God's Timing

by Jacob Thomsen

There is a life verse I’ve mentioned before because it has played a very significant role in how I was saved. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” That verse means so much to me, because it reached me when I needed it most.

There is a young man from a small town in North Dakota who has amazing talent and went to play football at one of our state’s public universities, that has an incredible story and testimony. He is a great Christian man and I admire him very much. We’ve never met, yet God has allowed his story to impact me in a significant way.

He had a skiing accident which caused a major injury, and the community rallied around him. I could not imagine going through something like this. In an instant, he lost the ability to play the sport he loved, but more significantly, his ability to walk. In spite of that, every update I saw about him contained that he had an incredibly positive attitude, because of the light he had from Christ and the trust he had in God.

As an aside, one of the good things that came from this skiing accident was the spread of support from North Dakotans across the state. Someone once told me that North Dakota is just one big, very spread out, small town. I certainly don’t think that’s a bad thing. It shows that we truly care about each other, and this story emphasizes that point.

As one of the ways to fundraise for him, there were wristbands with his hashtag on them, and on the other side was a Bible verse, Proverbs 16:9. My mom bought some and sent them my way. At the time, I was not yet saved, and I was seriously struggling with what I was supposed to do with my life. I read that verse and gained a whole new perspective.

The timing of all of this was absolutely remarkable to me. It was at a time when I had about two or three other things going on in my life that were beckoning me to Christ. I was taking one of the religion classes that are required at the University of Mary and had a tremendous teacher. I had also been told by my mom about a church I should check out.

I certainly do not believe in coincidences. God reached out to me, and I heard Him. He used many different ways to reach me, including that situation with a horrible skiing accident. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28.

This is a testament to the fact that when bad things happen in this world, God can use them for good. It can be easy to get discouraged when trials and tribulations come upon us, but we ought to remember that there is hope in Christ Jesus and that He is with us every step of the way, even before we recognize it.

The Cross and the Capitol

This past Saturday, Ruth and I attended the memorial service for a wonderful Christian man and beloved friend. Ruth served with him on the board of Shiloh Christian School here in Bismarck, and we’ve gotten to know him and his wife even better over the years. The church where the service was held happened to be located just south of the State Capitol, and once we sat down, I was immediately drawn to the view through its beautiful windows at the front of the sanctuary. After the service, I took the picture shown above. I think you can guess why this struck me so significantly.

The first thing you notice is that the cross lines up with the Capitol in the background, tall trees notwithstanding. I called the church and they indicated that this was most likely done intentionally, given that their church was built 24 years after the Capitol was built. I also firmly believe that us sitting in that particular spot was truly intentional on God’s part. You see, there are not a lot of seats in the church where the cross lines up perfectly with the Capitol, and we happened to be sitting in one of them. I don’t believe in coincidences.

NDFA has been under serious attack of late from those on the opposite side of our issues. I’ve heard it said that the more of an impact you make, the more opposition you will encounter. This has definitely been true for our organization. Further, the 2023 legislative victories for biblical values we experienced have made us a target for those who hate us. They want to make an example of us. It’s not fun being a target, but my view out that window was speaking to me precisely about that.

It was saying that the cross has the Capitol “covered”. Everything that happens in the Capitol happens because God wills it, whether or not it’s obvious at the moment. Further, I believe it was a reminder that the cross must be closer to us than the public policy we engage in.  Our faith must always lead our political work, not the other way around, or even be on equal footing. It’s easy to be focused on the here and now of everyday life, including our political work, but slowly let our faith slip into the background. The tyranny of the urgent is a real thing.

The service for our friend was wonderful. He did amazing things for his family, vocation, and friends during his time here on Earth. However, it was his faith that undergirded everything. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither.”

Saturday, my thoughts were on the incredible life of our departed friend. Unfortunately, the thoughts of how to protect NDFA and advance its mission were still simmering in the back of my head. Then one of my favorite songs came to mind and reminded me where our focus needs to be.
 

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ Alone -  Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

May we never forget that the cross must stand before us, shaping all of our lives. Whether that is at home, in the office, on a tractor, or interacting with legislators, the cross comes first. I can assure you that at NDFA, our faith will continue to be the foundation upon which all our public policy work is built. I’m just thankful that sometimes when things get difficult, God reminds me of that.

Our next interview: Senator Keith Boehm

We are very excited to present to you our second legislator interview. Our purpose in doing legislator interviews is so that you can better get to know the legislators representing you, from both a personal and legislative perspective.*
 
For our second interview, we decided to visit with Senator Keith Boehm from District 33. This past session held in early 2023 was his first year as a legislator. He served on the Senate Industry and Business, and Energy and Natural Resources Committees. We know you'll enjoy learning more about his faith, his calling to serve, and much more.
 
Check out the interview here.

Let’s Talk About Sex

Let’s talk about sex – specifically, sex among teens. The CDC regularly puts out National Health Statistics Reports, and the one published in December focuses on teen sexuality. The survey included 3,812 teenagers, ages 15-19, and measured sexual experience, contraceptive use, attitudes toward sex, the likelihood of having a child during teen years, and more. So, what did it say?

