No More Backing Up

 No More Backing Up

By Kristene O'Dell

For those of you who were at the event in Dallas this summer, you may remember Dr. Stella Kwong's office in Garland. A few months before the event, we found out that Dr. Kwong does abortions in her family practice office in the Garland suburb of Dallas. Becky Puckett, Dorrie Rayburn, Brenda Spurlock, myself, and our children go to Dr. Kwong's on Fridays.

Her office is in our neighborhood. The atmosphere seems to be different in Garland. Most do not know that Stella does abortions in her office. Our main goal is to expose her to the community.

On Friday, December 20, Becky and I were the only ones there that morning. Two women with two hand-held signs. The first lady to arrive reminded me of what we had seen on the Phil Donahue Show. She had a bumper sticker that said "Jesus Loves You" and another Christian radio sticker. She had to drive past us to pull into the parking lot. When we asked her if she knew that Dr. Kwong did abortions in her office, she attacked. She told us that we didn't need to be judging anybody and that she was sick and needed to see the doctor. We should go talk to Dr. Kwong ourselves in a loving way, but she had other reasons for going and we did not need to be judging her. Seems to be the rehearsed response these days.

About five minutes later, a Garland city code officer pulls up and tells us that we cannot be on the sidewalk with our signs. The Garland police had told us months earlier that they had no problem with us being there as long as we stayed off the parking lot and on the sidewalk. The city code officer begins to tell us that we need to be on the parking lot. He claims we cannot be in the public right of way with our signs. I think he just expected us to move. He was being kind. We were being kind. But we told him we needed to call the police dept because we were finding a place to stand with our signs.

He called another officer and we attempted to call the police. While we were waiting, he began to tell us that he was a believer. As the other city code officer arrived, a couple pulled into the parking lot and asked us if the city was hassling us. They told us they appreciated us being out there. They waited and watched the whole ordeal. As Becky was being transferred around the police dept, the Lord began to move. Through tears, we told the officers that precious children were dying in that office. They are the Lord's children and someone has to speak up for them. We looked at both of the officers and told them we were not moving. Give us a citation, have us arrested, do whatever you need to do - but we are not moving.

You could see that they were visibly shaken. Jesus was dealing with their hearts. They called their superior officer, walked back to us, and told us that it was out of their hands. They were leaving and we could stay. We thanked the couple in the car for staying and they drove off. Minutes later another lady stopped and thanked us for being there. She gave the ministry a donation.

Becky and I stood there for a moment stunned at all the excitement we had just experienced. The Lord was dealing with us as well. Becky talked about how at one time she struggled about holding the signs in public. She said she doesn't anymore. She can take Baby Malachi with her anywhere she goes. He is rightly named and he is the message for this nation. We stood on that sidewalk and committed in our hearts - no more backing up!

I say all of that to say this. I witnessed something else that week. I watched that pathetic Donahue show. It seemed to me that Phil had stirred the audience up before the show had ever started. The all out attack on Christianity made me fighting mad, but the response from most of the audience threw me for a loop. There was one young lady that stood strong. The others that called themselves Christians threw in everything from "all roads lead to heaven" to "reincarnation" all in the name of Jesus.

What does being a Christian in America mean today? How did we arrive collectively at standing for nothing and falling for everything? I know that there are individuals that stand strong, but corporately, as a body, we believe all kinds of nonsense in this nation. I thought Dr. Moehler and Dr. Brown did a wonderful job. I am sure they know more about the scriptures and the ways of the Lord than I. But at the same time, I found myself yelling at the TV, "Put Flip on so that he can hit them right between the eyes with the Word of God!" It seems to me that we have become so nice, it looks as though we have nothing to fight for.

Psalm 144:1 states, "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle." We don't know that we are in a war! We desperately need to be trained for battle as Christians in this nation. We need men of God to rise up and defend the faith to the point of "not loving their own lives so much as to shrink from death." Rev 12:11.

Every man, woman, and child that has been birthed into the kingdom has been so for such a time as this and this is not a peaceful time in our nation. We all have a role to play in this battle. We need the men to forcefully advance the kingdom. We as women need to train our sons knowing that they are arrows to be launched straight into the heart of the battle. We need to raise our daughters as pillars, filled with Grace and Truth to stand with and encourage their husbands to battle until the end while they raise up the next generation to take the place of their fathers.

Two women with two hand-held signs drew a line in the sand at Dr. Kwong's that Friday. We are not backing up! We have planted our feet and we are not budging. We are beseeching the men to take your stand. We have heard the battle call and answered. There is a line for you to draw as well. It is in front of ours, closer to the heat. We need you. This nation needs you. The next generation needs you! We will be behind you supporting you to the end, but there is no more backing up. It is not optional!