Category Archives: Inspirational

Inspirational, Spiritual

Godly Heroes: A Hero is in You!

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This blog is an excerpt from my talk at the Ohio District Ladies Day Service.

The word Hero conjures up a variety of mental images. If I did an opinion poll today, there would be a vast array of opinions as to what a hero is. To some of you, the word hero brings about the thoughts of a specific person or event, to others it is a set of characteristics and a specific type of person, and to others, sadly, some would say that heroes don’t exist in this life. As the mother of 2 small boys, I am well acquainted with society’s concept of a hero. Masked crusaders, caped avengers, and web spinning good guys are constantly on a collision course at my house. At any given moment, I can be spun into a web, wrestled to safety from a bad guy, and whisked away from danger to a castle. Any object can be transformed from ordinary to extraordinary on these hero expeditions. A simple towel becomes a cape filled with mysterious, world changing super powers.

As women we are bombarded with another set of images from society on what it means for us to be a hero. We must be SuperMOM, SuperWife, and on a SuperCareerTrack. We have to have spotless homes, stylish, clean, polite children, Food Network worthy meals on the table, and we must do all of this with fit/trim/sexy bodies that will make us feel strong and make our husbands happy and proud. The quest to be a hero is daunting in 21st century America. A sports figure will be called hero in the news while living a self-indulgent and self-centered life and be paid 98 million dollars for their skills on a basketball court, while a volunteer firefighter quietly risks their life for the lives of others, dodging fire, flames, and unforeseen adversity, and does so with no financial renumeration.

As I sat down to think about what makes a Godly hero, I had scriptural examples flood into my mind.
• Jael proved to be a strong, determined woman who God used to defeat the enemy of Israel. The Bible praises her calling her most blessed for killing the enemy king
• Jocebed, Moses mother, nursed him and trained him in the knowledge and fear of the Lord and instilled enough in him by the age of 5 that when she had to give him up to Pharaoh’s daughter, she had already placed enough faith in her son that he was willing to suffer the afflictions of the righteous than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
• Mary, the mother of Jesus, was willing to take on the shame and ridicule of an unwed pregnancy, knowing and pondering in her heart that she was birthing the messiah. She endured persecution for His namesake before He ever even was revealed as human flesh.

The bible is filled with examples of heroes of the faith, women worthy of honor, women whose children rise and call her blessed. Chances are in your life, you won’t be a Jael. God will not ask you to drive a literal spike through the head of an adversary. We, as New Testament believers wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spirits and principalities and powers in this world.
When thinking of modern day heroes of the faith and people that I look to as Godly examples, I immediately had a scripture come to mind. It isn’t a scripture that one would commonly go to in order to define heroism, but it is the set of scriptures from which we should derive the mission statement of our lives. If we want to be used of God and contend earnestly for the faith that was delivered to the saints, we need to pattern our lives after

Matthew 28:19-20. (NIV)
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This set of verses lays out for us the great commission. If we aren’t living the great commission, we really can’t even be called children of God much less heroes of the Faith.

