Hear Jay Rudolph’s prolife story.
Transcript
The transcript was automatically generated and may contain errors.
00:05 :
So so Jay, I’m excited to have you on the pro-life Team Podcast. Would you introduce yourself as if you were talking to a couple of pregnancy clinic executive directors?
00:17 :
Yes so that is a great group for me to address myself too, because I was kind of one of them a few years ago when I had the opportunity to help establish a pregnancy Resource Center in Northern Iowa where I live. So now my work consists of producing a Christian radio show that looks at issues from a biblical worldview and of course, the pro-life issue is one of those that we certainly address on this show it’s called the Plumb Line and it airs around the country in various places and continues to grow as God opens more and more doors for it to expand so that’s what I do now, but I’m very passionate about what everyone involved with the pro-life work does.
01:04 :
Ok, yeah tell us your the story of opening that previous Resource Center. How did that take place?
01:13 :
Yeah, so it was back in, I believe, about 2013 i had to do a little searching in my records here to get that at least close so. But I had become friends with a lady by the name of Sue Thayer, and I wanted to ask you, Jacob, if you’re familiar with Sue at all did you ever answer on the podcast?
01:35 :
Not on the podcast, but her name sounds very familiar i’m sure I’ve heard it before i don’t know quite where I suppose.
01:43 :
So later in her life Sue worked for 40 Days for Life and I don’t remember exactly what her title was but she is best known as being She was the manager of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake iowa which is pretty near to where I am and she left that after well partially because of some conviction she was under from hearing radio broadcast that I did and so all glory to God for that you just never know what God will do and who he will reach. But she had been listening to the radio she heard me interview some people from Iowa Right to Life and some other organizations and just realized for the first time that what she was involved in was abortion. Essentially, she was helping to provide pills, abortifacient pills at that time that, you know, Planned Parenthood really did not make it clear what was going on there so she was kind of deceived as the manager and not really understanding or realizing what was taking place. And so when I met her and she kind of shared this testimony and how I had impacted her life through the radio broadcast, we just became instant friends and she and my wife and the three of us just were really good friends and just started to, you know, connect in a variety of avenues and so it was about 2013 when I had on my heart for some time to start a pregnancy Resource Center in Algona, iowa, which is kind of north, north, central Iowa. Sue is from that Storm Lake, iowa area which is about an hour South or so of Algona and she had wanted to start something up too and so we basically established what was a two location pregnancy Resource Center at that time between the two of us and a number of other great volunteers of course that were involved with that. And ultimately the Storm Lake one is still going, the one in Algona honestly did not there are some other pregnancy research centers doing good work, not too terribly far from Algona and it’s a small community, it’s only about 6000 people and it just did not, you know, it wasn’t feasible I guess would be the best way to put it as far as having enough business and things. The Storm Lake iowa, one that she helped to establish is still going it’s called Cornerstone for Life and you can find it online and they’re doing great work reaching lots, of lots of ladies there so that’s how that got started. My involvement really was through about 2018 That’s when the Algona clinic, you know, shut down so.
04:22 :
Ok, so tell us about What are your thoughts when it comes to like when you talk about pro-life or abortion on your radio show. Are you taking like the apologetic viewpoint or are you sharing stories like what angle or postures are you taking when talking about this topic?
04:43 :
Yes so the show is looking at every issue or topic from a biblical world view and when I and my guest that I have on, there’s always a guest on When we do that, we are really going right into the Scriptures my goal and desire is twofold with the show 1 is to clearly present the gospel because God made it clear to me when I started this show a little over a year ago that if somebody doesn’t have a relationship with Christ in the 1st place, they don’t really care what the Bible says about whatever topic or issue so that is the gospel is woven into every broadcast and then from there we go right to the word of God so you know for the abortion pro-life issue, Psalm one thirty nine of course is going to be very prominent. Lots of other scriptures that we can pull into it as well, certainly, but that’s one that comes to mind right away. So we’ll take it, we’ll read the scripture, we’ll talk about, hey, what is, you know, what is God trying to say here to us and yeah, so it’s very scripture oriented it is very apologetics oriented too.
05:54 :
Yeah, So what are your thoughts about? Yeah, so talking about, you know, salvation. So what are your thoughts about, you know, the importance of someone having a water birth or their first birth, and how would you compare that with the importance of having that second spiritual birth?
