November 19, 2008
Lou Engle: Where the Pro-Life Movement goes after the elections
Here's Lou's take on the pro-life movement after the elections. If you are wondering what I think of it let me just say I think I'm going to frame the first paragraph and hang it in my office. Since it's long, you'll need to follow the link to get to the whole thing. I put several phrases in bold because they need to be chiseled into our thick heads and hard hearts. Don't read this once, print it and keep it in your Bible and read it for the next few weeks.
Where the Pro-Life Movement goes after the elections - Lou Engle, Nov. 17, 2008
“When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.” ~ Abraham Kuyper
Many in America, including some of my best friends, would probably not agree with what I’m about to say. Most have been very conciliatory over the election results and have counseled unity and peace. But I have not been afforded the option to debate politics and reason around election results. Five years ago, while reading the biography of William Wilberforce, God supernaturally apprehended me and called me to raise up a prayer movement for the ending of abortion, and I believe I am under divine restraint to obey this commission. I understand my friend’s conciliatory responses but when 50-million babies have been killed since Roe v. Wade, and these elections basically ensure the ongoing legality of this march of death, then I cannot live in pseudo peaceful coexistence for 40 more years of death. For me peace has become sin and battle is my calling. It’s easy to counsel peace when you’re not the object of the abortionist forceps and scalpel. Hundreds of years of equivocation over the issue of slavery brought us into a divine collision with heaven’s justice in the civil war, and I believe that this nation is headed for another divine collision as a result of the indifference within church over the issue of abortion and her lethargic “halting between two opinions.” In this election we have bowed the knee to Baal and chosen prosperity over posterity….
Wilberforce argued concerning the murderous slave trade of his time, “There is a principle above everything that is political, and when I reflect on the command that says, “thou shall do no murder” believing the authority to be divine, how can I dare to set out any reasoning of my own against it. And when we think of eternity and of the future consequences of all human conduct what is their in this life that could make any man contradict the dictates of his conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion, and of God.”
I believe we have reasoned around God’s command “thou shall not murder” in this election. And I believe there are eternal, individual, and national consequences that rest upon us all because of it. None of us can point the finger; the cry for mercy must sound louder now than the cry for change.
In the days of Ahab and Jezebel the culmination of wickedness came when the government setup altars to Baal, which in turn legalized the sacrifice of children to Molech while simultaneously sanctioning state-sponsored sexual immorality. Both of these altars were at the forefront of this election: the altars of abortion and same-sex marriage. In electing President Obama we have strengthened the first altar of Baal. We have chosen a man with a 100% NARAL and Planned Parenthood pro-abortion rating. He has promised to pass the Freedom of Choice Act that would outlaw any interference in providing abortion at will.
Already President-elect Obama has said that he will reverse President Bush’s executive orders on abortion, orders that have prohibited U.S. finances from supporting abortion internationally. Now we will be funding worldwide abortion, incurring further national guilt. Obama has stated that he wants to make abortion rare, but his words and actions demonstrate otherwise. In fact, the language of making abortion rare is reminiscent to the language that Martin Luther King Jr. decried as gradualism. To King, gradualism always meant “never”, and it will be with abortion.
As to the other altar of Baal, President-elect Obama supported same-sex marriage in this recent ideological battle in California and across the nation. For those of you who voted for marriage between a man and a woman in state elections and in the same breath voted for Obama, you have chosen a man who has promised to appoint judges sympathetic to the “Gay Agenda”, the very thing you thought you were voting against.
But I am not in despair; when Ahab and Jezebel rule God raises up an Elijah company of Yahweh Separatist Prophets whose allegiance is not to the Republicans or Democrat, to race or to gender, but exclusively to the Word of God. God will not turn a deaf ear to 50 million cries of aborted children and the millions of women who have suffered from the affects of abortion. If it takes us 50 years like Wilberforce to end this thing then so be it.
In May 1789, Wilberforce spoke to the House, “I confess to you so enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did its (the slave trade) wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for Abolition… Let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest until I effected its Abolition.”
Like Wilberforce, Elijah was raised up with a burning zeal to confront an apostate government and a vacillating church. Let this be the spirit of the Pro-life revival movement at this hour. No retreating from the battlefield. Let this be our movement’s finest hour.
We must follow the pattern of Elijah’s revolution. First, we must be exceedingly zealous for the Lord. May the crisis drive us to desperation and a holy passion for God and his purposes at this hour. We must shake off materialistic slumber for the future of our children and our society is at stake. Secondly, we must think generationally. It is obvious to me in this election that we have lost the next generation to moral relativity. It took Elijah’s revolution two generations to overthrow the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. We must actively train a new breed of leadership and not entrust the discipleship of our sons and daughters to the moral relativistic professors in our Christian Universities. We must raise them in the furnaces of prayer and fasting. We must go anoint Elisha.