A Hero is full of the GO: Therefore Go
A Hero of faith is willing to step out and do whatever God asks them to do. This doesn’t always mean you have to go to another country, another state, another city, or even another neighborhood. This means that you are just willing to have some of that Get up and Go. Ain’t no one gonna break your stride, aint’ no one gonna slow you down! Gotta keep on moving!!! Sometimes with the responsibilities and realities of life, it is difficult to always be “on your go”. A hero of the faith is always willing though and is there to listen to the voice of God and if that voice says to go to Giant Eagle instead of Kroger’s, it goes. Being a soul winner is not a one-time event. It usually doesn’t even really effectively happen at big crusades. Soul Winning is just always being ready to give an account for the power and the joy in you and your willingness to spread the seed of the gospel. Johnny Appleseed became an American Hero through his kind and generous ways by putting apple trees all throughout the mid-west and the United States. He simply did this by spreading seed everywhere that he went. He planted nurseries and put fences around them to keep the animals out. A hero of the Faith is simply a spiritual Johnny Appleseed. The tree and the fruit that comes forth isn’t your responsibility, but it is God’s. Just don’t be afraid to constantly be about your Fathers business and spreading hope and truth into your community. Be a GO saint. One day I felt an immense drawing to visit an area mall that I don’t normally go to and have my kids play in that play place. I really didn’t feel like doing it. I often feel that my life is as a full time entertainment and event planner with my 2 children as my CEO’s. I obeyed that urging though and happened on a single mother of a 4 year old daughter that started pouring herself out to me right there. I had never met this woman, but she was hungry for change in her life. At only 24 years old she has already been in AA for 5 years and has a laundry list of addictions and situations that she is working to overcome. I have since become acquainted with her and she stays in touch and desires to be part of the Bridge Church. I was blown away by God that day. After walking with him for 30 years you would think I wouldn’t be surprised by His ways but I am. I want that get up and Go for the kingdom.
Acts 1:8 But ye SHALL receive power after that the holy ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and in the uttermost parts of the earth.

You don’t have to GO too far to make a full impact. Be on your Go in your Jerusalem and it will spread.

A Hero is full of the MAKE: make disciples of all nations
A true hero of faith is into building people up and making them all that God desires for them to be. We live in a broken world where people hear negative things every second of everyday. The last thing they want to do is meet a Christian or attend a church that makes them feel depressed! The Joy of the Lord is our Strength. A hero of the faith is into helping people, healing people, growing people, and discipling people. A hero of the faith is willing to share their knowledge of the things of God with somebody. A hero doesn’t desire to come across as the expert but is willing to share and grow others up to their level. The true Heroes of the Faith model themselves after Jesus. He poured of himself and mentored 12 disciples and those closest to him so they could work in harmony in one mind and one accord towards accomplishing the greater will of Christ.

A Hero is all about Baptism: A Hero leads people to the water: Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (And we know that name is Jesus)

A true hero of the faith is strong in doctrine. While Going and Making, they will not compromise.

Ephesians 4:14-15 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that, which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

To be a hero and grow the body of Christ, you do not have to compromise your message. Jesus said unless a man be born of water and of Spirit he shall not see the kingdom of God. When asked on the day of Pentecost what to do and how to respond to the message that was being preached, Peter brought us the foundational truth of the early church and of our movement

Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I’m thankful for heroes that believe the message of the cross. I’m thankful for heroes that preached the gospel even when it hurt, even when it brought persecution to them, even when it cost them something, even when it cost them everything, even in countries where it is illegal!!!
The gospel message is HIS death, burial, and resurrection. Oh that I may KNOW Him!!! When we know him in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his suffering, we are on our way to stardom!! If there was a Hollywood walk of fame where the heroes of the faith put their star, those who were not afraid to preach Christ and Him crucified, would be front and center on that walk.

A true Hero of the Faith is a Teacher: Teaching them everything that I commanded you

A Hero of the Faith is on their Go, Making and speaking into others, leading people to baptism and the knowledge of truth, and in the process does it with the heart of a teacher. A teacher is someone who leads, guides, and instructs. Jesus was the great teacher. A teacher does not spread knowledge through harshness and rebuke, but in love instructs. The heart of a teacher is not a heart of judgementalism and phariseeism but someone who speaks the truth in love. A teacher knows that the greatest commandment and the greatest law is love! Because of love, a hero of the faith takes people under their wings and mentors and guides them. The biggest job of a parent is to teach your children all things. We instruct them in life, academics, love, and spirituality. A Hero of the Faith is a Spiritual Parent. A Hero of the faith knows that they need to be in the word of God for growth so they have something to share with others.

