I am sorry that it's been a little while since I have posted. I have had a lot going on and I will be able to share some of why on here very soon! It has to do with my involvement with several pro-life projects that I can't wait to share with you but I'm going to wait until later to share those because they aren't quite ready yet! :)
But I just had to share this great video that I found on the lie that so many that are pro-choice like to throw out there when they are arguing that abortion should remain legal. They try to say falsely that women will die from back alley abortions if abortion is made illegal. This video of Alan Shlemon from Stand to Reason answers why this is not true so well! Please watch this one and share it so that we can help show others that this is not true. And while the door is open share your views of why every life should be protected and that every life is precious and that all people deserve the right to life! Abortion is the greatest human rights violation ever! Because without the right to life all other rights are meaningless. 



Be a voice for the voiceless because without us they don't have one!

I wanted to share this on here because I think that it is something that pro-lifer's need to see and I wouldn't mind hearing your opinions on this as well. I recently shared one of the graphics that I made on another Pro-life site on Facebook. I'm getting use to having pro-aborts attack me for some of my Pro-life graphics and views that just goes with it I know. However some of these pro-abortion people were actually trying to quote scripture from the Bible that they want to say supports abortion or that shows that unborn children in the womb are not as valuable to God as born people are. Now I have heard this argument before so that didn't shock me but this is something that all Pro-lifer's need to know how to address if and when it comes up for them, I think this is especially true if you are a Christian! Now all of this came about from me simply posting this Pro-life graphic of Jesus with the Scripture from Matthew 18:10 on it.
1. "I don't see how you interpret this as pro-life. It's saying that babies in Heaven are close to God, and that you should not hate them... I assure you no one has an abortion because they have a burning hatred for babies."  

2. "Do any of you people actually read the Bible??? Jesus actually said children, not babies. It's a different word in both Aramaic and Hebrew. The other thing you may not know is that they didn't have ultrasounds back in Jesus's time. Just sayin'."
3. "Here's a few verses for you - Genesis 2:7 : And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Job 33:4 : The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life. Ezekiel 37:5-6 : Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” In other words, life begins with the first breath. I won't quote the whole text, but I also suggest reading Exodus 21. God gives the Law of the Israelites to Moses. In this, is included, a law that says if 2 men are fighting and injure a pregnant woman, causing her to lose the baby, then a monetary fine is to be assessed. If the pregnant woman is seriously injured the punishment is to be "life for life, eye for eye" God's Law sets a differentiation between the mother's life and a miscarried fetus. Who are we to place our judgement ahead of that of God. Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. James 4:11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?"

I had to share this great blog post from International Pro-life speaker, Attorney Rebecca Kiessling where she takes on a recent article by Ann Coulter where she claimed that pro-lifers like Mourdoch and Akin lost their elections because they were 100% pro-life. Coulter also claims in her article that only 1% of Americans are 100% pro-life which is totally untrue as well.
There should never be any exceptions made in the right to life.  All children regardless of how they were conceived are human beings. Children that are conceived in cases of rape and incest are completely innocent and had nothing to do with the way that they were conceived. The children have done nothing wrong just like their mother's did nothing wrong and were victims of these terrible crimes. No woman should ever be the victim of such horrible crimes, and there is excuse for any woman to ever go through that. However if they do become pregnant because of them being victims of these horrible acts the answer to a resulting pregnancy is not an abortion. Abortion will only victimize and traumatize the woman more and take an innocent life in the process. These babies do not deserve the death penalty for the crimes of their fathers. Rebecca was conceived in rape and she has become an internationally known pro-life speaker who is helping others see that every life is precious and matters, and that there should not ever be exceptions to anyone's life. 
I got permission from Rebecca to post her response here and I encourage you all to please share this with your family and friends and on your own Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites as well. This is an issue that everyone needs to address and talk about even those that are already pro-life. I have heard way to many say that they are pro-life with exceptions or they are pro-life...but... there should never be a but when you are talking about life. The true stories of people like Rebecca and others like Ryan Bomberger,  Pam Stenzel, and others are changing hearts and minds and helping to open people's eyes to the truth every day. Please let's help them spread this message that the children who are conceived in rape and incest their lives aren't any less valuable than yours or mine. Because this is truly a life or death matter! 
Visit Rebecca's webpage at  http://www.rebeccakiessling.com she has many stories and videos of women who were the victims of rapes and became pregnant, and many stories and video from men and women who were conceived in rape. These true stories are so thought provoking and touching and they put a real face to the exceptions issue. Please visit her site and read theirs stories and watch their testimonies and invite others to as well! I can't tell you how important this you just might save someones life!
If you would prefer you can read the response at Rebecca's blog and this is the link to share it...
http://rebeccakiessling.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/rebecca-kiesslings-reply-to-ann-coulter-save-the-1/
Below is the entire response copied and shared with Rebecca's permission.
Rebecca Kiessling’s Reply to Ann Coulter — Save The 1!

