Message for Mothers

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." We don't need to fear this passsage in Proverbs 31

I just listened to this today.... Just scroll down to the Sunday Morning Services and click on the "watch now" of May 11th. If you want to go directly to the message, you will need to forward in about 45 minuets. Otherwise, I often take time to share in the worship before hand.

I really soak up the Chapter and Verse services too.

A song to the Lord

Shepherd, your sheep are weary...cold and tired battered and bruised and torn.
Shepherd, your sheep are hungry...we got we wanted but we still need something more.

We need to hear your voice. Whatever you might say.
We just need to hear your voice. Show us the way.

Shepherd, your sheep are lost...we chased our wants that we thought were needs and now we can't get home.
Shepherd, your sheep are longing...We ate and we ran and we played and we danced but we're empty.

We need to hear your voice. Whatever you might say.
We just need to hear your voice. Show us the way, won't you show us the way.
Todd Agnew)

Now the question of all questions....Is God really enough for you?

If we pray...then what?

"Now is the season for healing; Deeply we need to see, God's mercy revealing...Where we have fallen from his way.
For we know he gives hope to the humble; Gives light in the darkness and grace when we stumble.
Let us call on his name together knowing he will say...

"If my people pray. And reach for me with hearts that are broken, I will not forget what I've spoken. Come and seek my face and Heaven will rain....rivers of my grace, overflowing...night and day my ears will be open if my people pray."

Now is the day to awaken.
To pray with conviction for the souls of the nation.
So let us call on His name, who's faithful and promise still remains....

If my people pray. And reach for me with hearts that are broken, I will not forget what I've spoken. Come and seek my face and heaven will rain...rivers of my grace, overflowing. Night and day my ears will be open..if my people pray.

Let us not grow weary as we wait for the day when the light turns the night into morning.
On our knees calling your name as we lift our hearts to heaven, knowing you will say...
If my people who are called by my name...humble themselves and pray...If my people who are called by my name turn from their wicked ways....(song by Avalon)

Your face Lord I will seek.
Today was a good day. Perhaps not by the world's standards...but my heart was seeking God's face and that in itself makes it a good day. Tomorrow I'll post my prayer that I sang to the Lord over and over today as I celebrated His goodness in my life...as I reflected on the many blessings that HE has showered upon me. . . my salvation...my redemption...my New Life...my family...my heart for His children...for the Lost....for the hurting...my love for animals and having the land to live out that love every day...so many things...yet all we really need is Him.

1 Samual 3

I want to encourage any readers to search the Scriptures before they search words of man alone. There is SO much meat in the Bible I can't take it all in! I have so much to learn and study to understand better the scriptures. I want to read more original text and try, with the Spirit of God, to see more clearly what He has left for us to study and know Him better. I've been going through the OT for the past month or so and am reading now in Samuel...great stuff!!!

What men of God I've been reading about in the Bible! I love the first few chapters in 1st Samuel when God tells Samuel that the priest Eli is going to be judged for 'the sin he knew about in his son's and he failed to restrain them.' A few things stood out to me here...First, Samuel was a man who chose to tell the truth even though Scripture tells us 'he was afraid to tell Eli when Eli said 'what was it he said to you?' Now, talk about being the bearer of bad news to someone you looked up to and lived with for years!!! The second thing is how Eli responded when Samuel explained to him that he would soon be judged for overlooking the sins of his sons and honoring his sons more than God by fattening themselves on the choice parts of every offering made by the people Israel'.

Here is Eli's response to the bad news about his future:
'He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.' ...

wow, talk about a steadfast response! Even though the LORD himself was going to bring down judgement on his family he still was able to be submissive to the Father's choice of discipline!

God goes as far as to say to the Priest Eli 'Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to bind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, all your descendants will die in the prime of life.' ch 2 vs32-33

I have been trying to understand more of the OT and NT as one book and not see them so much as two completely different books and though it's not easy at times, I do see God's love, mercy and even discipline to his people. He was so gracious to Hannah by giving her Samuel and in return, Hannah honored her promise to give her son right back to the Lord! So, Samuel went to live with Eli, the priest to learn about God and be His servant. Little did Hannah know her son would soon be the Judge of her people for many years. The sad part is, Eli died after serving the Lord for 40 years and before he died he received word the Ark of God had been captured by the Philistines. This brought his heart such sadness that he fell over, broke his neck and DIED!!!! What a sad death! However, if his heart stayed open to the Lord's discipline that he was probably humbled and closer to God in those last days of his life; knowing that God wasn't going to let his poor choices go unnoticed...

