Moms of the Bible

0:00B.C.Y. America presents Cross Talk, a nationwide call-in program discussing issues that have an effect on our families, our communities, our churches, our nation, and our world. Cross Talk, an opportunity for you to voice your concerns for biblical principles. And now live by satellite and around the world on the internet at bcyamerica.org. Here is today's Cross Talk. And we do thank you for joining us on Cross Talk here on bcyamerica. Being a mom brings many challenges. You know, I think of my own mom who at the age of 32 became a widow as my father died suddenly of a heart attack. She was left with seven children. She was expecting her eighth child who was born just six and one half months later following my dad's death. You know, you think about the questions, the bewilderment, the desire for wisdom for day-by-day guidance. And then I think of my own wife, mom to our four children who are all adults now, but three are married with children

1:00of their own, our fourth child with special needs, needing daily care. And indeed, there are joys, there are challenges, there are struggles, and there are heartaches. But her responsibilities and care as a mom never cease. And I know every mom situation and circumstances are different, they're unique. But God's grace is available to all. Perhaps you're listening today as a mom, and there are times that you feel like you're on top of the world, and all is humming along just great only to be met later by some experiences that take you down on the valley and wonder how you're going to come through the circumstances that you're in. Well, keep in mind this, you're not alone in your feelings. Others have walked similar paths. And as an encouragement to moms today all across this nation, our guest has delved into the scriptures to bring forth examples of moms, some who exhibited great faith, and those others who had failings or flaws in their character. But all of which we have principles from their lives that we can learn from, and we trust you be able to listen in and glean the information on our broadcast today. Joining us today we welcome

2:05Rhonda Stoppie. She is a speaker and author of seven books. And with 40 years of experience in helping women build no regrets lives, Rhonda has become a highly sought after voice in the Christian living community. She's a popular homeschool conference speaker. She is a host of the award-winning podcast, old ladies, no stuff. Rhonda has been happily married to her husband Steve for some 44 years. She's a pastor's wife, a mother of four, grandmother of 15. And with us today discussing her newest book, Moms of the Bible. Life-changing lessons from the fearless, flawed, and faithful. Rhonda, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. I'm so happy to be with you today. So Rhonda begin by just sharing with us your motivation for writing this book, Moms of the Bible. When I knew I wasn't the mom I had meant to be, the mom I had hoped that I would be, I knew I was in over my head, and I knew I needed help. My mom was a teenager when she had me not bashing my mom, but we literally grew up together. And I actually led my mom to the board

3:06six months before she passed away in 2016. Praise the Lord. She was a fun mom. She was a really fun mom. She was a cool mom, but I could not look to her to say, hey, I don't know what I'm doing here. My husband's mother was precious, but she came down with Alzheimer's. And so this woman who I looked to as a woman of the faith that I so admired was no longer the same person, and I couldn't find help from her. So that's where I found myself. And I had quit working. That was a full-time, you know, I live in California. So I worked in the San Francisco Bay area, in corporate America, and I became a stay at home mom. And I got to tell you, I was bored and lonely, and I did not know what I was doing. So if I can read the intro to Moms of the Bible, it's as God's calling for you as a mom. I'll be a better mom tomorrow. I whispered to myself before drifting off to sleep, but when tomorrow never came, mom guilt plagued my anguished soul. Being a fun loving good mom

4:07was what I hoped for. But in reality, I spent many days in survival mode snapping at my kids when they spilled their milk and worrying over how we were going to pay for their extracurricular activities. I wasn't always on the struggle bus. Mom like has seasons of highs and lows, right? But some years I felt like I totally nailed this mom thing, but I call those the highlight reel of my parenting experience. The years that I hope my kids will replay in their minds when they consider the type of mother I was to them. But when I was ready to change, I looked for help in the pages of scripture, and I looked for help from Godly mentors. And that's why my hashtag, I own the trademark, old ladies, no stuff, that's the name of my podcast. It's a nod to Titus Two Women because without the Titus Two Women in my life, I would not have known where to turn. Yeah. Rhonda, you actually indicated in your book that Moms have a calling from God. Tell us about that calling. In history, God has ordained that mothers would be the first teachers. The world changes that God

5:10has put into our world. Their first teachers were not theologians. It was their moms. And in this book, Moms of the Bible, you get to see where each mom fit on the timeline of history. And that was God's calling to them. And now it's our turn. Yeah. So what I always tell moms is you find out your pregnant EP on that little stick. You're so excited. You show pictures on the internet. We really don't want to see your piece. But okay. And you go shopping for cute maternity clothes, and you fix the nursery. But you don't prepare yourself for the ministry of motherhood. If God called you to the mission field tomorrow, you would learn the language. You would memorize scripture. You would bathe your mind in truth. You would be pleading with the Lord to prepare your heart for the ministry to which he has called you. And truly, that's how we need to go into motherhood. It is a sacred ministry to which God has called us. And to what God has called us, he will equip us. Amen. Amen. Rhonda, stop you with us today. Rhonda, you so you mentioned about

