Displaying items by tag: bible

by Jor-El Godsey, President
Heartbeat International

Do you ever have one of those moments when you hear a little bit of current culture while reading scripture that was written two and three millennia ago?

I do.

Usually, it happens when I remember that a phrase we commonly use today actually comes to us from scripture. Such as when I hear, or speak, phrases like “the skin of my teeth” (Job), or “handwriting is on the wall” (Daniel 5).

Then there are sayings that aren’t direct phrases from scripture but lean into biblical principle(s). An overly used one in recent years is when business conversations include the phrase, “come-to-Jesus moment.” When said in these contexts they really don’t want Jesus involved (mercifully) but want to have an intense conversation with an intended course correction. Of course, ironically, this leverages the very nature of a true encounter with Jesus which should inspire confession, repentance, and an intentional move toward righteousness.

Just today, while reading through the book of Job, a phrase jumped out at me. To be clear, the phrase itself, does not have traction in our modern lexicon. Though it does rhyme with a phrase used by rockers and is similar to one made popular by some Saturday Night Live characters.

Job is in dialogue with his “friends” who come to his side in his despair at losing everything important in his life (read Job 1-2 to set the scene). His companions spend much of their dialogue suggesting Job’s problems are his own doing. As their rant goes on, Job gets more and more exasperated at them and their accusation which he is certain is not true.

One of Job’s responses reveals his frustration.

“Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” (Job 21:3)

“Mock on.”

Can you hear your heavy metal friend say, “Rock on?” Or Wayne and Garth with their “Party on!?”

I did when I read that scripture. (Don’t judge me!)

But what I also heard was the exasperation of my own heart.

Job cannot fathom why he’s in such dire straits and attacked, seemingly, from all sides including heaven. He had been faithful to God and was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:1, see also 1:22, 2:9-10). Those speaking to him and about him are not being helpful.

In the pregnancy help community we have been about the business God has called us to. We have been diligently laboring in the mission field created by abortion to champion the value and worth of each woman, the intrinsic sanctity of life, and the importance of God’s gift of family. And we have done this for each life we encounter without thought of compensation, but only thinking of what we know is God’s best for them.

And yet there are powerful and persistent voices that mock what we do. They fabricate scenarios intended only to defame us and our work. They invent narratives that serve their avarice and ambitions. Some of these voices likely won’t be satisfied until we, like Job, have been stripped of every good thing we have and know.

Not unlike the real antagonist in the book of Job (read Job 1) our detractors today have actively aligned themselves against God’s handiwork. That includes the good work of God that is pregnancy help. That means we can take heart with what Job eventually learns when God enters the conversation. That God’s power and sovereignty are not lessened when we encounter trials and tribulations.

Job’s closing comments inspire us with exactly what we need to remember for our current challenges. We can look to the Lord with the same confidence of Job when he says, “I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You” (Job 42:2). Indeed, the Lord will hear us as He did Job, who said (v. 4) “Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.”

Let us take heart! The Lord will set a table full of provision before our enemy (Psalm 23). He will supply all that we need for the work He has called us to (Philippians 4:19). Our greatest success is found, first, in our faithfulness to Him.

So to our detractors, we can say, like Job, “mock on.” Knowing that our God is mindful of those who mock Him and His work (Galatians 6:7). 

by Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D.
Heartbeat International Board Chair

Today is being promoted as International Women’s Day. I’m always a little skeptical of secular “women’s events” since I came of age in the era of radical feminists like Gloria Steinem whose definition of feminism included an absolute “right” to abortion and unlimited sexual “freedom” (and more than a hint of disdain for men).

The website promoting this day reports that it has been celebrated through the years (since 1908) with various emphases – women campaigning for better working conditions, or for voting rights, women rallying against war or ending violence against women, or celebrating the accomplishments of women through history . . .

It also insists, “Today, IWD, belongs to all groups collectively everywhere” – so that means Heartbeat International too!

And, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that those of us who are Christian pro-life women (and men) have more reasons than perhaps any other group to celebrate women!