I knew this would happen! I predicted that Republican party apologists would blame Richard Mourdoch and Todd Akin’s losses on the fact that they are 100% pro-life, instead of acknowledging that the losses were due to how poorly they expressed their positions. And sure enough, the day after the election, Ann Coulter did just that. In her article entitled, “Don’t Blame Romney,” she spent half of the article blaming these two Senate candidates for daring to defend the life of every preborn child. Her exact words were, “because these two idiots decided to come out against abortion in the case of rape and incest,” calling them “pro-life badasses,” “purist grandstanders,” with “insane positions,” who were “showing off.” Unfortunately, Coulter has a huge following and will surely influence many uninformed readers with her misstatement of the facts and her flawed reasoning. I have great concern that these Senate losses will have a chilling effect on pro-life legislators and voters. Hence, a swift and thorough response is in order.

Ann Coulter, referenced “all the hard work intelligent pro-lifers . . . in the trenches” and what they have accomplished, as if she was one of them. Well, I’ve been in the trenches since 1995, and I must point out that Ann Coulter has been missing in action. I’ve never once seen her in here, so I can’t comprehend how she could possibly include herself in this group. I’m a hard-working intelligent pro-life activist, and I’m 100% pro-life – for good reason. I was not only conceived in rape, but nearly aborted at two back-alley abortionists. The only reason I wasn’t killed through a brutal abortion is because I was legally protected. My heroes are those pro-life legislators and activists who were hard-working and intelligent enough to understand that mine was a life worth saving.

Coulter went on to erroneously write that Mourdoch and Akin lost because they had “abortion positions that less than 1 percent of the nation agrees with.” Her figure is way off, and she has totally ignored the fact that their abortion position adheres to the Republican party platform! All she’s doing is further alienating the base. Mitt Romney alienated the base – not only by making the rape exception, but also by his own gaffes, such as when he said, “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” Pro-life leaders were left to mop up that mess, from which he never recovered. Many pro-lifers who were already skeptical either voted third-party or stayed home. Three million Republicans stayed home, compared to 2008.http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/11/republican-turnout-in-2012-election-less-than-2008-and-2004/ Making matters worse, Romney ran ads in battleground states suggesting that it’s extreme to be 100% pro-life. How could anyone deny that such ads hurt Senate candidates like Akin in Missouri, Mourdoch in Indiana, and Smith in Pennsylvania, as well as congressional candidates like Koster in Washington and Bachmann in Minnesota? And let’s not forget how the party leadership threw these candidates under the bus – something Democrats do not do to their own.

Additionally, the 1% figure Coulter threw out there is just not even close to being true. Polls in the last few years have consistently shown that the number is between 20 to 24% of Americans who believe abortion should be illegal in cases of rape. The other 31%+ of Americans who are pro-life with exceptions are 99% of the way there, and only need to be nudged another 1%. My experience shows that this is easy to achieve – if you try, just as how my story changed the heart of Gov. Rick Perry during his presidential campaign. And that’s the key. Who has really tried? I know that the number of 100% pro-life Americans would be much higher if the pro-life movement as a whole actually went after this ground. Instead, Coulter is right in pointing out where the effort has been focused – on things like parental notification laws and efforts to ban partial birth abortion. The lives of children conceived in rape are often minimized with the standard dismissive language of: “Well, it’s only 1%.” Why continue to minimize? Why not stand up and really defend our lives? We need to try to gain ground on this issue, by educating the public, by equipping candidates and legislators on how to most effectively respond to the rape question, by making ads with children conceived in rape available for anyone who wishes to utilize them, and by removing rape exceptions from the law, beginning with the Hyde Amendment.

My response to people like Ann Coulter is – WE ARE NOT CANNON FODDER! You do not get to put us out on the front lines and then take a giant step back. The “burning building” analogy fails because you have no interest in working to save all. You do not get to call yourself pro-life by shutting off the water, sending the fire trucks home, while you stand there watching the building burn down with the 1 inside of it. If you want to see who the real extremist is, Ann Coulter, come on Fox News with me, look me in the eyes and tell me how you think my birthmother should have been able to abort me. Tell me that my life was not worthy of protection and that I don’t deserve to be living, and I’ll show you who is the one who is extreme.

