One Way

This is a little different than what I normally post, but I wanted to share with you something I posted on Facebook a little bit ago, on this day where our country's Supreme Court legalized Gay Marriage in all 50 states. ~~~~~~~ I don't normally bring this stuff up on Social Media, but I feel led to do so today. Today, millions of people have been posting pictures with rainbow colors and the hashtag - ‪#‎LoveWins‬ . Truth is, ‪#‎LoveWon‬ almost two thousands years ago when one man made a decision that would change the face of Love forever, and offer a Mercy so incredibly amazing that I still have trouble understanding it at times. Truth is, #LoveWon approximately four thousand years ago when eight people were chosen to survive the greatest natural disaster our planet has ever seen. And after the event, the rainbow was chosen as a sign to forever remind us of the great Mercy that was shown. Truth is, the Bible lays out very clearly what is considered Sin. But just...

I am a perfectionist. Or rather, a recovering one, as the title states. Perhaps some of you can identify with the struggle: I’m afraid to do something new because I’m afraid of looking stupid, or doing something  wrong.  I’m afraid to walk down a path that I know may lead to something good, but because I don’t exactly know what is at the end of the path (or how I’ll get there), I’m scared to take it, and maybe I never do. If I can’t be the best in a certain field, situation, or path, I worry about trying it, or avoid it altogether. I’m afraid of what people think of me…a lot. With how I look physically and how I dress. With how my actions and speech may come across. With how and where I spend my time and energies, or don’t. I’m afraid of wasting time, energy, or money because every tiny millisecond and tenth of a cent count, right? I’m afraid of failure and making mistakes. In anything. Ever. And I’m not necessarily talking about sin here (though right guilt and wrong ...

The Proverbs are full of so many amazing nuggets (and floods!) of wisdom. And yesterday, my study in self-control took me to this incredible gold mind of knowledge. Though it's a short verse, Proverbs 11:6 sure packs a punch! "The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires." There are two questions we can ask here - What makes makes a person righteous that they are delivered when temptation strikes? And why are the unfaithful trapped? Ultimately, as a Christian, my salvation and righteousness comes from Christ and Him alone. But my mind also goes to the verses that talk about Abraham and His righteousness before God. I love what James chapter two says about this great man of faith: "Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the script...

It's been a little over five months since I got back from Ghana, Africa! Almost half a year! Wow, where has the time gone?!? A lot of great things happened on my missions project this past summer ( you can read my trip summary here ), but there were some wrong thoughts and expectations I'd had about long-ish short-term missions (I'm not sure what else to call my nine week trip :) ) that were soundly debunked while actually on the field! And I'd like to share five of these with you today. **And just a quick note before we get to these five points - they only illustrate misconceptions from MY experience. There are loads of factors that could make your missions experience totally different - the people/organization you're involved with, where you go, how long you're there, what you do, etc.** So, here goes - 5 Misconceptions I Had About Missions: 1) Mission work is glamorous.  My teammate and I...crammed into one seat of a taxi for 2 hours in ...

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! It's 2015, y'all! Whoot! A new year, a new beginning! This morning, I started into one of my New Year's resolutions - to do an in-depth study on the topic of self-control. I took the first verse the online concordance gave me, little knowing it would carry a huge New Year's truth! God is so cool like that. :) The verse was Acts 24:25. Sounds kinda random, doesn't it? Paul has recently been taken into custody by the Romans after he was nearly murdered by the Jewish leaders. Now under the protection of Governor Felix, who is apparently familiar with "the Way", Paul gets several opportunities to share the gospel with Felix. Verse 25 tells us about his first conversation: " As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, 'That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.'" So Paul is going deep, not just skimming the s...