In just two days, LifeWay Women is going to celebrate the release of Kelly Minter's newest Bible study, Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break. Kelly is a gifted writer and teacher, and if you've ever done one of her studies, you know that her conversational style and her solid understanding of the Word are a great combination.
On Wednesday morning at 11AM central, there will be a live webcast (with prizes!) over on the LifeWay Women Facebook page. If you'd like to enter to win one of the prizes that will be given away that day, you can click over to the Sweepstakes page and click the "Enter Sweepstakes" tab (entries will be closed at 11:59 pm on January 31).
We value you, and we value your insights that help us publish better products and events. This feedback request is for those of you who have gone through the Bible study, Duty or Delight, by Tammie Head.
We would like to know if you and/or your study group used these videos. Please take a minute to post a comment answering these questions:
1. Did you know about the videos?
2. Did you use the videos?
3. Did you find them helpful? Why or why not?
I know it's a little bit of a cliche', but I really do love the beginning of a new year. There's something about a fresh start that makes me extra-hopeful about what's down the road (I guess because the possibilities really do seem endless), and I'm tickled about 2012 already.
I have a couple of big goals and a few small-ish ones for this year; I'm guessing you probably do, too. And unlike years' past when I've either joined in with my regular Bible study group or taken some time to study alone, this time around I'm going to be doing a study in a group of two. A sweet friend and I have decided to do a study together, and I am so looking forward to sitting down with her every week and talking about what we've learned.
I'm also looking forward to sitting down with her and just, you know, talking without being interrupted. Or stopping to fix somebody a sandwich.
NOT THAT THAT EVER HAPPENS, OF COURSE.
And our study this time around? Well, I've heard great things about it.
It's Kelly Minter's No Other Gods, and I have feeling that the Lord is going to use it to do a little toe-stepping in my life. That's a good thing.
What about you? What's your Bible study plan for the first part of the year? Are you trying anything different? Reading through the Bible in a year? Starting a new study?
This giveaway is for any of you who would like to donate this Bible study kit to a church who doesn't have it yet and may not be able to afford it. You may also donate it to a charity such as a women's prison ministry. Post in the comment field, what church you would donate this kit to and why. I can only choose one this time, using random.org. We'll take comments until noon CST on Tuesday, December 20th and post the winner on Wed. morning.
If you live in or around Nashville, you could potentially be in for a real treat on December 13-14. Lisa Harper is taping a new Bible study - Malachi: A Love That Never Lets Go - and if you're interested in attending any of the three sessions, all you have to do is register online.
Registration is totally free, by the way, and what a sweet privilege it would be to sit under Lisa's incredible teaching for one, two or three sessions. The taping is at The Factory at Franklin - Liberty Hall, and who knows? You might even be able to work in a little Christmas shopping before or after the sessions.
Be sure to check out Lisa Harper's website if you'd like to learn more about her and her ministry. Have a great week, everybody!
I think we've probably made it CRYSTAL CLEAR at this point, but I just wanted to post a quick reminder that tomorrow, 11/1, at 11 AM central, there's gonna be a big ole Facebook party to celebrate the release of Beth Moore's new Bible study, James: Mercy Triumphs.
As you can see by the badge on this post, there will be some fabulous prizes, and it'll be a great chance to hear from the LifeWay Women team as well as from Beth herself. If you'd like to enter to win the prizes, check out the LifeWay Women Sweepstakes page and click "enter sweepstakes."
So, just to review:
What: Facebook Party for James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore
When: 11.1.11 at 11 AM central
Where: LifeWay Women Facebook page
Who's Invited: YOU!
We have some good friends who are expecting a baby any day now and they are secretly hoping it will be born on 11-1-11. And who can blame them? How cool is that date?
But even if the baby doesn't go with that plan, there is another reason to mark 11-1-11 on your calendar.
A James Facebook Launch Party! November 1, at 11 a.m. CST. Pam Case and Paige Greene will be hosting the show and Beth Moore is going to join us during the hour! We'll be showing exclusive video footage only available on the webcast show. We'll be giving away lots of stuff, too. Mostly, though, we'll be talking about this amazing new Bible Study and encouraging everyone to study James with us.
We hope you'll all join in the fun! Click James Launch Party to enter for some prizes and SAVE THE DATE!
YES, A James Facebook Launch Party! November 1, at 11 a.m. CST. It's going to be so fun y'all. Pam Case & Paige Greene will be hosting the show and even Beth Moore is going to join us during the hour! We'll be showing exclusive video footage only available to view on the webcast show. We'll be giving away lots of stuff too just for fun. Mostly, though, we'll be talking about this amazing new Bible Study and encouraging everyone to put their feet to action by studying James with us.
We hope you'll all join in the fun! Click James Launch Party to enter for some prizes and SAVE THE DATE!
This fall I decided I didn't have the time to commit to an organized Bible study at my church so my best friend and I picked up Kelly Minter's study of Ruth. It's called Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy. I cannot express how much I love it.
(We also did Kelly's first study, No Other Gods, this summer and adored it. Which is why we decided to continue with Ruth for the fall.)
(I just thought you might want to know.)
Anyway, I came across this quote this morning. Kelly had just taken us through Ruth 2:1-3 where Ruth decides to go glean in the fields and IT JUST SO HAPPENS that the field she ended up working belonged to Boaz.
Kelly talks about how their are no coincidences, but the hand of God in our lives and makes this statement:
"It is my hope that we walk away with a heightened sense of what God is doing all around us, even in the seemingly mundane; and that we remember how purposeful He is, how intently He carves our paths, authors each stroke, and weaves our courses into others' lives."
I've been praying for just that thing. That God would give me a heightened awareness of his presence in my life and that I would see him even in the smallest details.
The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy but really great! I thought I'd catch you up on what's going on around here with LifeWay Women. We just finished taping a new Bible study by Kelly Minter. This will be the third in The Living Room Series. If you loved No Other Gods and Ruth, you're going to love this one! It's on the book of Nehemiah, taught like I've never heard it before.