6:14your own background, your mom, and it was not till late in life. And I pray to the Lord, she trusted crisis or savior before going into eternity. And you looked at a lot of different moms in your research. Did the moms you research in the scriptures always get it right? No, they did not. And you know, that's the joy of this book. It's the fearless, flawed, and faithful. I can write a letter to my younger self and it does no one any good. But if I write it, my highs, my lows, my mistakes, my successes, how I recovered and repented, if I can write that in a book and put it in the hands of the next generation, it has the power to train the next generation from my real raw and honest experiences. And that's what I did with these moms in scripture. Some of them got it right. Some of them at the very first mom that we talk about in the book is Rahab, the Harlet. And that, her last name was not the Harlet, but yet God never removed that title from her. Even after she had believed in the God of Israel and became one of the Israelites,

7:18people, she is celebrated as a hero of the faith. But I love her story because when God forgives, he forgives to the utmost. I was raised by a generation of generation of generation of women. I talk about the woman at the well with Jesus and I call her the shady lady. I would have been the shady lady. There's nothing in me that would have been any different except Christ in me, the hope of Gory. I would have run around looking for my worth in the affirmation of men. But when I came to know Christ and found my worth in his adoration for me, so much so that he proved it by sending his son to purchase me with his blood for his treasure. So that's the hope of a Rahab's story. The first thing that Rahab says after she says, hey, I've heard about your God, it's been 40 years since all those Egyptian plagues happened. And 40 years later, she's like, we're scared of you guys because we know about your God. Because God said, this is about the world will know that there's a God in Israel. And the testimony of Yahweh

8:21went before the spies ever showed up. I'm an evangelist at heart. In fact, all of my books have how to have a relationship with Jesus in the appendix. Yes. God orchestrates the steps of those that he is willing to himself. We just have to pay attention and let him use us instead of looking at someone and saying, oh, they'll never be interested. They're so far gone. That's not true. I'd like to ask also, Rhonda, here that I know there are many moms listening right now who frankly feel that they've blown it and grandmother's listening. You know, I've blown it. Is there a path forward for them? And we're going to look at some of the specifics in the book. But just generally, is there a path forward? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel? Absolutely. What I love about our God is that when he makes us aware that we've blown it, he's opening our eyes for change. He's opening our eyes to say, okay, up to this point, I have parented for what people think of me. I'm a people pleaser or I have been a control freak

9:23and there's a section of the book called Control Freaks, Race Freaks. Or I have tried to shelter my kids so well that they're not exposed to anything. And now they're leaving my home and they don't even know how to discern from a biblical worldview what's right and wrong. What do I do? Well, the Lord, when he opens our eyes, he's ready to change us. And it's never too late. And that's what I love about scripture because it shows people who went into things and I'm going to talk about Naomi. Naomi followed her husband to a foreign land. They didn't trust the God of Israel when there was a famine. They went to Moab and she followed her husband. Okay, babe, all right, this is what you think. We'll come back one day. Okay. And then they get there and he dies. And then when he's there, she's there with her two sons, then her sons marry Moab by women. I have four adult children. Praise God. They married people who love my Savior. Amen. But my heart would have wrenched if that had not happened. I can only imagine Naomi's heartache. Those young women that those boys married worshiped God who said, burn babies on the altar of

10:25prosperity. That would have wrenched her heart. And then she didn't have to worry about that for too long because it was infertility. And I have eight grand babies and heaven. I understand the heartbreak of infertility. And Naomi's heart was crushed and then her sons both died. And finally, Naomi goes, that's it. I'm going home. Back to my God, back to my people. So here's the point of that story. Ruth and Orpa started to follow her. She said, go home. Go to your people. Go to your gods. But Ruth, if that's when Ruth says to Naomi, her mother-in-law, uh-uh, where you go, I'll go. Your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. After Ruth had watched Naomi's life unfold with every tragedy that could possibly happen and not lived well in the situation that Naomi found herself in a foreign land. But sometimes your trial is not about you. Sometimes the very things that you have survived and finally said, I'm going back to my God. He's my only hope. Like Peter said to Jesus, where else will we go? You have the words of eternal life. Sometimes that light shines

11:28brightest from that place of where we find ourselves because people are watching. Well, as you pointed out, you categorize various moms and three different sections of the book, the fearless moms, flawed moms and faithful moms. And we're going to just look at each of these sections here, your fearless mom section. You have, indeed, your introduces a title, a shady lady with fearless faith referring to Rahab, letting go and trust in God, Jacob Ed, when rejection breaks your heart, that of Mary, the unlikely influence of a stepmother referring to Esther. And I'd like to just take a look at one of these. Let's just the Jacob Ed, for instance. It's a difficult thing for a mom to do, letting go and trusting God just briefly introduces to this character in scripture. We are saying there's never been a more difficult time in history to raise a child, but I think Jacob Ed would beg to differ. She lived in a time where the Pharaoh had mandated that her baby be put to death. The Egyptians were allowed to rip those nursing baby boys off their mother's breast and throw them in the Nile River. And what plan does God put in Jacob Ed's heart?

12:35Put him in a basket, paint it with pitch so it doesn't sink and let go of the basket. I can imagine her walking down with her little baby boy wrapped in a Hebrew blanket, kissing his head, smelling his head one more time, and then letting him go. So many of us have to allow our child maybe to go on visitation to an ungodly biological parent or an ungodly stepparent that's in the home where they have to have visitation. It's mandated. Maybe they're in a school or you know they're indoctrinating them, but you have no other option. Jacob Ed ended up with four years that she got to nurse that baby. And I imagine in those four years, and that's just tentatively around four years, historically. She would have worshipped the Lord, she would have sing songs of the Yahweh that she wanted Moses to love and know. She would have taught him stories of the faithfulness of their God, and then she had to take him and put him in the arms of a woman who worshipped him. I can't. I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine. Friends, you're listening to Cross Talk on V.C.Y. America.

