Be Careful What You're Thankful For
Quick Note: There are a lot of worthy organizations seeking your donations this time of year, and we also greatly appreciate your financial support. We will be sending our donation mailer on Monday, December 8th, so watch for it to show up in your mailbox sometime that week. It will give you a chance to donate to North Dakota Family Alliance and help support the work we undertake in the halls of Bismarck and across ND, protecting your deeply held values. Remember to look for our logo with the blue state outline and Bison inside to make sure your dollars stay in North Dakota!
A week from today is already Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if that brings warm feelings or dread of the holiday season, but let’s talk about giving thanks right now.
I am personally thankful for many things. First and foremost, I am thankful for salvation in Christ. I am very thankful for a loving wife, amazing kids, and for living in this wonderful state. I am also thankful for Godly men and women who serve us in the state legislature and Congress. I am thankful for our Legislative Academy that helps train ND legislators on how to best integrate their faith and values into their political life. And I am very thankful for you, our faithful ministry partners around the state.
As Americans, we have a lot to be thankful for as well. We live in a country founded on Biblical principles, which is a huge blessing. We have a society where hard work produces commensurate rewards, virtually unrestricted religious freedom exists, respectful dialogue happens around contentious issues, Christianity is respected by nearly all, and societal norms have been shifting more toward Biblical values over the past decades.
Really? Reread that last sentence. In a limited sense, perhaps all those aforementioned items exist in some form, and we should certainly thank God for them. However, many of those statements are already mostly untrue, and the others are slipping away at an ever-increasing rate. The ending to “I am thankful for...” on these issues could soon become moot. They could be gone far faster than you or I can imagine.
We see girls on sports teams competing with boys who “identify as a girl,” and these same boys identifying as girls are casually pushing their way into the opposite sex’s locker room facilities. The news broadcasts almost daily how another company, public figure, church, or other entity has sacrificed Biblical values on the altar of political correctness. We see bakers, photographers, florists, retailers (e.g., Hobby Lobby), and other business owners having to fight all the way to the Supreme Court to defend their religious freedoms, and I’ve personally heard from business leaders right here in our state about the pressure on them to capitulate to the “new order”.
Hard work no longer guarantees commensurate rewards you can keep. The Left and the Right bicker on seemingly every issue. Chemical abortions via Mifepristone and misoprostol are more common than ever and are happening under our noses at an alarming rate. This is sadly even true within our own state, which has banned abortion in nearly all circumstances (although our current law is in limbo as we await a final judgement from the ND Supreme Court).
Why am I giving you this litany of things that are going wrong? For three reasons. First, I want to highlight that the freedoms we still possess in these areas are a precious thing, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. In other words, be thankful for what you have.
Second, I want you to be painfully aware that we are not going in the right direction on these issues as a nation. Further, we may live in what is overall a conservative and bible-honoring state, but we are not insulated from these issues. We see them every day in our work – they’re coming, or in some cases, they are already here.
Finally, I want to ask for your help in upholding these fundamental beliefs and values that make us who we are as God-honoring North Dakotans. In the next few weeks, you will be getting a letter talking about our organization’s need for funding, where we will also give you the details on our dollar-for-dollar match for all year-end giving. We exist 100% from your generous donations, and we want to keep it that way, so that we are accountable solely to you and your Biblical beliefs. I would ask you to please consider donating as you see these requests. If you’re interested in giving early, you can click the “donate” box or mail a check to our address, both shown below (1:1 match will still be applied to your gift). We thank you for considering us for your year-end giving this year!
You're Invited! Christmas Sing-Along at the Capitol on Thursday, Dec. 4th at Noon
Please join us for a joyful Christmas Sing-along as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Gather with family and friends inside the Capitol’s beautifully decorated Memorial Hall, adorned with a breathtaking Christmas tree and lights radiating the warmth of this special season. We’ll lift our voices in timeless hymns and carols that tell the story of God’s hope, peace, and love. Come ready to sing, rejoice, and share in the true meaning of Christmas.
This special event is co-hosted by North Dakota Family Alliance and North Dakota National Day of Prayer.
If you would like to help with promoting this event, we have posters, bulletin inserts, and social media graphics available for that purpose. Please reach out to us, and we will get you what you need. Or use this link to RSVP to the event and share it on Facebook. There are still some volunteer opportunities available, so please let us know if you’d like to serve.
Questions can be addressed to:
Mark Jorritsma: 701-355-6425, mark@ndfamilyalliance.org
Ruth Jorritsma: 701-955-2485, jorritsma@midco.net
We hope to see you there!
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,