Thirdly, abortion is a spiritual battle. The blood of babies is not another socio-political issue. Blood fuels the demonic realm and before heaven it demands a day of reckoning. Therefore let this election be a call to prayer and fasting like has never been seen in America. We must have a spiritual awakening to turn the hearts of this nation and I believe we will have this awakening! As my friend Allen Hood prophesied, “Let it be said that in the days of the rule of President Obama, stadiums were filled with prayer and fasting.” We must raise up a grass roots prayer and activism movement among the young. Bound4LIFE (www.bound4life.com) is a movement that we launched 4 years ago is spreading across the country carrying this youth mantle for the ending of abortion.
We must pray for President Obama, he is not our enemy. My heart has been going out to him in prayer. Racism is raising its ugly head. President Obama is receiving many death threats. Pray for his protection. Pray that God would give him wisdom. If God could change a Nebuchadnezzar by haunting with dreams, he could change Obama. Our mandate is not to curse but to pray for those in authority. (1Timothy 2)
Fourthly, God’s remedy to the moral decline in the book of Malachi is first of all remembering the Law of Moses. We must return to the bedrock basic commandments of the laws of God for society to flourish. Our pulpits must preach it and train a generation to vote it.
Fifthly, Malachi declares that Elijah will come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Men must stretch themselves out in fasting and prayer over their “dead children” and raise them from the dead. The church must arise with an explosion of adoptions. Today, homosexual couples are adopting thousands of children. This is their time and their moment they believe. Who wants the babies more in America? The pro-life movement must take this on as their main mandate. Every church must adopt a Crisis Pregnancy Center. We must fuel the compassion movement with our finances by raising up pregnant mothers homes.
Lastly, every voice must be counted. We must preach it, pray it, prophesy it, praise it, and print it until the forces of hell cannot hold back the word of life. When Jezebel is on the throne the commission of God is to think generationally - Go anoint Elisha!
The command of Elijah was go anoint Hazeal the foreign king who would begin to judge the Baal worship of Israel. Look for terrorist activity as divine correctives for our shedding of innocent blood. Then we must go anoint Jehu. We must raise up the next political leadership who when confronted by Jezebels, “Do you come in peace?”, will say, “How can their be any peace as long as the witchcraft and adulteries of jezebel are in the land?”
William Wilberforce declared, “God has set before me two great objectives, the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of morals.” Likewise, God has set before me two great objectives, “God end abortion, and send revival to America.” Let this be the cry of the Pro-Life Movement in America today.
Comments on Lou Engle: Where the Pro-Life Movement goes after the elections »
Angry Guy @ 4:02 pm
Passing off to the next generation your war on choice the same way you'll pass on your war on terror, huh? Let me know how that works out for you.
Take the babies from the Gays! Teach your kids intolerance through justified ignorance. Lou sounds more like he's writing a manifesto than a call to faith.
Jennie @ 5:11 pm
Thanks for posting this Steve. This is right on. The Lord has called us to something higher than the passive "Christians" we've claimed to be. Complaining about how bad our country is getting but not dropping to our knees in prayer and fasting. Too bad Mr. Angry Guy doesn't understand this. I pray for unfaithful hearts to return to Christ Jesus with such passion and fervancy–that we would literally have His heart about what's going on. We love to read what you post. We are praying for you and hope to see you soon.
In Christ.
Some Dude @ 5:39 pm
We'll still be here to vote down the next ban you try to pass.
in the mean time, how about fighting to simplify the adoption laws and allow greater (and cheaper, and more private) access to contraception?
Even reducing the abortion numbers by 10% with these things would have a greater effect than a statewide ban.
Marcee @ 9:42 pm
The Lord had me praying deeply for Obama today. The prodigal needs to return to his first love, Jesus Christ. Lord, bring Your prodigal son home. Give him a burning passion for You. Make him miss You so badly that he will come running into Your open arms. I know You have missed Your beloved son, Obama, dear Father. Please keep calling his heart to Yours, Lord. Please keep calling him.
four @ 10:03 pm
Hey Angry guy and some dude,
You may still be here but your children may not (since you feel so strongly in abortion). This has given me new vigor to make sure my children and every child that I have influence over is well equipped to end abortion in our country. We may (maybe not) have lost our opportunity with my generation to end abortion but I will do everything in my power to make sure my children and future generations can and will complete the battle. That is one thing the pro aborts can be confident of, pro lifers will continue to welcome their children into the world and teach them their values and beliefs. Pro aborts can't count on that one- their children might be lucky to make it out of the womb, might not.
