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Preparing Our Hearts for Easter

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Yesterday was Palm Sunday, which ushers in Holy or Passion Week. Yet, the White House Coronavirus Task Force is warning us that this could be a grim and difficult week as we see a “peak” in Americans contracting and succumbing to Covid-19!

It was also a difficult and grim week for Jesus 2020 years ago when He would die a horrific death on a cross out of love for each of us.

But three days later, He arose! Hallelujah!

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 NLT

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Cor. 15:3-4

A New Kind of Easter Celebration

Easter is going to be different this year, but I wonder if the meaning of Easter might be more real to us during the stay-at-home restrictions of this Covid-19 crisis. In the past, we might’ve been more concerned with what we were going to do after church rather than what we would do at church.

Typically, family’s discuss who is going to host Easter brunch or dinner or is the family going to fight the crowds trying to get a reservation to eat out. What do the kids want in their Easter baskets and what’s everyone going to wear. Sunrise service or spend the morning hunting Easter eggs and go to church later?

We attend a worship service hearing the traditional Easter message and then out the door on to the activities planned for the rest of the day. We felt spiritual and reverent while we were in church, but now let the fun begin!

Believe me I enjoy having fellowship and fun with our family and I will greatly miss them this year, but I also think quarantined at home, I’ll spend more of the day truly reflecting on the actual meaning and significance of Easter.

President Trump has said he would’ve loved for the pandemic self-distancing to be over and churches filled on Easter Sunday. “What a beautiful thing that would be,” he said. It would for sure since it would’ve taken a miracle for that to happen.

But could it be that God has a bigger miracle in mind for us?! We’ve been forcibly removed from outside distractions and given the opportunity to renew and refresh our faith and commitment to the Lord—individually, as a family, as a church, and as a nation.

Church is a building, but the risen Savior lives in every believer’s heart every moment of every day no matter where we are—in church or in our homes.

Easter commemorates the foundation of our Christian faith. The Gospel! The Good News! Without Easter, there would be no hope.

Easter is the reason we can repent and ask forgiveness for our sins. The assurance of eternal life. People need to hear that message and know salvation is available to everyone. They don’t need to live in fear of the Coronavirus or of death, because for all who believe in Him, Jesus conquered death when He went to the Cross.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[a] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.[b]
55 O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting? 1 Cor. 15:54-55 NLT

It’s our job as Christians to help others experience the love of Jesus for them. That could be the real miracle of this crisis.

Samaritan’s Purse has setup a temporary hospital in Italy and in New York’s Central Park to treat coronavirus patients. They openly say the volunteer doctors and nurses are there to save lives in the name of Jesus. The Mayor of New York City and others were skeptical and critical that not everyone would receive equal treatment! They needed to hear and understand that Jesus loved us enough to go to the cross while we were still sinners. Their concern underscores the misconception the world has of Jesus and believers.

As the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians, we need to share with the world:

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.—1 Corinthians 15:1-4

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:9-10 NLT

Jesus lives within the heart of every Christian and He wants us to live as if we believe it, no matter what the circumstances!

So don’t let anyone tell you that Easter is cancelled this year. Easter, the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to offer every sinner forgiveness and eternal life, is NOT cancelled. Jesus cancelled our debt but no one can cancel Him. He is the same today, tomorrow, and yesterday.

What is happening in our world doesn’t affect Jesus. He only cares about what is happening in our heart!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.—Ezekiel 36:26

What should we do this Holy Week to prepare our hearts for an Easter celebration like none we’ve ever had before?!

1. Fill your mind with words from the Lord and not from the media.

Let’s take a break from the media that wants to scare and alarm us and focus our minds on the reason our Lord and Savior went to the cross—to offer us eternal life regardless of what happens in this life. No one wants to die, but if Jesus is in our heart, we have the assurance that we will be alive with Jesus for eternity. That should calm our hearts.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.—Romans 12:2

I heard Pastor Greg Laurie say in his Palm Sunday message, “There are five gospels . . . you’re the 5th! You are the temple of God.” Read the four Gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Get to know Jesus up close and personal. Walk with Him in His shoes; listen to His words and stories.

  • What was He trying to get people to understand?
  • What does He want you to understand?
  • Look for His personal message to you in your generation.
  • What would He be doing during this pandemic?
  • What does He want you to do during this crisis?

If you were giving the sermon this Easter, what would you include?

2. Tell people what Jesus means to you. Why you love Him. That even while you were a sinner, He still loved you enough to die for you!

Our church has a Cowboy Breakfast for the community on Easter Sunday, which we’ll all sorely miss this year. It was my privilege to share the gospel message one year, with my granddaughter reciting John 3:16. Other years, members of our church shared their testimony with their friends and neighbors who attend the breakfast. My husband also shared his testimony.

When is the last time you told someone your testimony of surrendering your life to Christ? It’s hands down the most important and meaningful day in your life. Yes, it’s greater than the day you married, gave birth, bought your dream house, or signed that important contract. Your rebirth in Christ should top them all!

And yet, we eagerly tell the story of these less significant events in our life, but often are reticent to tell the story of Jesus coming into our life.

We know He is with us every day, but do we give Him the credit and the glory for the things we know He has done and is doing in our life?

This week ask yourself why you don’t talk more about Jesus!

Then share your story with someone! Reflect back on the day the death and resurrection of Jesus really meant something to you. Tell people why it still does.

There is no greater witness to God’s goodness than sharing what he has done in your life. No one can question your testimony because it’s your personal experience.

Your story becomes your testimony when the focus is on God, not on you.

Your testimony simply shares your life before Jesus. How he changed your heart and spiritually, maybe literally, saved your life.

God has given you a story to share, so seize every opportunity to tell it.

Sometimes God redeems your testimony by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn’t become their future.

Who needs to hear this Easter what Christ has done for you and could do for them?

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.—Titus 3:3-7

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.—1 John 5:11-12

“Let’s use this time to reflect on our own relationship to God. And Pray. Pray for the medical workers, they’re really warriors. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones and ask God to comfort them in their grief.” President Donald J Trump

“Pray for God to protect us and release us from this plague. Pray for the patients. There is sin in the world. Ask for God’s forgiveness not to condemn but to save a fallen world.” Franklin Graham

I look forward to hearing how this Easter was your best Easter ever!

You might also enjoy an article I wrote for Crosswalk, 5 Refreshing Ways to Welcome Renewal Beyond Easter.

Have a blessed Easter the way the Lord leads you to celebrate this glorious day!

April 6, 2020
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Conquering the Unseen Enemy

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I think President Trump was the first to start calling the Coronavirus “the unseen enemy” and now many have coined the term.

We can’t see this enemy, yet it could attack us or we could unknowingly pass it onto others. This enemy is treacherous and its sole intent is to do harm and leave carnage in its path.

When I heard “unseen enemy” used to describe coronavirus, I immediately thought what a perfect analogy to the unseen enemy Satan!

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT

Like COVID-19, Satan also creates chaos, carnage, death, heartache, despair, the list is endless, and yet our world and culture considers much of Satan’s evil as normal.

Physical illness brings the world to a standstill, while worldly spiritual illness is acceptable, tolerated, even encouraged.

As Christians, you’ve heard many times that we’re in a spiritual battle for our very souls, but did you ever take it as seriously as you now take the coronavirus?

We take desperate measures to ensure our loved ones or friends don’t get sick. But do we feel the same sense of concern and urgency when their soul is sick? Lost for eternity?

I read an article by Giancarlo Sopo in The Blaze titled, “New York Times op-ed blames Evangelical Christians for paving the road to ‘coronavirus hell.’” What Katherine Stewart, author of the op-ed that Sopo is refering to, The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response, doesn’t realize, or obviously believe, is that when you don’t believe in Jesus as your Savior, you’re paving the way to eternal hell.

