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Are You Ready to Get Your Brave On With Me?

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Celebrating release of Everyday Brave

Celebrate with me the launch of Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith

Well it’s finally time! The release of Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith is today, September 10, 2019! Hoot!!! Hoot!!

[Tweet “It’s finally time! The release of Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith is today, September 10, 2019! Hoot!!! Hoot!!”]

Over the past year, many of you have traveled with me on this writing journey through trips and falls, illnesses, flooded basement, broken wrist, snowed in, car hit by a boulder . . . . Yes, it’s been a challenging year, but God has been good and the writing, editing, and printing kept on going.

Nothing can stop what God starts! I hope you agree this is true in your own life too.

[Tweet “Nothing can stop what God starts! I hope you agree this is true in your own life too.”]

It was a blessing last week to hold my new “baby” in my hands and start signing books for contributors, endorsers, and winners of blogs where I’ve been a guest blogger.

But don’t worry; I’m not leaving you out of the fun! I’m offering a signed copy of Everyday Brave to two of you who leave a comment on today’s blog to enter a drawing. I’ll announce the winners in next week’s blog!

It Takes a Village to Write a Book

A huge thank you to the courageous women who answered my shout out for stories and bravely shared in this book to bless other women. You know who you are!

I’m blessed to have nine endorsers who humbled me with their kind and gracious encouraging words about how God can use this book in the lives of women who often don’t realize they’re courageous everyday.

Tricia Goyer endorses Everyday Brave

Then there are the stories of 50 brave and courageous women in the Bible. In Everyday Brave, I use a new style of writing for me, creative nonfiction, where I base their stories on the biblical facts, while bringing them to life by recreating their world and environment. It was fun and some have said it’s my best book so far, but we’ll see what everyone else thinks.

Everyday Brave is not a Bible study, but there are discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which make the book perfect for use in Bible studies, small groups, Women’s Ministry studies, book clubs, Mentors and Mentees, or to help you as the reader engage with what you’ve read.

Everyone Needs the Lord

We live in a time when Christians need to have the courage to stand firm in their faith in a culture that is not Christian-friendly.

[Tweet “We live in a time when Christians need to have the courage to stand firm in their faith in a culture that is not Christian-friendly.”]

Regardless of the chaos in the world, we remain role models of a God-honoring life. Many are watching to see what it really means to be a faithful Christian who lives by the Bible.

Christians do not change the Bible to conform to the culture, but they do use the unchangeable Bible to reform the culture!

[Tweet “Christians do not change the Bible to conform to the culture, but they do use the unchangeable Bible to reform the culture!”]

True, it’s not for the faint of heart, but it is for those of us who fear the Lord!

I had to put my brave on just to write a book like Everyday Brave, but God’s timing is always perfect. I’ve felt Him encouraging me at every step, and I pray you will also be encouraged as you read it.

You and I really are much braver than we think we are!

Here’s a sneak preview of the Preface.

Believe me when I say I had to put my brave on just to write a book like this, but God’s timing is always perfect and I’ve felt Him encouraging me at every step. Let me first say, I had to tap into my everyday brave just to write this book. I’m not an expert on bravery and I don’t have all the answers for what makes us brave and courageous, but I do have a tight relationship with the One who does. He instilled in all of us brave hearts to push beyond what we think we’re capable of achieving, and so I started writing.

When taunting thoughts assailed me, such as Who are you to write a book about bravery? I honestly asked myself the same question. Then I quickly realized those disparaging words were coming from Satan because God doesn’t instill doubt in us. When he gives us a Holy Spirit–inspired idea or assignment, he encourages us and cheers us on with a “You go girl! I’ve got this. I’m with you all the way.” I knew God was with me on this project—I just had to get with it!

We need to bolster each other toward bravery just to withstand the barrage of daunting news today and the escalating attacks on our faith. It’s comforting to know that incredible women in the Bible also experienced scary and threatening times. They were victorious, and we can be too.

So my dear friends, let’s be courageous women of faith and get our brave on for God! Are you ready?! Let’s do it!

Be your own kind of brave!

Maybe your first brave step will be verbalizing an area of your life where God wants you to be brave and courageous.

Since I’m offering two free books for comments on this blog, let me give you a few ideas.

  • What is God asking you to do, but you’re hesitating?
  • What’s stopping you from courageously moving forward on God’s nudge to take a step of faith?
  • Where have you been victoriously bold and brave and how did it feel?

I sign Everyday Brave with this verse Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Cor. 16:13

Everyday Brave available now on Amazon for sale

 

 

September 9, 2019
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We’re Brave Women of Integrity

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We're Brave Women of Integrity

The annoying song announcing a new text was playing early in the morning. I opened the text and to my surprise, there was a message from the insurance company saying they were sending a check for the completion of our reconstruction work after our basement flooded last Thanksgiving. Yes, I said last Thanksgiving!! What a journey it’s been for nine long months but now it was finally over! Closure.

But as I looked at the amount, there was something wrong! It was twice as much as we should receive. The reconstruction had been going on for so long that different people were now overseeing the construction, and the original insurance adjuster was long gone. Our claim was handed off to at least four other people.

Unless we pointed out the error, our claim would be closed. Forever. Filed away.

But we knew the error. God knew the error. And we knew what we needed to do.

So hubby contacted the construction company’s office and told them they needed to send the insurance company the correct final amount.

I contacted the most recent insurance claims resolution specialist I’d been working with and told her the check was not the correct amount.

Then I added,

“I’m sure you don’t receive many emails saying you paid us too much!” And signed it “Appreciate your help! Have a blessed rest of the day.”

She emailed back,

“I really appreciate your honesty! Like you mentioned, we never get emails advising we have overpaid.” And she signed, “Have a blessed day as well.”

[Tweet “We never know whose life our integrity and honesty is going to touch and influence.”]

We never know whose life our integrity and honesty is going to touch and influence. I’m sure she receives many emails and phone calls from angry disgruntled clients. And who hasn’t complained about insurance companies and the cost of insurance.

