Nancy Wilson's Blog, page 5

Ready for Good Works

  I love this picture. It is a little volunteer snap dragon that showed up in my retaining wall, and it is happily doing what God has called it to do in the toughest of places. And it keeps blooming! This is what good works are all about.

The short book of Titus has quite a bit to say to us about good works, and I think we women need to be encouraged that so much of what we do in our homes for our families, as well as what we do for the broader Christian community, falls under this category of “good works.” We are all capable and qualified for everyday good works, works that flow out of our calling, whatever that might be. We don’t have to look for “designer” good works, but rather we should be content to offer our talents and time and energy to God to give ourselves away to the people who need us. The people here, right now. Not the imaginary people who live far away, but the ones in our lives now. That means the little people, the old people, the hungry people, even the grouchy people who don’t say thanks.

God has set us apart as “His own special people, zealous for good works” (2:14). He gave Himself for us, redeemed us, purified us for Himself, and now He has given us good things to do. We are to be eager, enthusiastic, and passionate about this business of good works. Not half-hearted, not willy-nilly, but seriously devoted.

In chapter three he tells us to “be ready for every good work” (verse 1). We are to be on our toes, looking out for what is needed, prepared for what might come up. Not only that, but we are to be constantly thinking about how to keep this up. “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works” (3:8). And just in case we missed that, Paul mentions it again just a few verses later in 3:14: “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”

This is what  we’ve got so far: we are created for good works, eager for good works, ready for good works, careful to continue in good works, and learning how to keep up the good works, and especially the urgent needs.

So what are these good works? “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). It turns out that we were made for this, and God has already planned them for us. We are to walk by faith, expecting Him to reveal them to us as we go. At the same time, though we understand He has planned them, we are to be expectant and prepared. Kind of like a having a couple of freezer meals in the fridge, we are to be ready.

Good works are work. Don’t think it will be easy! That’s why we are reminded not to grow weary in doing good (2 Thess. 3:13). No giving up. We are in this for the long haul. But remember that as we offer our work to God as service to Him, He blesses it and He blesses us. And the more we please Him, the happier we are. And the more fruitful we become, the more like Christ we become.

The Receiving Department

(Photo of my son, Shadrach – now a hearty three-year-old. Our #anotherboy is not due for another 8 weeks or so.)

Once upon a time, more than three years ago, I found out I was pregnant. I had been pregnant before of course, (and I am pregnant now too), but I remember this time as being particularly hard. I had five busy children all over the house, and this pregnancy thing is no little commitment. We love babies in this house, but we are forced to greet their arrival with a lot of realism. The hopeful mist of sweetness is very quickly dispelled by a period of really serious darkness. Because when our babies are the size of a poppy seed they upset the entire freight train of our household flow. I get sick. So sick. I can’t walk in the kitchen, think about food, hear about food, or eat food. I try to eat it of course, and I lose most of it right after. For my husband it means a few months of constantly trying to find things to feed me, feed the children, trying to handle the other essentials of life, picking up my part of carpool, etc. etc.

For this reason the positive pregnancy test tells us more about what will happen to us in the next three months (which will take a lot of courage and endurance), than it does about what is very sweetly coming in nine months. Of course it is the same news, but it is like saying there will be beautiful weather in nine months, and a hurricane for the next three. It can be hard to look past the hurricane!

Anyway, back to this particular pregnancy. I had just started being super sick. And of course the kids were all interested in what was happening. I turned on  a Nova film on YouTube (I think it was Life’s Greatest Miracle)  to show them some of the early phases of embryonic development. I skipped through the strange introduction (and all the dumb parts about sexual attraction) and to the part we were interested in.  Now this little film is not Christian, and it was constantly referencing the amazing workings of evolution, which is especially comic in this setting. But the thing that completely encouraged me at this particular moment was exactly this:  the inescapable beauty of this design.

