A Special Early Christmas Gift from NDFA
There are so many circumstances that can divert our attention away from Christ and point us toward the things of this world, which is why we’re so thankful for you and your support of our efforts to advance Faith, Family, and Freedom in North Dakota!
As a small token of our appreciation and an early Christmas gift from NDFA, we have worked out a volume discount deal with RightNow Media to give all of you access to thousands of biblically-based video resources. NDFA has been using their resources for years and also wanted to make them available to you, our ministry partners. A generous donor helped underwrite a group membership rate, so there is no cost to you if you choose to participate.
Resources available to you as part of this service include videos from well-known Christian authors, Bible study materials, and amazing children’s videos. Videos feature well-known speakers such as John Maxwell, Dr. Henry Cloud, Louie Giglio, Jennie Allen, and Max Lucado. Topics include:
marriage
parenting
friendships
mental health
finances
grief, and much more
There is absolutely no obligation to use this service. Further, neither RightNow Media nor NDFA ever shares your information, and neither organization tracks which specific resources you are utilizing. This is a no-strings-attached gift, because we want to show our appreciation for all your support these past years.
You can access their website and start exploring these faith-building resources by going to our NDFA landing page HERE. We’ve highlighted some of our favorites for you, but you can always use the Browse button in the upper left-hand corner to search for something specifically. We want you and your family not just to survive, but to thrive. We pray this is a tangible way to help you do that. Merry Christmas from NDFA!
Reflecting on Our 2nd Legislative Academy
by Jacob Thomsen
On October 24th, we held our second Legislative Academy. It was remarkable to see all of the legislators and candidates who came to listen and learn from our tremendous speakers. Everyone in attendance who gave us feedback said it was an incredibly valuable event. We were honored to be able to do something like this, thanks to our generous donors!
We brought in Dr. Scott Rae, a professor of Christian ethics at Biola University, who did a great job teaching us about a Biblical framework for public policy. His education and experience regarding the subject were excellent. His talk was entitled “Remembering Why You Ran.”
We also had the great privilege of being joined by media/communications expert Autumn Leva. She conducted media training for our legislators, which was an exceptional resource for everyone in the room. She also gave one-on-one media training to every attendee this year. She put the attendees in the “hot seat” and grilled them with tough questions on contemporary issues to see how they would do under pressure from aggressive media. It is incredibly valuable to be able to see what that looks like and learn how to respond.
We heard from several speakers about many other issues: family, life, education, and religious liberty. We were also privileged to learn from two former legislators, Kim Koppelman and Terry Jones. They presented some very helpful thoughts and wise advice, based upon their decades of serving North Dakotans in the state legislature.
Finally, we rounded the day off by hosting a dinner for this year's attendees as well as those who attended last year. Dr. Rae also presented during dinner, and we had a wonderful time of learning and fellowship!
Throughout the day, as I sat and listened to our wonderful speakers, I couldn't help but think about how amazing it is that we, at NDFA, have such an incredible privilege to be able to work closely with these legislators and help them get policy that honors God into law. The road that each of us has taken to get to this point is long, filled with twists and turns, and ultimately guided by God. Wherever we are called, whether we want to go or not, we ought to follow His plan for our lives, for it is most certainly greater than our own.
We are blessed to have numerous Christians serving as legislators within North Dakota’s Capitol. While many of them never set out to become state legislators, they all answered the call that the Lord had on their lives for our state. I admire them for this. Stepping into a calling isn’t always the easiest task. I’ve seen the legislative process in this state and know for a fact that this calling is not for the faint of heart, so whenever you get the chance, please thank your legislators.
NDFA is blessed to be uniquely positioned to serve as a valuable educational resource to our legislators and candidates. We can help prepare them for their work in the state legislature with an event like the Legislative Academy, and God willing, we will continue to prepare Christian legislators for years to come.
This was a remarkable event, and we would not have been able to do it without you, so thank you so much for your financial support!
39 Over 30
Let me tell you a story. A few years ago, I found myself sitting with my wife Ruth in a hospital, waiting for a major surgery she needed. She was in good health and had talked to others who had experienced the same surgery. They recuperated quickly and were glad they had gone through with the surgery. Great, we were all set. I watched her being wheeled off to the operating room and then settled down in the lobby for the planned four hours of surgery. Little did I realize that was when things started to go very wrong.
An hour later, I was unexpectedly called to meet with the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Only an hour into surgery and two very somber-looking doctors – I knew this was not going to go well. As I went to meet them, I remember praying over and over, “God let her be alive, God let her be alive...”
The doctors told me that all had been going well, and the operation had started when Ruth went into anaphylactic shock from the antibiotics they administered. Her blood pressure plummeted to 39 over 30, and she was dying on the operating room table. If there was any good news in this, it was that Ruth was still alive, responding to questions (to check for brain damage), and slowly recovering. Epinephrine had done the trick, and she was still with us. However, more than the drug, God intervened in a direct and powerful way that day, and I still thank Him for the doctors’ knowledge and their quick response in preserving my wife.
I found out later that the surgeon stopped by and talked with Ruth in the recovery room. She told her point-blank that, statistically speaking, she was lucky to be alive and advised her to buy a lottery ticket. She said that with her luck, Ruth was bound to win. In that moment, the spotlight was on Ruth and her response. Instead of agreeing, she told the doctor that she was not a gambler and that God was the reason why she was alive, not luck. We don’t know where the doctor went from there or what impact Ruth might have had on her life. What mattered is that for a moment, the doctor heard the truth of who God is. Ruth didn’t ask for that moment, but was thrust into it and was a bright light professing her confidence in her Savior.
Some of the most challenging events in life give you the most attentive audience. The question is, what are you going to do when the spotlight shines on you? What do you do if you are Jack Phillips, the baker from Colorado, in that moment when a same-sex couple asks you to bake a cake that goes against your beliefs? How do you respond when you are asked to vote for a candidate who doesn’t support parental rights in educational choices? How do you defend your pro-life stance in a winsome way to someone who despises Christians and asks why you hate mothers for denying them this “healthcare” choice?
We all have these watershed moments in our lives. When one of these moments comes, will you stand up for what is right and speak the truth boldly and in love? I certainly hope so.
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
I Peter 3:15
Blessings,
What is Your Purpose?
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. - Mark Twain
I love this quote. It boils everything in our human existence down to one simple sentence. It’s certainly consistent with biblical values. We are given life by our Creator, upon which all else depends. It precedes all the choices we make – it is the root of who we are.
Our purpose on this earth is the second implied question. As humans, we seek meaning and try to understand the purpose for our lives, and fulfilling this need is central not only to who we are in relation to the rest of humanity, but who we are in the face of the God who made us as well. However, as much as I like this quote, I would add a third important day. The day you discover who controls your life.
Look at the first part of the quote. Clearly, we were not in control of our birth; most would suggest that if anyone was in control, it was our parents. However, our parents did not in some amazing way confer life upon us – they simply provided the building blocks for life. Something or someone else was in control of creating our life and allowing us to be born. If being born was truly one of the two most important days of your life, then it follows that you would want to know who made this day happen and was in control of it.
The second part of the quote is similar. Why would someone want to know the reason they were created unless they could act on it? Let’s say that you discover you were created to play Tetris for the rest of your life, although I truly wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Once you “discover” that Tetris is your life’s purpose, what happens? You find out everything you can about the game, you devote years studying the best possible strategies and moves, and you spend day and night playing the game.
Did you notice which word appears most often in that last sentence? You. It suggests that once your purpose is discovered, it’s on you to make the most of it. You need to work and realize your potential and fulfill your life’s mission. You need to work on becoming the world’s best Tetris player. It’s up to you. You are in control.
I would suggest that knowing who controls your life answers both implied questions in the quote. Once you know who controls your life, you can determine who put you together as a person and who determines your life purpose. If nobody/nothing is in control of your life, then you were a collection of cells that, in some highly improbable manner, formed a human and somehow “became living”. It then follows that your life purpose can be defined by you. You are in control. On the other hand, if someone made you and has a purpose for your life, it becomes a very different story. That is the crux of the issue.
As a Christian, I believe I was created by God, and my purpose on this earth is to glorify Him. But notice that answering this question does not say how I should best glorify God. That is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and our inclinations, genetic traits, talents, etc., that were hard-coded at our creation.
