Gov Inslee: ‘Let our people go to church!’

/4 Comments/in /by

In Exodus 5:1, God begins the process of delivering the children of Israel from the shackles of bondage in Egypt, by sending Moses and Aaron to deliver a message to its national leader, Pharaoh. The message from God was simple, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” This was the first of many such messages God directed Moses and Aaron to deliver to Pharaoh, which he systematically rejected their request, which lead to a hardened heart and his own demise.

Today, I’m pleased to tell you God is raising up an army of spiritual leaders to speak to our Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. Like Moses and Aaron, their message is also simple, “Let us open our churches so our people can freely worship the Lord, our God.” I wish, I could tell you our Governor is listening, but he is not.

Here’s what’s going on; recently, two months into the COVID-19 crisis, Governor Jay Inslee released specific rules that only allows religious organizations to conduct drive-in services. Despite NO recorded deaths in 14 of Washington’s 39 counties and despite single digit deaths in another 14 counties since the beginning of the epidemic, Governor Inslee still considers the 1st Amendment irrelevant and churches and religious services are still labeled non-essential and remain closed down.

We were first told, that we only had to flatten the curve before things became normal again. Now, despite Department of Health data showing hospitalization for COVID-19-like symptoms is at or near zero, we are being told we have to wait for a cure before we can freely exercise our constitutional and religious right to worship again.

Meanwhile, a virtual laundry list of Governor Inslee’s favored or politically connected businesses and organizations, like big box stores, pot shops, abortion clinics, manufacturing plants, and government operations are allowed to open in a prudent and safe manner. Today, there is no expectation or plan that Governor Inslee will allow churches or religious services to open any time this year. One routinely sees this sort of religious suppression occurring in Communist China; now, we see it happening here in Washington State.

Governor Inslee, in order to justify his “plans” and make it seem “scientific,” has introduced a COVID-19 Dashboard that is literally, and deliberately incoherent about what metrics and standards he uses to objectively determine when organizations or counties are allowed to open or wavier from the lockdown. He talks about phases and data, but one is unable to figure out WHAT specific data point he will use to decide who opens when. This is not science and safety, but ideology, favoritism, and tyranny.

His own dataset for deaths by week shows that outside of King County (20 deaths), the number of deaths in the rest of the state for the week beginning 26 April was only 21. That’s right, in 97% of our state covering almost 5 million people, just three additional people a day died by this virus and this is justification to continually and unilaterally disregard the First Amendment in order to crush businesses, lay off more than a million workers statewide, and prohibit almost all normal religious worship.

Governor Inslee’s illegitimate and immoral effort to shut down our state economically and engage in the worse examples of government sponsored religious suppression we have seen in our state’s history.

It is no secret that the pagans and the radical elites who control Governor Inslee and our state, are deliberately working to destroy or indoctrinate Christian churches, schools, and businesses in Washington and all across the planet. Their calls for completely remaking our society and “not letting this crisis go waste” are painfully loud and clear. Governor Inslee’s discriminatory edicts against people of faith is just a continuation of the anti-Christian attacks that regularly occur in our state. Like Pharaoh, Governor Inslee has become desensitized to our concerns and is turning a deaf ear to our reasoned and just requests.

Now, the good news. GOD is still on the throne! While the Governor seems bent on exploiting this crisis for his political agenda, God is faithfully “working all things work together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose.” A spiritual awakening is occurring!

Pastors and religious leaders are understandably wakening up to this threat to freedom, to their faith, and to their flock by our Governor. These Pastors care about the health and safety of their flock, especially during a crisis. But at what point does this move from a prudent protection by a political leader addressing a real public health crisis to a dictatorial decision to shut down essential religious services and Constitutional rights when the evidence points to minimal or no harm?

Subsequently, God is instilling courage in pastors and believers all over the state who are boldly considering acts of Christian civil disobedience, similar to what our nation’s Founders demonstrated 244 years ago on July 4, 1776, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of England. In more recent history, we have the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience. Today, we have every reason to hope in God’s continued goodness and plan, as He is calling godly leaders to act in defense of the freedoms and liberties entrusted to us, as they talk about filing lawsuits and of opening churches in a prudent and safe manner similar to what is being done in other states, such as, Oregon, Kentucky and California.