The author went on to claim, what many unbelievers think—that Christians have a “denial of science and critical thinking.”

  • We’re the ones who believe that X and Y chromosomes determine your gender—boy or girl. That’s science.
  • A heartbeat signifies life—even in a mother’s womb. That’s science.

As for critical thinking—

  • We believe the unseen enemy Coronavirus is real.
  • We believe the unseen enemy Satan is real.
  • We believe heaven and hell are real.
  • We believe the unseen Savior Jesus is alive in every believer’s heart.
  • We believe there are two choices in life—to follow Satan the destroyer or Jesus the Savior of the world!

How Do We Fight the War Against the Unseen Enemy?

The enemy Coronavirus—We physically protect ourselves daily by following the guidelines from the government and doctors. Stay home, wash our hands, don’t touch our face.

The enemy Satan—We spiritually protect ourselves daily by following the guidelines from God. Put on the Armor of God.

My husband, Dave, and I have prayed Ephesians 6:10-18, the Armor of God, nearly every morning of our 27 years of marriage. I often say that I might not be alive today if we didn’t. I take it that seriously; I hope you will too.

We share this spiritual discipline of praying the Armor of God with everyone we know. I’ve mentioned it in previous blogs and in many of my books. But I always wonder how many actually understand that these are our marching orders as Christians in the ongoing spiritual battle we’re in everyday! Sometimes, like now, the battle is more visible universally. Other times, we experience it individually, but it’s always there. Satan will never tire or give up until the final battle.

God always has a plan for His people, but His people don’t always follow His plan.

I opened this blog with Ephesians 6:10-12. The remainder of this passage instructs us in how to protect against the spiritual unseen enemy.

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[b] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[c] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Amen Ephesians 6:13-18 NLT

Notice the call to pray, stand firm in your faith, and take up the “sword of the Spirit,” your Bible, the only offensive weapon.

Conquering the unseen enemy

If we’re not in our Bibles, we’re leaving ourselves wide open to attack from the enemy Satan. It has been said that if we don’t read our Bibles a minimum of four times a week, we don’t act much different than the world! Now this unseen enemy, COVID-19, has given us time to take up our sword and fight the unseen enemy of our souls.

Download a copy of Dr. Charles Stanley’s “Preparing for War” Armor of God prayer that my husband and I personalize and pray each morning.

Dear ones, the battle rages on but praise God we know Who wins the war.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 1 John 4:4 NLT

Special Announcement

I receive many messages and emails from women telling me that Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As A Woman of Faith is helping them stay strong during these unprecedented times. So I’m having an Easter Be Brave special of this book for $10.00 on my website through the month of April. I’ll personalize and sign each book for you.

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

March 30, 2020
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Headlines Are Designed to Generate Fear: God Says “Fear Not!”

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Headlines Are Designed to Generate Fear: Gods says "Fear Not"

Are you fearful right now? The media hopes you are. They’re trying their best to keep you stressed, anxious, and fearful and there’s plenty of material to fuel their fear mongering.

The coronavirus is spreading globally, even though statistics aren’t as bad as the flu virus, but the media wants us to panic.

5 Million Cases Worldwide, 650,000 Deaths Annually: The Seasonal Flu Virus is a “Serious Concern,” But the Wuhan Coronavirus Grabs the Headlines. “The common flu does not grab the headlines. But attach a foreign name to a virus – such as Ebola, Zika and Wuhan – and then the headlines flow.”

Panic has ensued and that’s negatively affecting the stock market, which can scare anyone who has investments. The more scared we become, the more the market falls and now breaking news headlines tell us Coronavirus reaching pandemic may hurl US economy into recession Fed may cut rates as a ‘way to stem panic’.

As if this wasn’t enough to keep people up at night, here are a few fear-stoking headlines today, Saturday 2/29/2020, as I’m writing this blog:

“U.S. equity markets were shoved into their fastest correction in history this week as fears of the coronavirus becoming a pandemic rattled investors and stoked recession fear.”

“This is Silently Destroying Your DNA Right Now!”

“Christians and Jews Are Now in the Crosshairs”

“Why sea salt is no longer safe to use”

Sometimes these alarming headlines are marketing ploys for us to buy products, but always the headline is designed to get you to read more. The goal is to keep you anxious and fearful as these following articles substantiate.

Headlines & Stories Are Written To Create Fear, Anxiety.

Commentary: Sex Sells But Fear and Anxiety Sells More!

This Is How Your Fear and Outrage Are Being Sold for Profit

How to Write Fear-Fueled Openings Readers Will Be Too Scared to Ignore…

There are actually tutorials on how to write headlines that generate fear.

Headline Writing Guide: How to Write Fear-Based Headlines

Is it any wonder that so many people are afraid and anxious today! Yet, 82 times in the Bible, we’re told to fear not! How do we put those verses into practice to calm our fears?

1. Don’t React to Headlines!

Since you now know, if you didn’t before, that the goal of a headline is to make your heart race in terror or angst, stop reading them and don’t reward the writers by opening their article. I know it’s tempting, but so often you find that the author really has nothing substantive to say on the subject or they’re just writing generalities or maybes. They don’t have facts, just speculation, and yet their headline served its purpose: getting you to open and read their dubious article.

2. Consider the Source

If you’ve never heard of the author of the article, or know them to be a sensationalist, do not take to heart what they write.

3. Take Your Worries to the Lord

You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 NLT

Recently, daily devotionals I read, instead of reading the news, have put everything into perspective for me. They offer peace instead of panic. For example here is an excerpt from Pastor Greg Laurie’s devotional From Worry to Worship where he reminds us . . .

“If you don’t want to live in anxiety, fear, and worry, then put matters in God’s hands. Don’t give up on this. Seek it above all things. When we listen to God’s Word, it puts everything in perspective. We see God for who He is. And we see life with all of its challenges for what it is. We see everything as we ought to see it. Instead of worrying, put God and His Word first in your life. Seek Him principally above everything else. Give Him priority.”

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Studies show that worry may actually shorten our lives not prolong them.

Sometimes we might think it’s expedient to worry, but worry often paralyzes us from taking preventive or positive actions. If we’re anxious about a new virus, and we definitely should take all the recommended precautions, worrying and fretting could cause other health issues that actually reduce our defenses and immune system. We for sure will be miserable, as will everyone around us.

I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalm 46:1-3

Another devotional I receive is called Small Straws In A Soft Wind by Marsha Burns. Her message on February 28, 2020 was especially timely:

“Take a break and separate yourself from the things that cause fear or worry. Think about things that bring hope and bolster your faith, says the Lord. In this way, you will access strength and better health. Learn to live in the moment as you stay present with Me. 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

We live in a fallen world and that’s what the media preys on to keep us fearfully going from one crisis to the next. But God’s Word, the Bible, is timeless. He knew in advance every world and personal crisis we would face and He has all the answers and antidotes to keep us calm, cool, and collected.

We can’t outrun, outpace, outdo, outsmart, outlive . . . trouble. It has a way of popping up even in the good and prosperous seasons in our world and in our life.

We’ve all had those times when we wake up at night in a panic. Maybe it’s because we listened to the news before we went to bed or we can’t stop thinking about how world events will impact our future or we just heard disturbing personal news. That’s when we need to have John 14:1 memorized, the verse that Jesus said to His disciples to comfort them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”

A Personal “Fear Not” Story

In Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As a Woman of Faith, I admit that I am not naturally a calm person and I explain that: “The only way I calm an anxious heart is to pray about it, and then go about daily activities keeping my mind busy, trying not to dwell on the looming object of my wait.”

