My best friends....

I have a few friends in life that I would not trade for any THING. You know who you are. They have laughed and cried with me through many times in life. They have thrilled at what thrills me and sorrowed right along with me in times of distress and defeat. I hope they would say the same about my love for them. But even closer than these friends are my friends that are not tangible; they never leave my side and actually abide in my heart and mind. Their names are Hope and Joy. When I am at the end of my rope, they kick in and find a way to help me through. If you see one you will see the other. They are best friends; kissin' cousins. Last night someone in my house told me as we were saying good night, "I don't feel any joy in my life right now." Right away my motherly instincts rose up and began to try and solve that dilemna. I said that we would begin to study where Joy comes from. But I know already that Joy leaves when Hope leaves; they are inseparable. So, we need to invite Hope to come back. Joy will be toddling right behind, no doubt. Jesus knew this. He had hope that all of his suffering was going to birth something INCREDIBLE. We believers are testimonies that his hope was founded in truth. His sacrifice paid off in me, I know that. I am so thankful to the Lord for being real to me. I met Jesus at age seven. I had quite a talk with Him, told Him I wanted to clean my heart of my sins. Then I was baptized in Jesus' name in Lake Galilee. Later on, I was baptized with His Spirit and spoke with tongues. He has lived in me ever since. I KNOW JESUS. Therefore, I am a part of the JOY that Jesus endured the cross for. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Jesus knew that the torture and shame that he was enduring would pay off. He had HOPE and JOY right there near Him on the cross. All of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Luke 15:7 "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." So, since JOY is in heaven, HOPE must be there too. Invite your friend HOPE back and JOY will walk in also. HOPE must be founded in things that will not let you down. People may let us down, careers, possessions, relationships, our government, all these things and more may let us down, but Jesus will never let you down. Soak up His presence, speak in His language, dance in His freedom, sing those words of praise. JOY AND HOPE will be singing and dancing right along with you. They are such good friends to have. I have let HOPE go lately so, JOY left too. I am TODAY inviting them back in my life.

I fell down.

When we stumble, it is so embarrassing! Once I was rushing to a college class and as I reached the top of the stairs, my shoe caught the lip of the top stair and I went sprawling like a baseball player trying to make a base. My arms, which were loaded with books(no backpack)flew out to catch my fall and I laid there in front of several students who were waiting to get into classes. Oh! I was so embarrassed. One nice young man quickly came to my rescue and helped me up and another one bagan to gather my up notebooks and textbook. It is really funny to recall NOW, but at the time I just wanted to vanish. When we stumble IN LIFE though, due to heavy burdens or mistakes we have made, we must know that the Lord somehow relates to us and comes to us to help us up. He really does relate to us. He did not fall due to his own carelessness or misjudgment; he fell due to the weight of OUR GRIEFS AND SORROWS. This pain was placed upon him by US. The weight of mistakes and sins can feel heavier than a physical weight. Jesus really does know how it feels to fall. Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. I love what the psalmist David wrote in Psalm 145:14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Don't lose heart; keep trusting. Don't assume that since you have fallen you are without help. Pride can keep us from asking for help. Pride is a lousy friend. James wrote, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10. Jesus is right beside you holding his hand out to help you up.

I hate pain, but it can be a gift.

When you hurt deeply, it hardly matters to you who sees or hears your cry; you are just desparatly needing help. While in heavy labor trying to deliver a baby, it matters not who comes in the room. All you think about is getting that baby out and getting relief of pain. While pinned in a car after a car wreck you don't worry about how messy your hair is or how horrible you look, you just want to be cut free and given medical help. Pain humbles us. Pain humbles us a lot. As we read the story in the Bible where Hannah cried out with such anguish that Eli the high priest, thought she was drunk and apparently struck her (marked her mouth) in disgust. She was not drunk, she weeping for a child. She was at the end of her own strength; her pride did not matter anymore. She decided that she would either hear from God or she would die in pain. Have you ever hurt that much? God hears our cry and he will send us help. We may be suprised at where the help comes from. We must not let pride determine whether the help God sends us is good enough or not. We learn a bit of how the Lord felt when he was ministered to and worshipped by those that were common or unclean. Things seem different when you are in tremendous pain. Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Our Lord knows pain, he chose pain to "buy" our peace, he chose pain to ensure we could be healed. He put our griefs and sorrows on his back. He understand pain and grief and he understands humility.

Joy is hard to hide.