13:36Ronda Stopy, our guest today, author of the book, newly released Moms of the Bible. We'll be sharing with you how you can obtain a copy of this book, it's said being featured this month at our V.C.Y. bookstore. So stay with us, we'll be back in one minute. You're listening to Cross Talk on the V.C.Y. American Network. Back to Genesis with Dr. John Morris, scientist with the Institute for Creation Research. Dr. Morris, some lakes are shrinking in size. What's causing this? Chris, the year's average temperature has been rising over these past few years, but is this a long-term trend? We know that over the decades, the average temperature has gone both up and down, so we wonder what's next. The current warming trend, however, has caused an increase in evaporation from some inland lakes. One lake is in the Middle East. The salty, arrow sea has shrunk dramatically, exposing a several mile wide salt beach. This has even affected the search for Noah's Ark.

14:37Salt has been picked up by the wind and blown all over the Middle East, including the glacier on Mount Ararat, causing it to melt quite a bit. In the lakes are by and large, left overs from Noah's flood, and the ice age which came after it. How much longer will they last? We'll have to wait and see. And that's the Back to Genesis Truth. Visit our website at www.icr.org. We're listening to Cross Talk and the VCY American Network. And we'll get back to our guest in just a moment, but I would like to welcome a couple new stations, airing Cross Talk. First of all, out of clinch go, Virginia. We'd like to welcome listeners over WDIC 92.1 on the radio dial. And then also in Owingsville, Kentucky, a radio station WIMV 89.3 FM. So glad to have both of these outlets joining us. And thank you to the King of Kings Network who picks up Cross Talk and adding these

15:40additional stations and providing this content for your area. But welcome, welcome here to the program Cross Talk. We're talking today with Rhonda Stoppy. She is authored the book Mom's of the Bible. And again, focusing on life-changing lessons from the fearless flood and faithful mom. We were just dealing with one of the moms from the fearless section. And we were just talking about Jacobette in particular. And as we talk about this, I don't know any mom Rhonda that would not have an extremely difficult time doing what Jacobette did, letting the basket drift away with her baby inside. And she didn't stay to watch where it went. She walked away. Her daughter Mary and stayed, which I have a firstborn daughter. I get it. She's like, Mom, what are you doing? You're crazy. Firstborn daughters know everything in case you did not know that. And she would have been this daughter's thing on the watch. And then God gave Mary and the opportunity to say, hey, hey, I know somebody that could nurse that baby for you. How kind of the Lord that he

16:43blessed Jacobette's fearless faith by putting that baby back into her arms and letting her nurse him and tell him about Yahweh. I just recently went on a homeschool field trip. I speak at homeschool conferences. A bunch of my grandkids homeschool. I went on a field trip with them to a Egyptian mummy museum. And when we went into the area with their religious artifacts, there were these two giant statues all gold plated with the black face of a cat. And my grandkids, I'm like, you guys, this is what Pharaoh's daughter worshipped. And this is who Jacobette had to leave Moses with. And we talked about how hard that decision was. And yet God is sovereign and he's faithful. And even when it seems like this cannot be the right plan, God, sovereignly, and providentially works out because his ways are above ours. Yeah. His thoughts are above ours as high as the heavens are above the earth. So his ways are above ours. I want my grandkids to know those stories. Those biblical accounts, historical accounts,

17:49not stories, in scripture that really shine the sovereignty of God. That's what you find throughout this whole book. And backly, all through scripture. If Jesus said the priority of life photos in Mark chapter 12 was to love God with all of our being, heartful mind and strength. And the second command is to love our neighbors ourselves. If the priority is to fall in love with our God, we cannot do that unless we know who he is, not who just we perceive him to be. And God said, he look at me. I'm El Shaddai. I'm El Yon. I am Adonai. I am the God who sees the God who hears the God who provides. I am the Lord your banner. When we see God's character in this book that I wrote of Mons of the Bible, it helps us fall in love with who God really is, not who we imagine him to be. He's not the flannel graph Jesus with the bontarine blue eyes, right? You know, and there are many challenges on that among faces that are so great. And we see the challenge Jacob had had here. And in this chapter, you referred to Psalm 121 being a wonderful

18:54reminder to put your hope in the Lord, just a brief comment on that Psalm, if you would. Yeah, hope in the Lord. That Psalm is just how many of those psalms reflect us and send us back to that's where we find our hope. We just came through a very difficult time in our experience and our family, something that occurred. And it broke my heart, it broke my husband's heart. And you know, I have in Psalm, I have Psalm 119 about 58 verses memorized. And if you're not hiding God's word in your heart, that's the bomb of Gilead. That's when the anxious thoughts are driving you and you can't go to sleep at night. You just lay there and you at the sword of the word, the water of the word wash over your mind and drive out those anxious thoughts, those fears, those what ifs, those if onlys. It is the word of God. And I cannot stress enough the importance of memorizing scripture because in the moment when you need it, the Lord will bring it to memory. If I can share a story that just came to mind, my son had epilepsy. He had seizures. We had

