God’s will — Page 16 — Woman to Woman Mentoring

Billy Graham was F.A.T. Are You?

As our friends joined Dave and me in our living room last Friday, March 2, to watch the funeral of Reverend Billy Graham, we cried, laughed, and prayed with the family and speakers. Each of Rev. Graham’s five children took the platform to share a memory of their father, and Franklin Graham gave the sermon, sharing the gospel and stories of his mother and father. Franklin offered everyone present, including millions watching, an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior if they didn’t already have assurance of someday being in heaven with Jesus, Billy Graham, and every believer who has “gone to sleep.”

At the funeral, each child spoke with eloquence, poise, and humor and took the podium in their birth order, except for Franklin who gave the message. Nelson “Ned” Graham is the youngest, so he followed Gigi, Anne, and Ruth. When it was his turn, he mentioned that they were each given fifteen minutes to speak, but since his siblings all took longer, he was going to make his short.

After a chuckle from the crowd, he said, “My father was fat.” I immediately thought, along with I’m sure everyone else, Billy Graham was not a fat man? Ned didn’t make us ponder long the point he was making. He quickly said, “My father was F-faithful, A-available, T-teachable. F.A.T.”

I quickly grabbed a pen and paper to write down this acrostic. This is how a son saw his famous father, deemed “America’s pastor.” What better legacy for every Christian.

F.A.T.

F-aithful. Every person I’ve heard speak about Billy Graham has shared of his faithfulness to serving God since he was a young schoolboy milking cows on his family farm.

His faithfulness to preach the gospel only from the Word of God, the Bible.
His faithfulness to his marriage and his undying love for his wife, Ruth.
His faithfulness to his family.
His faithfulness to reach all people groups.
His faithfulness to live a life of integrity.
His faithfulness to integration.
His faithfulness to God until his last breath.

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. Luke 16:10 NLT

Ah, that we would all be found faithful!

A-vailable. Billy Graham made himself available to follow the call of God to share the gospel wherever God led him.

His availability to the Middle East. At the funeral, Pastor Sami Dagher, spoke of Rev. Graham’s influence on Christianity in the Middle East.
His availability to Korea. South Korean pastor Billy Kim spoke of Rev. Graham mentoring him when his church had only 300 members. Today, that same church has 20,000 members. One of the words of advice Billy gave Pastor Kim was, “Never make your message about yourself; always make it about Jesus Christ.”
His availability to the world. Billy Graham preached the gospel around the world, at great sacrifice of missing time with his family.
His availability to America. So many stories shared of mothers and fathers saved at Billy Graham crusades and bringing Christianity into their homes. Even President Trump in his eulogy to Rev. Graham in the Capitol Rotunda spoke of his father taking his mother and him to the crusade in Yankee Stadium.
His availability to American presidents. Presidents starting with Harry Truman knew him as their Pastor.
His availability to go wherever God led him in the world for as long as he had strength.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16 NLT

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

Ah, that we would all be found available!

T-eachable. Everyone who knew Billy Graham, described him as a humble servant of the Lord.

When he was elderly and no longer able to physically preach, an interviewer asked Billy if he had any regrets. He replied that he wished he had taken less speaking engagements and spent more time studying his Bible and praying.

Hearing this, I thought, But Billy, think of all the lives who might not have had a chance to respond to the gospel if you hadn’t gone on those preaching trips! God called. You went at great personal sacrifice. Lives were saved for eternity, as the Holy spirit spoke through you, God’s willing servant.

[Tweet “The Reverend Billy Graham was continuously a student of the Bible, always learning from God and His Word.”]

The Reverend Billy Graham was continuously a student of the Bible, always learning from God and His Word. Never thinking he knew enough, had read enough, had prayed enough, had shared enough . . . God’s Word was new every morning, even to America’s Pastor.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
²³Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him! Lamentations 3:22-24 NLT

As the Graham children greeted funeral attenders, one person said to Anne Graham Lotz that he was now an evangelist pastor thanks to the teachings of her father. Anne said to him, “Preach it fast.” She was conveying, the time is short. Jesus will return in the blink of an eye, and all who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be lost for eternity. May we all let our lives convey that same urgency for salvation of the lost.

[Tweet “The time is short. Jesus will return in the blink of an eye, and all who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be lost for eternity.”]

Ah, that we would all have a teachable spirit!

At the internment ceremony, one speaker quoted Rev. Graham as saying “God forbid that anything about my life should be about anything besides Jesus Christ.” The speaker went on to say, “You can’t explain Billy Graham outside of Jesus. He had a complete submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Out of this spirit of humility, God poured out His grace on Billy Graham.”

In his eulogy, Franklin Graham said that his father had one last sermon he wanted to preach based on Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

We’ll have to wait until heaven to hear Pastor Billy Graham preach that sermon, but until then, may we . . . every Christian . . . be ambassadors for Christ and let our lives be a sermon.

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Cor. 5:10

If you haven’t read last week’s blog, I would encourage you to read it now. Billy Graham, My Mentor

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

Pictures are courtesy of The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

March 5, 2018

Return to top of page

Billy Graham, My Mentor

“Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead don’t believe a word of it, I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address.” Billy Graham

When you saw the title of today’s blog, you probably thought Billy Graham had personally mentored me face-to-face. What an amazing blessing that would have been!

Actually, we didn’t meet in person, but I had the joy of being at two of his crusades. First time, as a teenager when our church took a bus of kids from Ventura to a stadium in LA. I had never heard anyone preach like that before! Even though I was a believer, I was drawn down on the field to praise and worship God with all the new believers.

The next time was with my husband, Dave, who had never heard Billy Graham in person. I wanted Dave to have the experience so we flew to Oakland when Rev. Graham had announced it would be his last crusade. But it wasn’t his last. God kept using him, and as he said so many times, he would keep preaching until God told him to stop.

[Tweet “Whenever asked on a survey or questionnaire, “Who is the earthly person you admire the most?” My answer, “Billy Graham.””]

Whenever asked on a survey or questionnaire, “Who was the earthly person you admired the most?” My answer, “Billy Graham.” So how did the Reverend Billy Graham mentor me?

[Tweet “Mentoring doesn’t have to be face-to-face. Observe someone’s life and let his or her words and actions mentor you from afar.”]

Mentoring doesn’t have to be face-to-face. You can observe someone’s life and let his or her words and actions mentor you from afar. A verse I use to explain mentoring to mentors and mentees is Hebrews 13:7, Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Over the years, Billy Graham mentored me as . . .

I remembered the impact the gospel had in my life when hearing Billy Graham share it so powerfully in person, and following his crusades and preaching over the years.
I considered his way of life, putting Jesus first above all else, studying his Bible, and living with integrity and humility. I read his autobiography, Just As I Am. I also read several biographies of his precious wife Ruth, which gave tremendous insight into her husband as a man of God and life without him when he was on the road while she raised their family almost as a single parent.

I didn’t always live with integrity or humility, but after I rededicated my life to the Lord in my early forties, everything changed for me. I had a hunger and thirst to study my Bible. I understood that putting Jesus first might cause the loss of a career, which it did! But God opened a new door into ministry.

I would lose friends, and maybe some family members would even reject me, as I devoted time and energy to starting the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry, writing, and speaking a biblical world view.

I would need an understanding spouse, as Ruth was to Billy, who supported my ministry and the times I would need to cloister away in solitude to write, or be on the road sharing God’s messages, wherever He sent me. God provided that godly husband in my helpmate in ministry and life, my beloved hubby, Dave.

I would come under criticism.

I would need to live my message with integrity, as best I could, with the Lord’s guidance, admonishment, and discipline.

I listened to Billy Graham’s message. A simple one he never wavered from because he spoke the Truth straight from the Bible, which never changes.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:6-7

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (emphasis added)

[Tweet “One generation must teach and train biblical truths to the next generation”]

God has given me a message of the need for one generation to teach and train biblical truths to the next, One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts, Psalm 145:4. And since the day I heard “Feed my sheep” twenty-three years ago, I’ve devoted the second half of my life to helping women understand the simple message of “Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.”

I admired his passion for everyone to have an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior, right then, right now!