Nehemiah will have the same fun elements of The Living Room series, with recipes, songs, but we'll also include 20 minute videos each week and this study has a real "GO/Mission" element to it. So, get ready to be changed! It comes out February 2012. We'll talk more about it as we get closer to release date.
We also had a fun time with Lisa Harper last week. Some of you may know Lisa Harper from our Women of Faith friends. Well, we're really excited to have Lisa join the LifeWay Women author team! She's a great story teller, funny, and serious about the gospel! We're publishing a study with her from the book of Malachi, but wait!!! This isn't a study on tithing! It's so much more. Lisa will teach us in practical ways that no matter what, God does not leave us. He responds to us in mercy when He could have responded in wrath. We're not taping this study until December, but rest assured, you'll be hearing more about it in months to come!
And then I found myself in a meeting with a few others from the LifeWay Women team and Tyndale House Publishers, discussing new authors and how we might work together in the future. It was so cool to hear how Tyndale operates much like LifeWay and how we're really all about the same thing: To draw people to Jesus.
And lastly, we had two amazing events this past weekend. Thanks to everyone who either prayed for or attended the Living Proof Live in Salt Lake City and the Going Beyond event in Jacksonville, FL.
I'm ready for another great week here at LifeWay Women, anticipating how I'm going to join in with what God's already busy doing! I can tell you it's a good feeling to get up in the morning and look forward to going to work every day, but more than that, I know it's a calling and I'm just thankful to be a part of the work.
What are you thankful for today? In the midst of the muck and the mire, the really hard stuff, we can still be thankful. Thanks for sharing and have a great Monday!
If you'd like to enter to win this giveaway, it's simple as can be. Just post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community - and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
This giveaway will close Tuesday morning. We'll use random.org to choose a winner.
Remember Sara from yesterday? This week we're giving away 5 copies of Tour of Duty using random.org.
Please post a comment here telling us your story - either you as a military wife, serving in the military or someone you love is a military wife and you want to bless them with this Bible study.
We're hoping you'll get a group of military spouse girlfriends together (they can purchase their copy at lifeway.com or at a local LifeWay Christian Store) and walk through the experience together.
Here's a confession. (How's that for a start for my first time guest-posting here?!)
I never wanted to "do" women's ministry. That sort of ministry, I thought early on, was full of drama and cattiness and gossip that I just did not want any part of. So I avoided women's Bible study sign-ups and passed on invitations to evening get-togethers. It just "wasn't for me," I'd tell myself.
As an early-twenty-something eager to make my mark in a successful career, I preferred to stay in the "man's" world. I worked as a writer/journalist and jumped for the chance to do any fun, interesting adventure that came my way. I interviewed politicians in Washington. Celebrities who professed a faith in Christ in Hollywood. And eventually, I flew to war zones in Iraq to interview soldiers and sailors.
And there, of all places, on the other side of the world in places of both steel (an aircraft carrier) and sand (Baghdad) is where God started working a change in both me and my attitude towards women's ministry. At the time, I just didn't know it.
I was a military spouse for as long as I'd been a writer - my husband joined the Navy Reserves the year before we got engaged - but for the first 10 years, I never really saw myself in that way or as that title. Until Cliff got ready to deploy in 2007. And then everything changed. And gradually, so did my heart towards women's ministry.
Through that first deployment, God taught me (among many things) that I needed other women in my life. To share with. Laugh with. Pray with. And encourage. Me and them.
So I took a deep breath and with God's nudging (more like pushing - ever experienced that?), Wives of Faith began.
We'll celebrate 5 years of ministry this winter. And while there have been wonderful times, learning times, even some lonely times (in leadership there always are those seasons of loneliness, isn't there?) - oh my goodness, there have been some GROWING times! And I'm grateful for all of it!
Military spouses aren't a dime a dozen. Less than 1% of our U.S. population serves in in our Armed Forces. And I am convinced God has a specific purpose and plan for military wives. He knew before we did that we would serve in this special role.
There are so many ladies I've met who have such amazing stories. But they would not call their stories amazing. They would just call it "life."
There's my good friend, an Air Force wife, who supports her husband in his final years of his military career while taking her kids to swim team practice and working as an EMT because she's found a passion to serve people in that way.
There's the military wife and mom I know on Facebook who not only has seen her husband through multiple deployments but is dealing with her own three-year battle against leukemia, sometimes completely on her own.
There's the young National Guard wife who just said goodbye to her husband for a second deployment to Afghanistan in four years and gave birth shortly after he left to their third child.
These women probably would not call themselves brave. They would say they're simply doing what they have to do. But I see bravery in their stories and in others like them every day.
Because what they do matters. They make a difference every day for their families and for others around them. They make a difference because what they do at home helps their spouses serving overseas do what they do for all of us.
So many of these ladies I know are able to do what they do because of their faith. Their relationship with Christ is what keeps them going. And many of them have made the comment, "I don't know how I could do this without Him."
But my thoughts often turn to those spouses who don't know Him. Who didn't grow up in church or who haven't been in a church in a very long time. Who are trying to go it alone. And for these ladies, my prayer is someone - someone like you, for instance - will see them. And friend them. And show them love. The way Jesus would.
My prayer is that someone will remind them that they don't have to be brave on their own. That there is Someone else much braver who will share the journey with them.
So when you meet a military spouse, give her a hug. And tell her she is very loved.
Sara Horn is the founder of Wives of Faith and the author of the LifeWay study, Tour of Duty: Preparing Our Hearts for Deployment. An interview she gave last year with Focus on the Family about military families and her book, GOD Strong: A Military Wife's Spiritual Survival Guide, will re-air Aug. 1. For more information on Sara and her newest release, My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife, coming out this September, visit sarahorn.com
The member books are available now, and the DVD leader kit should be available in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if there are going to be individual use video downloads for purchase or not, but I will check.