06:14 :
Or one of the spirit like that. Yes yeah we’re kind of just discussing this at church recently here. And so, yeah, that obviously the second birth to me is the most important, especially from a pro-life perspective because the baby who dies in the womb, I believe, is still going to be in heaven and so there’s a lot of babies that went to heaven without ever experiencing any time on earth and so the second birth is ultimately the most important of all and kind of my philosophy always was in doing pro-life work, that if we save a baby and help a mom for making just a terribly, you know, wrong decision, that is awesome, that is wonderful. But that baby and that mom as well are one day going to face death one way or another and face eternity. And so to me, pro-life work should encompass salvation as well it should encompass the gospel and pointing people to eternal life through Jesus Christ so that’s really my mission.
07:20 :
Interesting. Yeah it’s yeah it really gives it having a physical life without having that spiritual having the rebirth of the birth through the spiritual birth. It yeah. It’s just that there’s that’s just sad and it’s hard to say though that yeah, for me it’s. I have a hard time saying that the spiritual birth is more important than the than the physical birth but at the same time it is like it but it’s yeah, they’re both important, but they’re both desired. But when it comes to eternity, that spiritual birth is definitely more important.
08:02 :
Yeah it is kind of an unusual thing to even think about because obviously as pro lifers we understand that God, you know, he obviously desires for every one of these babies that he has formed in the womb to come to experience birth and life here on this earth that he created. And yet at the same time, we recognize and acknowledge that for a variety of reasons, you know, those babies and it’s not always just abortion either you know, there’s a lot of, you know, miscarriages or you know, deaths of the baby, you know, in the womb Still that aren’t abortion and so all of those babies God created and loves and they will experience, I believe, eternity and in heaven and so, yeah, for those who are born that spiritual birth is absolutely crucial and most vital of all.
08:49 :
So on a different topic, what was it like to find out that your radio show influenced someone working at an abortion clinic to change course?
09:04 :
That has been probably, I’ve had oh two, really only two or three out of nearly 4 decades in radio, two or three experiences in my life that I would say, wow, these are just amazing things that God has done and I just can’t believe that he allowed me to be part of this so and so when you get those, they’re, you know, they’re few and far between and that’s not to say I’m sure there have been many other times that God has used whatever, you know, used me for his glory and his purposes but the ones that were brought to my attention and that stand out were a couple in particular that dealt with salvation, with people getting, what shall we say, I guess their perspective corrected through the word of God and the power of the word of God that’s where the power is in not anything that I’m sharing unless it’s the word of God and so that being said, when I, you know, when I heard this, I was, yeah, I was pretty startled, pretty stunned that, you know, not you’re realizing that God obviously certainly can do these things, but sometimes we think, yeah, God, you can do these things but are you really going to do this? And I’m sure for those who have done sidewalk counseling or you know, things where you’ve been part of seeing moms change their minds, boy, what a glorious experience that is and some people will do that for years and years and never really see the fruit of it. But there is fruit that’s being borne out and maybe, you know, a mom changed her mind and you never even learned about it and for me, I had the blessing of at least with Sue hearing directly from her, how that impacted her but we don’t always hear that so i guess I’d want to encourage people that probably the majority of times you’re not going to hear necessarily about what your work in serving the Lord is doing or accomplishing, but persevere because you can know and trust that God will not let those efforts go in vain so.
11:05 :
Did you happen to when you’re when you’re talking with Sue, did she, did she go into like what you were talking about in any kind of detail or do you know which episode may have impacted her the most?
11:18 :
Yeah so this was well before the show that I’m doing now before this show, I worked for a Christian radio network in Iowa and Minnesota i was the news director so what she heard in particular was an interview that I did with the lady by the name of Kim Lehman, who was the president of Iowa Right to Life at the time. And I don’t even know if Kim was talking about the, you know, the abortion pill or what the topic was i’m kind of thinking it might have been, you know, the RU four eighty six, because it was new at that time and that’s what the Storm Lake clinic was just getting into and so I whatever our conversation was, if it was RU 46 or whatever, it’s there was very convicting certainly to sue but Yep, that’s what she told me it was so.
12:07 :
Wow so where do you see God’s fingerprints in that story or how where was God’s Yeah, What do you see him in that story?
