Just joining us? Please read this to catch up on the movement!

Since we started the Changing One Heart for Many prayer team three weeks ago, we have grown to a team of 150! One of our team members, Tammy, opened it up as a Facebook group and we are consistently growing, both there and here in the blogosphere. Many of you have placed the team button on your blogs (if you haven’t, grab it today from the sidebar) and posted about it, also generating interest. In short, this idea is catching on and I’m believing God for it’s continued growth and impact as we join together each Monday in prayer.

Along with our scripture focus, I will continue to provide an abortion-centered news piece from the week that will keep us abreast of what’s happening, politically, around this explosive topic. This week, I have two for your review:

  • From the Washington Post, this piece written by Rob Stein addresses President Obama’s attempt at appeasing both sides of the abortion issue. Following is an excerpt:

President Obama is trying to blunt the edge of perhaps the sharpest, most divisive wedge issue in the country: abortion.

In a series of moves, Obama is attempting to nudge the debate away from the morality and legality of abortion and toward a goal he hopes both sides can endorse: decreasing the number of women who terminate their pregnancies by addressing the reasons they might choose the procedure.

The strategy is being met by deep skepticism from many prominent antiabortion activists, but it has been embraced by some others as well as by leading abortion rights activists, who hope it could fundamentally reshape one of the nation’s most intransigent political stalemates.

  • This piece, from the Associated Press, covers the incredibly disturbing case of a Florida physician’s licence revokement after a 23-week botched abortion. After going into labor in the abortion clinic, an 18 year old girl gave birth to a live baby girl before the doctor even arrived at the clinic. The following excerpt explains what happened next:
One of the clinic’s owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant’s umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

  • Somewhat encouraging are the following three responses, especially the one from the Broward county chapter president of NOW (National Organization for Women):

“I don’t care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community,” said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK’) and the clinic owners.

“The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage,” said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. “People all over the country are just aghast.”

“It really disturbed me,” said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. “I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics.”

With these stories in mind, I offer up tomorrow’s scripture focus. I’ll tell you right up front that this is a terribly convicting verse; I can’t pray it over the President without first praying it over myself:

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
save them as they stagger to their death.
Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”
For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
Proverbs 24:11-12 NLT

Father God, we ask your forgiveness for any apathy for which we are guilty with regard to the unborn. Forgive us when we turn our heads and hearts to issues more pleasant or turn a blind eye to those left, broken, in the wake of this life-ending decision. Open our mouths to SPEAK LOUDLY Your TRUTH and help us stand as the WARRIORS that You have empowered us to be. We DO KNOW about this travesty and we JOIN TOGETHER IN AGREEMENT to lift up President Obama as he sets about making history-changing policy regarding the unborn. Make known to him the reality that HE WILL STAND BEFORE YOU one day for his actions and surround his convictions with the weight of that reality.

Believing that You’ll change one heart for many…in the MIGHTY AND LIFE-GIVING NAME OF JESUS CHRIST we pray…AMEN.

Please remember to comment each week on the Sunday post with your name and state – it keeps us accountable and encouraged to PRESS ON!! Thanks!