While he was preaching outside the Free Methodist Headquarters on Wednesday, Flip challenged employees who were listening with stories about B.T. Roberts and other pastors who criticized the Methodist Church because it did not denounce slavery. Roberts was defrocked in 1858. He and other abolitionist pastors formed the Free Methodist Church in 1860. Many early Free Methodists were active in the Underground Railroad. Flip said, "Today the Free Methodists are into growing and planting churches, but Christ will grow His Church, there's no reason to be worried about this." He said, "The Church needs to go back to confronting the culture with the issues of the day. It needs to stand against the slaughter of unborn babies." He ended with this sad word picture, "Though your convictions were mountain peaks upon which you once stood, they are now caves in which you hide."
Thinking she had something that would prove to Flip how mistaken he was about her church, one woman walked up to him and haughtily put in his hands the Jan/Feb 2004 issue of a denominational magazine, Light and Life. Flip said, "You might expect it would be a lady. You certainly won't find the men of the church doing anything that can be construed as confrontational."
He later discovered on page 19 of the magazine the Free Methodist disciplines, their 1999 position on abortion that was approved at the 2003 General Conference. Flip asked, "What did God say about abortion? Four words: 'Thou shall not murder.'" He said, "It took the Free Methodists many words to explain their position and with many words comes all sorts of convolution. Proverbs 10:19 tells us, 'Where there are many words, sin is not absent.'" We discussed for a moment how this Scripture also relates to the new 900+ page autobiography of Bill Clinton.
The Free Methodist committee designated to define God's four words said the following: The intentional destruction of human life is murder. Any act when any degree of malice or selfishness accompanies the decision and act, therefore induced abortion, is morally unjustifiable except when the act has been decided upon by responsible and competent persons, including Christian and professional counsel, for the purpose of saving the life of a pregnant woman ... While firmly opposed to abortion, we recognize that those whose views are contrary to ours should be treated with respect and dignity and that God's forgiveness is offered to all.
Flip pointed out that the excuse they use for supporting some abortions, that of "saving the life of a pregnant woman," was called a smoke screen by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Dr. Koop said in his 36 years of practice he had never known of one instance where the child had to be aborted to save the mother. If complications threaten the mother's health, Dr. Koop said, "The doctor will induce labor or perform a Caesarian section. His intention is to save the life of both the mother and the baby. The baby's life is never willfully destroyed because the mother's life is in danger."
"Regardless of what the Free Methodists say, it's not all right to have a different opinion when it comes to murdering little children," Flip said. "There is no reason whatsoever to respect those who will torture, maim and destroy babies." He said, “Just as we wouldn't respect a pedophile who preys sexually on children, we cannot respect those who kill them. Yes," he said, "God's forgiveness is offered to all, but it is only given to those who repent and turn from their sins."
He recalled that, rather than treat them with dignity, Jesus called some sinners "vipers" and "whited sepulchers."
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