As we listened to tributes and segments of his sermons on TV last week, my husband commented on how passionate Rev. Graham was when he spoke. I remember that well. His passion came from knowing that those who did not accept the free-gift of salvation from Jesus, would not be in heaven, but in hell, and he couldn’t stand that thought.

The best compliment I hear when I speak is, “I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm!” I know that comes from the Lord. He chose me to share a simple message of mentoring, and I’ve always said, “Enthusiasm is contagious.”

I observed his boldness and not wasting time defending himself!

[Tweet “Billy boldly took his message of salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ anywhere and everywhere the Lord led him.”]

Billy boldly took his message of salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ anywhere and everywhere the Lord led him. He was not intimidated, nor did he spend time acknowledging his critics. I’ve used this story about him many times when I talk about resolving conflict:

The third month of the Greater London crusade unreeled at the same frenetic pace as the previous two. Billy had lost fourteen pounds, and both he and Ruth were exhausted. The press had reversed their original cynical opinion of him. Several reporters had gone forward at altar calls. In part, the media’s change in attitude was due to his refusal to respond to criticism and insults “I do not intend to get . . . into endless arguments and discussion with them,” he explained in a letter to Ruth the following year. “I am going to take the position of Nehemiah when he refused to go down and have a conference with his enemies. He [Nehemiah] said, ‘I’m too busy building the wall.’ We are too busy winning souls to Christ and helping build the church to go down and argue.”

God gave Billy favor with both political sides. He was named by Americans as “One of the Ten Most Admired Men in the World,” a record-breaking 59 times with the Gallup poll.

Sadly, a Christian today would never receive that honor!

His son Franklin Graham, an evangelist carrying on his father’s mantel, receives continuous and ruthless attacks by the liberal culture and media, as do Christians. But like his famous father, Franklin doesn’t spend time defending himself. Every time I hear him speak or interviewed, he transitions the conversation to sharing the gospel, just like his father did.

[Tweet “Every time I hear Franklin Graham speak or interviewed, he transitions the conversation to sharing the gospel.”]

I’ve been called bold and either applauded or attacked. I try not to let either one influence me. If we say Jesus is the most important person in our life, shouldn’t we let people know about Him? If we know that those who don’t accept Jesus into their heart in this lifetime will be lost for eternity, how can we be quiet?!

[Tweet “If we say Jesus is the most important person in our life, shouldn’t we let people know about Him? “]

[Tweet “If we know that those who don’t accept Jesus into their heart in this lifetime will be lost for eternity, how can we be quiet!?”]

I know not everyone appreciates my boldness or style, but in our failing times, like Billy and Franklin Graham, I feel a sense of urgency that overcomes any sense of fear in sharing the gospel. Am I ever intimidated? Yes, sometimes. Do I worry about offending some people? Yes, I do. Do I still have work to do in this area? Absolutely! But Satan can’t keep me quiet or intimidate me, as I continue to pray for even more boldness.

The Bible tells us to tell the truth in love, but never waiver from telling it.

[Tweet “The Bible tells us to tell the truth in love, but never waiver from telling it.”]

What if every pastor was bold enough to share Billy Graham’s biblical message of salvation with his passion and urgency?! How many lives would be saved from eternity separated from God?

[Tweet “What if every pastor was bold enough to share Billy Graham’s biblical message of salvation with his passion and urgency?!”]

What if every Christian, you and me, took up Billy Graham’s mantel, not leaving it to his son and family alone?

[Tweet “What if each of us imitated Billy and spread the Good News that Jesus saves with every breath and in every circumstance where God puts us?!”]

What if each of us imitated Billy and spread the Good News that Jesus saves . . . with every breath we take and in every circumstance where God puts us?!

How different would our world be today?

How different would our lives be?

How different would our government be?

How different would our schools be?

How different would our children and the next generation be?

I believe God took Billy Graham home because God wanted the simple message Billy preached to come alive again, not just for a day or maybe a couple of weeks, but for a revival!

[Tweet “I believe God took Billy Graham home because God wanted the simple message Billy preached to come alive again in a revival!”]

What do you think? Are you with me on this?

Let’s remember our leaders, like Reverend Billy Graham, who spoke the word of God to us. We’ll consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith! (Hebrews 13:7 personalized)

[Tweet “Let’s remember our leaders, like Reverend Billy Graham, who spoke the word of God to us. We’ll consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith! (Hebrews 13:7 personalized)”]

Who has mentored you from afar?

If you received this by email, please leave a message here.

*Two pictures from BGEA

February 26, 2018

Return to top of page

Jesus Speaks to Me! Does He Speak to You Too?

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

I would not be married to my husband today or be in ministry if I had not recognized the voice of Jesus and listened to Him speaking to me!

While the Lord often uses sermons, books, Scriptures, movies, songs, others . . . to inspire and convey a message to believers, which I’ve experienced many times, I’ve also had the amazing experience of hearing Jesus speak to me loud and clear. I’ve told my testimony on numerous occasions, and unlike Joy Behar and the liberal women on The View, no one has ever called me mental. They call me blessed!

[Tweet “I’ve had the amazing experience of hearing Jesus speak to me loud and clear.”]

Let’s back up a bit. Last week a discussion on The View went something like this as reported by Brandon Showalter’s article in The Christian Post ‘The View’ Host Joy Behar Claims Mike Pence Hearing Jesus Is ‘Mental Illness’:

“Some of the ladies on “The View” Tuesday mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s Christian faith, saying they don’t want a leader who ‘speaks in tongues’ or reportedly hears the voice of Jesus, which Joy Behar said was tantamount to “mental illness”.

It started when they were discussing former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman’s comments, who is now a contestant on the reality TV show “Celebrity Big Brother” “I am Christian, I love Jesus, but he [VP Pence] thinks Jesus tells him to say things,” she said, calling him “extreme.”

Co-host Sunny Hostin said she was a Catholic but, “I don’t know that I want my vice president, you know, speaking in tongues and having Jesus speak to him.”

Joy Behar chimed in: “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness if I’m not correct, hearing voices.”

“My question is, can he talk to Mary Magdalene without his wife in the room,” Behar joked, making a reference to the now widely known fact that Pence does not dine alone with women or consume alcohol at events without his wife present, for which he was mocked in the secular press last year.

Guest co-host Sherri Shepard, who also says she’s a Christian, explained that talking with Jesus is “just par for the course,” for Christians. “You talk to Jesus, Jesus talks back. What concerns me is how long is the conversation with Jesus?” Laughter!

You can watch The View mocking Jesus and prayer segment in Brandon Showalter’s article .

Here’s the points I want to make from their mocking of Jesus and the Christian faith and those who laughed along with the View women:

[Tweet “The View mocking and slandering Jesus violates the Third Commandment:”]

Mocking Jesus violates the Third Commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” (Ex 20:7) And that’s no joke! The one Conservative on the show, Meghan McCain, did finally interject that she talks to Jesus every morning and He talks to her. The rest have no idea what a relationship with Jesus means.
They automatically assumed that VP Pence is “talking in tongues” because he talks to Jesus. He’s never said that he talks in tongues! More evidence they’re clueless about prayer. I talk to Jesus all day long, as many of you do, and I don’t talk in tongues.
No one can talk to Mary Magdalene. She’s dead. Jesus is alive.
They represent a large segment of the population who are critical and demeaning of evangelical Christians because they’re ignorant of what Christianity means. Any yet, they’re tolerant of other religious beliefs and would never mock them, as they shouldn’t. But Jesus and Christians are fair game.
They’re lost and have no idea who Jesus is or what it means to pray. Or they claim to be Christians but don’t understand prayer or what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. They don’t know how to act and speak like a Christian who honors Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
“Christians” attacking and making fun of other Christians need to ask forgiveness of Jesus and those they’ve attacked, repent, and mature in their infantile faith. The others need our prayers.

[Tweet “Christians can turn around for good the attack on their faith by The View”]

Christians can turn this around for good though. The discussion of this sacrilegious attack from the The View has given many Christians, including VP Pence, an opportunity to explain who Jesus is, why we speak to Him and He speaks to us, and defend our faith. Maybe someone will be curious enough to learn more about Jesus and prayer.

[Tweet “For the sad souls mocking and laughing at Jesus, if you only knew that you’ll someday face the consequences of Jesus saying He never knew you either.”]