Churches and the faithful must do the same here in Washington. Today, the Family Policy Institute of Washington is working with various pastors and other policy, political and legal organizations to confront our Governor and his unconstitutional acts of religious tyranny masquerading as safety.

“Give unto Caesar, what is Caesar’s, but give unto God what is God.” The time has come for Christians of all denominations to prayerfully join together, oppose Governor Inslee’s overreach, and open up our churches to public worship in a reasonable manner. This was how Moses and Aaron, our Nation’s Founders, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., among many others, responded to injustice. This is how we will achieve justice here in Washington State and America.

Over 2000 years ago, the first great awakening occurred on Pentecost, and believers of Jesus Christ changed the world. It is time to defer to God and His word by “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”  On May 31, 3,000 California Churches are planning to open on Pentecost Sunday, in defiance of Governor Newson’s lockdown orders and the unjust court ruling. It is time for our locked-down Washington Churches to do the same, to reopen their doors for public worship, as our U.S. and State Constitutions allow, and change the world through our witness and discipleship of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalms 133:1

If you are a pastor or know a pastor interested in uniting with other courageous church leaders in taking action to defend our religious liberties in Washington State, please contact me at mark@fpiw.org.

Couldn’t say it better. It’s truth worth repeating.

/0 Comments/in /by

I couldn’t say it better.

Every so often, I run into a letter or opinion piece by a Christian Pastor or leader in our state that really strikes me as a truth that must be shared. Rather my regular blog this day, I would like to share with you Pastor Alex Rowland’s, President, Church Awakening, letter to Pastors on the critical importance in helping support the Referendum-90 (R-90) effort to repeal the horrible Comprehensive Sex Ed bill, SB5395, that passed last session in Olympia.

Technically, we have until June 10 to get the needed signatures into the Secretary of State’s office. However, the R-90 campaign needs the completed signature sheets by June 1, so they can remedy any invalid signatures before submitting them to the Secretary of State. If you haven’t already, please request your signature sheets today to help us reach the goal of 150,000 signatures.

With that said, I will leave you to Pastor Alec’s very inspiring letter. Please prayerfully read and consider how you can get your Pastor, your Church, your community, your family and yourself involved in this very important mission to protect our children by repealing SB5395. This truth and calling apply to us all!

A Pastor’s Prayerful Appeal to Work Together to Repeal Senate Bill 5395

The following is a special message from Dr. Alec Rowlands, Founder and President of Church Awakening, and Senior Pastor of Westgate Chapel in Edmonds, Washington.*

Dear Washington Pastors and Church Leaders,

My heart and passion is for the Church of Jesus to be revived in its first love for God and to return to the priorities of His presence and prayer as the foundation of all ministry. In the process of establishing this mission through Church Awakening over the last fifteen years I have seldom asked you to join me in any political action, not because I don’t believe in it, but because I have wanted to conserve whatever influence I have for prayer, revival and awakening.

But, based on solid Biblical grounds and out of deep concern for the spiritual and emotional well-being of our children and young people, I am asking you to respond to a direct assault of the enemy against our families with the recent passage of SB 5395 out of Olympia. SB 5395 mandates the teaching and endorsement of society’s degenerating values re: sexual norms and behaviors, beginning in Kindergarten.

While specific examples of the coming curriculum are being kept from the public, there are parent-based organizations in the State that have provided examples of what is already out there and what is being proposed, and it is frightening. The fact that Planned Parenthood is involved in the proposed curriculum and that they and the ACLU have offered their full support to oppose Referendum 90, is really all we need to know concerning what is being planned for the grooming of our children in their distorted cultural values.

As a pastor I cannot believe what the Word says about healthy sexual expression and what I believe are the rights of parents to teach a Bible-based morality to their children, and, at the same time stand by, doing nothing about this direct, unrelenting attack on the family.

We have to work together to overturn SB 5395. Referendum 90 will require the State, at the very least, to put the matter on the ballot this November, since our legislators and governor have chosen to ignore over 58% of the public who are opposed the mandate.

We effectively have only four Sundays (May 3, 10, 17 and 24), to get 135,000 signatures on Referendum 90 before the June 1 deadline, complicated by the current restrictions on church gatherings associated with Covid-19. At Westgate Chapel we are planning on hosting a signing effort at the entrance to the Westgate Chapel every Sunday afternoon for the next four Sundays, observing all the required social distancing and sanitizing restrictions.

May I ask you to prayerfully consider doing the same? Too much is at stake.

If you would like more information, please click on the appropriate Quicklink for examples of the kind of curriculum that is being mandated, answers to some of the well-meaning objections to Referendum 90, and where you can get copies of the referendum for your church.

Sincerely,
Pastor Alec

Pastor Alec Rowlands
President, Church Awakening

Quicklinks

Free Alcohol and Marijuana: King County Syndrome Hits Washington

/2 Comments/in /by

King County is procuring beer, cigarettes, and marijuana edibles to give to homeless people so that they won’t violate the governor’s COVID-19 stay-in-place orders. The headline is so ridiculous it’s almost too hard to believe, but it was recently reported by Dori Monson and confirmed by King County Health.

Does anyone believe that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Christian minister and the namesake of King County, would support government using taxpayer resources to bribe people with free alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana in order to get them into free housing?

Something tells me Dr. King wouldn’t be thrilled; this is the antithesis of Christian Social Justice.

I’m not advocating that we should simply allow infected individuals to run around Seattle and infect others. But I am saying that we should be utilizing this shutdown to detox and treat those who are addicted to alcohol and substances, rather than simply enabling their habits, and leaving them to prolonged addiction and death. This isn’t intelligent, nor is it the sort of just and compassionate response we should have towards those who find themselves addicted and in need of our help.

King County is home to Seattle, which qualifies it as the largest population center in the state. Despite enacting some of the most dysfunctional, anti-Christian social justice policies – like heroin injection sites for addicts, the de facto legalization of petty crime, and the rampant spread of homelessness jungles – King County seems to be the driving force behind Washington State’s COVID-19 response policies, leaving the rest of the state to suffer.

If you don’t believe me, just look at the data supplied by the New York Times.

The New York Times reports that 21 of Washington’s 39 counties have had either 0 or 1 death associated with COVID-19 this year. The infection rates in these counties are nearly non-existent, yet, they continue to be forced to shelter-in-place and businesses shuttered for an indefinite amount of time because, well, King County still has a lot of COVID-19 cases.

Remember how well things went when Governor Inslee and King County declared a homeless emergency 4 years ago? Today, despite billions of treatment dollars, things are worse than ever before! If Governor Inslee continues tying Washington’s human service initiatives and economic relaunch to King County, or even worse, California, or Oregon, or any of the other incompetent states he’s chosen to align us with, we won’t reopen for months, if ever!

Say what you will about President Trump and his undisciplined tweets, or his ability to morally lead the nation. But the approach outlined by his Administration – in which the economy, decided by local elected officials, can slowly reopen in the areas not highly affected by illness – is the smart and prudent approach, regardless of who proposed it.

I generally agreed with Governor Inslee early on in regard to a temporary shutdown, with some specific objections (i.e. his decision to allow abortion clinics to remain open while churches were forced to close), because at that point, “flattening the curve” was a bipartisan effort.

But now, even though the curve has flattened, the horizon is muddled, the path seems unclear, and we seem to be stuck in syndrome of tunnel vision. The specified goals are inconsistent, the timelines ambiguous, and the metrics being applied on a county or city are incongruent. While the Governor touts his collaboration with out-of-state leaders, he is rejecting critical perspectives from Washingtonians, such as Republican House and Senate Minority Leaders, faith leaders, and the many local elected officials all across this state, as demonstrated by his unilateral opening plans across the state.

It would have been wrong for President Trump to impose this on all 50 states, and it is wrong for Governor Inslee to decide this for all 39 counties in our state. What was a bipartisan fight against COVID-19 has now become partisan trench warfare.