Angry Guy @ 12:19 am
Hey four,
You go ahead and warp your kid's minds with your morals-come-politics stew, and I'll teach mine to question everything presented to them and to make decisions based on common sense and decency. I love how you use the word pro-abort like my wife and I intentionally get pregnant just so we can abort it. hilarious. The fact of the matter is, NOBODY LIKES ABORTION. I don't like the idea of it, personally. But I also don't like the idea that a bunch of theocrats imposing their morals on women's rights.
If you weren't born with a uterus, you shouldn't get to decide what other people do with theirs.
Nikole @ 9:23 am
Lou's words are amazing and help to drive up the passion in me and make it stronger. The other day at work I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye and at first glance I thought it read "Looking for the Next Generation" and immediately I thought to myself "Yeah, you're looking for it, because it's not there. We've killed it." But those who are there, we will reach out to and teach the sanctity of human life.
Thank you God for Pastor Steve, for Lou Engel, for all of the Bound for Lifers. Thank you God for raising up pro-lifers who are willing to take a stand. Jesus, I plead your blood over my sins and the sins of this nation. God, end abortion and bring revival to America.
Complete Faith @ 10:35 am
AG - you can read what ever meaning you want into the words pro-abort the fact is it simply means you are in favor of abortion remaining legal.
All the other stigma added to the term is your own.
Complete Faith @ 10:40 am
Wow AG, I can't keep this to one comment. You just to much of a DA to shut up about it. Were you born with a uterus? Do you choose to have sex? then you are involved in what that woman is choosing to do with her uterus.
You are a true deadbeat if you think that your responsibility ends after sex.
Angry Guy @ 10:54 am
I have sex with my wife. She has a uterus. It's her decision to let me put my {EDITED BECAUSE THE CRASS IS NOT WELCOME ON THIS BLOG} But if there was a decision about whether or not to abort a fetus if her life was in danger, that isn't my decision to make. It's hers. I can have an opinion about it, but it isn't up to me or you or anyone else but her what she does with her body or anything that happens to be growing inside it. This argument isn't about who's responsibility it is. You Anti-Choicers would like to think you are the only ones saddled with the responsbilities surrounding abortion.
Some Dude @ 11:18 am
The level of projection onto the Angry Guy and myself is amazing.
First, we want to abort all babies Now, we're deadbeats who leave women after we've planted our seed in them. Yup, you sure got that all right.
Dehumanizing those who disagree with you is a slippery slope. It will only continue to end badly for you. Is it that difficult to acknowledge that people who are pro-choice may have stable, loving families? Is it that difficult to believe you may be behind one of us at the grocery store and not even know it?
Complete Faith @ 12:06 pm
AG - As husband and wife I would hope it's a combined decision. However if your wife is pregnant and wants to terminate because she doesn't want to put her carrier on hold, should you have a say in that? How about if you just don't have the money right now, or maybe she doesn't want the stretch marks, or the changed body. I would surly hope that it's a cooperative decision, I mean no matter what the reason, you are talking about killing your child too, not just hers. That, or similar situations are the cause of the vast majority of abortions each year in South Dakota. It's a matter of convince rather then necessity. Sanford only did 6 abortions last year.
SD, Twist it how you like.
No one said you want to abort all babies but,I for one, fear for any unborn child that you may be responsible for, as no one is sure when their number will come up, and for what reason.
Also yes, any man who does not take responsibility for what they implant in a woman's uterus is as much of a deadbeat as the man who does not pay child support.Which is what your alter ego stated by saying he is not responsible for what a woman does with her uterus.
No one is dehumanizing you here, but on the contrary abortion for convince dehumanizes children every day in the united states.
Angry Guy @ 3:13 pm
I don't know why she would have USPS on the phone making decisions about abortion. The answer is YES, I have a say in the matter and surely have a right to my opinion, but ultimately it is her decision to make. I would support her either way. Do you honestly think if a woman decides to get an abortion for one of the reasons you state above, that she wouldn't just drive to Minneapolis to get it done there?
Prove that Sanford only did 6 abortions last year. Why is that relevant?
Angry Guy @ 3:16 pm
Steve, sorry about the crassness earlier. I tried to 'Davey & Goliath' it as much as possible. I can be such a doodlehead sometimes.
Complete Faith @ 3:42 pm
It was in one of the Sanford reports during the election, and it's relative because they don't do elective abortions.
I don't think she should have to drive anywhere. She should have the child and if she still does not want it put it up for adoption. 9 months out of her life is nothing compared to killing another human being. if she waited till the day after the baby was born it would be a life sentence rather then 9 months.
Some Dude @ 4:41 pm
"SD, Twist it how you like.
No one said you want to abort all babies but,I for one, fear for any unborn child that you may be responsible for"
I am currently responsible for one unborn baby (about the size of one of these letters, currently) and have no doubts in my mind about it's future as a human being. Mrs. Dude and I will be proud parents. You need not fear for our child. He/she is in good hands.
If angry guy's my alter ego, it's time to see the pshrink or get exorcised.
And yes, you are dehumanizing those of us who don't agree with you by assuming we're uncaring b****rds who wouldn't take responsibility for our own children. Both of us have also been accused of being unable to maintain relationships. You don't even know us. Stop projecting.
Angry Guy @ 4:47 pm
"I don't think she should have to drive anywhere."
It doesn't matter what you think in that situation. It only matters what the woman who considers an abortion thinks, or at least that is how I think the vote came out on the 4th.
Complete Faith @ 4:54 pm
That's not how it will always be brother.
Maybe not in 2 or 4 years, but someday abortion will go the way of slavery.
Angry Guy @ 10:52 pm
You mean only the rich will be able to afford one?
Angry Guy @ 10:55 pm
"If angry guy's my alter ego, it's time to see the shrink or get exorcised."
That's funny.
mirele @ 1:56 am
Lou's part of the problem, not part of the solution. Basically, for Lou, it's all about the babies. There's not a single word in his entire screed about the women who carry the babies. It's as if women simply didn't exist and/or were not even moral agents in this discussion.
If he and his followers did something simple, such as encouraging the empowerment of women and teaching them about contraceptive choices, that would cut down on the number of unwanted pregnancies, but that's not what Lou's about. He really doesn't care about the women. He talks about pregnant mothers homes and adoption but not about the women themselves. Lou fails to realize that if a woman's keeping her baby, she's not likely to put it up for adoption to a stranger.
Additionally, he fails to acknowledge that there are literally thousands of children languishing in foster care that could be adopted but are not, because these are not easy kids. One of my friends, a widow, adopted three special-needs kids in addition to the one born to her and they're doing great. However, she'd not be considered as an adoptive parent today in some places, thanks to the rhetoric about nuclear families these days that has been enacted into law.
When you fail to support the things that we know cut down on unwanted pregnancies, and you treat women as an invisible part of the pregnancy equation, and you exclude people who don't have families that look like yours from adopting even special-needs kids, well, you know, you are not part of the solution. You are part of the problem. And that doesn't even begin to touch on Lou's hotheaded rhetoric. Lou's a huge part of the problem, and he's already been marginalized into the kooky right, and will be shouting into a smaller and smaller corner as the years go by.
Chelsea Anderson @ 7:33 pm
It broke my heart when we elected a pro-abortion President. It also saddens me that pro-life people are called haters and intolerant. They say that the mother's health is more important than the baby. Notice that the Constitution says we are "created" equal, not "born" equal. Let's protect BOTH people involved. I agree that we should pray for Obama, that God would give him compassion instead of contempt for the unborn.
sam i am @ 12:03 am
I am disgusted.
Face fact and face it now.
6 billion people are raping this planet like a infestation of maggots.
Pro life fundamentalism is screwing the world now and for the future.
I stand fully behind gay marriage, abortion, family planning and birth control because the fact is that every day of every year of every century copulating couples are breeding the abyss into which the entire human population is about to fall.
What a nice lil bedtime story for the kids huh.
Get real do it now!
Steve @ 7:24 am
Sam I Am - since you bypassed the standard pleasantries and just jumped in spewing irrationally, I'll just start right in as well.
Facts? I didn't see any in your comment. The facts are we are facing a depopulation problem globally not an over population problem. Google "Demographic Winter" and get yourself informed. Or read something like "Fatal Misconception" which is a monster size book that destroys everything you presently think to be true. Sound like you'd been reading too much Al Gore. The planet is just fine, even though we are definitely in another global COOLING cycle.
Let's go with your logic and upside down ethical thinking for a moment… why not let the unborn live since in twenty years they will be producers and instead kill the old people off who are predicted to be so numerous no one can take care of them (because we are killing the babies and dropping far below, in many nations, the 2.1 fertility rate it takes to sustain present population rates. Yes, let's kill the people over 50, that'll be me and maybe you.
Or, let's do the Margaret Sanger thing and pick an "undesirable" race and eliminate them. Let's elimate your race.
You stand fully behind these things you've mentioned like "family planning" but maybe you don't know they are code words for things like forced sterilization in refugee camps, forced abortion in one-child policy nations like China. I vote we sterilize you. Do you have kids? Do you plan to? Maybe you already have two and you should kill one. What's the difference?
Since you've admitted you are a maggot, why not volunteer to help save the planet by killing yourself?
Get real, do it now!!