For the sad souls mocking and laughing at Jesus, if you only knew that you’ll someday face the consequences of Jesus saying He never knew you either. “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Mathew 7:23.

“Christians” when you deny who Jesus is, you will face the same consequence.

I’ve Heard Jesus, Listened, and Followed

But back to my opening of the distinct times I’ve heard Jesus clearly.

After being a single mom for seventeen years, I surrendered my dating life to the Lord and prayed for Jesus to bring a godly man into my life. Several months later, I met Dave in a small group at church. We dated for a few months and then I broke up with him. He convinced me to go to church with him, and I suggested we go to a Greg Laurie Harvest Crusade after church. I rededicated my life to the Lord that night. As Dave and I sat in the car talking until the parking lot was empty, I distinctly heard the Lord say, “You asked for this godly man. I gave him to you. Now rededicate yourself to this relationship.” I heard, listened, and followed. Dave and I were married five months later. That was twenty-five years ago!

Several years later, I felt the Lord calling me into ministry, but I didn’t know where. I attended a Women in Ministry Leadership Conference where I heard the Lord say, “Feed my sheep.” I asked “What sheep, where, and what will I feed them when I find them.” I heard again, “Feed my sheep.” I heard, listened, and followed. That was the beginning of the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry twenty-three years ago.

[Tweet “Jesus talks to every Christian in a way that will get his or her attention.”]

Jesus talks to every Christian in a way that will get his or her attention. It might not be a clear voice, and I’ve only heard Him that way several times, although I pray every morning: “I declare myself—spirit, mind, emotions, body, will—totally open to your voice and totally available to do your will alone.”

In the The Believer’s Code, O.S. Hawkins writes:

“We who are Christ’s sheep know His voice, and of course we follow Him: He is our shepherd. We have a God who speaks to us. Do you hear His voice speaking to your heart through his Word and by his Spirit even right now? God’s voice is recognizable to His sheep. Ask Him to help you hear it.” (Emphasis added)

Are you listening? Have you followed? Please share with us a time you heard and obeyed the voice of Jesus.

If you haven’t read last week’s blog, So That No One Will Malign the Word of God, The View maligned the Word of God.

If you receive this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

February 19, 2018

Return to top of page

“So That No One Will Malign the Word of God”

The title of this article is the end of Titus 2:5 (NIV). Other translations read:

so that the Christian faith can’t be spoken against by those who know them. (TLB)

In this way, the Word of God is honored. (NLV)

so that the word of God may not be discredited. (NABRE)

We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. (MSG)

that the word of God may not be exposed to reproach (blasphemed or discredited) (AMPC)

Here’s Titus 2:1-5 (NIV) in context, a passage often used in mentoring . . .

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

[Tweet “The Bible remains the number one best seller in the world!”]

No other book in history have emperors, empires, authorities, and mankind tried to malign, dishonor, discredit, reproach, blasphemy and destroy more than the Bible, yet still it remains the number one best seller in the world! Those of us who believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, often come under similar attacks. The world sees us as ignorant, foolish, drinking the Kool-Aid, stupid, unenlightened, living in the dark ages, not current or relevant . . . even deplorable. I’m sure many of you have been called worse names. I know I have.

[Tweet “The culture needs to adapt to the Bible, not the reverse!”]

Today’s liberal culture believes the Bible needs to adapt to culture instead of the culture adapting to the Bible. Progressive ignorance and blasphemy.

Jesus didn’t come to conform to the culture; he came to reform the culture! Now we’re to go and do likewise, but sadly many are following the culture instead of following Jesus’ example.

[Tweet “Tucker Carlson interviews a liberal Episcopalian pastor who promotes a gender-neutral God. Blasphemy”]

My heart sank as I heard Tucker Carlson on FOX news interview a liberal Episcopalian pastor who was convinced that Jesus would be in favor of taking gender out of the Bible and no longer seeing God as the Father image, but a gender-neutral God. The pastor’s words seared my heart, “We’re not taking anything away from the Bible, we’re just adding to it.”

I screamed at the TV, Tucker, remind him of the last words in the Bible . . .

¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Do you, like me, find it inapprehensible to live in a culture that openly, and without reproach or conscious, maligns the Word of God from politicians, officials, congressmen, media, progressives, and yes, even many churches? We’ve forsaken Paul’s warning to Titus to teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine to men and women, and likewise teach the next generations.

It’s so easy for Bible-believing Christians to scoff at the culture and bemoan liberalism, but should our churches and ourselves look in the mirror and assume some of the blame?

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1:22-24

As we watch liberalism and progressivism try to eliminate genders and the roles God assigned them, normalize same-sex unnatural relations and promiscuous sex, promote slaughtering babies in the womb, and the next generation accepting these atrocities, are Christians doing anything tangible to make a difference?

[Tweet “It’s not always comfortable to stand up for what you believe, but you must!”]

It’s not always comfortable to stand up for what you believe, but when you know the Truth and take to heart that many who are deceived today will spend eternity in hell instead of heaven, how could it be comfortable to remain silent?

How Can You Stop the Maligning of God’s Word?

Know your Bible! Relate to it. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. Share it.
Practice and role model the Bible’s teaching in your life and with your family.
Engage with the next generation by teaching or mentoring them using God’s Word as your guide.
Ask God to give you new insights into His Word and a hunger to learn more.
Remember how God’s Word has changed your life and share your testimony whenever God gives you the opportunity. If you’re wondering how to do this, Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten offers life-application ways, ideas, and prompts.

Obey the Word of God. If you hear only and do not act, you are only fooling yourself.—James 1:22 NLV

I know I’m preaching to the choir, and I commend the ministries you’re involved in and the ways God has led you to grow His Kingdom here on earth. For those who feel challenged by today’s blog, pray that God will show where He needs you to make a difference.

[Tweet “Pray God will show where He needs you to make a difference.”]

For me, it’s a personal attack when I hear anyone belittling or maligning my precious Lord and Savior and the Bible He’s given us to know how to live as believers during the time He gives us on earth. Our world today is not an easy place for Bible-believing Christians, but we must not let that stop us. Jesus told us we would be persecuted, just like He was (John 15:20), but all He asks us to do is defend His Word, the Bible, and prayerfully share His gospel message with grace and love. God will do the rest.

The Bible assures us: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9), and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

Please share with us how God has led you to stop the maligning of His Word.

If you received this post by email, please leave a comment here.

____________

Note: In the book I’m writing now, Get Your Brave On: Women of the Bible Show Us We’re Braver Than We Think, you won’t be surprised that there is a chapter on Bold Faith. I would love to hear how God has lead you to stand up for your faith and the Bible. Please email me at [email protected] for more details.

Forsaken God?

February 12, 2018

Return to top of page

Touching Another Generation (TAG) by Tammy Keene

If you receive my blog by email on Monday mornings, you may have noticed it didn’t come the past three weeks. I did have cataract surgery, but also had some amazing guests each Monday and just discovered there was a glitch in WordPress. Thanks to my amazing web designer Holly Smith at Crown Laid Down Designs, who diagnosed the problem, we’re coming to you this morning with guest Tammy Keene. Here are the blogs you missed:

Hope For All Seasons by Renee Fisher

The Lasting Fruit of Mentoring by Pam Farrel

Could Mentoring Have Protected Young Actresses by me, Janet Thompson

I met Mentoring Ministry leader Tammy Keene when she ordered Woman to Woman Mentoring Resources from our website for the mentoring ministry at her church. We developed a friendship as we began to chat through email. I asked Tammy to share with you today how God led her to start the TAG mentoring ministry at her church, First Baptist Church Riverview in Florida, and why she’s so passionate about mentoring.

Touching Another Generation

By Tammy Keene

“When you’re not the same person you used to be, you have no business going where you used to go.” Priscilla Shirer

I love Facebook memories! I love looking at pictures of when my kids where younger and fun memories with friends, but I especially love seeing memories about Bible studies I’ve completed. It’s great to look back at memories and reflect on the lessons I’ve learned, but also the distance I’ve traveled since then.

I resonate with Priscilla’s statement: You’re not the same person….you have no business going where you used to go. This is truth. This is a process that’s easier when you have a trusted Christian woman walking along side you as you travel this journey called life.