12:19 :
Well, so probably the neatest thing, and this relates to what we’ve already been talking about, is it wasn’t Sue just having a change of heart about what she was doing and where she was working it was really about her having a an understanding that what she was doing was not in alignment with what she professed to believe i don’t think I would say that she became a Christian as a result i think from the understanding that she told me is she was probably kind of a what I’d call a cultural christian to name only maybe. And so she wasn’t really, you know, walking with the Lord or seeking his direction or will on what she was involved in or doing. And so it was more of an eye opener to help her say, you know, if I’m really going to believe in this Jesus that I say I believe in, then I should not be part of you know, this process of taking babies lives. And so that’s that was the best thing of all to me is just that fact that it was kind of a combo of getting committed to Christ as well as leaving a line of work that was in the destruction of babies.
13:33 :
Cool yeah, that makes sense. Yeah it’s hard to, yeah it’s hard for someone to, yeah, reconcile those, you know, the action of working at an abortion clinic and the belief of Jesus and, yeah, it’s good that she worked through that reconciliation as far as she did to leave. So how would, what would you like to say to executive directors who are working at princely clinics today? How would you encourage them or you know what would be something that you would like to share with them?
14:10 :
Yeah well some of that is not I said already about perseverance just to continue on in the face of some really you know, nasty things that I’m sure they’re experiencing personally as well as just you know if they turn on the news at all, they are if they if their clinic hasn’t experienced any you know, you know hatred or vandalism, they’re seeing others who are and probably have some fears and concerns about that no doubt in fact in besides doing the Plumb line shows a little bit of an aside but besides that, I also produced some short features for the Family Radio Christian network around the country and in that I have interviewed how probably a dozen or more executive directors of various pregnancy centers around the country for those pieces and a lot of times they are, and rightfully so, leery of even a Christian radio guy interviewing them because there is a great concern of, you know, who’s going to hear this, what are they going to, how are they going to respond to it. So even as their heart desires to share the story of what God is doing through their efforts there’s still this always you know behind Lane lying behind the scenes concern about who might hear it and what could happen as a result of what they share so that being said I am so thankful that the vast majority of them were willing to speak with me and because it’s got to get out of the anti life crowd out there is going to succeed if they shut up all of these pregnancies and what I mean by shutting up and shutting their voices down, I don’t mean closing the clinics down though they certainly will try to do that but I mean just shutting their voices down. If those these pregnancy center leaders aren’t going to speak out and stand up for the work that they’re doing and God is doing through them, the anti life crowd will have succeeded here because you know people aren’t going to hear about it they’re not going to know that these centers are out there wanting to help women and men as well and save babies lives and so we’ve got to continue to persevere and not give up. The scriptures talk a lot about that. And so in the face of adversity, don’t give up, don’t let down because you are doing great work and there is a reward the scriptures tell us there’s a reward and inheritance in heaven for those who believe and serve the Lord so that’s that ought to be enough motivation for us just that.
16:45 :
Yeah it’s so important to be talking and communicating and the fact that people are blinded or they’re lost or they’re in the dark when it comes to the truth on life and abortion just means that it’s that it is important for those of us who are you know who understand the value of life, how it reflects God how it reflects the image bearer of God and you know his creation and how we. Yeah, and how the value comes from having a relationship with God. And just so, I think it’s really important for people to talk about it and to highlight the importance of life. So what are some of the stories that or some of the angles that you’ve taken on with your show when it comes to connecting the Bible to the topic of life for abortion?
17:39 :
Well, you just brought up the biggest one probably, that we are made in the image of God and as image bearers, that the biggest problem, and I would imagine you’ve heard this from any other guests, I think in our society is that we have failed to recognize, or even if we do recognize for a large measure of society, they are still going to deny this fact that we are created in the image of God and without that foundation, that understanding, we are always going to devalue life if we see ourselves as just evolved from a mud pit or whatever. And obviously, there’s not going to be the tremendous value and worth of life that we understand that we have as being created by a God who loves us and wants a relationship with us and made us in His image. And so there’s just a vast difference in perspective and understanding between that worldview and the worldview that says we just came from slime and you know, obviously so and so that being said, that encompasses a large measure of what we talk about and go into detail about on the Plumb line when we’re, when we’re addressing abortion and many other issues you know, identity is a huge issue right now. You know gender identity as well as just identity of who I Who am I? Who am I in Christ is really the question. And so if you are not in Christ and don’t have a relationship with him, you’re going to always struggle with that identity because that is what you’re intended to be and made for, is to have relationship with your creator. So these are, these are big topics, these are big issues that we address on the Plumb line and we go most of the time we start off right where you kind of started there with Genesis chapter 2 and talking about man being made in the image of God.
