The Day Free Speech Died in Winter Park, Florida part 2

Could it really happen in America? Could three citizens be arrested on the public sidewalk for reading a Bible, having a camera and holding a "Celebrate Life" sign?  I want to believe that this would not and could not happen in the country I love so dearly, but yesterday it did. 

The city of Winter Park Florida thought that these three American citizens, were dangerous enough that they called in the city Swat team to body search, hand cuff and arrest fellow prolifers and friends Jay Rogers, Professor Pat McEwen, and Cheryl Bishoff.  They were then taken to the Orange County Jail for booking.

So why did this city find it necessary to go to such measures to arrest three Christians on a public sidewalk?  Let's go back to last August when a group of peaceful Christians took to the streets and held a public witness in the neighborhood and residence of the newly promoted  CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Jenna Tosh.  On a sidenote , this particular center performs on an average of over 100 abortions per week!

Almost immediately city commissioners of Winter Park went to the aide of Jenna Tosh and  passed a 60-day emergency ban on residential picketing aimed at a specific home.  Later, commissioners approved in a 4-1 vote an ordinance that would make the ban permanent, not without the packed house of concerned citizens expressing their utter dismay and opposition to this ban that prohibits free speech.  Mayor Ken Bradley was the only dissenting vote, expressing his opposition to the ban siting it unconstitutional.

Since then, prolifers have gone back to publicly witness and share the truth of abortion in the neighborhood with police coming, telling the Christians they must leave, but never with the threat of arrest.  The police on both occasions seemed to be confused as to what the ordinance really enacted.

Which led to yesterday's Awareness Campaign leading to the arrests of my friends, who love the Lord

with all their heart, mind and soul.  While they sat in the jail, we all stood outside of the jail holding signs, worshiping the Lord and praying that God would protect our brother and sisters in Christ and use them for the time they would be behind bars in jail, and that HE did!  

This is only the beginning, but I believe with all my heart that this is what Jesus meant when He said to be the salt and light of the earth.  Please pray with us down here in Central Florida that God will use these unjust arrests to bring God glory and to challenge this ordinance that bans American citizens from their first amendment rights of free speech!

Answered Prayer..... From Abortion Surgery Table to LIFE!

While ministering at the AWHC abortion mill a few weeks back I noticed a couple drive in and go toward the back to park.  I walked quickly in the back to make sure they would be offered help and be informed of centers that would truly care for them.

When they got out of their car I said, “Hi my name is Michele and I would love to give you some information, please come over and talk with me please.”  The young woman then walked over and I was able to have a really good conversation with her.  She was definitely pregnant and abortion bound, telling me that at the moment she was homeless.  I told her there was all kinds of help out there and that we would love to help her.  She looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, “Really?”  I said, “Yes, there really is help for you.”  I handed her a brochure and resource sheet which has all the local pregnancy centers listed on it, and showed her the ones that were open at that time.  I suggested she call and talk with one of the counselors.  She told me thank you and that she would, then proceeded to walk over to the young man (her friend, not the father of the baby) that had come along with her and they stood talking.

I then went back up front and asked the prayer group from St. Margaret Mary’s which comes every Tuesday to please pray for this mommy and protection for the little baby in her womb.  I then began

 ministering to other women and men piling in for abortions.

Some time went on and we didn't see the couple come to the front, so we began to get excited that she had changed her mind and would be leaving, but then we saw both of them walking toward the front door.  Becky, the other sidewalk counselor began to plead with them to not go in, she pleaded and pleaded but they went inside anyway.  We all began to really pray for them and this precious baby being led to the slaughter.

When it was time to leave, they were still inside the mill and we just cried out to the Lord to please intervene on behalf of this child, and touch the heart of the mommy.

When I arrived home, I just could not get that young lady out of my mind and neither could Becky.  We continued to pray that God would do a miracle!  Just then I received a phone call from the young mother (the ministry number is on the back of the pamphlet and I had told her to call me for any reason)!  She began to tell me that she had gone so far as to get on the surgery table and had the sonogram!  She even saw the images of her six week old baby!  When she began to ask questions about the safety and some concerns she had for a medical condition she has, the medical assistants did not want to answer her.  She said they were in a hurry and just wanted to rush her along.  The doctor then came in and she began to ask him questions, to which he did not want to answer and she thought him to be very rude.  She made the decision right then and there and jumped off the table and went to the front, got part of her money back and left!  She was calling me to tell me what she had done and that she was definitely going to keep her baby and would I help her?  I told her most definitely I would do what I could to help her. 