Tammy’s Mentoring Story

When I share my mentoring story, I always begin at 2013, but I realize that my mentoring story really began much earlier.

Mentoring relationships at different seasons of my life have blessed and encouraged me. I lived in a Christian home with a godly Mom, who led me to Christ at an early age. As a teenager, a woman of faith at our church came alongside me. She was intentional in our interactions and I always knew I could count on her. As a young adult (and again as a young mom), an Air Force wife spoke into my life! Since moving to Florida in 2004, several women have encouraged me and walked alongside me.

What is the common thread among all of these relationships? Simply, godly women have walked beside me experiencing life together. I’m the woman I am today because of their influence.

I stepped out in faith to launch a mentoring ministry because these women spoke into my life and believed in me!

In a recent sermon, our pastor spoke of the importance of confessing to a trusted friend.

How do you find that trusted someone?

Ask someone to be your mentor. If you’re not sure what that looks like, get Janet Thompson’s new book Mentoring for all Seasons.

This book is a great resource for women. Not only is it the “how to” for finding a mentor or mentee, it’s also a great guide for the different seasons of life. There are testimonies from mentors and mentees who have experienced seasons of life and share how God sustained them through each one.

Saying NO to say YES to God

During Priscilla Shirer’s Bible study, “Discerning the Voice of God,” I learned how to listen for God’s voice. During the “Breathe” Bible study, I found the importance of the word “No.” Priscilla Shirer’s dedication to Kay Arthur and Beth Moore in her “Breathe” Bible study still speaks to me about the importance of No:

For teaching me to say “No.” For inspiring me to put first things first. For showing me by your example the importance of margin and Sabbath. For reminding me that doing everything is not the same as doing the best things. Thank you. You have taught me that life is better when it has room to breathe.

[Tweet “No is a simple word when used appropriately!”]

No is a simple word when used appropriately. For such a small word, I really struggled with it. During our church’s new member orientation, I learned that one of my spiritual gifts was “helps.” I thought this meant I should help with every ministry opportunity. This could not be further from the truth.

As I was obedient to say “No” to new opportunities and began stepping away from other ministries, I felt a great peace. The ministries I was involved in weren’t bad, but they were taking me away from home and pulling my attention away from the lesson God was trying to teach me.

God taught me how to hear His Voice – in a song, a post on Facebook, a sermon at church, and most importantly, His voice heard in time spent in God’s Word.

He taught me that sometimes the right answer really is “No.” As I passed on the leadership for the three Bible studies I was leading, God called two leaders for each one. Two is better than one!

Janet Thompson heard the call to “Feed My Sheep,” which prompted her first mentoring opportunity. During a sermon, I could hear the Holy Spirit speak to me about the importance of a mentoring ministry for our church. Even as I heard the message, I began arguing that God could not possibly want me to start a mentoring ministry.

God confirmed this new ministry in many ways. Within a very short time, God orchestrated mentoring training, the support of the church leadership, and a ministry team ready to begin work launching the new ministry. When I was faithful to let others have the blessing of leading ministries I loved, I was able to prepare for this new ministry.

If I had not been obedient to God’s desire for me to step away, I would not have launched the mentoring ministry, “Touching Another Generation” (TAG).

[Tweet “Waiting is hard, but being out of the will of God is even harder.”]

God taught me that His timing is best. Waiting is hard, but being out of the will of God is even harder. He taught me that walking with a Sister-in-Christ is something we all need, even me.

As we were preparing for the launch of TAG 2016, I was also preparing to return to school to complete my bachelor’s degree. Another benefit of saying No was having the time to devote to school. I still cannot explain how there are enough hours in the week for all God allows me to accomplish, so I won’t try. I’ll just give God the glory.

Tammy’s Passion for Mentoring

Why am I so passionate about mentoring? I’ve been richly blessed by amazing women God has placed in my life!

Mentoring brings the generations together.

Tammy (upper left corner) and her mentor Kathy

[Tweet “A mentor can help you discern the importance of a simple No. “]

A mentor can help you discern the importance of a simple No.

Mentors don’t have to be Bible scholars, just possess a willingness to invest time in the life of another woman. It may become a source of your greatest blessings.

[Tweet “Mentors don’t have to be Bible scholars, just possess a willingness to invest time in the life of another woman.”]

Looking back, I see that God taught me some very important lessons He meant for me to share with others.

A mentor can also help you evaluate the events from your past to help you see the lessons God is teaching you now.

[Tweet “A mentor can also help you evaluate the events from your past to help you see the lessons God is teaching you now. “]

God created women with a desire to share life with one another. Life isn’t a solitary expedition.

In some area of your life, you’re a role model – a person of influence—and another woman needs to hear your story.

[Tweet “In some area of your life, you’re a role model – a person of influence—and another woman needs to hear your story.”]

Finally, I leave you with Touching Another Generation’s (TAG’s) key verse: Psalm 145:4 “One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.”

Mentoring for All Seasons is a book that helps women live out mentoring in all seasons and generations.

Tammy has Mentoring for All Seasons and the Woman to Woman Mentoring DVD packet on display as her church prepares for their TAG gathering. Mentoring for All Seasons and The Woman to Woman Mentoring resources are available at our website shop, always signed by me.
Mentoring for All Seasons is available at Amazon, all online and Christian bookstores, and also in Kindle format.

If you received this post by email, please leave a comment here.

November 6, 2017

Return to top of page

Could Mentoring Have Protected Young Actresses?

“Let’s forget about ourselves and worship Christ the Lord!”

Singing this stanza in church yesterday, reminded me of mentoring: a mentor selflessly thinks more about helping her mentee learn to worship Christ than she thinks about herself and the time and effort it might require.

[Tweet “A mentor selflessly thinks more about helping her mentee learn to worship Christ”]

Last week, we learned the awful truth that many in Hollywood—older, seasoned actresses and actors—as well as politicians, knew or had an idea of what a wealthy influential producer was doing sexually to young actresses. But everyone kept quiet until a reporter’s well-researched story finally went public. The perpetrator’s pride, wealth, and influence led him to believe he was indestructible and could bribe or ruin careers of anyone who threatened to expose him, and it seems it worked for years.

Many young actresses defiled and intimidated into believing that giving into his sexual demands and overtures was the only way to advance in the industry. Most became successful by Hollywood’s standards—wealth, Oscars, awards, movie contracts, fame—but at the cost of their own dignity and self-worth. The irony, and yes hypocrisy, is that most of Hollywood lectures and ridicules conservatives, while fostering this travesty in their own camp. Ignoring despicable and decrepit sexual abuse.

Why didn’t these young women speak out sooner? Probably their naivety, intimidation, and desperate desire for a career in Hollywood.

[Tweet “Why didn’t older actresses mentor younger ones not to succumb to the producer’s overtures”]

Why didn’t older actresses mentor them with encouragement that they were better than succumbing to this man’s overtures? So many professing “feminist” actresses and female politicians demanding higher pay and better roles for women, didn’t stop this man preying on these young actresses.

Others in Hollywood joked at Oscar presentations, in private, at Hollywood parties where many liberals attended regularly, about what many admit, “Everyone knew or surmised what was happening.”

Some victims tried to speak out but were hushed. No one wanted to hear their story or take them seriously, and the more they protested the fewer parts they received.

Now women are feeling empowered to come forward with their stories of sexual harassment and even rape; but it took a male reporter to bring down a sexual predator while the women who knew kept silent.

Reading the Book of Psalms, I see so many Scriptures documenting what’s happening right now: the foundation of deceit, sin, pride, and worldly ways crumbling . . . it always does . . . eventually.

I have a message from God in my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God
before their eyes.

²In their own eyes they flatter themselves
too much to detect or hate their sin.
³The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;
they fail to act wisely or do good.
⁴Even on their beds they plot evil;
they commit themselves to a sinful course
and do not reject what is wrong. Psalm 36:1-4

What if someone had mentored these young actresses from God’s Word?

Spread Your faithful love over those who know You,
and Your righteousness over the upright in heart.
¹¹Do not let the foot of the arrogant man come near me
or the hand of the wicked one drive me away.
¹²There the evildoers fall;
they have been thrown down and cannot rise. Psalm 36:10-12 (HCSB)

Do not be agitated by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.
²For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.