Some strategists will suggest that you have to accept rape exceptions in order to get candidates elected and legislation passed. This is untrue – just look at Right to Life of Michigan as the model. They have been a standard-bearer in this cause and have never accepted the rape exception. You can’t get their PAC endorsement if you make the rape exception, and they will not put their stamp of approval on legislation if it has an exception. When they didn’t have the votes to pass the ban on Medicaid funding of abortion without a rape exception, they worked on the exception-legislators to convince them to change their positions. When they still didn’t have the votes, RLM targeted them in their primaries, got them voted out, then passed the ban without exceptions. That’s how you get it done!

Now Right to Life of Michigan has mentored many other state NRLC affiliates to go to this model of being a standard-bearer, maintaining the principle that all are worthy of protection. Since the change on their Board of Directors nearly 12 years ago, Georgia Right to Life has passed more pro-life legislation then they’d ever passed before. They were told at the time by the Republican party leaders that they were dead, irrelevant, and called extremists. Now, every constitutionally-elected official – Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, are all 100% pro-life with no exceptions. The lobbyist for Georgia Right to Life, Dan Becker, wrote a book about it, “Personhood: A Pragmatic Guide to Prolife Victory in the 21st Century and the Return to First Principles in Politics.” www.tkspublications.com Tennessee Right to Life and Alaska Right to Life are other examples of state affiliates who successfully transitioned from the compromising model of accepting the rape exception to being a standard-bearer with no exceptions.

We must not discriminate! Children conceived in rape are surely the most outcast members of our society, being unfairly demonized and portrayed as a “horrible reminder of the rape,” “the rapist’s baby,” “tainting the gene pool,” and even “demon spawn.” This not only affects the pre-born, but also those born under such circumstances. Can you imagine if a law was introduced with an exception in cases of bi-racial rape? I could hear the rationale, “Well, it’s only 1% of 1%,” and “the child would look more like the rapist and would surely be more of a reminder of the rape” – an argument which I’ve actually heard before. There would be a national outcry for such discrimination! Civil rights leaders would be outraged and demand that the exception not only be removed, but that the legislator who introduced it must immediately step down. And yet, half of pro-lifers think nothing of discriminating against children conceived in rape, and it’s wrong!

If we are going to gain ground in this effort to protect unborn children, we must maintain a standard, and we must make more of an effort to educate. I believe that the best people to do so are those of us who have been on the front-lines as pro-life speakers who were conceived in rape, who have been spending our entire adult lives defending our right to life. We’ve heard every question, every challenge, every argument. Why not utilize us? Just to name a few, there is Ryan Bomberger, Susan Jaramillo, and Pam Stenzel. On my website, there are dozens of stories of others conceived in rape and who became pregnant by rape. We’ve publicly shared our stories for a reason – please use them!www.rebeccakiessling.com/Othersconceivedinrape.html I’m partnering with Personhood Education to form Save The 1 – an organization which will implement the strategies necessary to defend the 1%, as well as the 99%. Here are three of our new ads which will be launched soon. www.youtube.com/savethe1child

Back to Ann Coulter’s article – she wrote that “No law is ever going to require a woman to bear the child of her rapist.” I don’t believe that. Laws DID protect children like me and these protections can and should be restored. She went on to add: “Yes, it’s every bit as much a life as an unborn child that is not the product of rape.” Ann, your words speak volumes as to what you really believe. A preborn child is not an “it.” He or she is a life, a human being, a person, a son or a daughter. They have a gender. This is not a mere philosophical or political exercise, but real people’s lives are at stake. When I represented the mother in Michigan’s “frozen embryo” case, the fertility doctors testified at deposition that from one cell, they are literally male and female, and ascertainably so! Just as it says in Genesis, “male and female, He created them.” Using words of gender serve to demonstrate the humanity of these children.

Lastly, Ann Coulter goes on to suggest being 100% pro-life is not wise because too much of a good thing can harm you – like too much iron, or too much sugar in your coffee. I couldn’t help but think of the words of Mother Teresa: “How can you say there are too many children? That’s like saying there are too many flowers.” No offense Ann, but I’d rather heed the words of a godly woman like Mother Teresa than you.

Amen Rebecca! Keep standing up for and speaking the truth! God bless you!

I wanted to take this opportunity to share this new video featuring Rebecca for the upcoming Save the 1 campaign too! Please share this with others and let's all be a voice for the voiceless and help to Save the 1!

The elections are over. I must say that I was a bit surprised but not overly shocked at the results. I am very sad to see that the U.S. has become so spiritually and morally blind as it has and as was shown so clearly by the elections yesterday. BUT that being said I know that God is in control no matter who is President. We need to pray for America and for all of those who were elected as the Bible says for us to do. We must follow what God and Jesus have said to do and not fear but pray and continue to be his hands and feet in this world to change it for the better! We need to love others and teach them the truth and stand up for what is right!