We need to start acting by what data and Christian morality dictates – reasoned, safe, just approaches that allow healthy people in unaffected areas to resume work and diminish the fiscal burden currently growing among all households. The Governor needs to stop treating responsible adults like children in need of a nanny.

I pray to God that we stop allowing our cities and counties to use COVID-19 as a justification to further entrench vulnerable people into a life of drugs, alcohol, and addictions.

I pray for Governor Inslee, that he would adopt the morality and values of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and that God would grant him the wisdom and courage to end this crisis in a just and safe manner.

Reopening Washington: The Constitution Not Suspended in Times of Crisis

/3 Comments/in /by

In an interview at the beginning of the week, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the media that the federal government is now satisfied that the nation’s testing capabilities have reached such a level that any state can safely move into Phase I of the Opening Up America Again Plan. And that includes Washington State.

At the time of this writing, Washington is still subject to Governor Inslee’s Stay-at-Home order through next week (May 4), and the Governor says he plans to extend it again.

But it isn’t just the Trump Administration that is pushing to re-open the economy; medical professionals and academics are as well.

Following the release of Stanford’s COVID-19 response study last week, Stanford Medical Center’s Neuroradiology chief Dr. Scott Atlas said that stay-at-home orders “no longer make sense” and that it is, indeed, safe to begin reopening the U.S. economy.

A renowned Swedish epidemiologist is criticizing the report that triggered world lockdowns, calling the author “arrogant,” and questioning the entire concept of quarantining healthy people.

These developments are simultaneously great news and startling reminders that we are never too far removed from partisan politics.

Rather than work together in federal, state, and local partnership, it appears that some leftist officials are bent on using the economic recovery of America as an opportunity to simply oppose the president’s recommendations – a development that will almost certainly cause damage to our already-fractured nation. This isn’t the time for choosing sides. It’s time to listen to our medical professionals and our economists, and start moving towards economic recovery.

History will likely tell whether early knee-jerk reactions that followed the explosion of COVID-19 cases in Washington State were warranted, given the unknown facets of the illness and the quick expansion of cases. Perhaps Washington’s early and decisive movements towards social distancing kept the Evergreen State from realizing a much worse infection rate. We can and should assess that later, but with the major threat now past us, it’s time to move forward.

With our state tied to California, Oregon, Nevada, and Colorado in a COVID-19 pact, any early movements we might be inclined to make as an autonomous state are likely to be scrutinized by our west coast peers. Regardless, it is time to move swiftly towards relaunching Washington State’s economy.

On a positive note, despite the uncertainty surrounding our nation’s economic rebirth, religious liberty has been picking up some big, precedent-setting wins in courtrooms across the country.

As leftist and pagan leaders at all levels of government have sought to block people of faith from worshipping in any capacity, courts have rebuked them, seemingly in concert with the position taken by the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, in a recent memorandum to public officials across America, reminded them of that position – that the U.S. Constitution “is not suspended in times of crisis.”

History has shown us that Americans are normally very amenable to making sacrifices when they are in the interest of the common good. But they don’t respond well to having their rights taken from them – crisis or not.

Let’s get back on track and back to work. Click here to email Governor Inslee to share your thoughts.

Also, please make plans to attend my “Zoom in for Coffee” meeting tomorrow morning. This week, we will dedicate our discussion to R-90, with guest speaker Mindie Wirth, Chair of the Parents for Safe Schools Referendum 90 Committee. You can RSVP here.

As Inslee Faces Protests, OURChurch in University Place Holds Drive-In Service

/0 Comments/in / /by

The Pacific Justice Institute, representing OURChurch in University Place, has sent a letter to Governor Jay Inslee seeking clarification as to why the State does not plan to permit churches to hold drive-in church services despite other state-chosen entities being allowed to operate in similar capacities.

Despite the state’s position against drive-in church services, OURChurch’s Sunday morning services went on without any major interruptions from authorities. You can read their letter to the governor here.

Later Sunday afternoon, thousands gathered at the Washington State Capitol to protest Governor Jay Inslee’s ongoing orders to keep closed what he and his administration consider to be “non-essential” businesses and non-profits. As Washingtonians begin to feel enormous economic pressure, the governor has indicated that he plans to extend further his executive order that shutters most of the state economy. It is currently due to end on May 4th.