³Trust in the Lord and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.
⁴Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him, and He will act,
⁶making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.

⁷Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the man who carries out evil plans.

⁸Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.
⁹For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the Lord
will inherit the land.

The wicked person schemes against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him.
¹³The Lord laughs at him
because He sees that his day is coming.

The little that the righteous man has is better
than the abundance of many wicked people.
Psalm 37:1-9, 12-13, 16 (HCSB)

[Tweet “What if someone cared enough to get involved in the young actresses lives and share Jesus with them.”]

What if someone cared enough to get involved in the actresses lives, lead them to the Book with all the answers for every situation, and assure them the wicked don’t prosper in God’s economy? Helped them see the choices they make to advance their career stays with them forever—but maintaining their dignity and pride also stays with them forever.

What Can the Church Learn From Hollywood?

[Tweet “What Can the Church Learn From Hollywood?”]

This Hollywood “scandal” has uncovered a topic to discuss right now with the young women in our churches. Instead of focusing on the evils of Hollywood and politicians enabling this horrific discovery, let’s use it to talk to young women about protecting their own purity. How often do you hear sexual purity talked about from the pulpit!? The definition of sin . . .any kind of sin!?

How many boyfriends pressure women and young girls to have sex and they succumb fearing he will dump them or ridicule them to peers? How many abortions result because no one stepped into these young women’s lives with God’s truth, assurance of options, and how to live virtuous pure lives? How many, even in the church, have given up on the concept of purity with the attitude: everyone is having sex, there’s nothing we can do, and it’s inevitable? How many Christians have accepted the ways of the world instead of the ways of Jesus?

[Tweet “How many Christians have accepted the ways of the world instead of the ways of Jesus?”]

How is this any different in our churches from the powerful producer seducer and the seasoned actresses staying silent because they didn’t want to get involved, felt it wasn’t their place, or didn’t want to jeopardize their own careers?

I wrote a blog post about this very topic in January 2017: Love Your Body: Revive Sexual Purity.

Jesus wrote to believers about the ways of the world. Isn’t it our job as Christian men and women to help protect the next generation from the evil one? John 17:15 is our assignment from the Lord.

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

[Tweet “My book Mentoring for All Seasons, has tips to help mentors deal with sensitive issues to protect mentees from sin”]

In Mentoring for All Seasons, I have tips to help mentors deal with sensitive issues to protect children and women mentees by not ignoring sin in their lives. I also quote Dr. Owen Strachan from his article “What the Future Holds,” in Tabletalk Magazine, August 2015, 22. Dr. Strachan, assistant professor of Christian theology and church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and president of the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, warns what will happen if we don’t:

…we will minister to a people who are suffering the effects of rampant sin. There will be profound moral and spiritual consequences of the new sexual secularism. America is in the midst of a spiritual un-awakening. In everyday terms, this means that human suffering in America will increase. Children will be less protected. Families will feel pressure to pull apart. Marriages will prove harder to sustain. Lostness, the chief form of suffering in this world, will spread.

What lesson can the church take and apply from Dr. Owen’s prediction?

How could mentoring prevent his predictions?

What could you and I do?

PS: I’m having cataract surgery October 17 and 31. I appreciate your prayers for a smooth recovery, but while I’m healing, I’ve invited wonderful guest bloggers to share their thoughts and stories with you, until I can return to writing. I hope to be back with you soon.

Excerpts from Mentoring for All Seasons used with approval from Leafwood Publishers.

If you received this post by email, please leave a comment here.

October 16, 2017

Return to top of page

The Miracle of Steve Scalise: A Testimony to the Power of Prayer

Steve Scalise gives God the glory for the miracle of his recovery and tells how he prayed sepcifically and put everything into God's hands.

You probably remember three months ago when Republican House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise, was shot down by a deranged man trying to kill Republicans. Scalise was practicing on a ballfield with other Republicans preparing for an upcoming congressional charity baseball game. Several others were also shot on that June 14 morning, but Scalise’s wound was almost fatal had it not been for the quick actions of fellow players.

Scalise sustained a single rifle wound, entering his left hip and passing through his right hip, also known as a trans-pelvic gunshot wound. The round did substantial damage to bones, internal organs, and blood vessels. After extensive medial inpatient rehab, he returned September 29, 2017 to the floor of the House of Representatives, still on crutches. He will continue rehab now as an outpatient, so he’s still on the road to recovery. But following is how Scalise started his speech:

When I was laying out on that ballfield, the first thing I did once I was down and couldn’t move anymore, is I just started to pray and I’ll tell you it gave me an unbelievable since of calm knowing at that point it was in God’s hands. And I prayed for very specific things, and I’ll tell you pretty much every one of those prayers were answered and there were some pretty challenging prayers I was putting in God’s hands. But He really did deliver for me and my family, and it just gives you that renewed faith and understanding that the power of prayer is something that you just cannot underestimate. [Applause] So I’m definitely a living example that miracles really do happen.” Listen to this live Steve Scalise on his return to the House of Representatives 9/28/17

[Tweet “What a testimony to the power of prayer as Mr. Scalise publically gives God all the glory for saving his life”]

What a testimony to the power of prayer as Mr. Scalise publically gives God all the glory for seeing him through this horrific ordeal, right from the moment it happened. He understands that his life was touch-and-go from the ballfield to the hospital, and if there had not been someone who knew how to give aid before the medics arrived, he probably would have died on the grass that day. But he didn’t die, and he knows it’s a miracle! Even more impressive, he’s telling the world that God still performs miracles!

[Tweet “Have you remembered all the miracles God has done in your life?”]

Have you thought of that recently? Have you remembered all the miracles God has done in your life? He performs them every day. Have you told others about them? In Forsaken God: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I have a chapter “Honoring His Wonders and Miracles,” and in the Introduction, I write:

Memory builds faith.

Memories preserve the mighty works of God, but how many godly men and women failed to write down, or tell of, the miracles they saw God perform? How many works, deeds, and miracles has God done in your life … in my life … in the lives of our families … that we took for granted and never shared or acknowledged? Miraculous acts of faith lost to the next generation and lost to us when we need most to remember God’s goodness to help us through a trial or tribulation.

Prayer & Praise Is An Integral Part of Mentoring

[Tweet “My tagline for mentoring is Sharing Life’s Experiences and God’s Faithfulness”]

My tagline for mentoring is Sharing Life’s Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, the subtitle for Mentoring for All Seasons. Have you seen God at work in your life? Has He performed a miracle? Then just like Steve Scalise, share your story! Someone else may need encouragement in a particular season of life and walk with the Lord, or maybe needs to know that God is real.

[Tweet “The answers to life issues come through prayer and the Bible”]

A mentor, sharing her testimony and the power of prayer helps another woman discover the answers to her life issues are through prayer and the Bible. Mentoring is always a two-way relationship as they search the Bible together, pray for God’s guidance and wisdom, and wait for answers. Proverbs 3:5-7 (NLT) clearly tells us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.

As a mentee learns to depend on God and His Word in her life seasons, through the guidance, prayers, and support of her mentor, she can then help another woman going through similar seasons. Thus, the cycle of life and mentoring carries down through the generations: God’s plan for the propagation of Christianity and the church.

Prayer and Praise Journal Helps Record Prayers and Miracles

I suggest that mentors and mentees (M&M’s) always pray at the beginning, during, and end of their time together. The Bible and prayer is the foundation of spiritual mentoring. In the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry, prayer covers every aspect of the ministry and M&M’s are matched through intercessory prayer.

[Tweet “All my books have a Prayer & Praise Journal and that’s where you see the power of prayer.”]

Sometimes a mentee might feel uncomfortable praying if praying a loud is new to her. That’s fine, the mentor can pray for both of them, until the mentee feels comfortable. All my books have a Prayer & Praise Journal. In Mentoring for All Seasons, you’ll find it at the back of the book to record prayers, as well as God’s answers. And that’s where you begin to see the power of prayer. So often, we forget what we prayed for when God answers or we forget to go back and thank God. Recording prayer requests helps us remember God’s goodness.

Another way to use the Prayer & Praise journal is to help the mentee start praying. She can just read the prayer requests and praises aloud.

[Tweet “The beauty of Steve Scalise’s testimony reminds us we have an open door to God’s ear and He is the God of miracles.”]