The first top-level finding was that 40.5% of female and 38.7% of male teenagers reported having sexual intercourse. Those are pretty discouraging statistics for many parents, but thankfully other findings from the study are more positive. Another result was that “In 2015–2019, the main reason most commonly chosen by female teenagers for not having had sex, among the options provided, was ‘against religion or morals’ (32.5%)”. It was also the second most chosen reason for male teenagers. Interestingly, the report also notes, “Lower percentages of both female (32.3%) and male (33.1%) teenagers were sexually experienced if they lived with both parents at age 14, compared with those who lived with a biological mother and stepfather (60.0% for females and 52.4% for males) or in any other type of parental living arrangement at that age (52.3% for females and 48.9% for males).” In other words, young teens who lived with both biological parents were less sexually active than those in other family structures. Not surprisingly, the study also confirmed that the younger unwanted first sex occurred, the more likely it was to produce unintended pregnancy, a higher incidence of STIs, and intimate partner violence.

What’s the takeaway from all this? Not surprising to those of us with pro-life and pro-family values, the CDC study confirms what we’ve known all along: faith values and a stable “traditional” mother-father parental home environment result in lower teen pregnancy. However, I don’t see our society and government promoting programs focused on stable families and encouraging foundational religious beliefs. Instead, our educational institutions, governmental programs, and the Biden Administration in particular, say that the answers are contraceptives and abortion. Shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted would seem to be a tailor-made idiom. Despite what our society is pushing, many parents realize that there is no substitute for faith and family in our children’s lives.

However, before those of us on the right think we have all the answers, we need to go back to the roughly 40% of teenagers who ARE having sex. Trust me, it includes kids from nice nuclear Christian families too. From a pro-family perspective, that means dealing with the issue in a loving and understanding way. Kids need to understand that, believe it or not, we were all once teenagers with the same crazy hormones they have. That said, they also need to know that we don’t condone sexual intercourse outside the bounds of marriage. What they absolutely need to hear from us is that if their poor judgement results in a pregnancy, then we will be there for them, when they need us most.

Inexpensive Christianity

A couple of weeks ago we held our Pro-Life Conference, which was a great success. At the conference we gave a book to each attendee – the same books that had spent months stacked in boxes in our family room. Aside from a very understanding wife who never complained about our Sears Tower of books in the corner, over those months I noticed something interesting. One of the boxes said, “Everything Christian for Less”.

When you work from home and spend a significant part of your workday writing, an odd thing happens – you notice things in your environment you had not previously paid attention to. When I write a letter to the editor, this type of blog email, or content for a new webpage, I tend to regularly stare off into the distance while composing my thoughts (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere). As a result, objects in our family room get more daily scrutiny simply because my mind wanders and my eyes follow closely behind. I get fixated on something, and in this case, it was the box slogan.

The phrase “Everything Christian for Less” is actually the catchphrase for Christianbook.com, where we purchased the books. They did a great job with the order, but it still struck me as odd that a company would choose that wording. To some who are new to the faith or who do not understand the basics of a Christian walk of life, it might be interpreted as saying that Christianity can be “purchased” at low cost to the individual. You can put in your order online and get Christianity inexpensively delivered to your door in 3-5 business days.

All joking aside, I know what they mean by this slogan, as I’m sure you do (but I certainly hope nobody got a marketing bonus for it). However, Christianity is just the opposite; it’s expensive. Christ himself stated that the cost of discipleship could mean everything up to and including death. Aside from His own death on the cross for us, just look at his disciples. Every one of them was crucified, stoned, hanged, or made to die in some similar fashion for proclaiming their faith.

In contrast, I think it’s fair to say that as Christians, we often believe that exercising our faith can be quick and easy. We attend church, go to our bible study, and have our devotions. While these are all critical parts of our Christian life, there is another part of our Christian life which was not mentioned. That part is spreading our values through all parts of life, which is incredibly difficult. It can be extremely time consuming (i.e., expensive) and means taking the hits on a regular basis. That’s a major reason NDFA exists.

NDFA represents you and your values in the legislature and across the state. If you were to do this same work yourself, the task would become very expensive in terms of time requirements, fulfilling existing obligations, getting your work done, and so much more. We undertake that work on your behalf, and based on historical evidence, we are able to do it very efficiently and effectively. We love representing your values in North Dakota, but it is expensive for us as well.

Our organization is funded 100% through private donations from folks like you – North Dakotans who want to leave a legacy of biblically-based laws for their children and grandchildren. You can help support us in this work in a special way tomorrow with Giving Hearts Day! You also receive a dollar-for-dollar match on your donation in the process. You can go directly to our GHD webpage and donate, or you can mail a check to the address at the bottom of this email if you feel more comfortable doing that (be sure to put “GHD” on the memo line).

Integrating your values into North Dakota’s public policy world is not easy and can be expensive, but it is definitely worth it to push back against the moral decay underway in our country. NDFA is here to help you do that, and we want to sincerely thank you for your support and faith in us!