Attached is the story of God’s call upon the lives of Michelle and her husband Brandon Stewart, and a picture of their wonderful family. Michelle posted this little caveat of their first family sortie into the gates of hell in Houston, this past Saturday, November 30, 2013.
There were four turn-aways that Saturday. Praise the Lord!
“We were able to implement two microphones at both entrances and we were much more effective. We were also able to have signs at both parking lots. We need Malachi, I believe! Praising King Jesus for a great day serving Him. It was such a joy to come as a family and we are only 6 people but wow we can really get stuff done in His name! The kiddos were challenging the clinic escorts today. It is both hilarious and sad to watch them get stumped by little kids.“
Enjoy! ~ Flip
Houston – a modern-day Ninevah?
I have been reading in Jonah, Micah, and Nahum this week. This story is one that I couldn’t put down when I started in Jonah. I felt so compelled to dig into it and what we know about Ninevah. Why did Jonah struggle so much about going there? What was so bad about that wicked place?
I have learned that Houston has 15 “gates” aka killing places/abortion clinics. While studying up on Ninevah, I learned that it, too had exactly 15 gates in the city walls guarded with statues of bulls with human heads. In Jonah 1:2 I feel the Lord speaking to Jonah in the same way he spoke to me about Houston after the mill in my hometown of College Station, TX, closed down. FOREVER WE PRAISE YOU LORD FOR TEARING DOWN THAT STRONGHOLD!!! Please help me to heed this warning, O Lord. I want to please you. Hold me accountable to You as well as my earthly authorities designated to me by You as I struggle with that ever present fight with disobedience and comfort of my own town and home. I do NOT want to be swallowed up by the whale only to be spit out 3 days later.
I associate so closely with this story. As we walk through Jonah we see that he obeyed God the second time He commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah. We learn it was a 3 day walk to get there. I should be grateful I have a car and it’s only 2 hours to Houston! I also love how the Lord was providing for Jonah, even when Jonah wanted to die because he was so mad at God. He could not understand how he could end up so destructed, but God ended up sparing Ninevah, at least temporarily, because they repented. However, after he had evangelized as required by the Lord’s command, Jonah was not willing to use the tools the Lord gave him even for simple survival. The Lord grew up a plant around Jonah to cover him while he was homeless, but the plant withered away, as Jonah did not take care of it.
God even purposes to Jonah an interesting debate. I personally happen to love this part of the story, because it is a good example of how to deal with any lie of the enemy. Usually you can find something self-refuting in a lie. The art of apologetics is at work here when Jonah says, “It’s better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:8). Talk about self pity…. but that is another topic. Back to the Lord’s response in verse 9 “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Then in verse 10, Jonah seems to tell God, “Duh… of course it is right! I’m angry enough to die!” So the Lord answered in the final paragraph of the book: “You cared about the plant, WHICH YOU DID NOT LABOR OVER AND DID NOT GROW. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?” I imagine Jonah did not like the taste of that particular humble pie he had to eat that day. This is one concept it seems the Church also has a hard time dealing with. They focus on praise and worship, and being purpose-driven, but never actually step out onto that plank of obedience in full faithfulness and trust.
Micah gives us a great example of what it means to prophesy, (what we now call evangelizing since we have Holy Spirit). He spoke what the Lord needed to tell the people, in a land before the veil was torn. Priests talked to God for the people, and prophets talked from God to the people. We see him speaking of false “grace” prophets who leave out righteous judgment. Sounds A LOT like America! Micah does such a good job of living out Ephesians and standing for Truth, while still loving the people as God commanded him.
I know he is talking about Israel here, but I also relate closely to Micah 7:1-4 “How sad for me! For I am like one who – when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest – finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.” (This particular passage feels like what it is to minister in Houston with the very low #s of known turnaways and rescues. Of course, Houston has all the tools to get to planting the seeds God gives them. But there are hardly any people willing to get out and work that field. They want to skip ahead to the harvest, and blame God for not bringing it to them).
