Join us on Thursday May 23 in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Life Savers Ministries!
For information on tickets, tables, or sponsorships, contact Terri at 661-706-2229.
by Tim Palmquist
April 7, 2023
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a)
Do we seek to draw near to Him in His suffering as in His resurrection?
A surprise to us all
The Suffering Power of Distant Devotion
We desire to remain close to our loved ones in the midst of their most difficult struggles. But sometimes we need to realize that God may be gracing us with distance to be a blessing.
My wife Terri has been experiencing weeks of hospitalization, which began in February and have continued into April. In her physical therapy sessions, each step has been a painful struggle. Even though a professional physical therapist has typically been there to help her, I have wanted to be close to her to provide emotional support (thinking that I might even need to help catch her if she falls).
But since she entered a rehabilitation hospital last week, the physical therapist here tells me to sit in a chair while he or she helps Terri, so I can’t be next to her as she tries to walk. In her first physical therapy session here, Terri walked 52 feet. That was by far her best walk in many weeks.
The next day, Terri struggled to get close to that same goal, but the therapist was happy when she made it to about 50 feet. An assistant walked behind her with a wheelchair, so that she could safely sit down whenever she felt she couldn’t take another step.
At her next session, the therapist told Terri that he wanted her to go just a little further. Sitting in my chair, watching from behind, I was glad to see her keep walking past her original goal, until she had gone about 60 feet.
Then she did something that surprised us all. Just when we expected her to sit down, she turned around — and took another step. And another.
Her steps were labored, but relentless. She didn’t stop until she was face to face with me. She had more than doubled her previous record, walking about 120 feet.
Finally sitting down by me, she exhaled in exhaustion with a terse explanation for her surprising actions: “you were my goal“!
(We have treasured memories of difficult walks, such as when I wanted to take her to Yosemite to see Vernal Fall. Once she could see it from below, she wanted to stop, but I kept telling her “it will be worth it at the top.” Above the waterfall, beside Emerald Pool, I asked her to marry me.)
I had thought that the best way to help my wife was to be at her side as she struggled to regain her strength, but it seems that I helped much more by giving her a focal point for her return. Without that distance, she would have lacked the motivation to walk so far.
Jesus granted Peter the difficult goal of walking to meet Him on the water, and Peter stayed above the waves until he began to focus more on the storm.
Perhaps the renowned story of “footprints in the sand” leaves out one of the reasons that we might feel so alone in times of need — God can put us in such situations to strengthen our focus on Him. Yes, in a sense He carries us even when we seek Him, but as He ordains us to be “strong and courageous,” He needs to draw us in a way which requires us to exercise our own muscles.
When young David was all alone with the sheep, being attacked by lions and bears, he didn’t complain about being put in such stressful situations. Instead, he saw each crisis as an opportunity for God to train his hands for war. The defining victories of David’s life of strength and courage happened long before he faced Goliath.
However, David did feel alone, even abandoned by God at times. It was David who first penned the words “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” which Jesus quoted on the cross. But when David remembered how God formed him in his mother’s womb, this psalm which began with words of deepest despair was transformed into a powerful expression of God’s sovereignty and glory, ultimately providing an opportunity to proclaim God’s righteousness to a people who are yet unborn. (I wonder, as Jesus was on the cross, did He also share David’s thoughts of once being in Mary’s womb?)
The glorious celebration of Resurrection Sunday (“Easter”) shines most brightly in the context of the deep dark despair our Lord Himself expressed on Good Friday, and the victory implicit in the most desperate words He ever uttered. May we follow our Lord’s example of embracing those times of pain, struggle and even loneliness and despair, which force us to focus our eyes on Him and rely upon the strength He promises to provide in our times of greatest weakness.
The celebration of communion which unites us as Christians began at a moment when Jesus was preparing His disciples to be distant from Him, reminding them to continue to focus on Him even when He was no longer visibly present.
From the beginning of time, God created humans to walk with Him in the garden. (Do we feel far from Eden?) Jesus said when we abide in Him, He will abide with us. Ultimately our goal is to abide forever with Him in Heaven. (Do we feel far from Heaven?) But often in love He designs an unexpected distance for our own good, just as His distance from Lazarus and his sisters was an act of love even when they felt they needed Him near. But that distance was necessary for the glorious act of love He had planned for us.
For those who have not heard of Terri’s hospitalization, she experienced a colon blockage which was caused by scar tissue which had become like a spider web entangling her colon. While the surgeon had originally said that he would need to remove part of her colon, requiring a colostomy bag and another future surgery, the discovery of the scar tissue (from her gallbladder surgery 40 years ago) in his exploratory surgery was an answer to prayer, as we had prayed that God will reveal something to him which would make the colostomy unnecessary. However, after weeks of not being able to eat and having TPN artificial nutrition, Terri had a severe imbalance in her electrolytes which was difficult for the doctors to overcome. Then her weeks of hospitalization made it necessary for her to learn to walk again.
For further insights on how Christ’s crucifixion relates to the sanctity of life in the womb, see the video of our song “Broken for Me,” which uses gory, graphic imagery of abortion and The Passion of the Christ. https://youtu.be/eLY9gGIpJRA
Read more about the poem Footprints in the Sand.
Scriptures for further study:
Matthew 14:25-31 (Jesus and Peter walking on the water)
Psalm 22
1 Samuel 17 (David and Goliath, and lions and bears)
Luke 22:14-30
John 11 (Jesus and Lazarus)
For more details on Terri’s hospitalization, search for “@lifesaver” on Facebook.
(This article may be re-edited before it is in its final form here.)
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, state legislatures can no longer use the Supreme Court as an excuse to fail to act to save babies and mothers from abortion. In this new context, key national anti-abortion leaders have been taking sides on the question of whether or not state-level anti-abortion legislation should include provisions to prosecute women for aborting their babies. Some leaders argue that justice requires that a woman who aborts her baby must face the same penalties which would be imposed upon any calloused woman who murders her born child. Others argue that women who abort their babies are themselves victims of abortion, and that they should never face punishment.
But those who seek to criminalize women and those who would absolve women are both in danger of losing their focus (and thus losing today’s key battles). In most situations, women are not solely responsible for their abortion decisions, but face great pressures from other people (and from society as a whole). Some women who seek to protect their babies are coerced into aborting them. If we apply the Golden Rule to aborted babies, would an aborted baby advocate punishment for her mother? Anyone familiar with Frank Peretti’s Tilly knows the answer.
From the beginning, the pro-life movement at large has been characterized by the dual desires of seeking to save innocent babies and to help their mothers. Dr. Don Smith, our dear departed friend who produced the film The Silent Scream, also produced films like Your Crisis Pregnancy, compassionately offering help to abortion-minded women. Countless ministries which focus on helping women have been birthed over the decades of the pro-life movement. From the first decade of the pro-life movement, such pro-women ministries have comprised the largest segment of the pro-life movement (sometimes even eclipsing the broader goal of saving babies).
One such ministry, His Nesting Place, was established as both a pro-life church and as a maternity home to express the love of Christ to needy women facing difficult pregnancies. HNP founders Pastor Al and Judy Howard have always been among the strongest voices for protecting babies, even to the point of being jailed for seeking to stop abortions. Yet on a day-to-day basis, they dedicated most of their time to helping mothers. Such actions are fully compatible, not contradictory. The best efforts of the pro-life movement have always been focused on both the babies and the mothers.
Even as we now must focus on ending abortion state by state, now more than ever we must continue to pursue efforts to help woman who are caught in the crossfire of this battle. We must ensure that every pregnant woman is able to find the help she needs in the midst of any crisis she faces. If we fall short of this goal, the pro-abortion movement will be sure to broadcast our failures throughout the nation. We must ensure that woman-focused pregnancy help ministries continue to be strong — but such ministries are not enough! Every pro-life church must seek to help pregnant women directly (not just by sending money to a helping ministry), because Christians in the pew need to see the people whose lives are impacted by their votes (the women and the babies, all of whom bear God’s image). Furthermore, every pro-life Christian should be eager to offer direct help to pregnant women and their babies – face-to-face, personal help, in addition to the essential help offered through churches and other institutions. Yet all of this woman-focused help will lead us to defeat if we lose our focus on saving vulnerable babies from death.
While state-level life-saving legislation is essential today, this cannot be the end goal of the pro-life movement. If we seek to end abortion throughout the nation, ultimately our goal must be a federal Constitutional Life Amendment which recognizes that every human being is a person from the beginning of their biological development. Scientifically, the definition of a human being is unambiguous, including every preborn baby – but also embracing every woman.
Securing personhood for a preborn child does not in any way detract from the personhood of the mother, nor does such personhood hinder women’s rights in any way. On the contrary, half of preborn children are female!
When the personhood of a preborn child is recognized, the due process rights of that child (as recognized by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments) must be protected, whether such due process rights are procedural or substantive. Nevertheless, the child’s mother also retains her own rights to due process. The child’s mother also retains her rights to the presumption of innocence under our system of justice, and she must be considered innocent until proven guilty. Of course, the preborn child, who has committed no crime, also deserves the presumption of innocence. As this struggle for justice continues, we must not fail to hold on to these key principles which go to the heart of who we are as Americans.
But even if a woman is guilty of intentionally killing her own child, such a woman rarely acts alone.
So how should we treat a woman who is solely condemned for a crime which involved others? Jesus faced this situation, being presented with a woman who was caught in adultery. Judicially, this woman deserved death, according to the Jewish laws at that time. But the man (who was presumably also caught in that same crime) also deserved that same punishment. The fact that nobody intended to punish the man should not escape our notice here. Without denying that she deserved death (stoning), Jesus interposed judicially by insisting that whoever was without sin must throw the first stone. Jesus’ words caused everybody in that crowd to become aware of their own sin, so none of them threw that stone. Jesus then set the woman free, without condemnation, but while challenging her to turn away from her sin. How could any Christian claim that Jesus’ merciful act of judicial interposition was unjust?
Those who focus on punishing women for abortion may lose the opportunity to help such women accept the fact that although they do indeed deserve death, Jesus interposed on the cross to pay their death penalty. But these women are never alone in their sins.
The sins of a nation create an environment in which women face excruciating choices. When scriptures like Lamentations 4:10 say that “the hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children,” no punishment for such women was ever indicated. Indeed, these guilty women are characterized as “compassionate,” even in the midst of these most heinous acts. Presumably, such women received in their own bodies “the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27), but it seems that no additional punishment was necessary. How could this be? Ultimately, the whole nation was guilty. The heinous acts of these mothers pointed to the depravity of the culture as a whole.
When it comes to our national sin of abortion, we are all guilty.
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn anyone, but that all who turn to Him might be saved. In the same way, the pro-life movement is not here to condemn anyone, but to seek to affirm and protect the personhood of all.
The ultimate goal of the pro-life movement is to end abortion as quickly as possible. By focusing on punishing guilty women, would we cause great (unnecessary) delays in fulfilling that goal? Strategically, women (even those who aborted their babies) may be most useful in bringing an end to abortion.
Over the past half-century of the pro-life movement, the greatest advocates for ending abortion have always been women. Many of these women who now seek to end abortion once aborted their own babies. Other women gratefully look to the pro-life movement as being responsible for saving their children from abortion. Most pro-life leaders would say that they experienced their greatest joy when they encountered such women who gratefully express appreciation that the lives of their children were saved. These women had once been guilty of committing abortion (at least in their hearts, according to Jesus), but instead of being punished, they experienced the greatest blessing of nurturing the child they once intended to kill. No, justice does not always require external punishments, but ultimately the consequences of such actions are intrinsic to the act.
At the end of our nation’s bloody civil war, when so much blood had been shed, President Lincoln focused on the good that could be done for the former slaves while taking a strong stand against punishing those who caused so much suffering to these slaves. Instead of seeking “justice” through punishment, Lincoln’s goal was to unify the nation, “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
At this momentous time in the pro-life movement, may the vision of Lincoln, the compassion of Jesus, and the core principles of our nation guide all who seek to protect innocent preborn babies – and their mothers.
Idolatry and rage
Before today’s Jericho March in Phoenix, as we waited for a prayer gathering to begin outside the Arizona capitol building, a man dressed in a suit (probably the best-dressed man in the large crowd) came to the microphone to encourage us to focus on God’s providence during this election crisis. Drawing our attention to the winged statue atop the capitol dome (which looks like an angel), he explained that the statue actually functions as a weather vane, turning one direction or another depending upon which way the wind is blowing. As he pointed out that in God’s providence, the wind was directing this “angel’s” face toward us, a man in the crowd screamed at him, repeatedly calling the statue an idol and saying that it should be torn down. The well-dressed man at the microphone, speaking in gentle tones, invited the heckler to come to the microphone to explain his concerns. Instead, the heckler just stayed where he was, continuing to scream about idolatry.
A battle is raging all around us for the future of our nation. The current election is a key aspect of that battle, as the leaders our citizens are now choosing will set the agenda for our nation on many battlefields (including but not limited to abortion) which will have a huge impact on all of us in the coming years. Does God expect His people to get our hands dirty to make a difference in this battle, or does He want us to only cast our vote symbolically, choosing the most “righteous” candidate even if we have no doubt that such a candidate will have no impact on the current battles?
Everyone knows that the current major candidates do things which are often embarrassing and sinful. Is it a sin to support such a political leader whose actions at times seem to show a lack of respect for God? Or does God actually call His people to honor and serve unrighteous leaders for righteous purposes?
Palmquists discuss pro-life history and strategies
Pastor Daniel Parks, executive director of Cities4Life in Charlotte, interviewed Tim and Terri Palmquist during their recent visit to North Carolina. He entitled the interview “Gleaning Wisdom from Pro-Life Pioneers….” Beginning with their recollections of how Christians responded to Roe v. Wade, the Palmquists explained how God led them into pro-life ministry (how He even used a girl’s lie for good). They also shared how God saved a child physically and spiritually, how God used a baby in a jar, and some personal experiences with Operation Rescue and Life Chain. The Palmquists point to their relationship with a true pro-life pioneer leading them to get involved with national efforts to end abortion, realizing how churches and politics are not incompatible. But some of the most important wisdom originated from a Charlotte-based hero.
Hear how God saved a child’s soul after saving his life
The powerful grace of voluntary suffering is integral to the essence of Christ-mas joy. From the moment that Mary first heard the angel’s greeting, she knew that she would be facing serious pain (with joy). Pregnancy at this moment in her life would not only be scandalous but even life-threatening, due to the penalty for a condition which would be seen as an indication that she had been unfaithful to her betrothed husband, Joseph. Yet Mary humbly, willingly, even gratefully (that is, gracefully) accepted this lifelong path of suffering.
Her situation was quite unique, because the Child she was graced to carry had chosen this path of suffering, from the foundation of the world. Jesus chose to clothe Himself in tender flesh and blood (even the tenuous condition of a microscopic conceptus), so that He could sacrifice Himself to favor Mary (and all others who would so humbly accept Him) with grace. He chose this path of suffering not through a morbid desire to maximize His personal pain, but “for the joy set before Him,” for the eternal benefit of His offspring like Mary.
You may have never met Cheryl Sullenger, but you have probably been impacted by her work. She has been an important part of our local ministry efforts for many years (even though she lives in Kansas). Next week we are flying Cheryl to Bakersfield to give you an opportunity to learn from her pro-life ministry expertise.
Cheryl has helped us investigate local abortionists and publish reports when we become aware of specific injuries (such as a young mother who was injured so seriously last year that she had to have her uterus removed). Attending every day of abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s trial, Cheryl played an essential role in putting pressure on media and public officials to ensure that he was convicted of murder. She details her experiences in her book, The Trial of Kermit Gosnell.
Sunday night at 6 pm, Cheryl will speak and sign books at Bethany Ministries, 1200 Baker Street (in the former Tejon Theater on the corner of Monterey and Baker).
Monday night at 6 pm, a Mexican dinner will be held at the Our Lady of Guadalupe pavilion (on Brundage Lane just west of Oswell Street), with Cheryl as the featured speaker. The suggested donation is $25 (with discounts for volunteers and table sponsors).
Finally, on Tuesday morning at 7:30 we invite you to join us for breakfast at HomeTown Buffet (on White Lane at South H Street), where we will hear some final thoughts from Cheryl before she flies back to Kansas. The suggested donation for the breakfast is $10, but pastors and leaders are welcome to eat for free (please consider inviting your pastors and church leaders).
Our small local outreach efforts are having an international impact! In August, a reporter from a French television station contacted us asking if she could follow us to document our ministry activities. We have no idea why the reporter chose to feature us (we had made no effort to contact anybody), but the primary subject of the report was how California pregnancy centers were impacted by the law which the US Supreme Court struck down earlier this year (the law had required pro-life ministries to inform pregnant women of the availability of taxpayer funded abortions, but we refused to comply).
God promises to do more than we ask or imagine when we follow Him. We definitely never imagined that people would be talking about us on the streets of Paris! To God be the glory!
During the Decision America Tour of California, Franklin Graham’s bold pro-life Gospel appeal impacted many thousands, coupled with powerful words and music from Jeremy Camp and Dennis Agajanian. We participated in every event, spreading the word about the Life Amendment, and recording pivotal moments each evening.
Franklin Graham talked about his goal of piercing the “blue wall” of California, Oregon and Washington. Our new video Beyond the Blue documents our experiences in California, where we helped many thousands learn how to end abortion in America.
Continue reading “Beyond the Blue: our perspective of Franklin Graham’s California tour”