We made arrangements to meet up the next morning and I would take her to one of the local pregnancy centers close to where she lived, which we did, and we had a great time getting to know one another! She was able to receive a lot of love and help from the counselors at the Sanford Pregnancy Center, which I am so thankful for!

God truly answers our prayers and this is just another reminder to me that we must never, ever give up praying, for anything!  I thank God that HE intervened on behalf of this little baby and mommy! 

Please continue to pray for them!  To God be the Glory for HE has done Great things!

"Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  I Thessalonians 5:16 - 18

Valentine's Day, is it Love for Everyone?

Today is Valentines Day and many will be receiving flowers, cards and heart shaped boxes of candy from those expressing their love to them.  Restaurants will be packed with couples taking their sweethearts out for this special occasion which is wrapped up in love.
But while these acts of love and affection are going on throughout the day, there are places all around our nation that will not be expressing this type of love on Valentines Day.  Sadly, thousands of women will be making their way to abortion centers to rid themselves of the child developing in their womb.  This will not be a day of love for them, although many will be escorted by their boyfriends who at one point had told them that they love them.  Now, they are at a center which will gladly accompany their request to kill their child.
What started for many as a longing for love, now is weighed down by a little innocent child.  This child is now scheduled to die.
What a dichotomy, so many are receiving candy and flowers today, while others will be in waiting rooms for hours for that call to come in the back for their abortion.
So, what will Valentine's Day be like for the women who spent their day at an abortion mill and paid an abortionist to stop the beating heart of their child?  Will this be a day that she will look forward to from now on?  What do you think will be her first memory of Valentine's Day?
I can tell you, it won't be the chocolate and it won't be the flowers.  It will be the stench of the abortion mill, the very memory of all the women's faces waiting for their abortions, the walk back to the "operating room," and afterward walking out knowing something horrible happened and you are now a broken woman with a broken baby.  A decision that can never be turned around, a baby that died a horrible death, and memories that will last forever, scars of regret, guilt and shame.
And what about the men/fathers who have done everything that they can do to save their baby, but legally have no rights in this country?  Will this be a happy Valentine's Day for them?  No, this will be a terribly sad and frustrating day that will leave scars of pain for these daddy's who will never hold their child.
Yes, Valentines Day for many will be wonderful memories of sharing love and receiving love.  But for the thousands of little human beings that will die a brutal death, this will not be love shared upon them at all.

If you have a chance today, maybe you might want to find out the closest abortion mill and offer the only true love to those that will be coming to kill their child, the love of Jesus Christ!  Offer them another way, let them know that their are people that can help them.  Remind them of what Valentines Day stands for, and that is love and encourage them to love their babies and not pay someone to stop the beating heart of their child.  Tell them that if they go through with the abortion that this is what Valentines Day will forever be; a reminder of their child's death.  This is true love, reaching out to the lost, being a voice for the voiceless and rescuing those unjustly sentenced to death.

We Were One of Them!

While ministering at Planned Parenthood the other day, we noticed a man walking a woman toward the building, we offered help to the couple, but they went inside anyway. He then came out shortly after and went and sat in his van.  

Robert

One of the sidewalk counselors, Robert, went next door to the vacant lot so he could stand at the fence and try to talk with this young man. He stood there at the fence and started talking with him and after a bit, the man got out of his vehicle and began conversing with Robert.  I walked up at this point and leaned on the fence listening to the words coming out of the mouth of this young man. He knew theology alright, and he knew the all to well verse about not judging other people.  He went on and on about not judging and the usual rhetoric we hear about doing something other then being out in front of an abortion clinic. 

