Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

"And he came and said to her 'Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.'" - Luke 1:28 Last week we celebrated the birth of our Savior, and people around the world read about the miracle of His conception, the trip to Bethlehem, the shepherds, the angels, and the wise men. There are many characters in this wonderful story of our faith, but I want to focus on one in particular: His mother Mary. Of all of them, she was the first to know about what was about to take place, and the first to have to accept her part in the story. Most of the images depicting Mary show a lady in her mid-twenties at least, the age many would associate with someone engaged to be married. However, this is likely not the case. In that time, it was common for a girl to become betrothed when she was still in her early teens, often to a man who was much older and had already established a career. Jewish betrothal was as binding as a marriage, with the only difference being that the man had n

(My post Life>Death  chronicles my struggle with suicidal depression. This story is based on the vision God used to save my life.) It all started after the knife sliced through my wrist. As I watched my life drain away, I felt a sense of peace. I knew my pain was finally over. Soft arms lifted me up and carried me off to Heaven. There I watched as my parents found my body. They started to cry, which I had expected. What I hadn't expected was what they were saying. "What did we do wrong?" they cried out. "Nothing!" I screamed. "You did nothing wrong!" But they couldn't hear me. What had I done? As my friends and other family members found out about my death, they said the same thing, and I continued screaming that it wasn't their fault. Their reactions caused me to be in agony, which struck me as strange. If indeed I was in Heaven, wasn't I supposed to be pain free? That is what I had always been taught. Then came my funeral. It

One of my favorite shows is The Voice . I enjoy seeing people gain the opportunity for a music career who wouldn't have had the chance otherwise. I think it's great that the artists are chosen by the coaches based solely on their voices, and after making a team, their coach does everything they can to make the artists the best they could be. Watching the battle and knockout rounds the past three weeks, I was touched by how much of a connection the coaches had with their artists and how hard it was for them to choose a winner because of it. What I don't enjoy is the attitude of some of the artists prior to their blind audition: "If I turn a chair, it would change my life." Every single day has the potential to change our lives. In terms of The Voice , I think some of the artists who were rejected the first time they auditioned and returned another season would definitely say that not  getting a chair to turn the first time changed their lives because it pushed th

I went to see War Room the weekend it opened and I enjoyed it immensely. I would recommend it because the story is such a great example of the power of prayer. As the movie begins, we meet Elizabeth and Tony Jordan, a married couple who seemingly can't be in the same room without fighting. Part of the issue stems from the fact that Tony is a pharmaceutical sales rep who is often on the road, and doesn't often communicate when he'll be gone.  Then Elizabeth meets Miss Clara, an older woman selling her house in order to move in with her son. Miss Clara soon realizes that what Elizabeth needs most has nothing to do with a successful real estate deal. She begins to ask Elizabeth about her family's church going habits, and Elizabeth responds that they attend when they can. Then Miss Clara brings out two cups of coffee, a piping hot one for herself and a room temperature one for Elizabeth. The younger woman asks Miss Clara why she drinks lukewarm coffee, to which

"Go and make disciples of all nations."~Matthew 28:19 About a year ago, something happened that shook the Christian music community. Vicky Beeching, a renown singer and songwriter of worship music, announced that she was gay. Since then, people have boycotted her music, churches that she often did concerts at refuse to let her come back, and her earnings have drastically dropped. She has been cast aside by the very community that she was an integral part of helping to develop. However, this response is the absolute worst thing to do in this situation. Other forums will debate whether or not homosexuality is a sin. It really doesn't matter. She is one of our sisters in Christ, and casting her out because she is a "sinner" is a wretched thing to do. NEWS FLASH PEOPLE! WE ARE  ALL  SINNERS! Romans 3:23 states "for  all  have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (emphasis mine). None of us is without sin, so we have absolutely no grounds to cal

"You're still that girl, and you're gonna change this world" - Britt Nicole, "Still That Girl" These past four weeks I have been doing an online Bible study using Suzanne Eller's book The Mended Heart . Additionally, two weeks ago I received an e-mail with a link to an article about 10 Christian songs that told a story. One of those songs was "Still That Girl" by Britt Nicole. While the two things may seem unrelated, God has used them to help bring a revolution in the way I see myself. As those of you who have read my post " Help Me Find It " know, I was cut from student teaching twice. Since teaching was what I had wanted to do since I was seven, this rejection left me wondering what to do next. My original thought was to go into the school counseling program, but that didn't work out either. So after a semester of taking a few classes so I could keep my apartment, I moved home and started looking for a job as a para. B