My son Tim preached the other Sunday that our job is to believe and have faith; to trust. It seems so simplistic, but it is true. We can't heal people or move mountains but we can exercise our faith. Bro. Jeff Arnold shocked us at General Conference with the message that it is not enough to just preach the Gospel, we must perform the Gospel! We must lay hands on the sick, we must speak faith to others. We must show or exhibit our faith, we must move! When life is so hard you feel like crumbling in a heap, it is in the performing and moving that we find our strength. For the joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 IT IS MY STRENGTH! Joy shows. Joy is hard to contain. Joy goes down to your feet. Joy brings strength. Worshipping the Lord IS WHERE MY STRENGTH COMES FROM. It may be so hard to hold your head up sometimes; life can suddenly change and you feel the ground under your feet shaking, or even gone, but remember that there is a strength above our natural strength; it is supernatural. It simply cannot be explained. When one relaxes in the presence of God and let's go of all this world's troubles, one finds joy and subsequently finds strength. Trust and obey... for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, you must trust and obey.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Want to know God's plan for your life?

God has intentions for you. Yes, you, individually! He has a plan for YOUR life. It is already written. As I was studying recently, I came across a familiar verse, which made me want to look further into the deeper meanings of the verse. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (NKJV) Well, here it is, the word "thoughts" is better translated intentions! God's intentions are higher than ours, his thoughts are higher than ours. He has intentions for us personally!!! Now the fun part is to find out what his intentions are for us. I can almost guarantee you they are different than what our intentions are for ourselves. He has such better plans for us; richer, deeper, more blessed, more thrilling, more far-reaching, more generationally inpacting, THAN WE COULD EVER IMPAGINE. Just ponder Josheph's life for one minute. In his wildest dreams, (and he did dream, we know that) he never dreamed that he would have such an impact on the whole world and for many generations to come. Among other things, he single-handedly saved the entire Hebrew nation. Back to you, now. Seek God in your own way for his plans, firt lay your life totally on the altar. Lay it all down. Every dream, every plan and ambition. Allow the Lord to lead you by His Word. New and exciting things will be begin to transpire. New people will come in your life. Don't turn opportunities that come your way down (of course, make sure that your pastor and parents would approve). Take risks. Let the doors begin to open. Don't be afraid. God will never hurt you. << < = = > >>

Saturday, July 7, 2012

When your plans change.

When your plans change! I have always been somewhat in awe of those that plan out their lives with such meticulous care. I've had teacher friends that planned the month they would give birth to their baby so as to not disrupt their school year. And others that have planned ahead with money management programs so they knew right when they would be debt free. Even though I am curious and as I said "in awe" of that forethought, I simply cannot relate. It seems that I am handed a daily plate of variables and managing those variables is a supreme challenge. There are certain things that are not negotiable. My love and commitment to the Lord and to the church is not going to budge. I know better than to go that direction. And faithfulness to my husband and children; not giving in there either. But there are unexpected visitors that constantly knock on our front doors, like: unexpected bills, broken hearts, health issues, infertility, unexpected fertility, accidents, being led by the Lord to do certain things or go certain places. When you hear from God that you are to go back to school and have to live on "peanuts" for years, or when you hear from God to start a church by yourself with no one but your children to assist you, or when you learn that you do not have the "flu" as you had supposed and that you are going to have a baby in your forties! These are things that cause you to re-write any plans that you had. Life is wonderful and full of wonder. A child of God can trust that God knows what he is doing, and the sooner we relax and allow ourselves to praise him FOR EVERYTHING, we will be better off. God loves it when his children are led by him. He will fight our battles if we let him; he will bring the victory. I know people that have followed a financial plan for their lives but in doing so, they have "lost" what matters most. What matters most? That we follow after God and see that our children follow after God too. When the trumpet sounds, it won't matter if we still have unfinished things in our lives. What will matter is that we are READY to go.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Joy cometh in the morning.