For those of you who are doing, or have completed either of the Bible studies, Brave: Honest Questions Women Ask, or Duty or Delight, we'd love to hear from you. Please respond to the questions below in the comment section.
Everyone who responds will have a chance to receive something free. Oh, and one more thing, if you wouldn't mind, please let us know in your comment if you are in age range of 20-35, 36-55, or other. That helps us too!
If you did the Brave study or the Duty or Delight study - tell us how you liked the layout of the study and the magazine-type feel.
If you did Duty or Delight - how did you like the weekly format? Should we do more studies like that or should we stick with the 5 days of homework each week?
If you did Duty or Delight - what did you think about the free online videos with Tammie? Were they helpful? How did you use them?
If you are a leader or facilitator, What about the leader guide, was it helpful to you and what would you want to be different?
We love to hear from you. Thanks for helping us better provide what you want and need!
I'm so excited to tell y'all about an awesome new Bible study resource from Priscilla Shirer called Seed. It's six short videos that you can purchase individually or in packets of three. It would be such a great tool for your Bible study group.
In fact, I'm thinking I just found what I'm going to do for my summer Bible study.
When I was at Deeper Still in Birmingham last December, they were finalizing all the details for Seed and talking about the concept. I remember thinking it sounded like a great idea and couldn't wait to see the whole thing come together because, y'all, Priscilla can teach a word.
And now it's here. What do you think? Would you be interested in using it as a resource for a summer study or some other small group setting?
Many of y'all may know that Beth Moore has been working on a new Bible study on the book of James.
And if you don't know, guess what? Beth has been working on a new Bible study on the book of James.
This week is a big week in the whole process because she will be taping the DVD portion of the study. Needless to say, there are all kinds of moving parts going on behind the scenes to make that happen. I'd love to tell you what those are, but I'm not entirely sure myself.
I just know it's A LOT.
The LifeWay crew and Beth and all those involved would so appreciate your prayers for a smooth taping process. Pray that God will speak through Beth and that all things would come together seamlessly.
And we'll keep you posted on when the James study will be available.
A few days ago Beth Moore and Tammie sat down for a visit about Tammie's new study (video via Beth's blog), and what I thought was so interesting was hearing the timeframe of Tammie's writing. So often we tend to assume that someone just sits down, thinks of a topic, writes a study, and six months later the study magically appears in bookstores nationwide.
The reality, however, looks much different - and I found it fascinating. Especially since I can't imagine writing a book or a Bible study or anything longer than 1500 words. And if I did write anything over 1500 words, it would probably be about bacon.
It's Friday Giveaway Day! Today's Bible Study kit is Covenant by Kay Arthur. One customer who completed this study said, "The very BEST & most INFORMATIVE study I've ever done.The true meaning of a covenant and all it stands for was exposed and shown in a way I never realized or took so seriously. I will never take a covenant lightly again!"
This is a nine session group study with eight weeks of home study. Kay shows that the idea of covenant -- God's enduring promise -- is key to understanding our relationship to God.
As a reminder, here's what to do. Post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
I don't know if y'all have heard (and I'm guessing you haven't) but there's a new Bible study coming out in a few weeks by a brand new LifeWay author. I mean, she's not brand new, but she's brand new to LifeWay.
Her name is Tammie Head and I can't wait to get my hands on her new study because don't we all struggle sometimes between our duty to God and just experiencing genuine delight in Him?
Or is it just me?
Don't tell me if it's just me.
Anyway, here's a video that will give you a quick glimpse of who Tammie is. And we'll keep you posted when the new study becomes available.
Ladies - you don't want to miss out on this amazing Bible study! Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed, The Study of David. Taped at the 2007 Deeper Still women's event, Priscilla Shirer teaches two sessions, Beth Moore teaches two sessions, and Kay Author teaches two sessions. And my personal favorite of this study is the bonus Q & A session.
In case you need a reminder, here's what to do. Post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
We'll use random.org to choose a winner.
Post this link and tweet to your followers! Thanks!
Please email your full name and address to Kris (kris.seidenkranz@lifeway.com) so she can send you the kit. Please also let us know your church website, blog, or Facebook so we can follow the study.
As a reminder, Jamie was chosen using random.org. She was the 26th person to comment and number 26 was chosen this week.
I like to think that I'm pretty well-informed as far as women's Bible studies go. It sort of goes with the territory 'round here since I tend to, you know, blog about a lot of Bible studies and Bible study writers and whathaveyou and so forth and so on.
I'm not nearly as well-informed, though, about Bible studies for teenage girls. I know they're out there, of course, and I know that I could do a good bit of research right here on the LifeWay site.
But I also know that may of you who read here are very involved in your churches and women's groups and youth groups. And so I thought I'd ask you to chime in with your opinion(s) about something:
What are some of your favorite Bible study resources for teenage girls? What are the studies that have worked the very best for you in a small group setting?
A couple of days ago I watched the promotional video for Brave, a new Bible study by Angela Thomas. Some of the questions she poses really resonated with me, so I'm definitely intrigued. I have to finish David before I can start anything new, though. I mean, I'm capable of a certain degree of multi-tasking, but I think two Bible studies at once might be what the experts would call counterproductive what with the constant feeling of being overwhelmed by Bible study homework at all.
(This is merely my own personal theory.)
(There might be a large contingent of people who work their way through four Bible studies at once and simultaneously study Greek and Hebrew.)
(And to those people: HATS OFF.)
Anyway, as I was looking at all the materials for Brave, I noticed that you can purchase individual videos for the study if you don't have a need for the big leader kit. I've been buying the individual use videos for David each week, and OH MY WORD, DELIGHTFUL. It's so nice to be able to download the videos and then watch them right here from the comfort of my couch. And it's a great option if you don't have access to a group Bible study or maybe feel called to study alone for a few months.
It's Friday again so you know what that means here on LifeWay Women All Access!