Last week, I had to have a dreaded MRI. I’ve had many and each time the technician asks me what kind of music I want to hear in the earphones they’ll put on me. My choice, “Christian Contemporary.” I happen to be claustrophobic so they put a washcloth over my eyes, which blocks out the sight of the tight enclosure, and I tell them to crank up the music.

So as the machine is pounding and clanging, I’m not looking at my fear. But I’m filling my mind and heart with God’s comforting words through song lyrics assuring me that with God’s help, I’m going to make it through this potentially fearful experience. And every time I do! Praise God.

You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” Lamentations 3:57

PS: You may have noticed that my Monday Morning Blog arrived to you last week on Tuesday morning! That was due to a glitch in MailChimp which sends my blog to your email. Thanks to the help of our wonderful web designer, the problem was corrected. This week, WordPress has completely changed it’s format so bear with me as I adjust to all these changes.

March 2, 2020
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What Is God’s Response to ‘Ok Boomer’?

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What Does God Say About #OK Bommer

“Mom, are you a boomer?” my eleven-year old granddaughter asked my daughter.

I have to admit that none of the adults at the dinner table understood the significance of that question and so I naively answered, “No, Grammie and Grampa are boomers.” She seemed satisfied, but I continued to ponder her question. So a few days later, I texted her that boomers were born between 1946-1964. She said “thanks,” but still I wondered the genesis of her question. Something else was going on.

Then I began to see articles degrading boomers almost to the point of using ‘boomer’ as a slang or curse word, and then I REALLY wanted to know about my granddaughter’s interest in ‘boomer.’ So I asked her and she said, “Sometimes when I say something, my friends say, ‘Ok boomer,’ when I’m talking like an old person.” And that’s bad? I thought.

But it turns out it is very bad if an eleven-year old might have the perspective of something her grandmother or grandfather taught her, even if that wisdom came from a 2020 year-old person, Jesus Christ.

Being a Boomer Was Special!

I’m a boomer and I must admit most of my life it’s been a rather prestigious position. We were the largest generation in history at that time, born in the two decades after World War II when the surviving soldiers returned home after defeating the enemy. They were ready to bring normalcy back to life, get jobs, raise a family, and enjoy the American dream and ideals they fought so bravely to defend.

Because boomers represented such a vast number of consumers and voters, we influenced fashion and trends, politics, economics, business, entertainment, religion . . . the culture.

We felt respected and appreciated. And then we weren’t. Like every generation, we’ve aged, and as the “old fogies” before us, we suddenly don’t know anything and no one cares about what we want anymore. We’ve become the generation that younger people facetiously and dismissively respond to with an “Ok Boomer,” while rolling their eyes. Not in an admiring or gotcha’ manner, but you’re an old person with views and values we no longer appreciate. In fact, we’re going to blame all the world’s problems on your generation that you left for us to inherit. You’re out of touch with our problems and we don’t want to hear what you think about it.

Ouch!

Aja Romano wrote in her article “OK boomer” isn’t just about the past. It’s about our apocalyptic future.

“OK boomer is meant to be cutting and dismissive. It suggests that the conversation around the anxieties and concerns of younger generations has become so exhausting and unproductive that the younger generations are collectively over it. OK boomer implies that the older generation misunderstands millennial and Gen Z culture and politics so fundamentally that years of condescension and misrepresentation have led to this pointedly terse rebuttal and rejection. Rather than endlessly defend decisions stemming from deep economic strife, to save money instead of investing in stocks and retirement funds, to buy avocados instead of cereal — teens and younger adults are simply through.”

How Can Christians Bridge the OK Boomer Generation Gaps?

Now that I am old and gray,
    do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,
    your mighty miracles to all who come after me. Psalm 71:18 NLT

Where there are differences, Satan will use them to divide.

[Tweet “Where there are differences, Satan will use them to divide. We see that division in politics, religion, and culture but now more than ever, it rears it’s ugly head in generational antagonism. “]

We see that division in politics, religion, and culture but now more than ever, it rears it’s ugly head in generational antagonism. Yes, we can say that’s always existed, but did it in your family. Did you think your grandparents were completely out of touch with the real world or did you respect and admire their wisdom?

I learned to appreciate Scripture from Granny Reed, who always read from her Bible to my cousins and me as we literally sat at her feet. Granny Hazel taught me how to care for my complexion and played games with me when she came to visit. They were a wealth of experience and I looked forward to spending time with them.

I challenge you that #OKBoomer” is not biblical!

[Tweet “God knew that Satan could use our age differences to divide us so God gave us many Scriptures to help bridge these inevitable generation gaps, and He commands us to live by them.”]

God knew that Satan could use our age differences to divide us so God gave us many Scriptures to help bridge these inevitable generation gaps, and He commands us to live by them. 

Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
each one tells stories of your mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 The Message

_________________________________

Let me share a few excerpts from the chapter “Generation Gaps Are Not In God’s Plan” from my book Mentoring for All Seasons.

Why Do We Have Generation Gaps?

[Tweet “It was never God’s plan to have generation gaps in the church: God commanded one generation to pass down his truths to the next generation.”]

It was never God’s plan to have generation gaps in the church: God commanded one generation to pass down his truths to the next generation. But in most churches today, the gap between generations is so wide the only thing passed between the two is mistrust and misunderstanding—all in the name of Jesus.

I believe the older generation often perpetuates the gap by wanting everything to stay the same—same music, same way of doing things, same church service, same church activities. . . . Many churches relegate the young people to their own groups, and their input—whether in music or new ideas or using their talents and gifts—isn’t welcome in the main sanctuary. Then the church wonders why the youth and young adults are leaving in droves.

If we want to stay relevant in the lives of the next generation, we need to learn how to embrace their style of worship . . . their way of communicating . . . their world. If we want to have an impact in their lives—to help guide them in the ways of righteousness—we need to speak their language, care about the things they care about, and reach out to them in love with a desire to understand what’s important to them.

Mentoring: A Privilege Not a Burden

[Tweet “Do you remember when you were the next generation full of hope and ideas and ready to leave your mark on the world? I do. I also remember feeling misunderstood and unappreciated when sharing thoughts and ideas with older adults”]

Do you remember when you were the next generation full of hope and ideas and ready to leave your mark on the world? I do. I also remember feeling misunderstood and unappreciated when sharing thoughts and ideas with older adults. Yet thirty-six times in the New Living Translation of the Bible, the Lord uses the term “generation to generation.” Many more verses instruct us to pour into those who are coming up behind us in the church and in our homes. It was God’s plan for the continuation of his church throughout the generations.

Believers are to teach and train the next generation. Praise God, over the centuries believers have followed this mandate. You and I are benefactors of the sacrifices of believers who have gone before us. Over the years, followers of God and his Son, Jesus Christ, have felt compelled to ensure the next generation:

  • Has access to and knowledge of the Bible.
  • Knows how to communicate with God through the Holy Spirit and prayer.
  • Receives guidance in leading a godly life.

[Tweet “Sharing with the next generation some of what God and life has taught us is truly an honor and a privilege.”]

Sharing with the next generation some of what God and life has taught us is truly an honor and a privilege. “I will bring honor to your name in every generation. Therefore, the nations will praise you forever and ever.” (Ps. 45:17 NLT)

A Plea from the Younger Generation

[Tweet “I often hear from the older generation that the reason they don’t mentor is because the younger generations aren’t interested in being mentored, but his is a misconception and lie of the enemy.”]

I often hear from the older generation that the reason they don’t mentor is because the younger generations aren’t interested in being mentored, but his is a misconception and lie of the enemy. A young woman named Tracy, [and there were many more like her in Mentoring for All Seasons] pleads, “I beg the older generations to please be the mentor God called you to be—take up your cross and invest in the future. It takes patience, perseverance, and Christianity. The woman you invest in today may turn around and invest in tomorrow’s generation.”