The beauty of Steve Scalise’s testimony reminds us we all have an open door to God’s ear and He is the God of miracles. We don’t need a pastor or someone else praying for or over us. God hears the petitions of His people, on our own, or when two or three are gathered together in His name. When He answers, be sure you give Him all the glory.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ^7ÂAnd the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7

Have you got your copy yet of Mentoring for All Seasons? It’s available now at all Christian bookstores, online bookstores, Amazon, and signed by me on our website shop. I’d love to hear how God is using it in your life and the life of your church to bring about a revival of mentoring and Titus 2.

Thank you to everyone who left comments and emailed me with answers to my questions about the Ketogenic Diet in last weeks post. I’m still stumbling through starting and am not in ketosis yet. It’s a huge learning cover for me, so if you have any more tips please share!

October 2, 2017

Return to top of page

What to Do When You Don’t Like Your Life Season

We’ve all heard it said, “There’s a time for everything.” Or “You’re just in a season, it will pass.” In fact, it’s Scriptural—

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³    a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶    a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷    a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸    a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The good and pleasant seasons sound wonderful and just what God wants for us, right? It’s so easy to think that God couldn’t possibly want what we perceive as a bad or unpleasant season for us. And yet this Scripture passage tells us that God made both, and while we’re alive, we’re going to experience every season—the good and the bad—under heaven.

Pastor Rick Warren often says that life is like a roller coaster: if you’re going up and experiencing a good season, brace yourself because in about three weeks you’ll probably find yourself going down into an unpleasant season, screaming all the way!

We try so hard to hold onto those feel-good seasons, and there’s nothing wrong with that—we should have times of joy, dancing, laughing, loving, and peace. But when the not so good times roll, we need to remember that God has not left us. He’s walking right beside us through the mourning, weeping, uprooting, and war seasons, and that’s when a mentor is so helpful to remind us that she made it through her tough seasons and we will too.

[Tweet “A mentor is helpful to remind us that she made it through her tough seasons and we will too”]

The focus of my book Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture has Forgotten is for us to remember how good God has been in all the seasons of our life. God never abandons His children. This is a message we need to share with each other and with the culture, especially during these challenging times we live in today.

Reasons for Not Liking our Life Season

Usually we don’t like our life season because:

It’s painful or uncomfortable.

We’re jealous and like what someone else’s life looks like more than our own life.

We’re living with the consequences of our, or someone else’s, behavior or decisions.

We’re discontent or discouraged.

We’re not sure if God still cares about us.

What would you add to the list?

We all have difficult seasons we want to end. Or maybe we’re in a wonderful season that we never want to end. Many life seasons we have no control over, even though advertisers and the culture would try to make you believe differently. They set us up to fail either way by thinking if we just drink the right cola, take the right pill, own the right car, use the right cosmetics and anti-aging products, eat the right food, reach success . . . every season of our life will be heavenly. The aging clock is going to stop and somehow God made our life to be different from everyone else’s life.

But that’s a lie and those who buy into it will never be content because everything God lists in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a season that everyone will experience.

What to Do When We Don’t Like Our Life Season

We probably feel like crying, screaming, maybe yelling, getting depressed, ignoring, or trying to get out of it. If we’re honest, we’ve all been there.

[Tweet “The only thing that works when we don’t like our life season is to ask God how He wants us to deal with it”]

But soon we realize that the only thing that works when we don’t like our life season is to ask God how He wants us to deal with it, and then listen carefully to how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. It’s that still small voice we hear guiding us when we cry out to God. We might not know how to get through the season, but God does. So often He’s talking, but we’re not listening.

Someone on a friend’s Facebook post asked how my Christian friend knew what God wanted. Did he have a direct line to God? I thought, Yes he does! Every Christian has a direct line to God the world doesn’t understand, and one we don’t use nearly enough: praying to Jesus who hears every word and the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us even when all we can do is groan.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

While writing this post, I met a woman whose husband has cancer. As she shared her story, I heard in my mind hug her and pray for her. Mind you, we had just met, and I had already told her I would be praying for her husband and their family since I understood having had breast cancer three times. But as she kept talking, I knew I was to pray for her now. So I said, “Let me pray for you,” and stepped forward to hug her; but she didn’t realize that I meant right then. I knew God meant right then! She needed it and she was so grateful.

I had tried to talk myself out of it, and how many times is God trying to tell us what to do “right then,” but we’re dismissing His words of wisdom to see us through this season and on into the next one. That’s when a mentor can step in and do just what I was able to do for this woman, even though we barely knew each other. Can you imagine how much comfort can come from two women who have a personal mentoring relationship?!

[Tweet “Can you imagine how much comfort can come from two women who have a mentoring relationship?!”]

God doesn’t want us going through any season alone, but He also doesn’t want us listening to anyone who isn’t giving us biblical wisdom. That’s why in Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, every season has Scripture to study together that applies to the various issues women might experience in that season.

[Tweet “Being a mentor doesn’t mean you have all the answers or have the Bible memorized. “]

Being a mentor, or a mentee reaching out to another woman for guidance, doesn’t mean the mentor has all the answers or the Bible memorized. It just means she’s willing to search God’s Word and pray together for Him to tell you both what to do in the life seasons you might not like right now; and then, you both reach out and help someone else going through something similar.

And that’s exactly what Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 tells us we need to do when we’re going through a life season we don’t like!

Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness is available now for order or Kindle or signed by the author.

Author Bio

Janet Thompson is an international speaker, freelance editor, and award-winning author of 19 books. Her latest release is Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.

She is also the author of Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten; The Team That Jesus Built; Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?; Dear God They Say It’s Cancer; Dear God, He’s Home!; Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Face-to-Face Bible study Series; and Woman to Woman Mentoring: How to Start, Grow, & Maintain a Mentoring Ministry Resources.

She is the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries.

Visit Janet and sign up for her Monday Morning blog and online newsletter at womantowomanmentoring.com

www.facebook.com/Janetthompson.authorspeaker

http://www.linkedin.com/in/womantowomanmentoring/

www.pinterest.com/thompsonjanet

https://twitter.com/AHWministries

August 7, 2017

Return to top of page

Should Christians Be Political?

I had little response to last week’s blog post, Love Your Body: Revive Sexual Purity so I don’t know if . . .

You didn’t read it?
It was too long?
You think purity is impossible today?
It was too sensitive a subject?
I tried to cover too much territory?

I don’t know unless I hear from you, but since none of you unsubscribed, I’ll carry on with another topic on my heart throughout the election and continues into the firestorm that has erupted since President Trump’s Inauguration.

Some say Christians shouldn’t . . .

(a) Express political views or participate in politics

(b) Speak out on politicized moral issues

Here is my discussion and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Christians Need to Run for Political Office and Get Involved in Politics

[Tweet “Christians Need to Run for Political Office and Get Involved in Politics”]

Prayer is the heartbeat of every Christian’s life. When we pray heaven hears our voices. James 4:2 tells us that we have not because we ask not. We pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, but then God expects us to be His hands and feet on this earth doing His will. We come out of our prayer closets, clothed in the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18) and go into action representing God to a lost world. That might be figuratively turning over the money-changers booths like Jesus did in the temple, or calling out the “Pharisees,” or like Jesus, Paul, and the disciples confronting sinners and sharing the Gospel. Or like Paul, mentoring the churches when they fall back into old sinful ways or are easily misled by false teachers.

[Tweet “Stay close to God through prayer, seek His will, and then do His will.”]

Stay close to God through prayer, seek His will, and then do His will.

The disciples didn’t stay in the Upper Room. They prayed and with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, went out into the world.

[Tweet “Churches have allowed the government to politicize moral issues in our country”]

Churches and Christians have allowed the government to politicize moral issues in our country, complaining and lamenting, but doing little to stop the takeover. Christians have an obligation to seize any opportunity to reclaim those moral issues and rights for the good of our country and generations to come. I’m speaking specifically about issues like:

The legalization of abortion—58 million babies murdered since Roe vs Wade—moral not political
Our tax dollars funding barbaric abortions through Planned Parenthood—moral not political
Marriage redefined by unelected Federal Judges—moral not political
Teachers allowed to talk about Mohammad and Gandhi, but can’t mention Jesus—moral not political
A football coach fired because he kneels after a game and prays—moral not political
Schools required to allow men to go into girls bathrooms—moral not political
White House lit up in gay pride colors—moral not political
Removing God from the public square in a country founded on Judeo Christian principles—moral not political.
Requiring all Americans to endorse, legitimatize, and participate in LGBT practices—moral not political
Calling sin, sin is “hate speech” and intimidating pastors—moral not political.

I could go on. You get the idea. If we had elected another liberal progressive Democrat, and Christians continued to remain silent, we would have had little recourse but to lament even more loss of our religious moral freedoms, as Clinton clearly said Christians would have to change our faith and beliefs.

But that didn’t happened. Evangelicals rose up and said enough is enough. We chose a candidate, who while imperfect and not the devout Christian candidate we were looking for, he heard us and promised to restore and protect our freedoms. And in his first two weeks in office, President Trump started doing exactly that:

Defunded Planned Parenthood in other countries
Nominated a Christian Conservative for Supreme Court Justice
Took action in Congress to repeal the Johnson Amendment to restore the right of pastors to preach the Bible. They were losing the religious freedom to call sin, sin.

Tony Perkins was on the mark when he said, “The United States would look much different today if it wasn’t for the pastors throughout American history who cried out for social justice. Since the birth of our nation, pastors and churches have been at the forefront of shaping public policy and debate. That is where they need to be today. What would America look like today had the Rev. Lyman Beecher [Harriet Beecher Stowe’s father], a leading abolitionist, or Dr. Martin Luther King been muzzled by the IRS. It would have been a much, much different country than what we see today.”

Now the naysayers are still saying President Trump is not a Christian, but only he and God know where he is spiritually. I refer you to my blog Why Aren’t All Christians Extending Grace and Forgiveness to Trump. He has surrounded himself with a Cabinet of many Christians, a born-again Vice President, and here is the point of this blog . . .

The oxymoron and dichotomy I hear is that …

We want a Christian president and Christian politicians in DC and local government, but we don’t want Christians talking about or participating in politics?

We don’t think Christians should campaign or try to get people to vote because that’s too political?

We want laws that are moral, ethical, and pursue God’s values, but Christians aren’t willing to run for office?

We pray Christians are elected who will uphold God’s ways, but we don’t think Christians should be political! Say what?

[Tweet “If we want Christians in government, we need to pray for men and women to answer the call to take on political roles, and then we need to get behind them”]

If we want Christians in government, we need to pray for men and women to answer the call to take on political roles, and then we need to get behind them with prayer, campaign support, energy, finances, our voices, whatever it takes to get them elected. Not criticize them as having a profession unworthy of a Christian, but encourage them because they want to make a difference in the jungle of politics. A light in the darkness.

Maybe God is calling you to run for office!

When Franklin Graham made his Pray for America tour and went to every Capitol in the nation, he encouraged Christians to run for public office because we need believers championing Christian values at every level of government. Ironically, as government keeps touting a separation of church and state, government is invading the church. President Trump understands the original intent of the Constitution, and he is giving us back our religious freedoms. We need to make sure we never lose them again!

Satan is Dividing Christians, Not President Trump

I’ve never been a “political person,” but I am a spiritual person, and I’ve watched over the last eight years how the progressive liberal agenda has steadily worked to take God out of America by invading our government, our schools, our universities, and sadly even some of our churches. When Obama ran for President the first time, he participated in a presidential candidate debate held at Saddleback Church where Pastor Rick Warren asked him and John McCain if they believed marriage was between a man and a woman. Obama said he did. In his second term, same-sex marriage was legalized and Obama lit up the White House in LGBT colors and was working hard at forcing every American to accept transgender men in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, starting in our schools!

After writing Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I knew this last election was a spiritual battle more than a political battle. Just look at the obstruction and chaos the liberal Democrats have created in the streets and in D.C. Listen to their language, read their signs, hear the bleeps during the protests and the confusion when asked if they even know what they’re protesting.

Watching the National Prayer Breakfast last week, I heard one of the speakers say he was sure there were secretly ordained pastors in the House and Senate: “saints in Caesar’s household.” I thought how sad they had to stay secret. Probably because they would be devoured by the lions.

[Tweet “Only Satan can divide Christians whether it’s in a church, a marriage, a friendship “]

I see headlines, even in some Christian magazines, that say President Trump is dividing Christians. That’s not possible. Only Satan can divide Christians whether it’s in a church, a marriage, a friendship…. Christians have the same unifier: Jesus Christ. The One and Only Lord is who we all pray to, talk to, put our faith in, have residing in our heart.

He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world.

President Trump said the five words that touched his heart the most on the campaign trail were, and still are, “I am praying for you.”

As a Christian, you should be praying like crazy for President Trump’s success because that’s America’s success. Pray for him to mature in his faith. He’s rough around the edges. He has a big job ahead of him, and as he said in his own words in a CBN interview I heard, “I need God and prayer now more than ever because my decisions are life and death.”

I encourage you to listen to the Annual Prayer Breakfast. It was a blessing to see Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate leading the event and praying together. They talked about a group of them—Republicans and Democrats—getting together for prayer every morning and at a weekly Bible study group. The Chiefs of Staff have a Bible study on Wednesday, and the 100 staffers meet on Fridays for Bible study. Barry Black, the Senate Chaplain who gave the Keynote, said Democrats and Republicans meet together, hold hands, and open and close those groups in prayer. They may go upstairs and oppose each other politically, but unite spiritually.

I would pray the world would see that same spiritual unity in us. Our hope isn’t built on whether we’re Democrat or Republican, black or white, whether you like President Trump or not . . . they should see that we place our faith and our hope in the Word of God, the Holy Bible, and Jesus Christ, Our Lord. We stand together as Christians One Nation Under God.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. ²Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. ³This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 NLT

Please also read a blog I wrote for Crosswalk.com You Can Disagree and Still be Friends

Have you heard Reba McEntire’s New Song? Here’s the video. You’ll enjoy it. Back To God

If you received this post by email, leave a comment here.

February 6, 2017

Return to top of page

Love Your Body: Revive Sexual Purity

Love Your Body Like God Loves It

My goal for 2017 is staying aware of God’s presence and listening to His warnings. The word the Lord gave me: “Revival.” Today is Love Your Body Monday, and I want to talk about reviving sexual purity.

Last Friday was the March for Life— the rights of the unborn. For the first time in history, a Vice President addressed the crowd and talked about “Life is winning again in America! Society can be judged by how we care for our most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, the disabled, the unborn. Science is illuminating when life begins!”
Six days prior was the “Women’s March”—the right to kill the unborn by abortion. Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty described that march: “I was blown away by the vulgarity and the young children there!” I discussed that march in last week’s blog, which I encourage you to read if you haven’t: Some Women Are Still Like Eve: Believing the Serpent.

Two marches embodying two opposing concepts:

good vs evil
life vs death
peaceful vs angry
a body as God’s creation capable of creating and sustaining life, vs self-rights to use “my” body to create and kill life

In last week’s post, Eve and Adam ate from the forbidden fruit and sin entered the world. They immediately knew they were naked. (Genesis 3:2-3) Let’s continue:

⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹²The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

²⁰Adam^[^c^] named his wife Eve,^[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²²And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

Satan was watching and saw God say:

Eve would become the mother of mankind
Nakedness should be covered
Man would always know good from evil

Satan already knew he could easily deceive man. The stage was set for Satan to do his work as ruler of this world in each of the above areas:

Destroy humankind by having them kill each other in wars, murders, riots, terrorists, and abortion–sanitizing it with a name like “Planned Parenthood.” Slow propagation through infertility, normalizing LGBT lifestyle, redefining marriage, and creating gender confusion.
Exploit and pervert sex, promote promiscuity, adultery, pornography, provocative seductive clothing, immorality, and lust, using media, marketing, entertainment, and Hollywood as the vehicle to idolize, romanticize, and normalize sin to each generation.
Start a political liberal progressive atheistic movement that demonizes purity, virginity, celibacy, monogamy, Christianity, and the sanctity of life—remove God and the Bible from the public squre.

Time has proven that what one generation does in moderation, the next generation does in excess because Satan goes after the children!

