Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

I am currently starting the fourth week of an online Bible study based on the book Living So That: Making Faith-Filled Choices in the Midst of a Messy Life  by Wendy Blight. I was drawn to the study because of the title. When I first saw it, I thought, Living so that what? Where's the rest of the title?  I now realize that the title was referring to those verses in the Bible that have the words so that  in them. The book has five chapters, each split into five parts and having a memory verse tied to the topic of that chapter. In the study, we are doing one chapter a week, and can split up the five readings for the week however we want to. I choose to read them on weekdays right after breakfast so that  I start each work day with some time spent in God's Word. Chapter One is "Jesus Came So That," and the memory verse is John 3:16. I figured, I know that verse in two languages. I got this.  I didn't figure I would have any trouble with that week because I alre...

I went to see the movie God's Not Dead  this past weekend, and helped to propel it to fourth place at the weekend box office, earning $9.2 million total in only 780 theaters. This total ranks seventh in all time openings for faith-based films, and first for those that opened in less than 1,000 theaters. This record-breaking opening weekend happened because of one very important reason: it is an amazing movie. The sold-out crowd at the showing I went to was clapping, cheering, laughing and singing throughout the almost two hour running time. One of the reasons is because the main character, Josh, is a stunning example of being willing to stick with doing what God calls you to do even when no one understands. The main story begins with Josh entering his Philosophy 150 class, taught by Professor Radisson. To easily avoid the debate posed by the religion section of the course, Professor Radisson instructs the students to hand in a signed paper with the words "God is dead," ...

I went to see the movie Son of God  this afternoon, and I enjoyed it. It was intense and powerful, but that was to be expected considering the content. I would highly recommend this to all my friends who are into movies because it is very well done. Here are some of the things I enjoyed about it. Characters: This movie helped the viewer get to know everyone who was central to the story. The disciples were shown to be human men full of doubts, but wanting desperately to believe in Jesus and follow him. Mary was portrayed as a loving mother willing to do anything for her son. The movie even developed the characters of the villains, Caiaphas and Pilate. Both men were characterized as power hungry servants of the Roman Empire, though Caiaphas pretends otherwise. The character of Nicodemus was also well developed showing his transformation from power hungry Pharisee to truth hungry follower. Additionally, John provides narration for the story, showing his reflections on being one of t...

Recently I read the oft-shared article "23 Things to do Instead of Getting Engaged Before You're 23," and I had mixed feelings about the list provided. Some things I've already done, such as cutting my hair, adopting a pet and getting a passport. Some things weren't my style, such as going to the Philippines and watching GIRLS over and over again. Other things were things I would NEVER do as a Christian lady, such as exploring a new religion, dating two people at the same time and posing naked in front of a window (I mean, who would really WANT to do that. Eeeeew!) After some thought, I decided to come up with my own list of things to do before getting married. Many of these are just suggestions, but they are great things for us Christian girls to do before tying the knot. So without further ado, 26 beneficial things to do as a Godly single lady. 1. Go on a mission trip, preferably to a place you've never been before. If you can, try to go to a foreign coun...

This afternoon, I witnessed the marriage of my beloved cousin Jessica. Though I did not meet Jacob, her new husband, until earlier this week, it was obvious that he was devoted to her and would make a great father figure for her son Colton. Their wedding was simple, and the reception was short with no dance and a homemade cake, but it was fun nonetheless. All in all it was a great day to celebrate two wonderful young adults becoming one and setting out on their new life together. The simplicity of today's wedding was contrary to what is promoted by Hollywood and the media. Ad slogans like "He went to Jared," "Every kiss begins with Kay," and "A diamond is forever" all point to one main idea: True love is shiny. If a man truly loves you, he will always buy you shiny expensive jewelry. The best weddings are ones set in a scenic place, with numerous attendants and a lavish reception afterwards with a long dance. The cake should be professionally made by...

"Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge."      ~1 Peter 2:12 Most of us who have been a part of the church for any length of time have heard this verse, but are we really living it out? Sure you may be calm under pressure and smile at people even when you don't feel like it. You even show up at church every Sunday and greet people you don't know. You're doing everything right, or at least that's what you think. However, are you really keeping track of how well your actions are reflecting God's light all the time? Not many of us are, but we should be. When we don't, the results can be disastrous. There's the pillar of faith in the church whose marriage is crashing to the ground. The teacher who loves God and loves her students, but has trouble loving members of her own family. The young adult who's on fire for God on Sunday morning, but lets the fires...

Much of my life has not been easy. There are many times when God's will for my life didn't seem very clear. One of those times was just after I graduated college in December 2011. Less than a week after my graduation, I found I was not admitted into the school counseling program, which was my second choice of masters programs. I had been planning to get a master's in special education, but after two failed student teaching attempts, that future was no longer possible. So right before Christmas, I found out that other than having my apartment for another semester, there was really no good reason to return to Manhattan. I did return, and ended up taking a couple of classes. I considered looking into another master's degree program. After much prayer, I decided that instead of jumping into applying for another master's program, it would be better for me to return home at the end of the semester and get a job as a para so I could gain more experience working with childr...