But what really impressed me the most was her telling me to also have a blessed day. In today’s politically correct environment, we might think we have to avoid a “spiritual” greeting and opt for a vanilla generic “Have a nice day.” What do we really mean when we say “nice”? It’s an overused cliché definitely better than saying nothing but a missed opportunity to say something meaningful. I’ve noticed that when I offer a blessing, people stop and take notice.

[Tweet ” I’ve noticed that when I offer a blessing, people stop and take notice.“]

As women of integrity, we stay true to who we are in Christ and Christ in us, regardless of the circumstances. I’m not saying we lead out with the Gospel, but that we live out the Gospel.

For example, you’re with a group of people you’ve just met and you sense by their conversation and actions that they’re not believers. What do you do now? Try to fit in and not make too many waves, or act the same as you would if you were with a group of fellow believers? We’ve all been there sending up a silent prayer asking God, “Help!”

[Tweet “As women of integrity, we stay true to who we are in Christ and Christ in us, regardless of the circumstances.”]

In today’s culture, it takes courage to stand up for our faith and live with integrity. The world doesn’t reward or encourage moral standards. You stand out in a crowd when you do what’s right instead of compromising or taking the easy way out. This is nothing new. Paul certainly would have had an easier life if he backed down every time someone challenged him for being a believer. But the message the Apostle Paul gave to the church at Corinth is still a source of encouragement for Christians to bravely and boldly live with integrity today: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

I looked up the definition of integrity and here’s what I found: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; virtue; character; incorruptibility; goodness. It saddens me to think how hard it is for Christians today to live with integrity without being confronted and bullied in schools, college campuses, sports, jobs, social media, in business, and even with some friends and family. It’s not easy, but it is courageous.

Living with integrity is not popular, but it is possible. It’s not the world’s way, but it is God’s way! And that’s all that matters to us, right!

[Tweet “[Living with integrity is not popular, but it is possible. It’s not the world’s way, but it is God’s way! And that’s all that matters to us, right!”]

As we watch civil law go counter to God’s laws and rampant tolerance for everything except Christianity, we’re under intense pressure to comply. God says, “Stand firm in the faith” and don’t crumble. Biblical courage means obeying God’s laws and not condoning or compromising on anything that Scripture opposes.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable and difficult, but as long as we stay tethered to God, biblical truths, and each other, He will provide us the strength we need to go against the worldly secular culture when it opposes our faith. Be strong. Be courageous. Be brave. Be a woman of integrity!

We're Brave Women of Integrity

You can preorder Everyday Brave and receive it as soon as it releases! I’m excited about this book, can you tell?!

Here is an interview I gave on At The Library, where I talk about what inspired me to write this book and answer a number of questions about it. If you’ve never heard my voice, it might be fun to listen so you’ll know what I sound like when you read my blogs and books!

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

August 26, 2019
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Stepping Out in Faith to Mentor

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Stepping out in faith to mentor

Stepping out in faith to mentor

You might have noticed there wasn’t a Monday Morning Blog last week. That was operator error. I had a guest blogger, but I didn’t hit “schedule” and so it only went out on social media but not to my email followers. It was such a great post that I wanted to resend it to all of you.

The reason I had scheduled a guest blogger was because last weekend I was speaking at First Baptist Church Riverview, Florida on the topic of Stepping Out in Faith. You can see me speaking and some of the ladies in attendance in the opening pictures, and Tammy Keene the founder of the Glory Conference and me finally meeting after two years of planning this conference, which was so blessed by the Lord. I told the story of how I stepped out in faith to start Woman to Woman Mentoring and then offered 10 Steps to Know You’re Stepping Out in Faith with God. I’ll share those 10 steps in a future blog.

But for today, I’d like you to read Andrea Chatelain’s post below because she talks about some of the reasons we might not think we’re equipped to mentor and how to overcome those insecurities.

Throw Out Insecurity and Cast Your Net

By Andrea Chatelain

I was a shell of a woman. Broken over miscarriages and lonely in faith, I called the one friend I had and asked her to gather some gals. We bought the shortest Bible study available, and strangers gathered in my living room. I had no idea what I was doing. Why had God prompted me to open my house and my heart to others when I felt so unqualified, imperfect, and weary? Truth is, He can work great things out of our vulnerability if we’ll be bold enough to follow.

[Tweet “God can work great things out of our vulnerability if we’ll be bold enough to follow.”]

Being a mentor starts with this motto: Throw out insecurity and cast your net.

Before Jesus’ disciples followed Him, many were fishermen. They spent their days casting out a net because they knew there were fish in the water–even if they weren’t biting. Some days the disciples hauled in so many fish the boat was overflowing, other times there wasn’t much to show for their efforts.

But they kept throwing their nets.

Then Jesus invited them to catch something better. “And He said to them, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 ESV

To do the important work of mentoring others, bringing them up in love and truth, we have to believe two things: 1. God chose us fully aware of our shortcomings. 2. The outcome is in His control as we follow His lead.

If we examine the first disciples, Christ didn’t always choose the most qualified. He called those willing to follow and throw their net. And the same is true of us.

[Tweet “God has chosen each of us to cast our nets right where we are and mentor others in love and truth not because we are awesome, but because He is awesome.”]

God has chosen each of us to cast our nets right where we are and mentor others in love and truth not because we are awesome, but because He is awesome. Believing that perfection isn’t required to lead others emboldens us to step out of our comfort zone and do the sometimes intimidating job of mentoring. So we throw off insecurity and say yes to every crazy idea God gives us knowing it’s not about what we have to give, but about trusting the One who’s leading us.

[Tweet “To boldly say yes when God calls us to mentor or disciple others, we must also trust Him with the outcome.”]

To boldly say yes when God calls us to mentor or disciple others, we must also trust Him with the outcome. In the past, I didn’t open myself up to mentoring because I was simply afraid no one would show up, or that the group wouldn’t be successful. I believed the outcome of my leadership was all on me. And that left me paralyzed.