19:56planted a church in Austin, Texas, 200 teenagers, trash in our house in Jesus name and they were come into Jesus. And we met in a school but everything else was in our house. And one day my son after four years of medication had a severe teacher. And that one brought me to my knees. And I went in my room and I went before the Lord and I said, you know what God, I quit. You can't heal my boy. We are serving you. We're sharing the gospel and you can't heal my son. I'm out of here. But if you've hidden God's word in your heart, he will speak to your heart not audibly, but that still small voice that nudges you to truth. And I heard as clearly as I know how to express in everything if thanks. For this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. And I said, no, I can't imagine what good you can have come from this Lord, but I know you're good. And I know you love Brandon more than I do. So I will say thank you with my lips that you're going to have to change my heart. Long story, it's written out in mom's of the Bible, but we slowly started to see

20:57Brandon who did not want to play sports. I was a cheer coach in Texas. That's kind of a kind of a cult. Don't join it. I wanted to see my son play sports and run one down the field and hear the crowd glory in his accomplishment. But as we had ban practice in our home every Wednesday night after youth group, Brandon sat behind those different musicians and he could play and he became an incredible musician for the Lord. And my husband said, I've never met anyone who thinks in music theory like a ten-year-old Brandon does. So slowly, Brandon grew up, he was, he's a worship pastor. He went to Cal Baptist University, studied biblical studies and became, he traveled with some amazing worship bands. His heart's for the local church, so he became a worship pastor as amazing four children, a great wife. But here's the rest of that story. A decade later, my daughter, and her husband, living on campus at the Masters University, he was going to seminarian, he was an R.D. and Meredith gave birth to a special needs daughter. And after we all kind of recovered from the

21:57unexpected delivery, I went to visit Meredith and I said, how are you doing there? And she said, Mom, this isn't our tribal. This is Ivy's trial. God has invited us to prepare Ivy to walk through this trial. Wow. So what's the point of that whole story? Ten years earlier, high school age Meredith was watching. And if I would have walked away from God because he didn't do what I thought he should do, I would have come back. I would have repented. No one can pluck me out of his hand. I would have come back, but it would cost. Sometimes your trial is just not about you. It's validating your testimony to your watching children. And it's preparing them for the Goliath that they're going to have to face. And they need to see a fearless state without in us when life does not make sense. You know, Miranda, we could take this entire program just to talk about Jockebitt and the life lessons from her is I look in your story and you're writing here, you talk about courage. There are times when also times when a mom doesn't know what to do,

22:59you address that. You talk about living with urgency. You say it's never too late to start to a mom who perhaps has lacked in this area of faith and talking about that lasting legacy of Jockebitt as well. We are going to move on to another issue here, but one thing I do want to point out, you've got 12 different women you write about, but you also have a very unique item at the end of each chapter where you are engaging with the reader. It's a QR code. What's that all about? Yeah, I love engaging with. I write to the non-reader because I meet women all over. I'm not a reader. I'm like, well, you're a reader. You read social media all day long. How can I write so you will actually read my book if I write in a very conversational way. And then at the back of each chapter, there's a life lesson section that you can answer the question that's great for small group, group, study, or individual. And then the QR code takes you to a free video of me teaching on that chapter. You can go to my website, noregretswoman.com, because I help you build a no-regrets life. And on the book page for Mom's of the Bible, you can scroll down and watch all those videos for free.

24:03Wow. It's amazing, friends. You just scanned that code, and there it is right before you. Friends, this, as I mentioned, is a very powerful book, a very unique book, and especially with that QR code, where you can really take this to the next level. Mom's of the Bible, it really does explore timeless life lessons from Bible moms of all types, revealing how there are stories of failure, faith, and hope can really help you fulfill your calling with confidence. The book has been selected as a book of the month at the Vcy bookstore. This book came out from the publisher recently, a Retails for 1899. However, through April 30th, our bookstore is offering this book at 50% off, just $9.49, plus any, plus any applicable tax andershiping. So, friends, it is a bargain and a half. It's available online right now at vcy.com, vcy.com, or 1.887224829. You can call the bookstore

25:04perfect for Mother's Day. You may be a mom listening, so I want that book and call them and through April 30th, 50% off, 1.887224829, or vcy.com. We're only going to be scratching the surface, but this really enables them to get that full, full value. Part two of your book is called Flod Bombs, and you write about Herodias, revenge that leads to regret. You also write about lots of wife when your stuff means more than obeying God. You write of Rebecca playing favorites leads to disaster and you write of Eve, the perfect woman who made a not-so-perfect choice. And I know that we could take a whole program on every one of these women as well, but just in brief, you pick out one of these women that you would like to comment on for our listeners today. All right, I'm going to, in brief, start with, I have to back up from the fearless mom's and talk about Esther. She was a stepmom who influenced art exorxies, who years later had compassion toward the Jews to go back to the land and build the wall. If you're a stepmom, your influence matters more than you know. When they're in your

