Join me today at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls, Idaho as I continue the epic journey through the Gospel according to Isaiah.
Don’t miss gathering with the faith people of God who gather at 204 Eastland Drive North at 9:15 a.m. for bible study, 10:30 a.m for morning worship gathering, and 6:30 p.m. for evening gathering.
Live Streaming begins at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. (mountain time)
Dear beloved Eastside,
Over the past few weeks you have given much of your time, mind, strength, and resources to host the single largest gathering we’ve ever had at 204 Eastland Drive North. My greatest fear is that I might miss saying “thank you” to someone.
I want to be brief but specific.
Thank you to all who
Eastside, you hosted a people in the community who are ready to act on behalf of the unborn for the glory of God. It is hard to put into words the appreciation I have for you and all that you did. Much of what you did, you did with no one asking you. You saw things that needed done and you did it. You behaved like the church. You loved each other, you loved your neighbors, and you interposed for those who are not able to defend themselves. Your generous hospitality was a blessed joy to witness. Thank you.
You are the kind of church who are not just hearers of the word, you are doers of that sufficient word of God.
May the Lord bless your household, may He bless the city (region) with an outpouring of His spirit, may he revive His Church for His glory, and may He awaken the conscience of the community with His glorious gospel that saved us from our sin and is sufficient to redeem their souls.
May the community know little of your pastor and bless the Lord for God’s people of Eastside Baptist Church but especially may they never forget about the God you love.
This would be a blessed hope we have.
For the glory of God alone.
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an open letter to the Mayor of Twin Falls, ID
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Dear Mr. Mayor,
It was a humble kindness from God to participate in a blessed experience as a tax paying citizen of the City of Twin Falls, Idaho, my home for the past 18 years (and counting) where this past Monday (Aug. 1, 2019) I was given a generous spot on the agenda of a very busy city council meeting.
That moment when I was introduced by you to address the council with my proposed ordinance to speak for the unborn in the city of Twin Falls, was among the most humble moments I have ever experienced in this temporal day.
This was not a religion trying to impose a practice or system upon another, this was a day that this citizen stood before you, with over 250 neighbors, to interpose for other neighbors at risk, at risk of murder. As you know, statistically speaking, 5 of our neighbors are murdered every week in the city limits of Twin Falls. That puts the city of Twin Falls, Idaho among the most deadly cities to live in in all of Idaho. Not deadly because of natural causes or accidental death, this is the kind of premeditated murder that is given a legal permission to not properly prosecute the perpetrator, making this even more severe.
Where I was given a generous time to introduce my draft ordinance to the council, I was surprised that you overlooked my attempt to speak after several false claims were made by some of the council members. I have found you to lead fairly and patiently enduring disruptive citizens from time to time. But this conclusion was not at all like those previously witnessed. This was a quick and speedy conclusion to vote. I respect that this was a majority vote 4 to 3 to not consider further dialog on my appeal and not a decision of one single person. Any one of the four who voted not to discuss this further could have voted differently.
I’ve witnessed my city give long and slow consideration to far less important matters. We accommodated several public meetings to talk about smoking in the city. We’ve heard talk about butterflies and honey bees for months. We form citizen committees to be a voice for “under represented” citizens. Apparently, our neighbor in the womb will continue to be an altogether un-represented neighbor.
I am thankful for the intention of Councilwoman Hawkins’ motion with intent to give serious consideration with the aid of legal council and go down the normal slow path with care and interest to the request and the protection of the city while expressing serious concern for the murderous activity happening in the city. Her motion was crafted with humanitarian interest and fiduciary responsibility to the city. Consistent with Councilwoman Hawkins’ tenure.
The other two, Councilman Reid and Councilwoman Boyd, voting in favor of her motion were willing to consider the plight of the innocent in light of the threat of legal lawsuit showed their concern of life over money. This doesn’t mean we ignore the possibility, it means we take time to weigh out if it is indeed a real possibility, not just an empty threat.
But not even one moment to take a deep breath to think about what a city can do for preserving lives of all its citizens? Not even a moment of silence to acknowledge one of the more than 2,000 neighbors murdered in our city by a tyrant company who has no interest in innocent lives of babies.
You, Mr. Mayor, actually made my point better than I did when you brought up the other laws in Title 6 – Public Safety of our city code. When the city of Twin Falls introduced an ordinance in 1958 forbidding prostitution or homes of “ill fame” was it legal in the state? If so, and it was, then why could the city of Twin Falls forbid it from happening when it was not illegal at the state level?