It continues on: “Godly people have vanished from the land; there is no one upright among the people. All of them WAIT IN AMBUSH TO SHED BLOOD; they hunt each other with a net. Both hands are good at accomplishing evil; the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates his evil desire, they plot it together. The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen, the day of your punishment, is coming; at this time their panic is here.” The panic is definately spreading in Houston, as gentle Christians, forced again out onto the ledge of obedience and trust, are answering the call to evangelize this enormous stronghold I call the “competitive market of abortion in Houston.” There are so many abortion clinics in Houston that they have started the names of the Clinics with A’s. There is A Affordable Women’s Center, Aaron’s Women’s Clinic, AAA Concerned Women’s Center, and Aalto Womens Center. That’s 4 clinics competing for the first spot in the yellow pages under: “Abortion provider.” The other clinics I know about so far are Gulf Coast Planned Parenthood Headquarters, Dickinson PP Health Center, Greenspoint PP Health Center, Northwest PP Health Center, Stafford PP Health Center, Houston Women’s Clinic, Suburban Women’s Clinic (2 locations in Houston proper), Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center, Southwest Health Center, and KNS Medical Center. Folks, if I wanted to visit 2 clinics per day in Houston, it would take me over a week! I have spent much time in Houston since we returned from the OSA national event in Rochester. I have largely been alone in my work, save my direct family. I was able to get in to three of the clinics without any deathscorts there, because they are not needed everywhere on Saturdays, and are basically not needed at all on Monday-Friday. Most of the clinics kill EVERY DAY but Sunday. Where are God’s people? Maybe this Ninevah needs us to GO THERE!
But first let’s revel in God’s awesome-ness! Michah 7:18 – 20 “Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the REMNANT of His inheritance?” (Boy sometimes do I ever feel like nothing but a remnant.) “He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from days ago.” What a BEAUTIFUL way to end a book that is very short, but very powerful.
In Rochester the Lord told me in a dream (that was so vivid, I got up and wrote it down immediately in the middle of the night) He gave me the term “destineered” and said, “Now GO!” I knew it was the Lord telling me that. Destineered is not in the dictionary, but you can kind of think of it as being designed/engineered or prepared for a fate or destiny or purpose. I promise this will make sense, so bear with me. If I were to have to go to Ninevah today, I’d have to fly to Baghdad, then drive north along the Tigris River, and when I got to the city of Mosul, I’d cross the river via bridge, and then I’d stop. I wouldn’t find that much when I got there, but I would know that that term “destineered” does not just apply to a Christian person’s purpose. It also can apply to a group of people’s ultimate fate. Ninevah’s ultimate fate was complete destruction, because they acted in rebellion against God. We know the Assyrians who lived there were a horrible and destructive people who took over cities by force – aggressive brutal force we would probably associate with Islam in our day and time.
I do not know what fate lies with Houston, or with America, but I do know that Jonah’s prophesy was conditionial. If they repented, God would save the city, and they would be spared. Initially, they did repent, and were spared; but ultimately, Ninevah was finally destroyed. God is slow to anger, but AWESOME IN POWER (Nahum 1:3). How many bb’s do we need to add to the “Sound of abortion” video before we’ve waited too long to repent? How many times can this country blaspheme our Creator before we have to taste of that bitter cup of wrath? I can’t know that, but I’m so glad that when we all get to heaven, all of this earthly battle stuff will just be a moment, and it will be over. Then, we can sit and rejoice with all of heaven, and the battle will have been WON! The battle is in fact, already won, because our God is not bound by the constraints of time, like the lowly earth is. He has always been on top!
Oh VICTORY in JESUS
My Savior FOREVER!
He sought me and He bought me
With HIS REDEEMING BLOOD!
He loved me e’er I knew Him
And all my love is due Him
He Plunged me to VICTORY!!!!
Beneath the cleansing flood
Love and blessings from Texas!
Let’s keep standing!
Michelle