I sometimes write this blog with a specific person in mind; sometimes it's me. Sometimes I feel so much inspiration; it feels like that adrenaline or Holy Ghost rush (I should sound more spiritual, right?) you get right before you are to share what the Lord had given you to speak in a church..... I again am amazed. God certainly knows where we are and knows what we are going through. If the people that are supposed to speak into your life are not able to due to distractions, spiritual injury or lukewarmness, God will send someone else. He will. Just hold on and follow hard after the things of God. Direction and peace will come. As kids we rode this ride at Como Park in St. Paul that was so scary then AND still is NOW! It was round and the carnies strapped us into it standing up. After we began to spin and spin, they removed the flooring of the ride and we were held in place by the force of the spinning, (centrifigal force). That is how some of our trials feel. Life is spinning out of control it seems and then on top of everything the bottom drops out of our lives! It's awful, it's a time for panic..but then you realize you are being held up by a power greater than yourself. God is holding you. He will continue to hold you until you are back on the ground, and then he will still hold your hand, always. Get your strength from the Word...don't just read about the Bible; READ THE BIBLE. Talk to God, let the tears flow. He is aquainted with grief, he understands our sorrow and our joy. Psalm 30:5.....weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Jesus understand weeping but he understands JOY TOO! Be of good courage, my friend, you are not alone.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Backsliding. Slow Fade. Lukewarm. Falling Away.

I don't care for the the term "backslider"...but....I feel I must address this issue AGAIN. You see or hear some terrible news of someone acting in an ungodly way. You are shocked but in time you step back and ponder. I ponder so much that it hurts my head sometimes. As one ponders and takes the entire picture into perspective a hidden motive may become more obvious. Under the evil popping up out of the ground, one will find the love of money. The love of money is behind all evil... I didn't write that; this is Scripture. "ALL EVIL"?, my pondering mind says. Yes, all evil. Here are just a few examples of loving money... -a mother sees her friend's nice things; yet she struggles, she is tempted to leave her marriage and seek after a wealthy new guy... -a father is tired of being so financially strapped that he is tempted to just "chuck" the marriage and fatherhood. -A single man marries the wrong lady. He marries another because she has connections and money. -A single woman does not marry for love but for advantage. -A preacher fails to preach biblical truth since truth may offend his parishioners ie:support base. -People can step on others in their effort to climb the ladder of success. -A skilled physican goes into the field of medicine that TAKES life since there is guaranteed income. -A person takes a job where the focus of the company is inherently destructive to individuals and families. -People are tempted to dress immodestly to attract another for personal advantage. When a believer gets the money section in order, he/she is so much stronger. I know some people that are blessed abundantly and their children are blessed as well JUST because they have the MONEY question settled. This is not a blog about tithing....but honestly, giving God our first fruits is so fundamental, yet people nit-pick about it. If the patriarchs got it...and the New Testament church gave even more than their firstfuits or tenth, why do we question the power and truth of the tithe? It reminds me of speaking with tongues. It makes no sense, yet it is a God thing. When we surrender all of ourselves to God, we begin to worship him and it's no time that we lose ourself in the Spirit of God and a beautiful utterance comes out of our mouth. Advice from a friend; don't mess with money. Trust God, give him the first fruits, and don't covet. Just tell the Lord when you need or want something. He will provide. He's the best daddy you could ever dream of. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."Luke 12:32 Next time you see evil popping out of the ground...look at the roots,you will find the love of money. Put God back in charge and trust HIM for all of your needs.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Wish I Would've Known This Years Ago.

I wish that when we were starting our church sixteen years ago, that there had been a booklet written of "what not to do" as you are starting a new "work".

I get it mixed up, I keep trying to make sure I don't offend people, when Jesus, as I study, did not seem to worry about offending people.

He knew he had only three short years to teach and influence a whole lot of people. He called people names and he spoke directly to their needs. Lord, help us to be infused with your anointing so that we may speak with boldness and love. Recently I felt so led to go to a lady's home that had been very ill and had not been in church for a long time. After a while of small talk, I felt led to talk straight to her about her relationship with God. Thankfully, she opened up her heart to me and cried, afterward, we had a great prayer meeting. I never saw her alive again, the next time I looked at her she was laying in a beautiful casket. I am so glad that I talked directly to her need. I had a boldness come over me that shocked even me. I laid hands on her and prayed fervantly for her. She never again was in a church; she died. At her funeral, I was overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord that he had moved me to go see her. Lord, help me to be led by your Spirit and to be bold. If I had worried about offending her, we would not have been able to pray that way. She needed to get through to God, and she did. Be bold, be loving , but be bold.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Sharp Tongues

"Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth." How many times have we sung this worship chorus and never knew what a dreadful line was right before it in the 57th psalm of David. The verse right before this: "My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." To have people in your life that could be described as lions with fierce teeth and tongues is frightful, and yet, David endured this and still praised the Lord. You may live in a house of unbelievers or work among people that mock the things of God and church, but you can still praise the Lord with your whole heart,as David did. To this day we read and sing these praises, because they were written in anointing and power and we overcome by the words of our testimony. Just keep praising....it's a tried and true remedy for dealing with this world we live in. Sharp tongues in your office or your kitchen? Sing this! "Be thou exalted O God above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth."

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The desires of my heart?

The intellect. The heart. The Hebrew word is translated "heart" by the 1600's English translators, but in Hebrew it is translated, the inner man, mind, will, heart, from Strong's #3820. We need to have our intellect satisfied when we spend time in church or in personal time with God. I hear that our youth leave the faith at alarming rates these days. Many youth have intellectual battles as they go on to secular higher education. Is it possible that we have lopsized worship services? We need "spirit AND truth", Jesus said. Youth leaders, worship leaders, praise singers, pastors, please study and go deep in the Word for us...we need it. Our "heart" needs it. We can fight the battles if we are well armed with the Word. Give us the Word! Please! Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine ....(inner man, mind, will) heart.What a promise.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Reading the Bible

Just simply reading the Bible is a WORKOUT. It is just as hard as a workout routine, not physically, but as far as self-discipline.. An old mentor of mine said, "always do the hardest thing first everyday and your day will go better". Read your Bible...do it first if possible and you will get a strength that you never thought you had.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

21 Things I Learned the Hard Way....(church planter-home missions)

I wish so much someone would have handed a list like this to me before we ventured into the "Home Missions" church planting period of our lives. But now that I lived through it, I feel it is important for me to provide a list for others who may want to learn from my mistakes. Note: My husband and I entered this venture as a team, we both were divinely called of God at a conference in 1992 at Because of the Times, but it was not until 1996 that we were given permission to begin on our own. We both worked (or were in FT college) during these years, we started with no one but our two children aged 12 and 5 (our youngest was born three years after we began) We were thankfully granted $100 a month from our home district. We were not under the sponsorship of the full CFC program. My writing may seem a bit negative, but as many rough memories as I have, I have WONDERFUL memories and our children have been called by God into the ministry and have accepted the call. Here's the list: 1. If people reject your attempts to reach them for Jesus, don't cry your eyes out; it is not YOU they are rejecting. This is not about you, some people even rejected Jesus...keep your head up and keep on reaching out with the Word. Know who called you to do this work, HE will sustain you. 2. People are not looking for talent, they are looking for salt, be as salty* as you can be...pray and get your confidence from God. Don't use maniputaion, guilt or coersion of any kind to get people to come to Bible Studies or service. God will speak to their hearts. 3. When someone is going to be baptized, don't encourage them to have ALL their relatives there. Being buried with Christ is a very personal and spiritial experience and it is not meant to be a social event. If they do want to come, that's great, but often the focus may shift to them instead of the baptism. 4. Don't bribe people to come to church; whatever you use to get people to church will have to be continued and that is unreasonable. Be salty*, be on fire; that will draw them for the right reasons. "Ye are the salt of the earth". 5. Don't sacrifice all your family and relaxation time for the church. Your family will get bitter and in the end it won't make the church stronger. You can get burnt out. I remember vividly rushing home from a much needed break only to find that only ONE lady showed up for our ladies meeting. I was so needing that time away. 6. Don't try and become the "all and in all" to the new converts; they will become dependant on you instead of Jesus and His Word. You may feel obligated to have extra serivces in order to keep them out of trouble. DON"T! 7. Never use your home for a homeless shelter. Keep your home as an oasis from the outside world. Believe me, I KNOW what I am talking about in this regard. We did open the church for people to stay in at times. 8. There is nothing as powerful as anointed teaching and preaching. Make the focus of your church the WORD and it will draw people to God. 9. The people that take the most energy and time will hurt you the most and slap you in the back. If you bail someone out of jail, you most likely will not see that person again in a short time. Don't hand out cash unless it is absolutely necessary. Give groceries cards or hotel nights if necessary, not cash! 10. Children are precious and your sincere love and care for them will NEVER be fruitless. Try not to overstimulate them or give them too many prizes or treats. Small prizes are great, and the best prizes are when you give them your attention and appropriate affection. The wildest children are often the ones who listen closest to your words...you would just never know it. Many kids come to Sunday School truly hungry, so provide a healthy snack for them. 11. Call people before you pick them up, you will save yourself a lot of frustration and dissappointment if you make sure they ARE ready before driving far to get them for service. 12. Focus on getting new people to ONE service a week to begin with. The same service. They will develop a habit, then add other meetings. 13. When you do finally get a vacation, don't call home for your messages. I totally ruined a vacation once when I called home and listened to my messages. A certain lady who always had so much drama in her family "dumped" on me all her cares and I worried about all that for days instead of relaxing. 14. God will provide for your finances. In all the years of home missions only one month did we have to pay the rent for our church building ourselves. It may have been at the last minute, but the money came in. 15. Don't borrow money for the church. Just ask for the Lord to provide and He will, and if he doesn't, be patient. This is not about our pride, ASUZA street was in an old warehouse/barn type building. It's the power and presence of God that people need.... "silver and gold have I none, but such as I have", remember those words? 16. Never ask someone to teach Sunday school or do children's work unless you are absolutley sure they are qualified. I had a lady teach once that I thought I could trust and she put her hands around the throat of one of our active kids. I came back in just in time to avert a huge problem. 17. Be supportive at all times to each other (if you are a married couple). It is easy to take our frustrations out on each other. Take your heartaches to the Lord...he will calm you and renew your strength. Show extra love to your spouse and children. And always make sure you get your children to district events for them with other kids...it will be a sacrifice, but your kids need fellowship where they can just relax and have fun. (Our daughter began teaching SS at age 12-we had no other teachers). And make sure you make it to district or national conferences...you will really need it. 18. Delegate as many jobs as possible to others. People like to help the church grow, it's healthy and it's the right thing to do. Never put someone in charge of leadership that has not been tested though. And when you ask someone to shovel the snow and turn on the heat but they show up late or not at all, just be patient, don't get bitter. Training takes time. 19. Give a call to your (Pastor-mentor) now and then, even if they don't call you, call them or email them. We need each other. Take direction and advice. Don't get hurt by harsh comments that are made by others. The enemy wants us to feel alientated and alone. Be strong; keep communication open with others. 20. Always make sure children and youth have proper supervision. Years of hard work can be lost by a few moments of carelessness. 21. When you have a victorious service, brace yourself for a spiritual attack...just expect it and stay prayed up...don't get haughty...stay calm in Jesus' peace. And when you have an attack, don't assume that you are washed up and worthless...just hang in there. Victory is on the way. We give our joys and sorrows to the Lord. We just never put down our sword, never! And rememeber that it is such an honor to be called by God to do a work for Him. Whether you have great success or small success, you are working for the best BOSS ever, and nothing goes unnoticed by our Saviour. He sees it all. *to be salty (to me) means to be full of the the Holy Ghost and power-to be on fire for God.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Your Resume' - to get hired- working for God

