Love Your Enemies, Even If They Wear A Pink Vest

Hi everyone,
A few weeks we went to Planned Parenthood. On Thursday night my mom hurt her right foot. This may sound silly but in our family my mom is the only driver at the moment. She also has to wear leg braces when she wears her shoes. We did not know if she would be able to wear her shoes to drive and be in Portland with her foot hurt. But we decided we would still go to Portland though. Daddy  was not feeling very well either. We also were going to be some of the only people from our group to be out at Planned Parenthood. But God has some amazing plans in store for us.

James and Marguerite arrived at Planned Parenthood about the same time as we did. There was no Portland police officer out on the street with us. After a while the second shift of deathscorts (Planned Parenthood volunteer greeters) showed up. Officer Bealls is someone I have mentioned before. She is a Portland police officer and a Planned Parenthood volunteer. Officer Bealls is different than some of the other volunteers though. She actually talks to me. We have a weird relationship. We see each other at Planned Parenthood. She wears the pink vest of a Planned Parenthood volunteer. I stand there with my Gospel tracts. She walks people into Planned Parenthood and I stand there telling people that Planned Parenthood murders babies and offer them help and hope and life in Jesus Christ. Then we stand there and... talk. We can greet each other by name, give each other a hand shake, stand side by side. Believe me she has heard the Gospel. She stands there on the sidewalk while people preach. I write her letters and I am not just sweet in my letters, I speak the truth. And she takes my letters although she will not take a Gospel tract from me. She is not kind to me because she is never confronted on her sin. I love her enough to tell her the truth.

Deathscorts escort babies in to the abortion mill to be murdered, they are evil people, they are enemies of God. But we were all once evil people who were enemies of God. And somebody loved us enough to share the Gospel with us. It is okay to be angry at the actions of the deathscorts, it is perfectly acceptable to be angry that someone so hates God and rejects His commands, and hates their neighbors so much that they would murder them. But the Bible says to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44) This is what we must do for the deathscorts. Love them so much that you share the Gospel with them. Love them enough to talk to them. Realize that apart from the saving grace of God you would be just as bad off as they are, dirty, hell-deserving, rotten sinners. But God... those are two amazing words. We were evil people deserving of the just wrath of God but God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to save us.

That particular week I went up and hugged Officer Bealls. This may sound strange to some but that is what I did. When we were leaving I told Officer Bealls that I loved her. Try it sometime. Maybe God will show off how great He is and you too will get the reply from the deathscort, "Love you too." God is amazing!

Now, let's start a revolution. Love the deathscorts. Show them that you love them. I know that it is hard when the deathscorts will not talk to you. Most of ours do not talk to us. Even if they do not respond, share the Gospel with them. Pray for them out loud. If you learn their names, when you walk up to them, greet them by name. Offer them tracts. I know this may sound weird but one of them has actually taken them from me.

Tell them that you love them. Verbally tell them "I love you". Even though we love the deathscorts by sharing the Gospel with them it may not seem like love to them. That does not mean you should stop sharing the Gospel with them but just saying "I love you" can be good. Do not love them with the fake love that our culture has. Love them with biblical love. As a brother in Christ says: "Love is an act of the will, accompanied by emotion, that leads to action on behalf of it's object". More than all share the Gospel with them and pray. God alone saves. Which deathscort can you show love to? Maybe give them a hug. (Important note: If you think you will be charged with assault for hugging them I suggest you just speak to them instead of touching them in any way. But if you have a good relationship with them and think it would be okay, go for it.)

With love in the Lord,
Virginia

The Views Of A Planned Parenthood Chaplain And The Christian Response. A Battle Of Two Different Worldviews.

Hello everyone.
On Friday while our family was at the Planned Parenthood in Portland a man arrived with a paper for us. It was part of the Portland Press Herald Newspaper. The article was written by Marvin Ellison. A Presbyterian minister and one of the local Chaplains at the Portland Planned Parenthood. Here is his article: For Me As A Chaplain, Planned Parenthood's Name Is Blessed

I just finished writing a response to his article. My response is posted below:
"It is my hope to respond to a recent article "For Me As A Chaplain, Planned Parenthood's Name Is Blessed" by Marvin Ellison. 

In his article Mr. Ellison says that patients are sometimes surprised to see his face in the Planned Parenthood in Portland. But if Planned Parenthood is merely a health care facility that only provides beneficial services for people, why would it be strange to see a Reverend in such a place? Hospitals have Chaplains. Is there anything strange about that? I propose that the reason it is strange to see a Reverend there is because people know that Christians are against Planned Parenthood and abortion. I believe that all Christians are against abortion and those who are not against abortion are not actually Christians. Christians strive to walk in the footsteps of Christ and to glorify God in all that they do because their heart has been transformed by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in them changing their desires so that they love God and want to serve Him. However, supporting an organization that destroys children created in the image of God, such as Planned Parenthood, is not glorifying to God. Planned Parenthood is a organization who hates the One True God and rebels against His commands. This is why it is strange to see a professing Christian volunteering at Planned Parenthood. Because they go against the teaching of the Christ they claim to follow.

Mr. Ellison states that the chaplains undertake their work not it spite of, but because of their faith and values. I agree. However the faith and values of these chaplains are not the faith and values of the Scripture. Jesus Christ teaches that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, (Matthew 22:39). Genesis 1 teaches that man is created in the image of God. Exodus 20:13 states, "You shall not murder." In an abortion an image bearer of God is murdered. Murdering someone is not loving. Therefore when an abortion is performed it breaks the commands of God. When a person's faith and values support such actions that person's faith and values are not in accord with the Scriptures. But the faith and values of the world that hates God.

Mr. Ellison states "Clergy were among the earliest supporters of Margaret Sanger and other pioneers of the family planning movement." The problem is that just because people supported Margaret Sanger does not make it right or a Christian thing to do. Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist and racist. Any professing Christian that supported her was not following the Scriptures.

The article states that a vocal minority "has long objected to sexuality education and family planning and resorted to punitive, shaming language and scary images" to try to prevent people from "seeking the health care they need." But all that the people outside the Planned Parenthood in Portland aim to do is to glorify God through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, offer help to women, and tell them the truth about Planned Parenthood; that they slaughter children and reject God's blessing of children, contradicting his command to be fruitful and multiply. We do nothing to prevent people from receiving necessary health care.

Mr. Ellison applauds what he calls Planned Parenthood's "life-affirming values". But Planned Parenthood is not life-affirming. Planned Parenthood does not affirm life, it destroys human life.

The message of the Christians is that we must humble ourselves before the Almighty God. Everyone is a sinner and we deserve an eternity in Hell because of our sins against a Holy and Just God. One day we will have to stand before God and give an account of our lives. We are all guilty of breaking God's law. We can do nothing to save ourselves from an eternity in Hell. But God sent His only Son into the world, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life before God His Father. He was crucified not for his own sins, because He had never sinned, but for the sins of all who will repent and turn to Him in faith, trusting in Him alone for salvation. Christ then rose from the dead three days later and will one day come again and bring His children home with Him to Heaven. When God saves a sinner that person will no longer be seen as guilty before God, but will be seen as a person clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
~Virginia Cowperthwaite, age 15"