I know the basics (one would hope) of human reproduction. But I had completely forgotten some of the intricate details. The fact that the egg is protected by a hard protein shell,  and that the only way it can be fertilized is if a sperm with the exact matching protein “key” finds it. That matching causes the sperm to release an enzyme that breaks the barrier of the egg and lets the sperm in. I had forgotten all the crazy details of the inside of the fallopian tubes and how all of those things work. It was shocking. And more than shocking, it was beautiful. Because as a culture, we have come to believe that pregnancy can happen on accident. That it is just something that can’t be resisted. And yet watching this impressed on me the total opposite. It is amazing that this ever happens at all!This could never happen without the active work of a Creator. As far back as you go in the process, all you will find is more and more complexity. More and more impossibly complicated design. More and more variables and insane improbabilities.

So there I was sitting on our bed, trying not to smell anything, sick out of my brains, and so thankful. Because the baby that was growing inside me was no accident. Nothing could be clearer than to see that this is an active act of creation. That God had called this little poppy seed into existence by name. That all of this was not a result of any kind of accident, but rather the perfect plan of a Holy Creator God.

And what was happening in my womb was not something we did. It was not something that God decided to follow through on, but that we started and committed Him to. God did this. And to be anything other than willing to receive His work would be shameful.

Talking to my Grandpa the other day, he mentioned Psalm 27. When you see all these sorrowful videos of Planned Parenthood, it is easy to have your heart broken for these unwanted children. But Psalm 27 says “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.”

These children, all of our children and all of the children whose short lives end in a pie pan, are Fathered first by God. These are His children. They are called by name into existence – from nothing. And when that happens in the womb of those who love Him, they are received in love, a reflection of the love that the Heavenly Father has for them. And when it tragically happens that the father and mother forsake that little baby, they are still not forsaken by their first Father. He gathers them to Himself.

And so we can see that even when the road of pregnancy and childbearing and child-rearing is difficult, our faithfulness in it is simply a declaration of the love of the Heavenly Father. We love God for He loved us first. We love our children because He loved them first.

Dear Girls

This is a new little project – writing things to my daughters to have them read so we can discuss it. I thought I would share a few of them.

Dear Girls,

Have you ever been walking along the sidewalk and for some reason – you almost don’t know how you did it – you almost wipe out? Maybe you don’t fall down all the way, but you can end up staggering around or looking crazy for a minute. Everyone has done this at some time or another and people have all different ways of handling it when it happens to them. 

Sometimes when you do something wrong, the only thing that you can think about is trying to cover it up. Sin can be embarrassing – just like kicking the sidewalk crack and falling flat on your face.

It is embarrassing when you know that something is wrong, and you know that you shouldn’t do it, and then for some reason you do it anyways. It is embarrassing that someone doing some little tiny annoying thing caused you to lose control of yourself.

This is the kind of time when you might decide to lie. Or maybe you just lie without meaning to because you got so embarrassed all of the sudden and didn’t know what else to do. Because maybe your parents weren’t there and didn’t see what happened. Maybe all of the sudden they ask you about it and you just don’t want to tell them that you can’t be trusted to walk down the sidewalk of your life without wiping out.

Or you want to tell a much bigger story – so that the fact that you almost fell is lost in the details of how wild the sidewalk was being and how much the sun was in your eyes and how three squirrels were throwing pinecones at you so that you really could not help kicking the crack (if you even did that which you really doubt, and which you can’t believe your parents are even asking about given the amazing circumstances.)

But trust me. Your parents know exactly what that is like. Every person in the world sometimes sins in stupid and petty ways. We all know what it feels like to have to confess something that you really wish you had never done. We all know the embarrassment of laying on the sidewalk and wondering how you got there.

The way that you want to handle this is by taking responsibility. Quickly, thoroughly, and realistically. Don’t start any sentences (even in your head) with “But she……” or “He was just being so annoying….”

Concentrate on saying what you did wrong, and stopping there. Simple sentences – like “I lost my temper.” or “I was being selfish.”