As Dori Monson noted in his column today, hypocrisy is one of the reasons Washingtonians are taking to the streets. The governor has decided that “private home construction must stop, but Sound Transit construction can continue. Private landscapers are out of work, but King County can still dispatch crews to trim grass in closed parks. The hypocrisy is outrageous.”

At the center of this discussion is whether or not government even has the authority to define what businesses or church groups are or are not essential. After all, every business – for-profit and otherwise – is essential to those who utilize, own, or are employed by it.

The balance between issuing guidelines to protect the public health and becoming an authoritarian ruler is apparently very delicate. Many governors and mayors have gone beyond reasonable requests for residents to stay at home and have begun dictating what stores can and cannot sell, arresting parents for playing with their kids at public parks, or dragging people for not wearing face masks.

People should continue to take precautions as it relates to stopping the spread of COVID-19, including continued social distancing, but they should also remain aware that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

Government officials should focus on encouraging common sense – not using COVID-19 to test the boundaries of their offices’ power.

We echo our previous calls to Governor Inslee: please don’t disregard the advice of qualified economists in favor of advice from medical professionals. The advisement must be balanced properly, or we risk saving people and families from a contagious disease only to lose them to poverty we created in the process.

Inslee Says Economy “Not Close” to Re-Opening While Abortion Clinics Remain Operational

/4 Comments/in /by

As the number of new COVID-19 cases in our state begins to rapidly decrease, Washingtonians are beginning to realize the economic impacts of more than month of statewide shutdown. “Non-essential” workers are still being required to stay at home, and all “non-essential” businesses and non-profits required to close – that is, except for abortion clinics.

Our governor had previously extended the state’s mandatory shutdown to May 4, but with that date rapidly approaching, he is thought to be mulling yet another extension, which would force the economy to remain closed and people to stay at home for even longer. Fortunately, some of our state’s larger employers, like Boeing, are actively planning to return to normal operations as early as Monday.

Scientific data has shown that social distancing has been effective, but the economic cost of that gain is significant. Finding the right balance between economic stability and smart policy as it relates to COVID-19 is essential if we are to mitigate the trickle-down economic effects of the shutdown.

Yet another angle to this story, however, is the puzzling continuation of the abortion industry’s grip on “essential” status. Despite an ongoing statewide ban on elective medical and dental procedures, abortion clinics have been allowed to remain in operation, despite more than 98% of their procedures being elective in nature, and not medically necessary. Many states have forced their abortion clinics to close because of the competition for scarce personal protective equipment (PPE).

Governor Jay Inslee allowed them to continue operating as if nothing has changed, but he continues to expect other medical and dental clinics to remain closed, as well as other businesses the government has deemed as “non-essential.”

FPIW believes that every business is essential to the owners and employees who are sustained by it. So long as social distancing measures are not completely cast aside, Washingtonians who want to work should be allowed to resume. In order for that to take place, the forced closure of businesses should cease. We believe it would be prudent to shift the created burden of economic weight from the government and back onto the strong national economy, where it belongs.

Government safety nets are useful for a short time, but an indefinite economic shutdown will surely fray those nets. We are calling on Governor Inslee to announce a plan to re-open our state’s economy as soon as possible, balancing the advice of disease experts with the advice of qualified economists.

We cannot fully know how long COVID-19 will continue to exist, or whether the effects of the illness may be felt for years to come. In order to fully recover, Washington State will need to ensure that the policies we implement to flatten the curve don’t simultaneously cast able-bodied members of the workforce and the vulnerable individuals we are trying to protect from illness into poverty.

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to get Washington’s economy working for Washington’s families again. Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section and we will be sure to share those with policymakers in our state.

FPIW Announces Effort to Repeal SeXXX Education Mandate

/3 Comments/in / /by

The Family Policy Institute of Washington has announced, in partnership with Parents for Safe Schools, a ballot referendum effort, R-90, which aims to gather enough signatures to send the state’s ill-advised SeXXX Education mandate to the ballot for a veto from the people of Washington.

