Hundreds of abolitionists of human abortion engaged the city of Charlotte, NC, with the Law of God and the Gospel of Jesus over the weekend as part of their national “All on Fire ” conference, engaging in open-air preaching, mass demonstrations outside IVF clinics, Universities, drop-carding, discourse in the public square, and even visiting local churches.
One group, armed with graphic signs, attended Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church on Sunday, setting up shop along the sidewalks of the main campus in Ballantyne.
Several went inside before the ‘worship service’ began to hand out Gospel literature to the congregants but were able to distribute only a few before being ushered outside by security personnel.
Abolitionists engaged incoming concertgoers with open-air preaching of the Law and Gospel, literature, and signs with different messages. While some signs invited consideration of the gospel, others depicted graphic photographs or realistic drawings of victims of the ongoing national Holocaust of child sacrifice.
We spoke to Alan Maricle, one of the abolitionists who participated in the initiative known as the “Church Repent Project.” He told us they chose Elevation for a variety of reasons, with the most substantial draw to contrast “the great urgency to set apart in the eyes of the watching world a religious business like Elevation, headed by a carnal and deceptive showman like Furtick, from the Church of the Living God.”
Maricle said it should be “intolerable for any Christian to neglect to publicly challenge the claim on the part of an organization like Elevation that they are a “church,” when in fact this organization fulfills very few of the minimum requirements to be considered a church, biblically speaking.”
The Abolitionists’ motivations also included a “grave concern for the souls of the congregants” and a “deep disgust for the silence regarding the ongoing legal Holocaust of abortion, which is still legal in all 50 states.”
With no fewer than three abortion mills and at least one In Vitro Fertilization facility within a half-hour drive from the Ballantyne campus (to say nothing of the other Elevation campuses), and given the enormous amount of financial wherewithal clearly on display inside the Ballantyne building, on Elevation live streams, and even in Furtick’s wardrobe, there are a lot of folks who conclude that any financial shortfall among those desiring the establishment of justice for our preborn neighbors, for example, is a shortfall worsened by those who claim the name of Christ for financial gain.
Notably, there was resistance from off-duty police hired as Elevation security and a large amount of apathy among attendees.
“One of the most ironic things is after most attendees went inside for the 9:30 am event, an Elevation staffer placed a sign near us facing the front door, stating “WORSHIP EXPERIENCE IN PROGRESS. PLEASE BE QUIET.”
The sign was quite striking to the abolitionists present, with Maricle concluding: “Are zealous followers of Christ not always instructed to keep quiet and refuse to let their light shine?”
Despite the presence of abolitionists and graphic imagery, which surely rattled the congregants, they reported that some people took a great interest in what they were doing, having dozens of conversations about the gospel and their purpose for being there, including with security guards and police officers.
Elevation Church made no comment we could find about the abolitionists’ ministry during their morning livestreams.