Anyhow...just thought I'd share this great history with you all! I know I jumbled it all up a bit so head there for yourselves to see it more clearly! :)

It Came From Within

 
Andy Stanley of North Point Church has some great insights into our hearts -- the thing that we speak from, love from, care from but also hate from, burn with jealousy from, experience guilt from and speak contempt from.  Things that destroy both our relationship with God and with others.  This has been a wonderfully convicting and freeing series that I have been listening to again and again.  Stanley has both insights into identifying sin in our hearts and practical and biblical ways to root it out.  

Check out It Came From Within series here or listen to other Andy Stanley messages here.

Or download the podcast in iTunes.

Great Read.. Click Link Below

Victoria Boyson:
"Prisoners of HOPE--What Feels like a Prison Cell to You, God Sees as a FORTRESS"

There are times during the birth of your destiny that you feel as though you would like to give up hope, but God will not let you. It feels as though you are held captive by hope.

"Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope..." Zechariah 9:12

An Evangelical Manifesto

Yesterday an Evangelical Manifesto was published inviting "all other Evangelicals to stand with them and help clarify what Evangelical means in light of 'confusions within and the consternation without' the movement". Authors include Timothy George, Os Guinness, John Huffman, Rich Mouw, Jesse Miranda, David Neff, Richard Ohman, Larry Ross, and Dallas Willard. It is an interesting read and deserves some time to think about.The statement is more than a "who we are" statement but also a call to revival, to see our own vices and follies and to realign ourselves with true Christian faith. It is a statement that helps others outside the Evangelical umbrella to understand us and for us to understand ourselves. One atheist comments on the site: "The Manifesto is very well written. Very interesting and educational. Being a Atheist it is always beneficial to understand the true motivation of a religion. Thanks." Below is a excerpt. Read the full text here.

_________________________________________________

Keenly aware of the hour of history in which we live, and of the momentous challenges that face our fellow humans on the earth and our fellow Christians around the world, we who sign this declaration do so as American leaders and members of one of the world’s largest and fastest growing movements of the Christian faith: the Evangelicals.

Our first task is to reaffirm who we are. Evangelicals are Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth. (Evangelical comes from the Greek word for good news, or gospel.) Believing that the Gospel of Jesus is God’s good news for the whole world, we affirm with the Apostle Paul that we are ―"not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation." Contrary to widespread misunderstanding today, we Evangelicals should be defined theologically, and not politically, socially, or culturally.

Behind this affirmation is the awareness that identity is powerful and precious to groups as well as to individuals. Identity is central to a classical liberal understanding of freedom. There are grave dangers in identity politics, but we insist that we ourselves, and not scholars, the press, or public opinion, have the right to say who we understand ourselves to be. We are who we say we are, and we resist all attempts to explain us in terms of our ―"true" motives and our ―"real" agenda.

Certain implications follow from this way of defining Evangelicalism:

First, to be Evangelical is to hold a belief that is also a devotion. Evangelicals adhere fully to the Christian faith expressed in the historic creeds of the great ecumenical councils of the church, and in the great affirmations of the Protestant Reformation, and seek to be loyal to this faith passed down from generation to generation. But at its core, being Evangelical is always more than a creedal statement, an institutional affiliation, or a matter of membership in a movement. We have no supreme leader, and neither creeds nor tradition are ultimately decisive for us. Jesus Christ and his written word, the Holy Scriptures, are our supreme authority; and whole-hearted devotion, trust, and obedience are our proper response.

Second, Evangelical belief and devotion is expressed as much in our worship and in our deeds as in our creeds. As the universal popularity of such hymns and songs as ―"Amazing Grace" attests, our great hymn writers stand alongside our great theologians, and often our commitment can be seen better in our giving and our caring than in official statements. What we are about is captured not only in books or declarations, but in our care for the poor, the homeless, and the orphaned; our outreach to those in prison; our compassion for the hungry and the victims of disaster; and our fight for justice for those oppressed by such evils as slavery and human trafficking. . . . .

Fourth, as stressed above, Evangelicalism must be defined theologically and not politically; confessionally and not culturally. Above all else, it is a commitment and devotion to the person and work of Jesus Christ, his teaching and way of life, and an enduring dedication to his lordship above all other earthly powers, allegiances and loyalties. As such, it should not be limited to tribal or national boundaries, or be confused with, or reduced to political categories such as ―conservative and ―liberal, or to psychological categories such as ―reactionary or ―progressive.