_______________________________

[Tweet “If you’re a boomer like me, let’s continue the trend of being the largest influential generation for God!”]

If you’re a boomer like me, let’s continue the trend of being the largest influential generation for God!

That means we ignore the exasperated #OKBoomer meme and turn it into an eager #OKBoomer share with me what you’ve learned about God. Let’s not be offended by this meme but use it for God’s glory!

If you’re one of the younger generations, seek out a Christian boomer who will share with you how God helped her through the seasons of her life and is eager to bestow some of that God-fueled faith with you.

3 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers.[a] Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes,[b] to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. Titus 2:3-5 NLT

Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life and God’s Faithfulness is available signed and personalized on my website or also on Amazon and Kindle.

February 17, 2020
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If You’re Pro-life, You’re Pro-Woman!

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If You're Pro Life, You're Pro Woman

I woke up the morning of January 24 excited and eager to watch the 2020 March for Life on TV. For the first time in the forty-seven years of this annual march, a President, our President Trump, was going to speak in person! A bold and brave step in the current political climate.

I made my coffee and turned on the TV, but to my dismay, no reception. Looking out the window, I saw snow on our cable Dish, and even though we cover it with a trash bag, sometimes the weight of the snow or ice inhibits the DISH from operating properly.

Knowing how important this was to me, hubby put on his snow clothes and boots, grabbed the brush to clear the DISH, and plodded out through the snow in what was now rain. A true act of love!

The TV screen finally came alive, but now what channel would be broadcasting this momentous event? Surely, no mainstream media since they were too busy championing the impeachment trial.

Again, hubby to the rescue located the march on C-Span just as the program was starting. Then with an opening prayer, a welcome from pro-life Vice President Pence and his wife streamed in from Italy where they’re meeting with the Pope, President Trump strode onto the stage to address the tens of thousands of marchers ready to take up their Pro-Life signs and march for the right to life of the unborn.

[Tweet “One sign at the March for Life was especially poignant as it portrayed the birth of Jesus in a manger with the words “An Unplanned Pregnancy Saved Us All!””]

One sign was especially poignant as it portrayed the birth of Jesus in a manger with the words “An Unplanned Pregnancy Saved Us All!” We know that Mary and Joseph didn’t plan that pregnancy, but God did as He plans each and every pregnancy!

As President Trump greeted the crowd, he reiterated how proud he was to stand with the advocates for life to “protect the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential.”

A few of his remarks:

[Tweet “Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life.” President Trump at the March for Life”]

“All of us here today understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life.”

“When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation.”

“As the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made.”

“Together, we are the voice for the voiceless.”

What If You’ve Had an Abortion or Know Someone Who Has?

[Tweet “If you’ve had an abortion, please know that God loves you and is ready to forgive if you only ask. ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent. Luke 24:27 NLT”]

If you’ve had an abortion, please know that God loves you and is ready to forgive if you only ask. ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent. Luke 24:27 NLT

I’m sure it hurts to hear and read about pro-life speeches and marches when you don’t know what to do with your pain and sorrow. I encourage you to share your story with a trustworthy person. Someone who will pray with you and keep your confidence. It’s healing to talk about your feelings and not let them fester in your heart where they can lead to bitterness and self-deprecating efforts to soothe remorse.

If you know someone who has had an abortion, offer to be a listening ear. Pray with and for her. Assist her in finding the help and support she needs to experience the peace and forgiveness her heart craves.

Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman

The March for Life chose the above theme this year because 2020 marks one hundred years since the 19th Amendment giving women the inalienable right to vote.

[Tweet “From the beginning of time, God empowered women with the incredible ability and responsibility of bringing new life into the world. Eve, whose name means “life-giving” was the first mother through which the entire world populated.”]

But from the beginning of time, God empowered women with the incredible ability and responsibility of bringing new life into the world. Eve, whose name means “Life-giving,” was the first mother from which the entire world would populate. Eve also means “Mother of All Who Have Life.”

[Tweet “Only a woman is empowered by God with the capability and privilege of carrying a human life in her womb.”]

Only a woman is empowered by God with the capability and privilege of carrying a human life in her womb. To feel her baby as it grows. The first kick. The first hiccup. The first rollover. That is our amazing joy as women to bring another person into the world. New creations, each one designed by God unique with its own DNA, fingerprint, and purpose.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalm 139:13-14 NLT

God picks the time of each child’s conception! Sometimes His timing coincides with our desires, but like everything God does, it’s not always on our terms or times. That’s why He’s God and we’re not.

[Tweet “With the advent of ultrasounds, unborn babies may be voiceless, but they’re not invisible and their heartbeats are clearly heard.”]

With the advent of ultrasounds, unborn babies may be voiceless, but they’re not invisible and their heartbeats are clearly heard. It’s the Devil’s lie that these aren’t precious little human beings to be incubated and nourished in their mommy’s tummy until they burst forth with their first breath and cry. Both bodies intertwined from the moment of conception, bonding even before birth. That’s how God designed the mystery and majesty of creation.

Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.

[Tweet “Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”]

The case for abortion is based on lies and manipulation. Abortion has become a cash cow funding industries and organizations like Planned Parenthood who lie to women and tell them their baby isn’t really human and that they won’t feel a thing. The truth is that they will feel their searing loss for the rest of their lives. Those women who sadly tout and brag about how liberating their abortions have been are trying to convince themselves that they didn’t really eliminate their own children.

What Can We Do?

If You're Pro Life, You're Pro Woman

As Christians, we need to remember that God doesn’t conform to man’s laws!

We can’t stand idly by and do nothing or think abortion isn’t our issue because it might not affect us personally or it’s “legal.” As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, apathy is the antithesis of the Christian life.

We need to let what breaks God’s heart, break our hearts.

I know you may have other good causes that you’re giving your time and energy too, but I ask: What could have been more important than saving the life and future of the 61,000,000 babies aborted? The purpose and plans God had for these baby boys and girls?

You don’t have to walk in a march or carry a sign to be an advocate for life.

As speakers pointed out in the Walk for Life, we have the right and obligation to vote for this Human Rights Issue. With our empowered vote, we choose government legislatures and presidents who don’t just talk about changing the status quo, but are willing to risk their political future and reputation to save the next generation of babies.

Who will go up against the liberal left?

Who will use the power we give him or her to not just maintain limits on abortion, but abolish it completely?

[Tweet “No woman or man should have the right to make a choice that ends in savagely taking a life and calling it legal.”]

No woman or man should have the right to make a choice that ends in savagely taking a life and calling it legal.

I challenge you that silence is compliance. Not taking a stand for right is inadvertently taking a stand for wrong.

[Tweet “Silence is compliance. Not taking a stand for right is inadvertently taking a stand for wrong.”]

I applaud each of you with a burden in your heart for the babies tortured, dismembered, and horrifically burned every second of every day because Satan spreads the lie that an unborn child does not have the inalienable right to life.

For everyone reading this blog, and I know there will be many unsubscribes, I pray that God speaks to your soul with what He wants you to do. Because there is no denying there will be a price to pay for this bloodstain on our nation as God asks: I saved you, why aren’t you saving the children?

Our Family’s Adoption Story

If You're Pro Life, You're Pro WomanIf You're Pro Life, You're Pro Woman

I have an amazing grandson because fifteen years ago a pregnant 15-year-old girl chose life for her second baby, while she was still raising her 18-month-old first baby and attending high school! She managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from her mom for seven months, when fifteen years ago abortion wasn’t an option at that late stage of pregnancy. Instead, she delivered a beautiful baby boy. My daughter and son-in-law, who suffered from infertility, blessed our family by adopting him and we became his forever family.

While I rejoice and praise God over that young girl’s choice to give her baby, my grandson, an opportunity to live, I cry over the millions of babies who never had the same opportunity.*

“We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create. The discoveries they will make. But we know this: every life brings love into this world, every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting. And above all, we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God.” President Donald J. Trump

Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born. Psalm 22:9-10 NLT

You can watch President Trump speaking at the 2020 March for Life and/or read the transcript at LifeSitenews.com.

Read two of our daughters’ infertility stories and about my grandson’s adoption in Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?

In my book Mentoring for All Seasons, there’s a section on “Pregnancy—Planned and Unplanned” with tips and Scripture on how to mentor a pregnant woman, Teen Mom, and “Post-Abortion Recovery” section for mentoring a woman who has had an abortion.

In Everyday Brave, the chapter on “Brave Mothers” includes a testimony of Kathleen, a brave teen mom who chose to keep and raise her baby, who twenty-eight years later is a digital media arts teacher. In the chapter “Brave Believer,”
Penelope tells her brave story of being an RN Circulator in operating rooms and refusing to participate in abortion procedures even though it could jeopardize her career and she received much ridicule from her peers.

January 27, 2020
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Is Our President More Excited Than We Are About Religious Freedoms?

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Is President Trump More Excited About Religious Freedom Than we Are?

Is January 16, National Religious Freedom Day, marked on your calendar as an incredibly important day in our nation?

It’s not on mine either. In fact, until I read on Facebook about President Trump announcing on National Religious Freedom Day, January 16, new rules designed to roll back “discriminatory” federal regulations to promote teachers’ and students’ right to pray in public schools, I wasn’t aware of this national day.

How was I not aware of such a significant day?! As a Christian writing and speaking about preserving and expressing religious freedom, how did I miss this day? Obviously, President Trump knew about January 16 and he took notable strides to not only commemorate it, but to regain many of our religious freedoms denied us over the years!

Prior to January 16, I didn’t see any publicity about a day so vital to all religions. No mention in church or social media, and except for the landmark announcements from the Oval Office, this day could have slipped by with no recognition.

Why wasn’t there more publicity, blogs, articles?

Why wasn’t social media a buzz about the significance of regaining so many of our lost religious freedoms?

Why was President Trump the only person making a big deal of such a momentous day? Especially, considering he is restoring in schools religious freedoms that I remember when teachers and students could talk freely about God, Jesus, the Bible, and their faith without fear of repercussions or discrimination.

According to Religiousfreedomday.com “Each year, [since 1993] the President declares January 16th to be Religious Freedom Day, and calls upon Americans to “observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship.” The day is the anniversary of the passage, in 1786, of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. We encourage schools to recognize Religious Freedom Day during the school week leading up to January 16.

The goal of ReligiousFreedomDay.com is to promote and protect students’ religious expression rights by informing educators, parents, and students about these liberties.”

There is information on their website for students, educators, parents, and churches.

Our Family’s Personal School Discrimination Story

When my granddaughter was in third grade, she was a little evangelist. She didn’t know that telling the Good News of Jesus stopped at the front door of the school. She and two other little girls of a different faith were discussing their beliefs and she told them the only way to get to heaven was a relationship with Jesus Christ. One of the little girl’s mothers complained to the school and my granddaughter was shattered when she was the one called into a parent teacher conference and scolded. How could this be she cried when she had learned at Sunday school and VBS to share Jesus with everyone?

Not only did this teacher wrongfully crush her emotionally, she crushed her spiritually. Whenever we talk about sharing Jesus with others, my granddaughter, now 14, recalls this life-changing incident because you’re supposed to obey the school rules even when they’re wrong.

Thank You POTUS!

[Tweet “On January 16, 2020, President Trump announced that the U.S. Education Department will send out memos to secretaries and administrators in all 50 states stressing that they can’t prevent teachers or students from praying in public schools.”]

On January 16, 2020, President Trump announced that the U.S. Education Department will send out memos to secretaries and administrators in all 50 states stressing that they can’t prevent teachers or students from praying in public schools. The goal is to “further safeguard students’ constitutionally protected right to pray in school” and to let public school administrators know that they can lose federal funding if they violate students’ religious freedom.

Additionally, the administration will publish rules issued by nine federal agencies that ensure less regulation on religious organizations and social service providers.

President Trump said during a news conference that he doesn’t think there is anything more important than “the right to pray.”

“In public schools around the country, authorities are stopping students and teachers from praying, sharing their faith or following their religious beliefs. It is totally unacceptable. You see it on the football field, you see it so many times where they are stopped from praying. We are doing something to stop that.”

“You have a side that believes so strongly in prayer and it is being restricted and it’s getting worse and worse,” he said. “And I think we have made a big impact. We have loosened it up a lot and I want to loosen it up totally.”

As President Trump sat in the Oval Office surrounded by religious leaders, Christian, Jewish and Muslim students who have suffered discrimination, and Joe Kennedy, a high school coach who lost his job for silently praying on the field, POTUS said: It is a “sacred principle in our republic that government must never stand between the people and God, . . . Yet in public schools around the country authorities are stopping students and teachers from praying, sharing their faith, or following their religious beliefs.”

Trump stressed “there is a cultural war” that not that many years ago it would have been unthinkable that something like this could happen.

[Tweet ““Tragically, there is a growing totalitarian impulse on the far left that seeks to punish, restrict, and even prohibit religious expression.” President Donald J. Trump”]

“Tragically, there is a growing totalitarian impulse on the far left that seeks to punish, restrict, and even prohibit religious expression.”

Where was the excitement from all of us for these historic comments and executive orders?

The hurrahs?

The “Thank you Mr. President for caring about us and our religious rights!”

I maintain that we lost these rights through complacency. And yet, isn’t it that same complacency that doesn’t find us jumping up and down with joy when our President is reinstating them?!

[Tweet “Do you see the irony and spiritual battle of the news cycle obsessed with covering the impeachment of a President who is fighting for our spiritual freedoms?”]

Do you see the irony and spiritual battle of the news cycle obsessed with covering the impeachment of a President who is fighting for our spiritual freedoms?

[Tweet “Restoring religious freedoms is not political; it’s constitutional and moral regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on.”]

Restoring our religious freedoms is not political; it’s constitutional and moral regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on.

It has nothing to do with whether you like or agree with President Trump. It’s all about being on God’s side and helping to put Him back on His throne in the public square.

Dr. James Dobson didn’t let this historic day slip by his notice. Benjamin Gill wrote in a CBN News article on January 17, Dobson said,

“I’ve lived long enough to remember well a time when public prayer was expected and appreciated, even in schools.”

“I’ve also lived long enough to see the consequences of our societal disregard of the Ten Commandments and the eternal truth they represent.”

“For this reason, I’m greatly encouraged by the steps this administration is taking to correctly understand, restore, and preserve our constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms.

“It [the First Amendment] was designed to protect our first liberty. Unfortunately, government officials have increasingly bought the lie from groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and have worked to purge religion from the public square, demeaning the beliefs of millions of Americans in the process.”

Then he adds the important message I’m trying to drive home with this blog,

“We should celebrate the administration’s vital efforts to protect our religious freedom. But such work is in vain if we don’t seize the opportunity to live out our faith and thereby transform the heart of this nation.”

We May Have Missed January 16, But Let’s Celebrate Our Religious Freedoms!

We need to make sure our schools and colleges enforce these new rules the President is establishing. Unless we take it upon ourselves to exercise our religious freedoms that are quickly being denigrated by those who want to take God and His ways out of America, we could find ourselves censored in our churches, our speech,  our writing, and in our homes.

