A Strangely Encouraging Loss

Yesterday Mary Anne and I spent hours at a public hearing downtown standing for some 110,000 people who could not be in attendance--because they were killed in Travis County.

It was strangely encouraging because of what God has done in our hearts to open our eyes to His heart for the unborn. This was not the case in the previous 17 years I pastored in the Austin area.

We trucked downtown at 3:30pm on Thursday to sign up to speak at the Travis County Health District's hearing on using county tax money to pay for elective abortions for low income women.

It was strangely encouraging because the numbers of us standing for life dwarfed those who came to defend the right to kill the unborn. The pro-life community in Austin is rising up and waking up!

I didn't get to speak. I was #15 and they cut it off at #13. That's when it's good to have a strong view of the sovereignty of God. We know we were there to pray!

It was strangely encouraging because those opposed to tax funds for abortion spoke clearly and powerfully for life. One woman who had 3 abortions gave her testimony that she never knew about alternatives and when she found out she delivered her 4th child. She so regrets her abortions.

Travis County is the only county in Texas that uses tax dollars to pay for abortions. Tarrant County was the only other and they stopped in 1988.

It is strangely encouraging that the couple that always wanted to be missionaries has been placed in a sure enough mission field right here in Austin. That became crystal clear last night.

So here it is...here's the speech that was never given:

Hello, I am Trey Kent and I represent the Austin Area Pastor's Council and I am the pastor of Northwest Fellowship here in Austin. I have been pastoring in Austin for the past 18 years. Since the passing of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, in Travis County we have killed 110,000 of our own citizens through abortion. That's more than killing every elementary school student, every middle school student and every high school student in the Austin Independent School District where 82,000 students attend. Can you imagine a proposal that would kill everyone of these students? Can you imagine us sitting down in a public hearing to debate whether the county should use tax funds to pay for this? Travis County Heath District, your role is not to fund the killing of your own citizenry. Over the past 18 years I have worked with men and women whose lives have been ruined by abortion. Will tax money be used to pay for the counseling of those who are forever tormented by the killing of their children? And we paid for the killing? I have yet to meet a woman who is glad she killed her baby. I also have yet to meet a women who said, "Oh, I wish I would have had an abortion instead of giving you life." The women going to the abortion clinic do not go because they are pro-choice--they go because they feel they have no choice. Why not use this money for paying for adoption, to pay for food and medical needs or to help out mothers who have babies but need help? Yet this provision we are discussing tonight is about one thing and one thing only--money to terminate life. No money for counseling. No money for adoption. No money to help mothers who choose to have the baby. All of you are educated people. You must resist the pressure of the "elected officials" and "higher ups" who are pushing this agenda. Be men and women of courage. There's always a way to do the right thing and this is wrong. It is not the place of the Travis County Heath District to fund the killing of it's citizens. It's your role to help. To promote life. As I'm sure you know, the latest Gallup Poll shows more Americans are pro-life than pro-choice. That's because we all have friends, sisters and people we've met who have been devastated by abortion. And, we've all seen a sonogram. We know that baby is alive. Once again, there's always a way to do the right thing and the Travis County Heath District does not exist to kill it's children and mar the hearts of it's women.

That's it...it was a strangely encouraging night. Virtually everyone who spoke for abortion said they personally were against it or that most often it's wrong. That's the new way to talk about abortion--all because we know in our hearts that's it's never right to kill a helpless unborn child created in God's image.

Rise up army of God. You are a missionary of love and truth. Let's awaken to our role to educate, challenge and love.

Oh, with little discussion the board voted unanimously to use tax money to pay for up to 1,000 abortions in Travis County in 2010.

It is strangely encouraging because our eyes are open and we are waking up.