Today I have a very special interview with best selling Christian Artist Ron DiCianni to share with you. Now some of you might wonder why I'm interviewing an artist on a Pro-Life blog but the Pro-Life cause is very near and dear to Ron's heart because he was almost the victim of an abortion himself. 

Hello Ron and thank you so much for being my guest today. Can you tell us a little about yourself for those that aren’t familiar with your work?

I am a Christian cleverly disguised as an artist! Like so many, I am just trying to use the gift I have received to serve others…(1 Peter 4:10)

  

Did you always love art and did you start out drawing or did you start with painting?

Yep! From as early as I can remember, art was always a passion. I never really wanted to do anything else. However you got to learn to draw as it is the foundation for everything in art including painting!

When did you first start painting?

I started getting real serious about art when I was in High School. It was the only subject I excelled in. When I didn’t do so well in Chemistry etc. the school stopped me from continuing in the art classes as a punishment. They didn’t realize that I was not goofing off in those other classes, I was just wired for art and the creative things.

How many paintings have you done so far?

Well, I have been doing this professionally for 42 years! The first two decades were devoted to “secular” work because the Church wasn’t interested. The second two decades I have concentrated on telling the world about Jesus in my work. I probably have done a few thousand paintings? I get tired just thinking about it…J

What is your most famous paintings do you think?

“Spiritual Warfare”, “Simeon’s Moment” “Safely Home”, “In The Wilderness” & “The Resurrection Mural”

The Resurrection Mural  at The Museum of Biblical Art

You are one of the best selling Christian artists in the U.S. and your work is absolutely beautiful. Words just don’t do them justice. But your life almost ended before it began could you tell us about that? 

Thanks…I’d be remiss if I didn’t give God the glory for it all.

As to my near abortion, my mom was intending to abort me and went to her doctor to have it done. Although she wasn’t a Christian, my Grandmother who lived with us was. She must have been praying that day. Like a lot of people who contemplate abortion, my mom’s life was not conducive to another baby. She lived in a cramped Chicago apartment with my Dad, my brother, my aunt, my grandmother and a dog! Bringing another life into that just didn’t seem like a good thing. But as my friend, Ray Comfort reminded me lately, people don’t abort babies because they are in hard circumstances…they abort babies because they don’t have a correct view of life. Only God can give life and only God should take it. When the doctor wanted to start the abortion, he brought a needle to my mom’s arm, and that was when God spoke to her and said, “Don’t do this…I have a plan for this baby!” She told me she pushed the needle away and walked out. For decades she would remind me that God had a plan for me. She became a Christian and was so glad she obeyed God’s voice. She live much longer than my Dad, so she got to see a lot of what God has done with my work and was one of my biggest cheerleaders. She prayed constantly for me.

When did you learn that your mother almost aborted you and how did you find out?

Don’t really remember…but she never hid the fact from me. She was willing to risk her reputation in order to have me understand how sacred life is. She used to remind me often, especially when life would throw it’s discouraging moments at me like we all sometimes face. It always helped me to see “the bigger picture”!

One of your latest paintings is a actually a Pro-Life painting titled "Before I Formed You in the Womb". Can you tell us about it and how that came about?

Ray Comfort, a great evangelist and preacher did a movie called “The 180 Movie” (If you look at a print of the painting, you will see that I acknowledge that movie under my signature). He challenged me to do the painting. God gave me the idea, but Ray gave me the kick in the pants to do it! We now give a copy of the 180 Movie, free, to everyone who buys a print. It’s the most powerful Pro-Life video I have ever seen.

  

The painting is just gorgeous and it’s so detailed. I was so moved by it with Christ’s hand reaching out to touch the mother’s stomach. I didn’t notice this the first few times that I saw it but if you look closely you can actually see the profile of the baby in the mothers stomach it’s like it’s looking up at Christ. I thought that was just awesome! It’s so subtle but once you see it you can’t look at it again without seeing it. And I think that is very deep and kind of symbolic of the fact that there is a life in every pregnant woman even if she can’t see it or feel it yet and even if she isn’t showing yet it’s there and it is precious and sacred.

Thanks…the model for the pregnant lady was my daughter in law, Amanda. She was pregnant with her fourth child, Hudson Taylor, and I photographed her about a week or two before he was born. We just finished a video to support the campaign where you will all get to see him. Cute little guy…

  

Are there any other special things in the painting that a person might not notice when they first see it?

