More than 80% of abortion vulnerable women choose life after seeing ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic
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Dr. Jessica Peck is prescribing Hope for Healthy families on American Family Radio
preborn.com/AFR hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck. Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for Healthy families. We've got a powerful, powerful word of encouragement for you today because you know, we are raising families in a moment where I think for me as a parent and the parents that I talk to, when we just seem to feel more weight than previous generations, a weight of getting it right, we feel like the stakes have never been higher. And if we don't get it right, we don't Know what's gonna happen. We wanna raise kids who grow up to know scripture, who love God, who serve others, who make wise choices, treat people well. And we want our kids to have courage, to stand firm in a culture that is just increasingly confusing and chaotic. And if we're honest, sometimes the Christian life can start to another pressure, responsibility. On this overflowing parent checklist, are we doing all the right things and our kids doing all the right things so that we have that immediate gratification? If they're doing the right things, then we must be doing the right things. And let's just all stay on this hamster wheel. But what if. What if there's hope in that? The answer is not just trying harder. What if part of what our families desperately need today, maybe that missing piece for you, is a deeper understanding of what it means to live in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Book of Acts gives us a picture of very ordinary people who were empowered by an extraordinary God to do just incredible, miraculous things. They faced things like we face today. Uncertainty, opposition, hostility, suffering, tremendous cultural differences. But they weren't navigating it, any of it, alone. So today I'm talking to Kelly Minter She has a new Bible study on the Book of Acts and reminds us that, hey, this is not just a history book filled with things that happened in a time long ago about what God did in the first century. It really points us toward a continuing mission. And believers today, that's you. We are part of the story. And that really has enormous implications for our family. And so in a world where we're increasingly distracted by culture, I'm encouraging you to be grounded in your discipleship journey. Because discipleship isn't something that just happens at church on Sunday. Our homes are the places where that faith is lived out loud. And our kids are watching how we're responding to all of this chaos, the adversity that we have, how we treat strangers, whether we practice hospitality, whether we are walking in step with the Holy Spirit or not. Your kids can probably tell you pretty quickly on a good day or a bad day, whether you are or you aren't, whether you're obeying God when it's inconvenient, or whether the gospel actually changes the way that we live from the inside out. And Kelly Minter's Bible study, Acts, invites believers to look at the early church and think about what would happen if we actually lived like the Holy Spirit is present and active, not just on the pages of scripture, but in our lives. She is an Author, a speaker, a songwriter, a singer. What is it that she can't do? She's passionate about women discovering Jesus through the pages of Scripture. And whether through song or study or spoken word, she desires to authentically express Christ in a culture where so many are hurting or broken. And she is driven to share the healing and strength of Christ through the Bible's truth. So today we're going to look about, look at what ACTS teaches about the Holy Spirit, biblical community, mission, obedience, and especially what those truths mean for us as parents and grandparents and families who want to follow Jesus not just in theory, but in everyday life. Kelly, so glad to have you here. Thank you for joining us.
Kelly Minter: Hey, it's great to be here today. Thanks for having me.
Kelly Minter shares her story of ministry from Washington to the Amazon jungle
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well Kelly, before we start talking about the power of the Holy Spirit in our listeners lives, I want to hear about the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and your own personal testimony and call to, to write Bible studies. How did God put this message on your heart? What's been your story and your journey?
Kelly Minter: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I grew up as a pastor's kid so my parents founded a church the year before I was born right outside of Washington D.C. and so we had a lot of political people, people in military, a lot of people in and out for over the years that were you know, stationed there and it was really great. And then, early 20s, I got a record deal in Nashville, was doing Christian music. Singer, songwriter, had a few record deals. that's a whole nother story of three, record deals. You could really say three failed record deals in a row. I don't know if anybody else holds that you know, trophy but I've, I've got it. Three, three failed ones. And, and then that, that third one ended up getting me through a series of events to the Amazon jungle of all places where I got involved in there to jungle pastors and vulnerable children in the Amazon. And so that was really a life change. also began to write Bible studies and then went to seminary for five years to work on a master's of biblical and theological studies. so it's just been kind of a, a wild journey of teaching, speaking. But ministry has always been on my heart and I love the way that you opened up that we're in this place where I, there, there's, there's tremendous pressure. even we're on video right now and I can see, oh, there's lines in my faces, increases and things that like Instagram tells me I can actually do something about, you know, or I should be doing something right, you know, need to look younger or this or that, or did I get my exercise routine in? Did I this? And. And you, boy, you take a deep breath. And something I've learned in the Amazon jungle from a lot of these jungle, pastors and family members, but also from the Book of Acts, is that apart from Christ, and this is actually what Jesus says in the Gospel, but apart from Christ, we can do nothing. And so what does it really mean? Like you said, to be filled with the spirit and to carry his life presence around with us. And it doesn't mean that we don't work hard, but it certainly takes a lot of the pressure off, as far as having to get it right all the time and keep up with this cultural, sprint that we seem to be on.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Kelly, I appreciate your authenticity in sharing. I relate with much of what you said, but, wow, I didn't expect that journey from Washington, D.C. to Nashville to the Amazon jungle, now to the Book of Acts. But I'm so grateful for what God has allowed in your life. And I think sometimes, you know, we classify something as failure when sometimes when we have an opportunity, we feel like God then somehow guarantees the outcome. But I found, and I know this is your story, too, that I found that he doesn't guarantee the outcome. It's just about taking that step in obedience and what you're learning in that season and whatever. Whatever character traits he formed in you there are here to bless us today, despite what, you know, the world would say is not success. I see you as extremely successful. And that is a, really encouraging vision of having a kingdom mindset, really, when we look at that. And I'm actually excited about the Book of Acts. My own home church has been doing a series in the Book of Acts for, like, the last year. And I feel like, you know, I grew up reading the Bible. I feel like I knew about Acts, but I've seen it with confession. Completely different eyes looking at this culture. So tell us about what compelled you to write about the Book of Acts.
Kelly Minter: Well, it's one of those ones, because it's so missional. I. I really thought because of the mission work that I had done in the Amazon jungle and also in the very small country of Moldova, which sits between Romania and Ukraine. And some of people have heard a little bit more about Moldova these days because of the war in Russia and Ukraine and a lot of immigrants going into Moldova, that I. I had been doing so much mission work there, but also doing, you know, local work in my own communities. And so I thought it would be really great to go back to this book that is so missional and so movement oriented and journey oriented and action oriented. And I, like you, I felt like I knew every story and every sermon in the book of Acts, but I don't think I understood the book of Acts as a whole. And one of the key elements that we need to know is that Luke wrote the book of Acts, who wrote the Gospel of Luke. And so you really get volume one, Luke. Luke is gospel is volume one and Acts is volume two. And when you begin to put them together and you begin to see what Luke is doing, it also began, begins to come, really alive.
Kelly says the Holy Spirit filled the whole house in Acts 2
But I think one of the things that stood out to me is, right at the top of chapter two, it says that when the disciples were all together in one place, it. That is when the Holy Spirit came down. And it says that it filled the whole house. And that was a real significant shift because if you know your Old Testament at all, pretty much all of God's activity went from Garden of Eden to tabernacle to Temple. And so God's activity was very kind, of centralized around the temple, if you will. And you get to Acts and all of a sudden for the disciples to be able to complete their mission, they need the Holy Spirit. And where does the Holy Spirit come down? He doesn't actually come and fill the temple. And in this moment he comes and he fills a home. And that is a shift, a major, major break. And you begin to see throughout Acts that, that, that activity begins to more and more leave the temple and move outward. And it moves into the homes in Jerusalem. Then it moves out into Samaria where you get people that the, the Jewish people saw as, as, as mixed. So that story goes all the way back. I think it's second king 17. And, and so that was kind of like, oh, people aren't going to the Samaritans. Well yes, the gospel is going to go to Samaria. And so you begin to see people like Philip go there. And then it goes out even further. you know, you've got Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then it goes all the way out into the ends of the earth. And Paul eventually, he, we know he gets to Rome. some believe he gets even as far as Spain. You've got the Gospel going out on it. Riversides in pagan marketplaces, in religious settings like the Temple, the synagogue, irreligious settings. Like Athens. And that inspires me because I, I don't know about you, you know, where you, you are at, but a lot of times we are in very secular spaces and whether our kids are going to school or our neighborhoods or our workplaces or whatever. And sometimes I feel like, okay, Lord, I really feel the Holy Spirit in church or like in a Bible study. But what happens when I'm in a courtroom or in a hospital room or in this, you know, environment that's very anti to my beliefs or whatever it might be. Are you reigning there? And boy, the Book of Acts shows us that Christ is king over all the cosmos and he is in these very tactile places, not just the religious spaces. So I don't know, I just love that whole, like the feeling of the whole house that's Acts 2: 2.