26:07face saying, you're not my mom, you can't make me do my homework. You just live your faith before them and you let God take care of what influence He will have in your stepchildren's life. So yeah, I just can't skip Esther because I love Esther. She changed my life when I read her her story. Lots of life looked back. I get it. We were in the 2020 California wildfires. We live on an 80 acre ranch and it was raging in a canyon burning everywhere around us. My husband had a prize spear. He wanted to stay behind until someone came with a trailer so he could get that spear out of there, which I'm like, we're going to barbecue it anyway, right? One way or another. And so he stayed behind. And as I left, I'm like, they don't die for this spear, but I looked back over my shoulder as I drove down our driveway. We do this. I love you, symbol with, you know, sign language and we kiss the pinky that point in the thumb. I do that with all my grandkids. So I did that to Steve as I looked back and drove away. I understand the temptation for lots of life to look back. I can't look at her and say how terrible she was. She left

27:09behind Sons and Law and daughters. There's two ways they look at it. Some historians believe the daughters were already married to those Sons and Law. Some believe that they were the daughters that fled with them. Either way, I love my Sons and Law. And hearing all hell break loose behind me with fire and brimstone, how hard would it have been to not look back? She looked back and it cost her everything. And that title of that chapter is when your stuff means more than obeying God. They had a hard time leaving. They were told to evacuate. When we were told to evacuate our house, I had 20 minutes to grab whatever I could grab. I get, that's a hard decision. What am I going to leave behind? Grab the external drive with all the pictures. I get what she went through. And yet in the end, obeying God. And I always say people over possessions. We trashed our house. I told you with youth ministry, white carpet was ruined. The couches had holes in them because these teenage boys would scratch the arm of the couch while they were talking to a girl because they weren't nervous. We trashed our house, but kids came to Christ. So people over possessions is my mantra. Amen.

28:12Amen. Friends, we're going to take another break and we're going to come back and talk about the third part of the book and a little bit later we'll give you opportunity to call in on the broadcast as well with the question you may have. But we are talking with Rhonda Stoppy today. She has authored moms of the Bible. Literally, we could be doing a 12 week series here on Cross Talk over a number of weeks to get through all the moms and the wonderful lessons that we can learn. But friends, it's available in book form and a QR code following it's where you can hear more of Rhonda's teaching on that biblical character as well. So you can reach out to our bookstore vcy.com or 1-88722-4829. Back in a minute, here on Cross Talk. Did you know in 2006 Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress? He took his oath of office on a Quran. Is one's duty to uphold the Constitution compatible with the

29:13teachings of Islam? Most Americans know little about the Quran, who wrote it, and how Islam spread. Following Muhammad's death, the followers of Islam went on a mission to conquer many nations. Islam has affected the Western world from history past to the current headlines. Historian Bill Federer has documented his research in the captivating book, what every American needs to know about the Quran. As Islam advances across our country, this book is a wake-up call for every American. Copies of this book are available for a donation of $20 to vcy. Call 1-800-729-9829. 1-800-729-9829. Mom's of the Bible, our topic today here on Cross Talk. We're speaking with the book's author, Rhonda Stoppy, life-changing lessons from the fearless, flawed, and faithful. Now,

30:17we were just talking about lots of wife looking back, and matter of fact, we're told in, I believe it's a Gospel, according to Luke, remember lots of wife, we're told, Jesus said that, and remember her attachment that she had to the world, and Rhonda, was just saying, this is what they experienced with that wildfire, and during the break, I said, whatever happened with that wildfire, and she started telling me, you said, hold on, we got to share that with our listeners. So, Rhonda, go ahead and fill on the blanks for us. So, I left and waited, and there's no cell service in the canyon. It's 45 minutes to the nearest town, and you get cell service. So, as I'm driving down, I realize his friends not going to make it in time with the trailer. They closed down that road. I had to turn back and go at different exit and out. Eventually, he got out safely with the steer, but the entire ranch burned, except for our house. And my daughter and son-in-law had bought 30 acres next to us. They had a little barned aluminum. They had remodeled, and you could literally see the burn mark on the map. If you look at the burned scar, there was a dot where our houses did not burn. Our friend Matt was a game warden. He was up here,

31:22calling us every night saying, your house is not going to be here in the morning. And then Matt told us, and this is in the book, I was standing, videoing the fire raging toward both of your houses, and I turned off my phone because I was like, I am not going to video their houses burning up. And he said, and then all of a sudden, the mighty brushing wind came across my back, went across the way, hit the flames, which normally oxygen ignites flames worse. It rolled the flames back over on itself, and it burned, it burned out, burned away from the house. And you can literally walk the burn scar, and there's a black line. There's still chemise, and man's Anita, and all of that that could have burned, but the Lord miraculously turned the fire away. And I love telling that story because I want my kids to know how God, I had come to a place where I was holding my hands out going, God, this is your house. We bought this property 38 years ago, Steve built this house with his bare hands. We lived on a generator for almost three years without power. Back then, people thought we were crazy. Now I think we'd have a show,

32:22but back then it was hard, and I'm like, this is your home. And if you want to burn it down, burn it down. That was the hardest prayer I ever prayed. And as I drove all the way down the mountain, my fear and concern was only for Steve's safety. So that was the most amazing story. And again, it's more detailed in bonds of the Bible. Okay, friends, again, another reason to pick that up and read more on this and so many other issues. There's a section there about moms playing favorites and warning in that aspect, but you also point out in this whole character, you know, the character of flawed characters in the scriptures here that there are lessons that we can learn from flawed characters. And whether good or bad, lessons can be learned, correct? That's right. And you know, when poor Rebecca, she was trying to be a good mom, and God had told her, there's twins inside of you. The younger's going to serve, the older's going to serve the younger. And then she jumps in and tries to help God with his plan. And we do that as moms. We see our kids talent. We see where they should advance, and we start pulling strings. You know,