Why is this so important? Because taking responsibility for yourself is the only way to clean up these kinds of messes. Sin muddles and confuses, but repentance always makes things clear. Be the kind of girls who are quick to repent, quick to take responsibility, and quick to laugh at your own mistakes – even when they are embarrassing.

When there is a confusing or difficult situation – look for what you can quickly clean up. And I will give you a hint – it is never the sidewalk’s (or your brother’s or your sister’s behavior.) Start with what you have access to – your own mistakes, and you will soon find that that helps a lot!

1 John 1:9 says this:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This is the only way to actually get rid of the problem – however little, however embarrassing, however silly. And God promises that He will always forgive us! So why would we ever want to delay this? Why would we want to pretend that nothing had happened, but really still be dirty inside? We want to be the kind of girls who always confess our sins, right away. That is just another way of saying that we always want to be forgiven girls.

 

Washed in the Blood

I am sure that most of you are well acquainted with the Planned Parenthood sting videos by now.  And while there are so many things that I keep meaning to write about, this subject is just so heavy right now that it seems silly to write about anything else.

So here I am again, wanting to express how deeply grateful I am for this opportunity. So thankful for the heaviness. For the angry responses we see from friends who don’t agree with us. So thankful for the mercy of this opportunity. Thankful to see other Christians emboldened to speak out. To name this wickedness for what it is -an offense against a Holy God.

Abortion has been legal in the US for my entire life. It has been something of a pagan national symbol for us – and in spite of all the efforts of pro-lifers, it has maintained a protected status. We could picket outside of the city walls and be sad about what was happening inside of those city walls – but did any of us every really expect to breach those city walls? And yet here, with these sting videos a huge hole was blown in the wall – and surprised though we all were, this is our chance to flood through that gap.

Abortion is not some fringe issue in our country, and that is why I do not think the question of whether or not to join in this fight is really optional for Christians.  Abortion is the centerpiece of our culture’s pagan idolatry in the same way that the Lord’s table is the centerpiece of our faith. We partake of human sacrifice too. We know that we need human sacrifice too. We are people who do not have blood on our hands, but instead have been washed in the blood of another. We are clean – but it is not because there has not been blood. We are clean only because of The Blood.

So this discussion that has been somewhat forced upon us whether we welcomed it enthusiastically or with a pit in our stomachs – this is our great Gospel moment. This is our chance to declare to our country, to our Facebook friends, to our pro-choice acquaintances, “Not that altar, but this one. Not that death, but instead Christ’s. Not that bloodshed, but this one. Not that fellowship that you are seeking through sexual liberty, but the true liberty of fellowship and communion with God.”

If you have started sharing articles about this, or changed your profile picture, or in any way made it plain that you are pro-life, chances are good that you have already received some kind of blow back. And that is wonderful. You are taking your opportunities to go door to door in the city and ask people if they have heard the Good News. Don’t be afraid of their anger. Understand what it means for them. If they admit that this centerpiece of their faith is a guilty one – they will have to face far more truth than that. They want to believe that this is their righteousness, that they are compassionate. They want to think that the blood on this altar is acceptable. If they admit what seems obvious to us, that this is actually wicked, then they will be facing the need for a savior. But in reality, facing the need for a savior is facing the reality of damnation. Facing death. Facing guilt. Facing everlasting sorrow. They will be facing the terrifying need for a perfect blood sacrifice that can cleanse them even of this.

For all of us, this is a heavy burden. This is an emotionally draining issue. And it is our privilege to join in carrying it. Thanks be to God for that! We cannot possibly carry it on an emotional high – or with human anger – or with endless weeping. The only way to carry this is with faithfulness. With steady, enduring faithfulness. Faithfulness to the children God has given you. Faithfulness to not be afraid when people call you hateful. Faithfulness to rejoice in the goodness of God giving us this opportunity in our generation. Faithfulness to turn the other cheek, to not be consumed with an ungodly anger, faithfulness to love our enemies, faithfulness to speak the truth.