I was frozen in fear and insecurity thinking it was necessary to possess all the answers for the women I mentored. But when I changed my mindset, having faith God called me to that post, He provided me with strength and wisdom through His Holy Spirit, and the pressure subsided. And even if it didn’t turn out the way I expected, I learned to trust that was part of God’s plan too.

So no, I’ve never been a perfect leader, and I doubt I ever will be, but God showed up each week to that Bible study as I committed to love and serve others. As I continue to cast my net despite my fears and insecurities, God has built friendships, grown my faith, and healed my heart.

Who is God calling you to reach out to? What fear is holding you back?

[Tweet “Trust that God knows exactly who you are, your weakness and strengths, and wants to use you to encourage and mentor others.”]

Trust that God knows exactly who you are, your weakness and strengths, and wants to use you to encourage and mentor others. He will be glorified as you faithfully say yes!

If you’re looking at the following picture and wondering why I have stuffed animal sheep on the stage with me, read a little about my Feed My Sheep Story and my testimony.

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May 13, 2019
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Yes, God Still Performs Miracles!

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Image result for breakthrough trailer

Today’s post is going to be short. It’s a busy short week for me as Dave and I prepare to fly to Florida for First Baptist of Riverview Church’s Glory Conference, where I’ll be speaking and Dave manages my book table. This will be my first speaking engagement since I took a tumble down my office stairs and broke my wrist and banged up my leg. So I’m looking forward to getting away from my desk and having the opportunity to speak directly to women and meet them face to face! I cherish your prayers that God will be glorified.

God does have a sense of humor since the topic they chose for me to speak on is “Stepping Out in Faith.” I have much to share about what happens when you take a misstep.

So I wanted to use this blog to encourage you all to see a new faith-based movie, Breakthrough, staring Chrissy Metz who plays a powerful woman and mother of faith. Here’s a little bit about it:

BREAKTHROUGH is based on the inspirational true story of one mother’s unfaltering love in the face of impossible odds. When Joyce Smith’s adopted son John falls through an icy Missouri lake, all hope seems lost. But as John lies lifeless, Joyce refuses to give up. Her steadfast belief inspires those around her to continue to pray for John’s recovery, even in the face of every case history and scientific prediction. From producer DeVon Franklin (Miracles from Heaven) and adapted for the screen by Grant Nieporte (Seven Pounds) from Joyce Smith’s own book, BREAKTHROUGH is an enthralling reminder that faith and love can create a mountain of hope, and sometimes even a miracle.

See Chrissy Metz in Breakthrough movie

Here’s a link to watch a trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7083526/videoplayer/vi2244000281

We took our grandkids to see it Easter afternoon, which is a tradition for us, and they said it was the best “Easter” movie we had taken them to!

Be sure to take Kleenex because you will cry, but you will also be reminded of the amazing power of prayer and the fact that God still performs miracles!

Speaking of which, Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ, has a new book out The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural, which I was told in church today is an excellent book.

So let’s have a discussion about miracles.

What miracles have you seen God do in your life?

If you’ve seen Breakthrough or read The Case for Miracles, share your review comments.

Next week you’ll enjoy a guest blog from Andrea Chatelain, and I’ll be back the week after that!

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

April 29, 2019
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Why We Need Mentoring by Tammy Keene

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Tammy Keene is the leader of the mentoring ministry Touching Another Generation, TAG, at First Baptist Church of Riverview. I’m looking forward to meeting Tammy and speaking at her church in 2019. Tammy knows I’m on a book deadline and offered to write her thoughts on mentoring, and I welcomed them. This will be a two-part post, so check back next week for the conclusion. So here’s Tammy!

Why We Need Mentoring by Tammy Keene

Why We Need Mentoring by Tammy Kenne leadero of Touching Another Generation Mentoring Ministry

I have the privilege of leading my church’s women’s mentoring ministry, Touching Another Generation, TAG. We model our ministry after the Titus 2 woman, and our key verse is Psalm 145:4, “One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.”

In the past when I shared my testimony, I would begin with God’s call on my life in 2015. After reflecting on the blessings that I’ve received, God has illuminated another truth in my life, mentoring has been a lifelong process.

[Tweet “Mentoring is a lifelong process”]

Mentoring has enriched my life!

[Tweet “Mentoring is necessary for women”]

Mentoring is necessary for women, and I know that God uniquely designed me and gave me this passion for mentoring.

Janet Thompson’s Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry DVD kit was an invaluable tool to create a mentoring ministry at my church. Her step-by-step approach provided the information necessary to launch and sustain our mentoring ministry. The kit provided me with a ready-made outline for our first Orientation Coffee and Kickoff Event including the following:

  • From Lucibel Van Atta’s book – Women Encouraging Women:

“Mentoring isn’t just another activity to scrunch into our already over-crowded calendars. It is a relationship, a commitment, a step of faith. A faith defined as giving God the opportunity to fulfill His promise through our lives. And this is indeed what pleases God, ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God’ (Hebrews 11:6).”

  • A Mentor is ‘someone close and trusted and experienced.’ Mentoring requires no special talent. All God asks is for us to take seriously the task of nurturing and building up other women.
  • As Christian women we are to share with another Christian woman how Christ has helped us through the joys and pains of our lives. We are to remind our younger sisters in Christ to go to Christ and let Him walk beside us, comfort us, and guide us.

[Tweet “Mentoring is an intentional relationship, sharing your faith journey with another woman”]

  • Mentoring is an intentional relationship, sharing your faith journey with another woman because women need women!
  • A mentor is someone who has experienced life and is willing to walk alongside of a sister in Christ.
  • A mentee is simply a spiritually younger woman willing to be mentored by an experienced sister in Christ. She may not have all of the answers but she is willing to walk alongside of you.                       

Mentoring is a two-way relationship!

[Tweet “Mentoring is a two-way relationship!”]

           Why mentoring?

  • It’s biblical.

God instructs women to model godly behavior for other women.