It wasn’t that long ago that the city of Twin Falls voted to change the law of how long a bar can be open in the city. The state of Idaho regulates it at 2 a.m. Until the city of Twin Falls decided to change it’s code, a bar had to close at 1 a.m. Cities can have laws that are more strict than the state and federal.
These are only a few of many reasons I think a longer discussion would have been a fair discussion for the city to have. Not to mention Idaho code gives local municipalities the authority to govern their cities and counties.
The action of the majority has communicated to the public that the City of Twin Falls is willing to live in fear of the ones holding our children hostage and demanding we obey their every demand while they slowly kill off our neighbor.
The city of Twin Falls will be written about some day. You see, by the grace of God, a day will come when the nation will wake up from this drunk stupor and be shown the brutality of allowing the murdering of babies in the womb. The city of Twin Falls will be on the list of the equivalence of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany and its horrific gas chambers and mass graves of innocent neighbors.
May the kindness of God lead the city council of Twin Falls to repentance.
Until Christs’ return, my death, or justice is given to my unborn neighbor, I will not be silent.
Paul Thompson
A tax paying, property owning citizen, of the City of Twin Falls, ID
—— edited for misspelling and grammar 4:38 p.m. on August 9, 2019 ——
Monday, August 5, 2019, I will stand before the city council of Twin Falls at 5 p.m. to interpose for my neighbor who cannot speak for himself, for my neighbor who cannot appeal her case, who, unless God intervenes, will join the other 1,914 (and counting) babies murdered in the womb since 2008 in the city of Twin Falls, Idaho.
This is a call to all born-again, God-fearing, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as described by the Bible in the Magic Valley to join me at 203 Main Ave. East on Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. At this meeting I will request that the city of Twin Falls consider adopting code language to protect our neighbor in the womb who is at risk of being murdered. To intentionally stop life at any stage, especially when that murder is given a provision in the law, is a heinous act of the most horrific kind.
On Monday night at 5 p.m. I will request This new paragraph in Title 6 – Public Safety under general offenses. (Title 6 – Chapter 2 – Section 20)
Title 6 – Public Safety, Chapter 2 – General offenses,
(20) Abortion: Every person or organization using any means to intentionally terminate the clinically diagnosable, viable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn human being will be guilty of inflicting inhumane actions upon another causing death before the otherwise live birth.
(A) Definitions: For the purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings:
UNBORN HUMAN BEING: The offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until either live birth or natural death, including the human conceptus, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo and fetus, whether conceived and/or located inside or outside the body of a human female.
CONCEPTION: The fertilization of the ovum of a female by the sperm of a male.
ABORTION: The use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device to intentionally kill an unborn human being.
(B) Violations: Notwithstanding any other law, it shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly and intentionally perform, procure or attempt to perform an abortion.
(C) Construction: It is the intention of the city of Twin Falls that the provisions of this section be construed, enforced and interpreted in such a manner as to absolutely defend the right to life as enumerated in Section 1, Article I of the Idaho Constitution. The city of Twin Falls shall enforce this section regardless of any contrary or conflicting federal or state statutes, regulations, executive orders, or court decisions.
(D) Penalty: Violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and/or six (6) months in jail, or both.
What can you do:
FAQ:
Join me on Monday, August 5, 2019 at the city of Twin Falls city council chambers, 203 Main Ave. E., at 5:00 p.m.
Plan to come early. Remember parking in downtown is limited, you may find closer parking behind the city council chambers. Be sure to plan ahead. Ask to get off work early. Be prepared to stand in the hallway or on the street. It will be hot, bring water. Even it it means you stand in the hallway or on the street and hear nothing, your presence says this is something the citizens want the council to consider.
Special ATTENTION: If you have children, be sure to bring them with you, if you are pregnant, please come even earlier so you can be inside the chambers. If you are a pastor, please come early so you can be inside the room. When I give my speech to introduce the code consider standing. When the city council talks about the code language, be respectful and listen. You will be allowed to leave after the agenda item is finished.
Thank you for your consideration to put your gospel shoes on and join me on the field for action on behalf of the child in the womb for the glory of God.
I’ll see you Sunday at church and/or Monday downtown Twin Falls!
Today, there is no way to claim simple ignorance on what’s going on when a baby is aborted from the womb. Anyone wanting to claim it is humane or kind to remove the living human from the womb before natural birth has deliberately chosen to ignore truth and has a seared conscience.
“You shall not murder.” God
(Exodus 20:13)
On behalf of all unborn who enter the city of Twin Falls and all children in the womb across the state of Idaho, on behalf of the silent child in great need today, on behalf of the child who has no way to flee his enemy, I am pleased to invite you to attend a special meeting on August 1, 2019. Join me as we prepare for the duty to interpose on behalf of our fellow Triune-God image bearing neighbors.