33:25maybe we become the team mom that brings snacks so that they'll play your kid more, the, you know, that whatever. And so she told her son, I want you to lie to your dad. We're going to trick him. And Jacob means trickster, but he did say mom, I don't know if this is a good idea. What if dad finds out she's like, let it be on me? Well, it was on her. And it's, if you don't know that story, I'm not going to tell it. You can read it in the Bible, but she tricks him. He gets the birthright instead of Esau. And Esau's like, I won't kill him. I won't kill my brother. And Rebecca's like, you got to go. Go to my, my, my to Laban, go to your uncle, stay there until it's safe to come back because she knew she likely never saw Jacob or his children. She never bounced her grandchildren because that was a cause of her getting involved. God would have taken it over. He would have worked out his plan. He doesn't need us to manipulate pull strings. But here's an interesting part of that story. The lineage is that Jacob, who's later named Israel, did the exact same thing when he favored Joseph. He literally learned from his mother not what not to do. He did the same

34:31thing. And it caused those brothers to hate Joseph to sell him into slavery. Of course, God said, you know, Joseph says what you meant for evil. God used for good. But yeah, there's a, there's a heritage. We can break that, that red thread, if you will, of character qualities that we learned. But you know, Jesus said the student becomes like his teacher. Not how the teacher teaches him to become. And we have a danger when we have a flawed mom. I talk about Herodias and their kind of a mom tells her daughter Salomego after John the Baptist head on a platter when you could have been given half the kingdom. I know some of us were raised by moms like that. Yeah. But when we dwell on, I'm not going to be like my mom. I'm not going to do that. We're still dwelling on it. And the man, the Bible says it's a man thinks in his heart. So is he? So where's our freedom in forgiving the person who has wronged us? Doesn't mean they deserve to be forgiven, but you deserve to be set free from what they have done. And, and they're, I don't have time to unpack all of that. It's in the book, but I will tell you go to a biblical counselor.

35:32ACBC find it counselor nearer you association of biblical counselors. Unpack what it is that you are dealing with in an unforgiving spirit toward your one of your parents. Because if you're just dwelling on what you don't want to become, that is exactly what you're going to become. And there's a real danger. You'll pass it down to your kids and to your kids kids. Yeah. And, friends, so you'll know we've interviewed two on that topic for given people forgive and had a meaningful a cross talk program in that issue. We're going to move on to the third part of your book, where you cover faithful moms, the mother-in-law who got it right in Naomi and Ruth's story. Mothers and grandmothers unite unis and Lois from infertile despair to a measurable influence speaking of Hannah and faithful moms with no name. Just give me a brief time here. We're going to deal with some of those nameless moms in a bit, but we've got not only moms listening right now, Rhonda, but we also have a lot of grandmother short listening as well. So speak to us about Timothy's mom, Eunice, his grandmother, Lois, the impact that they had on his life

36:33and how, yes, even grandmothers can make a difference. Yep, and we've heard that story so many times, but don't we just read over those Bible stories just kind of, you know, and Timothy and your mother and your grandmother and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But it's like time out. These were real women. Lois watched Eunice marry a man who was not a Jew. That was against Jewish law. I don't know how Lois processed that, but at some point, Lois and Eunice worked together to raise Timothy. I love knowing that Lois didn't alienate her daughter when she did something that was contrary to Israelite law. And somewhere in there, that husband was out of the picture. Whether he divorced her, whether he died, we don't know, historians aren't sure, but by the time that the apostle Paul came on the scene and later became Timothy's father in the faith, there was not that Greek father. We know that the Greek father did not allow Timothy to be circumcised.

37:33So there was an influence, but Lois and Eunice poured into this little boy. I have friends that are raising their grandchildren. I just spoke at the Legacy Coalition Grandparenting Summit, 1500 grandparents in sight and all across the nation and internationally learning how to be intentional grandparents. It's a great ministry of your grandparents. Look it up. But when Lois and Eunice teamed up, they didn't wrestle against each other. They teamed up to pour scripture and truth into Timothy. And Paul said, it's because of them, that you were ready to receive the gospel when I brought it to you. You don't know who you're raising, but God calls us to pour truth into them as we're walking by the way as we're sitting down, as we're driving in the car. Turn off the cell phones, turn off the TVs in your vehicle. I had the best conversation with my children while we were driving up and down the canyon when we didn't have TVs and we didn't have cell service and have conversations about the God that you say you love and you serve. It will become a normal part of their life to talk about scripture if you make it a normal part of their life.

