The Unlikely Missionary

When my kids get really upset I sing them a song from one of their favorite shows, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It goes, "Let's count down to calm down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Then at the end we say, "breathe" and take a breath. I started doing this with my son when he was still a baby when he would be having a meltdown. The sound of me singing a song he knew always calmed him. Now my son does it with his sister when she is upset and hard to soothe. It instantly calms her just like it calms him. In moments of my greatest anxiety I find that God always brings an on-time song to my mind and tells me, "Just Breathe". In the end, its the breaths that we take that help us know that we are alive and remind us that we are loved by God and still within the reach of His grace and mercy. So I leave with you today this thought, God has promised to never leave you, nor forsake you and He can work EVERYTHING  out for our good. So Just Breathe. It will be alr...

When there is no grace the consequences of your action can be utter destruction . We live in the time of grace. But... Shame is a powerful thing. And pride is what keeps you shackled by your shame. Hiding it behind closed doors even from God. It’s ironic really that we try to hide our shame from a all seeing, all knowing God. How much do we miss out on because of our pride? How much do we suffer alone? It brings me to the woman at the well. When Jesus told her all she had done she could have, in her pride, denied it. But she didn’t, she owned it and instead of condemnation she received living water, eternal life. How many of us have been told the truth about ourselves and vehemently denied it? How much have we missed out on because of it? How many opportunities have passed us by because our pride has caused us to hide our shame? God can’t fix, God can’t use, God can’t turn around that which you don’t give to him. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well it was because he k...

Hebrews 9 BC - Before Grace 1-5 That first plan contained directions for worship, and a specially designed place of worship. A large outer tent was set up. The lampstand, the table, and “the bread of presence” were placed in it. This was called “the Holy Place.” Then a curtain was stretched, and behind it a smaller, inside tent set up. This was called “the Holy of Holies.” In it were placed the gold incense altar and the gold-covered ark of the covenant containing the gold urn of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, the covenant tablets, and the angel-wing-shadowed mercy seat. But we don’t have time to comment on these now. 6-10 After this was set up, the priests went about their duties in the large tent. Only the high priest entered the smaller, inside tent, and then only once a year, offering a blood sacrifice for his own sins and the people’s accumulated sins. This was the Holy Spirit’s way of showing with a visible parable that as long as the large tent stands, people can’t just walk ...

Is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We get it all wrong when we tell people they are going to hell. So let me debunk some myths. Being gay doesn’t mean you are going to hell. Cursing doesn’t mean you are going to hell. Having sex before marriage doesn’t mean you are going to hell. Wearing skirts, having an abortion, voting for a female president, getting pregnant out of wedlock does not mean you are going to hell. _________ does not mean you are going to hell. In the blank please add that thing that was told to you in Sunday school so you wouldn’t do it. So the question isn’t what makes you go to hell. According to the Bible, the moment we were born we had a one way ticket there. There are no levels to this. There is no sin that is better than the next or is a little better or is a little worse than the others. The result of all of it is the same. No relationship with God and an eternity burning. "For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life t...

It is Good Friday! It's Good because today is the day that Jesus will be lead to die. I can see your face in my head as you read that line. Like how can that possibly be good? The easiest answer is, without His death there is no eternal life. To those who actually lived this day it was anything but Good. But we know the outcome, we know how the story ends. This day started out like any other day back then. The meat of the story doesn't really begin until sundown with Passover. Now I'm not going to do an indepth rundown of the story. You can read it here  though. We know that Jesus was betrayed, and crucified. He dies and is buried. And today there will be many services preaching the 7 last words and drilling home to us the agony that He went through for us. It is very sobering when you think about it. However, there is a story-line during this night that many people gloss over and it is truly the backbone of what salvation is. Its the story of the thief on the...

What a week I had last week! I’m just glad I didn’t have to go through it alone. Each day and every step of the way God was there. My kids were sick, I helped a friend in need, and my husband had a flare of his pericarditis. It was the scariest one yet. And in my fear I had to stay calm to help Him and not frighten our babies. I only got through it by God’s grace and mercy. Life is but a vapor. But each day that open our eyes is God giving us another chance to get it right. It’s another chance for me to look at the beautiful faces of my husband, son and daughter and tell God thank you that you got me to this point so that I can have this moment. We don’t always get it right but God always gives us a reset. A day. Fresh grace. New mercy. My life is far from all the way together and there are days I struggle but God is ALWAYS good and I will be fine. I write this as I bask in the glory of the new mercy God has bestowed on me today. I am thankful. The Unlikely Missionary  ...

I wrote  What If I'm the One to Start A Revolution?  5 years ago. I felt then as I do now that God has one more great awakening in store for America. In the recent months I have begun to feel this great sense of urgency. Not because of our new president but because of how far the message of the American church has strayed from who God truly is. I have been brokenhearted at how some churches have become so focused on money and trivial issues that they forget that it's about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the Gospel?  It's the Good News. It's that Jesus Christ came to earth; lived, walked talked, breathed among us; was killed so that we might have life in abundance and so that the relationship with God that was severed by sin was restored with His Blood; He rose again as He promised; He ascended to Heaven, and He is sitting right now at the right hand of God the Father talking to God on our behalf. The gospel is NOT we bash you because of the color of your sk...

What if  am? What if you are? What if you are supposed to get people talking, get people moving, incite change, light a fire that burns brightly for eternity? Who knew that a baby born so poor he had no home to rest his head and rags to cover his body would forever impact our world? He has done great, Amazing , MIND-BLOWING things. And He lives in me. So why can't I do those same things. I know that I doubt my our power, my own voice forgetting that I have the power of the Almighty God backing me up. We might not live to see our revolution at its height, you may never here people speak your name in awe, I may never get recognition for the difference I make but that's not the point. The point is to see Jesus Christ praised. The point is to learn to trust Him with your whole heart. The point is to believe that God can use you to start a revolution. The point is to see the lives of others changed by the POWER of the LIVING God. Hallelujah! That is the point. That is the...