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by Jim Rudd

The other day, we were preaching in front of an abortion clinic when a young man walked up. He had resolve in his step and determination on his face as he entered the clinic door. Having preached in front of abortion clinics for several years I had seen this look before.

In about ten minutes two police cars arrived with lights flashing. Four policemen jumped out and ran into the back of the clinic. In a few minutes the front door kicked open as the four policemen pulled the man out the door. With a terrified look and tears coming down his face the man cried out in a tone of voice I will never forget, "God save the life of my child! Please! Help me save the life of my child!"

The policemen pulled the father over to the patrol cars and tried to explain to him that "...it's a woman's right to choose." The father, in response, beat his chest crying, "What about my rights?" Then, shoving past the policemen, he headed back for the clinic door. The policemen jumped on the father and slammed him to the ground. They shackled his hands behind him and then threw him in the back seat of a squad car. Moments later they drove away. The father's child was murdered that day.

To The Pastors of America

You may have noticed in the news recently that the federal government is increasing its spending of taxpayers dollars to promote the sexual crime of homosexuality and maintain it as an acceptable lifestyle. After years of tax funded "sensitivity training" to teach people the "sexual orientation" of homosexuality, it should come as no surprise that the State is increasing its support of this criminal activity.

I have known for some time that I would be speaking out against the homosexual agenda. When I started preaching in front of abortion clinics several years ago, I was perplexed by the large number of homosexuals who were "abortion activists."

I asked myself then, "why are homosexuals so militant in their support of abortion?" "Why do they spend so much money and effort defending "a woman's right to choose?" "What is the political connection?" As I searched for answers to these questions, I began to understand why feminists and homosexuals both defend abortion so vehemently.

Roe v. Wade Did More Than Legalize Baby-Killing

In 1973, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, in effect, destroyed not only the Christian definition of "life," but, also the Christian definition of what, in fact, constitutes a "nuclear family." Before 1973, our State civil laws recognized that when a husband and wife conceived a child: 1. the husband was the father; 2. the wife was the mother; and, 3. together with their child they constituted a "nuclear family."

However, with Roe v. Wade, the Court ruled that there is no child at conception. Today, the State calls the child in the womb a "potential life," and as long as the child is in the womb the husband is called the "prospective father."

In effect, Roe v. Wade stripped the husband of his right to be legally recognized as the father of the child until the child is actually born. By doing this, Roe v. Wade destroyed marriage and the family at their core by defiling the marriage bed at the moment of conception.

The Bible, at Ephesians 5:23, says that "the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church." By usurping God's ordained authority, the State now gives the wife the sole and exclusive authority to "choose" between life and death and whether or not she allows her husband to be the father of "her" exclusive child.

According to the State, if the mother chooses to kill her child by abortion, the father has no right and no legal remedy to save the life of his child. If he tries to stop his wife, either by force or by the mere threat of force, the police can arrest him and the courts can throw him in prison.

The State strips the man of his God-ordained authority both as a father and as a husband at the moment of conception. In effect, the State maintaining "...a woman's right to choose" changed American society from being a patriarchal society to a matriarchal society. The father of the child is only the father of the child by permission granted him by his wife.

Again, the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision not only usurped God's ordained authority structure of the marriage covenant at conception, it also "tore up" the Biblical definition of a nuclear family and then "threw the pieces up into the air." Consequently, since 1973, "marriage" and "the family" have become political smorgasbords as judges and legislatures strive to redefine the fragments of these institutions.

The Pro-Family Movement Will Continue to Fail

Both feminist and homosexual activists are very much aware of the political and legal ramifications of Roe v. Wade. Since 1973 they have made an extraordinary effort and spent huge quantities of time and money reinforcing the feminist/matriarchal agenda. They know Roe v. Wade is "the linchpin holding open Pandora's box," and it must be defended at all costs.

While they funnel millions of dollars into political efforts and support candidates that they know will protect Roe from congressional override, their attorneys are systematically winning one court battle after another and are succeeding in redefining marriage and the family to accommodate their criminal sexual desires of fornication and homosexuality (i.e. domestic partnership benefits and same sex marriage).

Here is the key point: For the church to pour resources into defending the Christian definition of marriage and family in our society without Congress first overturning Roe v. Wade is folly. It is meaningless to defend something that has already been destroyed. One cannot defend something in civil law if it does not exist. It must first be established legally. The Christian definition of "marriage" and "family" in our current civil society depends entirely upon the legal recognition of life at conception.

The moral order is: God created life, then He instituted marriage, then the nuclear family. Marriage and family are successionally dependent on life at conception. Until the legal recognition of life at conception is restored, Christians in America are just "playing house." While the State has established the wife as the head of the family, Christians pretend that the husband is still the head of the family.

The church Must Reclaim the Nation's Moral Stewardship

Historically, since the Christian pilgrims founded settlements on this continent, our civil laws have reflected the Biblical "moral order" of life, marriage and family. That changed with Roe v. Wade in 1973. Today, the increased depravities of our society (what some acknowledge to be the "righteous judgments of God"), stand as a testimony against the church for having relinquished its stewardship of the "moral order" to the State. For this the church has no excuse. We had it, then gave it away. We were covenant-keepers, but now we are covenant-breakers. The consequence of our sin has been a rapid moral deterioration in every area of society, especially marriage and family.

At this point, the church can reclaim its "covenant-keeping" stewardship of the "moral order" in America if the United States Congress overturns Roe v. Wade by specifically instructing the purported judiciary to recognize the "personhood of the child in the womb from the moment of conception."

Once our society guarantees the child at conception "due process of the Law," abortion becomes illegal, the marriage covenant is "re-established," and patriarchy is reinstated in the nuclear family and the extended social structure. Thus, Christian men reassume their covenant-keeping responsibilities in the home, the Church, and the civil society.

Only by re-establishing the "moral order" under their "covenant-keeping" stewardship can the men then rightly pray, "God be merciful unto us! Hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land!"

Marriage and Family Depends on Reversal of Roe

Marriage is the domain God instituted in the very beginning after the creation of Adam and Eve, (Genesis 2:24). The pre-eminence of the institution is confirmed by Christ (Matthew l9:5). Upon this institution, God stamped His Name and excellence making it a glorious and honorable state under the stewardship of His church (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:22-33). Because it is the duty of pastors to preserve holy and pure communion between the married, pastors must lead the way in requiring that all magistrates establish "personhood at conception" (Matthew 18:18-20; John 10:12-13; 2 Timothy 4:1-3).

If they refuse to establish "personhood at conception," then the pastors must publicly demand that the magistrates repent or resign from office. The key is that Christ has given the leadership of His Church the power and authority to establish and protect holy matrimony from all transgressors. For "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder," and that includes all magistrates who insist that the State has the right to defile the "moral order" of life, marriage, and family at the moment of conception.

First Step: Public Confession, Genuine Repentance

However, before God's pastors can publicly claim to have God's ordained authority to establish and protect holy matrimony, the church in America must first repent for relinquishing to the State its stewardship of the "moral order" and God's Law. Corporate sin must be dealt with by corporate confession and repentance in God's chosen manner. God's prescribed method for such corporate repentance is the "Solemn Assembly" (Joel 1:13-14; 2:12-18).

After preaching in front of abortion clinics for several years, I see many of God's remedial judgments on the Church today that I would have never noticed if I were preaching anywhere else. When I consider the impending final consequences of our sin, I know that our only hope is that the Almighty would be so gracious as to wake us from our "rush to judgment" and to allow us to repent before we arrive.

If any men doubt that the "marriage covenant" is destroyed, and that the Church has not relinquished its stewardship of the "moral order" to the State, I invite them to stand outside the abortion clinics for a while and see for themselves.

Jim Rudd

Washington, D.C., Director

Christian Street Preachers Alliance

email:editor@covenantnews.com

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