You can learn all about this effort at this link.

Signatures are being collected now through June 10th. Organizers must submit at least 129,811 signatures in order for the referendum to be included on the ballot in November. Click here to request signature sheets.

“In spite of thousands of citizens showing up and speaking up, the people’s voices were not heeded by the Majority Democrat Caucus leaders and their members,” said Mark Miloscia, former member of the Washington House and Senate and Executive Director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington. “This issue is too important to cast aside parents’ wishes. Young children do not need to be exposed to explicit sexual material at an early age – not in the name of education, or anything else. This legislation was nothing more than an attempt to indoctrinate children as early as possible.”

Parents for Safe Schools will be mailing R-90 petition signature sheets and gathering signatures through the deadline, June 10. If you’d like to chip in to assist with the associated costs, you can click here.

“As parents, we have a responsibility to protect our children from inappropriate, ideology-based curriculum,” added Mindie Wirth, organizer for Parents for Safe Schools. “This bill was passed late in the session with very little opportunity for ordinary citizens to testify and no amendments accepted. Parents and their local school boards deserve a voice in controversial curriculum decisions.”

The legislation referenced, SB 5395, was passed during the final week of the 2020 Legislative Session, during the initial panic of COVID-19. Governor Inslee signed it into law on March 27, just two days after issuing a statewide shutdown order. Throughout this entire process, parents have not been given the opportunity to speak up. Now they will.

FPIW Executive Director Mark Miloscia will be hosting a Virtual Coffee event via Zoom this Friday to discuss further. Click here to RSVP.

If you’d like to keep up with this effort, and all the work FPIW does to protect families in the Evergreen State, please click here to subscribe to our emails, click here to get updates on Facebook, and click here to make a donation to support our efforts to protect children from this explicit SeXXX Education mandate.

COVID-19 Has Morphed Into a Battle Over Abortion in the U.S.

/1 Comment/in / /by

As many states, including Washington, are fighting to “flatten the curve” and many companies are voluntarily repurposing themselves to provide personal protective equipment, which is still in short supply, a secondary battle has erupted.

Hint: it involves abortion clinics using the crisis to gain an advantage.

Nearly every state in the United States has issued an order temporarily halting elective medical and dental procedures – taking the moral position that those on the frontlines fighting COVID-19 should have access to equipment designed to protect them from illness before anyone else should have access to it.

And nearly every clinic in the nation has complied with those orders – except for abortion clinics, who have used this health crisis as an opportunity to prove to the world that they should be allowed to continue operating because they are “essential” (despite the fact that more than 98% percent of abortions are not medically necessary).

Several clinics have already run into courts to find sympathetic leftist judges who will let them keep the doors open, despite creating huge problems for hospitals and clinics looking for personal protective equipment, and emergency rooms who are already overburdened with patients.

Now, we’re seeing a group of leftist attorneys general working to use the COVID-19 distancing mandates as a way to push remote abortions through the states’ existing telemedicine channels. Remote abortions are extremely dangerous because they involve a patient consuming dangerous substances to induce an abortion away from direct supervision of a physician.

Current estimates from the Washington Department of Health show that 9,097 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in our state, and 421 have passed away because of it.

If this health crisis really is as serious as we’re being led to believe – and we believe it is – then we have a moral obligation, as a state, to do everything in our power to curb the spread – including halting elective abortions which use vital equipment and inherently violate social distancing requirements.

The personal protective equipment that has been used to take lives at abortion clinics in Washington could have been used to save one of the 372 Washingtonians who have passed away due to COVID-19.

We simply do not understand why elective, medically-unnecessary abortions have been given such a high priority in the middle of this health crisis. Washington is governed primarily by people who support abortion, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot ask those governing to objectively pause elective abortion procedures in order to focus energy and materials on stopping COVID-19 first.

Governor Inslee has publicly defending abortions – before and during his campaign, and since.

We know that God “knits us together in the womb” (Psalm 139:13), and that “those who bless others will be blessed, and those who help others will be helped” (Proverbs 11:25). It’s time for us to help those who are fighting on the frontlines of COVID-19, to bless them with the resources they need to stay safe, and to halt efforts to flippantly destroy what precious life God is creating in the womb to replace the life we have lost.

