A reprint from The Voice Magazine Online

Pro-Life Pastor Walter Hoye Sentenced to Jail
Published by TheVoiceMag February 20th, 2009 in Breaking News and Culture.

Pro-life Pastor Walter Hoye was found guilty of violating “The Bubble Law,” a city law that provides an 8-foot buffer zone between pro-life protesters and women entering the abortion clinics. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to stay 100 yards away from the clinic where he was arrested for the next three years.

According to the Oakland Tribune, Pastor Walter Hoye, is the first person charged and found guilty of the city’s two-year-old law and must also pay $1,130 in fines and remain on probation for three years after either serving his 30 days in county jail or entering an alternative program run by the sheriff’s department.

Pastor Hoye’s case, has garnered national attention from Christians and pro-life supporters, many of whom traveled from as far as Dallas in support of the beloved pastor, who they said was having his First Amendment rights taken away. Some believe that he was especially targetted by the abortion clinics.

As reported by the Tribune, the courtroom’s atmosphere was charged and filled with both pro-choice and pro-life activists. Supporters of both groups also crammed the hallways of the courthouse before the hearing and shouted at each other as they jockeyed for a seat.

The ruling was made by Alameda Superior Court Judge Stuart Hing.

The tensions flared after the hearing. One pro-lifer wrestled with sheriff’s deputies as he shouted at the judge, condemning him for placing Hoye in jail, while others sang “We Shall Overcome.” Many Christians were shocked at the news of Pastor Walter Hoye’s arrest and believed he was convicted wrongly.

“It is my prayer that God’s name be glorified and the life of His Son Jesus Christ be revealed in me,” said Hoye while he awaited his sentence.

“It’s not an issue of pro-life or pro-choice, it’s about the ability of a man to stand up and speak his truth,” said Dion Evans, shortly before he was restrained by sheriff’s deputies as he shouted at the judge.

Judge Hing said he received stacks of letters in support of Hoye. Perhaps they helped to reduce the sentence. Pastor Hoye was facing up to two years in jail and $4000 in fines.

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Robert Graff, who tried the case, argued that Hoye was not an innocent man standing on a sidewalk with a sign but someone who violated a city law.

“To suggest that he was merely holding a sign on the sidewalk does not speak to the totality of what is going on here,” Graff said. “This is a balancing of rights here. These people’s rights have to be balanced as well.”

Hoye’s defense attorneys, paid for by the Life Legal Defense Foundation, argued, at times with tears in their eyes, that the law was unconstitutional and that a punishment of jail was cruel and unusual.

Graff, who agreed Hoye should not be placed in jail, suggested the Judge place him on probation for 3 years with an order to stay 100 yards away from the abortion clinic. Graff said, “If Hoye did not agree to that, he should be sent to county jail for two years.”

Hing sentenced Hoye to 30 days in jail with the option of entering a sheriff work-release program that allows him to do sheriff-sponsored community service in exchange for jail time.

Hoye was warned with a threat that if he was found approaching women at the abortion clinic in the future, he would be in violation of his probation and could face additional time in jail.

Meanwhile, Life Legal Defense Foundation is challenging the city’s law in federal court.

Copied in toto from http://www.thevoicemagazine.com/blog/breaking-news/pro-life-pastor-walter-hoye-sentenced-to-jail/

NOTE: as soon as we get the information to write in suport of Pastor Hoye I will post it here!

Infant Stem Cell Research

32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me...
37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick...?
40 The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'~ Matt 25

Yesterday President Obama signed into law permission for the use of infant stem cells for research. Why do i use the term "infant" instead of embryo? Because an embryo is a tiny infant. It is human life, and to research on human life is reprehensible. It is the stuff of the most horrible science fiction of the past.

When we used to read science fiction 30 or 40 years ago about harvesting humans to feed or enhance other humans we knew instinctively that it was evil. Today they change the words and make it sound noble.

I call upon those that are diabetic or disabled in any way that could "benefit" from these appalling research methods to let it be known that they refuse to be party to the killing of the innocents.