NIV 1 Peter 2: 1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The best part of being a hero of the faith is that we all have the tools in our arsenal to be a HERO. It doesn’t require superhuman strength or supernatural powers, it only requires that we are submissive to the plan and will of God and that we striving to walk in the great commission. Being a hero for God is filled with all kinds of promises that we can stand on. Matthew 28:19-20 didn’t end with imploring us to GO, MAKE, BAPTIZE, and TEACH, but it ended with a promise that we can stand on.

Matthew 28:20
(The Message) I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age (NIV)
(KJV) and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
So all you Hero’s out there, be encouraged!! God has equipped and empowered you for his service. With his supernatural powers and our natural giftings and abilities, nothing can stop the move of God that is destined to happen. He has already overcome the world!

Inspirational, Spiritual

Fasting

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I am not afraid to admit that fasting is my least favorite spiritual discipline. With all of the decadence that surrounds me every time I leave the house, a simple trip to the post office can make my best fasting aspirations falter. Who even knew that Smokey Bones, Famous Dave’s, and even Burger King really smelled that good in the air wafting from restaurant to enclosed car with lightening speed? Smells, sounds, and environmental factors that I don’t even notice on an average day, call out to me when I choose to fast. For a few years I justified my struggle with fasting declaring to myself that fasting is a spiritual gift that some people are just better at than others. While to a degree this may be true, this logic was as faulty as saying exercise isn’t good for everyone, just some. We know that people with health issues, pregnant ladies, and diabetics have to streamline their fasting and use wisdom, but for the rest of us average saints, we really don’t have very many excuses to offer up to God that are legitimate.

I was decent at fasting as a teenager and in my early twenties. In fact, every week I went a minimum of one 24 hour period without food and liquid except water and embarked on my first prolonged fast without food and liquid except water in my very early twenties. I was shocked to find that going 3 plus days with nothing but water really wasn’t as hard as I had imagined. Sure, it was no picnic in the park and sure I wasn’t the most energetic human during these time periods, but I discovered I could do it! Jonathan and I began a tradition of beginning our new years with a prolonged fast, a tradition that we continue and lead our church to do, and I was excited. When I turned 24, I got pregnant with my first child and fasting took a back seat. I do not think it is wise for pregnant women to abstain from food. This may just be my opinion, but I think that God had no problems with that. I went straight from pregnancy to nursing and anyone that has nursed can attest to the fact that your appetite could beat out any Olympic athlete’s appetite. After this period of 2 years of pregnancy and nursing, I found that fasting became the unwanted friend again in my life. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I began to incorporate the weekly 24 hour fast into my life again, but I just couldn’t get back in the swing of extended fasting. Thankfully for me and my flesh, I got pregnant again. Whew!! I was justified. Another two year period of pregnancy and nursing had saved me from this spiritual discipline.

While this blog was not intended to be a confessional, I guess it has become one. I just want to encourage people that it is normal and even okay to struggle sometimes. We are human!!! I was inspired for this blog by my Bible reading this morning. While reading in Genesis, I was struck with a series of verses that I have read numerous times before and that had not stood out to me like they did today. Hagar, Sarah’s maid and Abraham’s mistress was able to say to God, “You see me and I see you”!! She called the spring where she had cried out to God “the God who sees me spring”. This simple revelation by a lowly member of society, a mere maid, who was not only a maid but a fornicator and the incubator for an illegitimate child made me realize that God sees me and all of my randomness. He knows all my insecurities, he knows all my struggles and yet, He sees me! He cares!