If there were no “special things” in the painting, it would still be an important statement about the sanctity of life, However, I always try to put extra things in to give a “discovery” process later on. Certainly, it compliments the central theme of the work, which in this case is that God forms each life while inside the belly of the mother. First, many don’t see the baby in the mom’s belly! Secondly, if you look at the shadow being cast by Christ’s hand you will see it forms a cross. That’s my reminder to all that Jesus died so your baby doesn’t have to! Here’s some verses that spurred me to the details of the painting:

Read Psalm 139 and you will see that the David reminds himself, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  A few verses later he says something every person should be aware of. “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” How profound is that? God didn’t just have a plan for me, He had a plan laid out for every baby that was aborted, and I sometimes wonder who was killed that the world badly needs. Was the baby that was to cure cancer been aborted?. Possibly, that answer is “yes”!

I've wondered that very thing myself many times. There are so many countless blessings that God might have meant for mankind and how many of those were aborted and never allowed the chance at life. Every life is precious and has something to give.

  

And Ron you are wanting to get one of these paintings into the hands of every Obstetrician, Hospital, Pediatrician, Crisis pregnancy Ctr. and even Planned Parenthood clinic in America correct? Can you tell us more about that and how others can help?

Without doubt, that’s our plan. But, we cannot do it alone. This has got to be an effort of the Body of Christ to get these where God can speak to so many. We are hoping that “sponsors” will catch the vision and help us give them away. (Literally, my publisher does not make one cent on a print!) We are doing what we are asking others to do, and that is to make this a sacrifice for the sake of the unborn. Eventually, we want to also get them into schools, churches and anywhere the message can penetrate a mind for life.

When I first posted the painting on FB, a lady wrote me and said that very morning she was outside of an abortion provider and was trying to talk to the people going in. One couple heard her talking and the guy started swearing at her. However, the young lady crept closer and whispered, “I don’t want to do this…” but ultimately she wound up going inside and killing her baby. The lady told me that if she would have had my painting to show the young lady what she was killing, she was confident she could have persuaded her otherwise. That broke my heart…

That is terrible! It is truly heartbreaking. Here is hoping that the print will be able to help save many more lives like that one through it's message. 

The print is available now at http://beforeiformedyouinthewomb.com/ 

Every print receives, at no cost, a copy of Ray Comfort’s incredible DVD 180 which chronicles the transformation of people on camera from pro-choice to pro-life once they are exposed to the truth behind abortion. With over 3 million views, 180 has already impacted hearts and lives and verifiably saved babies from abortion! You can also find out more about how to sponsor prints at the website as well. 

A major portion of each print goes to fund pro-life efforts at such incredible ministries as 180 and pro-life pregnancy centers. So please get your copy of the print today and tell your friends and family about it and post about it on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking sites that you belong to.

Ron thank you so much for taking the time to be with me and share your story here on Voice for Hope. I hope that everyone that reads this will go and buy a print of the painting and if they can sponsor to have another print sent to a Dr.’s office, hospital, or Planned Parenthood to where hopefully it will touch the heart of people and hopefully save many, many more innocent lives! 

We need to pray that God will use this. More than ever, the lives of the unborn are under direct attack as is evidenced by our upcoming election conventions. Planned Parenthood was very visible and very determined to impact the future with Pro-Choice. Our disgust won’t stop them, but maybe a visual reminder of life will stop a person from listening to the rhetoric and choose life.

That is very, very true!

Visit Ron's website and see more of his work at http://www.rdicianni.com/ and at hhttp://www.tapestryproductions.com

Thanks so much again Ron and God bless you!

As election day is almost here everyone needs to pray and vote...in that order! You need to ask yourself who would God and Jesus vote for of the candidates that are available? You also need to keep in mind that you are voting for more than just the President and remember to vote for those in the House and Senate who will stand up and vote and fight for what is right in this country!

Ask yourself this if a candidate will not even defend a person's most basic human rights...of which the foremost is the right to life, how can you trust that candidate to stand up for what is right on any other issue?

If you are a Christian you should only vote for those who stand up for life and are against abortion and euthanasia. All people are made in the image of God. Only God is able to give life and only God has the right to say when that same life ends. We need people in the White House, the Senate, and House and every other office that will do what is right and protect the sanctity of every life! Research all the candidates in your area and see where they stand on the issues before you vote! Don't just vote by what party they belong to but by how they stand on the issues! Know the facts and remember that many politicians that start off in the lower offices go on later to be in much higher offices and your vote can help them to get there. Every vote is important and every position that is held is important and could pave the way for those same candidates to make it into the White House one day. So please know where each candidate stands on the most important issues before you cast your vote for them. Pray and keep the important issues in your mind when you vote! May God bless America and help those to be elected who will do his will only!