Those of us at North Dakota Family Alliance do policy work supporting and advancing biblical principles. That is our purpose. I would hazard a guess that doing policy work is not your purpose in life. We glorify God by doing this work, but you may glorify God by homeschooling your children, working at your office, or perhaps harvesting your crops. However, since our purpose is policy work, we do it with all the tools and resources we can to achieve what He wills for our lives. We take it seriously and know you depend on us to defend your biblical values. Thank you for your faithful support in fulfilling this purpose.
Finding out who created you and what your purpose is can become a lifelong journey for some. I don’t know how you arrived at the point of knowing God controls your life, but it is the answer to almost every question you may have. That doesn’t mean life will be easy or always make sense, but you thankfully have a path to follow, which is more than many people.
Today, rejoice that you know your purpose. The future of your life may not be apparent all the time, but the path He has chosen is what you need to walk. When you are living in God’s will, nothing can match that feeling. Enjoy the journey; He’s got you.
Where My Understanding Ends
We used to sing a song called Rejoice pretty regularly at Evangel (VOUS Worship). One portion of the chorus goes like this: “Where my understanding ends, there's a peace that makes no sense”. I like that line. Especially coming off another legislative session.
If you’re like me, you seek to understand; to make sense of things. It’s something beyond mere curiosity, but is focused on the why and not just the what. And not just the first or even second layer of explanation, but we follow it as far down as it goes until we are satisfied we’ve answered why.
I believe it is how we were created. While we see animals try to understand the why, it only goes so far. The famous gorilla Koko learned over 2,000 words and quickly figured out that the why for getting grapes was because she demonstrated an understanding of new words. Annie, our dog, has figured out why she gets a treat: because she sits and waits for it until I tell her she may get it. However, I daresay that Koko never wondered why she was being taught words, just as Annie does not wonder why she was trained to wait to grab the treat. They simply know on a very rudimentary level that a causes b – that’s the why.
We humans are not so easily satisfied. If we were given a grape every time we learned a new word, we would wonder about a lot of things. Why am I being rewarded for this behavior? What is being studied through this reward system? Why was I chosen for this experiment? And perhaps most importantly, what in the world am I doing in a cage with a plexiglass window?
We are pretty proud of ourselves when we fully understand something (as if that could ever completely happen). Why does the perceived pitch/frequency of something such as a police car's siren change as it moves past us? Because of the Doppler Effect. Pretty impressive that we figured that out, right? We have figured out the why behind diseases, human behavior, physical phenomena, and much more. But because we’re so good at it, we take not only pride in our ability to understand, but start to believe that if we dig deep enough, we can figure out anything. As Francis Bacon believed, “God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave.”
The same is true in the public policy world. During the legislative session, we need to be experts on why things happen. Why bills are introduced. Why committees or legislators vote a certain way. Why Governor Armstrong decided to sign or perhaps veto a bill. While we can often ferret out some reasons, we are always left with unanswered questions. It is where our understanding ends, and it is where God’s peace enters the picture.
Ideally, we should have the peace of God during all of session, but I’m sorry to tell you that it just doesn’t happen for most of us. Unfortunately, it takes our understanding to hit a wall so that we have no choice but to trust in that “peace that makes no sense”. How can we explain that? We can’t understand the why behind it; however, God gives it to us freely and reminds us to rest in Him.
There are many things one must understand to shepherd a ministry like NDFA – lots of operational, tactical, and strategic things. If you do them correctly, you can look back and be pretty impressed with yourself. After all, the ability to tackle 62 bills this past session and to end up winning most of them is impressive. But we deceive ourselves if we think our great understanding of the issues is the primary thing that leads us to that place.
I regularly pray for NDFA, as I hope you do. I pray that we may have the funding to continue and hopefully grow our work. I pray for a lasting increase in pro-life and pro-family biblical values in North Dakota. I pray that we do a good job of educating and providing information to you on key issues. However, there is one thing I consistently pray for every day: that we at NDFA remain humble.
As it says in Proverbs 3, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” NDFA is the Lord’s ministry; we are caretakers. I’d like to think that we understand more about public policy than Koko the gorilla, but I also hope we are never too proud to admit that we don’t have all the answers and we’re at peace with that.