3 In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s word will not be slandered. Titus 2:3-5 (CSB)

The Apostle Paul provides specific instructions for teaching sound doctrine with a specific admonition to women. We’re responsible for training godly women, how else are they to learn what is expected of them?

           Why mentoring?

  • It’s a blessing. God will bless you through the relationship.

Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26 (CSB)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort also. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy. Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2

[Tweet “Mentoring not only blesses us, but we are able to bless others.”]

Mentoring not only blesses us, but we are able to bless others.

A mentor in Janet Thompson’s book, Mentoring for All Seasons, stated: “Comfort with the same comfort we received from God in our difficult season. God puts people in our path going through something we’ve experienced and survived with his help and he expects us to reach out to them with the power of his love, healing, and forgiveness.” (p. 186).

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

          Why mentoring?

  • It builds you. God will use the mentoring relationship to build your confidence in yourself, but especially your confidence in His Word.

[Tweet “God will use the mentoring relationship to build your confidence in yourself, but especially your confidence in His Word.”]

Having a mature sister in Christ will help keep you focused on putting first things first, which will build your confidence. Character building is encouraged by having a godly woman walking beside you. When you’re in a mentoring relationship, you have another woman to share prayer requests and life challenges. Having a godly woman to walk alongside of you as you walk through life’s daily challenges is a blessing, but it also will illuminate the biblical foundation built through the relationship and the strengthening of your relationship with God.

In the fall of 2014, my husband and I learned that at the end of the year we both would lose our jobs. I know that God was teaching me to trust Him in all things, but especially with our careers. I reached out to my mentor Tisha and asked her to pray for wisdom and discernment with our job search.

As she faithfully prayed, I kept her updated with my search and interviews. It was the middle of January, she prayed that God would knock my socks off and He did. I had seven interviews scheduled in one week! I actually had to cancel one. Tisha was modeling a very important lesson, pray specifically and wait for God to show up! God answered our prayers and my husband and I both had new jobs by March.

How has mentoring blessed your life?

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

Tammy Keene is the founder and leader of Touching Another Generation Mentoring Ministry at First Baptist Church of Riverview. I love this picture of Tammy!

Tammy Keene writes about Why Mentoring Is Necessary

September 24, 2018
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Seeking A Season of Spiritual Maturity

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I recently learned that pilot whales are very social and their offspring stay in their mother’s pod for life. The young swim alongside old, knowledgeable whales and learn from them how to feed, mate, and migrate in open waters.

The species is so good at following that occasionally they follow a bad decision by one of the lead whales, and they’re all in for trouble. This is rare. Overall, the younger whales learn from the wisdom and experience of the older whales.

[Tweet “The disciples followed, watched, asked questions, listened, and gleaned from Jesus,”]

While it might be hard to relate to whales, how about Jesus leading His disciples. In The Team That Jesus Built, I describe how Jesus took fishermen, a tax collector, and eventually arrived at twelve ragtag men and told them to “Follow me.” They followed Jesus around, watched, asked questions, listened, and gleaned from Him, and slowly they matured in their faith and understanding of what it means to be a true follower of Christ.

When Paul was growing the New Testament churches, he challenged believers in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow me as I follow the example of Christ.” Like the disciples, Paul hadn’t lived an exemplary life, but he had turned his life around and had one incredible testimony! Still he never felt he had arrived. He was always fighting the good fight, running the race, and willing to share with others everything he learned in his seasons of spiritual growth. He begged people to follow his example, not because he was so great, but because he humbly was following and learning from Christ.

What Can We Learn From Whales, Paul, and the Disciples?

[Tweet “No one ever “achieves” or arrives at total spiritual maturity. “]

As Christians, we’re continually growing and maturing in our faith, or at least we should be . . . right? No one ever “achieves” or arrives at total spiritual maturity. We never know enough or all there is to learn about the Christian life. But do we sometimes live as if we do? Do we spend more time focusing on the world’s teachings than Jesus’s teaching? Like the 650 whales beached on New Zealand’s shoreline when they followed the wrong leader whale, our spiritual life can be beached too when we follow the wrong leader.

[Tweet “Do we spend more time focusing on the world’s teachings than Jesus’s teaching?”]

But we can get off the “spiritual beach” by seeking spiritual guidance. Maybe at a Bible study or retreat or deciding to have a consistent daily quiet time, we experience a newfound hunger to grow deeper in our walk with the Lord, but we’re not sure how. There are so many unanswered questions and portions of the Bible still confusing. We live in fear with the circumstances of the world, and yet we know our faith should sustain us, but it doesn’t seem enough right now.

[Tweet “Paul said in Titus 2:3-5 to have the women in a spiritually mature season teach and train the less spiritually mature”]

Paul had the answer when he said in Titus 2:3-5 to have the women in a spiritually mature season teach and train the less spiritually mature. Some try to interpret those verses as strictly chronological age, but in mentoring we want to learn from someone spiritually older, not necessarily older in years. A great truth the Lord revealed when I was starting the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry.

[Tweet “Many mentoring ministries fail because they match older women with younger women without looking at their seasons of spiritual maturity”]

Many mentoring ministries fail because they simply match older women with younger women without looking at their seasons of spiritual maturity. A woman might become a Christian at sixty-five and have worldly wisdom but not spiritual wisdom. Her mentor might be fifty but has walked with the Lord for many years.

We don’t know the ages of the disciples, but since Jesus was only thirty when He started His ministry, there’s a good chance they were older than Him. But they had so much to learn and only three years to spiritually mature. You and I are Christians today because Jesus mentored them to go into the world and teach what He had taught them.

Your Personal Spiritual Maturity Season

Sometimes I hear Christians say they feel spiritually dry. That saddens me because Jesus is ready and willing to give us living water from a well that never runs dry. If we drink from His well, we’ll keep growing in spiritual maturity (John 4:10-15). Many of you know this already and someone in your life needs to hear how you continue maturing in your relationship with the Lord.

I’m afraid there’s a growing epidemic among Christian women today to worry more about their own spiritual maturity than sharing what they know about Christ with a newer believer. I’m not referring to Bible study leaders, but the women sitting under their teaching in every church or Bible study group. Are they sharing what they’re learning with the many women around them who need help with their spiritual maturity?

It goes beyond just inviting them to the Bible study for the leader or facilitator to teach them; it means helping them live a godly mature life outside the groups in daily life. It means more than inviting them to church on Sunday; it means praying and studying with them during the week.

It means every believer a mentor!

In Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, I share stories of mentors who have met spiritually younger women at Bible studies and church and offered to mentor them. I encourage spiritually mature women to think about the role models in their life who helped them come to faith and spiritual maturity. We all have them. Women we admire who took the time to disciple us and share some of their life with us. Hebrews 13:7 tell us to: “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

“Imitate their faith.” Exactly what Paul told the church and Jesus told His disciples.

Mentoring is that simple. How someone reached you with her faith is probably the way you will be the most effective in pouring into someone else who is younger in her faith.

In Mentoring for All Seasons, there are points to consider of how God could use you as a mentor and how to select a mentor. Here are just a couple.

If you’ve been a believer for a while:

  • Who challenged you and helped you grow in your faith?
  • How did she model Jesus to you?
  • Who needs you to do that for them? Consider also someone who might be a long-time believer but is going through a season of doubt.
  • Who do you need to invite to follow you and help her mature in her faith?
  • How could God enhance your spiritual maturity by mentoring and pouring into someone else?

If you’re a newer believer and eager to learn and grow in your faith, or going through a spiritually dry time, God tells us two are better than one (Ecc. 4:9-10).

  • Who do you admire for her faith and the way she lives it out in daily life?
  • What about her faith would you like to emulate in your own life?
  • What’s stopping you from asking her to mentor you?

Often, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” James 4:2

Paul the great mentor of the New Testament reminds us that mentoring is always a two-way relationship and reward.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” [a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. Philippians 2:14-17

Mentoring for All Seasons is available for order now on Amazon or Kindle version 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

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

www.pinterest.com/thompsonjanet

https://twitter.com/AHWministries

August 21, 2017
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I Didn’t See This Coming!

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I’m back! I’m sure that many of you who are used to receiving my Monday Morning Blog wondered what happened to me the month of April. I’m sorry that I didn’t have time to explain, but I was completely unprepared for the events that knocked me down so fast and hard. I didn’t have any warning myself.

Let me explain. If you’ve followed me for a while, you will remember that on Christmas Day I tripped on a rug and landed head first on a wooden chest. So I started 2017 with 5 staples in my head, a concussion, and a constant ringing in my ears. I wrote about that experience on January 9 in the blog post 8 Reasons to Make 2017 the Year of New Connections, when one of the opening sentences was, “You know how we make our plans but the Lord directs our steps.” And the next week in, What If You Didn’t Get to Say Goodbye I wrote, “I don’t remember ever having an accident like that before.”

I did not see that accident coming or the length of time it would take to recover from the concussion. By February, I had come to terms with the fact that I would probably live the rest of my life with the ringing in my ears as an array of doctors told me there was probably no hope it would ever go away. Many people told me their stories of living with this distraction and all the many cures, but I am an easily distracted person so I knew it wouldn’t be easy for me to overcome, but with the Lord’s help, I will not be shaken.

Then I started feeling bad the beginning of March in a part of my body unrelated to the concussion—my lower stomach, from my navel down. After several weeks, it got worse so I started the round of doctors, ending up at an urologist who did a CT scan revealing I had kidney stones and gallbladder stones, but he was sure my pain was coming from one kidney stone that looked to be lodged in the top of my bladder. He sent me home for the weekend to drink gallons of water and lemonade, but nothing had changed by the time his office called to check with me on Monday, the last Monday in March and the day of my last blog post to you.

Two days later, on Wednesday at 6:30 AM I was being prepped for surgery to remove what we all thought was one stuck kidney stone. I told everyone I would be back in my office Thursday, including my publisher as we were working on the cover for my new book Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. Everyone I knew who had ever had kidney stones assured me by Wednesday night I would be feeling great!

Well I wasn’t feeling great. I opened my eyes after surgery and felt twenty times worse! What?! I cried I was so disappointed and one of the nurses said, “Who told you that you were going to feel better?” All my Facebook friends, and I just assumed it would be an easy surgery. Wrong!!!

It turns out I had “dozens” of small stones stuck in both ureters—the tubes that come out of your kidneys. Yes you read right, I had been walking around with dozens of stones!!! So that meant cameras, wires, surgical tools all had invaded both ureters to scrape out the dozens of stones, as well as removing any left in my kidneys. I came home with stints in both ureters, excruciating cramps and pain, and was knocked flat on my back for weeks.

As many of you know I’ve had breast cancer surgery three times, so I am not a wimp and I have a very high threshold for pain, which is how I went so long with all these stones; but I was in agony after this surgery. The recovery has been so much slower than I could have ever expected. There were times when I couldn’t even pray except to groan, which the Bible tells me the Holy Spirit interpreted those groans to God for me.

“In 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.” Romans 8:26

Analysis of the stones showed the cause was a medication I was taking for a neurological condition, so in the midst of all this, I had to transition off those meds and onto a different one that made me nauseated, dizzy, and knocked me back down again.

So that’s where I’ve been this past month. But I made it back to church today and once we get these medications figured out, I pray the rest of the year will be better.

Points to Ponder

One Sunday morning, I was sobbing in pain and my husband asked what could he ask the church to pray for during their time of “Praise, Prayer, and Share.” The only thing I could say was, “Hope.” But I told him don’t say that or people will think my faith if faltering, but what I meant was hope that I was going to wake up one morning and feel better. I think he asked for prayer that there would be a turn for the better in my recovery.

He came home from church that morning with a gift bag from a sweet woman who serves our church by sending get well cards and gifts when a parishioner is ill. She had no idea of my plea for hope. In the bag was this cup!

Interestingly, the day before surgery I had turned into Crosswalk.com, who I write for regularly, a blog 10 Ways Not to Help a Suffer. Crosswalk posted that blog exactly one week after surgery. The blog talks about things not to do when someone you know is suffering, with the corresponding ten ways to help someone suffering. My church family, small group, and small mountain community were the example of everything to do to help someone. They showed up at the door with meals, sent cards, called faithfully, and prayed continually. As I walked into church today, I was greeted over and over by “It’s so good to see you back and I was praying for you!”

My next article assigned by Crosswalk is “How to Remain Hopeful When the Pain Won’t Stop.” I’ll let you know when that posts because I will share more of what kept me going and hopeful this past month.

Two days after surgery, the copy edits from my publisher arrived for me to review. It would be my last chance to make any changes or corrections and to review the changes their editors had made. When I let the product manager for Mentoring for All Seasons know about the surgery and it would probably be a few weeks before I could look at these, she quickly extended the April 21 deadline to today May 1. During the month, she checked in to see how I was doing, and often I was miserable. She continually sent me prayers along with this sweet graphic.

So while the health issues this year caught me completely by surprise, I know that God is never caught off guard and He sustains me. The word He gave me in both the concussion and the recovery from this surgery is: I will not be shaken.

God willing, I will be back next week. Thank you for those who prayed for me that knew about this, and the many Facebook friends who let me know their prayers and thoughts were with me. I was so blessed to see all of your comments when I felt up to checking in on Facebook. I pray if any of you are suffering, you also know that our hope is in the Lord who never leaves our side.

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

May 1, 2017
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Hope-We All Need It by Karen Whiting

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Today’s blog post is from author friend Karen Whiting and she shares a little about her book 365 Devotions for Hope. Hope is central to our faith, but sometimes we can lose our hope during difficult circumstances. Karen’s devotional will help restore your hope, the center of our faith. Enjoy

xxxxxxx

365Devotions4Hope

Sometimes, when life is rough or we feel that God is not answering our prayers, we feel like we need it more than other times.

[Tweet “Sometimes, when life is rough or we feel that God is not answering our prayers,”]

Whether we are leaders or followers, we need hope. There’s good news. Signs and words of hope are all around us. That’s good because we need hope to move forward, especially during struggles and loss. Hope is the expectation of something good.

[Tweet “Hope is the expectation of something good.”]

What are some of the signs of hope around us?

  • Nature provides many signs, such as a daffodil blooming in the snow, a blue sky, twinkling stars at night, and a beautiful sunset.
  • Loved ones bring hope with encouraging words, hugs, smiles, and gifts.
  • God’s Word brings the ultimate hope with the promise of God’s presence and eternity.

What can we do when we feel hopeless?

[Tweet “We all have times we need a little CPR for hope.”]

We all have times we need a little CPR for hope. Start with counting your blessings, including God’s love. Take things one step and one moment at a time when you feel overwhelmed. Cling to a verse or two. Be patient. Since the time of Job and other Bible characters, people have faced catastrophes and loss.

It’s easy to wallow in self-pity. Some things to try:

  • Choose to look for the positive and count your blessings.
  • Forgive anyone who caused problems or let you down.
  • Believe there will be blessings in the future.
  • If you have a recent loss allow yourself time to grieve. It’s a natural process.
  • If your hopelessness is long lasting or serious do seek professional help.
  • Acknowledge your strengths and gifts. Find ways to use them.
  • Eat healthy, get enough sleep, and drink plenty of water.
  • Let go of what you cannot control.
  • Reframe a problem into a challenge. It will strengthen you and give you new hope.
  • Spend time in nature appreciating God’s creation.
  • Pray for God’s comfort and joy.
  • Surround yourself with supportive people.

What’s your new book and what’s it about?

365 Devotions for Hope is daily meditations that focus on various aspects and signs of hope. Word pictures of images, uplifting quotes, and glimpses into God’s love will inspire readers to embrace life.

For example, in examining the Scripture of Christ as our anchor, devotions explore various anchors (plow, mushroom, claw, and fluke) as well as moorings and other nautical analogies to discover more about hope in God.

Everyday signs of hope are found in encouraging words, laughter, and smiles to natural wonders like the sun peeking through the clouds. The daily reflections will bring seeds of hope to face struggles, renew minds, and refresh spirits.

What helps you when you feel hopeless?

KarenWhiting

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

June 13, 2016
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Take Hold of the Faith You Long For By Sharon Jaynes

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Sharon Jaynes is an author/speaker friend of mine with an awesome new book Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go. Move Forward. Live Bold. Sharon shares my passion to mentor women in living faith-filled lives and living boldly for Christ. I know you will enjoy her blog post below where she shares vulnerably that she once was stuck between wanting to live for Christ authentically and not superficially. Isn’t that what we all want? I know I do.

Take Hold of the Faith You Long For

Sharon Jaynes

I was alone, or at least I felt that way. Women huddled in happy clusters chatting about first one thing and then another. Some propped babies on their hips. Others clutched Bibles in their hands.

Most wore smiles on their faces. I wore one too. But it wasn’t a reflection of what was in my heart. The upturned lips were simply the camouflage I wore to blend in—to avoid being found out.

That I wasn’t really all that I was cracked up to be.

What I really wanted to do was run and hide. On the outside I was a well-put-together church mom with cute shoes and snappy jeans, but on the inside I was a little girl cowering in the far recesses of the playground hoping no one would notice me.

What’s wrong with me? I wondered. Why don’t I feel the joy these other women feel? What holds me back from experiencing the confidence and assurance they seem to experience?

Why do I continue to act like the same old me, struggle with the same negative emotions, and wrestle with the same old sins?

I wonder if you’ve ever felt that way?

The problem was I was stuck. Yes, I had professed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I knew I was going to heaven when I left this earth.

But I had a niggling feeling He meant something more than heaven when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Have you ever watched a circus performer on a flying trapeze? The aerialist swings out, swings back, and then usually on the peak of the third swing he takes hold of another bar or performer.

That’s when the fun begins as backflips, somersaults, and triples twists wow the crowd.