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."~2 Corinthians 3:18 Last week was Vacation Bible School at my church. I helped out in storytelling along with four other people, including the associate pastor. For the three stories that came from the New Testament, the associate pastor played Jesus, and that got me to wondering how many of the kids would start believing that he actually was Jesus. Then I thought, Is that really such a bad thing? As Christians, we are called to reflect Christ as we go about our daily lives. This means loving others the way Christ loves us, accepting others who may be different, offering forgiveness even when we don't feel it's deserved, and serving others the way Christ served his disciples. We can talk about our faith all we want, but when we are actually living it out is when it is most effective. Th

A few years ago, a teacher I was working with challenged her students to think of their favorite book and come up with three reasons why they liked it. For her example, she used the Bible, and that got me to thinking,  is the Bible my favorite book?  I know when I'm asked what my favorite book is, I normally respond by saying a novel I enjoy, but could it actually be that the Bible is my favorite book? What would that entail? Reading it through more than once: I have read it through a total of six times, two of which were in traditional order, three of which were in chronological order; and one of which was via a year long devotional program with daily readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I have also read the New Testament twice as part of a Lenten challenge, once in the order they are believed to have been written and once in traditional order.  Having favorite parts: I have many. My favorite book of the Bible is Esther, my favorite parable is

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Last year, I heard sermon about the passage in Daniel about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to eat the royal rations given to them in Babylon. Part of the sermon talked about the names of the characters and what those names meant. The four men entered Babylon with the names Daniel (judge of God), Hananiah (God has favored), Mishael (Who is what God is?), and Azariah (God has helped). Once they entered the king's service, however, all four were given new names: Belteshazzar (Ba'al protect the king), Shadrach (command of Aku), Meshach (Who is what Aku is?), and Abednego (servant of Nebo). All of these new names gave tribute to one of the gods of the Babylonians, whereas their Hebrew names gave tribute to God. This got me to thinking, why do we refer to Daniel by his Hebrew name, but to his friends by their Babylonian names,

"27 million slaves, no plantation. 27 million slaves, all different races."~Tenth Avenue North, "For Those Who Can't Speak Around the world, 27 million people are enslaved, many in the sex trade. To put that number in perspective, that figure is close to the entire population of Texas, the second largest state in America both in terms of area and population. If every one of those slaves held hands, they could completely encircle the globe. It's really quite a big deal, and keeps getting bigger. Estimates are that at least 17,500 people are brought into the United States each year to be enslaved, with some estimates running as high as 60,000. In every country in the world, slavery is illegal, so correct statistics are difficult to find. Which means that there might be many more slaves than anyone knows about, and that is a scary thought. No one should be forced into working for someone else without compensation, which is why slavery was outlawed in the United St

"But you, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world"~1 John 4:4 Those of you who read my post " Life>Death " will remember that I talked about a young woman who called herself a suicide survivor because her father took his own life, and then used her status as an endorsement to talk about how suicide was not a selfish act. In my post, I stated that since she did not actually survive suicide, she was not a suicide survivor. However, I found out recently that family and friends of suicide victims being called "suicide survivors" is a thing. As in a psychologist-defined, support group namesake thing. As someone who has actually survived the temptation to commit suicide, this fact is quite frustrating. One reason is because of people like the young lady mentioned in my other post thinking they are experts in suicide because they are "suicide survivors." I don

"Maybe God is calling you tonight to tell me something that might save my life"           ~Sidewalk Prophets, "Save My Life" People. We see them everyday. At work, at school, at the store, at a restaurant, at church, and anywhere else we may go. Some of these people we know, others we don't and may never will. Many of these people are Christian, others are not. Of those that aren't, some are of a different religion, others don't believe in anything, and others don't know what to believe, but desire to. What makes us all the same is that we are all human and all have a desire to be loved. No matter who we are and where we come from, our lives will have joy and sorrow, gains and losses, times when the future stretches before us like a blank canvas, and times it may not seem like there is a future. In the good times, we rejoice in all that has happened to bring us joy, but when hard times come, we just want to know that there are people that care abo