Germaine

While we stood there talking, Germaine, another sidewalk counselor, came over and leaned on the fence.  Here we were, the three of us listening and talking with this young man who had a young lady inside with an innocent little baby scheduled to die.  We listened to all the excuses and we talked with him on many different levels, but it always came back to the question, how do you feel about what is going to happen to the baby if you don't go in and stop it?  He would change the subject immediately as this question was going to be avoided, after all, no one wants to think about what will happen.  But then he looked at us and again, talked about judging and that we didn't have any idea what these people were going through that had come that day.  How dare we stand there trying to change their minds when we had no idea what they might be facing.  That is when I looked at him and said, "but we do have an idea, 
WE WERE ONE OF THEM!"  He just looked at the three of us bewildered and I said again, "WE WERE ONE OF THEM!"  At that, Germaine said, "Yes, I had three abortions."  I then said, "I had five abortions."  Then Robert said, "I had seven abortions, and probably more."  This was the first time he stayed quiet and I continued.  I looked at him and said, "We care about those people that are going inside that building, because if they go through with the abortion, they will never be the same.  You see, a piece of you dies with your baby, you walk out that door a very broken person, and we want to offer help to make sure that doesn't happen.  Even if you are the person that brought a person, you will be affected as well." We each shared a bit of our stories and told him that we wished someone would have been there to offer help to us on our first abortion, we really believe it would have made a tremendous difference.  I then told him that because we were one of them, we feel an obligation to do what we can to stand against this human and social injustice, that just as slavery was once legal it did not make it right, and even though abortion is legal, it definitely does not make it right.  We explained to him that these little babies have no voices and die horrendous, tortuous and painful deaths.

We talked a bit more and encouraged him to go back in and get his woman and baby out of there.  We gave him information about Maafa 21 and other literature to view.  We can only pray that God touched his heart.

What we didn't realize at that point was how God was going to touch our hearts.

As we finished our conversation, the three of us started to go to our cars, I walked over to Robert as he was getting ready to drive out and all of a sudden it just came over me, and I looked at Robert and said, "Robert,  Germaine said he had 3 abortions, I had 5 abortions, and you said you had seven abortions.  That's thirteen babies!"  There was silence, utter silence and at that point Germaine walked up and I shared with him what I had just said to Robert and the three of us just stood there together.  Thirteen babies between the three of us, not here on this earth.  It was overwhelming, even though the three of us have repented with weeping and sobbing for the killing of our children, and we know that God has forgiven us, it was just one of those moments that can not be described. 

I then said, "But....thank God for HIS redemption, thank God for His forgiveness, thank God for HIS GRACE, thank God that HE picked us up out of the pit of hell we were in and thank God HE has placed us here to tell other people.  We praised God for what HE has done and what HE did on that day at Planned Parenthood for us to remember what HE has done in our lives. 
 Yes, we know, because WE WERE ONE OF THEM!

A Victory for My Friends with Disabilities!

In light of the victorious stand our U.S. Senators took today in defeating the CRPD Treaty, (Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities), many thoughts went through my mind.  My first thoughts took me back to a young boy named Keith who lived across the street from the house where I grew up in Plantation Florida.  Keith was our mascot, he always sat on the sidelines while we all played kick ball or any fun game in the street.  He would cheer so loud and wave his hands the whole game!  He always had a smile while we played even when we missed a ball, he would cheer us up.  Keith was a Down Syndrome boy, but that didn't matter to any of us kids in the neighborhood; we loved him.  And truly, if anyone messed with Keith, they had us to deal with!

As we grew older into our teenage years my brother and I would help out at a dance hall for those with down syndrome and we loved it.  It is a highlight of my teenage years, I look back with great fondness for these young people were all so special.  Years later when Keith's mom and dad passed away, he went to live with his brother Glenn and his wife.  It was as though years had not passed, Keith was still the same, he had his smile and gave the biggest hug.  I thank God that I had the opportunity to grow up with Keith living across the street, I learned that we are all different, but we are each special in our own way.

Alyssa

Much later on, while living in Wichita, Kansas from 2000 to 2010, God gave another opportunity to touch me with a precious gift from Him and that was Alyssa.  She is the daughter of dear friends of mine, the Bardens.  Alyssa has had challenging disabilities since she was very young and her family has done everything they knew how to help her.  Alyssa was and is a bright and shining star to me, I loved her from the moment I met her.  She could be laughing her head off which made us laugh our heads off and then get mad shortly after, but I loved her, and count it a privilege to have had so many wonderful times with this family who has been such a witness.  Alyssa's family would also come out and stand in front of George Tiller's abortuary, her mom would sidewalk counsel with me.  Looking at Alyssa would always be the stark reality to us that babies with disabilities like Alyssa were routinely killed there.  It made all of us resolved that all children in the womb deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Steve on the left in the wheelchair!

And then there was Steve Mashburn, my dear friend who I had the awesome opportunity to help take care of toward the end of his life.  Steve was in a diving accident when he was fifteen and left a quadriplegic the rest of his life.  Yes, he was angry when this  first happened, but then one day, he yielded his life to Christ and became a servant of Jesus.  Steve even became a pastor, he would go down to New Orleans and preach, he also had such a passion for the unborn children even participating in a rescue during the Summer of Mercy in Wichita.  Steve loved for us to come pick him up and bring him to the abortion mill.  He would sit in his wheel chair and preach at the gates of hell.  He was such a blessing.  His lungs collapsed toward the end and he was bedridden after that, requiring 24/7 care.  But, as long as he could, he would have that pencil in his mouth, punching away at the computer, writing newsletters for Operation Save America, and other news sources.  One of our favorite things to do together when I would come over would be to watch Fox News and Western movies, he loved Gene Autry!  Steve is now with the Lord, he left this earth in a very peaceful way with a very strong legacy left behind.  He touched so many people's lives.

These precious lives are what went through my mind when hearing about the defeat of this dangerous treaty and how much the three of them had made such an imprint on my life!

This treaty was dressed up in a nice package to make the appearance that those with disabilities would benefit, but it certainly couldn't be further from the truth.  According to Rick Santorum, he stated, "Now, that CRPD is defeated, we know that United Nations won’t have oversight of how we care for our special needs kids. This treaty would have given the U.N. oversight of the healthcare and education choices parents with special needs kids make. Had it passed, CRPD would have become the law of the land under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, and would have trumped state laws, and could have been used as precedent by state and federal judges,” 

The other threat hidden in Article 25 of the treaty would require signatories to provide persons with disabilities free or affordable health care including the area of reproductive health and population-based health programs.  We all know what this means.

This isn't over, it will come back again so we must remain vigilant and fight hard for the rights of those that have disabilities, this of course is what Jesus would want us to do!  Pray everyone, please pray!

The Day Free Speech Died in Winter Park!

As I sat in the Winter Park Commissioner's meeting this past Monday night, I felt history was being made.  I envisioned history books writing about this very night, the day free speech, the right to protest, picket and exercise one's  First Amendment rights were exterminated in favor of peace, harmony and tranquility in one's home and neighborhood. I heard how Winter Park strives to protect it's citizens and provide a peaceful atmosphere all under the guise of stripping away a person's right to stand up and defend civil rights issues.
I thought about how lovely this all sounds to want peace, harmony and tranquility and at the same time thought about the blood that was shed for our freedom.  When there are wicked laws in the land, there can be no peace, when there is an injustice against the rights of another human being there can be no tranquility.  And those of us that know a wicked law is taking place and violating the rights of human beings, we cannot be silent.

The irony of it all is the fact that Winter Park just named their park after Martin Luther King Jr., a man that fought for civil rights for his fellow man.  What I witnessed was the uttermost mockery of what Martin Luther King Jr.  stood for.  I thought back on the marches, the boycotts of buses, everything to bring an end to the injustice of the treatment of black Americans.  I thought, what would this city do if those very same protests and acts of civil disobedience were going on today in Winter Park?  Would they have slapped a 50 foot buffer zone and forbidden any type of peaceful protest against the civil outcry of injustice?
The City Commissioner's of Winter Park have shown the public their real side though, they moved  quick to protect one whom Planned Parenthood of Florida has high hopes for, Jenna Tosh.,the new CEO of Planned Parenthood Orlando.  She is their rising star to bring legitimacy to this business that survives on the bloody massacre of the innocent, 
This is what this whole controversy is over.  Peaceful pro-lifer's went in front of Mrs.Tosh's home and prayed, sang and exposed (Ephesians 5:11) what she does for a living.  Within two weeks the City Commissioners had drafted up an Emergency Ordinance outlawing picketing and protesting in their community with a 50 foot buffer zone added in the mix.  The ordinance is broad and far reaching, leaving it open for possible legal challenges.
One wonders if the resident would have been a banker being picketed by Occupy Wall Streeters if the   Commissioners would have jumped to their aid..  I don't think so.  This ordinance is nothing less then one of the most politically correct ordinances I've seen in a long time.
On top of that, one of the City Commissioner's, Sarah Sprinkel, attends the same church  as Jenna Tosh,  the First Congregational Church of Winter Park, so to say there is a conflict of interest here would be a minor understatement.

This past Monday night, at the final voting of the unjust ordinance, one could see the color blue scattered throughout the city hall, this was the color of solidarity for Jenna Tosh.  Her church came in support of her and this ordinance disguised as peace, harmony and tranquility.   While I looked at the blue around the room and listened to her pastor, Reverend Karen Barker-Duncan,  stand up and defend her parishioner and what her parishioner does, my thoughts skipped to the churches that sang a little louder while the Nazi trains drove by with screams of help from the Jewish people being transported to the concentration camps.  But now is a different time, but much the same thing, here in this room were folks in blue singing a little louder while babies are led to the slaughter mercilously at the very place Tosh manages, and they as "church goers" were and are defending her. All the while, the true love of Christ would be to encourage Tosh to leave this business which violates and destroys human beings in the womb, not to support her in this bloodshed.
As it came down to the final vote, Mayor Kenneth Bradley defended the First Amendment and made it very clear he would not be voting on this ordinance, HE WAS THE LONE VOTE, to that he must be commended.
The other four commissioners joined together and all gave a thumbs up for peace, harmony and tranquility in their city; usurping free speech and the First Amendment!  
Most troubling of all was Commissioner Tom McMacken's talk on why he would be voting for the ordinance, "The sanctity of the home is the one place you go to get away from everything, we are a city of homes.  I have sworn to uphold the constitution, but I've also looked everyone of my neighbors in their eyes and said I'm going to do what's in the best interest of Winter Park.  To be quite honest, if that's constitutional or not constitutional I will still do it because these are my neighbors and they deserve protection of any type of intrusion."  Commissioner McMacken made it very clear that he was willing to overlook the constitution in this situation.  
Yes, this was a night I won't soon forget, the day free speech died in Winter Park.
God help us!

The Revolving Door of Abortion....it has to stop!

While ministering at the abortuary the other day, a young man kept coming in and out of the center.  We tried talking to him, but he was vulgar, rude and unresponsive to our attempt to offer help to him and the young woman he brought to have an abortion.
This went on throughout the morning with several pleas of help and encouragement to be a hero, to be like the men on the titanic that gave up their seats for the women and children.  We encouraged him to protect his child and the woman that sat inside that mill.
Soon after, the young woman came out, I introduced myself and pleaded with her to come and speak with me, which she did!  She approached me with tears in her eyes, with brokeness and a yearning for help.  I began to talk with her letting her know that we were there to help her, I asked, "Are you here for an abortion?"  With eyes that could pierce a heart, she said, "I've already had it, I'm here for a check-up."  Her face fell and I said, "I know how you feel, not good, right?"  She responded quickly with a yes and said, this is my seventh abortion."  I then told her that when I was younger, I was like her and had multiple abortions.  I looked in her eyes and said, "It's got to stop, doesn't it?"  With tears, she quickly said yes!

I explained to her why we as women that have our first abortion end up entering into a revolving door of abortion....a  piece of us dies along with our child, we know it deep down inside.  We sometimes don't realize it, but we just don't care anymore.  Thus, we don't care about ourselves or anyone else, and in the end, little victims of abortion, the little baby boys and girls.
I shared with her my experience with abortion, the years of shame, guilt, regret, pain, agony, not caring about myself or anyone else and not knowing why.  But I also shared how I had come to a place of repentance and confessing my sin of abortion and my faith in Christ, and that was the reason I was alive today!  I said, "this you can do!"
This young woman was also a victim of domestic physical abuse, which we could understand clearly with the way her husband treated us.  We were able to give her information on where to go for her safety and encouraged her to start a new life TODAY!  I encouraged her to go through post abortion counseling and directed her to a center to get the help she needed.
If we as a people do not think that the women of America are not having multiple abortions like women in Russia, we are sadly mistaken.  Girls at 12 are coming for their first abortions and by the time they are twenty, if there is no intervention, that young woman has easily had up to ten abortions. This is common, COMMON!  Abortion has become birth control, and a haven for sex traffickers, child abusers and men that physically abuse women.
Truly, I pray for the day that the little child in the womb will have full protection, with their personhood restored.  I pray for the day that us women do not have the right to choose who lives and who dies.  I pray that this holocaust of abortion will end as the holocaust of the Jewish people ended.  
This is my prayer oh Lord!