But what if, when the trapeze artist took hold of the second bar, he refused to let go of the first?

He would be left hanging in the middle. Stuck. That would not be the greatest show on earth.

[Tweet ” Many of us spend our lives…stuck…dangling over “life to the full””]

And that’s where many of us spend our lives…stuck…dangling over “life to the full” but never quite letting go of what holds us hostage to a mediocre “less than” faith.

[Tweet “An older, wiser woman in my church challenged me to take hold of the truth and make it mine!”]

I know it’s where I spent many years…until God challenged me to take hold of the truth and make it mine. Her name was Mary Marshall Young–and older, wiser woman in my church. One day she challenged me to learn about my true identity in Christ.

Then she did something even harder…she challenged me to believe it…to take hold of it and make it mine. And that made all the difference.

The apostle Paul wrote, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).

[Tweet “In order to take hold and make our own everything that Christ has taken hold of for us and placed in us, “]

And in order to take hold and make our own everything that Christ has taken hold of for us and placed in us, we need to let go of everything that keeps us from doing so.

If we would grasp and make our own what Jesus has already done for us, and what He had deposited in us, our lives would look very different than the tepid faith of the average churchgoer.

God’s power, provision, and purposes are for “who so ever will” (Mark 8:34 KJV).

Will what? Will let go of all that holds you back from experiencing the abundant life of the adventurous faith and take hold of truth that makes it so.

So here’s what I’m challenging you to do:

  • Let go of insecurity and take hold of your true identity as a child of God.
  • Let go of the scarcity mentality that says that you’re not enough and take hold of God’s abundant promises that say you have everything you need.
  • Let go of crippling bitterness and take hold of radical forgiveness.
  • Let go of shame-filled condemnation and take hold of grace-filled acceptance.
  • Let go of weak-kneed worry and take hold of sure-footed confidence.
  • Let go of comparison to others and take hold of your God-fashioned uniqueness.
  • Let go of debilitating discouragement and take hold of your next assignment
  • Let go of timid reluctance and take hold of bold believing.

I know that’s a tall order, but I know you can do it. I’m here to help you get there.

It’s what God wants for all of us.

[Tweet “So today, let’s ask ourselves if we’re hanging on to something that God is calling us to let go of. “]

So today, let’s ask ourselves if we’re hanging on to something that God is calling us to let go of. Shame? Resentment? Condemnation? Unbelief? Ingratitude? Bitterness? Unforgiveness? A false sense of who we are?

If He brings something to mind, let it go, move forward, and live bold.

The faith you’ve always longed for is just a decision away.

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

cropped Jaynes FINAL-0039 copy 3-1

Sharon Jaynes is a conference speaker and author of 20 books, including her latest, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go. Move Forward. Live Bold. Her passion is to mentor women from all walks of life by equipping them to live fully and free in Christ. To learn more visit www.sharonjaynes.com or www.takeholdthebook.com.

The Faith You Long For Galley.indd

June 6, 2016
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Left for College a Christian, Returned an Atheist

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First RC College Pre Group of High Schoolers

First RC College Prep Group of High Schoolers

  In my book Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I have a section on Generation to Generation where I discuss the tragedy of losing the next generation for God, especially college age kids, and what we can do to keep them sold out for Jesus. I also share in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter how I ignored the warning signs when my daughter was taught about Darwinism and evolution in High School.

With the influx of liberal professors on college campuses, it’s vital that parents know about the mentioning ministry Ratio Christi.

Ratio Christi has 150 chapters on college campuses teaching Christian apologetics – the history, philosophy and science which supports the Bible and the life, death & resurrection of Christ. This strengthens the students’ faith, helps to stem the tide of “youth flight” from church due to the secularization of our colleges, and makes our young people stronger witnesses. We have also now started doing high school apologetics and have a goal of being on all college campuses.

 Sadly, this doesn’t just happen in high school and on college campuses. My granddaughter was only in third grade when she was disciplined by a teacher for defending her Christian faith to two girls who were bullying her at school. My granddaughter was the one  called out, not the other two girls.

Her teacher told her not to talk about Jesus again at school, and I told my granddaughter that teacher was out of line and together we looked at the Scriptures:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16

“So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:8

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

In my new book releasing September 12, Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness I stress the importance of tweens and college age children and young adults having a mentor so they are ready to defend their faith and not succumb to teachers or other kids’ pressure when their faith is under attack. Statistics are alarming of the number of kids who went to church faithfully while home, but stopped going to church once they went to college.

Sheryl Young is one of the national leaders of Ration Christi and she shares with you what parents can do to help their children stay strong in their faith.

What a Difference a College Class Makes in a Christian Kid’s Life

By Sheryl Young

“So how was your first semester of college?”

“Mom, dad, I’m an atheist now.”

This dreaded conversation took place in the home of a friend of mine, but it’s happening throughout the United States today. It’s no wonder, with kids from Christian homes hearing the following statements almost as soon as they reach the college campus:

“There is no good reason to believe in Christ.”

“There is no logic or reason to Christianity.”

“You will not mention God in my classroom.”

[Tweet “The atheist movement in academia is trying at every turn to move students away from a firm faith in Christ.”]

It should be no secret to any Christian family today that colleges and universities have become a bastion of secularism and atheism. The atheist movement in academia is trying at every turn to move students away from a firm faith in Christ.

God’s Not Dead may be a movie with fictional characters such as a bitter atheist professor and few students with the courage to stand against him, but it is based on real-life events.

Make no mistake. Christian parents and grandparents are doing their children a great disservice by telling them that Christianity is just “because the Bible says so” or “because the pastor says so” or “because I say so.” It’s like sending them straight from grade school to college. It simply doesn’t hold any water in today’s culture.

1 Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (NIV). We don’t show respect for nonbelievers, or ourselves, when we haven’t researched the reasons for our faith. Having “blind faith” may be good inside churched walls, but it won’t be understood by outsiders: it’s foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 2:14).

[Tweet “Having “blind faith” may be good inside church, but to outsiders it is foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). Know why you believe.”]

