Christian Mom Could Lose Custody of Daughter to Lesbian Activist

This is outrages! This is a story that I first heard on Moody radio and then tonight rediscovered at www.lc.com. This just shows how desperately wicked this world really is! Please read the article below but be warned that you will probably be outraged by this story.

I know you are busy, but trust me when I tell you that the few minutes it will take to read this letter will be well-spent and life-changing. I’d like to tell you about Lisa Miller — my client, my friend, my sister in Christ, and mother of six-year old Isabella.

On October 27, 2008, a Vermont judge is holding a hearing to determine whether little Isabella will be stripped from her mother’s care and given to a woman, Janet Jenkins, who is openly living the homosexual lifestyle. You see, Lisa Miller is one of thousands across this nation who have left the homosexual life through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. The problem is, however, that while Lisa was involved in a same-sex relationship with Janet, in Virginia, Lisa had a child, in Virginia, by artificial insemination. Now, because Lisa has refused to comply with a court order giving Janet liberal unsupervised visitation with Isabella, Janet has asked the court to transfer custody of Isabella from her only biological parent (Lisa) to Janet, who is openly living a homosexual lifestyle.

I know this story sounds confusing, so let me back up and explain how we are at the point where Lisa could be thrown in jail for refusing to expose her child to Janet’s harmful and destructive lifestyle and Isabella could be stripped from her mother’s care by Virginia law enforcement officials. Before I begin, I want you to know that I am not exaggerating when I say that Isabella will be harmed by visitation with Janet. During one of the few court ordered visits that did take place, Isabella tells us that Janet: made then five year old Isabella bathe naked with Janet; had Isabella watch R-rated movies that depicted drug use and bloody murder scenes; and had Isabella watch Janet go to the bathroom. Others have testified in court documents that Janet lost Isabella at a county fair and Isabella was being psychologically harmed by the visits.

The other thing you should know up front is that shortly after Lisa ended the relationship with Janet, Janet sought full custody of Lisa’s child. When she did that, Janet didn’t allege that Lisa was an unfit mother – because Lisa is a wonderful mother. Janet didn’t allege that the law clearly treated her as a mother – because it didn’t. No, she asked the court to create new law and declare her a parent even though she had no biological or legal relationship to the child. And that’s exactly what the courts did. Now, we stand on the brink of a court order stripping Isabella from her biological mother. With that said, let me start from the beginning of the story. At the end, I hope you will join in the efforts to stand up for, and intercede on behalf of, Lisa and Isabella.

After a very difficult childhood and a failed, abusive heterosexual marriage, Lisa, at near bottom, was told by a psychological professional that she must be a homosexual. As a result of that, Lisa plunged feet first into the homosexual community. Living in Virginia, Lisa met Janet Jenkins around 1997. It wasn’t long before Lisa moved in with Janet. The relationship wasn’t a healthy one, but when Vermont legalized same-sex civil unions in 2000, Lisa and Janet traveled one weekend to Vermont to enter a same-sex civil union. The two women immediately returned to Virginia and continued their unhealthy relationship. In 2001, pursuing her desire to be a mother, Lisa became pregnant in Virginia by artificial insemination. In April 2002, Lisa gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Isabella. Lisa is the only parent listed on the birth certificate because Virginia law did not (and still does not) treat same-sex relationships as valid. At Janet’s request, in August 2002, Lisa moved to Vermont, hoping the change of scenery would somehow make the relationship work. It didn’t, and in September 2003, when Isabella was only seventeen months old, Lisa ended her relationship with Janet. Lisa and Isabella returned home to Virginia; Janet stayed in Vermont.