Kelly Minter: And that's one of my desires is that my home would be a place of the Spirit's life, but also the other places that I go as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That is such an encouraging introduction and really compelling because you've called the books the Book of Acts just a continuation of the Christian journey. And you just said, Kelly, you don't know, you know, what my situation is. Well, I'm a scientist and academics, so I definitely, I knew those two things. Yes, exactly. I can relate to that, that pull, you know, of, of the secular environment. And then, you know, when I share my beliefs publicly, there's, there's, you know, sometimes, I'm greeted with the, ah, yeah, okay, okay, that kind of thing. And then when we start talking about things like the Holy Spirit. But I can tell you, Kelly, the Holy Spirit is living and well in my heart and my home. And I know the voice of the Holy Spirit in my life. But that's going to sound, I realize even as I say that that's going to sound really kind of like mystical and, and very abstract. What can you tell us? Where's a starting place for maybe people who haven't thought about the Holy Spirit's presence in their life? Maybe they made a profession of faith, but they don't, you know, actively think about the Holy Spirit. And we're coming up on our first break here, so give us a little teaser, a little preview, and then when we come back, we'll break it down quick.
Kelly Minter: I'll give a quick teaser and we can come back to this. Okay, but I, what you're saying, it can feel a little like woo, woo. But when we see the Holy Spirit in working in Acts, people are sick. People are Getting healed. people who don't have hope are finding hope. people that don't feel belonging are find belonging. So even though the Holy Spirit can feel like he meets us in very tactile, tangible places that I think we can all connect with and so we can talk about some of those things
Dr. Jessica Peck: when we come back, we will talk about some of those things when we come back because really, the power of the Holy Spirit is something that is for every day. For those parents who just feel exhausted about the responsibility of raising kids. Well, how do you move from, you know, I gotta figure this out to actually leveraging the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life, which is God given. And instead of beginning the the day with a list of everything you need to accomplish and your mind starts racing because you've picked up your phone that I know you can't get rid of being your alarm, right? Maybe if you just started the day with a simple prayer. Holy Spirit, help me notice where you're working today. Give me wisdom to lead my family, courage to obey you, and opportunities to make Jesus known. If you just started your day with that simple prayer instead of a simple scroll, I don't know, I don't know what could happen. And really the beautiful reminder from Acts is that God never intended us to carry the mission of following Jesus in our own strength. And the same Holy Spirit that empowered the early church is at work and believers today. We'll have more with that from Kelly Minter when we come back. Don't go away. I'll see you right after this break.
Without people like you, this podcast would not exist
Hello, I'm Jessica peck, host of Dr. Nurse Mama. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net/give that's afr.net/give
Pray by Sanctus Real: I bow my head to pray I don't know what to say I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with. I'm in a desperate place I need to share the weight But I just don't know how to let it all pour out And though I silent my heart is crying. Cause I was made to come to you so I pray God, I need you more than words can say Right here in this moment. You know my heart, you know my need, you know every part of me. So even if it's just to speak your name I'm gonna pray. I failed to find the time.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Pray by Sanctus Real. And this is a call to prayer when we are just trying to figure everything out ourselves. There's so much to be afraid of, so much to think about, so much to do in this world. So often we forget to stop and to pray and to live in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I'm talking today to Kelly Minter author of a new Bible study on the Book of Acts. And I'm telling you, once you study the Book of Acts, you'll never see things the same way. And we know that the Gospel went out from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. But as Kelly has told us, the Holy Spirit came and filled a home and a person. And the early believers lived missionally from those ordinary spaces, from homes, just like we do today. They practiced hospitality, they built community. They crossed cultural boundaries to take the Gospel. They shared their testimonies. They responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit with obedience. And, Kelly, we. Right before the break, we were just talking about. Let's talk. I know. How would you even possibly define the Holy Spirit? But let's start with a common working knowledge of what is that really?
Kelly Minter: Well, we know that the Trinity, we have God the Father, we have Jesus the Son, and we have the Holy Spirit. And so it is God himself that is indwelling us, which is hard for any of us, I think, to get our minds around. But, maybe it's helpful to see the impact of the Spirit to find out a little bit more about who he is. But we know that one of the things that the Spirit did during Pentecost was he brought people to repentance. And we can. So that word has been a little bit, I mean, it's got some tinges of feeling for some people. There might be some people listening, going, ooh, repent. Or repentance. Like, that brings up some bad memories from earlier in, like, religious settings or something like that. But the. It's a beautiful word because it's an opportunity for us to turn around from the way that we've been doing things to the way of Christ, to the way of life. And it says. It talks about the Holy Spirit brings us to that place of repentance and where it says. Even talks about how times of refreshing can come. Now, I don't know about you, but, like, I. I love that idea. I love the idea of times of refreshing. And if I'm honest, that there have been lots of times where I have taken, you know, control of. Of my own life, gone the way that I've wanted to go. And it has been miserable. And it is a wonder when the Holy Spirit comes and says, kelly, turn around. Like, turn around from the way that you've been doing it and turn to the way that Christ wants you to do it. And these times of refreshment come, forgiveness, of things that we know have hurt others, have hurt ourselves. I mean, this is all great news that the Holy Spirit, brings. we also know that the Holy Spirit, he also inspired people to serve in really tactile ways. I love Acts chapter six, where we. We learn about Philip and Steven and different ones who served. Guess, guess what they did in the middle of. Of everything that was going on with the gospel. They served the widows. There were widows that did not have food, they did not have, what they needed. Because in that society, it was the husbands that would provide. It was a very patriarchal society. And so if you lost your husband, you did not have a way to live. And so we have these. These, seven men that decide, you know, what the way we're going to do. We're going to serve widows. And we see just this beautiful humility that's meeting a tangible need. the Holy Spirit certainly was, behind that. we also. I mean, I'm just going through here and looking at. There are things that, both Peter and Paul go into prison, they're arrested, they're. They're, you know, falsely, accused. And. And we see the Holy Spirit helps, liberate them from those places. we see Peter go and heal. Ah, a woman named Tabitha. I mean, there are some really just very, I'm trying to think what the word is just desirable things that I think our neighbors are longing for. Like, that they want hope, they want peace, they want comfort. And so I don't think the Holy Spirit has to be this, like, weird thing that throws everybody off or that gets, you know, crazy. I think it's like, man, I hope that when people come into my home or when I enter their home that the Holy Spirit is. Is offering these things that I see in Acts, which is hope, it's peace, it's life, it's life change. it's comfort, it's community. the Holy Spirit drove the community. I think a lot of times we feel so alone in cult culture. And even though we've got all of our social media things and we're connected to all These people, we're not really connected. And so the Holy Spirit allows us to also be, become part of the church. It brings a very diverse group of people together. very, very diverse, Jew and Gentile, and then all manner of people that begin to infiltrate the, the Book of Acts in the church. So I don't know, I mean, I'm kind of all over the place. But these are some of the things that I see the Holy Spirit doing.
Dr. Jessica Peck: It is a lifetime journey, honestly. That's the beautiful thing about the Bible. You can study it and study it and study it and you still just learn more and more and more. And you mentioned earlier Kelly, you know, putting Luke and Acts together, the book of Luke and the Book of Acts, because they're written of course, both by Luke. And I think sometimes, you know, when I'm talking to kids or I'm teaching kids, they're like, they think Luke was a disciple. I'm like, no, Luke wasn't a disciple. You got to memorize the names. And then you see, you know, his role and pinning this story. And when you look at it and see where, you know, Luke walks us through the crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and then we've got the start of the early church and the, and the Holy Spirit comes and we've got Saul, who was Saul at the time, who was a Roman Jew, who was a persecutor of the church, who was there and present at the stoning of Steven. And then all of a sudden encounters, encounters Jesus and a blinding light on his way to persecute Christians becomes radically different, starts to preach the go. I mean Kelly, when you read the arc of that and then you realize that this book you hold in your hand is a 2000 year old story that's still changing lives.
I recently visited the Acropolis in Athens
And I shared with you during the break that I recently had the opportunity to travel to Athens and I was at the Acropolis. And I mean you're talking a magnificent structure. The artisanship is so impressive. And when you walk up there, I was imagining myself in the first century, just being completely intimidated and overwhelmed by this projection of power. And I see this little hill off to the side where Paul is preaching, you know, and giving the gospel and that's recounted in the Book of Acts. And I'm thinking, the nerve that he had to do that and the fact that it endured. How is that kind of when we look at just the arc of that miraculous story? I would encourage you, if you're not really familiar with what happened in Acts, pick up this Bible study and learn. Because when you see that kind of power, how are we missing out on that in our everyday lives? Kelly?
Kelly Minter: Well, and he. That's Acts 17, where he's in Athens and speaking, to, you know, the, the philosophers and those who would have had no understanding of Israel's God.
Different people shared the gospel, the very same gospel, but in different ways
And so I'm glad you brought that up, because I think one thing too, is that what one thing we see is, in Acts is that different people shared the gospel, the very same gospel, but in different ways. And even Paul shared it in different ways, depending on who was speaking to. And so I don't know, about you, but I feel like sometimes, depending on who I'm talking to, I need to be sensitive to them. Are they, Is it somebody that grew up in the church but has since left the church because of something that hurt them or wounded them or they just stopped believing? Is it somebody who has no context for Christ, no context for the church? Is it someone who is, that. That is just not religious or even spiritual? Or maybe it's somebody who's spiritual but doesn't believe in Jesus or. But all of that's important because when you begin to compare Peter's and Paul's, all of their different sermons, you see that they preach in very different ways. And in fact, where you're talking about where Paul is in Athens, he, I don't even think. If I think I'm. I'm right here. I don't even think he gets to Jesus because he has to start with God, because they all, they were many false gods that they were worshiping. And so he begins to just say, listen, the gods that you're worshiping, you. You even have an inscription here that says to the unknown God, you don't even know who you're worshiping. So I want to introduce you to the God who can be known. And he begins there, and it's a, it's an amazing, message. But he doesn't even just start right in where he would have started if he had been in Jerusalem in one of the synagogues, or even outside of Jerusalem in one of the synagogues where the Jewish people already had the whole Old Testament context. So I think that is helpful for us too, especially for those of us. And I can put myself in here sometimes where I can be intimidated. And, you know, you talked about being in academic settings and scientific settings, typically that those are not settings that are super conducive to the Bible or,
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, you know, that's fair.
Kelly Minter: And so, you know, just making a generalization here. I'm not saying it's never the case, but. And so it's like, how do you go into a space like that, with that sensitivity, knowing who you're speaking to? And we do see Paul doing that. He, he does not shy away from the gospel, but he does contextualize it. And in a very wise way that I think we can all learn from.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And Paul was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the whole point. And so how do we, but we look at Paul and we think, okay, yeah, that was Paul. We're talking about a Roman Jew. You're talking about Athens, like, like, you know, I live in Georgia, like, or wherever it is, you know, and, and and I, I work at a bank or whatever it is. How do we translate the power of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts to our everyday lives?
Kelly Minter: Well, I think that's exactly, it's just what you said. Like Paul talks about the fact that he was, he was raised as a Jew. He was raised under one of the most notable, rabbis of the time. He also had Roman citizenship, he knew about Greek culture. There were all of these things that came together that allowed him in a special way to minister the gospel in these different settings. And I would say the same thing for the person. Whether you're a stay at home mom, or whether you got your education from Harvard, or if you're a lawyer, or if you are a school bus driver or whatever your history, maybe you even are, you're culturally, you, you, you come from a different country or whatever it might be, or you speak multiple languages. I would say whatever our history is, the Holy Spirit wants to use that. And, and he, he wants to use you, exactly who you are and exactly your context. And so, again, Peter, Paul was very different from Peter, who was very different from Andrew or Philip and or let's mention some of these women, women, Priscilla, Lydia Jr. Different ones that had a major role in, in spreading the gospel. And so I think doesn't matter where you're from, all of that is, all of those aspects are things that the Holy Spirit wants to use. And I think what gets really detrimental in our culture is when we begin to compare ourselves, which is really, really more easy to do now than ever before because of our constant contact to media, social media and all of that. And we, oh well, I don't have that many followers or I don't have that education, or I don't look like that, or I don't have that kind of money. And it's like, man, what a robbery that is. Because if you look at acts, there are so many different people from different cultures, backgrounds, male, female, Jew, gentile, that were used to spread the gospel.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I think we have to shift our mindset too, because some people will really look at God like a genie or a, you know, Santa Claus in the sky. I know that sounds really disrespectful and sacrilegious, but really like kind of, okay, all right, I want to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want blessing and prosperity on my life. Like I want everything to go well. If I walk in step with the Holy Spirit, he's going to protect me, he's going to bless my family. And Paul really gives us a different version of that. Some of the most well known verses that were penned by Paul were said when he was in prison, when he was in a situation that seemed hopeless. He was shipwrecked, he was snake bitten. I mean, he had his fair share. He was, he was beaten and, and, and flogged. You know, when we look at what he had, he had hardship, but what he had was contentment. You know, he said, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance. And he walked in the power of the Holy Spirit because he believed that this world, world was not all there was. And I think we need to do better and lifting our kids to eternal perspective and thinking. We live in a world that is sometimes and a lot of times not good. But we can trust that we serve a God who is, who is good despite those circumstances. And the power of the Holy Spirit will be with you in whatever circumstance God promises us over and over in Scripture. Do not be discouraged, do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go, whether it's Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or the uttermost parts of the earth, or it's a shipwreck off of Malta, or it's a prison, or it is your school, it is your job, it is your community, it is your family that you're walking into and walking with the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing that the Lord your God is with you and he is for your good. And sometimes we can walk through things that we think are not for our good, but we serve a sovereign God who's allowed those for whatever reason. But he has promised not to leave us. And he is not unacquainted with suffering. And we have the only faith in the world where we had A savior who came to us. We're not trying to find our way up to him by being good enough or doing this or doing that. He came to us. That was Emmanuel, God with us. And he left us with his holy Spirit, the comforter. Oh, okay. I'm getting all excited, Kelly. We got more to talk about when we come back. ACTS is really exciting, but again, it's not easy. The early church faced a lot of opposition and uncertainty and things that are remarkably similar to what we're facing in culture today. But how do we stay faithful instead of running to being fearful? We'll have more with Kelly Minter and the Book of Acts when we come back.
When you think of God speaking to humans, that is necessary because of his character
Doctor John Oswalt from the American Family Studios documentary the God who Speaks.
Dr. John Oswalt: When you think of God speaking to humans, that is necessary because of his character. He is not this world. Yes, the world of nature reflects him. And Paul can say that we have no excuse. The world has shown us there is a God and that he rewards those who believe. But if we're really to know this God who is not this world, the only way he can do it is by speaking to us. And that's the great character of the Bible. It is. Speech visit thegodwhospeaks.org
Lead Me to the Cross by Brooke Fraser and Hillsong UNITED: Savior, I come quiet my soul Remember. Redemption's hill where your blood was spill for my right answer Everything I once healthy I count it all as long Lead me to the cross that you have put out Bring me to my knees Lord, I lay me me down Rid me of myself I belong to you oh, lead me. Lead me to the cross.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That's Lead me to the Cross by Brooke Fraser and Hillsong United.
How do we teach children to reject being fearful and turn towards being faithful?
And that is sometimes the prayer of our heart. We live in a world that just seems to get more chaotic and more unbelievable every day. And it's really easy for us to be fearful. But I'm talking to Kelly Minter who just wrote a new Bible study on the Book of Acts, and she's really helping us to point towards being faithful. And when we look at the Book of Acts and the birth of the church and the start of the early church, it certainly wasn't easy for them. It was, wasn't a, blessed, glorious, prosperous path to take. There was opposition and persecution and injustice and adversity and suffering. But the thing is, those things existed in every part of the world. everybody was experiencing that. But the difference. The difference with those early believers is that they weren't walking through it alone. They were walking through it by the power of the holy Spirit with the presence of God and the promise of eternity. So following Jesus, we're never promised that it's going to be easy, but we are promised that we will never be alone. And I think this is really important for families today because we feel like we have to protect our kids from any hardship. We don't want them to experience anything bad. And that's a good heart to have. That's a good protective parental heart. But our responsibility is really to teach them how to be faithful even when life isn't easy. How do we tell them to reject being fearful and turn towards being faithful? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Kelly says fear has been a struggle for her from very early age
And Kelly, you said that we were just having a great conversation in the break and you were talking about how this is a struggle for you and feeling fearful. And I know it's a struggle for me too. My kids can tell you my fear can get ginned up really quick because I see a lot of the bad things happening in the world working out as a, as a professor in the space of abuse and trauma. Tell us about your own experience and then what encouraged you from reading and learning about the Book of Acts?
Kelly Minter: Yeah. So the, this, going through the Book of Acts and spending, you know, several months, studying it and writing this study, the Lord really showed me that I had, I still had a lot of fear in my life. And fear is just one of those things where it's just been one of those struggles that I've had from very early age for a lot of different reasons. Reasons. And I felt like I kind of dealt with that. I felt like in my 20s and 30s, I felt like I'd really dealt with the fear. And I, and I think that I had dealt with a lot of it. What I didn't know was that there was still quite, a bit left. But I had been managing it. I had been managing the fear and I lived a life where I managed it. So it's like, well, let's just make sure there's enough money in the savings account so I'm not put in a fearful situation. And let's make sure, sure that, you know, I don't say too much so nobody can come after me. Or let's make sure that I'm, you know, and I just, I didn't realize or I don't want to put myself out there in that situation in case I'm rejected. I didn't realize that I, I was living a life managing fear and making sure that I wasn't, I, if I could put it this way. I made a lot of decisions based on what I didn't want to have happen versus what I did want to have happen. and so I was kind of a slave to fear in some ways. And this last year, there were some personal things that I went through where I got thrown into the deep end. And none of, my management things I put in place were sufficient. And I was put in places that I had never been before, no experience in, completely vulnerable, quite powerless. And I had to write this study, and I think this was totally divine by the Holy Spirit. I had to write this whole study in the middle of all that I was going through. And I was so encouraged because almost every day as I would take the next session of Acts, because the study that I wrote as a verse by verse through the whole study, I saw the Holy Spirit touch down in very difficult situations. Like you mentioned what, no matter what disciple it was or what follower of Christ or what it was in the book of actors Acts, these men and women were in fearful situations. But Christ through the Holy Spirit was present with them. And he did incredible things. And I was so reminded that, like that, you know, you look at Paul, he's. He's in front of government officials. He's in front of, He was trying to get to Nero, you know, in Rome, over the whole Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. You had people, some that were imprisoned with authorities, they were in court, they were in front of religious leaders. There. There were so many powerful institutions, politically religious, whatever, that these disciples were in front of. And they were in very powerless situations. And yet the Lord continued to deliver them, continued to work out really amazing things. But it wasn't always easy. Like you mentioned, there were shipwrecks. You know, one of my favorite lines is, is the shipwreck. I think it's in chapter 27 where it says, says that the whole ship busted apart. Everybody's in the water there. Those who could, could swim are swimming to shore. Those who can't swim are grabbing onto, you know, pieces of debris. And then it says, and everyone arrived safely on shore. And you just. And I'm like, okay, I can think of a lot of ways to get to safety than the way that that just happened. But yes, everyone did get there. but boy, was it a journey getting there. And so. But my point is, is that, that I really began to see the sovereignty of God and his power over all authorities. And I can't tell you how many times I had to actually be in front of, you know, certain. Where the Lord had me in certain situations where there I was in front of people much more powerful than I was. and just saying, lord, if you. If you're not here with me, like, I don't. I don't have anything. And that was a hard place. But it was great because I do believe that the Lord really told me, said, we are. I'm coming for the fear in your life. I don't want you. I don't want you to live the rest of your years making decisions based on fear. I want you to live the rest of your life making decisions based on faith in Christ and that he's with. That he's with me. And that it's been a journey, and, we're still working through some of it, but I think acts is a real tonic, to fear, if we will. If we'll really, really sit with it and see what God did in the lives of all of those who chose to follow him.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I agree with you so much, and I'm so appreciative of you being so authentic and so transparent with your own faith journey. And. And if we look at the life of Paul, honestly, Kelly, I. I can't imagine how he wasn't afraid. I mean, he. He felt powerful. He felt like he was on mission, like his life was together. But to have a blinding light to be told, like, I hear this voice. Go to somebody, you know, you don't know, and they're gonna, like, do this weird scaly thing on your eyes. And then now, oh, hey, guess what? The Gentiles hate you. The Jews hate you. Like, even the church is kind of, you know, there's members of the church, there's conflict right, between him and the disciples. And then, like, he's chased, he's. He's beaten, he's in prison. I mean, all of these things. And yet, Kelly, and yet one of my favorite scriptures that comes from his teachings to Timothy, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power. And. And I think about, like, not a spirit of fear, but a power. And the Holy Spirit is power. A power and love and a sound mind. And. And how do you think. I mean, that seems so unlikely, impossible that Paul would get to a place in his life that even he who had reason to fear fear as well as anybody. I mean, he had a really good case to say, you know what I pretty d row. I mean, everybody knows about Nero the. One of the most evil leaders to ever live on the face of the planet. And yet he's saying, God has not given you a spirit of fear. how do we, how do we let that soak into our souls and live differently?
Kelly Minter: M. Well, I think it, I think it's because Paul had an encounter with the living God. And, and he had that, he had that encounter on the Damascus road, but then he had many where he was kind of sidelined. And the Holy Spirit was doing a lot in his life to prepare him. He doesn't really come back onto the scene with his full ministry for multiple years later. And then he continues to see, he continues to see the Lord show up in all of these different ways. And every single time, I think he, he becomes stronger. And that, you know, I think for me, either we're going to fear what's, either we're going to fear what could be coming, you know, fear of the unknown, or we're going to fear the known. We're like, okay, we, we are in the hard situation. We do know it is documented. This is, this is now we're really in it. Or we're going to fear. We're going to fear Christ. And when I say fear, I don't mean in that, like, afraid of him, but we're going to go, oh, he is so powerful. He's so able. He's so sovereign. He's so good. He's so in control even when we can't understand it. He loves us. He's for us. He's.
Dr. Jessica Peck: He.
Kelly Minter: His children are his own. No one can pluck us out of his hand. When we begin to really get who he is, then I really do think everything else, begins to take its rightful place and begins to get small, even things that are legitimately scary. And, so I think Paul just continued to have real relationship with Christ and really began to experience Him. And I, I think that is what made him, I, would say more and more fearless. not because he was just able to drum something up, but because he was having real encounters with the living God. in fact, I love, in chapter, 23 of acts, it, you know, there was different things that, that were going on in that particular chapter. But it says that the Lord stood by Paul and he actually spoke to him and he said, have courage, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome. And so he tells him, this is chapter 23, verse 11. And I, I, I, I underlined it in my Bible because it says the Lord stood by him and said, have courage. You're going to testify. You testified Here, you're going to testify about me there. And I, I knew that, that there's, there was a situation that I was going through and I felt like I was like, lord, okay, this is really hard. If you can just kind of give me this one piece here and we can kind of get out of here. And the Lord, he very specifically told me, he's like, I'm gonna get, I've given, I have assigned to you all the pieces. not just the one thing that you have your sight on. I've everything that comes with that, I've assigned it to you, you, and I'm going to help you. And I remember it was a hard word, but I also felt like it was like, okay, Lord, you're, you're with me. You're going to give me courage, to do the things that you've called me to do. And I think it would have been easy for Paul to go, okay, Lord, I testified about you in Jerusalem. Let's just. And he says, yeah, you're going to testify about me in Rome too. Very different saying, set up, very different situation. but he said, I'm with you. And I, I think when we know that the Lord is with us, that changes everything.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, Paul went to Rome even to lose his life, you know, but he counted it all as, he counted it as gain to lose his life. To lose his life is to find it. You just, you just gave me a really a big mind shift here, Kelly. You gave me an epiphany. I'll go ah, ahead and say, say, because you're contrasting fear and faith here. And when we operate from a fear based place, our coping mechanism is often control. We try to control the circumstances, control the people around us, control our environment, control any variables that are there because we're seeking to control the situation ourselves. But when you operate from a place of faith, it's all about surrender. It's radically different. It's surrendering to the sovereignty of God and then paradoxically being filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. And that's the way that I want to live. Kelly, you've really given me a lot of food for thought. I'll tell you, as I lay my head on my pillow tonight, I'm going to be thinking about these things and really contrasting fear and faith in my life. Because I want my kids, I want my family, I really do. I want them to see me operating from a place, place of faith. Because if I'm telling them to have faith and yet, everything from me communicates fear and control. And here's how I'm going to protect you and here's how I'm going to, you know, control this situation for you or be a, a snowplow parent or a helicopter parent or, you know, whatever it is. I mean, of course we, we have to steward well what God has given us, but you've given us a really great call to be fearful instead of, faithful. And we've got to stop thinking. Thinking of faith is something that we just simply pass down to our children. But think about the families that as people that God wants us to use right now the way that we need to live right now today that is going to impact the generation of faith. We don't have to manufacture these spiritual experiences or parent perfectly or have every answer control every variable. We have the power and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the community of believers. We have the hope of the gospel. And we have a mission to share that hope with others. But are you willing to walk in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit? I hope that you'll take a look at the Book of Acts. Pick up your Bible and read it. It's really good for the soul. Thanks to Kelly. Minter her. Her Bible study is about the Book of Acts. We'll link it in the show notes.
American Family Association thanks Preborn for rescuing over 400,000 babies from abortion
Wherever you are, wherever you're doing, I pray that you'll walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. And I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and give you peace. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow. We'd like to thank our sponsors including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion. And every day their network clinics rescue 200 babies lives. Will you join PreBorn in loving and supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today? Go to preborn.com/AFR Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
More than 80% of abortion vulnerable women choose life after seeing ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic
Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time, she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com/AFR friend we're living in a defining moment today. A woman facing an unexpected pregnancy can order the abortion pill online, often before anyone has the chance to tell her she is loved, that she's not alone, or that there is hope. That's why you are needed right now. You were made for this moment. At, PreBorn Network clinics, mothers are welcomed with compassion, practical support and a free ultrasound. And when she sees her baby and hears that tiny heartbeat for the very first time, feeling fear often gives way to hope. In fact, more than 80% of abortion vulnerable women choose life after seeing their baby on an ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic. That one moment can save a baby's life and open a mother's heart to the hope of Jesus Christ. This is our moment to stand. For those who cannot speak for themselves, just $28 provides one life saving ultrasound. $140 helps rescue five babies. Please don't wait. Dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 baby. If you're a business owner, would you consider a larger donation to claim a write off? Your best gift would be appreciated. A stand alone gift of $15,000 will sponsor an ultrasound machine for a needy clinic helping to save countless babies lives for years to come. All gifts are tax- deductible. Together we can save lives one heartbeat at a time.
Dr. Jessica Peck is prescribing Hope for Healthy families on American Family Radio
preborn.com/AFR hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck. Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for Healthy families. We've got a powerful, powerful word of encouragement for you today because you know, we are raising families in a moment where I think for me as a parent and the parents that I talk to, when we just seem to feel more weight than previous generations, a weight of getting it right, we feel like the stakes have never been higher. And if we don't get it right, we don't Know what's gonna happen. We wanna raise kids who grow up to know scripture, who love God, who serve others, who make wise choices, treat people well. And we want our kids to have courage, to stand firm in a culture that is just increasingly confusing and chaotic. And if we're honest, sometimes the Christian life can start to another pressure, responsibility. On this overflowing parent checklist, are we doing all the right things and our kids doing all the right things so that we have that immediate gratification? If they're doing the right things, then we must be doing the right things. And let's just all stay on this hamster wheel. But what if. What if there's hope in that? The answer is not just trying harder. What if part of what our families desperately need today, maybe that missing piece for you, is a deeper understanding of what it means to live in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Book of Acts gives us a picture of very ordinary people who were empowered by an extraordinary God to do just incredible, miraculous things. They faced things like we face today. Uncertainty, opposition, hostility, suffering, tremendous cultural differences. But they weren't navigating it, any of it, alone. So today I'm talking to Kelly Minter She has a new Bible study on the Book of Acts and reminds us that, hey, this is not just a history book filled with things that happened in a time long ago about what God did in the first century. It really points us toward a continuing mission. And believers today, that's you. We are part of the story. And that really has enormous implications for our family. And so in a world where we're increasingly distracted by culture, I'm encouraging you to be grounded in your discipleship journey. Because discipleship isn't something that just happens at church on Sunday. Our homes are the places where that faith is lived out loud. And our kids are watching how we're responding to all of this chaos, the adversity that we have, how we treat strangers, whether we practice hospitality, whether we are walking in step with the Holy Spirit or not. Your kids can probably tell you pretty quickly on a good day or a bad day, whether you are or you aren't, whether you're obeying God when it's inconvenient, or whether the gospel actually changes the way that we live from the inside out. And Kelly Minter's Bible study, Acts, invites believers to look at the early church and think about what would happen if we actually lived like the Holy Spirit is present and active, not just on the pages of scripture, but in our lives. She is an Author, a speaker, a songwriter, a singer. What is it that she can't do? She's passionate about women discovering Jesus through the pages of Scripture. And whether through song or study or spoken word, she desires to authentically express Christ in a culture where so many are hurting or broken. And she is driven to share the healing and strength of Christ through the Bible's truth. So today we're going to look about, look at what ACTS teaches about the Holy Spirit, biblical community, mission, obedience, and especially what those truths mean for us as parents and grandparents and families who want to follow Jesus not just in theory, but in everyday life. Kelly, so glad to have you here. Thank you for joining us.
Kelly Minter: Hey, it's great to be here today. Thanks for having me.
Kelly Minter shares her story of ministry from Washington to the Amazon jungle
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well Kelly, before we start talking about the power of the Holy Spirit in our listeners lives, I want to hear about the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and your own personal testimony and call to, to write Bible studies. How did God put this message on your heart? What's been your story and your journey?
Kelly Minter: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I grew up as a pastor's kid so my parents founded a church the year before I was born right outside of Washington D.C. and so we had a lot of political people, people in military, a lot of people in and out for over the years that were you know, stationed there and it was really great. And then, early 20s, I got a record deal in Nashville, was doing Christian music. Singer, songwriter, had a few record deals. that's a whole nother story of three, record deals. You could really say three failed record deals in a row. I don't know if anybody else holds that you know, trophy but I've, I've got it. Three, three failed ones. And, and then that, that third one ended up getting me through a series of events to the Amazon jungle of all places where I got involved in there to jungle pastors and vulnerable children in the Amazon. And so that was really a life change. also began to write Bible studies and then went to seminary for five years to work on a master's of biblical and theological studies. so it's just been kind of a, a wild journey of teaching, speaking. But ministry has always been on my heart and I love the way that you opened up that we're in this place where I, there, there's, there's tremendous pressure. even we're on video right now and I can see, oh, there's lines in my faces, increases and things that like Instagram tells me I can actually do something about, you know, or I should be doing something right, you know, need to look younger or this or that, or did I get my exercise routine in? Did I this? And. And you, boy, you take a deep breath. And something I've learned in the Amazon jungle from a lot of these jungle, pastors and family members, but also from the Book of Acts, is that apart from Christ, and this is actually what Jesus says in the Gospel, but apart from Christ, we can do nothing. And so what does it really mean? Like you said, to be filled with the spirit and to carry his life presence around with us. And it doesn't mean that we don't work hard, but it certainly takes a lot of the pressure off, as far as having to get it right all the time and keep up with this cultural, sprint that we seem to be on.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Kelly, I appreciate your authenticity in sharing. I relate with much of what you said, but, wow, I didn't expect that journey from Washington, D.C. to Nashville to the Amazon jungle, now to the Book of Acts. But I'm so grateful for what God has allowed in your life. And I think sometimes, you know, we classify something as failure when sometimes when we have an opportunity, we feel like God then somehow guarantees the outcome. But I found, and I know this is your story, too, that I found that he doesn't guarantee the outcome. It's just about taking that step in obedience and what you're learning in that season and whatever. Whatever character traits he formed in you there are here to bless us today, despite what, you know, the world would say is not success. I see you as extremely successful. And that is a, really encouraging vision of having a kingdom mindset, really, when we look at that. And I'm actually excited about the Book of Acts. My own home church has been doing a series in the Book of Acts for, like, the last year. And I feel like, you know, I grew up reading the Bible. I feel like I knew about Acts, but I've seen it with confession. Completely different eyes looking at this culture. So tell us about what compelled you to write about the Book of Acts.
Kelly Minter: Well, it's one of those ones, because it's so missional. I. I really thought because of the mission work that I had done in the Amazon jungle and also in the very small country of Moldova, which sits between Romania and Ukraine. And some of people have heard a little bit more about Moldova these days because of the war in Russia and Ukraine and a lot of immigrants going into Moldova, that I. I had been doing so much mission work there, but also doing, you know, local work in my own communities. And so I thought it would be really great to go back to this book that is so missional and so movement oriented and journey oriented and action oriented. And I, like you, I felt like I knew every story and every sermon in the book of Acts, but I don't think I understood the book of Acts as a whole. And one of the key elements that we need to know is that Luke wrote the book of Acts, who wrote the Gospel of Luke. And so you really get volume one, Luke. Luke is gospel is volume one and Acts is volume two. And when you begin to put them together and you begin to see what Luke is doing, it also began, begins to come, really alive.
Kelly says the Holy Spirit filled the whole house in Acts 2
But I think one of the things that stood out to me is, right at the top of chapter two, it says that when the disciples were all together in one place, it. That is when the Holy Spirit came down. And it says that it filled the whole house. And that was a real significant shift because if you know your Old Testament at all, pretty much all of God's activity went from Garden of Eden to tabernacle to Temple. And so God's activity was very kind, of centralized around the temple, if you will. And you get to Acts and all of a sudden for the disciples to be able to complete their mission, they need the Holy Spirit. And where does the Holy Spirit come down? He doesn't actually come and fill the temple. And in this moment he comes and he fills a home. And that is a shift, a major, major break. And you begin to see throughout Acts that, that, that activity begins to more and more leave the temple and move outward. And it moves into the homes in Jerusalem. Then it moves out into Samaria where you get people that the, the Jewish people saw as, as, as mixed. So that story goes all the way back. I think it's second king 17. And, and so that was kind of like, oh, people aren't going to the Samaritans. Well yes, the gospel is going to go to Samaria. And so you begin to see people like Philip go there. And then it goes out even further. you know, you've got Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then it goes all the way out into the ends of the earth. And Paul eventually, he, we know he gets to Rome. some believe he gets even as far as Spain. You've got the Gospel going out on it. Riversides in pagan marketplaces, in religious settings like the Temple, the synagogue, irreligious settings. Like Athens. And that inspires me because I, I don't know about you, you know, where you, you are at, but a lot of times we are in very secular spaces and whether our kids are going to school or our neighborhoods or our workplaces or whatever. And sometimes I feel like, okay, Lord, I really feel the Holy Spirit in church or like in a Bible study. But what happens when I'm in a courtroom or in a hospital room or in this, you know, environment that's very anti to my beliefs or whatever it might be. Are you reigning there? And boy, the Book of Acts shows us that Christ is king over all the cosmos and he is in these very tactile places, not just the religious spaces. So I don't know, I just love that whole, like the feeling of the whole house that's Acts 2: 2.
Kelly Minter: And that's one of my desires is that my home would be a place of the Spirit's life, but also the other places that I go as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That is such an encouraging introduction and really compelling because you've called the books the Book of Acts just a continuation of the Christian journey. And you just said, Kelly, you don't know, you know, what my situation is. Well, I'm a scientist and academics, so I definitely, I knew those two things. Yes, exactly. I can relate to that, that pull, you know, of, of the secular environment. And then, you know, when I share my beliefs publicly, there's, there's, you know, sometimes, I'm greeted with the, ah, yeah, okay, okay, that kind of thing. And then when we start talking about things like the Holy Spirit. But I can tell you, Kelly, the Holy Spirit is living and well in my heart and my home. And I know the voice of the Holy Spirit in my life. But that's going to sound, I realize even as I say that that's going to sound really kind of like mystical and, and very abstract. What can you tell us? Where's a starting place for maybe people who haven't thought about the Holy Spirit's presence in their life? Maybe they made a profession of faith, but they don't, you know, actively think about the Holy Spirit. And we're coming up on our first break here, so give us a little teaser, a little preview, and then when we come back, we'll break it down quick.
Kelly Minter: I'll give a quick teaser and we can come back to this. Okay, but I, what you're saying, it can feel a little like woo, woo. But when we see the Holy Spirit in working in Acts, people are sick. People are Getting healed. people who don't have hope are finding hope. people that don't feel belonging are find belonging. So even though the Holy Spirit can feel like he meets us in very tactile, tangible places that I think we can all connect with and so we can talk about some of those things
Dr. Jessica Peck: when we come back, we will talk about some of those things when we come back because really, the power of the Holy Spirit is something that is for every day. For those parents who just feel exhausted about the responsibility of raising kids. Well, how do you move from, you know, I gotta figure this out to actually leveraging the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life, which is God given. And instead of beginning the the day with a list of everything you need to accomplish and your mind starts racing because you've picked up your phone that I know you can't get rid of being your alarm, right? Maybe if you just started the day with a simple prayer. Holy Spirit, help me notice where you're working today. Give me wisdom to lead my family, courage to obey you, and opportunities to make Jesus known. If you just started your day with that simple prayer instead of a simple scroll, I don't know, I don't know what could happen. And really the beautiful reminder from Acts is that God never intended us to carry the mission of following Jesus in our own strength. And the same Holy Spirit that empowered the early church is at work and believers today. We'll have more with that from Kelly Minter when we come back. Don't go away. I'll see you right after this break.
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Pray by Sanctus Real: I bow my head to pray I don't know what to say I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with. I'm in a desperate place I need to share the weight But I just don't know how to let it all pour out And though I silent my heart is crying. Cause I was made to come to you so I pray God, I need you more than words can say Right here in this moment. You know my heart, you know my need, you know every part of me. So even if it's just to speak your name I'm gonna pray. I failed to find the time.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Pray by Sanctus Real. And this is a call to prayer when we are just trying to figure everything out ourselves. There's so much to be afraid of, so much to think about, so much to do in this world. So often we forget to stop and to pray and to live in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I'm talking today to Kelly Minter author of a new Bible study on the Book of Acts. And I'm telling you, once you study the Book of Acts, you'll never see things the same way. And we know that the Gospel went out from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. But as Kelly has told us, the Holy Spirit came and filled a home and a person. And the early believers lived missionally from those ordinary spaces, from homes, just like we do today. They practiced hospitality, they built community. They crossed cultural boundaries to take the Gospel. They shared their testimonies. They responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit with obedience. And, Kelly, we. Right before the break, we were just talking about. Let's talk. I know. How would you even possibly define the Holy Spirit? But let's start with a common working knowledge of what is that really?
Kelly Minter: Well, we know that the Trinity, we have God the Father, we have Jesus the Son, and we have the Holy Spirit. And so it is God himself that is indwelling us, which is hard for any of us, I think, to get our minds around. But, maybe it's helpful to see the impact of the Spirit to find out a little bit more about who he is. But we know that one of the things that the Spirit did during Pentecost was he brought people to repentance. And we can. So that word has been a little bit, I mean, it's got some tinges of feeling for some people. There might be some people listening, going, ooh, repent. Or repentance. Like, that brings up some bad memories from earlier in, like, religious settings or something like that. But the. It's a beautiful word because it's an opportunity for us to turn around from the way that we've been doing things to the way of Christ, to the way of life. And it says. It talks about the Holy Spirit brings us to that place of repentance and where it says. Even talks about how times of refreshing can come. Now, I don't know about you, but, like, I. I love that idea. I love the idea of times of refreshing. And if I'm honest, that there have been lots of times where I have taken, you know, control of. Of my own life, gone the way that I've wanted to go. And it has been miserable. And it is a wonder when the Holy Spirit comes and says, kelly, turn around. Like, turn around from the way that you've been doing it and turn to the way that Christ wants you to do it. And these times of refreshment come, forgiveness, of things that we know have hurt others, have hurt ourselves. I mean, this is all great news that the Holy Spirit, brings. we also know that the Holy Spirit, he also inspired people to serve in really tactile ways. I love Acts chapter six, where we. We learn about Philip and Steven and different ones who served. Guess, guess what they did in the middle of. Of everything that was going on with the gospel. They served the widows. There were widows that did not have food, they did not have, what they needed. Because in that society, it was the husbands that would provide. It was a very patriarchal society. And so if you lost your husband, you did not have a way to live. And so we have these. These, seven men that decide, you know, what the way we're going to do. We're going to serve widows. And we see just this beautiful humility that's meeting a tangible need. the Holy Spirit certainly was, behind that. we also. I mean, I'm just going through here and looking at. There are things that, both Peter and Paul go into prison, they're arrested, they're. They're, you know, falsely, accused. And. And we see the Holy Spirit helps, liberate them from those places. we see Peter go and heal. Ah, a woman named Tabitha. I mean, there are some really just very, I'm trying to think what the word is just desirable things that I think our neighbors are longing for. Like, that they want hope, they want peace, they want comfort. And so I don't think the Holy Spirit has to be this, like, weird thing that throws everybody off or that gets, you know, crazy. I think it's like, man, I hope that when people come into my home or when I enter their home that the Holy Spirit is. Is offering these things that I see in Acts, which is hope, it's peace, it's life, it's life change. it's comfort, it's community. the Holy Spirit drove the community. I think a lot of times we feel so alone in cult culture. And even though we've got all of our social media things and we're connected to all These people, we're not really connected. And so the Holy Spirit allows us to also be, become part of the church. It brings a very diverse group of people together. very, very diverse, Jew and Gentile, and then all manner of people that begin to infiltrate the, the Book of Acts in the church. So I don't know, I mean, I'm kind of all over the place. But these are some of the things that I see the Holy Spirit doing.
Dr. Jessica Peck: It is a lifetime journey, honestly. That's the beautiful thing about the Bible. You can study it and study it and study it and you still just learn more and more and more. And you mentioned earlier Kelly, you know, putting Luke and Acts together, the book of Luke and the Book of Acts, because they're written of course, both by Luke. And I think sometimes, you know, when I'm talking to kids or I'm teaching kids, they're like, they think Luke was a disciple. I'm like, no, Luke wasn't a disciple. You got to memorize the names. And then you see, you know, his role and pinning this story. And when you look at it and see where, you know, Luke walks us through the crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and then we've got the start of the early church and the, and the Holy Spirit comes and we've got Saul, who was Saul at the time, who was a Roman Jew, who was a persecutor of the church, who was there and present at the stoning of Steven. And then all of a sudden encounters, encounters Jesus and a blinding light on his way to persecute Christians becomes radically different, starts to preach the go. I mean Kelly, when you read the arc of that and then you realize that this book you hold in your hand is a 2000 year old story that's still changing lives.
I recently visited the Acropolis in Athens
And I shared with you during the break that I recently had the opportunity to travel to Athens and I was at the Acropolis. And I mean you're talking a magnificent structure. The artisanship is so impressive. And when you walk up there, I was imagining myself in the first century, just being completely intimidated and overwhelmed by this projection of power. And I see this little hill off to the side where Paul is preaching, you know, and giving the gospel and that's recounted in the Book of Acts. And I'm thinking, the nerve that he had to do that and the fact that it endured. How is that kind of when we look at just the arc of that miraculous story? I would encourage you, if you're not really familiar with what happened in Acts, pick up this Bible study and learn. Because when you see that kind of power, how are we missing out on that in our everyday lives? Kelly?
Kelly Minter: Well, and he. That's Acts 17, where he's in Athens and speaking, to, you know, the, the philosophers and those who would have had no understanding of Israel's God.
Different people shared the gospel, the very same gospel, but in different ways
And so I'm glad you brought that up, because I think one thing too, is that what one thing we see is, in Acts is that different people shared the gospel, the very same gospel, but in different ways. And even Paul shared it in different ways, depending on who was speaking to. And so I don't know, about you, but I feel like sometimes, depending on who I'm talking to, I need to be sensitive to them. Are they, Is it somebody that grew up in the church but has since left the church because of something that hurt them or wounded them or they just stopped believing? Is it somebody who has no context for Christ, no context for the church? Is it someone who is, that. That is just not religious or even spiritual? Or maybe it's somebody who's spiritual but doesn't believe in Jesus or. But all of that's important because when you begin to compare Peter's and Paul's, all of their different sermons, you see that they preach in very different ways. And in fact, where you're talking about where Paul is in Athens, he, I don't even think. If I think I'm. I'm right here. I don't even think he gets to Jesus because he has to start with God, because they all, they were many false gods that they were worshiping. And so he begins to just say, listen, the gods that you're worshiping, you. You even have an inscription here that says to the unknown God, you don't even know who you're worshiping. So I want to introduce you to the God who can be known. And he begins there, and it's a, it's an amazing, message. But he doesn't even just start right in where he would have started if he had been in Jerusalem in one of the synagogues, or even outside of Jerusalem in one of the synagogues where the Jewish people already had the whole Old Testament context. So I think that is helpful for us too, especially for those of us. And I can put myself in here sometimes where I can be intimidated. And, you know, you talked about being in academic settings and scientific settings, typically that those are not settings that are super conducive to the Bible or,
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, you know, that's fair.
Kelly Minter: And so, you know, just making a generalization here. I'm not saying it's never the case, but. And so it's like, how do you go into a space like that, with that sensitivity, knowing who you're speaking to? And we do see Paul doing that. He, he does not shy away from the gospel, but he does contextualize it. And in a very wise way that I think we can all learn from.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And Paul was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the whole point. And so how do we, but we look at Paul and we think, okay, yeah, that was Paul. We're talking about a Roman Jew. You're talking about Athens, like, like, you know, I live in Georgia, like, or wherever it is, you know, and, and and I, I work at a bank or whatever it is. How do we translate the power of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts to our everyday lives?
Kelly Minter: Well, I think that's exactly, it's just what you said. Like Paul talks about the fact that he was, he was raised as a Jew. He was raised under one of the most notable, rabbis of the time. He also had Roman citizenship, he knew about Greek culture. There were all of these things that came together that allowed him in a special way to minister the gospel in these different settings. And I would say the same thing for the person. Whether you're a stay at home mom, or whether you got your education from Harvard, or if you're a lawyer, or if you are a school bus driver or whatever your history, maybe you even are, you're culturally, you, you, you come from a different country or whatever it might be, or you speak multiple languages. I would say whatever our history is, the Holy Spirit wants to use that. And, and he, he wants to use you, exactly who you are and exactly your context. And so, again, Peter, Paul was very different from Peter, who was very different from Andrew or Philip and or let's mention some of these women, women, Priscilla, Lydia Jr. Different ones that had a major role in, in spreading the gospel. And so I think doesn't matter where you're from, all of that is, all of those aspects are things that the Holy Spirit wants to use. And I think what gets really detrimental in our culture is when we begin to compare ourselves, which is really, really more easy to do now than ever before because of our constant contact to media, social media and all of that. And we, oh well, I don't have that many followers or I don't have that education, or I don't look like that, or I don't have that kind of money. And it's like, man, what a robbery that is. Because if you look at acts, there are so many different people from different cultures, backgrounds, male, female, Jew, gentile, that were used to spread the gospel.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I think we have to shift our mindset too, because some people will really look at God like a genie or a, you know, Santa Claus in the sky. I know that sounds really disrespectful and sacrilegious, but really like kind of, okay, all right, I want to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want blessing and prosperity on my life. Like I want everything to go well. If I walk in step with the Holy Spirit, he's going to protect me, he's going to bless my family. And Paul really gives us a different version of that. Some of the most well known verses that were penned by Paul were said when he was in prison, when he was in a situation that seemed hopeless. He was shipwrecked, he was snake bitten. I mean, he had his fair share. He was, he was beaten and, and, and flogged. You know, when we look at what he had, he had hardship, but what he had was contentment. You know, he said, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance. And he walked in the power of the Holy Spirit because he believed that this world, world was not all there was. And I think we need to do better and lifting our kids to eternal perspective and thinking. We live in a world that is sometimes and a lot of times not good. But we can trust that we serve a God who is, who is good despite those circumstances. And the power of the Holy Spirit will be with you in whatever circumstance God promises us over and over in Scripture. Do not be discouraged, do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go, whether it's Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or the uttermost parts of the earth, or it's a shipwreck off of Malta, or it's a prison, or it is your school, it is your job, it is your community, it is your family that you're walking into and walking with the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing that the Lord your God is with you and he is for your good. And sometimes we can walk through things that we think are not for our good, but we serve a sovereign God who's allowed those for whatever reason. But he has promised not to leave us. And he is not unacquainted with suffering. And we have the only faith in the world where we had A savior who came to us. We're not trying to find our way up to him by being good enough or doing this or doing that. He came to us. That was Emmanuel, God with us. And he left us with his holy Spirit, the comforter. Oh, okay. I'm getting all excited, Kelly. We got more to talk about when we come back. ACTS is really exciting, but again, it's not easy. The early church faced a lot of opposition and uncertainty and things that are remarkably similar to what we're facing in culture today. But how do we stay faithful instead of running to being fearful? We'll have more with Kelly Minter and the Book of Acts when we come back.
When you think of God speaking to humans, that is necessary because of his character
Doctor John Oswalt from the American Family Studios documentary the God who Speaks.
Dr. John Oswalt: When you think of God speaking to humans, that is necessary because of his character. He is not this world. Yes, the world of nature reflects him. And Paul can say that we have no excuse. The world has shown us there is a God and that he rewards those who believe. But if we're really to know this God who is not this world, the only way he can do it is by speaking to us. And that's the great character of the Bible. It is. Speech visit thegodwhospeaks.org
Lead Me to the Cross by Brooke Fraser and Hillsong UNITED: Savior, I come quiet my soul Remember. Redemption's hill where your blood was spill for my right answer Everything I once healthy I count it all as long Lead me to the cross that you have put out Bring me to my knees Lord, I lay me me down Rid me of myself I belong to you oh, lead me. Lead me to the cross.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That's Lead me to the Cross by Brooke Fraser and Hillsong United.
How do we teach children to reject being fearful and turn towards being faithful?
And that is sometimes the prayer of our heart. We live in a world that just seems to get more chaotic and more unbelievable every day. And it's really easy for us to be fearful. But I'm talking to Kelly Minter who just wrote a new Bible study on the Book of Acts, and she's really helping us to point towards being faithful. And when we look at the Book of Acts and the birth of the church and the start of the early church, it certainly wasn't easy for them. It was, wasn't a, blessed, glorious, prosperous path to take. There was opposition and persecution and injustice and adversity and suffering. But the thing is, those things existed in every part of the world. everybody was experiencing that. But the difference. The difference with those early believers is that they weren't walking through it alone. They were walking through it by the power of the holy Spirit with the presence of God and the promise of eternity. So following Jesus, we're never promised that it's going to be easy, but we are promised that we will never be alone. And I think this is really important for families today because we feel like we have to protect our kids from any hardship. We don't want them to experience anything bad. And that's a good heart to have. That's a good protective parental heart. But our responsibility is really to teach them how to be faithful even when life isn't easy. How do we tell them to reject being fearful and turn towards being faithful? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Kelly says fear has been a struggle for her from very early age
And Kelly, you said that we were just having a great conversation in the break and you were talking about how this is a struggle for you and feeling fearful. And I know it's a struggle for me too. My kids can tell you my fear can get ginned up really quick because I see a lot of the bad things happening in the world working out as a, as a professor in the space of abuse and trauma. Tell us about your own experience and then what encouraged you from reading and learning about the Book of Acts?
Kelly Minter: Yeah. So the, this, going through the Book of Acts and spending, you know, several months, studying it and writing this study, the Lord really showed me that I had, I still had a lot of fear in my life. And fear is just one of those things where it's just been one of those struggles that I've had from very early age for a lot of different reasons. Reasons. And I felt like I kind of dealt with that. I felt like in my 20s and 30s, I felt like I'd really dealt with the fear. And I, and I think that I had dealt with a lot of it. What I didn't know was that there was still quite, a bit left. But I had been managing it. I had been managing the fear and I lived a life where I managed it. So it's like, well, let's just make sure there's enough money in the savings account so I'm not put in a fearful situation. And let's make sure, sure that, you know, I don't say too much so nobody can come after me. Or let's make sure that I'm, you know, and I just, I didn't realize or I don't want to put myself out there in that situation in case I'm rejected. I didn't realize that I, I was living a life managing fear and making sure that I wasn't, I, if I could put it this way. I made a lot of decisions based on what I didn't want to have happen versus what I did want to have happen. and so I was kind of a slave to fear in some ways. And this last year, there were some personal things that I went through where I got thrown into the deep end. And none of, my management things I put in place were sufficient. And I was put in places that I had never been before, no experience in, completely vulnerable, quite powerless. And I had to write this study, and I think this was totally divine by the Holy Spirit. I had to write this whole study in the middle of all that I was going through. And I was so encouraged because almost every day as I would take the next session of Acts, because the study that I wrote as a verse by verse through the whole study, I saw the Holy Spirit touch down in very difficult situations. Like you mentioned what, no matter what disciple it was or what follower of Christ or what it was in the book of actors Acts, these men and women were in fearful situations. But Christ through the Holy Spirit was present with them. And he did incredible things. And I was so reminded that, like that, you know, you look at Paul, he's. He's in front of government officials. He's in front of, He was trying to get to Nero, you know, in Rome, over the whole Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. You had people, some that were imprisoned with authorities, they were in court, they were in front of religious leaders. There. There were so many powerful institutions, politically religious, whatever, that these disciples were in front of. And they were in very powerless situations. And yet the Lord continued to deliver them, continued to work out really amazing things. But it wasn't always easy. Like you mentioned, there were shipwrecks. You know, one of my favorite lines is, is the shipwreck. I think it's in chapter 27 where it says, says that the whole ship busted apart. Everybody's in the water there. Those who could, could swim are swimming to shore. Those who can't swim are grabbing onto, you know, pieces of debris. And then it says, and everyone arrived safely on shore. And you just. And I'm like, okay, I can think of a lot of ways to get to safety than the way that that just happened. But yes, everyone did get there. but boy, was it a journey getting there. And so. But my point is, is that, that I really began to see the sovereignty of God and his power over all authorities. And I can't tell you how many times I had to actually be in front of, you know, certain. Where the Lord had me in certain situations where there I was in front of people much more powerful than I was. and just saying, lord, if you. If you're not here with me, like, I don't. I don't have anything. And that was a hard place. But it was great because I do believe that the Lord really told me, said, we are. I'm coming for the fear in your life. I don't want you. I don't want you to live the rest of your years making decisions based on fear. I want you to live the rest of your life making decisions based on faith in Christ and that he's with. That he's with me. And that it's been a journey, and, we're still working through some of it, but I think acts is a real tonic, to fear, if we will. If we'll really, really sit with it and see what God did in the lives of all of those who chose to follow him.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I agree with you so much, and I'm so appreciative of you being so authentic and so transparent with your own faith journey. And. And if we look at the life of Paul, honestly, Kelly, I. I can't imagine how he wasn't afraid. I mean, he. He felt powerful. He felt like he was on mission, like his life was together. But to have a blinding light to be told, like, I hear this voice. Go to somebody, you know, you don't know, and they're gonna, like, do this weird scaly thing on your eyes. And then now, oh, hey, guess what? The Gentiles hate you. The Jews hate you. Like, even the church is kind of, you know, there's members of the church, there's conflict right, between him and the disciples. And then, like, he's chased, he's. He's beaten, he's in prison. I mean, all of these things. And yet, Kelly, and yet one of my favorite scriptures that comes from his teachings to Timothy, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power. And. And I think about, like, not a spirit of fear, but a power. And the Holy Spirit is power. A power and love and a sound mind. And. And how do you think. I mean, that seems so unlikely, impossible that Paul would get to a place in his life that even he who had reason to fear fear as well as anybody. I mean, he had a really good case to say, you know what I pretty d row. I mean, everybody knows about Nero the. One of the most evil leaders to ever live on the face of the planet. And yet he's saying, God has not given you a spirit of fear. how do we, how do we let that soak into our souls and live differently?
Kelly Minter: M. Well, I think it, I think it's because Paul had an encounter with the living God. And, and he had that, he had that encounter on the Damascus road, but then he had many where he was kind of sidelined. And the Holy Spirit was doing a lot in his life to prepare him. He doesn't really come back onto the scene with his full ministry for multiple years later. And then he continues to see, he continues to see the Lord show up in all of these different ways. And every single time, I think he, he becomes stronger. And that, you know, I think for me, either we're going to fear what's, either we're going to fear what could be coming, you know, fear of the unknown, or we're going to fear the known. We're like, okay, we, we are in the hard situation. We do know it is documented. This is, this is now we're really in it. Or we're going to fear. We're going to fear Christ. And when I say fear, I don't mean in that, like, afraid of him, but we're going to go, oh, he is so powerful. He's so able. He's so sovereign. He's so good. He's so in control even when we can't understand it. He loves us. He's for us. He's.
Dr. Jessica Peck: He.
Kelly Minter: His children are his own. No one can pluck us out of his hand. When we begin to really get who he is, then I really do think everything else, begins to take its rightful place and begins to get small, even things that are legitimately scary. And, so I think Paul just continued to have real relationship with Christ and really began to experience Him. And I, I think that is what made him, I, would say more and more fearless. not because he was just able to drum something up, but because he was having real encounters with the living God. in fact, I love, in chapter, 23 of acts, it, you know, there was different things that, that were going on in that particular chapter. But it says that the Lord stood by Paul and he actually spoke to him and he said, have courage, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome. And so he tells him, this is chapter 23, verse 11. And I, I, I, I underlined it in my Bible because it says the Lord stood by him and said, have courage. You're going to testify. You testified Here, you're going to testify about me there. And I, I knew that, that there's, there was a situation that I was going through and I felt like I was like, lord, okay, this is really hard. If you can just kind of give me this one piece here and we can kind of get out of here. And the Lord, he very specifically told me, he's like, I'm gonna get, I've given, I have assigned to you all the pieces. not just the one thing that you have your sight on. I've everything that comes with that, I've assigned it to you, you, and I'm going to help you. And I remember it was a hard word, but I also felt like it was like, okay, Lord, you're, you're with me. You're going to give me courage, to do the things that you've called me to do. And I think it would have been easy for Paul to go, okay, Lord, I testified about you in Jerusalem. Let's just. And he says, yeah, you're going to testify about me in Rome too. Very different saying, set up, very different situation. but he said, I'm with you. And I, I think when we know that the Lord is with us, that changes everything.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, Paul went to Rome even to lose his life, you know, but he counted it all as, he counted it as gain to lose his life. To lose his life is to find it. You just, you just gave me a really a big mind shift here, Kelly. You gave me an epiphany. I'll go ah, ahead and say, say, because you're contrasting fear and faith here. And when we operate from a fear based place, our coping mechanism is often control. We try to control the circumstances, control the people around us, control our environment, control any variables that are there because we're seeking to control the situation ourselves. But when you operate from a place of faith, it's all about surrender. It's radically different. It's surrendering to the sovereignty of God and then paradoxically being filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. And that's the way that I want to live. Kelly, you've really given me a lot of food for thought. I'll tell you, as I lay my head on my pillow tonight, I'm going to be thinking about these things and really contrasting fear and faith in my life. Because I want my kids, I want my family, I really do. I want them to see me operating from a place, place of faith. Because if I'm telling them to have faith and yet, everything from me communicates fear and control. And here's how I'm going to protect you and here's how I'm going to, you know, control this situation for you or be a, a snowplow parent or a helicopter parent or, you know, whatever it is. I mean, of course we, we have to steward well what God has given us, but you've given us a really great call to be fearful instead of, faithful. And we've got to stop thinking. Thinking of faith is something that we just simply pass down to our children. But think about the families that as people that God wants us to use right now the way that we need to live right now today that is going to impact the generation of faith. We don't have to manufacture these spiritual experiences or parent perfectly or have every answer control every variable. We have the power and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the community of believers. We have the hope of the gospel. And we have a mission to share that hope with others. But are you willing to walk in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit? I hope that you'll take a look at the Book of Acts. Pick up your Bible and read it. It's really good for the soul. Thanks to Kelly. Minter her. Her Bible study is about the Book of Acts. We'll link it in the show notes.
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Wherever you are, wherever you're doing, I pray that you'll walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. And I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and give you peace. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow. We'd like to thank our sponsors including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion. And every day their network clinics rescue 200 babies lives. Will you join PreBorn in loving and supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today? Go to preborn.com/AFR Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Author and speaker Kelly Minter talks with Jessica about the Book of Acts: The Story of the Church, the Power of Gospel and the Mission that Continues Today.
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Chapters:
(00:00) More than 80% of abortion vulnerable women choose life after seeing ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic
(01:47) Dr. Jessica Peck is prescribing Hope for Healthy families on American Family Radio
(05:59) Kelly Minter shares her story of ministry from Washington to the Amazon jungle
(10:59) Kelly says the Holy Spirit filled the whole house in Acts 2
(16:48) Without people like you, this podcast would not exist
(25:22) I recently visited the Acropolis in Athens
(26:27) Different people shared the gospel, the very same gospel, but in different ways
(34:13) When you think of God speaking to humans, that is necessary because of his character
(36:40) How do we teach children to reject being fearful and turn towards being faithful?
(38:13) Kelly says fear has been a struggle for her from very early age
(50:57) American Family Association thanks Preborn for rescuing over 400,000 babies from abortion
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