This week's FREE Bible study kit is Return to the Garden by Kay Arthur. Can I just tell you how much I love Kay Arthur? The first week I started doing marketing for LifeWay Women, I got to meet Ms. Kay at the taping of this very study. I don't think enough people really know what Return to the Garden is really about. She wrote the study after her book, The Truth about Sex. Everyone wants to know more about sex, right? Anyway, Kay, in only the way Ms. Kay can, talks about a woman's sexuality, and how we are designer goods, designed by God. It is an honest, redemptive call to return to God's standard of purity. The amazing thing is this study will speak to teenagers, young women, single, married, and those who have been married for a very long time.
As a reminder, here's what to do. Post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
This weeks FREE Bible study kit is Can We Talk, by Priscilla Shirer. I think this would be a GREAT study to blog about. It's personal, it's challenging, it WILL move us forward in our walk with Jesus!
As a reminder, here's what to do. Post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
As a reminder, here's what to do. Post a comment here telling us how you'll use the Bible study - through an online study on your blog or Facebook, or in your local community and blog about it. Include the link to your social media site. That's it.
PS: this is a great weekend retreat Bible study so if you were to receive the study, you could also plan a weekend with your girlfriends and post about that too. I'm also thinking we'll feature each person who wins these studies in future weeks right here on All Access!
It's a new year, and after three months of stumbling over boxes piled up in my office, I decided to do some "house" cleaning. Guess what I found? 10 Bible study kits that are damaged on the outside but perfectly perfect on the inside! SO, for the next 10 Fridays, we'll be giving away a LifeWay Women Bible study kit.
Esther is one of my all time favorite Bible studies. I'm sure many of you may have already taken this study, but "for such a time as this," you might lead a new group of women through Esther.
How about this? If you'd be interested in doing an online Bible study using the kit either through your blog or Facebook, or if you'd like to lead a group of women in your local community through the study and blog about it as you go through, then let us know and post the link to where you'd talk about he study in your comment.
From there, we will use random.org to choose a winner with the comments posted. We'll announce the winner each week on Tuesday's post.
Okay, so we're probably mentioning this a little late. But Beth Moore is having a year long scripture memory challenge on her blog.
The goal is to memorize two scriptures a month for the next twelve months. I participated when she did this a year ago and it was so rewarding. And, in what can only be a testament to God's power, I still remember most of my scriptures.
Anyway, if you're interested in participating, it's not too late to sign up. Just click here for all the details.
And in case you're curious, here is the first verse I've decided to memorize this year:
"So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ. See things from His perspective." Colossians 3:1-2 (The Message)
This morning I was reading the story of David and Goliath, and something jumped out at me that I've never noticed before.
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. - 1 Samuel 17:38-39, NIV
Did anybody else catch that? David's going into battle against Goliath. Saul's trying to prepare him. But David has the wherewithal to know that what has worked for Saul - the armor and the helmet and the whole shebang - isn't going to work for him.
The Message translation says this:
Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.
In the end David goes with what he knows: a staff, five smooth stones, and a slingshot. It wasn't the most sophisticated line of defense, but David knew that it was exactly how he needed to face his foe. He didn't go back on his word to fight Goliath when Saul strapped on all that armor; he just had the courage to speak up and stand up for what was going to give him the best shot at defeating the Philistine.
(Please pardon the pun.)
(I couldn't resist.)
(I do apologize.)
It occurred to me a few minutes ago that, as women, we can sometimes feel self-conscious if we don't fight our battles the same ways the people around us are fighting theirs. We fall into those traps of self-doubt, insecurity and comparison, and we think we have to "suit up" for the stuff in our lives just like the person down the street has suited up for hers. But that's just not true.
The Holy Spirit is going to lead all of us differently as we tend to the business of this life. Let's be courageous enough (and oh have mercy am I ever talking to myself here) to realize that we don't have to walk around wearing a uniform that's way too heavy and cumbersome for us - even though it may have worked really well for the last person who wore it.
We need to be so careful that we don't fall into the trap of feeling like serving God and serving our families requires following somebody else's formula, you know?
Let's follow David's lead today and have the courage to realize when we need to throw off the stuff that may have worked for somebody else - but might not necessarily be the best way for us.
I have a really annoying tendency to commit to roughly 471 things at one time. And somehow I convince myself that I can do a really great job at all 471 of those things if I just manage my time. If I just plan. If I just make a point to stick to a schedule every single day.
Last fall was a classic case in point. In addition to my normal work as a wife and mama, and in addition to the work I do outside the home, and in addition to writing for two blogs and writing the occasional article for Home Life, I decided that I was going to jump back into choir at our church. And I also decided that I was going to take a theology class at our church. Because, you know, I have so much free time.
Now here's the thing: I loved singing in the choir. And I loved that theology class. LOVED IT. But what I found was that there were real-life needs in my real-life family, and if I didn't phase out some of the overcommitment, I was going to find myself telling those family members that I wouldn't be able to help them during their time of need because I absolutely HAD TO BE in my theology class. Not to mention choir practice.
You can appreciate the irony.
In the end the family needs prevailed, as well they should have. I know there will be another time when I'll be able to sit in theology class and soak in all that great teaching, when I'll be able to stand in the choir and sing my heart out. But right now, the first things have to be the first things. Even if I were some sort of time management genius - which, oh have mercy, I AM NOT - there's just not room in our family's life for me to be involved with a whole lot of extras.
And this year, I'm embracing that. I think our lives will be saner and our family's time together will be healthier if mama here isn't quite so scattered.
Because of all the stuff I just mentioned, I'm making a temporary change in how I do Bible study, too; I'm going to do a study all by myself. Now don't get me wrong - I am a huge believer in group Bible study. WE NEED EACH OTHER. But to try to cut down on the craziness just a little bit, I'm going to take a little hiatus from my Bible study group and study on my own for a few months. I'm super-excited about it, actually. And you can rest assured that Melanie and my friend Emma Kate will be getting regular updates on what I'm learning. I've never been very good at keeping that sort of stuff to myself.