My friends Bear Morton, pastor at Magic Valley Bible Church, and Christopher Folkerts, pastor at New Covenant United Reformed Church and I have the privilege to host an hour long radio program on Thursdays at 9 a.m. (mountain time). Pastors Round Table is hosted by our friend Bill Colley at Newsradio 1310 KLIX.
On August 1st, we will host a region wide gathering to educate, collaborate, and most importantly pray about moving forward to address abolishing abortion in Idaho. This will not be easy or make anyone popular.
Attend this meeting on August 1, at Eastside Baptist Church (204 Eastland Drive North) in Twin Falls. Not only will we discuss the proposed Idaho Abortion Human Rights Act legislation and meet the sponsors, Representative Heather Scott(District 1) and Representative John Green (District 2) along with Scott Herndon, we will also open our Bibles and hear what God would have us do in our day.
Come at 6 p.m. to meet the legislators and the Pastors Round Table team. The main event will begin at 7 p.m. Seating is limited, but we will do all we can to accommodate the seating needs of all who attempt to come. Parking will be limited so you may want to plan ahead and car pool from the Kmart parking lot with friends or park at Web Nursery.
For the glory of God, come and prepare to mobilize for the day.
More information HERE
Date: July 2, 2019 – 7:00 p.m.
Please send this link on to every God fearing pastor you know in the Magic Valley. This is an open letter to pastors in the Magic Valley of South Central Idaho
Dear Brother Pastor,
Please consider joining me on July 2, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at Eastside Baptist Church to discuss the issue of the sanctity of life in the city of Twin Falls for the glory of God. Gather with other pastors at Eastside Baptist Church (204 Eastland Drive North) as we band together to address the issue at an upcoming Twin Falls City Council meeting (TBA). It will be important to have a strategic plan and have a clear and undeniable request to members of the Twin Falls City Council. We are planning, but are pleased for God Almighty to direct each step for His own glory. Please join us on July 2 at 7:00 p.m.
For more information contact Eastside Baptist Church: 204 Eastland Drive North, Twin Falls, Idaho
208.734.7041
The following dates and actions will be explained with time for Q/A.
Important Dates:
July 2, 7:00 p.m. – A Symposium Concerning the Unborn for the Glory of God. A meeting with pastors throughout the Magic Valley. Eastside Baptist Church, Twin Falls, Idaho
August 1, 6:00 p.m. – A regional gathering of God fearing citizens to discuss why and how we can impact state legislators on the issue of life for the glory of God. Rep. John Green and Rep. Heather Scott will be present to discuss the issue for the coming year. Eastside Baptist Church, Twin Falls, Idaho
TBA: a date to introduce ordinance code for city council consideration.
What if an enemy of the state of Idaho wanted to fly its flag at the statehouse?
This week in the city of Twin Falls, Idaho 5 babies will be stopped from having a live birth. While that happens, a bill will continue to sit on a desk at the statehouse that would make a path possible to stop murdering of babies in Idaho. This, because legislators are afraid Planned Parenthood wants to fly its flag over the statehouse.
Since Planned Parenthood opened in Twin Falls, Idaho the death of babies has now reached the entire city population of Hansen and Eden. Over 1,900 babies have been murdered at a “women’s health center” in downtown Twin Falls and no one with proper jurisdiction to stop this bloodshed has been willing to stand up to the tyranny of Planned Parenthood.
I originally wrote the following on August 19. 2013 HERE(emphasis added)
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I would expect there would be a global outrage if an army of 600 militia men, armed for war, burned a peaceful town down. I would likely join the cry for justice.
I would expect Facebook and Twitter would light up with posts for weeks if it was discovered that a father gave his daughters to invaders to do with as they wish. This is wrong on so many levels, and one would find few people to disagree that that father is not only a danger to his children, but to all of civilization.
I would expect a man who chops his dead wife up into twelve equal pieces and then sends those pieces throughout the land to not escape the death penalty.
(yet) Today, in our land and around the world, two organizations are largely unchallenged in their injustice, inhumane ways. UNICEF gets its pass because of their clever and well put together commercials and propaganda. Planned Parenthood will cunningly evade the questions on funding while they slaughter the unborn. Both organizations will gather large sums of money from tax payers in America and individual donors. Making both UNICEF and Planned Parenthood arms of government and private militia. Nearly unstoppable.
I would expect a nation that claims to be a nation under God would not stand for the murdering of (61) million defenseless babies.
This oversight seems unbelievable. Yet, when there is no acknowledgment of God, when men do what is right in their own eyes, (only then can) a nation can sit quietly by while the act of murdering 3,300 babies today will be protected by law, while babies go unprotected. Citizens of the United States of America, prepare to give your best effort in answering your God. Better, repent of your laziness and pursuit of happiness while this slaughtering takes place in your city today.
It is clear, when men do what is right in their own eyes, they will soon be doing what is evil in the eyes of God.
This was my Twin Falls, Times News column from this past weekend published in the Saturday edition.
No one living in southern Idaho can underestimate the value of water.
I collect rain water off half my garage to water my garden. This is effective as long as the clouds rain rain. What happens when the clouds rain no rain?
Anyone who lives in a desert region knows that at some point the rain will likely stop. When this happens, usually around July, the thriving community will need a good source of water. If no consideration has been made in the cool days of rain, no life will survive the blistering heat of the scorching sun when there is no rain.
A student of history knows that there have been many historic battles fought over water rights. We even see this in that ancient holy book, the Bible.
In Genesis 26, the reader learns that after Abraham died, the Philistines came along and plugged up all of Abraham’s wells. The Philistines filled the wells to pollute, clog, and render them useless for the descendants of Abraham. Their hatred for God and His people was so high that they were willing to murder them by shutting off the water, that supply all of society needs to thrive. Without it, the people can’t live. That was their aim, ending the life of Abraham’s family. They obviously didn’t want the water, they wanted the people to suffer and ultimately die.
Today, we tell ourselves we live in a much more “civilized”, “enlightened” day. We don’t intentionally contaminate other people’s water. No one is going to shut the water supply off because of one’s religion, no one is going to clog up the well of the farmer just because he’s a God fearer.
However, there are God fearing people in the land and there is a growing hatred of them. If one looks at the issue of life, it is evident that hatred of image-of-God-bearing babies in the womb is growing. This continues to dominate attention in our day.
Forget about what New York State has done, never mind the cruelty of Virginia, don’t focus solely on what the governor of New Mexico has vowed to do. Look right here. Look in the county and city of Twin Falls. Open your eyes to what victory the war campaign of death has made in our own land of Idaho.
There is a bill sitting on the desk of Rep. Steven Harris, the chairman of the State Affairs Committee, that would make abortion (murder of babies in the womb) illegal in Idaho. I sat in his office this week to appeal to his conscience to open the gate to let this bill in for committee work. When I asked him if he would print the bill, he said “no, I will not”. If you remember your School House Rock, you’ll remember this is where a bill gets worked on, fine tuned, and adjusted; or the bill dies in that committee altogether. The “Idaho Abortion Human Rights Act” remains on the desk of the committee chairman because he apparently fears it will pass the house and the senate and would soon be ready for the governor’s signature..The enemy of God has a hatred of image-bearing-lives and he has convinced a chairman to sit on the bill that would otherwise let the babies live.
One thing the reader discovers as they read through Genesis 26 is that Isaac would eventually come along and dig out the wells. He would remove everything the Philistines had polluted the wells with, he would remove all the junk, all the dirt, all the garbage. While doing so, he would once again reclaim the splendor of the desert with life.
To the faithful, God fearing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as described by the Bible: Rise up today with your gospel shovel and let’s dig out the “wells” the Philistines have plugged up. Strap on your Gospel shoes and let’s get to work.
There is one organization, lead by an evil, God-hating agenda to plug up life in our city, county, state, and nation. May God mobilize His people- His church, and find them actively purifying the decades old plugged up wells.
Gather this Lord’s day with a people longing to hear a report about God from a living pulpit lit by the Word of God. Gather there and pray, gather there and prepare, gather there with your “Gospel shovels”, it’s work day at the church house.
consider visiting the Times News page: The Wells Are Plugged Up
May God have mercy and awaken the conscience of the city.
The annual report from Idaho Health and Welfare can be found at https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Portals/0/Health/Statistics/2016-Reports/2016_Abortion.pdf.
Rather than protecting Idaho’s most vulnerable, this agency is reporting the state’s legal induced abortions with copious details. These abortions, protected by federal law, take place in large numbers within the city limits of Twin Falls, Idaho.
According to Idaho Health and Welfare, induced abortions are defined as “a legal medical procedure that is intended to terminate a pregnancy without a live birth.”
Those are not my words, they are the words selected by the Idaho Health and Welfare Department.
If words mean anything, and they do, then every word here needs to be examined. Induced: this word describes an action that is “produced” or “caused” by an outside force acted upon another. Abortion: “the act producing young before the natural time or before the fetus is perfectly formed. In the figurative sense, any fruit or produce that does not come to maturity, or any thing which fails in its progress, before it is matured or perfect. The fetus brought forth before it is perfectly formed. The termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.”
By definition alone, using our English words we are saying in broad daylight that induced abortions are outside acts introduced to a living embryo or fetus (human, person). This is a forced act upon the embryo or fetus to stop (read that again, To STOP) it from naturally growing to maturity. Forcing the embryo or fetus to die before it is matured.
It’s right there in the words. But there’s more to observe.
What “medical” procedures need a qualifier of “legal”? Obviously, the full definition of “Induced Abortion” needs this qualifier to keep the conscience at arms length, quiet, and sitting in the corner. If the definition of “Induced Abortion” by the Idaho Health and Welfare did not include the word “legal”, no one with an awakened conscience would allow this to continue as it is. The word “legal” is more like a gag and a blindfold for the conscience of our community.
Read that definition again without the word “legal.”
A medical procedure that is intended to terminate a pregnancy without a live birth.”
We could finish the examination of the definition, but it is clear. This induced act is intended to terminate a pregnancy without a live birth. I can’t ever read that without the sound of every word crying out to my conscience to wake up.
Now, in closing, consider the statistics.
In 2016, in the city of Twin Falls, according to the Idaho Health and Welfare Vital Statistics, there were 242 “induced abortions”; that is, 242 medical procedures intended to terminate a pregnancy without a live birth.
You read that right, 242 forced terminations of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.
God have mercy on the city of Twin Falls.
sources:
This is my submitted column for the Twin Falls, Times News this week. Look for it at www.magicvalley.com under “Pastors Corner”, due for publication on Saturday, January 26, 2018.
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I turn my attention this week to my fellow pastors in the Magic Valley. I know that not everyone of them read this weekly column so I’m depending on readers to pass this on to your pastors, or to a pastor you know.
If we are not careful, the modern pastor of the modern church will be lulled to sleep with dreams of being hoisted up on the shoulders of our communities as the greatest blessing to ever be in our beloved cities. It is a tragedy if we think we are relative because we give people only what they want, a little “chicken soup” for their soul. What is needed most today is an honest people to deliver an honest message from the only reliable way to know God, the Bible. Not so we can boast about how loved we are by our community, but because we know we have just given what is needed most, the Truth that sets men free.
There are sins in all our churches that can only be removed by a blessed work of the grace of God. Our churches and communities are filled with thousands of people of both sexes to whom we have no voice; and they will never be authentically reached but by an movement of the Spirit of God raining down upon our homes, churches, and cities.
This kind of pouring out comes as a result of honest, humble, and compassionate men of God who will stand in their pulpits on the coming Lord’s day and preach once again “thus saith the Lord”. Then, when the man of God is faithful to his duty and the congregation of God is convicted of and repent of their sins by the work of the Holy Spirit, might the power of God rain righteousness upon the region.
Unless and until the Holy Spirit does this, we will soon lose any listening ear and/or any platform to address the growing population.
In 1838, American theologian Albert Barnes observed that “one form of sin is interwoven with another; one leads on another; and all (sins) stand opposed with a solid front to the Gospel of Christ.” In other words, the world will only increase in an emboldened hostility against God. Unless the church awakens from her slumber soon, this current generation of professing Christians will render herself irrelevant. Not because she refuses to try out new things but because she ceases to be a holy people.
You see, fellow pastor, our strategy of becoming like the world is a flawed strategy. Our hope to make ungodly people comfortable with a holy God without the work of the Holy Spirit is hoping God will not be true to Himself. Who in our churches will live holy lives when their shepherds lead them to be like the world?
There is a united front of sin in this world, how do we expect to stand against it while at the same time the professing church remains largely divided against the holy God and His congregation.
In the meantime, all things move along with a hope for status quo, the church cannot hope that God is pleased to continue being presented to the watching world with an unholy apathetic representation. But then again, it is a flawed hope that we think this kind of change or desire for holy living can be accomplished simply by emotional enthusiasm that has to be re-energized within a few days.
As Albert Barnes noted in his day; if this status of the church continues on as is, unchanged, unalarmed by the unconverted masses and the growing love for self and sin, we have no reason to be surprised that sin will continue to triumph, and “that the world moves on undisturbed to death.”
Hey, help me out and pass this column on to your pastor. Encourage him to remain steadfast and immovable on the blessed hope we have in Jesus, the Christ, as described by the Bible alone. Pastor, contact me and let’s pray together that the “Heavens will rain down righteousness and that salvation will bear much fruit in our day.” (Isaiah 45:8)
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Paul Thompson is the preaching pastor at Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho. Eastside Baptist Church gathers on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. www.esbcTwinFalls.com You can email Paul at paul@esbcTwinFalls.com