We encourage Washingtonians who are interested in learning why abortion clinics are being allowed to openly violate the order to halt elective procedures to contact your local Health Department or District.

You may also contact Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office and let him know that you would like to see him issue an opinion halting these unlawful procedures, and that you do not support abortion clinics operating in competition with those fighting COVID-19.

What the National Stimulus Means for You

/0 Comments/in /by

With Washington under a stay-at-home order, many are facing uncertainty with work, bills, childcare, medical care, and more. This is a time for us, as champions of the family unit and family values, to practice what we preach, and to keep our eyes open for ways we can help the families around us.

Several things have happened within the last couple weeks that will carry an impact on families and their abilities to weather this storm, financially and otherwise.

Congress passed and the president signed a bill (called the CARES Act) that infuses the economy with trillions of dollars – with hundreds of billions of those dollars being sent to individuals and families who need cash to pay expenses in the coming weeks.

The Secretary of the Treasury said last week that he expects all payments to be made within a few weeks. Most payments will be near $1,200 per adult, unless you made over $99,000; you can calculate the estimated payment you will receive here.

If you filed your taxes within the last two years, you do not need to apply for this money. If the IRS has your direct deposit information on hand from a previous tax return, funds will be automatically deposited into your account or a check will be sent to the address on your tax return. Payments will be calculated from your 2019 tax return, unless you haven’t yet filed it; in that case, it will be calculated by your 2018 tax return.

For those who want to help in their communities but do not have financial resources available to donate, you can donate time, too!

Whether volunteering at a food bank or homeless shelter, delivering groceries to at-risk individuals, or providing childcare for families whose parents are still required to work, there are so many things that can be done to serve our communities in this time of need. I encourage you to reach out to your local church or favorite non-profit to see what needs they are aware of. So many of these tasks can be accomplished without violating any social distancing guidelines or endangering your own health.

You can continue to monitor COVID-19 and the risks it poses across the state here. Aside from the health risks, the stay-at home order is endangering the wellbeing of many small businesses as well. If you own a small business that is affected by forced closures, you may be eligible for small business assistance, including tax-deferment through the State of Washington, too.

Even in this time of challenge, we have so much to be thankful for. By broadcasting grace, peace, and compassion, this is an excellent opportunity to be a positive reflection of our beliefs.

This, too, shall pass. We’ll get through it together.

Petition to the Abortion Industry: “Leave Masks and Gloves for those Fighting COVID-19!”

/0 Comments/in / /by

As states fight back against COVID-19, personal protective equipment (also known as PPE) is in increasingly short supply. To combat this, most states have halted all elective, non-essential medical and dental procedures in order to preserve these valuable resources to protect those who are fighting against COVID-19. Nearly every medical and dental office in the country has complied – that is, except for abortion clinics.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics are pushing the narrative that they are and should be considered essential medical providers. Like an ICU, cancer center, or emergency room, these clinics are arguing that they should remain open and fully-operational – even if almost 100% of their procedures are not medically-necessary and even if those operations cause PPE shortages for doctors and hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

We believe they are using this opportunity to find a liberal federal judge that will enshrine their self-designated “essential” status in case law, making it even more difficult for states to enact meaningful protections for women and children.

The abortion industry isn’t a stranger to pushing the envelope, but this is just offensive. A clinic whose sole job is to take life away should never have priority over clinics, hospitals and doctors who are saving lives.

We aren’t going to stand for this. Abortion clinics should not get special treatment and they shouldn’t be given a special exemption. If COVID-19 is as serious a threat as we are being told, then our society has a moral obligation to prioritize our resources and manpower to defeat it. Period.

Please sign our petition and remind Governor Inslee that the only way COVID-19 is defeated is if we ALL pitch in – abortion clinics included – and ensure that our personal protective equipment is placed where it can do the most immediate good: on the front lines battling COVID-19.

Pray that God grants Governor Inslee wisdom, and that he would make the right decision with regards to “essential services” here in Washington State, for the good of all Washingtonians.