Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed into a law a bill that requires any physician who wants to perform an abortion in the state to be an OB/GYN and have admitting privileges at an area hospital. The governor had previously stated that he wanted to make Mississippi “abortion free.” Continue reading
Tag Archives: Abortion
God Loves to Come Full-Circle – Mourning to Joy
When I was young and foolish, I destroyed the ability that God gave me to be a Mother. I suffered tremendously because of my decisions back then, especially as I matured and realized what I had done. I had wanted to be a Mother since I was a young girl. I loved to play with dolls and play that I was a Mother, even from the very early years of my life. To have that taken away from me was devastating, and I grieved over it for a long, long time and still do at times.
But God has a plan for all of His people that does not include grief and sorrow. Instead of the ashes of my barren life, God gave me 5 beautiful children to love and raise. He is a God that loves to restore and bring your life full-circle back to what He intended for you from the beginning. He loves to give you beauty for ashes, and He will when you love Him and seek Him with all your heart.
I love the beauty for ashes verses in the Bible. Isaiah 61 reads like my own personal memoirs from God:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me”…oh yes, it is! He has given me His Spirit!
“Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor” …oh yes, He has! I preach whenever I get a chance that God has a better life for you to live, God has a better plan and He will show you that you don’t have to be poor in spirit; you don’t have to grieve over past sin and past hurts your entire life.
“He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted” …oh yes, He has! I love to tell people that God is not mad at them! He does not hold sin against you when you are brokenhearted over it yourself! He wants to heal your heart, and heal your spirit. He wants you to come full-circle and back around to what He intended for your life from the start.
“To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” …you see, just as God has a plan for your life from the very beginning, in this fallen world we have an enemy in the devil, and He will do everything he can to steal, kill and destroy the plan of God for you. Sometimes we succumb to the enemy and he gets us all bound up in sin and unable to get free. But God knows how to get us free and He will do it! Once you get free of the enemy’s grasp, you can’t stop telling of the Lord’s freedom! I will never stop telling people that you too can be free! You too can be out of the prison of sin and free from its effects!
“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God” …God said that vengeance belonged to Him alone. God loves to put the devil in his place. I like to think of the big hand of God just smacking the devil away as we repent, love God, praise Him, and thank Him for His loving kindness! When we do this, a miracle occurs; God exacts his vengeance through us, the born again ones, in the form of FAITH. Faith in God destroys the enemy! When you believe God, and you resist the devil – He has to flee!
“To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” …there it is! This is what God will do for all of His people who come to Him heavy laden with sin! As soon as you repent and give your heart to God, He starts bringing your life full-circle back to where He intended you to be. He takes the stick that the devil beat you with and hands it to you so that you can beat the devil back. Your mess becomes your message, your test becomes your testimony! You can’t stop telling about the goodness of God and His restoration of all parts of you; that child that loved to play Mommy, that little boy that loved to preach, that teen-ager who wanted to change the world for Christ…. When the devil comes in like a flood, God raises a standard against him. God’s standard is truth and justice.
“For I, the Lord, love justice” …
There are many out there who are broken-hearted over sin. You have gone down a wrong path and you want desperately to turn around. You can do it today. You can be restored to everything God intended for your from the beginning. You can come full-circle in your life. God can bring you right back to where you need to be. Call out to Him. Come to Him and you will see that His arms are wide open and He is ready and waiting for you. He loves you and He hasn’t changed His mind about you. He will receive you and He will comfort you and restore you. He will give you beauty for ashes, and joy instead of mourning!
The Road to Lori’s House is Completed!
“This is a voice of one who calls out in the desert: Prepare the way for the Lord. Make the road straight for him. Every valley should be filled in, and every mountain and hill should be made flat. Roads with turns should be made straight, and rough roads should be made smooth. And all people will know about the salvation of God!'” – Luke 3:4-6
Today Pastor Jim & Lori Bakker celebrated the completion of Legacy Road, the road to Lori’s House. God talks about roads over 475 times in the Bible, and as Pastor Jim stated today, “You can’t get to your destination without a road.” Roads are essential to prepare the way for what is to come. All of us are called to be like John in the road-smoothing work of making it easier for people to come to know Jesus. Here at Morningside, our road-smoothing will literally help to save lives!