How did abortion become legal?

How was God’s definition of marriage legally changed?

How did prayer, the Bible, and Jesus become taboo in schools?

How are crosses, even on a necklace, the 10 Commandments, Christian caps and clothes prohibited in schools and public places?

I submit to you, it’s because we let it happen.

Let’s be sure the significance of President Trump’s Proclamation and Executive Orders on January 16 are remembered and enforced.

[Tweet “Let’s bravely and courageously take a stand for our religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment written to protect the church from the State not the State from the church.”]

Let’s bravely and courageously take a stand for our religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment written to protect the church from the State not the State from the church. Don’t be fooled and don’t let anyone use it to silence you.

Let’s make it clear that our faith is in our heart that goes with us everywhere, including school.

Let’s not let the State rip the heart out of America.

 “A society without religion cannot prosper, a nation without faith cannot endure because justice goodness and peace cannot prevail without the glory of almighty God.” President Donald J. Trump

[Tweet ““A society without religion cannot prosper, a nation without faith cannot endure because justice goodness and peace cannot prevail without the glory of almighty God.” President Donald J. Trump”]

For more on these historic strides allowing the expression of faith in schools:

“Trump Announces School Prayer Guidance; 9 Agencies Draft Religious Freedom Rules”.

Trump Criticizes liberals’ ‘growing totalitarian impulse’ as he vows to protect school prayer includes President Trumps Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2020 that he signed in the Oval Office.

Who Told Students They Can’t Pray in Public School?

Read an Op-ed by Pastor Greg Laurie on President Trump’s historic executive action regarding religious freedoms.

Trump Fights to Protect Prayer In School with New Federal Guidelines.

The Hill: Trump Administration’s Religious Freedom Announcement Square with Constitution, Supreme Court Precedent.

If you haven’t read my book Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, it is written for such a time as this.

Remember the goodness of God so you don't forsake Him in your life.

January 20, 2020
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God Wants a Word with You!

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God Wants to Have a Word with You

First, let me wish each of you a blessed 2020!

As I talked about in last week’s blog, How Do Your Plans for 2020 Align with God’s Plans for You?, we often set goals for what we want to achieve in the upcoming year. A fresh start.

There are two complementary thoughts for the New Year that I want to share with you in this week’s Monday Morning Blog.

A Word to Focus On in 2020

Several years ago, a friend and I decided to pray about a personal word God wanted us to incorporate into our actions, thoughts, and speech in the New Year. We remind each other of our word when times get tough or we’ve lost our focus. One we can pray for ourselves every morning, night, and throughout the day as a guiding remembrance of how God wants us to live and reflect to others.

As I browse Social Media, I notice that this has also become a tradition for many of my friends as they share their “word for the year.” Maybe you have a word for 2020 and if so, I’d love you to share it with us.

My “word” for 2018 was “Calm.” That year I fell down the stairs and broke my wrist, tore up my leg, and we had a septic flood. Calm was a prophetic word I clung to in the chaos.

2019’s word was “Joy.” The damage from our 2018 septic flood wasn’t repaired until August of 2019. I started the year still in a wrist brace and physical therapy from the fall, and we sold my writing cabin, which was bittersweet. In my sadness and unrest, I longed for joy and gladness. Joy was an appropriate word for 2019.

And drum roll . . . my word for 2020 is “Glorify.”

I’ll share with you how I arrive at the word I feel God wants for me each year.

  1. I pray asking God, the only One who knows what the coming year will bring, the word He knows will help me as I encounter the next year’s events.
  2. I read God’s Word, the Bible, expecting the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart.
  3. I listen to Him in my quiet time.
  4. I notice that a word appears repeatedly in songs we sing in church or I hear on the radio or in a sermon.
  5. I discuss with my friend our individual “word for the year.”
  6. When I feel confirmation, I settle on my word.
  7. I write my word in places I will see daily and pray over it each morning.

Some of you might also have a Scripture to focus on for the year or one that inspires you to pick a word for the year.

As I prayed about different words to pick for 2020, my thoughts went to the fruit of the Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-33

I wanted each of those words in Galatians 5:22-23 to define me. I would be a better wife, grandmother, mother, friend, neighbor, speaker, writer . . . and then God reminded me that if I focused on glorifying Him in everything I did, I would be reflecting all the fruits of the Spirit. I would become more Christ-like. Worthy of professing I’m a Christian.

For example, before I speak or write, I will think, Would that glorify God? Before I act, Would that glorify God? It’s amazing how my 2020 word is already changing me in one week. I still have a long way to go because after I say something, I also think, Wow that didn’t glorify God. Please forgive me.

Glorify is making me more aware of what God wants for me in my life.

[Tweet “I’m not suggesting everyone needs to have a “word,” but every Christian does need to know God’s Word.”]

I’m not suggesting everyone needs to have a “word,” but every Christian does need to know God’s Word.

God Wants a Word With You

God’s Word in Your Life in 2020

I often read the Bible in a year. I’m usually about a month behind on New Year’s Eve, but I don’t let that deter me. I just start the New Year’s reading plan in February instead of January, although I’m trying to catch up faster this year. As I write to you today on January 5, I’m just starting 1 Peter. Almost there!

So here’s my point. I don’t speedread to say I did it, but read at a pace that allows me to digest what I’m reading and what the Lord wants me to discern from His Word. The Bible is how He speaks to us. If you’re not in your Bible daily, you’re missing a daily Word from God. When someone tells me that God doesn’t speak to him or her, I ask, “Are you reading your Bible? Are you studying your Bible? Are you listening to what His Word is saying to you?”

As I read, I have a highlighter in my hand to note what speaks to me. God always has something new to tell me about how His Word applies to the issues in my life and in the world.

In the Preface of Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As a Woman of Faith I shared how God spoke to me in my annual Bible reading that He wanted me to write about the brave women in the Bible.

God started my journey of writing Everyday Brave during morning quiet times. I often begin the New Year by reading the Bible over the course of a year and choose a different translation each year. About fifteen years ago, as I read Genesis in January, the Lord opened my eyes to the amazing accomplishments of biblical women. I was in awe of the courage and boldness as I continued reading through the year. A few years later, I decided to start making notes as I came across these courageous women in my annual Bible reading.

I want the best God has planned for you and that’s why I’m pleading with you, if you’re not already reading your Bible daily, start now. You don’t need to read the Bible in a year, but you do need to read the Bible during the year.

[Tweet “”God is not the God of confusion or division. He wants to help you live your life with purpose, but you have to be in His Word to know how to do that.”]

We live in tumultuous times, the Bible was full of those also. God is not the God of confusion or division. He wants to help you live your life with purpose, but you have to be in His Word to know how to do that. No self-help book will help you like God’s Guide for your life.

[Tweet “God is not the God of confusion or division. He wants to help you live your life with purpose, but you have to be in His Word to know how to do that.”]

I came across two other blogs today that I want to share with you, because they were my confirmation that at least one of you, and maybe more, need the encouragement to chisel time out of your busy schedules to pick up your Bible and let God speak to you. Even if it’s just one passage.

A short conversation with God is better than no conversation!

2020 Is the Year of the Bible for Many Christians

The Benefits of Reading the Bible in 2020

Let God’s Word, not the world’s words, guide your thoughts and actions.

[Tweet “Let God’s Word, not the world’s words, guide your thoughts and actions.”]

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 90:12 NLT

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. Phil. 2:15-16

Bible and highlighter Aaron Burden@aaronburden

Bible with cup of coffee Nathan Dumlao@nate_dumlao

January 6, 2020
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Grandparents Praying with Purpose

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I hope the you had a blessed Thanksgiving whether you were with friends and family or spending a quiet day yourself reflecting how good God is and how fortunate we are to be His children.