After becoming a Christian, Lisa wanted to put her former life behind her. As a result, without the assistance of an attorney, in November 2003, she filed papers in Vermont to end her civil union relationship with Janet. She filed in Vermont because Virginia didn’t recognize the same-sex relationship and therefore wouldn’t terminate the relationship. To her surprise, Janet retained an attorney and filed papers in Vermont asking the court to give her primary custody of Isabella, with visitation to Lisa. Even more surprising, in June 2004, over Lisa’s objections, the Vermont trial court gave Janet liberal, unsupervised visitation. In fact, the June 2004 order expected Lisa to turn then two-year-old Isabella over to Janet for a two-week visit in Vermont. It also required monthly Vermont visits.

Because Vermont refused to address the obvious legal question of whether Janet was even a parent to Isabella (which she is not), in July 2004, Lisa filed papers in Virginia asking Virginia to declare her Isabella’s only mother pursuant to Virginia law. In October 2004, a Virginia trial court did just that, declaring that Isabella has only one mother – Lisa. Not happy with that ruling, the next month, the Vermont court declared Isabella to have two mothers – Lisa and Janet. The court was not shy about what it had done – it expressly stated that there was no law in Vermont that treated Janet as a parent because the legislature had not chosen to allow for two women to be a child’s mother unless the partner had adopted the child. Janet never even attempted to adopt Isabella during Janet and Lisa’s relationship. The court stated that it would create a law to determine who is a parent when a child is born by artificial insemination. It then created the new law and used it to declare Janet and Lisa to be Isabella’s mothers. Janet then brought the Vermont order to Virginia, asking Virginia to give full faith and credit to the Vermont orders that treated Janet as a mother and gave her visitation.

Fast forward to today – Lisa has lost every single appeal in Vermont and Virginia. As I sit here today, I can tell you that the Virginia appellate courts have decided that the Vermont orders are to be given full faith and credit in Virginia even though Virginia’s marriage laws — including the Marriage Amendment we passed in November 2006 — state that all orders coming out of a same-sex relationship are void and unenforceable. The Virginia courts made these determinations even though the Virginia Attorney General stated in court documents in Lisa’s case that Virginia cannot give full faith and credit to the Vermont orders.

Now, Janet’s attorneys have asked the Vermont court to switch custody from Lisa to Janet. They’ve made the request because Lisa has not given visitation for the past months out of concern for her child’s physical and psychological well-being. On October 27, 2008, Judge Cohen in Rutland County, Vermont will hold a hearing on Janet’s motion and decide whether to punish Lisa for disobeying the court-ordered visitation. Even before that, on September 29, 2008, the United States Supreme Court will hold a conference where it will decide whether to hear Lisa’s appeal from the Vermont decisions [the Court declined to hear the case—Editor]. A couple weeks later, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether to hear Lisa’s appeal from the Virginia decisions. Although we all know that the Supreme Court needs to take the case to protect Isabella (by reversing the Virginia and Vermont decisions), the odds are against Lisa since the court only takes one percent of all cases that come before it. The odds are even worse in Lisa’s case because the Supreme Court tends to only take cases where there is a conflict between the states. Here, because Virginia courts ignored Virginia law, Vermont and Virginia are in agreement – Lisa has to turn Isabella over to Janet for visitation (or even custody if on October 27, 2008 Vermont switches custody to Janet). We’ve asked the Supreme Court to do what every single court in Virginia and Vermont has refused to do in over four years of litigation: squarely address Lisa’s fundamental rights to raise her child. The Virginia courts have repeatedly failed to explain how a legal stranger can be given visitation to Lisa’s child without violating Lisa’s fundamental constitutional parental rights. The Vermont Supreme Court did look at the issue once, stating simply that because Vermont had declared Janet a parent, she now had equal constitutional rights to that of Lisa.

As you can tell, Lisa and Isabella need your help. Lisa’s desire to raise her child according to the truths of Scripture are under attack: at one point during the Vermont litigation, Janet’s attorneys argued that Lisa shouldn’t be allowed to keep primary custody of Isabella because Lisa believed that God had a plan for Isabella’s life and that God would protect Isabella. I’m asking you to consider whether you can commit to prayer on behalf of this family. At times like this, the Church needs to stand united before our Lord to intercede on Lisa and Isabella’s behalf.

