CHAPTER 2

THE CHOSEN

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

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Where are the shepherds?

When I became an active pro life volunteer one thing that troubled me was the lack of priests and
pastors standing on the front lines. And I wasnt quiet about it. I took my complaints directly to
God, Where are your shepherds? If theyre your servants why are they missing in action?
I wasnt being completely honest, since there were a few of them and they were awesome. When
they arrived I would interview them to get a better understanding of what motivated them to
show up.
Here is that video (a message for Pastors): https://youtu.be/RjL62SK5IDA
However, a handful of pastors wasnt good enough for me. I wanted the abortion clinic
surrounded by the laity. I envisioned the clergy on their knees praying as far as the eye could see
until abortion ended.
Instead I often stood alone in front of the abortion clinic. And when that happened my prayer
would go up, Where are your evangelists God?
I conveniently never considered myself an evangelist.
And then one day a man showed up and began evangelizing on the sidewalk. He was bold and
his words pierced the hearts of all those who stood around him. Although he wasnt your typical
Texas pastor he had a thick New Jersey accent and looked more like a football player.
When he was done I walked up to him and said, That was really good! Where is your church
located?
He looked a little surprised by the question and answered, I dont have a church. I was driving
by and God told me to pull over and start preaching.
And then he paused and thought for a long moment. This is my first day.
I had just heard the first sermon this man had ever preached. I was 100% certain that I would
never see him again. Who hears the voice of God and pulls their car over to start preaching?
That is how God worked in the Bible times, not in the modern era with the internet and cable
television.
I couldnt have been more wrong. This evangelist stood with us for the next year. He may still be
there since I moved away.
But God wasnt done.

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To my surprise another evangelist showed up shortly thereafter and he began ministering to the
head of security at the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. He must have had a sixth sense
because he inexplicably knew that this woman had a broken relationship with her mother. I knew
this because once every few months she would come down and talk to me like I was her best
friend and say things like, I wish my mother had aborted me.
And then she would switch back to being head of security and treat me like a sworn enemy. I
started to wonder if maybe we were her only friends?
I watched in amazement for thirty minutes as he looked into her eyes and told her how much
God loved her and wanted to be her salvation. And she never said a word she just stood on the
sidewalk and listened.
And when he finished I asked him the same question, Where is your church located?
He shook his head and said, I dont have a church. I was released from prison a couple days
ago.
Prison!
He told me that he spent half of his life in prison (16 years) after shooting at a police officer.
Fortunately the bullet missed the mark. He was only fifteen but he was tried as an adult. He told
me that his father was a police officer which brought even more shame on him.
But while he was in prison he gave his life to God. None of this explained why he was standing
in front of an abortion clinic so I asked him, Why would you come to an abortion clinic?
And then he told me that before he went to prison he had brought two of his girlfriends into the
building to abort his babies.
Here is a video of him sharing his testimony: http://youtu.be/IHqiYyAmVq4
It took a few months standing with these two men for the truth to slowly dawn on me. I had
created a set of terms by which I wanted God to operate. And that was based on my limited and
errant view of who God is and how He works in the world.
Jesus didnt go to the Pharisees and Sadducees and ask them to join him. He said, They that are
whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17
God wasnt just calling sinners to repentance but after repentance they were being called to the
sidewalk.
They were chosen! Just like the disciples