Faithfulness to continue to worship at the table that is in the center of our faith – Jesus Christ, body broken, blood shed. His death, our salvation. His resurrection, our life. This is the one perfect sacrifice. This is the only blood that cleanses. This is our hope, our faith, our comfort, our peace, our life.

 

Tell Your Story

With each new video of the Planned Parenthood atrocities, though I find myself stricken speechless, I thank God that I have a greater sense of the tremendous guilt that rests on this country. The blood guilt stretches from sea to shining sea. And I wonder about all those millions of individuals who are living under this load of personal guilt. You know, they are everywhere. “Another boy” (you know, the one on the petri dish) has a mother somewhere, and God knows her name. And she is guilty. And that little dismembered child has a father as well. And God knows his name and will hold him accountable.

You can’t have millions upon millions of abortions without there being millions upon millions of the guilty. And I wonder if that might be one of the reasons (maybe) that so many Christians haven’t yet spoken up. Is it because they have had some share in this sometime, some way? Maybe you are one of those. Maybe you have had an abortion. Or two. Maybe you encouraged a friend or a sister or a daughter to abort their child. Maybe you even paid the bill, made the appointment, promised not to tell.

Each time we see more of the carnage on the videos, the more real the pain is for all of us. And let me tell you, that is a good sign. If you feel sick, that means you are well. If it doesn’t make you ill, then you are sick indeed, and unforgiven sin is a deadly sickness. Just because something is legal, does not mean it is right or good or lawful. And your conscience can’t be soothed when you tell yourself you didn’t break the law. Abortion breaks God’s law, and that is where the guilt comes from.

Hardness of heart has brought this insensibility about. And we know that for the millions of women who have had abortions, in spite of the hardness, there is a deep sadness, whether they acknowledge it or not. For the Christians who have sought and received forgiveness, they can still feel the pain of regret and misery, particularly now with the “war-torn” little bodies exposed.

But for you who have been forgiven, remember that you really are forgiven. God doesn’t dab around the edges with forgiveness. He heals the entire wound. Jesus never healed anyone halfway. Each was made whole. For some of you who have sought His forgiveness and received it, this might be the time to tell your story. Many are doing this now, and God is using the story of their sin and His forgiveness. He turns ashes into beauty, and He is the only One who can. Sharing your story may be part of your own healing, and it may be the beginning of the healing for someone else. The Gospel is the only thing that can ever put the guilty heart right.

The wonderful thing about these videos is how God has used it to turn over a very big rock, and we have seen all the creepy things that were thriving under there all these years. We need to put them to death. Abortion needs to die. And even if our government doesn’t change any laws, God can change hearts, millions of hearts, so that abortion clinics die from lack of business.

If ever there was a clear opportunity to talk about forgiveness, now is the time. Jesus died for sinners. Bad sinners. He offers the only way of restoration. Man is terribly broken, but God has provided a means of restoration through Christ, who died and bled, was buried and rose from the grave. Our country is deep in the grave, and it needs a resurrection. Christians: speak up and speak out. Tell the good news, even if it means telling your own story of death first. But tell it as forgiven, new people, born again out of death into life. Tell it as a victory because it is.

Victims and Perpetrators

Nazi soldiers watching videos of the death camps after the war – how weirdly ironic is the PP on their shirts?

So. These horrific Planned Parenthood videos. As I’ve been watching this all unfold, there are a couple things I keep noticing – just a jumble of thoughts, really.

The first thing that jumps out at me is that this entire horror show is run by women. It’s startling actually. The abortion doctors, the nurses, the baby-part-wholesalers, the corporate bureaucracy, and obviously every mother who turns up at a Planned Parenthood chop shop to have her own baby executed and sold for parts. Clearly, the entire situation is built on the premise of men’s sin . . . but the fact remains that this grisly, depraved, monstrous assault on human dignity is being conducted by women. I’ve seen a lot of “this is a war on women” and “women betrayed” kind of language lately . . . and it’s completely true. But the thing I continue to find odd is that it’s a war on women which is being conducted by women. Everyone (rightly) keeps noticing parallels between America’s abortion mills and Nazi Germany, but I think there’s another similarity besides the gruesome nature of the problem and the massive body count.

