Cal’s Comments: Appealing To Your Pastor On Behalf Of The Babies

By Cal Zastrow

As we are approaching Nov. and the vote on the Colorado Personhood Amendment (#62), my enthusiam is coupled with a heavy heart for two groups of people: preborn babies getting murdered, and church people whose pastors won’t get involved effectively in stopping the slaughter.

This column is meant to encourage the second group, people who want to end the killing, but are members of churches that aren’t active or effective enough in doing so. You aren’t alone. Not only have I met many of you here in Colorado, but in plenty of other places too. Please pray, understand, appeal, and decide.

Pray:

That your heart will be humble and pure before you appeal. Pastors and elders are not inclined to listen to (or help) complainers, demanders, or lecturers.

For God’s heart to be your heart. God loves His Church but hates hypocrisy. He is the perfect Father to the fatherless, and condemning Judge to the unrepentant. He can’t go to ball games or a job and pretend He does not hear the death screams of preborn babies being murdered. Can you? Can I?

For your pastor and leaders to hear from the Lord and obey Him. You and I cannot make people care! Trust God to move upon their hearts when you talk to them.

Understand:

That thousands of children are getting murdered daily. We are commanded to love and rescue these persons. These are our neighbors! You are not yet a Christian if you don’t even care about needy people.

Effectiveness.

Hundreds of abortuaries have been closed in the U.S.A. by people and churches who came out to the streets in front of them to pray, preach, prophesy, picket, sidewalk counsel, and conduct peaceful sit-ins. You and your church can do this in your city!

Timing.

Praying on sidewalks by killing centers works anytime, but sidewalk counseling works when moms are coming for appointments. Distributing #62 literature and making announcements in churches needs to be done sooner before later. Also, if you stop the pastor after church, as many other people are asking something of him, he won’t even be able to remember everything everybody wants from him.

Information overload.

If you expect the pastor to drop what he is doing in order to help you with your specific project, you are expecting too much. Churches get hundreds or thousands of requests weekly for help with mostly important things. Pastors and elders aren’t supposed to do all of the ministry. They are to train and equip believers so that they can go and do more ministry. (I’ll mention later about what to do when church leadership is training the people to ignore baby-murder).

That you need to lead by example.

How quick, simple, clear, and pro-active requests are much more well received than any other kind.

Why tokenism is the enemy of effective action. The book in the Bible before Romans is not called “The Position Papers of the Apostles,” or “The Resolutions of the Apostles.”

Just donating money to pregnancy resource centers is helpful to people, but it will never end baby-murder.

That pastors are to be undershepherds. They are not only to patch up wounded sheep, but are supposed to protect the sheep by spiritually beating the attacking wolves to jelly! Baby-murder is not “politics” or a cultural conflict, it is war against demons from hell who lie and murder! Spiritual warfare without spiritual armor (Ephesians 6) brings disaster.

Appeal:

Via a letter or phone call to the church office. Here is a sample letter that is timely for Colorado:

Dear Pastor/elders;

I’m writing to request a brief meeting about pro-life ministry in our church. The Lord has blessed me by ministering outside of the local abortuary, and I’d like to share with you about it and the need for more helpers. Also, we have a window of opportunity to support the Colorado Personhood Amendment on the ballot (#62). Enclosed is a copy of the legal language. I will coordinate everything if you can simply include in the announcements (verbal or written): “Being as we are pro-life and want to protect preborn children, Brother X and some volunteers are at the exits this morning distributing information for the Personhood Amendment. Please take a few seconds to help out.”

I’m thankful for the pro-life position paper of our church. Let’s talk about applying it through effective actions that will truly end the slaughtering of children.

With love and respect,
Brother X

Enclosing a photo of an aborted baby is a good idea.

Decide.

If the church leaders care, listen, and do what they can; decide to support them and serve where they need help as well. Follow through with your details and their requests for how you proceed.

If they won’t listen, care, or get involved with effective actions to stop baby-murder, decide to go find others who will. It is important that if you decide to no longer support and serve them, leave sweetly. Don’t stay in hopes of getting your way by stirring things up. Don’t quietly stay or you will become like them in apathy about the Gospel. You will spiritually become the priest and the Levite who ignored real needs, instead of the Good Samaritan who cared and did something effective (Luke 10:30-37).