I am convinced that this scripture stood out to me because this confessional has a happy ending. The word of God becomes alive and organic in your life and heart when you’re dedicated to spiritual disciplines. I decided at the end of 2009 that I was tired of my excuses and I was tired of just fasting one day a week and that in 2010 I was going to reinstitute a strict fasting discipline in my life. My goal this year is to fast 3-5 day stretches at a time every single month in addition to my day a week. You don’t have to be Moses or Jesus and go 40 day stretches. Fasts like those have to be divinely and spiritually inspired and led and really ought to be under a Doctor’s supervision. I’m happy to say that God has proved himself in these time periods of 3-5 days. It has been unreal to me the doors He has opened, the scriptures He has shown me, and the way my spirit has been overwhelmed. I have had more spontaneous Bible studies with strangers in random places than I have had in years. This, as a side note, works out quite well in my favor since we are starting a church. I have been amazed at the doors to the unchurched that have been opened to me. Certainly giving up that Chipotle Burrito Bowl a few days a month has been worth the God encounters I have had.

I can’t explain to you in the physical why fasting works. It really makes no sense except that studies have proven that people that incorporate fasting into their lives live longer, healthier, and happier. God has a really funny way of proving things in the physical that we should already know in the spiritual. The key to fasting is simple, you must read your bible, pray, and be constantly meditating. If you don’t do these things, fasting is nothing but a way to be really hungry, tired, and crabby. It seems simple, but trust me; I’ve tried a three day fast in which I didn’t pray anymore than I do on a normal day. It was crazy. I justified it because my two toddlers are constantly harassing me and if you think prolonged periods of intercessory prayer are easy when you’re alone with 2 little boys 24/7, you’ve got something else coming! I made a pact with God in addition to my fasting pact in 2010 that my bible reading and prayer life would also improve. They have! God is addicting. The Bible is addicting. Prayer is addicting. Fasting is addicting. I promise. I didn’t believe it either until I had tried. That is why in the book of Acts they said they were “addicted” to the ministry of the saints. I believe it! It is like crack. Go several days having the power of God manifest in your life and prove my point. You’ll never go back to ordinary. I’m 25% of the way through reading my bible cover to cover for the 2nd time this year. From now on, I’m never just going to read my bible through once a year. I use to find this acceptable in my life. No more.

Ministering to and loving others is amazingly easy when it is an overflow of a well of joy that you have dug up in your own life. I challenge you to go beyond ordinary. Really become radical and God will show you, He really is the God who sees! He sees you, now go out and make it a point in your life to really see Him.

As a side note: The book “Fasting” by Jentzen Franklin is a great read explaining reasons for, types of, and ways to fast.
Inspirational, Spiritual

Don’t Go for Gold

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Weeping as she clutched the cold gold medal, Olympian Lindsay Vonn, the USA women’s champion downhill skier in the 2010 Vancouver Winter games, was quoted as saying “I gave up everything for this.” At the age of 25, she has achieved everything she worked for. In a very similar story, eight time consecutive gold medalist in the 2008 Summer Olympic games, Michael Phelps, America’s swimming hero and Olympic great, was quoted as saying, “This is everything I’ve ever wanted to do, everything I’ve dreamed of.” Shortly following, in an interview he gave to Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show, Michael fumbled when asked about his future; he was at a loss on what to do. He knew that his focus was his body and told Matt that at the next Olympics, his body will be older and he could probably never replicate his hero status again. At the age of 23, Michael Phelps had achieved everything he desired. Following his rise to fame and his status as history’s greatest Olympian, we saw his very public fall from grace when photos of him doing drugs surfaced.

History tells us that Alexander the great, King of Greece in the times before Christ, had conquered his known world by the age of 28 and wept bitterly because achieving his goals and dreams didn’t give him whatever it was that he was looking for. Repeatedly both in pop culture and throughout history, we view icons of sports, fashion, government, and music with awe and wonder, never realizing the sorrow that many of them feel once they have achieved everything they set out within themselves to achieve. The demons of self have the ability to torture both the great achievers and the under reachers. Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and depression run rampant in the lives of those striving to achieve great things in this life. Countless examples could be shared of those with great wealth and fame who have not found happiness, and sadly, have taken their own lives through suicide or drug overdose when they discover that the glittery pull of self centered, pleasure seeking lives bring with them no earthly reward.

The Bible tells us that life is a race. This race isn’t about who crosses the finish line first, but rather about who is able to endure to the end. Our goal is not to pick up a gold medal and put it across our necks, but rather to take up a wooden, rugged cross, and put it on our backs. The apostle Paul tells us that bodily exercise profits little. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t want us to have healthy, physically fit bodies, but instead to not let the goals and achievements of this life overshadow our eternal purpose. Through our human eyes, the gold is much more attractive than splintered wood, but we are called to serve. Matthew 10:39(NIV) tells us “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” There is no life without Christ. Sure, you breathe oxygen in and expel Carbon dioxide out, but that isn’t truly living.

Are you willing to be an Olympian for Christ? Are you willing to stand in the ranks of Saints, who like Lindsay Vonn in the physical, stood up in the spiritual with a cross instead of a medal and say “I gave up everything for this”? No one ever won a gold medal without intense dedication and the constant denial of self. The same can be said for winning the ultimate prize, eternal life. Purpose in your heart today to take up your cross, follow Jesus, and get some endurance in your spirit. You will not be disappointed if this is the path you take!
Inspirational, Spiritual

Behold I Make All Things New

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Rev 21:3-6 (KJV)
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

As we embarked on a new year a couple of weeks ago, and even better, a new decade, it is human nature to assess where we’ve been and where we are going. The beauty and very nature of the gospel was to make all things new. To take darkness and make it light. To take a sin stained life of scarlet and make it white as snow. You are playing a key role in ensuring that the the people that you come into contact with can move forward spiritually. The only direction that we should be following Christ is forward. If we are going backward, then surely Christ isn’t our guide. Although not a very deep thought when pondered, it is oftentimes difficult to truly grasp and believe that your past is over. Yesterday is gone. Today and this moment is what counts.

With the promises of change echoing in the halls of parliament and demands for revolution in our government structure, what better time is there to share with the world change that they can really believe in? No other product can promise beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and dancing in the place of sorrows. If you have fallen behind in your commitments, now is the time to make all things new and begin fresh again. If you have been faithful in your commitments, keep standing. You are God’s hands and feet to share the gospel. Let it be your resolution from this point onward to be an active participant in the great commission!
Inspirational, Spiritual

Choose Encouragement

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The lyrics of an all time Christian classic filled my head as I stared out the window. “Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?” “His eye is on the sparrow” is a favorite at churches of all denominations across the country for a reason. We all go through seasons of life that bring hardship and trials. Nobody has it easy.
In the book of Numbers, God became downright angry at those that discouraged the children of Israel. They were at a crossroads upon encountering Kadesh-Barnea. It was time to seize the land of promise. I noticed that God didn’t chastise the spies that went into the land who were timid of the giants, but he brought judgment to those who used those giants to discourage others from the promises of God. I’m sure that Joshua and Caleb felt their throats tighten and their heart rates increase at the sight of the obstacles ahead. They were human after all. God has not asked us to be superhero’s, but to simply trust. The children of Israel were more inclined to follow the path of fear and discouragement than to follow the men of God and the promises of God. Gods anger was so kindled at those sowing seeds of doubt that nobody 20 and over was able to enter the promised land. How many of us are wandering through dry, desert seasons in our life because we believed the naysayers and allowed life situations and gossips to discourage us?

Num 32:6-14
“Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 So the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.

Later in Ezra the people of the land were working over time to discourage the people of Judah. They tried to frustrate their purpose and block their “building program”. We are faced with a choice everyday to build up or tear down, to encourage or discourage, to feel frustrated, or to be an overcomer. What choice will you make today? We are faced with the daunting task of sharing the Apostolic truth with a metro area that is home to 2.9 million souls. Many of them have no idea what it means to be “spirit filled”. They are locked in traditions of religion and traditions of men. Thank you for choosing to encourage us and support us and not focus on the giants we have to face and the battles to be fought. People do not need reminded of the difficulty of their task, but of the greatness of their redeemer.