[Tweet “What one generation does in moderation, the next generation does in excess because Satan goes after our children!”]

Satan’s tactics have worked. Christians talking about abstinence or purity . . . are laughed at . . . called prudes, dreamers, delusional, judgmental, preachers, and worse. Many give up even trying. Pastors don’t talk about the hazards of sex outside of marriage . . . the moral, sinful, and physical consequences on our bodies . . . God’s precious holy temples.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh. ¹⁷But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:15:20

[Tweet “Why aren’t pastors telling young people and congregations that when you have sex with another person you become one with them?”]

Why aren’t pastors telling young people and congregations that when you have sex with another person you become one with them? Hook ups, one-night stands, date sex, living together, casual sex . . . every person you EVER had sex with . . . your souls united because that’s how God made us “the two become one flesh (Gen. 2:24) in sex. God meant for it to be in marriage. Satan the great Deceiver would say, God didn’t really mean that. Yes he did.

Let’s Start a Pure Body Revival

One woman wrote to me: My mother gave me birth control pills at 13 so I wouldn’t get pregnant with all the low life boys I would have sex with in my passage into womanhood.

That broke my heart. We need a sexual revival in our country. Let’s start educating our young men and women. Parents, churches, mentors teachers taking the time to teach kids what really happens spiritually when you have sex, not just the physical mechanics, but share verses like those above and ones on purity and holiness, do Bible studies together, and talk about why God wants His people to only have sex in marriage. Explain that sex is not a natural or expected part of a relationship unless you’re married, regardless of how the movies or TV depict it, or what your friends are doing.

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word. Psalm 111:9

In Forsaken God? I wrote, “Young people need to hear how to use the Bible as a benchmark to distinguish truth from lies. They don’t need condoms and birth control pills and talks on safe sex; they need to know how to make choices based on eternity, not just avoiding maternity.”

Sexual revival applies to all ages and it won’t be popular, but we can pray for God to empower us and give us the opportunity to spread revival in our sphere of influence. Our culture ridicules men and women who vow celibacy until their wedding night. Rampant casual sex—hook ups, dating sex, friends with benefits, living together—reduces sex to lust, not love. The world, deceived by Satan asks, “What’s love got to do with sex?” Even many Christians choose to be a part of this world rather than set apart and pure for God who tells us “So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God.” –Lev. 20:7 (NLT)

Single moms and single women this means you too. You must set the example and role model for these young women and girls and for your daughters and sons. I was a single mom and I’ve been on both sides of this discussion. Yes, I was a virgin when I married my daughter’s father. We didn’t have birth control pills when I was a teenager. My mother wasn’t a religious person, but she told me emphatically that sex was for marriage. Sex can make babies. White wedding dresses are for virgins, and no boy or man is worth forfeiting that one-time sacred privilege. I believed her, and I waited, and I’m glad I did. She set a moral compass for me and I stuck to it.

In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, I share how my moral compass shifted in my divorced, single years and I did not set a good role model for my daughter. I’m here to tell you that Satan is a liar. God made our bodies to glorify and honor Him, and praise God He is the God of many chances. For those who feel it’s too late, they aren’t a virgin or are too sexually impure so what difference does it make, God is the God of renewal. We can come before Him and ask for forgiveness for our past, repent, rededicate our life and go and sin no more just like the woman caught in adultery and the woman at the well.

[Tweet “Satan makes the sinful life look exciting and enticing,”]

Satan makes the sinful life look exciting and enticing, but anyone who has come out of the dark into the light will tell you loving your body the way God loves your body is the only way to a joyful, peaceful life.

⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he 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, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7

Many will think I’m idealistic and sexual revival is impossible. I’m not naïve enough to think women and men are going to stop having sex outside of marriage, but maybe some will. The theme of this year’s Walk for Life was the Power of One. They stressed the importance of reaching the next generation, which is my passion too.

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:27

I want to share two books: both from the Robertson family of the Ducky Dynasty TV Series. The Robertson’s are vocal about their faith and belief in Jesus Christ and family.

Sadie Robertson was seventeen when she wrote Live Original: How the Duck Commander Teen Keeps It Real and Stays True to her Values and I included this quote in my book Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten

When you put your relationship with God first and you also have a great relationship with your family, you can risk having people get upset with you for standing up for your beliefs. You can risk being rejected because of your values, and you can even risk losing a boyfriend if the relationship is not going in a godly direction. You can risk looking or acting different from other people. You can do these things because you know you will be okay without them. You know God is with you and for you, and I hope you can also know your family is standing beside you, but even without your family’s support, you can know that God is there.

Jase Robertson wrote in Good Call: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl about his decision as a teenager to remain sexually pure until marriage:

One day after hearing my buddies talking about sexually transmitted diseases and asking my dad about it. I don’t remember the specifics of his speech, but I would never forget the last thing he said. “Son you keep that thing in your pocket until you get married and you’ll never have to worry about it.” He told me. The timing of our conversation was perfect when it came to my staying sexually pure.

I eventually came up with a plan of action. On the first date, I would share my faith with the girl and declare my intention to wait until marriage before having sex. In a way this held me accountable, and it also got rid of any girls who had a quick roll in the hay in mind. I also decided to stay away from the “second look”—noticing a good-looking woman, then dwelling on her for a second, more lustful look. I tried to notice the beauty and feel the attraction to a woman but ultimately pursue their spiritual makeup. . . . God changes us from the inside out, and that helps us look at other people the same way.

Jase did stay sexually pure. He and his wife Missy were both virgins on their wedding night. With God all things are possible!

[Tweet “We need to build a new culture of purity, a new culture of life. A new normal.”]

We need to build a new culture of purity, a new culture of life. A new normal.

Let’s make purity popular again!

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

An article I wrote for Crosswalk that might be helpful Have You Forgiven Each Other for Premarital Sex?

If you’ve had an abortion, I recommend Pat Layton’s book Surrendering the Secret.

For more thoughts on Revival of Titus 2 Women see this month’s About His Work Newsletter.

A Bible study I wrote for First Place 4 Health goes into depth about keeping our bodies, minds, souls, and spirits pure and holy: God’s Best For Your Life. Study on your own or as a group.

If you received this post by email, leave a comment here.

January 30, 2017

Return to top of page

Billy Graham was F.A.T. Are You?

F.A.T.

Billy Graham, My Mentor

Jesus Speaks to Me! Does He Speak to You Too?

I’ve Heard Jesus, Listened, and Followed

Could Mentoring Have Protected Young Actresses?

What Can the Church Learn From Hollywood?

The Miracle of Steve Scalise: A Testimony to the Power of Prayer

Prayer & Praise Is An Integral Part of Mentoring

Prayer and Praise Journal Helps Record Prayers and Miracles

What to Do When You Don’t Like Your Life Season

Reasons for Not Liking our Life Season

What to Do When We Don’t Like Our Life Season

Should Christians Be Political?

Christians Need to Run for Political Office and Get Involved in Politics

Satan is Dividing Christians, Not President Trump

Love Your Body: Revive Sexual Purity

Let’s Start a Pure Body Revival

Search This Site

Receive My Weekly Blog

Blog Archives

Grab and Share My Button

Golden Scrolls Finalist

BibleGateway

Categories

Latest from My Weekly Blog

An Open Letter to James Talarico

Subscribe by Email to my Blog

Contact Janet

Meta

F.A.T.

I’ve Heard Jesus, Listened, and Followed

How Can You Stop the Maligning of God’s Word?

Touching Another Generation

Tammy’s Mentoring Story

Saying NO to say YES to God

Tammy’s Passion for Mentoring

What Can the Church Learn From Hollywood?

Prayer & Praise Is An Integral Part of Mentoring

Prayer and Praise Journal Helps Record Prayers and Miracles

Reasons for Not Liking our Life Season

What to Do When We Don’t Like Our Life Season

Christians Need to Run for Political Office and Get Involved in Politics

Satan is Dividing Christians, Not President Trump

Let’s Start a Pure Body Revival

Search This Site

Receive My Weekly Blog

Blog Archives

Grab and Share My Button

Golden Scrolls Finalist

BibleGateway

Categories

Latest from My Weekly Blog

Subscribe by Email to my Blog

Subscribe to Our Weekly Blog

Contact Janet

Topics of Interest

Meta