Listen now to the "Inside LifeWay" podcast with Vicki Courtney. Vicki says, "There seems to be universal issues with which "church girls" and non-church girls alike are struggling. In this podcast, she sets out to address several of those that "Mom needs to pay more attention to and have some relative, key conversations regarding."
Vicki's received feedback from mothers who are gaining the courage from the 5 Conversations Bible study to have these difficult conversations that include such topics as "You are more than the sum of your parts" and "Sex is great and worth the wait."
"Don't ever act shocked when your daughter comes to you," Courtney said. "If you do and she tells you something and sees that, 'Oh, wow, this freaked my mom out,' she's not going to come back and want to talk to you in the future. We have to make sure and have our game face on. It's that air of confidence."
Check out the 5 Conversations Blog. If you've got a daughter, my guess is you're probably going to want to check out this study for sure.
By the time we got to Friday night at the Women's Forum I had a terrible headache that I think was partly due to dehydration (I always forget to drink water when I'm away from home) and the nervous energy that I'd built up before our portion of the webcast.
All I really wanted to do was climb in my comfortable hotel bed (with a fitted bottom sheet!) with a bottle of Advil and the remote control. The only thing that stopped me was knowing Kelly Minter was about to have a little concert over at the LifeWay headquarters and I'd regret missing it.
Ironically, it never occurred to me that I could have just stayed in bed and watched it through the power of the internet.
So I popped my two Advil, drank a Diet Coke and Sophie and I headed over to see Kelly Minter.
I cannot express how glad I am that we did.
Kelly took us through the whole book of Ruth and shared how God led her to write her new Bible study, Ruth, and the companion CD, Loss, Love and Legacy. I loved her honesty, I loved her humor and I loved her humble heart.
And after hearing her on Friday night, I can't wait to get my hands on her new study of Ruth.
Now I know y'all are a savvy Bible-study bunch, so you're probably well-aware of what I'm about to tell you - but tomorrow is a mighty big Bible study day, oh yes it is.
If you've ever heard Beth Moore teach, you've probably heard her say that Breaking Free is her life message. And this new version - which was filmed at Franklin Avenue Baptist in New Orleans and contains testimonies from women who have broken free of strongholds in their lives - promises to be absolutely awesome.
And do you know what I love? If this is a season of your life when you can't be a part of a group Bible study at your church or in your town (been there, had the crazy schedule, done that), you can actually watch the teaching sessions online. It's a deeee-lightful option if you really want to dig deep in the Word but don't have room for another outside-the-house commitment.
Sometimes technology makes me smile.
Have any of you done the first Breaking Free study? And are any of you planning to do this new one?
**This post written by Jen Hatmaker
As a believer for 26 years, a full time church staff wife for thirteen years, after diligently serving the church my entire adult life, and after writing six Christian books for women, I thought I was done with entire life interruption for the kingdom. And yet...
God enlisted me in the cause of my generation, the mission of His true church when I thought I already had the Christian life figured out. I have never experienced transformation like I have in the last two years. I liken my life interruption to an adult conversion experience, which is exactly what it has been for me. I've never written about a subject that is more meaningful than this one. I am obsessed, convinced, transformed, and zealous. Everything about our life has changed, and I want to drag as many people as possible over the edge with me.
Part memoir, part journal entries, part confessional, and part exhortation from a girl whose comfortable involvement in the sequestered Christian subculture was interrupted in favor of serving the last, the least, the forgotten, and the forsaken. This is my story of moving from the west side to the south side, from big rockin' church to teeny missional church plant, from serving the saved to serving the least.
As one member of the marketing team for Interrupted put it: "This is the book no one wants to read because everything might have to change." I hope it will help you cast off the spiritual anchors of apathy, complacency, comfort, and boredom, which are drowning an increasing number of believers, rendering their faith and their churches irrelevant and obsolete.
I was asked recently, "How did Jesus interrupt your life?" The better question is: How HASN'T Jesus interrupted our life? Every bucket that held a paradigm, a worldview, a value, a habit, a system, a preference, a discipline, a comfort, or a conviction has been overturned. We spend our money differently. We celebrate holidays differently. We spend time with different people doing different things. We serve different people. We pray differently. We are burdened for different needs. We moved. We changed. We reimagined. We are being transformed.
Amid the chaos of utter change, we discovered a new joy in serving Jesus in the least of these, where He said he could always be found. We are learning what it means to be the church, a people who do not fight against culture, but for it. We have discovered the dangerous, exciting, unpredictable world of living on mission, and we'll never go back. After 28 years of being a believer, I feel as if I'm finally starting to truly commune with Jesus.
I heard the concept of "God's kingdom" reframed recently, as kingdom language has less relevance to western believers who don't live in that political context. Whenever we read "God's kingdom", imagine it as "God's dreams for this planet." So my new prayer is:
"God, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." -------------- "God, may all your dreams for this planet come true, starting with me."
This blog post written by Pat Layton, author of Surrendering the Secret
Jer 9:20 (NIV) Now, O Women, hear the word of the Lord, open your ears to the words of His mouth--Teach your daughters to wail (utter a prolonged, inarticulate, mournful cry in grief or suffering) teach one another a lament (To feel and show grief, sorrow or regret).
The line that follows these words of scripture says, "Death has climbed through our windows".
Indeed it has.
Since January 22, 1973 America has aborted over 1.5 million babies each year. That is over 50 million lost lives. For every baby lost to death by abortion, a mother lives with her heartbreaking choice. Statistics tell us that 43% of all women of childbearing age has experienced at least one past abortion. Many of those women are sitting next to you in church, Bible study, or Sunday School. They are your daughters, sisters, best friends and neighbors. They are Bible Study teachers, bank clerks, wives and mothers and they are hiding a secret deep inside. A secret rarely discussed and one they feel terrified to share.
They have had an abortion.
Some of us who have made that shame filled choice have found and understand the redemptive healing of Jesus Christ. Many, many more, have not. Millions of our Christian sisters still remain captured by the shame and guilt of a past abortion. The result is not only a live that is not fully free to embrace all that God has for her, but also
results in a silent and powerless church.
Through Surrendering the Secret Lifeway Women's Ministries has provided a "wailing wall" of sorts that provides those women as well as our sisters and daughters who have not experienced an abortion, an opportunity to "wail" and "lament" their way to healing and restoration for themselves and for one another.
Maybe even more importantly, STS provides an opportunity to speak out about the pain and heartbreak caused by abortion in our nation.
"Surrendering the Secret" is a post abortion recovery and education Bible study that is setting women free all over the Nation. Since January of this year over 200 ministry leaders have been trained and thousands of products have been placed in the hands of the church.
If you are one of those women who have experienced the pain of a past abortion, or if you are a woman who just wants to hold a Christian sister in your arms while she cries, please consider offering "Surrendering the Secret" in your church or woman's ministry.
Verse 24 of this same chapter in Jeremiah 9 says:
"I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these, I delight declares the Lord"
Will you join us sisters, as we follow God's mandate and Wail and Lament for those lives lost to abortion and the mothers and fathers in the church who suffer in silence with the secret?
Don't Miss Melanie's post below (girl, I'm always in need of chocolate, dark that is) . . . but had to let you hear our girl Priscilla. She's gonna bring it in this brand spankin new Bible study. One in a Million is now available!
We have big news on three fronts on this fine Monday morning. And all the news happens tomorrow. On Tuesday. But I'm announcing it today so that you can color-code your calendars accordingly.
Not that I've personally ever done such a thing, of course.
First, LifeWay Women's Pam Case and Paige Greene will be doing a live webcast tomorrow at 12 pm central. Click on over if you'd like to watch the webcast; I can promise you before it even starts that those two girls will make you giggle.
Second, Priscilla Shirer's new Bible study, One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land, hits stores tomorrow. I haven't seen it yet, but Pam (the same Pam who I mentioned in the previous paragraph - see how all of this information is just connecting beautifully?) tells me that it is absolutely phenomenal. Can't wait to check it out.
Finally, Travis Cottrell's new CD, Jesus Saves LIVE, also hits stores tomorrow. It. is. incredible. I actually saw several of the CDs in my LifeWay store late last week, so you might even be able to pick up a copy a little early. This CD has been such a blessing to our family already, and I know it'll bless yours, too.
I am so excited because Vicki Courtney's new Bible study "Five Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter" is finally out. I actually got to be a part of the taping, but still have yet to see the finished product.
