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What Do You Idolize?
One of my current reads is The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. Although not an easy read, this book is powerful to equip believers in this season of spiritual skepticism. It is also a phenomenal book to help us talk to those who do not believe in Jesus, or for them to read to make a decision about what they will do with Him. Tim Keller quotes Soren Keirkegaard about the issue of sin: “Sin is: in despair not wanting to be oneself before God…Faith is: that the self in being itself and wanting to be itself is grounded transparently in God.” Then…
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The Aroma of Sacrifice
Many of you know I read scripture chronologically year after year. The beauty of repeatedly reading the Bible this way is that there are always new revelations, new principles I’d not seen before, and many new connections I see throughout scripture between the Old and New Testaments. The thread of the Gospel all the way through from Genesis to Revelation becomes much more obvious to me year by year. As I was recently reading Exodus 30 one morning, something struck me that I’d not noticed previously. Verses 34-38 tell us God gave very exact details for the formula of the incense that would be used in worship within the tabernacle…
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What Now?
If you lead or disciple women in any way, I want to ask you a question. What are you hearing from them regarding this past year of COVID and all the other issues we all have faced? Here’s some positive things I’ve seen or heard: Yes, there have been many negative responses and experiences as well. People have lost jobs, health, political and social unrest, finances, and the joy of being with people in person. Most of us wearied of online church and zoom meetings. But, for sure, God has been at work in so many lives. Recently, Jim Denison quoted Desmond Tutu in one of his Daily Articles: “Hope…
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Why Is He So Quiet?
Have you asked that question lately? If not lately, I bet you’ve asked it more than once before. Maybe you are in a place where you are asking God a question, or perhaps you are praying for a number of things. And you get silence. I feel your pain, your frustration, and even your anxious thoughts. There are a number of things that are on my heart right now, places where I desperately want to see God move. I pray, I release it to Him, I determine to walk in faith, joy, optimism and peace, only to become angry at myself for failing to do that for more than an…
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Blogs For You!
Often I run across some really relevant blog posts that I like to share with my readers. Today is one of those days! 1. Consider who is speaking into your life as you read Who is Influencing You? from LifeWay Voices and Rachel Sinclair. 2. In seasons like we have been through and continue in right now, hope is sometimes hard to find. This is a great post on ways to recover and keep hope alive. 6 Ways to Preserve Your Hope in 2021 by LifeWay Voices and Yvonne Faith Russell . 3. Our churches want to grow and continue to reach the younger generations. They are leaving the church…
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Some Helpful Blogs
Today, I have the privilege of sharing some blogs I have found to be helpful. I believe you will agree with me as you read these. 1.Because social media is just a big part of our culture, we need to use wisdom in how we post, read or interact on these platforms. Eric Geiger shares Proverbs for Consuming and Contributing on Social Media. 2. Have you ever felt the ministry calling in your life is not what you expected? Jeff Martin writes When You’re Disappointed With Your Ministry Assignment for LifeWay Research. 3. Discipling women has been my heartbeat since the Lord led me into women’s ministry 40+ years ago.…
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In the Aftermath
I have loved serving Jesus over the years in the area of women’s ministry. There have been both highs and lows throughout the journey. Often, when I have been on a mountaintop experience or event, not long after (or even during!), there has been a huge valley to walk through. When I should be flying on wings of hope and power and joy, I have felt low and even hopeless. Well, so did Elijah! As I finished Priscilla Shirer’s Elijah this week,I can’t help but write one more post on this amazing study. You can read the first two posts here and here. Why does this happen, to us and…
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Another Stop-Over “In- Between”
Ever feel like you’ve just left a dry place but it was where you truly experienced God’s amazing presence and provision…then you find yourself in another “pickle of a place” when you really want to get to that mountaintop of perfect contentment and accomplishment? Often, waiting is like that. We wait and wait. Then God moves, and we think it’s all behind, and we’ve learned what He wanted to teach us. Now let’s get to the good stuff! Then there’s another delay in that perfect picture of life. As my husband and I waited in days of infertility, and eventually were blessed with the adoption of twins, I thought…now it’s…
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Grieving God’s Heart
Don’t you love it when you hear God speak the same message through different avenues? Perhaps it is in the course of a day, or several days or weeks. But the message recurs in various ways, all leading you to the same principle. Some days, because I study and read several things at the same time, they all seem to point in a particular direction. This happened the day before I wrote this post. I was reading Genesis 6-7 as a part of my Foundations F-260 chronological reading plan. The verse that stood out was Genesis 6:6. After creation, sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were banished from the…
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Hold Loosely
Hold what loosely? I’ll get to that! God has taught me SO much over the last year. Retirement 4 years ago gave me more time with the Lord each morning than I’ve ever had before…and I have LOVED it! Retirement also has taught me how to live with my husband of 50 years full time…and it’s not all been pretty since it’s the first time we’ve ever lived together 24/7! You can read about that here in this post, Retired Together…3 Issues and 7 Tips. During pandemic, it’s as though retirement has gone to whole other level. Although we have made so much progress in learning to live together well,…