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, the Germans often times actually appointed Jewish leadership in the ghettos, and it was those Jewish leaders who forced their own people into slave labor, who rounded up the quotas to be shipped to concentration camps, and who generally ruled their own people with a rod of iron on behalf of the Nazis. Rumkowski was a famous example of this – a Jew who was responsible for thousands and thousands of Jewish deaths. But he continues to be a controversial figure because all of his own rhetoric was that he was only doing this to help the Jewish people manage to survive. Was he a traitor? Or was he simply being shrewd and getting as many Jews through the Holocaust as possible – by pragmatically throwing many, many, many of them overboard? His most famous speech was when he stood up in the ghetto and said “Give me your children” – to send away to the camps. He said it, of course, like he was sad about it – a little choke in his voice no doubt – but nonetheless, he demanded everyone give up their children for the greater good. “I never imagined I would be forced to deliver this sacrifice to the altar with my own hands. In my old age, I must stretch out my hands and beg: Brothers and sisters! Hand them over to me! Fathers and mothers: Give me your children!”

The Jews of Poland were betrayed by their own – just as “Women Betrayed” are being betrayed by their own. But to some degree, any Jew who willingly handed over their child to save themselves was complicit in the evil . . . no matter how lied to they were, or how impossible everything seemed. Just as every mother who willingly donates her baby’s body parts to “research” is also complicit in the evil . . . no matter how lied to she is, how impossible everything seems. This, of course, is why the after-effects of an abortion can be so devastating for a woman – because she is left with such a burden of guilt over what she’s done, regret, confusion, etc.

But this leads to the next thing I keep noticing – which is that the line between victim and perpetrator is always a very tricky thing – but especially so in this area. I think our tendency is to want everything to be very simple – to freeze moments of time and be able to point to who is the black hat and who is the white hat at any given moment. But that line is nowhere near that clear. For every monster out there who is dissecting babies and haggling over the prices . . . how did they get there? I’ll bet if we rewind the tape 20 years, odds are good that we would find a sad, pitiful, atrocious little story playing out – and they would be the victim we would sympathize with in that moment. Which is just to say that “victim” is not synonymous with “righteous.” Apart from grace, victims frequently go on to become perpetrators themselves. How many molesters were molested themselves? How many current victims will go on to hurt and defile others? Are these ladies who make a living by ripping babies apart every day actually just making some desperate and horrific attempt to bury a memory that refuses to stay in its shallow and unquiet grave? That is the sad brokenness of the human condition – which means that ultimately, the most important dividing line is not between “victims” and “perpetrators” but between “forgiven” and “unforgiven.” Being the victim of abuse, being lied to, believing the monsters who tell you the only solution is to kill your baby . . . that’s horrible. It’s devastating. But it doesn’t make you righteous. There was only one truly righteous victim -which is the good news of the gospel. I think if we want to fight the horror of Planned Parenthood effectively, it’s important to see clearly that “women” are not the victims who need to be liberated from the tyranny of the abortion industry . . . women need to be forgiven so that they can be liberated from the tyranny of the abortion industry – no matter where they fall on the scale of victim or perpetrator. Is she a tragic victim of abuse? Then she needs to be freed by the free grace offered in the gospel. Is she a selfish college girl who won’t give up her lifestyle or her career dreams? Then she needs to be freed by the free grace offered in the gospel. Is she a suburban mom, haunted by the memory of that abortion she never told anyone about, having babies now in a desperate effort to make up for that one she refused to have? Then she needs to be freed by the free grace offered in the gospel. Is she an abortion doctor with thousands of deaths on her conscience? Then she needs to be freed by the free grace offered in the gospel.