Pastor Jim and Lori asked all in attendance to pray and lay hands on the road that will soon be used to bring pregnant women and their unborn babies to Lori’s House.
It’s Time to Hate What God Hates
Since the prophets have prophesied that we would build Lori’s House, we are doing our best to be obedient to that direction from the Lord. With the help of our faithful partners, we have purchased the land, drawn up the plans, and we are in the process of paving the road to the valley where this part of The Refuge will be built.
- Lori’s House Conceptual Drawing
We are very serious about this place being used as a Last Days refuge. That’s what we envisioned in the beginning and that’s our goal. An End Times refuge takes on many characteristics, but none more important than saving innocent life.
Cindy Jacobs said that Lori’s House will be a prototype that others will copy. Can you imagine where we could be in this country in 5 years if every church would develop their own facility for saving babies? If they can’t do it alone, they could band together to get it done, or come and help us! Now that’s a vision God can bless.
As Jim preaches and as we read in our Bibles and see on the news every day, we are in the Days of Revelation. Nobody knows how far into it we are and nobody knows when Jesus will come again. We have the signs to watch for, but we do not know the day or the hour.
I only know one thing, I know it’s time to do whatever we’re going to do for the cause of Christ. It’s time to act in ways that God instructs and that He can bless. And I know it’s time to hate what God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 lays it out for us: “These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”
I’m not talking about going to the abortion clinics and picketing and yelling and screaming to show how much we hate abortion. It’s time for the church to stand up and say “we are not going to take this anymore.” Preachers don’t have to scream and yell about abortion being murder. We KNOW it’s murder.
But what we can do is put our money where our mouth is. You can’t just scream in the streets about it – you have to do something!
President Reagan once said he noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born. Now that’s a wise observation, I would say.
You can’t say “I don’t know” because you do know. You know and God knows you know. Proverbs 24:11,12 NCV says, “Save those who are being led to their death; rescue those who are about to be killed. If you say, “We don’t know anything about this,” God, who knows what’s in your mind, will notice. He is watching you, and he will know. He will reward each person for what he has done.”
We are putting our money where our mouth is. We’re taking this step and bucking the crowd and we’re not going to listen to the naysayers! We need your help. When you help us build Lori’s House, you will share in the reward from God who is watching us all.
We love you!
Lori
The Impact of Tim Tebow’s Life
Most of you know who Tim Tebow is – the quarterback for the Denver Broncos who formerly played for the Florida Gators and was the first college sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy. Tim is a great football player, but he is an even greater Christian. When playing for the Florida Gators, he would etch scripture into the eye paint commonly worn by football players.
In the 2009 BCS Championship Game, he wore John 3:16 on his eye paint, and as a result, 92 million people searched “John 3:16” on Google during or shortly after the game. Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a single way to reach that many people with the Gospel at one time. Tim is an evangelist, and a football player after that!
But the main story of Tim Tebow’s life does not begin or end with football. Today, Tim is involved with ministry, family and football, in that order.
You see, Tim is really a walking miracle. Tim’s mother, Pam, was encouraged to abort Tim before he was born.
Here is Pam’s story as told in a circulated email:
Pam knows about the pain of considering abortion. More than 21 years ago, she and her husband, Bob, were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink. She entered into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby.
She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. The doctors “didn’t think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue,” Pam said. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband, “If you will give us a son, we’ll name him ‘Timothy,’ and we’ll make him a preacher.” Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987.
Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow. The University of Florida ‘s star quarterback, became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy.
When you really stop to think about what Tim Tebow’s life has accomplished in a very short time, it’s unthinkable that he would have been aborted if his parents had not relied on their faith. In one day, 92 million people heard the Gospel of Christ through Tim’s evangelism. God only knows how many lives will be touched through his continued ministry.
Tim Tebow’s life stands in stark contrast to the evils of abortion. How many Tim’s have we aborted in this country? How many young lives have been sacrificed from fear or lack of faith? To try and comprehend the impact of the loss of 55 million Tims is beyond my ability to bear.
But I know one thing. Abortion is not the answer – faith in God is the answer.
In the days we are living in, it is becoming increasingly important to have the right response to the challenges that are sure to present themselves. Fear and the other emotions can cause us to sin against God instead of responding as He would direct us. It’s more important than ever before to know the Word of God and be able to discern His will.
While we do all we can to help save babies at Lori’s House, keep us in your prayers and remember that through one life like Tim Tebow, God can accomplish mighty things. Each baby we save has the potential to reach millions for Christ!
Lori’s House and Stella’s House – Watch This Week!
I am very excited that we are planning to build a home here at Morningside for unwed mothers called “Lori’s House”. This is a fulfillment of many prophecies given to me, and the plan of God to use all the bad in my life for good in these Last Days.
We are also helping Philip Cameron and his wife, Chrissie, in Moldova to build a safe home for girls who are orphans but at 16, they are turned out into the streets to fend for themselves. Many of these girls are kidnapped and sold into sex trafficking. Moldova is the engine of the sex traffic machine across Europe. Countless girls are kidnapped or tricked into leaving the country. Hours later they are shipped to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other nations where they are beaten, drugged and forced into prostitution.
Philip rescues as many as he can and brings them to safety. Philip’s homes for girls are called “Stella’s House” in honor of a handicapped girl who lost her life to AIDS after only 3 years in the sex trafficking industry.
We believe that in the coming days, there is nothing more important than caring for the unborn and the orphans. I can never go back and restore my children that I aborted so many years ago when I was living a sinful life, but I can go forward and help others make right decisions to give the gift of life.
I have never been more excited or more sure about building “Stella’s House” in Moldova and “Lori’s House” here at Morningside. This is the ministry for which I was called out of darkness into light – to take the stick which the devil beat me with and beat him back!
When I think about my life and purpose in the Kingdom of God, I know this is the “religion” I can live and die for. There is no doubt, there is no hesitation, that caring for the unborn and the orphans is a purpose that is perfect before the Lord.
“A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27 ISV
I want my life to count for something, don‘t you? I want to help young girls navigate through all the circumstances and pain surrounding a difficult situation of an untimely pregnancy, and help them to make a right decision to give life to the innocent. That’s something of VALUE I can do in this life that will carry on into eternity.
“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any VALUE.” 1 Cor 3:13 NLT
We can do much more together than any of us could do alone. Some people say well Lori, you can’t save them all. No, but the Lord values each and every life – and we will save those we can. We need your help to do all that we can for the orphans and the innocent. Become a partner with us today!
Remember, “when you give… your Father in heaven sees everything and will reward you.” Matthew 6
Love,
Lori
I Care!
Most of you know about the times of my life, nearly 25 years ago now, when there was great destruction and ruin that surrounded the ministry of PTL. Anyone with access to a newspaper or television back then, saw the devastation of Heritage USA and witnessed the carnage of all that was built there… or so it seemed.
Though the world saw only devastation and ruin, there is much more to the ‘end of the story’.
At Heritage USA, the partners who gave faithfully made it possible to build a home for unwed mothers. There were many young women and girls who came there to live while their babies were growing and developing safely in their wombs. The girls were cared for with all their needs met in that safe place until the time they delivered their babies.
Through the home for unwed mothers at Heritage USA, these babies were given the gift of life instead of issued the sentence of death in an abortion clinic. I still hear quite often about someone who was born there at the home and what they are doing today. These now adult young people and sometimes their birth mothers, often express their gratitude for the provision they received which allowed them to make the right decisions. There are people who live today because we did what we could back then, and those who made that possible will receive a reward in heaven – the Bible tells us so!
Today, in this day of unrestrained abortion of epidemic proportion, we have an even more pronounced opportunity to help young mothers make the right decisions about giving the gift of life to their unborn babies. So many babies have been murdered in the womb by this lawless generation, and it’s time now for the Church to stand up and do all that we can to help give life.
We have received the commission in a prophetic word by Cindy Jacobs to build “Lori’s House” and we are going to do it with your help! “Lori’s House” will be a safe place for girls and young women to come and have all their needs met while the little child within them grows strong enough to one day take its first breath. That life may go on to use that breath to glorify God and declare His love to a lost and dying world!
Today, we are filming several shows and partnering with Philip Cameron in the ministry of saving young girls and boys from a life of certain death in the sex trafficking trade. We are helping them to build “Stella’s House” in Moldova. Do you think Jesus is interested in this? Do you think Jesus cares if we give shelter, clothing, food and most of all love to these young girls and boys? Do you think Jesus cares? You know He does and I care too!
In addition to helping Philip save lives in Moldova, we are going to build “Lori’s House” right here in Peaceful Valley at Morningside. We need your help. Just as those who helped Heritage USA’s home for unwed mothers are seeing the fruits of their labors in living beings who are precious to God, you can now sow into the lives of those yet to be born, those whom God has designed to be here on this earth in the Last Days.
When you help to give the gift of life, you will receive rewards in heaven. I didn’t say that, Jesus did! In Matthew 24, Jesus is talking to his disciples and giving them detailed information about the physical signs of the Last Days. The disciples continued to question him about the end of the age, and Jesus then expanded their understanding by telling them who will be chosen to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Here is what he said in Matthew 25:31-46
“The Son of Man will come again in his great glory, with all his angels. He will be King and sit on his great throne. All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’
“Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
“Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’
“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’ “These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go to live forever.“Love,
Jim
Becoming a Hope Craftswoman (Pt. 3)
That afternoon at the Dream Center, I looked out at the women and saw brown faces, black faces, and white faces. The color of their skin varied, but the pain in their eyes was the same. Hard living had aged many of them beyond their years: a girl grows up way too fast in the ghetto. They were listening intently, and I knew they understood my sorrow when I admitted that my bad choices far from ended with my decision to marry Jesse.
As I shared even more of my life story with the women at the Dream Center, I could tell that many of them related to the deep personal pain that stemmed from my bad choices. Some of them were sobbing openly; many had tears in their eyes. The joy is that I was able to share not just the pain and brokenness but the fact that God had loved me back to wholeness.
“God can only heal what you are willing to reveal,” I told the audience. When I gave an invitation to come forward for prayer, the response was overwhelming. Most of these women had already committed their lives to Christ, but there were still so many deep hurts that needed healing. One woman who wanted prayer shared with me that she had had five abortions. She was praying and sobbing to the point of having dry heaves. Some of the other ladies were afraid she was going to throw up and wanted to help her, but I asked them to leave her alone. It doesn’t happen that often, but sometimes a woman’s grief can be so intense that she gets physically sick. In that case, it’s actually best to let her get that out.
As I had sensed in my spirit, God did something powerful that day for these women. I was honored that He would use me as his chosen vessel.
Over the years, God has presented the opportunity over and over again to share my story with hurting women. While His healing power has worked in my life to restore me to wholeness, there are many still suffering.
I share my story because it makes Jesus real to others who are hurting.
My story isn’t pretty – it isn’t easy to hear. I am not proud of it – but it’s my TESTIMONY and it is holy unto God.
What I brag about today is not the past – but the future in Christ that I now have and others can have through the loving, forgiving, healing, covering Blood of Jesus!
HE took my sin to that Cross at Calvary so long ago.
HE will take yours too! Receive Christ today as your Savior!
Love,
~ Lori
Becoming a Hope Craftswoman – Part 1
Becoming a Hope Craftswoman – Part 2
Joy Came in the Morning (pt 4)
Early August 1998
“The next year, 1977, I got pregnant again. Jesse and I had moved to Farmington, New Mexico. I remember we drove there the night Elvis died, pulling a small trailer with everything we owned. Jesse was working a lot of hours as a boilermaker for a power plant there. We rented a double-wide mobile home, and it was one of the nicer places we lived. I fixed it up, and I was the typical little housewife—except that I smoked pot all the time. We weren’t doing major drugs then. My grandma Graham died, and when I flew to Phoenix for the funeral, I made a doctor’s appointment. I needed to have a cyst removed, and since I had just found out I was pregnant—and Jesse didn’t want the baby, of course—I decided to have an abortion at the same time. That was the only abortion that was done in a hospital.”
Chris and Jolene asked a question now and then to prod my memory, but mostly they just let me talk.
“Jesse and I separated for a while, and he had a girlfriend. When we got back together, we moved to Pinetop, up in the mountains; it was very beautiful there. Because of Jesse’s work we moved a lot, little towns all over Arizona and New Mexico. I once counted fifty different apartments or houses or hotels where we had lived in the ten years we were married.
“We went to Prescott for the fourth of July. It was wild there in the ‘70’s. The Hell’s Angels would ride into town, and the police would close the streets for the holiday. Prescott is a quaint little town with antique shops, and there’s a street called Whiskey Row with a bunch of saloons. Jesse and I were doing Quaaludes and partying in and out of the bars. I was so spaced out, I was offering Quaaludes to cops; there was no way they could control the drugs and alcohol, so they simply tried to keep the peace. We were in front of the courthouse, in the center of town, when Jesse went nuts and started hitting me, and the cops had to pull him off of me.
“Jesse screamed, ‘Just get the ______ out of my life. Go find somebody else.’
“I literally took him up on it. I turned around, walked across the street, went into a bar, and met a man. Paul took me to his cabin, and I spent the night there with him. We had an off-and-on relationship for the next couple of years. Whenever Jesse beat me up, I called Paul; he came and got me and nursed me back to health. He was a very gentle guy. I don’t think he ever wanted me to leave Jesse to marry him, but he was always there for m. Jesse never knew about him.”
…..more to come.
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 1
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 2
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 3
Joy Came in the Morning (pt 3)
Early August 1998
We had a beautiful suite with a separate bedroom and a kitchenette off the full-size living room. From the moment we walked in, I felt the presence of God, and I began to realize that something truly supernatural was in store for me that night. Because I knew it would be an emotional time, I went to the bathroom, took my contacts out, and washed my face. While I was putting my pajamas on, Chris and Jolene prepared the living room. They placed boxes of tissues in various spots around the room, and they decorated one of the tables with a white linen tablecloth with lace trim.
“We want to anoint you with oil and pray before we begin,” one of them said. They prayed and asked God to reveal whatever memories I needed for my healing. That’s an important part of post-abortion ministry, because you immediately start blocking out the memories of that event. It’s a defense mechanism. You couldn’t live with what you did if you had to face it, so you suppress the memories and bury the details so deep in the recesses of your mind that you’re able to live in complete denial of what you’ve done.
After we prayed, Chris and Jolene asked me to start telling what I remembered about my abortions. “The first one was in May 1975,” I said. “That’s the only one I can even tell you the exact month and year.” I told the story of being pregnant before I married Jesse and choosing him over the baby.
“The second abortion was in 1976,” I said. “I don’t remember the actual abortion; I just remember coming home to our apartment and lying on the loveseat-rocker all day. Jesse asked me, ‘Are you okay?’ and I remember looking up at him and thinking, Now you ask. I just killed my own baby—our baby— something I really wanted and you’re asking if I’m okay. But I didn’t say it.
“There were always two reasons for the abortions. One was that Jesse didn’t want to have kids yet. ‘Someday,’ he’d always say. The other reason was drugs. I’d seen films in health class about babies who were born addicted to drugs, and it horrified me. We were so into drugs—cocaine and LSD, and even PCP, an animal tranquilizer that produced a cheap but intense high. The one time I thought I was going to die from drugs was the time I did PCP, around the time of that second abortion.
“My brother Mark and a friend brought the PCP over to our apartment; Mark had wanted to turn me and Jesse on for a change, since we were always sharing our drugs with him. Mark laced a joint with the PCP, and the four of us smoked, it. The drug makes you so high, you’re numb for hours; you can’t feel anything. It was wintertime and raining, but I remember going outside and letting the rain pour down on me. I couldn’t feel the cold or the rain. I started getting really scared. I went back inside and sat on that rocking loveseat for twelve hours without moving. I was virtually paralyzed. Jesse was sitting next to me, watching an old rerun of The Honeymooners. I started crying, becoming almost hysterical. ‘I’m going to die,’ I told him. ‘I’m not making it this time.’ He tried to talk me through the high, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be fine,’ he said. But he later told me he had thought we were both going to die. At one point I cried out, ‘God if you’re real, please spare me from this, and I’ll never do it again.’ That was one promise I made good on; I never used PCP again.”
I paused to take a sip of water. Jolene and Chris encouraged me to take my time and tell it all.
…..more to come.
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 1
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 2
Joy Came in the Morning – Part 4