Last week I ran by our local LifeWay store and bought a member book for the updated version of Beth Moore's David: Seeking A Heart Like His. Since I don't have the DVDs, I'm just going to buy the individual video downloads when I finish each week's homework. It's super-convenient, and I'm so grateful to still have access to the video teaching even though I'm not part of a big group right now.
So that's what's in store for me here at the beginning of 2011. What about you? Are you doing a study with a big group? Or are you studying on your own?
If my "Prayer Chair" could talk it might tell you some pretty soapy secrets about my life. It's true isn't it? If you are like me, a look back at my prayer journal reveals the real condition of my heart on any given day, during any given season. Psalms 139 says that God knows everything about us anyway. He not only knows the heart condition, He even knows the overflow of the heart--the words we are going to speak before we speak them. God knows our secrets and He sometimes calls us to share them for the life of another.
Sharing my most shameful life secret is part of the ministry of "testimony" God has called me into through my Lifeway Bible Study "Surrendering the Secret". Over the past 3 years God has opened doors for me to share with hundreds of churches across the US and thousands of women who carry the heartbreak of a past abortion.
I was recently asked to help verify a few of the often-quoted statistics about abortion:
43% of American women of childbearing age have experienced an abortion
Nearly ½ of all pregnancies are "unplanned" and 4 out of 10 end in abortion.
Since abortion was legalized and estimated 55 million lives have been lost.
The statistics are difficult to prove since the main organizations following abortion are those whose goal is to justify it's legality.
A few mornings ago I read Genesis 18 and 19 where Abraham is pleading before God for the protection of the few righteous men and women living in Sodom and Gomorrah, specifically his own family. I was reminded of my search and my prayers asking God to reveal the truth about how many women, and men, are being held in bondage over this devastating lie about freedom and choice.
Are you aware of how many family and friends around you who are hiding the secret heartbreak and shame of a past abortion?
Are there a Hundred? Fifty? Twenty? Ten? One?
Regardless of statistics, my question is much like Abraham's...Does it really matter if there are millions, which I fully believe there are, or would it be worth our ministry and prayers, if it was just one? One woman who on one very tragic day, made one very tragic decision to have her own son or daughter ripped from her life thereby stepping into a dark pit of secrecy and shame that she would always feel she deserved until someone came along to tell her about God's immeasurable grace and unfailing love.
Would you do it for one?
If so, I will be offering a Post Abortion Recovery Leadership Training January 22, 2011 in Eagle River, AK. I would love to tell you how.
We are currently establishing our Surrendering the Secret Certified Leader Training schedule for 2011 as well as "Imagine Me, Set Free" Women's Conference Dates. www.surrenderingthesecret.com
COMING SOON: FREE Webcast
LifeWay Women Live: Surrendering the Secret
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
@ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (Central Time)
One of my long time LifeWay retail friends, Angela who buys gifts for our stores, has been leading Bible studies here at LifeWay during lunch time for several years now. Currently they are going through Faithful, Abundant, True by Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer . . . They have 30 women here in Nashville going through what we affectionately call the "FAT" study!
You can download a free Sample and purchase a study book here. Lifeway.com
And did everyone know you can download the videos online to view on your computer anytime? And they only cost $4.99 a session!
We would love to know if you're planning to do the study!
Based on her new trade book, Do You Know Who I Am and other Brave Questions Women Ask, this upcoming Bible study, Brave: Honest Questions Women Ask, releases February 2011. I personally can't wait to take this study with my girlfriends!
I know we have to wait, but just wanted to wet your appetite with what's coming up! In the study, Angela looks boldly at some of the fears and struggles we face as women, and she helps us see how we can be brave in the face of those challenges.
We've been so busy getting ready for the Beth Moore simulcast this weekend that we've failed to let you know that there is a new study coming out.
Well, actually not a new study, but a brand new updated version of David: A Heart Like His. I did the old version of this study several years ago and it was amazing. I just know this new one would be a great one to keep in mind for the future!
Do you see the video with Pam and Paige that's over to your right?
Well, even though I like to think that I keep up pretty well with what's going on at LifeWay Women, I learned something new when I watched that video. Oh yes I did.
About a year ago a friend of mine who's a good bit younger than I am asked me if I would meet with her once a week. You know, just to talk through some stuff and pray together. I was a little surprised by her request, but since I felt like it was something the Lord wanted me to do, I agreed.
And do you know what? I have absolutely loved our time together over the last year. I think we're going to be in each other's lives for a long time, and I am so grateful for that. But as the older person in our friendship, I've sometimes felt like I didn't exactly know the best way to lead us. Should our time be more structured? Should I bring some sort of lesson? It's a tricky balance balance to find the place between making the most of your time and lecturing from atop a tower of books, you know?
All that to say: when I watched Pam and Paige's video, I was so happy to see a resource called Table For Two. It's designed for one-on-one discipleship, and I am tickled - TICKLED - to know about it because I think it'll give my friend and me a framework for our time together each week. I have a feeling that it's going to be exactly what I didn't know I needed.
If that makes sense. Which it probably doesn't. So feel free to just smile and nod with a puzzled look on your face.
So what about y'all? Any favorite resources or words-o-wisdom for mentoring younger women? We'd love to hear (or read, as it were) your thoughts!
So Monday morning I decided that if I didn't do some major housecleaning the stacks of paper were surely GOING TO OVERTAKE US ALL, and I spent the better part of the day trying to restore some order to our home. I was bound and determined to get a handle on the clutter.
I was working my way through a bookshelf in our kitchen when I spied a workbook for Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed by Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur, and I thought, That's weird - I thought my workbook for that study was over by the computer. As it turned out, my workbook was in fact by the computer - all filled-out and dog-eared and well-loved - but apparently I had an extra, unused workbook as well. I have no idea why. Maybe the workbook got lonely and snuck into our house for company.
Anyway, since I've already completed the study, I thought maybe one of you could use the workbook. Leave a comment if you're interested, and if more than one person comments, I'll use random.org to pick a winner. The study is excellent - filmed at Deeper Still in Nashville in 2007 - and it would be a great solution if you're not in a group study right now (you can listen to the sessions or watch the videos online).
I'm really hoping one of you can use it - I'm sure it'll be delighted to move to a less cluttered home. :-) I'll leave comments open until Tuesday night, June 29th - and announce the winner on June 30th.
So yesterday I mentioned that I'd just finished Priscilla Shirer's One in a Million Bible study. A few of you asked for more information about it (and by a few, I think I mean one) so I thought I'd share a little bit about what I learned throughout the study.
The entire focus is on the children of Israel. When Moses led them out of Egypt there were two million of them, yet of the original two million, only two made it to the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb.
Priscilla discusses what the wilderness can look like in our own lives and how God uses it to bring us to a place of intimacy with Him. God doesn't want us to merely seek Him for His benefits, but to seek Him because we desire to know Him more. And God knows our hearts.
Honestly, there were so many times throughout the study that I became uncomfortable with how much I related to the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. I'd get frustrated by how quick they were to forget that the same God who parted the Red Sea and provided manna for each new day was the God who was leading them on this journey. Yet they doubted and complained and grumbled.
I'd never do that.
Right.
How often do I forget what God has delivered me from? The blessings He's poured out on my family? The trials He's helped us through when logic and common sense said that there was no solution? Yet I worry and I fret and I complain when a new situation arises. It kind of makes me feel like an idiot when I stop and think about it.
But after Moses died, Joshua took over. And with Joshua came a new brand of leadership. Joshua didn't doubt. He took God at His word and acted immediately. As Priscilla says, "Joshua acted fearlessly, in spite of insurmountable odds."
And he was rewarded with the Promised Land.
I want to have that kind of faith. I don't want to just sit in church every Sunday and learn a nice, neat little lesson. I want a faith that will change my life and the lives around me. I want a faith that leaves my fears behind.
One thing Priscilla said that has really stuck with me is, "The area of sensitivity and tenderness in your life is probably the area where God wants you to experience the most victory, where He wants the biggest ministry to come from your life." That's not always an easy thing. That area is sensitive and tender for a reason, yet it might be the very thing God wants to use. The question is will we let Him use it. Will we surrender ourselves and our fear and our pride to let God use us?
In the words of Priscilla, "God doesn't call us to do the possible. He calls us to do the impossible and then He equips us to handle it."
My Bible study group at church finished Priscilla Shirer's One in a Million study a few weeks ago. I loved it so much and am going to write more about it in the next day or so. I'm still wrapping my mind around a lot of it and letting it sink in.
We're taking a break over the summer and won't be doing a formal Bible study. I'm still working through (and catching up) on reading through the Bible in a year, so I plan to use this summer to really focus on that. Especially because I still have to get through the minor prophets and that's going to take some dedication and tenacity.
What about you? Is your womens' ministry or small group doing a Bible study this summer? I'd love to know which one because I am curious. Which is just a nicer way of saying I'm nosy.
When I was about 17 years old I went to a church retreat over Christmas break and heard someone read Ephesians 3:20 during one of the sessions I attended. I don't know why, but that verse really resonated with me, and I underlined it in my Bible. When I went to college I looked back at that verse from time to time, and I clung to it in more situations than I can tell you. It was such a comfort to me, such a reminder that I didn't have to control every single thing because God was working to do something far greater than I could ask or imagine.
Then my early 20s hit. They hit hard. I didn't do much to resist them, honestly. And that verse pretty much fell by the wayside in my thoughts. Things were ug-ly for me from 21-25, mainly because I wasn't terribly concerned with anything other than what I wanted. l was prideful and miserable and dishonest and manipulative. Believe me: if I could somehow go back in time and meet up with my former, early 20s self, I don't think I'd like her very much. That much selfishness isn't very becoming in a person.
When I was 25 I decided that I needed to get my act together, grow up and be responsible. I didn't do those things perfectly by any stretch of the imagination, but I really wanted to do better. At 27 I got a job in a Christian school (who'd have thunk it?), and a few months later I sat in the almost-back row in a little Methodist church in Baton Rouge and just wept at the fresh realization of God's faithfulness in my life.
I had tried my best to run away from Him.
He didn't let me.
And that verse - Ephesians 3:20 - meant more to me than ever before.
This past December I went to Oklahoma City for Deeper Still. Melanie had been to Deeper Still Orlando a few months before, so I knew that Priscilla Shirer's message was on Ephesians 3:20-21. I was excited that she was teaching on that passage, especially since it's been such a life verse for me, but honestly, I never, ever expected how deeply her message would move me. It marked me, in fact. It was humbling and encouraging and convicting and challenging.
I tell you all of that because Priscilla's teaching on Ephesians 3:20 is the "Abundant" part of the Faithful, Abundant, True Bible study. And if you're a person like me who sometimes battles with regret, who oftentimes just flat-out marvels at God's grace, who maybe wonders a little bit what in the world God is up to in your life, who struggles from time to time with trusting where He's taking you even though you know in your heart of hearts that it's going to be good and worth it in the end - well, Priscilla has a word for you.
He really can do beyond our beyond.
And I'm so grateful to Priscilla for the reminder.
I had the chance to attend Deeper Still Orlando last fall. The messages that Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer shared were incredible and full of so much wisdom.
The best part is that you're going to have the chance to hear their teaching for yourself. The new study "Faithful, Abundant, True" releases on May 1 and was filmed at Deeper Still Orlando.
I guarantee you will be blessed by it! It would be a great one to keep in mind as your church groups begin to think about summer Bible study options.
For the first time in, well, ever, I'm leading a womens' Bible study group at my church. We're doing Priscilla Shirer's One in A Million and I absolutely love it even though we're only on week two and it's already stepped on my toes. A lot.