Please don't let the fact that I was part of the taping keep you from doing the study. Just focus on Vicki and pay no attention to the big goob sitting on the couch trying to find the book of Nehemiah in her Bible.
But I can assure you that based on the messages Vicki delivered during the taping, it's going to be incredible. It would be a great opportunity to get together with other moms of daughters and encourage each other as we try to raise these girls to be women after God's own heart.
And stay tuned, because rumor has it that we'll be doing a giveaway for it in the next couple of weeks.
Last year, on the Living Proof Ministries blog, they decided to do a summer Bible study. Thousands of women joined in every week and they went through Kelly Minter's study, "No Other Gods" and it was just an amazing experience.
The good news is that they're doing it again this summer and announced yesterday that the study will be Jennifer Rothschild's "Me, Myself and Lies". Go check out the post on the LPM blog if you're interested in being a part of it and if you want to purchase the study you can click here to order it.
All righty, girls - today I have a few links to share. I've run across all of these in the last week or so, and I thought I'd put them together in a post because, as you may have noticed, I am terribly organized.
Did I just hear some of you laughing?
I'm pretty sure that I just heard some of you laughing.
Anyway, here are some links I think you'll enjoy.
- If you've ever missed a week of your Bible study, then you know how hard it can be to find a good time to borrow the DVD from your leader so that you can get caught up. And that is why these Bible study video downloads are such a treat - because you can catch up on your own time.
- If you're in women's ministry, you might be interested in a webcast that's coming up on May 12th. It's called "Loving in Spite (Of): Ministering to Women Whose Husbands are Not Spiritual Leaders," and it's hosted by Chris Adams and Betsy Langmade.
- A few years ago Beth Moore did a Living Proof Live event for young women. At that event there was a Q&A with Beth, Christy Nockels and Melissa Moore (now Fitzpatrick). You can download the Q&A right here; if you're in college and career ministry OR if you're a young woman who values some solid advice and wisdom, the Q&A is a fantastic resource.
(Now is when I'm really tempted to say that technology is a wonder.)
(But I won't say that since I have a tendency to say it ALL THE TIME.)
(And y'all are so nice that I don't want to annoy you.)
First of all, I need to apologize because I said in the original post that I'd announce the Discerning The Voice of God DVDs giveaway winner this past Thursday, April 8th.
And now it's Monday, April 12th. I hang my head in shame.
You can blame my forgetfulness on all the pound cakes I've been baking the last four or five days. Quite frankly I found it very difficult to concentrate in the presence of that much butter and sugar.
But the good news is that we have a winner!
Congratulations, Karissa! You'll have an email from me sometime today with info about how to claim your prize.
Our buddy Rich always provides us with incredible photographs after Living Proof Live or Deeper Still events, and this past weekend was no exception. In fact, I checked my email while I was still sitting in the New Orleans airport Saturday afternoon, and sure enough, I found two emails that were chock-full-o-great images.
You can't even imagine how grateful Melanie and I were, especially since the powerful flashes on our little point and shoot cameras pretty much just enable us to take some excellent pictures of the stage steps.
So anyway, as I was looking through Rich's photographs, I ran across this one, and I immediately decided it was my favorite. Because like so many of y'all, I am just wild about the five people you see below.
And I thought it would be oh-so-fun if we could give this picture a caption.
Fire away with your best one, everybody. You can leave as many captions as you'd like, but please leave each caption in a separate comment.
We'll close entries, this Friday, April 10th, and we'll round up some LifeWay folks to select a winner.
The prize? A copy of Kelly Minter's No Other Gods Bible study.
For the last couple of months I've been working my way through Priscilla Shirer's Discerning The Voice of God with my Bible study group. We have enjoyed the study so much - it is convicting and incredibly encouraging to study Scripture and be reminded how deeply God treasures us, how lovingly He speaks to us. I had some serious a-ha moments as I worked through the homework, and I know I'll go back to the lessons again and again.
Tonight our group will watch our final DVD session, and then we're moving on to Anne Graham Lotz's Pursuing More of Jesus (the video sessions for Pursuing are available online, by the way - I think that is SNAZZY). Anyway, yesterday I started to think about wrapping up one study and beginning another one, and I had me a brainstorm, oh yes I did.
Here is the gist of my brainstorm:
1. We're about to finish the Discerning DVDs.
2. My Bible study group would love to pass along the DVDs.
3. Maybe someone who reads AllAccess would like to use the DVDs in their church or Bible study.
I never said my brainstorm was, you know, fancy.
So, if you'd like to win the DVDs that accompany Discerning The Voice of God, just leave a comment and tell me when and how you plan to use them. I'll draw a winner randomly and announce the winner next Thursday, April 8th.
If you've ever sat under Priscilla Shirer's teaching, you've probably heard her recite a powerful poem about the character of God. I heard it for the first time at Deeper Still in Nashville, and I've often wondered if there was a written copy somewhere.
A few months ago we used Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: A Study of David (which was filmed at Deeper Still Nashville) in our Bible study, and once the ladies in our group heard Priscilla recite that same poem, my sweet friend Mary Jo looked at me and said, "You HAVE to find a copy of that."
So, four months later, here it is. I am obviously VERY prompt and organized.
Regardless, I'm tickled to have a copy now. I found it on Priscilla Shirer's website, and the author is unknown.
As my pastor would say: it'll preach.
He is the First and Last,
The Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times.
He always was,
He always is, and He always will be...
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can't understand him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him,
and The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him,
and The people couldn't hold Him!
Nero couldn't crush Him,
Hitler couldn't silence Him,
The New Age can't replace Him,
and Oprah can't explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging,
and His mind is on me.
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because
His bond is love,
His burden is light,
and His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because
He is the wisdom of the wise,
the power of the powerful,
the ancient of days,
the ruler of rulers,
the leader of leaders,
the overseer of the overcomers,
and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you,
try this on for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
never forsake me,
never mislead me,
never forget me,
never overlook me,
and never cancel my appointment in His
appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I! fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!
He is everything for everybody everywhere, every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you're wondering why I feel so secure, understand this...
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control,
I am on His side,
and that means all is well with my soul.
Everyday is a blessing for GOD Is!
Last week our little guy spent a few days with my parents in Mississippi, so I had a chance to catch up on some stuff. I caught up with friends, I caught up on TV and (hiding my face in my hands) I caught up on my Bible study.
What? You say that you've never fallen behind on your Bible study? Why, HELLO, ALIEN. WELCOME TO OUR PLANET.
Oh, I kid. Kinda.
Anyway, right now my Bible study group is working through Priscilla Shirer's Discerning the Voice of God, and it is hitting me right between the eyes. I struggle a lot (A LOT) with feelings of condemnation and shame because of some Old Junk, and if I'm not careful I start to mistake the enemy's lies for truth. Even worse, I start to believe those lies, and before I know it I'm mired down in what I can only describe as spiritual paralysis. If you've ever dealt with something similar, you know it's not a whole lot of fun.
Friday afternoon, after a pretty intense time of talking and praying with a sweet friend, I asked God for some direction in dealing with these fearful / unworthy / waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop feelings that keep popping up in my life. And please don't misunderstand - I wasn't asking the Lord to tell me that my hair looks cute or that He likes my sassy jeans so that I can feel better about myself. I just needed to be reminded of who I am IN HIM because that's the part of my faith that the enemy seems to go after more than anything else.
Not even 24 hours later, when I was catching up on my Bible study Saturday afternoon, I found myself reading these words in Discerning: "His goal is never to bring guilt and condemnation by continually reminding me of my past sins but rather to bring healing and obedience by turning my attention to my future with Him."
And then: "God has the right to condemn us, but He has chosen not to throw stones. He bestows grace and love despite what we have done, because His very nature is love."
And then: "The purpose of the voice of condemnation is to push you away from His presence - that which is the very source of your victory. The purpose of the voice of conviction is to press you into the face of Christ." - Bob Sorge
I just thought it was the sweetest thing in the world for God to give me that assurance. His voice is LOVING - and while yes, that loving voice may beckon every single one of us to uncomfortable places as we seek restoration and chase after holiness, it will never, ever condemn us. It will never accuse us. It will never mock us.
He is loving.
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." - Psalm 62:5
Melanie
Melanie
Sophie
Sophie
Pam
Pam
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris