Cross-bearing for the Child-bearing
by Rev. John Ensor
Crossway Books is the publisher of the English Standard Version of the Bible, the version my wife and I now read. They recently asked Christian leaders to record (for radio broadcast) a reading of their favorite verses of Scripture and a brief comment. As a Crossway author, I was honored to participate. Philippians 1:29 was NOT the verse I chose. To my knowledge, it is nobody's favorite verse. But it is a gripping, muscular word that returns to me almost daily in this initiative we are calling the Heartbeat of Miami.
The Apostle Paul proclaims, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have."
I tremble at this word. We all should. It is a promise given with calm certitude about what comes with the grace to believe. To draw it out, "It has been granted (gifted to you as part of the outworking grace of God) to you that for the sake of Christ (for the magnification of the glory of the Son of God in the world and neighborhood in which you live) you should not only believe in him but also suffer (yes, it says suffer) for his sake, engaged in the same conflict (engaged in a holy war against all things that destroy body and soul) that you saw I had and now hear that I still have."
If there was ever an antidote to anemic American Christianity, this is it. There is a grace-wrought suffering that is ours as believers to expect and embrace. There is a God-ordained suffering that we are called to accept by which alone the Great Work of the Gospel advances up and over the barriers of sin-hardened hearts and blood-spilling acts of oppression and unbelief. Avoidance of Sovereign Suffering renders us spiritual anorexics. Accept it and we turn the world upside down.
Now let me suggest an application of this word to abortion and our calling as a Church to be the very "aroma of life" (2 Corinthians 2:16). Here is how I would read it: "It has been graciously given to you and me, for the glory of Christ in the outworking of the Gospel, to be cross-bearers for child-bearers."
Why are we asking you to give sacrificially to the effort to open pregnancy help medical clinics in a city plagued with 37 abortion facilities? Because we are called of God not only to believe in Christ but to conquer child-killing in the name of Jesus, by being cross-bearers for the child-bearers.
Why are we bold to let our volunteers know that what they are volunteering for is hard work and often, tearful work? Because rescuing the weak and innocent from those who traffic in blood does not come by believing abortion is wrong, but by bearing the burden of those bearing a child who are being drawn by human weakness and demonic powers to the wrong savior for the wrong kind of deliverance.
Why are we currently working 8-12 hours a day in training staff and renovating a building and seeking to raise $60,000 for ultrasound services (machine and technician), $40,000 to  purchase an ad for the first page of the Miami Yellow Pages and spending countless hours calling pastors, meeting, teaching, preaching and praying? Because the abortion industry of Miami will yield to a Church aflame with neighborly love and willing to be cross-bearers for child-bearers! Cross-bearing work is prelude to life-arising wonders!
Will you share with us in a bit of grace-wrought suffering for the sake of Christ in the saving of many lives? If so, let us know what time, talent and treasure you are willing to sacrifice to help initiate the Heartbeat of Miami effort. As we prepare to open our first Pregnancy Help Medical Clinic in the Hialeah neighborhood, we especially need sacrificial monthly supporters. Please join me in sacrificing a $1 a day ($30/month). If it hurts to do so, know this: It is the kind of pain that could be avoided as surely as Christ could have avoided the cross. But it is the kind of pain, taken up freely, that advances the Great Work of the Gospel. Against such cross-bearing, the gates of hellish abortion facilities will not stand.
Your partner in the Great Work,
To give a gift for renovation or other start up costs click below:
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