Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Be not hearers but doers.


On campus, we get to meet people from all walks of life. My work with JFA has given me opportunity after opportunity to be a doer, not a hearer, of the word and to share the hope I have with others.

One day on campus last year, my fellow JFA mentor, Catherine, used her skills in sign language to share the mission with a student who could never be a "hearer" of the word...even if they wanted to.

"Listen" in on their conversation here.


**Caution: There is a graphic visual in the background.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Reaching (little) hearts

This is my oldest daughter.
She's pretty incredible.

She's is teaching me so much about looking at the heart not the actions. Like when she screams, "Poppa! Look at me!" Disrespect for me is not what is driving her motivation, although it is what her actions are displaying. Her heart is filled with a desire for my attention and affection. She may be going about obtaining this desire in a wrong way, but the longing for her Poppa's love is not wrong in the least.


My daughter is teaching me to look at the people on campus in a similar way. When I'm doing mission work on a college campus, I meet hundreds of people who are acting like my 2 year old. Acting out toward me (and JFA) because of real hurts and raw emotions. My daughter is showing me how to look past what people say or do and focus on the deeper issue of their hearts. And I'm thankful for that.

After all, God looks at us in the same way. Man focuses on the outward appearance, but Jesus is looking at the heart - the wellspring of life. I love my job for the opportunities it affords me to reach out to hurting hearts. Those affected by abortion, in general, suffer in silence. God has given me the blessing of working to reach out to the silent sufferers and share the hope we have in Christ Jesus. I couldn't ask for a better job.


Saturday, April 30, 2011

Abortion debate takes center stage at downtown Denver campus

JFA's recent trip to Colorado was a big success in many ways, thank the Lord!

Read about our impact on campus here.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Don't do that! It's not your job.

Brit's latest blog talks about something I think we all struggle with. We understand that abortion isn't merely a political issue or a plank in our party's platform; it's quite literally a life or death issue.

With this pressing weight in our minds and in our hearts, we can be prone to despair and frustration because we take the responsibility for this life and death struggle onto our own selves. This is a pitfall to be avoided at all costs. We aren't God and when we try to be, things won't go well for us.


Take a minute to read this and see if your blood pressure doesn't go down a few points. Mine did.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

What can $100 do?

This is a short (3 min) video of some testimonial stories from students who have been through the Justice For All training program. These students are from the Focus Leadership Institute (a Christian Worldview Studies semester offered by Focus On The Family) class of 2009.

It takes approximately $100 dollars to train 1 student in the Justice For All program. What does this training do in the lives of the students who are trained as ambassadors for Christ and those they meet on the mission fields of college campuses across America?

Friday, April 8, 2011

Who is my neighbor?

I have come to believe that pro-lifers are far-sighted. We tend to see abortion as a problem outside of our circle of influence and certainly not within the safe confines of our churches. This couldn't be further from the truth. Statistically speaking, a woman at risk for abortion could be in the very seat beside you on Sunday morning! Based on polling data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholics obtain 31.3%, Jews obtain 1.3%, and Born-again/Evangelicals obtain 18% of abortions.


Even I have been guilty of this far-sightedness. Back in August of 2010, I was writing emails to fellow supporters checking to see if they had received my newsletters and to touch base with them about life and JFA. I received one reply that caught my eye. It was from a high school student who had been to the JFA seat-work training back in March. I knew she needed help immediately because she had a neighbor who was pregnant and had an abortion schedule for later that week.


I was taken by surprise! A crisis pregnancy was the last thing I was thinking of since I was so focused on the tasks of networking and fund-raising. I called her as soon as possible and talked with her mother. Much to my sorrow the mother told me the neighbor had already had the abortion that very morning.


Even more sadly, she told me this was the young woman’s second abortion in 3 months.


I want to use this tragic story as an opportunity to say to you all if you know anyone considering abortion, time is not on our side. I also want to encourage you to pray for the Holy Spirit to show you if there are any women in your life (a family member, friend, fellow church member, the woman ringing up your groceries at the store...) who may be at risk of an abortion or secretly hurting from the pain of a past abortion.


There are extensive resources for these women and I want to be a resource for you to tap into! These women are the "neighbors" Jesus told us about. Although they may not outwardly look like the beaten, stranded traveler lying on the road side, I can assure you that inwardly they are in just as bad of a condition as the abandoned man from Jesus' parable.


Call me anytime, day or night. 404.379.4333


Opening our mouths together,


Jacob


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Stephen Wagner: 20% of Abortions: Evangelical

Stephen Wagner: 20% of Abortions: Evangelical: "In the Guttmacher Institute poll of women having abortions in 2008 (see p. 9), about 1 in 5 (20%) claimed to be born-again, evangelical, cha..."