For how long will the destroyer kill and disgrace as innocent blood begs for mercy and justice? When will the churches awaken and “plead the case of the fatherless to win it [Jere. 5:28]”? Which pulpits in each community will rise up and lead? And how eminent is God’s Judgment against America and Canada?
Those and related questions accompany National Life Chain Sunday 2008, a peaceful public prayer witness to be held October 5 in over 1300 U.S. and Canadian cities and towns. Serious prolifers will line local sidewalks to seek God’s forgiveness and intervention, while holding signs that read Abortion Kills Children; Adoption: The Loving Option; Abortion Hurts Women; and Jesus Forgives and Heals. Idle talk, frivolity, and interaction with motorists are not welcomed.
Thus to all who deem human life sacred from fertilization until natural death, Life Chain asks: “Will you ‘tarry with us’ in prayer for one hour? Please do so.” The first duty of Life Chainers is to humbly receive the convicting ministry God has for us on October 5. Then, if we are receptive, God can witness through us to save lives and change hearts in each local community.
Surgical and chemical abortions have likely killed over 100 million preborn American and Canadian citizens; and, being mindful of other ruinous spiritual forces allied with abortion (homosexuality, pornography, cohabitation, illegitimacy, sexual epidemics, addictions, human embryo abuse and disposal, cloning), Life Chain believes only the church can erect a repentant wall and defeat the destroyers of Western Civilization. Over critical decades the church lost its way. Wrote George Grant in his prominent history of the pro-life movement: “… during much of the twentieth century, the memory of the church
was erased…. The community of faith forgot what it was and what it should have been…. the needy, the innocent, and the helpless lost their one sure advocate…. The only urgency that drove much of the church during this dark period was its own satisfaction.” And our denial endures with the killing.
Was the European church under Nazism our frail mentor? In Hitler’s Cross, Erwin Lutzer observed that “… only a few German Christians saw the Jews as their brothers and sisters…. If only the church had seen that when the Jews were persecuted, it was the Lord Jesus who was suffering!” Added German Theologian Helmut Thielicke: “The church had overlooked its greatest danger, namely that in gaining the whole world it might ‘lose its own soul.’” America and Canada’s holocaust is larger than Europe’s by far—with no Hitler to coerce us. Today, will we the church repent of our hypocrisy and truly value
unborn humanity? Both our culture and national security ultimately rely on our response.
Life Chain depends primarily on local pastors who will lead their congregations and parishes to their city sidewalks. Pastors may add to the prayer topics on the back of each sign, and they are encouraged to prepare their people for earnest intercession and reflection. Life Chain follows a Code of Conduct that respects all motorists and pedestrians; and while Life Chain believes the church must impact government, all political activity is suspended on National Life Chain Sunday.
For more information, go to the National Life Chain website.
Downtown there will be music by Abbott Station, Battle of the Bands, Battle of the Banks and Realtors, strolling magician, wagons pulled by tractors, barbershop quartet, cornhole tournament, a camel (possibly for rides, possibly just to see, depending on location), and sidewalk sales on Friday and Saturday, and who knows maybe even a skit by X-Act. 
Something for the more musically sophisticated taste: Emotion evoking string and vocal melodies that are reminiscent of the best of the Moody Blues. Primal rhythms that carry the music lover away. Fresh from opening for the Goo Goo Dolls, Indianapolis orchestral rock trio Wolfy has scheduled a performance at The Cavern in Xenia on Saturday, August 9. Fronted by the haunting vocals of Greg “Wolfy” Johnson and his keyboard and laptop and backed up by the remarkable vocals and bass of Josh Hedges and the drums of Matt Wilson, the band brings more music to the stage than appears possible. Wolfy’s performance at the intimate All-Ages Xenia venue should prove to be a memorable event.