19:41 :
Yeah a lot of abortion clinics and I see a lot probably 75 maybe slightly higher % are providing hormone blocks, cross sex hormone ads and maybe less of providing the surgeries that’s yeah that’s become a major new trend over the last I want to say two years. And yeah, that’s definitely something that they’re attacking the youth, prepubescent youth, with these new services that are very commonly offered going way beyond just Planned Parenthood. And then when it comes to like who you know who you are. I was on a backpacking trip this last weekend and as I was really tired, you know, hiking on this trail, I spent some time in prayer just trying to make it through this trek. And one of the things I was praying was like, you know, just thinking about who I was as I was struggling to make it down this trail or up, you know, this really steep trail. And I remember thinking, you know, I’m a child of God. I’m a priest. I’m a husband, a father, a son, a friend, a church member, a pro-life of the site designer. And I was going down this list but really it always started with I’m a child of God and I’m also called to be, you know, a priest where I’m on the. I’m on, I’m in the Kingdom of God i’m on part of that team or that community. And that’s really important. So what do you think, who you are? Yeah how would you answer that of like when you who you, who are you when it comes to being and God and yeah, in regards to how God sees you and how you see yourself.
21:33 :
Yeah, as this you’re reminding me it’s funny how those experiences will cause you to think about those things a little bit more i remember hiking Mount Bierstadt. Some may be familiar with Mount Bierstadt in Colorado, part of the Rocky Mountains, one of the taller peaks there and I was doing this by myself and yeah, that was like you this was kind of the motivating factor that kept me going. There was some lot of people on the trail, too, who were encouraging and help me keep going along too but mainly it was just doing kind of what you were saying here god, just give me the strength to take one more step and actually accomplish this so it’s funny how those types of things bring that out in you. But yeah, I, you know, I guess I like to think particularly of the aspect of God’s grace and His mercy because, yeah, I fully when I came to faith in Christ, I was 2829 I guess, you know, twenty nine twenty eight twenty nine in that range anyway. And I had spent most of my life believing that I was just fine with God, particularly because I scored 100 % on my confirmation exam when I was like 14 years old so i thought that did it for sure if anybody was going to make it, I, you know, there was no one else that got 100 % so I was really good there. And that, you know, honestly thinking about that, that’s probably something that just that type of thinking is guaranteed to send you know, separate you from God because that’s the height of arrogance really. And so anyway, so i fully realized as when I got to the point of understanding true salvation and what Jesus had done for me and not just had knowledge about it, but my trouble was, you know, I had a lot up here, but the 18 inches from head to heart was there was, you know, I hadn’t made the connection there until I got into my upper twenties. And then at that point I really just the grace and mercy of God just really became profound to me that he would go to the cross and take my sin upon himself and i knew that I had plenty of it to give to him and for him to take on. And so that realization just, yeah, brought me to my knees and so every time I think of you know, who am I in Christ, i think of His grace and His mercy both because His mercy, you know, gives us the forgiveness but then His grace goes beyond it gives us what we don’t deserve so it’s not just taking away that our punishment, but it’s going beyond that and giving us heaven as well. And so the grace and mercy of God combined that’s who I am in Christ one who experiences those things that I don’t deserve so.
24:20 :
Awesome yeah. And that makes me think, well, there’s a few other identities like, you know, we’re also, you know, as being like a child of God, as an adopted child of God, we’re sons and daughters. We’re also. Yeah and with Jesus, the experience that we have with Jesus can be represented maybe by a brother or a friend, a Savior, and then with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside someone, it’s, you know, we have a we have communion, we have a very close connection. There’s just a lot of identity wrapped, you know, Really that’s where the identity comes from i think that, you know any identity of value or the best identity someone can have is in Christ or is in Jesus and God and that’s and I think that’s where that’s where value I, you know, I think that’s the valuable identity for someone to hold on to and then as that pours out to these other identities that people take on, then that becomes fruitful i believe there was a pastor at my church who was talking about, you know, where someone stores a Bible verse and how it gets stored in your heart, maybe more so than in your head. And how that really sort of, you know, communicates, you know, how the Bible really connects with someone’s you know, you know. Yeah how you know how someone’s heart, you know, heart versus mind when it comes to driving someone to make certain decisions or having you know, anyways all they say is we always say we, you know, memorize this Bible verse and put it in your heart people don’t think, you know, memorize it and put it in your mind. Because the mind is more is it works differently than someone’s heart when it comes to the how it drives, drives us which is interesting to think about. Yeah and.
26:12 :
Yeah, it’s a good point because yeah, a lot of us, you know, will have verses and I’ve memorized, you know, verses but if they are just held in your mind as something that you’ve committed to memory and you don’t actually, you know, you don’t put them into practice, you don’t, you know, ponder upon, OK, how does this affect my life and how I’m going to act or think or whatever, then yeah you really do need to hide them in your heart, as the scriptures say, not just in your mind so.
26:43 :
Yeah, awesome well so Jay what are your as we wrap up this podcast what are your final thoughts that you would like to share with pro-life leaders with you know people maybe that have that are taking on this gauntlet in the Precy clinic space and continuing to fight for you know for lives that are at danger of going to an abortion clinic as they’re trying to intercept traffic that is that was maybe destined for an abortion clinic by and then inviting Jesus into those into those women’s lives in those couples lives and helping you know more children find birthdays what would you like to say to this group that’s currently working in this space?
27:28 :
Yeah, well, I think in addition to what I’ve kind of said already, I’m just got this brain to mind here one of the more unique interviews I guess that I’ve had concerning this and it was with a ministry, a mobile, mobile, you know bus type ministry in Alabama I think primarily Birmingham area trying to think wheels in Alabama or something like that. But just that kind of that not that everyone has to do that model but as I talked to this man and I’ve you know thought about some of the other there’s the Storks Winner or save the Storks to and there’s these other ministries that are doing that mobile type of clinic. I really felt like this is kind of where we need to be is to be able to for them to be able to take this and park it on a college campus and things and I realize there are pregnancy research centers that have a physical building that’s right on a college campus too and that’s fantastic but I think being able to get out there, it’s kind of like the same thing with the church you know, if the church is just staying in its four walls, then it’s just not going to have success and do what God’s called it to do. And the same thing I think with the pregnancy center too we need to go beyond the walls and reach out and one of the ways to do that I think is through the mobile type ministry or you know having volunteers that are doing the sidewalk counseling and things like that so just make sure that we’re not getting confined and I think that may have been a little bit of the problem with the Algona Center that we started to is not having a College in the town and just kind of just thinking we’d set up shop and people would come to us. It was a little bit naive, I guess. And so, and that’s what I would say partially anyway, is that, you know, be sure that you’re really reaching out beyond the walls to try to get to these people who would never, you know, come in through the doors but really need help. However you can do that, that’s between you and the Lord, I guess, to try to figure that out but that’s my final, final word, I guess.
29:35 :
Wow, that makes sense yeah.
29:37 :
And I would.
29:37 :
Agree with that? Yeah, completely i spend a lot of time and then not to. Yeah, not to minimize the on college work or the in person work, but where I spend most of my efforts is on Google to try and help people get found on Google, which definitely is one of those spaces outside of the of the walls of a clinic for clinics to get found where someone’s looking you should usually on their phone, you know while they’re out and about looking for answers to questions. But yeah, I would agree that the, you know, the sidewalk is definitely part of that outreach and being present where someone is, whether it’s a college campus, a mall, a high school. You know, where, you know, finding out where your audience is and being, you know, helping them find awareness that you exist and that you’re there to help is key for them to be able to consider, you know, connecting so well. Jay, would you, would you close out this podcast with a prayer? Yeah, with the expectation that those that are listening may, yeah, may pray with.
30:47 :
You betcha, Father we are so humbled and so thankful to be called to be part of a work that is honoring and glorifying you, Lord, the work of supporting life and reaching out to extend a helping hand and compassion to women and men involved as well that are going through a very difficult time in life for whatever reason, Lord is something that you have called the Body of Christ to do and to be involved in and so let us not take this work lightly. We stand in awe of the fact that you would equip us and give us the opportunity to be your hands and feet in a world that has a lot of disregard for life. There’s so much devaluing of the precious gift of life that you have given. Your word tells us to choose life and how can we reject that it just seems so crazy that we just don’t place the value on the precious life that you give us, Lord and help us each and everyone to see and know our need for you, Lord, to invite you into our lives and to ask you to guide us and to lead us in this work that you’ve called us to do. We cannot do these things i believe in our own strength we need your Holy Spirit to empower us and to give us the ability to know what to say to people who are going through these circumstances, to know what to do and how to reach people. And so we just ask for Your Holy Spirit’s guidance. We thank you, We praise you, We give offer our whole lives to you lord, it’s in Jesus name we pray amen.