Today's Gospel

Today's gospel reading is short but very interesting, this one never struck me before. It is the first Friday of Lent, for Catholics it is a day of abstinence from meat. This past Wednesday was a day of fasting and abstinence. We have already had psalm 51 on both days as the psalm reading, calling us to repentance and reconciliation with God. So in that light here is the reading for today:

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
"Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast." ~Matthew 9:14-15

What struck me here is that Jesus disciples never fasted! I never thought about that before. But it occurs to me that they had the power of God with them at all times. He could overcome anything that came up, He raised the dead, cast out difficult demons and with a word calmed a storm.

We however, need to set ourselves aside, away from our physical wants and to connect in a stronger way with God to see miricles in our lives. Come Lord Jesus.

Who said..

"No parent should ever have to choose between
work and family; between earning a decent wage and
caring for a child.”~Bill Clinton(you were thinking Mother Theresa weren't you?)

More on Faith

It is interesting, after going through that entire blog entry with my musings on faith, today's readings are about faith! The first reading is the great faith chapter Hebrews 11. I love this chapter. I listen to the scripture readings in the NIV when I stream them in my devotions. But the one verse i memorized from the KJV, From memory: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." In the NIV it is rendered thus: 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.(ibs.org).

This chapter is an excellent summary for me. It recounts various patriarchs and how their faith in the promises of God sustained them or inspired them. Near the end of the passage there is mention of Barak. I did not remember reading about Barak. So i looked him up. He was the commander of the Israeli army under the judge Deborah. Since he was listed as a man of faith, i read the account. It seems that Barak had to trust that Deborah was truly hearing from God, and upon her word of the surety of his victory went out and attacked the army of Sisera and they were routed by God. They inexplicably fled before his troops.

All this is to say that I know that God is powerful, and that He raised Jesus from the dead and did many powerful miracles. But do I truly believe all that Jesus said? Jesus told us that we would do greater miracles than He did. And yet I am continually held back by the whisperings of the evil one in my ear "you are not good enough, God could not care for you..." In believing this am I any different than Eve? I think that God's love is not big enough to cover my faults and sins. How arrogant of me! God made the heavens and the earth. He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills. He made the stars and the whirlpool nebula!

I am reminded of a children's bible school song i learned somewhere:

He's still workin' on me
Makin' me what i outta be
It took Him just a week
To make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and
Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient
He must be
'Cause He's still workin' on me.

The psalm today is the clincher--it is psalm 145, here are some excerpts to close this entry:

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.

14 The LORD upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has made.

18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.

Thank you Jesus.

Funny

more animals

Thoughts on healing

In the Gospel readings this past couple weeks we are going through the book of Mark. I have really been struck in a different way about Jesus teachings on faith. I sense that God wants His people to have faith for healing and deliverence in a greater way. I have had a growing sense that as this time of great evangelism is upon us, those of us that God has spent the last ten, twenty and thirty years preparing in the Spirit are going to be called upon to stretch in the wisdom and gifts that we have been given. We are going to have to learn to rely on God's voice, not methods or formulas, and have greater faith in Him to touch lives.

Here in Mark 1, obviously very early in Jesus ministry, He proves that He has great power, there is a demon cast out of a man and then they leave the synagogue:

29As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33The whole town gathered at the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

This is the God we rely on. Who heals with a touch and the voice of command.

Those who had simple faith are healed like this man: " 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured." This man surely had faith in Jesus and Jesus immediately responded to that faith.

Then, of course there is the man who was healed NOT because of his own faith but because of the faith of his friends!:

Mark 2~ 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."... He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Then in Mark 4 Jesus rebukes his disciples for their lack of faith(and the light perhaps starts to dawn for them that he is the Messiah!)

35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

In chapter 5 of Mark, Jesus tackles tougher problems, the demon possessed man who had a legion of demons and then He raises Jiarus daughter from the dead.

In Chapter 6, Jesus again encounters a lack of faith: 4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith." notice that even though He is God incarnate, He cannot heal when there is a lack of faith!

In chapter 7 Jesus encounters a woman who will not take "no" for an answer. He even calls her a dog and she is not deterred " 27"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."28"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."29Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." 30She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

This last one struck me for many reasons. First because I often fall for the lie that i am not good enough for God to bless. This woman told Jesus that she was at least good enough for the Crumbs from his table and that would be enough for her.

Next,it hit me for the first time,that Jesus drove out THIS demon without being present with the patient,or even speaking a word of command. He just told her, that her child was free. I believe that God wants us to learn to trust Him more and learn to tap into His power in greater ways.