Speaking of children, many of us have grandchildren. Dave and I are grandparents to eleven ranging in age from nine to twenty-one. As part of my morning quiet time, I pray God’s Word for these precious ones. It doesn’t mean they haven’t encountered trials and hardships, but they do each know Jesus as their Savior and I find comfort and confidence that God is watching over each one.

But I’m not fooling myself that in today’s culture there will be many temptations and the evil one is targeting the next generation. Satan does not want us producing more Christians in our families and the family of God.

So I want to introduce to you my dear friend Lillian Penner, Co-prayer director for Christian Grandparenting Network, and her new book The New “Revised and Expanded” Grandparenting with a Purpose.

If you’re a grandparent, you’re going to want a copy of this book. If there are grandparents in your life, this would make a great gift. If you’re a parent you need all the help you can get and what a gift to have your parents praying for your children, their grandchildren.

I asked Lillian to tell you about her new book . . . here is a message from Lillian Penner!

Today, there are over 70 million grandparents in the United States plus many more around the world. Grandparents represent one-third of the population with 1.7 million new grandparents added to the ranks every year in the U.S. Grandparents lead 37% of all U.S. households in this country — that’s 44 million households nationwide. (Google) [email protected]

How GRANDPARENTS CAN IMPACT THE WORLD?

[Tweet “We have reached a time in history when the grandparents must rise as one to cry to God.”]

It is estimated that there are over 30 million Christian grandparents. We have reached a time in history when the grandparents must rise as one to cry to God.  I believe if 30 million Christian Grandparents who believe in the power of prayer and deliberately praying the enemy will be crushed.

[Tweet “Satan is relentless in his aggressive attack to desensitize our children to truth and righteousness. This is a spiritual battle requiring spiritual weapons.”]

Satan is relentless in his aggressive attack to desensitize our children to truth and righteousness. This is a spiritual battle requiring spiritual weapons. Our grandchildren and their parents not only need our support, they need our earnest and united prayers. They need our united prayer, a genuine, unified prayer for our hope and dreams for the next generation to be realized.

Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for Your Grandchildren - Revised & Expanded

The “Revised and Expanded” Grandparenting with a Purpose, Effective Ways to Pray for Your Grandchildren is designed to encourage and equip grandparents to intentionally pray for their grandchildren and their parents.

Since I have had many requests for a study guide to go with the chapters, I have expanded the book with additional chapters and a study guide for each chapter, which you will find useful.

  • I have found there are many hurting estranged grandparents today with heavy hearts, so I am addressing that issue in a chapter. Is your grandparenting painful or a blessing?
  • I include a section looking at a view of the culture our grandchildren and their parents are navigating today.
  • God’s Design for grandparenting plus several additional chapters and Scriptures to Pray for Teens and Scriptures for Grandparents to pray for themselves.

The book retails for $14.99, however, on my website it is available for a discounted price of $15.00, including shipping and handling costs in the U. S. for a limited time.  A bonus of Scriptural Prayer resource will be included with your purchase. The book will be available in EBook format for $3.99 for those who would prefer the EBook format or live outside the U. S. to save on shipping costs.

[Tweet ““Revised and Expanded” Grandparenting with a Purpose, Effective Ways to Pray for Your Grandchildren will show grandparents how to be intentional disciple-makers and prayer warriors to impact the next generation.”]

This book will challenge you and give you resources for this spiritual battle with the enemy. It will show you how to be an intentional disciple-maker and prayer warrior to impact the next generation.

Written by Lillian Penner, Co-prayer director for Christian Grandparenting Network. [email protected]

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December 2, 2019
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Who Cares What the Critics Think?

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Who

If you read the news or listen to it at all, there’s one common theme: negativity.

[Tweet “If you read the news or listen to it at all, there’s one common theme: negativity.”]

It struck me while browsing headlines that so many of them used the word “criticize.” One person criticizes what someone else did or said. Most of the time, you don’t even know the critic nor do you care to know them or what their opinion is: Why should I care what they think? They don’t represent my values, my opinion, or me. Why should it matter to me what they have to say about something or someone?

But for some reason the media thinks posting other people’s criticism will catch our attention. We’ll want to read the critique or criticism from someone who means nothing to us and then they’ll get more readers or viewers?!

Naught! I bet you’re with me: I’ll form my own opinion about what someone did or said and it doesn’t matter to me what some obscure person, or even famous personality, thinks about it.

In the political arena today, you’ll hear or see reports on what one candidate says about another candidate’s words or opinions or choices or life. Or someone else chimes in just to make news.

[Tweet “Form your own opinion about your candidate and don’t get caught up in the political rhetoric and mudslinging.”]

Form your own opinion about your candidate and don’t get caught up in the political rhetoric and mudslinging.

Recently an author friend had a well-known newspaper review her new book. A live media source wanted to interview her before they found out the article was positive, then there was no rush. If it’s not a mean, vengeful, misrepresentation that you have to defend, it’s not newsworthy.

[Tweet “Underneath all the media negativity is an underlying principle: Joyful, happy, good news that builds you up doesn’t sell.”]

Underneath all this negativity is an underlying principle: Joyful, happy, good news that builds you up doesn’t sell. News isn’t relevant unless it’s filled with drama, personal attacks, negative opinions, belittling, and criticism. Otherwise, today’s media doesn’t bother to report it. Or if they even try, there’s always another newspaper, media, or vocal person that’s ready to rip that reporter or person to shreds for being a Pollyanna, too nice, too religious, too respectful, too kind, too positive, too out of touch with reality . . . .

[Tweet “Have we become conditioned to only being interested in bad, traumatic, critical, negative, drama news?”]

And what about us their audience? Have we become conditioned to only being interested in bad, traumatic, critical, negative, drama news? On our social media do we share positive strides in areas that we care about or do we only read and share articles that will get crying, angry face emoji’s?

It’s All About Mind Control

[Tweet “Let’s not let negativity influence or control our minds.”]

My point is let’s not let negativity influence or control our minds. As you know, I’m the first one to be an advocate for speaking out against immoral issues and the wrongs of today, and I will listen to those who are constructively fighting for the same causes and denouncing those who are doing evil. But I’m not interested in the opinion or criticism of someone I don’t respect.

[Tweet “The Bible gives us guidelines for what we should take into our mind and it’s good to remember in all our communication.”]

As always, the Word gives us guidelines for what we should take into our mind and it’s good to remember in all our communication.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-7

And here’s a good guideline for how we should respond to those we don’t agree with or to criticism of our opinions:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:6 NLT

What are your thoughts on the use of criticism by the media or the reporting of other people’s criticism?

You might also want to read my blog post a year ago, When Did We Become So Uncivil?

How Should We Respond to Verbal Attacks?

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June 24, 2019
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Abortion: A Crime of Passion

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With all the discussion lately about abortion, the focus has been on the depravity of late term abortion now legalized in some states, and the life-saving efforts of other states to eliminate abortion completely. But what I haven’t heard in the public discourse is what leads to abortion in the first place: sex!

No one seems to want to touch the underlying cause of 59+ million babies murdered since Roe vs Wade became law at a time of sexual revolution with the advent of birth control pills and the availability of abortion to anyone who wanted it, regardless of age or reason. Though, originally abortion was supposed to be safe and rare, with the advent of Planned Parenthood it became another form of birth control and frequent. Approximately 20% of pregnancies end by abortion!

Boys and girls, men and women, felt the freedom to have sex with whomever they wanted whenever they wanted because if they got pregnant, all they had to do was find the money to get an abortion. And many girls and women have stories that they didn’t stop having indiscriminate unprotected sex after their first abortion. No, they did it again and maybe again…

Feminist actress Alyssa Milano by her own admission wanted women to go on a sex strike when Georgia passed a law prohibiting abortion after a detected heartbeat. She said women couldn’t afford to get pregnant because they couldn’t have an abortion. In other words, abortion, not protection, is your failsafe way to deal with the product of conception: a baby! “Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. Join me by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back.” So says Alyssa Milano.

What she and many others fail to address is that a few moments of sexual passion and pleasure can lead to a lifetime of living with the murder of their own babies. Today, you hear women, especially liberal actresses and politicians, celebrating the death of their babies, but I surmise that they’re actually angry, hurt, and anguished over what they’ve done. If they can get a group together with similar feelings, they can live in denial knowing they’re not alone. They find comfort in commonality. Like the old adage, “misery loves company.”

[Tweet “Today, you hear women, especially liberal actresses and politicians, actually celebrating the death of their babies, but they’re actually angry, hurt, and anguished over what they’ve done”]

My friend Patti Smith wrote a blog about the devastation of her own abortions: Nobody Told Me the Truth. Maybe that’s you and you were misled or misinformed. Patti learned that God is the God of forgiveness as she learned the truth. I’ve heard good things about Project Rachel: Hope After Abortion. After your own healing, like Patti, God may use your past to help another woman not let it become her future.

[Tweet “Before ultrasounds and heartbeat monitoring, women bought into the lie they were told that it’s just a blob of cells that can’t feel pain.”]

Before ultrasounds and heartbeat monitoring, women bought into the lie they were told that it’s just a blob of cells that can’t feel pain. But now, we know none of that is true. We can see the baby developing and hear the heartbeat at six weeks. We know, without a doubt, that life begins at conception. Yet there are still many lobbying for killing that human being, even after it takes its first breath! Inhuman barbaric depravity is actually celebrated in Congress and some state governments.

[Tweet “The Devil tries to seduce with deception by calling the baby a “fetus,” which sounds clinical and not like a human being.”]

The Devil tries to seduce with deception by calling the baby a “fetus,” which sounds clinical and not like a human being. But I’ve never heard a woman say she’s pregnant with a fetus or a blob of cells. She says she’s going to have a baby: a precious, fragile, defenseless human being that she can “choose” to murder or let live.

Liberals and abortion advocates try to couch the killing of babies by using terms like: A woman’s right to choose. Reproductive rights. Control over our own bodies. Healthcare. A decision between the woman and her doctor. Prochoice. A war on women.

Even a SCOTUS said you can’t call a pregnant woman a “mother”!  A woman who exercises her constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy is not a mother” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If she’s not a mother what is she?

Read a father’s reply to Ginsburg’s outrageous statement as he discusses that even babies who die in miscarriage still have a mommy and daddy.

[Tweet “Abortion is not a constitutional right.”]

Abortion is not a constitutional right. The Constitution says everyone has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that includes everyone with a beating heart. You would think a Supreme Court Judge would know that. But that’s how delusional some people have become. Another sly deception is to confuse by denying biology that every baby has both a mother and a father.

Let’s look at some common deceptions.

  1. “A woman’s right to choose.” In 99.9% of situations, a woman does have a right to choose . . . if she’s going to have sex or not. That’s her choice.
  2. “Reproductive rights” start with the right to say yes or no to sex. Sex leads to reproduction. A scientific and biological fact and a right God gave to every man and woman who chooses to have sex.
  3. “Healthcare.” There’s nothing healthy for a woman to have a baby poisoned, burned, dismembered, or sucked out of her womb.
  4. “It’s my body.” It’s not her own body. She didn’t create herself. God did by her parents having sex to create her. Then she used her body to have sex and create a body separate from hers with its own heartbeat, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, brain, organs, skin, arms, legs, sensitivity to pain, and cry.
  5. “Bodily autonomy is a human right.” Autonomy does allow a woman to choose to have sex with her body, but when she creates another body, that little body has autonomy and a human right also.
  6. “Abortion is morally good.” When murder becomes morally good and justified, we’ve definitely regressed to barbarism and savagery. Promiscuous sex is morally wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right.
  7. “It’s a decision between a woman and her doctor.” When a girl or woman goes into Planned Parenthood, they don’t see the doctor until they’re in stirrups and he’s killing her baby. And often it’s not even a doctor performing the abortion.
  8. “Prochoice.” The argument is between prolife and prodeath advocates! That’s something no one wants to say.
  9. “A war on women.” Hmm. How about we stop the war on babies, both male and female.

Abortion is a crime of passion

Why is the Movie Industry so Pro Abortion?

That answer is clear: money. Sex sells. Sex leads to unwanted pregnancy, which often leads to abortion. So Planned Parenthood, Hollywood, elites, and liberals are in the Devil’s circle.

[Tweet “Sex sells. Sex leads to unwanted pregnancy, which often leads to abortion. So Planned Parenthood, Hollywood, elites, and liberals are in the Devil’s circle.”]

Almost every movie and most TV programs show couples going on a date and having sex. Maybe not even the date first. Entertainment exploits explicit sex. Everyone sleeps together, hook ups, casual promiscuous sex is presented as the norm, and sadly, it’s become the norm. You don’t see women saying no or concerned with pregnancy.

[Tweet “Virginity is only said with respect at Christmas with the “Virgin Mary.””]

Virginity is only said with respect at Christmas with the “Virgin Mary.” Young people often don’t even know what virgin stands for today. Girls and women who’ve had multiple sex partners are still married in white, maybe pregnant or carrying their baby and no one blinks at it. I saw a program with girls picking out wedding dresses and one of them laughed, “Maybe I’m pregnant.” It was funny, not remorseful. I applaud the women who choose to keep their babies, I just wish they had also chosen to save God’s gift of virginity for the man they want to spend the rest of their life with because you can only give the gift of virginity away once.

[Tweet “Today’s culture considers abstinence until marriage archaic and laughable and scoffs at anyone who dares to suggest it, or chooses to live by God’s moral principles.”]

Today’s culture considers abstinence until marriage archaic and laughable and scoffs at anyone who dares to suggest it, or chooses to live by God’s moral principles.

And that brings us to a place those of us who have lived a while would never have expected possible in America: infanticide.

Abortion has become the accepted crime of unbridled passion and lust. Sex for murder.

[Tweet “Abortion has become the accepted crime of unbridled passion and lust. Sex for murder.”]

There’s only one entity who could bring us to this despicable time in history: Satan.

[Tweet “No matter how anyone tries to twist God’s Word, he designed sex to be between a married man and woman. That’s it! No exceptions.  “]

No matter how anyone tries to twist God’s Word, he designed sex to be between a married man and woman. That’s it! No exceptions. Everyone who is having sex any other way is sinning. I didn’t make that rule, God did. Many today try to make God into their own image the way they want to live, but you’ll always be going against God’s will for you.

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature . . . Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” Gen. 1:27-28 The Message

There’s no right way to do the wrong thing. There’s no justification for having sex and killing a baby because the sex was convenient, but the baby is inconvenient.

So what can you do about these atrocities?

  •  Let your voice be heard in your state’s legislature.
  • Be a voice for the voiceless. Boldly and unashamedly stand for prolife as an abolitionist.
  • Mentor women who are having indiscriminate sex, considering an abortion, or had an abortion. I give ideas about how to do this in my book Mentoring for All Seasons.
  • If you’re having sex outside of marriage, stop now!

[Tweet “Our culture today is playing God by choosing who can live and who should die. That’s not going to end well.”]

Our culture today is playing God by choosing who can live and who should die. That’s not going to end well.

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand,10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Revelation 14:6-12

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June 3, 2019
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