Josh McDowell, a foremost expert comparing Christian with secular youth, says in The Last Christian Generation: “The majority of our churched young people do not believe Christ is the Son of God, do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity, and think ‘doing good’ earns them a place in Heaven.”

What do we expect when they get one hour of Sunday school or youth group, and eight hours in school where they’re taught “there’s no absolute truth” and the Bible isn’t acceptable?

Are We Exaggerating the “youth exodus” from Church?

No. Statistics in various studies show that 50 to 70 percent of American youth drop out of church and leave their Christian beliefs between the ages of 18 and 22. For example, in David Kinnaman’s 2011 book You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church . . . and Rethinking Faith, he cites research showing nearly three out of every five young Christians disconnect from their churches after the age of 15. That’s nearly 70 percent.

[Tweet “The number of atheist professors on college campuses is a direct connection to students losing faith”]

The increasing number of atheist professors on college campuses is a direct connection to students losing faith. A study at George Mason University revealed that the percentage of professing atheists and agnostics among college professors is 26 percent higher than the general U.S. population. In addition, 51 percent of professors describe the Bible as “an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts,” while only 6 percent of college professors say the Bible is “the actual word of God.”

[Tweet “The percentage of atheist/agnostic professors is 26% higher than the general atheist/agnostic U.S. population.”]

We’ve all heard the stories of Christmas song censorship, valedictorians forbidden to mention God, and football teams not allowed to have student-led prayer. Many school districts do not understand – or choose to ignore – the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment on school property, especially when it comes to Christianity. Christian students and faculty are having their rights and viewpoints trampled.

[Tweet “Christian students and faculty are having their rights and viewpoints trampled.”]

“Political correctness” isn’t limited to public education. Many private schools, even some in Christian denominations, now support the “valuing diversity” theme that makes allowances for those who do not hold to biblical principles.

Let’s hear it from the young people – how do they feel?

[Tweet “Ratio Christi is a nonprofit international campus ministry which exists to encourage and strengthen the faith of Christian students”]

I [Sheryl Young] work with a ministry called Ratio Christi, and I thank Janet Thompson for letting me write here about this issue. Ratio Christi (“Reason of Christ” in Latin) is a nonprofit international campus ministry with over 150 chapters, which exist to encourage and strengthen the faith of Christian students through the use of intellectual investigation called “Christian apologetics” – learning the historical, scientific and philosophical evidence that gives logic, reason and credibility to our Christian faith when presenting it to others.

Curtis Hrischuk, the chapter director for Ratio Christi at North Carolina State University, says: “Most of the students we get are confused when they arrive at college. They’re realizing that they don’t have a strong basis for their faith, and they’re looking for help.”

Ratio Christi’s chapter leaders often hear from their Christian students that even throughout high school they didn’t receive a strong basis of theology to prepare them to face the secular pressure once they got to college. Many felt their church youth groups were all fun and games to keep them occupied, or automatically supposed that kids who came to church were already grounded in the faith and didn’t need much help. Some felt they could speak about deep Christian issues with their parents, and others didn’t.

Grant, a student from the University of Alabama says, “My youth group studied the Bible but (the teachers) pre-supposed that we accepted it as truth.”

Or Bentley from the University of Mississippi: “I was missing the historical, foundation principles and background of Christianity.  I felt it was extremely important to understand who God is, why I believe what I believe, and understand how to defend my faith against those who might try to disrupt it.”

Going back to McDowell’s The Last Christian Generation, he writes of his surveys:

  • Only 33 percent of churched youth said church would be part of their lives when they leave home.
  • 63 percent of them don’t believe Jesus is the only true way to God.
  • Only 6 percent of publicly schooled children now come away with a true belief in the Bible.

It cannot continue to be a church mantra, or a mantra in Christian homes, that our blind faith is enough. Not if we want our kids to keep their faith intact and be persuasive witnesses for Christianity later in life.

[Tweet “It can’t be a church mantra, or a mantra in Christian homes, that blind faith is enough. Not if we want our kids to keep their faith intact.”]

 Ratio Christi Can Help

RC Large Logo.jpg Ratio Christi (RC) students learn to present factual and philosophical evidence for God in classrooms led by atheist professors or to other groups of nonbelievers – and they often end up getting that opportunity. RC students and leaders invite atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and adherents to any religion to attend sessions and investigate the claims of Christianity in friendly discussions.

The nonprofit ministry’s president, Corey Miller, says, “Students who identify themselves as Christians at the beginning of college, with the rest of their lives and careers ahead of them, are under fierce attack and are leaving the Christian faith in alarming numbers.”

A Ratio Christi club member from the University of Virginia, Caitlin says, “If it weren’t for Ratio Christi, I’m not sure I would still be a Christian.” CaitlinBentley adds, “Ratio Christi has taught me how to converse with others about Christianity. It has helped me become more comfortable about being an evangelist of Christ to others.”

Here’s a student named Blake from a Ratio Christi high school-aged group preparing for college:

“Apologetics has given me compelling evidence for the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, and so much more! I strongly believe that if it wasn’t for apologetics, I would not be as effective a witness for Christ.”

Home school groups, school teachers, clergy, church members, parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens are welcome to get involved with RC at all levels, from prayer to becoming RC mentors. Individuals and churches can “adopt a college” to help start a RC chapter if there  isn’t one at their nearest college. Parents might want to learn apologetics along with their kids so that there are no blank stares across the dinner table if a teen comes home excited about what they are discovering.

[Tweet “Parents might want to learn apologetics along with their kids”]

Learn more about how you can get involved with Ratio Christi, or find a college chapter. If a student can’t find an existing chapter at a college of their choice, or wants to find out how to get involved at the high school level, Contact Us. Young people are our future. Helping them know their Lord is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

Sheryl Young is the Media Outreach Coordinator for Ratio Christi, and interviews many chapter students and leaders for RC’s national newsletter.

Sheryl with leafy backgroundIf you receive this blog by email, comment here.

January 11, 2016
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