38:37Not preaching at them, but teaching them what you're learning. And then when you've been wrong and have to come back and repent, tell them, I know I talked bad about your dad yesterday. I had asked your dad to forgive me. I had asked the Lord to forgive me. I'm going to ask you to forgive me. That's a normal Christian life lived out in front of our kids. As you point out in your book, Grandparents do have influence and you even address what you wish we had time. We don't, but about a grandmother who wants to be careful not to overstep her bounds or we have moms listening right now. They're concerned about having grandparents who don't know the Lord is Savior and concerned about what kind of influence may come their way. You address that issue and you also address how moms can be engaged with practical character development strategies in your book. But I'm going to move on to your last chapter. You write about faithful moms with no name. I mean, these are moms who scripture did not mention by name, but they made an impact. Give us an example of one. Well, I'm going to read you from that section. It says, the mom with no name, this leads me to the final unnamed mother I want to explore. I don't know her name, but you do,

39:42she's you. My heart is so filled with hope for the next generation when I consider the influence you will have as you raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The influence of unnamed mothers has shaped nations inspired leaders, nurtured artists, and motivated ordinary children to accomplish extraordinary achievements. Mom, this is your god or game time in history. Some of the moms with no name think of this. David's mom not named in scripture. The king, the apple of God's eye, not named in scripture, but her influence is all over that young man's life. When he told Saul, God gave me victory over a lion in a bear. I know he'll give me victory over this giant. God had sent the lion, and he sent the bear to prepare David to battle that giant. Where was his mama? She wasn't fighting his battles for him. She wasn't a helicopter mom. I got to say, if my son came home and said, babe, I mean, and said, dad, I just killed a lion with my bare hands and I would be like, that's awesome. He doesn't work for you anymore. Get somebody else. But those sometimes when God sends a lion and a bear into our kids'

40:47life, we shake our fist at God and we become so, they'll be trade by God. That's what happened when my son had epilepsy. God knew what he was doing. He sent that into my son's life. And sometimes he sends lions and bears into our children's lives so that they will one day be ready to battle. So there's so many other unnamed moms in scripture, but I'll tell you a story. When my, I'm trying to think of one. Okay, my son, Tony, he was a fighter pilot in the Air Force. He flew the F-22. That's the rapture. If you know anything about it, that's kind of a big deal. He just retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, but even I were in Hawaii not long ago in the car with him. I was sitting in the back seat. And as he walked in, I mean, as we drove in and showed his credentials, they started saluting him like nobody's business. They didn't know who I was. They didn't know the influence I had had on his life, which only began when he was 15. By the way, it's never too late to influence someone that God brings into your life to mother them. And nobody knew my name, but it's okay because I did what God called me to do so that he could be who God called him to be. Another question. Who made the lunch that the

41:50little boy brought with the lives and dishes that Jesus turned into feeding 5,000? Probably his mom, but I don't think we know her name. Right, right. Friends, and many other examples you'll find in the book as well. And I wish we had hours here, but friends, know this. You can get the book moms of the Bible that gives these really timeless life lessons from Bible moms of all types. Some who had faith, some who provided hope, some who had failed, but ones that we all will learn from. And in moms, you can fulfill your calling with confidence. It's being featured as a book of the month that our bookstore normally from the retailer. It's 1899. Our bookstore through April 30th. That's the deadline. April 30th, 2026. Our bookstore is offering this book at 50% off, just $9.49 plus any applicable tax and or shipping. It's available right now online, vcy.com, vcy.com, or by calling 188-722-4829, 188-722-4829. Again, each chapter concludes with a QR code

42:59where you will hear Rhonda teaching on that particular mom or that chapter topic. And that will be a great benefit, an extra side benefit of the book as well. Right now, I am going to open up our phone lines. Maybe you've got a question you'd like to ask of our guest today. And formulate your question or brief comment or number 800-733-9829. That's 1-800-733-9829. Perhaps you've been inspired just listening to Rhonda today on the broadcast. And friends, her book will unveil so much more on like content, really to help undergird and encourage moms today. Great for Mother's Day or get a case to share with others within your church or vitals to the groups and reach out to the bookstore. But our number to crosstalk 800-733-9829. We'll be back in one minute. You're listening to crosstalk on the V.C.Y. American Network.

44:22I don't know. It wasn't well advised, but he's now pulled it. But the bigger point to me is many of the Catholics online and even Christians in the prostate world that are having a fit. Yet where are they in calling out Pope Leo, which I guess is how this all started with an argument between the two men? Where are they in calling out Pope Leo and the leaders of the Vatican or their local priest who believes that the pope is the holy father or the vicar of Christ on earth or that priest can forgive or absolve sins or the Eucharist calling down Christ into the wafer to be slaughtered over and over again? Where is their condemnation of this heresy? I'm Brandon House. You're listening to crosstalk on V.C.Y. America. With us today is Rhonda Stappi. She is authored several books, but one we're discussing here today. Moms of the Bible, life-changing lessons from the fearless, flawed, and faithful. And again, you can reach out to our bookstore. We'll give

45:24that info at the close of the program. But Rhonda, you mentioned people can get a sneak peek by going to your website. Is that correct? Yes, no regrets. Woman.com. There will be a pop-up and you can get the first chapter, the chapter about Rahab, the harlot. You can get that for free. And I also want to say for Mother's Day, if you know someone who's a mom and you're not sure that they know Jesus, they know about him. They practice the religion or mental ascent to the truth of who he is, but maybe never really entered into a relationship with him. This is a great gift for that mom. It will explain to them how to have a relationship with Jesus. Yeah, and that's what the appendix is in the back of the book. And that's really the heart and soul behind this as well. And to see women come to faith in Jesus Christ. And once we do then to grow, learn from the Scriptures as well, our number to cross talk 800-733-9829. We have Sally in Nebraska calling. Hi, Sally, you're on the ear. Hi, really appreciate your guest today. She's encouraging

46:27one of the most heartbreaking things that I know of with women where I am is that their children have abandoned them. We've been out in the country and I homescored my six kids and there's a trend nowadays among millennials to have nothing to do with their parents. And so I as a parent and the grandparent have not been able to be around my children and my grandchildren. And it is so heartbreaking. And Sally, thank you for sharing that. And we're just going to have Rhonda address that issue here. Thank you for your call today. Thank you, Sally. My heart is with you and I have cried many tears at that grandparenting conference that I just went to. It is common and among Gen Z and among millennials. And here's what's happening is there is a quote counselor app you can get or

47:28counseling online. And it's simply hearing the complaints that a child has about parenting that the way they were parented. And their answer is just break off the fellowship with them. It's unbiblical and it is of Satan. So what do we do about that? Well, we're wrestling not against flesh and blood but against principalities of darkness. And while it is heart wrenching Jesus, he's your tears. And he knows the value of mothers and grandmothers. We are going to just pray right now. Father, for as many women and men that are dealing with what Sally is struggling with Lord God, we ask that you would break down those walls. Those lies that the enemy has cast over the minds of those that think the best answer is to alienate themselves from their parents. Father, the Bible says in the last days this is going to happen, but I pray for those parents who haven't alienated that they would understand their affectual servant prayers do not go and notice by you. And we just ask Lord God that you would break down those walls and draw families back together in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Sally, for your call. Karen is next in Pennsylvania.

48:34Hi, Karen, you're around the year. Hi, yes. I'm enjoying the program today. Great. I think it's also important to remember step moms and foster mothers too. Like Booker T. Washington had a godly motherly influence and also like Abraham Lincoln step mom, they're important people in shaping their future too. Yeah. Absolutely. And that is what I talked about with Esther's influence on Arctic zirkecies. My son Tony did not come to our family until he was 15 years old from a very abusive home. And wow, just the years that we had with him, he said, I never knew what a family was supposed to look like. I never knew how a husband loved a wife. I never knew how a father loved his children. It's important work that we're doing in foster and adoptive care as well as step mothering. Yeah. Indeed. Thank you, Karen, for for the call here. Lonnie is next in South Dakota. Lonnie, you're on the year.

49:35Hello, Lonnie, you're on the year. Yes, hello. Yes, go ahead, you're on the year. Yes, if I could just have a little clarity on what if someone is in those categories of, you know, you're following the Lord and then you do look back and you do feel like you've lost everything just from you have a redeeming paragraph or two on how you can get back into the the walk again, you know, that you used to be in with the Lord. Yeah, the getting back to the first love. The Lord says that he causes us to come to that place of realizing it so that we can you know, he says if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes. I think of Jesus when the religious leader was looking at the unclean woman that was that was annoying Jesus' feet and Jesus read his thoughts and he asked him, who who loves more? The one who's been forgiven much or the one who's been forgiven little? I know my regrets. I know the things I wish I could go back and do over. I had postpartum

50:36after my third child was born and there are things that I had to go back to my kids and ask for forgiveness, but that's the normal Christian life. When we have regrets, God says, I take your sins as far as east is from the west. I remember them no more. Bill your sin there is scarlet. I wash them wider than snow and he's ready to use a think about shebach. She had an affair with the king and when they finally repented a year later, God went and let David go into her and he gave her Solomon her next child who would be the next king of Israel. When God forgives, he forgives to the utmost and he uses us from our place of brokenness in ways humility. Look at Peter, in ways of humility that he never could have used us if we had not been humbled by our mistakes. Yeah. Lonnie, thank you so much and I'm confident the book would be of help to you and into so many others as well. Moms of the Bible again through April 30th, half off at our V.C.Y. bookstore. Normally is 1899. That's the publisher price. Just the book is fairly new coming out and our

51:38bookstore is offering it this month of April 50% off just $9.49 plus some of the applicable tax and or shipping available right now. By the way, folks, the V.C.Y. bookstore, it's a ministry here of V.C.Y. America. It's ministry of crosstalk and let me get biblical resources out into your hands. It's available online at V.C.Y.com or 1.887224829 in our last 30 seconds here, Rhonda. What would you like to leave with the listeners? Well, that price of that book, that's like half of what it is. And I would say for those churches that give out flowers or chocolate or something on Mother's Day to the Moms, consider buying a case of these books. This is going to take them 12 months. They could do one chapter a month and give them great motherhood mentoring and encouragement. So yeah, that is an incredible price. My encouragement to those of you that are listening, this world needs you. You've been appointed for this time in history and God will give you dignity, strength and wisdom and courage as you seek to raise up this next generation of world ginger.

52:42Amen. As just as Esther said for such a time as this, Rhonda, thank you so much. My pleasure. Rhonda, stop you with us here today and as Porter, heart out into this book and into the teachings and we encourage you to reach out V.C.Y.com. God bless you friends. Thanks for joining us today on Cross Talk. You've been listening to Cross Talk by a satellite and the internet from V.C.Y. America. Views expressed may or may not be those of this station. For a CD of today's program, send a donation of $6 or more to V.C.Y. tape ministry, 3434 West Killmore in Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 532-08. We're download by RSS or podcast from crosstalkamerica.com. And join us again for Cross Talk.