Fifth, the Evangelical message, “good news” by definition, is overwhelmingly positive, and always positive before it is negative. There is an enormous theological and cultural importance to ―the power of No, especially in a day when ―Everything is permitted and ―It is forbidden to forbid. Just as Jesus did, Evangelicals sometimes have to make strong judgments about what is false, unjust, and evil. But first and foremost we Evangelicals are for Someone and for something rather than against anyone or anything. The Gospel of Jesus is the Good News of welcome, forgiveness, grace, and liberation from law and legalism. It is a colossal Yes to life and human aspirations, and an emphatic No only to what contradicts our true destiny as human beings made in the image of God.

Sixth, Evangelicalism should be distinguished from two opposite tendencies to which Protestantism has been prone: liberal revisionism and conservative fundamentalism. Called by Jesus to be ―in the world, but not of it, Christians, especially in modern society, have been pulled toward two extremes. Those more liberal have tended so to accommodate the world that they reflect the thinking and lifestyles of the day, to the point where they are unfaithful to Christ; whereas those more conservative have tended so to defy the world that they resist it in ways that also become unfaithful to Christ.

The liberal revisionist tendency was first seen in the eighteenth century and has become more pronounced today, reaching a climax in versions of the Christian faith that are characterized by such weaknesses as an exaggerated estimate of human capacities, a shallow view of evil, an inadequate view of truth, and a deficient view of God. In the end, they are sometimes no longer recognizably Christian. As this sorry capitulation occurs, such ―alternative gospels represent a series of severe losses that eventually seal their demise:

First, a loss of authority, as sola Scriptura (―by Scripture alone) is replaced by sola cultura (―by culture alone);

Second, a loss of community and continuity, as ―the faith once delivered becomes the faith of merely one people and one time, and cuts itself off from believers across the world and down the generations;

Third, a loss of stability, as in Dean Inge’s apt phrase, the person ―who marries the spirit of the age soon becomes a widower;

Fourth, a loss of credibility, as ―the "new kind of faith" turns out to be what the skeptic believes already, and there is no longer anything solidly, decisively Christian for seekers to examine and believe;

Fifth, a loss of identity, as the revised version of the faith loses more and more resemblance to the historic Christian faith that is true to Jesus. In short, for all their purported sincerity and attempts to be relevant, extreme proponents of liberal revisionism run the risk of becoming what Søren Kierkegaard called ―kissing Judases – Christians who betray Jesus with an interpretation.

Seventh, Evangelicalism is distinctive for the way it looks equally to both the past and the future. In its very essence, Evangelicalism goes back directly to Jesus and the Scriptures, not just as a matter of historical roots, but as a commitment of the heart and as the tenor of its desire and thought; and not just once, but again and again as the vital principle of its way of life.

To be Evangelical is therefore not only to be deeply personal in faith, strongly committed to ethical holiness in life, and marked by robust voluntarism in action, but to live out a faith whose dynamism is shaped unashamedly by truth and history. Yet far from being unquestioning conservatives and unreserved supporters of tradition and the status quo, being Evangelical means an ongoing commitment to Jesus Christ, and this entails innovation, renewal, reformation, and entrepreneurial dynamism, for everything in every age is subject to assessment in the light of Jesus and his Word.

The Evangelical principle is therefore a call to self-examination, reflection, and a willingness to be corrected and to change whenever necessary. At the same time, far from being advocates of today’s nihilistic ―change for change’s sake, to be Evangelical is to recognize the primacy of the authority of Scripture, which points us to Jesus, and so to see the need to conserve a form behind all re-form. We therefore regard reason and faith as allies rather than enemies, and find no contradiction between head and heart, between being fully faithful on the one hand, and fully intellectually critical and contemporary on the other.

Thus Evangelicals part company with reactionaries by being both reforming and innovative, but they also part company with modern progressives by challenging the ideal of the-newer-the-truer and the-latest-is-greatest and by conserving what is true and right and good. For Evangelicals, it is paradoxical though true that the surest way forward is always first to go back, a ―turning back that is the secret of all true revivals and reformations.

We confess that we Evangelicals have betrayed our beliefs by our behavior.

All too often we have trumpeted the gospel of Jesus, but we have replaced biblical truths with therapeutic techniques, worship with entertainment, discipleship with growth in human potential, church growth with business entrepreneurialism, concern for the church and for the local congregation with expressions of the faith that are churchless and little better than a vapid spirituality, meeting real needs with pandering to felt needs, and mission principles with marketing precepts. In the process we have become known for commercial, diluted, and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential, and religious happy talk, each of which is indistinguishable from the passing fashions of the surrounding world.

