The Chosen.

When I became an active pro life volunteer one thing that troubled me was the lack of priests and pastors standing on the front lines. And I wasnt quiet about it. I took my complaints directly to God, Where are your shepherds? If theyre your servants why are they missing in action? I wasnt being completely honest, since there were a few of them and they were awesome. When they arrived I would interview them to get a better understanding of what motivated them to show up. Here is that video: http://blip.tv/file/3933755 However, a handful of pastors wasnt good enough for me. I wanted the abortion clinic surrounded by the laity. I envisioned the clergy on their knees praying as far as the eye could see until abortion ended. Instead I often stood alone in front of the abortion clinic. And when that happened my prayer would go up, Where are your evangelists God? I conveniently never considered myself an evangelist. And then one day a man showed up and began evangelizing on the sidewalk. He was bold and his words pierced the hearts of all those who stood around him. Although he wasnt your typical Texas pastor he had a thick New Jersey accent and looked more like a football player. When he was done I walked up to him and said, That was really good! Where is your church located? He looked a little surprised by the question and answered, I dont have a church. I was driving by and God told me to pull over and start preaching. And then he paused and thought for a long moment. This is my first day. I had just heard the first sermon this man had ever preached. I was 100% certain that I would never see him again. Who hears the voice of God and pulls their car over to start preaching? That is how God worked in the Bible times, not in the modern era with the internet and cable television. I couldnt have been more wrong. This evangelist stood with us for the next year. He may still be there since I moved away. But God wasnt done. To my surprise another evangelist showed up shortly thereafter and he began ministering to the head of security at the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. He must have had a sixth sense because he inexplicably knew that this woman had a broken relationship with her mother. I knew this because once every few months she would come down and talk to me like I was her best friend and say things like, I wish my mother had aborted me.

And then she would switch back to being head of security and treat me like a sworn enemy. I started to wonder if maybe we were her only friends? I watched in amazement for thirty minutes as he looked into her eyes and told her how much God loved her and wanted to be her salvation. And she never said a word she just stood on the sidewalk and listened. And when he finished I asked him the same question, Where is your church located? He shook his head and said, I dont have a church. I was released from prison a couple days ago. Prison! He told me that he spent half of his life in prison (16 years) after shooting at a police officer. Fortunately the bullet missed the mark. He was only fifteen but he was tried as an adult. He told me that his father was a police officer which brought even more shame on him. But while he was in prison he gave his life to God. None of this explained why he was standing in front of an abortion clinic so I asked him, Why would you come to an abortion clinic? And then he told me that before he went to prison he had brought two of his girlfriends into the building to abort his babies. Here is a video of him sharing his testimony: http://youtu.be/IHqiYyAmVq4 It took a few months standing with these two men for the truth to slowly dawn on me. I had created a set of terms by which I wanted God to operate. And that was based on my limited and errant view of who God is and how He works in the world. Jesus didnt go to the Pharisees and Sadducees and ask them to join him. He said, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17 God wasnt just calling sinners to repentance but after repentance they were being called to the sidewalk. They were chosen! Just like the disciples When I moved to other cities the pattern repeated itself. In Mckinney, TX a young man pulled over and approached the pro lifers. He had long hair and looked like a surfer, not your typical pro lifer. He was mistaken for a pro choice sinner and was immediately surrounded by the Christians. When I arrived we were quoting scripture at him. He looked very upset and so I took him aside to hear him out. He said, This is what gives Christianity a bad name. Im a Christian and theyre judging me.

When he calmed down he explained why he was on the sidewalk. When I drove by I saw all of you doing something radical for God. And I want to do something radical for God. He told me that he wanted to do a revival at his college. At first I thought it was a Christian college, but then he explained that it was a secular college. I thought it was highly unlikely that such a revival would ever take place so I said, I tell you what when the revival takes place let me know and Ill show up and record it with my video camera so that the world can see it. Never underestimate God! I got a call from him a few months later asking me to show up with video camera. Here is the video of the revival: http://youtu.be/vOHQsYqyPx4 He told me that they were originally going to do the revival without permission, but at the last minute he decided to talk to the President of the college. To their surprise, she thought it was a great idea and gave them permission to do a five day revival that included a giant wooden cross perched next to the entrance of the central building on campus. But God wasnt done During the next 40 Days for Life I had made a promise to show up on a particular day even if it was only five minutes. And that became a literal promise when I lost track of time and by the time I looked at the clock it was only forty minutes until the pro lifers would be leaving. Factoring in traffic I would only be there for five minutes. I thought about skipping, but decided to keep my promise. When I arrived they were packing up the pray to end abortion signs. I grabbed one of the boxes and prepared to help them load it into a car when a man crossed the street and approached us. He said, God told me to pull over and join you and start preaching. He then looked at all of us and then said matter-of-factly, So here I am. For the next three hours we visited with this young man. He was a traveling insurance salesman. A couple weeks prior he had driven by and for the first time in his life he heard an inner voice tell him to pull over and start preaching. He said, That sounds crazy! Right? It was so crazy that he immediately dismissed the thought and kept driving. Thats exactly how I would have reacted. Two weeks later he was invited back to the city by a potential client, but instead of being interested in his insurance product they had set him up for an Amway demonstration. He was furious and told them, Youre stealing food from my familys mouth! He got into his car and drove off in disgust. Since he wasnt from the area he didnt remember the street where the abortion clinic was located and so he was surprised when he ended up driving past the pro

lifers on his way home. And once again he heard the inner voice tell him to get out of his car and join them and start preaching. And thats what he did he began preaching that day. He would come back to the sidewalk every few days to share with the pro lifers what God had been doing. I went into McDonalds for lunch and a teenage girl came out crying. When I went inside I saw several boys with their jaws open. And so he walked over to them and asked, Do you know that girl? They told him that they went to school with her but they didnt really know her. They said she had walked up and told them, You wont be seeing me anymore. And so he ran out of the McDonalds and flagged her down in the parking lot before she left. And he told her the words that another man had told him, It doesnt matter what youve done, or what someone else has done to you God loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you. One thing was becoming crystal clear: the presence of pro lifers on the sidewalk was a spark that lit the hearts of those driving by to have the courage to obey God. But God wasnt done Yesterday I was standing in front of the abortuary and I heard an inner voice. I was planning on changing my location but I something within me said, Stay right where you are dont move. A few minutes later a young man walked up smiling. He told me that hed been driving by and saw us standing and praying on Greenville Ave. And he wanted to stand and pray with us too. He said he was incredibly shy and it was hard for him to be on a public sidewalk, but that he wasnt ashamed to stand up for God. He told me his wife had died and hed lost his job, but that it felt great to stand with us and pray. And so we prayed together. We prayed for his injured back, for his children, and that God would provide him a job so that he could support his family. I told him he may not realize it, but this day was special. I knew from the look on his face that he wasnt convinced, so I told him he wasnt the first person to get of his car and join us. And so I could say with confidence that hed accomplished the most difficult part: showing up. I told him that simply showing up was always honored by God. And that praying and starting a relationship with God changes everything. When he left he said, Ill be back to pray with you. And I know he will because Ive seen how God works. -Steve P.S. If youre standing alone dont interpret that as a failure. Youre probably there because you were chosen.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 Steven Lopez Spiritus Films Cell: 832.882.3825 www.spiritusfilms.com