And the last thing I keep wondering about is how many Christians are sitting out of this particular fight because of some random compromise in their own life. I think we’re seeing a glimmer of what could happen if Christians all threw themselves into something – we might actually be able to change the course that this ship called America is sailing. But, for instance, look at how Tchividjian just took himself out of the fight – right at a moment when everyone could have really used his help. How many Christians are sitting this one out in some similar way? How many men feel sheepish about saying anything on this issue because they themselves are sexually compromised? How many women are keeping quiet because they feel like a hypocrite since they had an abortion years ago? Or then again, how many women are so caught up in their own current sin – too busy fighting with their husband, or not speaking to their children . . . too absorbed in their current personal sin to make time to be interested in this national sin? Or the kid who has spent so much time trying to make it in the (to take an instance at random) indie-rock scene that he doesn’t want to blow it all by saying something out loud which would ruin his chances. The Pro-Life movement is accustomed to say that life begins at conception. “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” But sin is the same way. A sin is a sin, no matter how small – and just like a baby, that sin will grow. The Bible uses this metaphor as well, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” How many Christians are cherishing a little sin, nurturing it, hiding it, wearing baggier and baggier shirts in the hopes that no one will notice how they’ve changed lately . . . clinging to death in a way that makes them unable to fight for life? We need to pray that the Christians in America would all get their own hearts in order – so that they can help take down this beast that is Planned Parenthood.

Tender Mercies

In the wake of the grotesque video that just came out (you know – salad, wine, and baby parts for sale), one of the very natural and appropriate responses is to feel totally overwhelmed at the vastness of the problem. It is easy to turn from this to a lot of frantic anger at everyone – the pro-choice people for thinking this was a good idea, your Christian friend who is not wound up enough about it, politicians who maybe could do something but aren’t even trying. I wanted to take a moment though to reflect on another emotion that we need to give voice to. Gratitude.

I wasn’t even born yet when Roe vs. Wade happened. But for my parents and an entire generation of Christians in our nation, that ruling was an appalling blow. And here is why I am so full of gratitude. That was over 40 years ago, and Christians have not stopped fighting it.

My parents were involved in starting the crisis pregnancy center in our town, my dad was once arrested along with truckloads of other people at a protest in Spokane. There was a doctor in our town who performed abortions but eventually quit because of the social pressure of Christians objecting. And this is just a small picture of things that were happening all over our country. Christians have not been silent, they have not been weak, they have not been impotent.

I do not know how many crisis pregnancy centers there are in America now – but it is in the thousands. And then there are the mobile clinics providing ultrasounds on the street outside abortion clinics. And each one of those outposts represents many Christians – involved in giving financially, counseling, supplying clothing for mothers and babies, ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and supportive people to talk to.

Christians across our nation have opened their homes to young mothers who had nowhere else to go. Christians have gotten involved in foster care and adoption – looking for ways to put their life where their faith is. Christians have spent time starting awkward conversations on sidewalks in front of clinics – hoping to show the love of Christ in the few minutes they may have before that woman walks through the door. And they have been successful! Many, many children have been spared from abortion by this faithfulness.

There are bigger organizations committed to fighting abortion too – in legal and political ways – and they have been fighting consistently for long enough that the pro-choice world feels threatened and angry. How dare they restrict abortions? How dare they require ultrasounds or parental consent? How dare they get close to any of our precious “rights” and tell us that we may not do this?

And there are smaller efforts, done by individuals just trying to do whatever they can. We were in Spokane one beautiful Saturday when we saw the huge Planned Parenthood looming ahead of us, and we suddenly felt the weight of this sadness. But there, on the sidewalk outside the entrance, stood one older man with a big sign protesting abortion. Just putting in the hours and hoping some woman would see that picture of a baby and turn around. We rolled down the rear windows in our car and had the kids yell “Thank you!” to him.

And to all the doctors and nurses who have taken a strong stand in their professions – in the face of all kinds of pressure. Thank you. Thank you for being the one who wouldn’t – the one who would not for the sake of your professional reputation become calloused to the defiance of God.