All too often we have set out high, clear statements of the authority of the Bible, but flouted them with lives and lifestyles that are shaped more by our own sinful preferences and by modern fashions and convenience.

All too often we have prided ourselves on our orthodoxy, but grown our churches through methods and techniques as worldly as the worldliest of Christian adaptations to passing expressions of the spirit of the age.

All too often we have failed to demonstrate the unity and harmony of the body of Christ, and fallen into factions defined by the accidents of history and sharpened by truth without love, rather than express the truth and grace of the Gospel.

All too often we have traced our roots to powerful movements of spiritual revival and reformation, but we ourselves are often atheists unawares, secularists in practice who live in a world without windows to the supernatural, and often carry on our Christian lives in a manner that has little operational need for God.

All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others, such as the killing of the unborn, as well as the heresies and apostasies of theological liberals whose views have developed into ―another gospel, while we have condoned our own sins, turned a blind eye to our own vices, and lived captive to forces such as materialism and consumerism in ways that contradict our faith.

Two Views of The Shack

I know lots of people love The Shack and I have read this book and have my own opinions, which you might be able to guess. Here are two videos that represent two sides of the story. However, we need to remember that just because a person is likable, engaging and has great, heartfelt intentions means they are right. Just because they are popular is not an indicator of their understanding of Truth. We need to always be watchful and discerning checking everything against Scripture.

2 Timothy 4: 2-4 says:

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

We need to keep our heads, avoid being drawn in on a feeling, and guard our minds, put on the belt of Truth so that we may better understand God and His true character, the character He has revealed to us in Scripture. I will not even pretend to hold claim to all of God's Truth, as a person with a sin-filled heart I can only look to Scripture to reveal Himself to me and tell me what is True. We need to raise our level of discernment and tread very carefully before we leap into man's wisdom.

We need to be like the Bereans who in Act 17:10-12 did not take what Paul had to say at face value but always tested it:

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

I encourage you to test, test, test -- look up what these two views and The Shack are saying compared to what Scripture says. Dig deep, with prayerful consideration.

First, the author discusses The Shack. . .

Mark Driscoll on The Shack. . . .

Want to start really understanding the Trinity? Listen to Mark Driscoll's full sermon and search the Bible for yourself.

Longing

Can anyone relate?

I'm tired and numb to much of anything lately. I do not have the passion right now that often consumes. I desire everyday to find time in God's Word, His truths and prayer . No excuses... I'm missing out . I'm missing the opportunity. The demands of the day start before sunrise and don't end till I'm too exhausted to stand any more. I want to change this. I want to find the time. I'm weak with out His nutrients and strength.

I need balance again, direction, discipline.... take better care of myself so I have the energy and determination.. Praying for some clear direction in some areas and decisions right now. Asking for clarity and certainty. I want to use my time wisely and in His will. What is most important right now? What do I need to change?

Is God Enough? A Message by John Piper

The Lord is My Strength

A week typically does not go by that I don’t hear the phrases, “I just don’t know how you do it” and “are you okay?”

My husband is in the US Army and he is presently serving in his second 15 month deployment to Iraq. And yes, all of you are right…it does stink. There is not a day that goes by that I’m not concerned about something happening to my husband, or even worse, my mind straying to what I’d do if he pays the ultimate sacrifice. I don’t think of it as being morbid, I think of it as our reality, especially after seeing people we know “pay” that ultimate sacrifice. I’d have to be honest in saying those thoughts have crossed my mind. No place is safe for him over there, even on their base where the soldiers may have a false sense of security. There are nights where he has been sleeping in his tent and awakes to the sound of rockets going over his head and hitting within a football throws distance. And I can also tell you we’ve been on the phone at least 7 times during this deployment alone where we have been speaking on the phone and I then hear explosions in the background followed by my husband telling me, “I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta go…love you.”

These are the moments I just drop straight into prayer. I thank God that I have him in my life during times like this. He is the only one anyone could ever lean on in instances like these. It is hard for me to even comprehend in those moments that someone at this very instant is trying to kill the very person that makes my life complete here on earth. It gives a whole new meaning to “pray for your enemies”, and I honestly can say I do.

So when I am asked, “I just don’t know how you do it?” I know *exactly* how I do it. I sure don’t do it alone, but I do it with the Lord by my side and with the strength of my Faith. It honestly gives me peace of mind knowing His Will will be done…all of this mess is out of my control. So it is not going to do me or my children any good if I am moping around sulking in sadness and living in fear because *the *Lord *is *in *total *control! Now that doesn’t mean that I selfishly want to tell the Lord what His Will should be!!! Trust me, I’m human! But to know that my husband is in the Lord’s hands over there and the Lord is my rock over here, it allows me to keep my chin up and keep a smile on my face. My worrying will not change a thing!