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When I moved to other cities the pattern repeated itself. In McKinney, TX a young man pulled
over and approached the pro lifers. He had long hair and looked like a surfer, not your typical pro
lifer. He was mistaken for a pro choice sinner and was immediately surrounded by the
Christians. When I arrived we were quoting scripture at him.
He looked very upset and so I took him aside to hear him out. He said, This is what gives
Christianity a bad name. Im a Christian and theyre judging me.
When he calmed down he explained why he was on the sidewalk. When I drove by I saw all of
you doing something radical for God. And I want to do something radical for God.
He told me that he wanted to do a revival at his college. At first I thought it was a Christian
college, but then he explained that it was a secular college. I thought it was highly unlikely that
such a revival would ever take place so I said, I tell you what when the revival takes place let
me know and Ill show up and record it with my video camera so that the world can see it.
Never underestimate God! I got a call from him a few months later asking me to show up with
video camera.
Here is the video of the revival: http://youtu.be/vOHQsYqyPx4
He told me that they were originally going to do the revival without permission, but at the last
minute he decided to talk to the President of the college. To their surprise, she thought it was a
great idea and gave them permission to do a five day revival that included a giant wooden cross
perched next to the entrance of the central building on campus.
But God wasnt done
During the next 40 Days for Life I had made a promise to show up on a particular day even if it
was only five minutes. And that became a literal promise when I lost track of time and by the
time I looked at the clock it was only forty minutes until the pro lifers would be leaving.
Factoring in traffic I would only be there for five minutes. I thought about skipping, but decided
to keep my promise. When I arrived they were packing up the pray to end abortion signs. I
grabbed one of the boxes and prepared to help them load it into a car when a man crossed the
street and approached us.
He said, God told me to pull over and join you and start preaching. He then looked at all of
us and then said matter-of-factly, So here I am.
For the next three hours we visited with this young man. He was a traveling insurance salesman.
A couple weeks prior he had driven by and for the first time in his life he heard an inner voice
tell him to pull over and start preaching.
He said, That sounds crazy! Right?

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It was so crazy that he immediately dismissed the thought and kept driving. Thats exactly how I
would have reacted.
Two weeks later he was invited back to the city by a potential client, but instead of being
interested in his insurance product they had set him up for an Amway demonstration. He was
furious and told them, Youre stealing food from my familys mouth!
He got into his car and drove off in disgust. Since he wasnt from the area he didnt remember
the street where the abortion clinic was located and so he was surprised when he ended up
driving past the pro lifers on his way home. And once again he heard the inner voice tell him to
get out of his car and join them and start preaching.
And thats what he did he began preaching that day. He would come back to the sidewalk
every few days to share with the pro lifers what God had been doing. I went into McDonalds
for lunch and a teenage girl came out crying. When I went inside I saw several boys with their
jaws open.
And so he walked over to them and asked, Do you know that girl?
They told him that they went to school with her but they didnt really know her. They said she
had walked up and told them, You wont be seeing me anymore.
And so he ran out of the McDonalds and flagged her down in the parking lot before she left.
And he told her the words that another man had told him, It doesnt matter what youve done, or
what someone else has done to you God loves you and He wants to have a relationship with
you.
One thing was becoming crystal clear: the presence of pro lifers on the sidewalk was a spark that
lit the hearts of those driving by to have the courage to obey God.
But God wasnt done
Yesterday I was standing in front of the abortuary and I heard an inner voice. I was planning on
changing my location but something within me said, Stay right where you are dont move.
A few minutes later a young man walked up smiling. He told me that hed been driving by and
saw us standing and praying on Greenville Ave. and he wanted to stand and pray with us too. He
said he was incredibly shy and it was hard for him to be on a public sidewalk, but that he wasnt
ashamed to stand up for God.
He told me his wife had died and hed lost his job, but that it felt great to stand with us and pray.
And so we prayed together. We prayed for his injured back, for his children, and that God would
provide him a job so that he could support his family.

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I told him he may not realize it, but this day was special. I knew from the look on his face that he
wasnt convinced, so I told him he wasnt the first person to get out of his car and join us. And so
I could say with confidence that hed accomplished the most difficult part: showing up.
I told him that simply showing up was always honored by God. And that praying and starting a
relationship with God changes everything. When he left he said, Ill be back to pray with you.
And I know he will because Ive seen how God works.
P.S. If youre standing alone dont interpret that as a failure. Youre probably there because you
were chosen.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he
is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6