Planned Parenthood has received much money – forcibly taken from us and donated on our behalf in the name of “women’s health.” But crisis pregnancy centers and other Pro-Life ministries have received untold millions of dollars – freely given as an act of faith and mercy.

I think sometimes Christians hear the accusation that Pro-life people only care about the life of the baby and couldn’t care less about the mothers. Planned Parenthood has certainly made an effort to present themselves as the people who have true compassion on the women ,  wanting them all to have the brightest most child-free future. And I think sometimes Christians hear an argument and feel a wave of guilt, which results in them turning to each other and demanding that we care more, show more love, do something more. But I am reminded of the Proverb (12:10) that the righteous man regards the life of his beast (even the animals!) but  the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

I do believe that there are pro-choice people who really believe they are being compassionate. They really think they are being the big-hearted people who care – but the reality is that without God our most tender mercies are cruel. Offering an abortion to a woman who is already burdened by fear, guilt, shame, and hopelessness is a cruel, cruel thing. But it is the best thing  they have to offer.

Because of Christ, Christians are the people who offer post-abortive counseling. Christians welcome into their churches and lives women who have been hurt by abortions. Christians have been faithfully showing the love of Christ in this area since the moment it was legalized. So well done. And thank you.

Though this battle is far from over,  it has so far been well fought. Fought in faith, with patience. With prayer, with joy, with love, with hope. Do not be deceived. Just because we haven’t won yet doesn’t mean we aren’t doing what we should be doing. Fight, pray, hope, laugh, nurse your babies, kiss your children, reach out to the needy, encourage one another. Give thanks to God for letting us be alive in a time that so desperately needs to hear His Gospel. Let your tender mercies truly be merciful.

So don’t let this wonderful turn of events shame you over what Christians have yet to do – but let it inspire you to lean into this faithful fight. Join your voice to the thousands who have gone before you.

The Spirit of Glory

The story of Christendom is characterized by many saints who stood faithful to their Lord in the midst of trouble. Even Peter, who denied the Lord, went on to suffer courageously for Christ. So let me share one of my favorite passages about persecution, 1 Peter 4:12-14.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”

Here are some things we can take away from this wonderful passage to be encouraged when we see our fellow Christians standing strong in persecution or when we are in the middle of a trial ourselves.

1. We are not to be strangers to trials, and we’re not to think something strange is happening to us when we meet them. Even fiery ones are to be expected.

2. A trial has a purpose; it is not meaningless or random. It is to “try” us. It is a test. We know how to take tests. Some are very difficult, especially the fiery ones. But we are to be prepared, up to date in our studies and homework so we can take the test with faith and courage and hope.

3. Our response to fiery trials should be JOY. Why? Because we are being given the privilege in sharing in the suffering of Christ. This seems like a paradox. Rejoice in suffering? Yes. Why? Because we will see how this results in God’s glory, which is what every Christian desires.

4. Our present joy in the trial will turn into glad exceeding joy when His glory is revealed. This is just a foretaste of what is to come.

5. When we are blamed, treated with contempt, scorned, or otherwise mistreated for our Christian faith, we must know that God is blessing us. It is an opportunity given to us and we must be good stewards.

6. When we are being reproached, a remarkable, astounding thing is happening: the Spirit of glory and of God is resting on us. What other explanation can there be for the amazing testimony of the saints in the midst of fiery persecution? God’s glory is resting on them, covering them, strengthening them, and giving them supernatural courage.

7. Finally, this results in God’s glory, which is our chief end. When God is glorified, we are blessed. And when we are blessed, other saints are encouraged to rejoice when they suffer reproach for Christ.

So look for the glory resting on those who are being persecuted right this minute in our very own country. When Doug and I had the privilege of hearing Aaron and Melissa tell their story , we saw that glory resting on them. And our prayers are with them that they will continue to glorify God and receive great and glad blessings.

Shine it!

Given the surprising (and apparently sudden) changes in what our country is now considering to be “moral” government-approved behavior, I thought it was time for a pep talk. Most of you all are probably a lot like me. It hasn’t been difficult to live like a Christian woman even in a culture that has been gradually drifting away from its Christian foundation. But the sudden lurch of this past week’s Supreme Court decision has certainly been a wake-up call.

It may be tempting to worry or fret about what kind of place our grandchildren are going to inherit. This is no longer the country my parents and grandparents grew up in. Far from it! I don’t think I even knew sodomy existed until I was in high-school, and then I could hardly believe it. Seriously?

It’s crucial that Christian women, no matter what our calling, process these things faithfully, with a godly courage. So I’ve come up with a short list of things to keep us focused. And it turns out, these are all the things we are already supposed to be doing. God is always looking for faithfulness, not some new idea of our own.

1. First of all, the Lord God is our Maker and He absolutely controls all His creation. Even the decisions of court justices. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Prov. 21:1). So we can be confident that He is doing this for us, not to us.

2. We are to stay at our posts. He has given us a host of duties, so we should work hard at them as always. Like Daniel who kept on praying with the windows open, even when it was against the law, we should not draw back in fear. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).

3. More than ever, we need to affirm that we believe everything the Bible says about marriage. This means we don’t shy away from Bible words like submit, obey, or head. Or husband and wife, male and female. We should love marriage the way God designed and defined it.  Period.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing” (Eph. 5:22-24). We don’t need to apologize for the Bible. This is God’s Word. We didn’t make this stuff up.

4. Children are a blessing from the Lord. They are a heritage and His reward (Prov. 127:3). We must bring these little ones up in the instruction of the Lord. It’s more important than ever that we do not hand our inheritance over to be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the state. It doesn’t matter how much it costs to educate your children in a God-honoring way. God will provide. About twenty years ago an angry lesbian yelled at us, “Ten years and your children are ours!” She didn’t stay around for our response which was of course, “Not our kids.” Our children did not receive an “education” from the unbelieving state, where God is considered irrelevant. We started a Christian school so we could educate our children in a God-centered, God-glorifying way. This is something to gladly sacrifice for.

5. Women should love domesticity and not let the secularist agenda press them into its mold. Marriage to a godly man and bringing up children in a Christ-centered home is still a high calling. This is still true for those Christian women who are not married. They can still love domesticity and honor marriage,  homemaking, and child-rearing. The world does not define who we are and what we are for. God’s Word defines us. We are made to glorify Him, and when we are in joyful submission to Him, we are a happy people. The world does not have this kind of blessedness to offer.

6. The Lord’s Day should be honored in every family, with worship as the high point of the week. This is the foundation day. Be eager to get to church. Pray for the service. Get your family ready. Ask God to bless it. This is our highest calling: worshiping God as His obedient servants. This is far more potent in overthrowing God’s enemies than we realize. It’s not about protesting and signing petitions (though those things might be fine in their way). As we worship God rightly, His kingdom spreads.

7. In all these things, we are simply doing what we have been told. And it turns out that’s all we need to do. We should pray for courage to make our faith known at every opportunity. We must continue to talk freely about our Lord Jesus Christ and the good news of His Gospel. This is simply letting our light shine.  And the darker our world gets, the more the  light is needed! So don’t be shy. Shine it! And may God bless the fruit of our hands.

 

It’s an Update

Hello dear readers of Femina. I feel that an explanation for our long absence is in order, but I’m afraid it is not a very glamorous one! We have been busy. That’s it. Period. Just like all the rest of you. So I am not going to make an announcement that we are “back” just yet. Bekah has been keeping this place afloat with the last couple posts, so I don’t need to explain her absence; Rachel is looking beautiful with numero seven on the way (keeping her street cred); and I have no excuse to offer other than full days and lots of hay on my fork. However, I have been thinking of ideas for blog posts, so you’ll be seeing one from me shortly. No promises from Rachel. But, here’s some good news: in her free time (does it exist?) she is working on a new book.