Why? Let me share 3 reasons with you. At the end, I leave you with a few questions that may occur to you along the way (as they have to me).

First, we celebrate women because we have internalized God’s truth about how crucial we are in his plan for the entire world! Probably you have heard this taught over and over again and, if you are like me, you may almost take it for granted.

But let’s think about this for a minute.

Genesis tells us that God created women (and men), and He made us in His own image and likeness. And, God gave us stewardship over all his other creations.

We can only begin to understand what this really means, but it makes each of us unique and very special – we each bear the “image of God!”

Moreover, together – male and female – we bear God’s image. God is a God of relationship, and our marriage relationship is also an image of God. Just as God is three persons but one God, husband and wife are two persons but they become one, and the fruit of that love is another totally and unique human being – we can be called “co-Creators” with God. What an amazing power we have – to bring the next generation into the world and image God in the process!

Women have something in this crucial role that men do not have – the gift of fertility – women have babies!

Women actually conceive in their very bodies, and carry to term, a totally unique human being who has a purpose in this life (planned by God) and has the potential for eternal life as well! Without women’s fertility the world would literally not go on.

Many “primitive” societies understood this clearly, as evidenced by the carvings, sculptures, and paintings you will find in museums, thousands of years old, depicting pregnant women and fertility goddesses. They “got it” ages ago, but sometimes our own “modern” society forgets it.

Women are created to be life-givers, literally and figuratively. Even if a woman does not have biological or adopted children, she probably nurtures nieces and nephews, and many others. Some women devote themselves entirely to ministry (for example, in religious orders). Sometimes we talk about the “spiritual children” they nurture.

Let’s celebrate women as God created us to be – with inestimable worth, value, and purpose as life givers!

Not only does this Truth of how we have been created, redeemed, and made for such a special purpose change how we see ourselves, but we have the amazing opportunity to share this “new Vision” (as in The LOVE Approach) with the women God sends to us in our pregnancy help organizations!

Think of the opportunity – to free women from what our culture often tells them they are – nothing, worthless, made for short-lived pleasures – even objects of someone else’s pleasure, or simply material beings with no purpose, living in a meaningless world.

Let’s celebrate the women in pregnancy help, who bear this Good News to others as we minister to them daily!

Second, we celebrate womanhood because, even though sin entered the world, God had another plan to redeem His most valuable creatures, women and men, by actually becoming one of us – a human being, and a baby at that, showing us that he is “the Way” and then suffering and dying for our sins to open the gates of heaven for us. And as He walked on the earth, he showed us how special women are to Him!

God’s plan gave one woman the most special role imaginable – to conceive the Savior in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, to give birth to Him and to be His beloved mother in every way. Luke’s Gospel tells us that she proclaimed, “From this day all generations will call me blessed.” She can be described as Jesus’ first follower and he performed his first miracle at her request at Cana even though He said, “My time had not yet come.”

Jesus also and especially showed his love for sinful women, like the woman at the well. He told her “all her sins,” as she recounted. But then he forgave her, telling her to sin no more. And, he actually shared with her that he was the Messiah! The woman caught in adultery he also saved – her physical life and her eternal life.

Think of all the miracles in which Jesus healed women! And, it was women who stayed with him, even when the Apostles fled in fear, and it was women who came to the tomb to show their love for Him while the Apostles were hiding. He showed Himself as the Risen Lord first to Mary Magdalene, and she was given the honor of announcing this to the Apostles. (She is sometimes call the Apostle to the Apostles.)

Think of the women of strength in the Bible that are our role models and our inspiration, think of the virtues of the “Proverbs 31 Woman.” Eve, who tempted Adam and who brought sin into the world, is not the end of the story for women!

Think of the women in Christian history, after Biblical times, who are role models for us in their faith, hope, and charity. Three of my own heroines are Monica, who never ceased praying for the conversion of her son Augustine; Helen (I have her name is my middle name!), the mother of Constantine the first Christian Roman emperor, who personally led expeditions to the Holy Land to find and preserve anything that belonged to Jesus; and Mother Theresa, who taught that the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion.