And to answer the question, “Are you okay?” Yes, I am more than okay! I know I have the Lord as my never-failing friend, and I can lean on Him at any time on any day. He knows my every fear, my every thought, and my every desire. He is in control, and I know the Lord would want me to be strong and rest all my fears and worries at His feet. And with His strength, I am not only strong for myself, but also for my children and my husband.

So for all of you that think I am so strong, thanks for the compliment, but it is all because of the Lord. It is *His* strength that you see through me! And with the strength of the Lord, I am able to move forward through this deployment as a happy person and actually enjoy life and our amazing country that my husband fights to protect daily.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:27
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." 2 Samuel 22:33

Understanding Oprah's Religion

Oprah's New Age religion is sweeping the country (and the world). Nothing is really new under the sun and Oprah is no exception.  However, familiarize yourself with what she believes and how it compares to the Truth. Stand to Reason has a good summary of the issues.  Please pray for Oprah that her heart may be opened to real Truth and the real Christ.

Imitating Christ

Philipians is an amazing book -- full of joy in the midst of struggles, conflict and exhaustion. Reading Philipians 2 I have been encouraged to look at my life and think -- about how I think and act on what I think.  Actions stem from our beliefs so do I really want to imitate Christ? Most days the answer is, sadly, no -- sometimes answered in a active way and sometimes in a passive way -- but no matter, the answer is still no.  And because of my struggle to truly grasp Christ's humility in my thinking my actions suffer -- towards my husband, my children, my friends, and others that God sends into my life. I am sad that I miss the mark so much, but joyful that God is faithful, graceful and patient.  And I am grateful for the days when God prompts me enough to say yes.  Constant practice and returning to His Word gives me more 'yes' days.

Phil 2: 1-18

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature[a] God, 

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

but made himself nothing, 

taking the very nature[b] of a servant, 

being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a man, 

he humbled himself 

and became obedient to death— 

even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 

and gave him the name that is above every name, 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 

in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father.

Shining as Stars
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

My Testimony, my story

God is moving in me, pushing me towards the place I need to be...free from the fears that paralyze me.

I have never written down my story. Well, one time I wrote a few things down. I almost can't remember where I was living at the time. I think back at my house first house I lived in after I was married. I have no idea where that is now which is a very unsettling feeling. Oh well. Bottom line, I have fears with my story and the idea of having it in black and white letters, staring back at me. There's stuff in my past I don't even remember and am glad not to. Then, there's other things I remember clearly that I need to face to move on, grow and be the confident woman God wants me to be.

About two years ago, a counselor asked me to sit down and write a letter to someone who hurt me years ago, regardless if it were ever read by anyone but me. She just wanted me to express my thoughts and hurts to deal with the way I feel. I have yet to write that letter for a number of reasons...fear...fear....fear....I guess that's just one reason. Fear of what emotions are hiding there in my heart. I know those feelings are there, like my issues with abandonment that I still have to address. If I want to overcome, I know I need to be honest with where I've been, address the hurt and allow the Lord to heal me as only He can do.

All this to say, it's time to write that letter and also time to write out my story, face it in it's entirety and move on. I'm ready.

Here's a good song from Carrie I'm listening to as I type....

There's some things that I regret,
Some words I wish had gone unsaid,
Some starts That had some better endings
Been some bad times I've been through,
Damage I cannot undo,
Some things, I wish I could do all all over again,
But it doesn't really matter,
Life gets that much harder,
It makes you that much stronger,
some pages turned,Some bridges burned,But there were,Lessons learned.

[Chorus:]And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
Everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,
Every change life has thrown me, I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful, for every start,
Some pages turned,Some bridges burned,But there were lessons learned.

There's mistakes that I have made,Some chances I just threw away,
Some roads,I never should've taken,
Been some signs I didn't see,Hearts that I hurt needlessly,
Some wounds,That I wish I could have one more chance to mend,
But it don't make no difference,The past can't be rewritten,You get the life you're given,Oh,

some pages turned,Some bridges burned,But there were,Lessons learned.[Chorus:]

And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
Everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,
Every change life has thrown me,
I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful, for every start,
Some pages turned,Some bridges burned,But there were lessons learned.

And all the things that break you,Are all the things that make you strong,
You can't change the past,Cause it's gone,
And you just gotta move on,Because it's all,Lessons learned.

The Moment of Truth