Minister Persecuted by Judge

The Gospel’s Power to Shape Culture

I want their faith to not just be something that stands, but something around which culture can be built.

We want students who can think critically about arguments, but also about the culture around them, that can then speak clearly to it, and that also have the ability to influence and shape because of the power of their message.

Because that's really what the gospel does. The gospel throws down all the arguments against it. It speaks to the hearts of people, it influences, and it changes.

Introduction to the Program and the Coming Trip to Ireland

Welcome back, everybody, to ApologiaTV. I'm Jeff. They call me the Ninja. That's Luke the Bear. And that's... I almost said, that's Joey the Girl. Sorry. That's Zach. Communicationswithendabortionnow .com.

Make sure you guys go to endabortionnow .com and get started. Also, just a quick note here. Please pray for the three of us. We are going to Ireland to try to be an encouragement and a help to the church in Ireland.

Speaking of abortion, Ireland's one of the last Christian nations, historically Christian nations, that still criminalizes abortion, both in the North and the South. The South really facing a beast with the repeal of the Eighth Amendment as a real possibility coming up here very, very soon.

So we're going into Ireland to bring the message and help of endabortionnow .com, the Ministry of Apology of Church, to try to encourage the church there to bring the gospel into collision with that culture, and to hopefully avoid the blood guiltiness that we have now in our nation in Ireland.

Tony Miano’s Sentencing and the Judge’s Persecution of the Gospel

And so here we go. We are now going to talk about the portion of the trial where Tony gets sentenced. I'm going to play the audio for you. Before I do, Tony, anything you want to say in particular about this portion, the sentencing itself that we should know?

Well, I was given an opportunity. I was offered the opportunity to address the judge. And I weighed that with my attorneys. My goal was to proclaim the gospel to everyone in the courtroom. The Lord gave me the opportunity to do that.

And so at that point, I really had nothing else to say. But as the judge started the sentencing, his sentencing speech, it took all the patience the Holy Spirit could give me not to interrupt the judge like every 30, 45 seconds with the words that were coming out of his mouth.

And it's important to note that, as I'm sure you're going to play some clips that will drive this home, it was the judge's sentencing speech that filled me with the most joy because he made it abundantly clear that this was not about loud noise, that this, in a sense, wasn't even about abortion.

It was about the proclamation of the gospel and how much the people of Iowa City, at least some of them, hate Christ and His gospel.

That's right. This is genuinely, truly, without question, persecution for the message of the cross. Here we go.

Freedom of Speech, the First Amendment, and Obeying God Rather Than Men

And certainly those things would argue for deferred judgment. But I would think as a officer, former officer of the law, having been warned that your activity was disruptive, causing distress to people inside Planned Parenthood, having at one point sworn to uphold the law, and having been told that, and having concern for others, as I think a minister would.

I want to pause there for a moment just to say, Tony was operating within the law. First and foremost, as we said on our radio program, having the same discussion, Acts 529 shows the apostolic witness in regards to a situation like this.

When the civil realm is commanding the apostles to stop preaching in the name of Christ, bringing His blood upon them, and specific orders are given, do not preach in this name anymore. The apostolic witness is, we must obey God rather than men.

So in terms of the law of God, Tony is operating well within it. But in terms of current law that we have in our nation, thank God for the biblical worldview that provided the First Amendment, the freedom of religion, and the freedom of speech.

So he's operating well within that. And then in terms of where we're at today in terms of court proceedings and opinions, I'm not saying courts make laws, but courts have already ruled in favor of the First Amendment itself.

And the Supreme Court, Seya v. New York, and the Federal Court of Appeals cases that demonstrate clearly, one, you cannot prohibit free speech because the person hearing it finds the message offensive, or two, they can hear it.

So those two things.

Heckler's veto. So in terms of the law itself, Tony being a police officer, this is a, you don't have to say anything here, Tony, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. This is a slam against Tony. You should know this.

You're a law enforcement officer. That's the point.

Yeah.

Tony knows the law and he's operating well within it. And in terms of what's happening behind those doors, I want to make note of the fact that behind those doors, Planned Parenthood's across the country, 1 ,000 children lose their lives a day.

Now that means little boys and girls are being disemboweled, decapitated, and then dismembered behind those walls. And we have a minister of the gospel being persecuted and treated unjustly for the proclamation of the gospel and the offer of help to mothers and fathers who are destroying their children inside.

And this man, our brother, is being persecuted. Please share this.

Here we go.

The Right to Speak Versus the Right to Be Heard

That the last thing you would do is go back, and not just go back, but is go back and continue to talk in a volume loud enough to cause distress to the people inside. And, you know, you weren't just standing there, I think, with a placard.

You were standing there, peering over the bushes, doing it in such a way that you can direct your words towards the people in Planned Parenthood, even so far as to try and talk people into not going in.

Exactly, Your Honor. That's what freedom of speech is about. That's what it's all about. And he's well within his rights to do so. And again, as we said on the radio program itself, Zach, you missed this, that's one of the benefits of living in this nation.

Thank God for the biblical worldview. I'm allowed to stand outside of a Walmart. I'm allowed to stand outside of KFC.

Someone can come to church if they wanted.

You can stand outside of my church and protest and say, I don't agree with this message. I don't think you should go to that church. That's the benefit of freedom of speech.

And that judge would probably let them.

Yeah, I'm sure.

Can I say one thing real quick?

Please do, yes.

It sounds very similar to what we're facing over here, in that the issue seems to be you can speak. You have the right to speak, just not the right to be heard. That's the distinction that they're drawing the line at, is you can talk all you want, as long as they don't hear you inside.

That's right, which sort of undoes the whole reason for the First Amendment in the first place. And I'd like to also make note of the fact, and I'm sure that the colonists were causing distress to the king in England and to the people in red coats and to the English who thought differently.

And so you understand there's a context, an historical context to the First Amendment itself and the privileges and rights that we have. I shouldn't say privileges, they're rights, that we have there.

And so given that, the nature of that, the foundation gives us all that we have today, the foundation for why Tony was operating well within the law. We're going to take a quick break, go over to Apologyistudios .com to get the after show to hear more.

We'll be right over there. Go to Apologyistudios .com, get signed up, partner with us on all access, you get all of the radio programs, you get the TV show, you get the after show, including Apology Academy, and you partner with us in ministry, bringing the gospel around the world.