Let’s celebrate the women of Biblical and of later Christian history who are our role models and inspiration!

Third, we celebrate women because we have known, and we now know so many outstanding ones! Your mother, grandmother, sisters, or aunts may come to mind first. But perhaps you are thinking of one or more of the scores of women you have worked with at your pregnancy help ministry who have courageously chosen life for their children, in the midst of great difficulty and often pressure to have an abortion. They called or came in thinking that this pregnancy would be “the end of their life as they knew it” but, once they got in touch with their maternal instincts, they would do anything and everything to have and mother their children.

Perhaps you think of a mother who courageously carried her child and then made an adoption plan, allowing her very-much-loved baby to be brought into a family that she could not provide at that time. I personally think of the two birthmothers of our adopted son and daughter. Both Tim and Katy have spouses now and they have children – who would not be alive at all, if not for these birthmothers. My husband and I have a family of children and grandchildren because of their courage and love.

Or perhaps you are thinking of the women you work alongside of – fellow consultants or volunteers, fellow staff members, the leader of your pregnancy help ministry (and, truth be told, still the vast majority of pregnancy help leaders are women!).

Women whose prayer lives are inspirational to you, whose relationship to the Lord shines through, whose caring for you and others is evident, whose courage, commitment, and faithfulness are outstanding. Women who are coming through great pain and suffering, who perhaps suffered abuse, abortions and other pregnancy loss, abandonment, and more, yet who are healing, willing to believe and trust in the Lord.

Let’s celebrate the women God has put in our own lives as companions in ministry and those he has allowed us to accompany in their pregnancies and motherhood!

Indeed, at Heartbeat, we have so much to celebrate on this International Women’s Day!

Finally, here are some questions you might want to reflect on – personally or perhaps in a small group:

1. Do I believe in my own worth as a woman, created in the Image of God and redeemed by Him, with the role of a life-giver (literally and figuratively)? Do I sometimes focus on the world’s standards for women – perhaps regarding physical beauty, fame and fortune, or other standards which almost always make me feel less than worthy? What helps me see myself as God sees me?
2. Who are the women in my life that I celebrate and am thankful for? In my family, in my work, in my church, in the Bible or Christian history?
3. Have I ever shared the Vision of God’s design for women with another woman (perhaps a client or someone in my own family)? How did the woman respond? How did it make me feel? Is there someone I would like to share this vision with or I feel called to share this vision with?

by Jennifer Wright, Editor/Writer

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent observed by many Christians. Over the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, many Christians follow the example of Jesus spending time in fasting and prayer in the desert for 40 days from Matthew chapter 4.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

Matthew 4:1-3 (NABRE)

I have to admit, Lent is by far my favorite season in the Church. I’m reminded of Jesus’ humanity that he shares with us, I take the opportunity to forgo something good to strengthen my resolve in denying temptation, and, my favorite part, the music is stunningly beautiful. Singing in my Church’s choir since I was about eight years old, I’ve done a lot of music, but nothing compares to the hauntingly beautiful ancient pieces of Lent and Holy Week. Just the words “Were You There?” can draw a tear as I imagine being present for the crucifixion.

But that’s not what I’m writing to share about today.

I’ve always been taught that for Lent, a good practice is to focus on three things: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. I can’t say I always manage (human as I am), but I do try, and I think taking a season to pay particular attention to these ways to draw closer to Christ is not only healthy, but necessary. And individuals don’t have to do it alone. Here are a couple ideas for your pregnancy help organization to participate in the Lenten season this year. Perhaps something new will carry into the rest of the year, or maybe it will just make the Easter celebration a little sweeter for you and your staff, but I encourage you to participate this Lent either way.

Prayer

• Take a break for daily prayer with your staff and volunteers. It can be totally optional (Heartbeat’s 9am daily prayer is, but many participate year-round), but taking a moment to invite everyone into prayer for your supporters, clients, and each other has many benefits, including keeping your team a little more aware of the rest of the organization.
• Share a particular, specific prayer with any client that you find ready for prayer. This could be something you write, or a prayer you find helpful from another source. It can be something as simple as one line, such as “Jesus, I trust in You.” The goal is to invite clients into a life of prayer if appropriate. Remember, determining the right opportunity for this invitation will take prudence and temperance.
• Pray particularly for the pregnancy help movement around the world, especially those providing pregnancy help in Ukraine, and refugees fleeing to countries like Poland, Moldova, and other locations. (Click here for specific prayer requests from our affiliates in Ukraine.)

Fasting

• Fasting doesn’t always have to be from food, but it should be a sacrifice. For example, when fasting from food isn’t a healthy option for me (as a pregnant or breastfeeding mother), I fast from social media. That may not be a good option for a pregnancy help organization building a following on Facebook or Instagram, but maybe fasting from caffeine or mobile games would be a good option. (Note: If your Lenten sacrifice is a trial for the people around you, you may want to consider something else.)
• Make a sacrifice of simplicity for your meals and drinks for the season, and every time you choose the plain coffee instead of the latte or the water instead of the soda, offer that small sacrifice up for your clients or for a donor you plan to speak to that day.
• Fast from hot showers (and take only lukewarm showers instead), or give up your pillow at night, and offer that sacrifice up for the success of your organization or the strengthening of your team.

Almsgiving

• Try offering a new service or material aid to clients. Whether it’s a just-for-Lent kind of thing or the start of a new year-round resource, your clients will be grateful. Just to be clear, offering Baby Bucks or Mommy Money for attending classes and having clients shop for resources is not what we’re talking about here. These are fantastic services, but maybe for Lent, you give out an extra pack of diapers along with every item purchased with what your client earned or something even more generous.
• Invite past clients or current clients who are relatively well-off to share baby items they don’t need anymore with current clients in need. Maybe even invite past clients to meet with a new or expecting mom who could use a friend. Building the opportunity for others to give of themselves is a great way to facilitate almsgiving.
• Consider whether your organization might be able to give to Heartbeat’s HALO (Helping Affiliated Life-Affirming Organizations) Fund. Right now, we plan to use those funds to support refugees from Ukraine who need pregnancy help wherever they are in Eastern Europe, and to support our affiliates in Ukraine if and when it is possible.

May your Lent be a blessed time for drawing nearer to the Lord. God bless you.

Servants of Excellence

“By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

One of the easiest answers in the Bible is found when we pose the question, “How can I show others my faith?”

While there are a variety of characteristics a Christian might display—including the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)—there is one salient attribute the outside world will never overlook: Love for one another.

Jesus’ words in John 13:35 often wind up on our refrigerators, in memes on the internet and on tee shirts. But here’s a question: Do we really get it?

I’ll be the first to admit, I enjoy digging around in scripture to find powerful truths and unique ways to highlight these thoughts. But in the middle of reading, studying and writing on these subjects, am I taking the time to love those who share this faith with me?

Am I making it the priority in my life to love my fellow believers so that others will know—without a doubt—we are all Christians, faithfully following Jesus Christ?

There are evangelism courses all over the place. There are writings on topics relating to defining our faith, sharing our faith and defending our faith. These are all good, and important. No question about it.

But I must ask the question of myself: Is living my faith by loving my fellow followers the key focus of my faith? Or is “the love thing” simply a sweet ditty of Jesus; a nice thing to hear, or a good subject for an occasional devotional?

Just before speaking the words above Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Do I take this command to heart so strongly that I truly believe our love for each other is all we need to identify ourselves to a hurting world?

Because if I believe “love for one another” will make everyone see the power and the impact of our faith, I also understand the first logical step in reaching more people with the message of Good News Jesus offered is . . . love.

“Love one another” is more than icing on the Christian cake. It is the nourishment which fuels a healthy body of Christ. When we love, we create a powerful, engaging incentive for those outside of the faith to say, “Can I join, too?”

by Kirk Walden, Advancement Specialist