The premise of the entire study is that there were two million children of Israel when Moses led them out of Egypt, yet only two of them actually made it to the Promised Land. What made Joshua and Caleb different from the rest?
I'll let you know when the study is over. It's like a cliffhanger.
But I'll share what I've learned already in this past week. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They were treated harshly and worked in unimaginable conditions, yet after they were delivered from those circumstances it didn't take much time at all before they were grumbling and complaining about the lack of meat. Seriously? They were being beaten and worked to death, yet they're all "But God, at least we had some fish and spices!'
It's easy to think I'd never do that, but I do. I'm guilty of it every day. "But God, at least I knew I had a steady paycheck" or "God, how are you going to provide because I don't see any way out of this situation?" When circumstances start to look bleak, I have a tendency to imagine the worst case scenario and think about how much better things used to be. I forget the pain and heartaches that went along with my former path and that I'm walking the path that God has called me to walk, a path of freedom. The path that will lead to my own promised land.
It may not always be easy. In fact, it won't be easy. Like Priscilla says in the study "Sometimes God allows seasons of the wilderness in our lives to put us in a position where we have to see God's power working through us."
The wilderness isn't easy. I've spent a lot of time in the last few years feeling like I was wandering around a desert (I nearly typed dessert. Which, let's be honest, wandering around a dessert would be preferable to a desert. I'll take chocolate!) not sure of where I'm supposed to be heading and feeling like I've left everything familiar and comfortable behind.
But I also know that I've seen the hand of God move in my life more in these past few years than at any other time. It hasn't always been the timing I would have chosen or the way I would have expected, but He shows up.
As Priscilla quotes from Job 42:5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You."
Priscilla Shirer's new book, One in a Million, hits the shelves in book stores and discount stores and online stores this week, and if this video is any indication, it is going to be absolutely incredible. Not to mention convicting.
This afternoon I was doing some of my week six homework in Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman, and something Beth wrote really resonated with me:
"Glance over at your Bible. Think what you've been through with God in those pages....Think of the hope, guidance, assurance and affection you've sought. Think how thankful you are that God wrote something you can hold to your chest, rocking back and forth, when your heart is shattered and your sight too blurred to read. Every Bible is the Word of God, but with no ears to hear it, hearts to love it, or hands to warm themselves by the fire of it, man is tragically lost to it."
I underlined every single bit of that in my member book. Just so you know.
Here's the thing. This morning I woke up with a heavy heart, and as I was making coffee and getting breakfast ready, I told God how I was feeling. I didn't ask Him to make all my troubles disappear; I just told Him that I was feeling discouraged and needed to remember how much He loves me. Needed to feel how much He loves me, even. It may sound a little crazy, but I really wished that there was a way for God to give me a big ole hug.
Perhaps I've overshared. :-)
Anyway, just a few hours later, I was in a chapel service - still dealing with the heart heaviness - when someone read Psalm 86:11-13:
"Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave."
And then Jeremiah 32:38-41:
"They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul."
I try to be careful that I don't assign more meaning to things than they deserve, but let me tell you: I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that those passages were for me. They were for other people, too, of course - but I felt like God used His Word to give me a big ole hug. He's sweet like that, you know.
So when I read Beth's reminder that God gives us "hope, guidance, assurance, and affection" on the pages of His Word - well, I may have amen'd a little.
About three years ago I was looking for an online Bible study that I could do on my own. It was one of those times when my schedule didn't match up very well with the times my church was offering Bible study, so I thought maybe I could find some downloads on the web.
The first place I looked? The LifeWay Women site. They only had a couple of downloadable studies at the time, and I'd already completed them. But I remember thinking how great it would be there were more online resources - especially since work and school schedules aren't always compatible with attending a weekday morning Bible study.
Granted, there's something so special about sitting in a real-live room with real-live friends and talking about real-live issues - but in those seasons of life that are a little more jam-packed than others, being able to do Bible study online is a wonderful alternative, don't you think?
Are any of y'all using the web for Bible study right now? How do you like it?
Today I finished my second week of homework for Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman, and the study is every bit as wonderful as y'all told me it would be. I'm seeing something new in the book of Esther every single day (thanks to Beth), and I just LOVE THAT.
A couple of days ago our lesson focused on the "beauty treatments" that Esther and all the other girls had to endure. Beth pointed out that as beautiful as the girls were, they still had to "complete twelve months of beauty treatments...six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics" (2:12b).
That's a pretty strong message, isn't it? It's essentially like Xerxes' men said, "Well, we recognize that you're the most beautiful girls in the entire land, but you're still not enough. Maybe in twelve months - after we subject you to no telling what in the name of beauty - you'll be ready to be presented to the king." I mean, I don't know about y'all, but if somebody told me that it was going to take twelve months to even make me presentable, I might feel a smidge discouraged.
But you know what? Esther's generation was neither the first nor the last to be subjected to that standard. Our culture essentially does the same thing to our girls. I saw a story last week about a beautiful 20-something who had ten plastic surgery procedures done in one day. TV and movies are CHOCK FULL of images that create completely distorted expectations where beauty is concerned. Pick up a magazine in the checkout line, and odds are that you'll see someone who has been nipped, tucked, lifted, enhanced, plumped or injected within an inch of his or her life.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with wanting to look your best. I'm just saying that if we think chasing after an unattainable standard is going to make us happy, we're totally fooling ourselves.
So I'm wondering: if you're a mother or a grandmother to girls, how do you help your girls handle the beauty-related pressures of our culture? Is it as difficult as it seems like it must be? Because as the mama of a boy, I think all the time that parenting a girl in this day and age must bring with it a completely different set of challenges.
Yesterday I finished my first week of homework for Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman, and I can't get over how the first chapter of the book of Esther has just captivated me. I can't wait to watch the DVD tonight at Bible study.
One of the main points Beth makes in the first week of Esther is that it's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow. She talks about how women tend to compare themselves to other women, and she even makes the statement that we notice more about the women around us than men do. She's right, you know.
I like to think that I'm a person who doesn't do a lot of comparing, but what I've realized this week is that I compare without even being aware of it. What's been so interesting to me about this whole comparison revelation is that I don't compare so that I can feel better about myself. It's actually the opposite. Because what I've noticed over the last few days is that almost every single time a comparison races through my brain, it's like a pity party alarm.
My hair doesn't look nearly as good as hers does.
Her marriage seems perfect.
She's a much more patient mama than I am.
I'd love to get to know her, but she has so many friends that she'd never have time to go to lunch with me.
You know the drill. And the drill? IS RIDICULOUS.
Earlier today I was talking to Melanie - who knows better than anyone that fear is a much bigger issue for me than comparison / insecurity - and I told her that I've been so surprised by how this week's homework has shown me that I'm not nearly as healthy in this area as I thought I was. I guess the mindset of comparison has been so ingrained in my thoughts that I didn't even recognize it for what it was.
But now I know. And the good news is that I'm excited to see how God uses this Bible study to tear down some unhealthy junk in my head and my heart and then put the pieces back together again.
What about you? Do you struggle with comparing yourself to other women? How do you deal with it?
This past Thursday night I finally - FINALLY - started Beth Moore's Esther Bible study. I have wanted to do this study for almost a year, so I may have been just a wee bit over-the-top excited when I arrived at my friend Mary Jo's house Thursday night. To my credit there were not any hitchkicks involved, but I'm pretty sure that I clapped my hands about seventeen times too many.
I loved the introductory session, and it totally piqued my interest. But I can totally tell that the homework - OH, THE HOMEWORK - well, that is going to be the thing that pulls me into the Esther's story more than I can even imagine. I love how Beth points out the parallels between Esther's culture and ours, and I'm just so curious to see where this study is going. Can't wait.
Yesterday I was finishing up the homework for day two, and Beth asked us to list the reasons why "prioritizing wealth and strutting riches are wastes of precious time." She pointed us back to Psalm 49, and as I was reading I thought about how much time I've wasted wanting STUFF. It was an especially big struggle for me in my 20s, and while I'm so grateful that God has shown me over and over again that a blind pursuit for things is absolutely meaningless, it is easy to lose perspective in our culture. Which is why I was so grateful for Beth's perspective at the end of day two's homework:
"I can tell you something that will never be a waste of time: ascribing to God His measureless worth. Oddly the most freeing thing we can ever do is to abdicate the throne of our own miniature kingdoms. Our status is infinitely higher as a servant in God's kingdom than a ruler in ours."
What are some practical ways that you address or handle the world's emphasis on wealth and riches? Do you feel like you've had some victory in terms of keeping materialism at bay?
I love the fresh start that a new year brings. Normally I spend the first few days of the new year organizing my house and getting my new calendar JUST LIKE I LIKE IT, but I've been a little under the weather for the last few days, and unfortunately the only projects I've really been able to tackle are the ones I've watched other people do on HGTV.
The good news is that I don't know when I've ever been more rested at the beginning of a year. Ten-plus hours of sleep a night will do that for a girl. And this week - even though I'm almost a year late to the party - my super-rested self is going to be starting Beth Moore's Esther Bible study. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be a perfect blend of instruction and encouragement in this particular season of my life.
So what about y'all? What do you have planned? Are you doing something with a group or something on your own? A DVD study? Reading through the Bible in a year?
I'm a little bit of a nerd in that I love - LOVE - me a Bible study listening guide. Or maybe you call it a viewer guide (my terminology may not be exact, but please know that it's heartfelt, amen). There's just something about filling in the blanks and being able to read back over completed notes that delights me. So when I miss Bible study and don't get to fill in the listening guide for that week - well, it makes me a little cuckoo. I feel like I missed out.
But you know what? I don't have to feel that way EVER AGAIN. At least not if I'm doing one of Beth Moore's Bible studies. Because do you know what I found the other day? Online listening guides for all of Beth's DVD studies. So if you miss a week of Bible study and want to fill in the blanks of your listening guide, YOU TOTALLY CAN.
Does that make any other obsessive people jump for joy?
Priscilla Shirer's One In A Million listening guides are available, too - if you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll see a link for the viewer guide with answer and the viewer guide without answers.
Hope y'all are doing great on this Thursday. I have the most delightful discovery to share with y'all, so I wanted to jump on here and tell you before I forget.
And as someone who has forgotten to buy lasagna noodles on her last two trips to the grocery store, I can assure you that the telling-before-forgetting is key with me lately. This pattern does not bode well for my Christmas shopping.
ANYWAY, I know that this is the time of the year when a lot of you are trying to decide on what Bible study your church or small group is going to be starting in January. I'm one of those people who will stand in the LifeWay store and thumb through books until the workers probably want to ask me to leave - because a new Bible study or a new book is a commitment, you know? I want to know that I'm making a well-informed decision about whatever I decide to buy.
Well.
Right now you can download a free sample lesson from the Breaking Free member book. It's actually the introduction and the lessons for the first two days - so it's a great overview of what the study involves. You can print out the pages and work through them and everything...such a great resource if you're trying to figure out if Beth Moore's new version of Breaking Free might be the right fit for your next round of Bible study.
When Melanie and I were in Nashville for the National Leadership Forum, we had been in the LifeWay building for approximately four minutes when our friend Mary walked up and said, "Did y'all hear Margaret Feinberg? Because I LOVED HER."
Unfortunately Melanie and I didn't hear Margaret Feinberg because we were still in the vicinity of the Nashville airport when she spoke, but thanks to the wonder of ye olde high-falutin' technology, we ALL get to hear her now. On the Scouting the Divine podcast.
If we were all in the same room right now we could totally have a group hug.
And listen - if you like the podcast, then be sure to check out the Scouting the Divine Bible study that will be available at the beginning of 2010.
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
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris