Gallups used: spiritual discernment and spiritual intervention. Pure and simple, the act of abortion is the taking of a human life. And, there have been numerous actions that have been taken by officials in states across America to restrict this heinous act. And, while legislative means can be and have been effective in reducing the number of pre-born children who have lost their lives, spiritual means are potentially even more effective. Pro-life people stand on the side of life, the side of compassion for unborn children, as well as their mothers and families. We have to be discerning and recognize that while people are aligned with this culture of death, our ultimate war is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers - spiritual entities - who promote these ideas.
So, we can approach policy matters with a sense of spiritual clarity. We can be prayerful and wise about what is driving the actions of people - not that they are not culpable for those actions, but there are forces at work that can only be dealt with in prayer. So, we recognize that: discernment. And, we utilize the spiritual resources that we have available to us: intervention. What can one person do, you might ask? Plenty. Prayer - and action. And, when we have a lot of "ones" who are operating in unity, then we can unleash powerful forces in our nation that can overcome the schemes and delusion of our spiritual enemy.
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