So many of us have had to develop a resume' or a portfolio for various job-related or educational-related reasons. We compile a list of our trainings and our skills; our employment history etc. I wonder, if God was "hiring" to work for HIM, if I would be qualified? Here are a few things on an average resume': name,address,phone,objective,certifications,experience,relevant interests,education. Jesus told the men on the seashore simply, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19. FOLLOW him....that's all he requires...I'm pretty sure He provides on-the-job training. It doesn't matter your name, where you live, your objective, certifications, experience, relevant interests nor education; He will take you on and train you, IF you "follow after HIM".

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Who do we think we are, anyway?

We get such big heads; we really think we are something to contend with. We are so wrong, we are so diluted. This is tough love language, but it is so needed.

If God asked Abraham to give him his all, and just about everyone in the Bible I can think of (including beautiful queen Esther) to give their all, who are we to think we can stand on our "rights" and our "preferences" when it comes to being a follower of Jesus.


If this Jesus thing is true, then why don't you want to jump all the way in? Why dance around the edge? Why not get so immersed that we actually see the "big picture" for once? Why don't we drop all of our fear and get joyful about this journey God has invited us on?

And if the Lord plops you in some remote place, are you going to get angry with him and fault him for his poor judgment or for his inequity? God chooses; he has the right to; he can do with his creation what he chooses to do with them. He is God and we are not!

We can get so bent out of shape because some have loftier positions than others. We think God is unfair. Some even think that God does not notice a "nobody" and overlooks them for promotions. That is unscriptural.
God is... "NOT A RESPECTOR OF PERSONS"! Acts 10:34

The sooner we lay our lives down fully and completely to the Lord,
we will:
*not struggle with being easily offended
*not suffer with jealousy
*feel immense joy knowing that we are in the will of God
*have protection from the attacks of the enemy
*begin to have the mind of Christ and see things through God's eyes.


Jesus laid it all down for us, why do we think we can withhold any part of ourselves to this Saviour? He showed us the way...
Humble yourself in the sight of God and he will lift you up.