I would also ask that you consider what you can do to let others around the nation know about this case. There are so many other women around the country who have left the homosexual lifestyle and are struggling to keep their children. The nation and Church need to know about this in order to do something to prevent this from happening in our courts to other women, and to come alongside these women and minister to them.

It’s at times like this that I recall one of my favorite quotes: “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men (and women) to do nothing.”

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this. I pray that each person receiving this letter will prayerfully consider what we can do to help.

Rena Lindevaldsen
Assistant Professor of Law, Liberty University School of Law
Special Counsel, Liberty Counsel

A Complete Gospel

By Tony Stone
www.reachrecords.com

Lately, I have been thinking about the many issues our modern churches face when it comes to trying to get more people in the Church and attracting new members. I've been dwelling in the book of Romans frequently, since this is the book that I have been teaching through for the last year with the youth at my Church. Spending that much time in the book of Romans has made me think about the gospel message and how it's presented in our day and age. More than ever, I've noticed people not mentioning sin, in an effort to not make the unsaved feel better and, hopefully, stay in the Church. We've confused bodies in the Church with actual successful conversions. So I want to deal with two major elements of the gospel message: Law and Grace.

The Law

The Law is both wonderful and dreadful at the same time. When I say Law, I'm not talking about 5-0 chasing down your cousin Pookie, but I am talking about the Law of the Lord as summed up by the 10 commandments. The Law is wonderful because it shows us how God feels about sin. As Christians, when we think on it daily, it has a way of pushing us towards Christ. Psalm 1:2 tells us

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

However the Law has a very opposite effect to those who are not in Christ. The Law brings us to an understanding of our sinful nature. Romans 3:19-20 says:

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

So the Law of the Lord will make a sinner specifically aware of their sinfulness, because we all have sinned.

Law without Grace

There are many of you who have had Law only presentations. You were told about the Law and your sins. You were told about a God of wrath who punishes sinners. Although this is true about God, if that is all you are taught about Him, then that is not a complete picture of the Gospel. As a result of hearing a Law only presentation you lived your life with a heavy burden, trying to earn God's approval and righteousness by attempts at Law keeping. You would try to clean up the outside act, being one way in front of your parents and Church people, but still living with the internal problem of sin. This is because the Law doesn't save us by itself, but it is key in bringing us to our knees to realize that we are not as perfect as we thought we were. That's where grace comes in.

Grace

Grace is truly amazing! Grace is God letting us off the hook when we deserve otherwise. Grace is the favor of God given to us despite our sins. It is a gift. Ephesians 2:8 tells us:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

If it were not for grace, none of us could be saved! I thank God that He saves by grace and not by the merit of our works, else we'd all be destroyed. Grace, however, must be understood in contrast to works. For the person who thinks that they have not sinned against God, how can they understand that grace is undeserved pardoning of a sinner? In the mind of the proud, they deserve to be pardoned by God. But the humble knows their works are evil and that they deserve the punishment of their sin. They then see the greatness of grace.

Grace is what salvation boils down to: God graciously loves us and gives salvation unconditionally. Jesus sheds His blood on the cross even though He's innocent. He sheds it for guilty sinners who should be paying that price in their own blood. This is grace: believers given what we don't deserve. What a relief it is to be in Jesus!

Grace without Law

Like the Law, Grace is one of those Biblical truths that has been told in part, also. Many of us have been told a message of Jesus that only included love, kindness, and grace. You may have heard about this loving Jesus who loves you and cares for you, who wants to be with you. While these things are true about God, if you are given a grace only presentation, you are not getting a complete picture of the gospel. I think more Churches and youth groups fall into this category because we really don't want to offend people. We don't want to turn people away from such a great gift of salvation when we know it's wonderful!

But consider the drastic results of a love only presentation. I admit that leaving out the Law feels better and seems to produce more people passionate to accept Jesus, so it must work, right? Well, if we were to examine the motives of people who come to accept Jesus when there is no understanding of sin, you'll find that many there had a very different idea of what they were "accepting Christ" for. Some may have very legitimate reasons why they feel they need a Savior. Some has illnesses. Some have issues with money. Others are in need of good grades. While these are all real problems that we face in life, they are not the motivators of true conversion. The only motivation that draws us genuinely to the foot of Christ is the recognition of our sinfulness and need for a redeemer. The only means by which we are saved is by grace through faith.

Apply it!

We have discussed the Law and Grace and the importance of both of these elements being present in the gospel presentation. When you share your faith with others, it's important that there is an awareness made of sins and offences against God. Without this, men don't understand why they need Jesus. However this alone will cause people to persue works righteousness as a means for salvation, which is impossible. It's also important that you share the grace of God with men. They need to know that a suitable atonement is in Christ alone! They need to know the love of God and that we are saved by His grace alone by faith alone. Without this element, it men are left without answers as to how a man can be saved. But presenting a love only message leaves people unaware of the sins that we have and the need for grace.

Be unashamed of the gospel! Point to the reason we need salvation. Point to the grace of God. Let's go out there and glorify Christ in our evangelism!

This and many good articles can be found at www.reachrecords.com

Car Show (Part Two)

This is part two of the Car Show evangelism story. You can read part one of this story by going to www.bringthenoiz.com. I encourage to read part one first and then revisit this blog to read the final encounter of our day.

After my brother NOIZ handed out numerous gospel tracts at the car show we decided to call it a day and head back home. On our way back I remembered that NOIZ needed to stop and get gas or we would be walking. So he stopped at the local Hess station to fill up. Prior to filling up we had decided to go in to the gas station first to grab a snack. On our way in NOIZ said lets go next door to the 7 Eleven instead because this Hess always smells funny and the smell of the station gets trapped in the food and makes it taste funny. So I said okkkaaaaayyyy? So we walked back to the evanga-truck, hopped in and drove over to the 7 Eleven.

After pulling up to the pump we got out and repeated exactly what we had done at the Hess station. After walking in the store and grabbing a snack we brought our goods to the check out counter. As I was checking out I thought that I noticed the man behind the counter. He had looked like someone that I knew from back in my S.C. High School days. So I asked my brother NOIZ (standing next to me) for a million dollar gospel tract while the store representative was away from me doing something else. Then after I signed my debit card receipt I asked him if he had ever seen a million dollar bill before. He replied no and said that he noticed it as I had it out while I was paying. I told him to read the back, that it was a gospel tract that contained the good news of Jesus Christ on the back. He immediately looked pleased by the tract. Then I told him that he looked really familiar and then his name came to my mind (praise God for that). I asked him is your name Jovan? He said yeah! He said he didn’t recognize me at first because I had put on some weight since high school. Then NOIZ remembered him as well and we all had a small, short reunion in the gas station and most importantly the gospel was given first and foremost. As a matter of fact Christ stayed at the center of the conversation. He asked me what church I attended and I told him G.O. (Greater Orlando) Church on Moss Park Road. I also shared our burning passion to learn and share Christ. Before departing I left him with a Concrete Angels hip hop evangelism CD and an accompanying magazine as well as a business card to gain access to us via the web or telephone. I told him to contact me that I would love the opportunity to get together with him and talk. As I was leaving he asked me to please stop back in and see him, he said that he was there all most all of the time. I said that we would stop back in and see him soon. Then I walked out the door back to the evanga-truck and jumped in.

Before we left I reminded NOIZ that God made all of this happen. It was all answered prayer. What I didn’t mention earlier in the story was that we had prayed before the car show (at lunch) for us each to have at least one encounter and until that stop I was batting zero. So God moved from our original gas stop over to the 7 Eleven so that we could run in to Jovan. Please keep Jovan in your prayers for the power of prayer is extraordinary!

One last thing, NOIZ later told me that he had not been to that 7 Eleven since high school and never has had any reason or desire to go there but yet he was the one who wanted to leave where we were at to go there instead. That’s just another indication that this appointment was divine! God is truly awesome!

A Lifesaving Station

This afternoon I experienced another bout with my fear of hitting the streets. As usual when this happens to me I take time to reflect and hit the Bible for answers. This time I went to Matthew 28:19-20 to remind myself of the command to go and make disciples of all nations. Then I read some commentary on Matthew 28 and eventually found the story below on the Grace To You website. This story really impacted me and I pray that it does the same to you. Please check it out!

A Lifesaving Station

An unknown author wrote that on a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for their safety they went out day and night, tirelessly rescuing the lost. Many lives were saved so the station became famous.

Some of those who were saved, along with others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station. They gave of their time, money, and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought, new crews were trained, and the lifesaving station grew.

Some of the members were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided, so they replaced the emergency cots and beds and put better furniture in a new, larger building.

Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They decorated it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do the work.

The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club's decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where club initiations were held. About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the shipwreck victims could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the lifesaving activity because they thought it was a hindrance and unpleasant to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted on lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out they were still a lifesaving station after all. They were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast, which they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that coast today, you'll find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent, but most of the people drown.

Isn't it easy for the church to lose sight of its mission?

How Do You Share The Gospel?

How do you share the gospel? Many preachers are sharing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins but they neglect to explain sin. This denies the lost person the ability to see the need for a savior. Most people do not know all of God’s 10 commandments or understand the severity of breaking them. The apostle Paul said “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (Romans 7:7). Think about how many people come to church every Sunday to hear a gospel presentation that tells them that they are a sinner but Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins. This is a true statement however, how many people actually think that they are the sinner in which the pastor is speaking about. Many people think of themselves as good people and are probably thinking something like “the pastor is not speaking to me, he’s talking to the guy in the back with ripped jeans, tattoos, and face piercings. He looks like he has been involved in some bad things, but I am a great guy.” Another person may only know the 6th and 7th commandments which are “You shall not murder” and “You shall not commit adultery” and may think “I am good because I have not ever murdered anyone or committed adultery.” That same person may think “it sure is good for those adulterers and murderers that Jesus died on the cross for them if not they would be going to hell!” They do not realize that God also commands us not to lie, steal, blaspheme, idolize, disobey our parent’s, break the Sabbath, give false testimony, or covet. In addition they do not understand that the bible says that “the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of God's laws” (James 2:10). This means that by telling just one lie the sinner is condemned and faces punishment. The lost person needs to understand this. Only by having the proper understanding will the lost listener see the need for a savior. Otherwise they will go on thinking that they are righteous on their own and that God will see them as a good person when they die. They do not know that God doesn’t see any of us as good. In Isaiah 64:6 it says: “And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”. There is only one way to be viewed as righteous in the eyes of God and that is to be covered by the blood of Jesus. The only way to be covered by His blood is to repent of (turn from) your sins and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and then He will send the Holy Spirit to fill new believer.

In conclusion, it is no secret that God does the conversion but He uses the preacher as a tool to show the lost person the need for a savior so let us all be obedient and share the full gospel. We cannot continue to assume that the lost know what sin is because many of them do not! It does no good to tell someone that you have the cure to a sickness if they do not believe that they are sick. Let’s make sure that we show them their sickness first and then show them the cure. Then you will see true repentance and trust in action.

A Night of Evangelism

On Saturday July 12, 2008 me and my brother Noiz went to the Loop to do some street evangelism. Unfortunately we were time restricted because I accidently left my wife and children at a neighbor’s house with no keys which left them stranded. This meant we where going to have to jump right in if we were going to have a productive night. After a quick bite and a short discussion we decided that we would each take 20 (million dollar bill) tracts and then head on home when we were finished handing out all 40. God had different plans! We handed out a lot of tracts in a short amount of time but were not able to hand out all 40 before we were told to leave the premises. That’s right we got kicked out! This was quite a surprise to us since in our previous street ministry encounter at the Loop we were given approval by an Osceola County Sheriff’s Officer who was serving as security there. Never the less, we finished our encounter and gracefully left the Loop.

During our encounter (audio below), God gave us the opportunity to talk with some adolescent’s. These kids were very respectful and excited by the million dollar bill tract. They actually wanted more of them to hand out! Their attitude actually made the encounter a lot of fun. Noiz actually started off by addressing the older kids when the youngest one named Andre, jumped in and shouted “I go to church”. Then Noiz turned to him and asked him if he could name the 10 commandments. Surprisingly he named 7 of them pretty quickly which left us trying to recall which ones he missed. The next question that Noiz asked the group of 3 was how many beer brands that they could name. Unfortunately even with the success of the commandments they were able to quickly name 8 beer brands (1 more beer brand than God’s commandments). Andre said that he learned about beer from watching a lot of TV and learned about Red Stripe from watching PTI on ESPN. This proves how corrupting TV can be to our youth! Finally after security warned us not to hand out any more gospel tracts, Noiz shared God’s grace with these friendly participants. Praise God for allowing us to share His grace with these kids! They were very cooperative and understood where they had broken God’s law and would be in jeopardy of eternity in hell separated from God in their current standing. I would have been very upset had we not been able to share God’s grace with them. God is good!

As soon as Noiz finished sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ we were told to leave by the Loop Security Staff. Although we are now left praying for a new street ministry spot, we had a great night serving our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by sharing His glorious gospel! Thank you Lord for using me as a tool to share Your gospel.

Powered by Podbean.com

We Know Not The Gospel

This is so sadly true. The gospel has been watered down so much that it is no longer even the true gospel. We all know that God is ultimately the only one who saves but there are so many squishy pastors who are not being obedient to the Lord. These squishy pastor's are not allowing God to use them as an effective tool by sharing the real glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Their only reasoning for this is that they do not want to offend anyone. Their idea of a good church is some huge congregation all gathered in a huge multimillion dollar facility that is host to a Starbucks coffee shop, meanwhile they have absolutely no concern that it is filled with false converts who will one day have to face judgment while under the assumption that they will enter Heaven because they prayed a prayer and wrote their name in the back of a Bible. The real gospel does often offend but it is effective and biblical. Jesus not only commands us to share the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20), but He also demonstrates how in Mark 10:17-22. Please go out and make disciples by sharing the true gospel, there are lives at stake! Fight the good fight!

Bam! Bam! Bentley

More of comedy hour with Bam Bam Bentley! I still cant believe that people actually take this guy seriously. There is obviously no discernment on the part of his follower's which is a clear indication that they are most likely lacking salvation. We laugh at this guy and his goofy antics, but it is an absolute tragedy that most of his followers will probably never enter into the kingdom of Heaven. We have to put up a fight against all of these false teachers that are making false claim's in the name of our Lord! Keep fighting the good fight! Let's go into the world and share the real Jesus and make real disciples!

Comfortable Open Air Preaching

-Wow! What do you think about that awesome open air gospel presentation? That’s tough to do without being distracted with so many people around! Ray did a great job remaining focused on the gospel!

-Although the biker had a lot of doubt at certain times in the video he looked convicted. I pray that his pride doesn’t stand in the way of him receiving the free gift of salvation from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

-By the way; did you catch the man and woman checking out the huge $100 bill gospel tract? God is Awesome!

The Moment Of Truth

Wow! After all of those admissions she still thought that she was good. Satan surely has the world deceived. She admitted to lying, stealing, committing adultery, and then to top it all off she blasphemed when they brought out her ex-boyfriend to ask her some personal questions! She definitely failed the good person test! I hope that someone has given her the gospel since that show was taped because it would be an awful tragedy if she were to approach God on her day of judgment and tell Him that she deserves to enter in to Heaven because she is a good person. Yikes!