For almost all of the two and a half years that I have been in Louisville, Carl "Chip" Stam has helped shepherd my heart and mind to worship God. Whether through leading chapel worship at Southern or leading Sunday morning worship at church, he has helped me prepare my heart to receive God's word.
When I Am Afraid
What fears are swirling in your mind as you begin your week? Is it the paper that is due in that difficult class? Is it the overwhelming workload left on your desk from Friday afternoon? Is it a difficult conversation with a friend? Is it a hard relationship at home or an uncertain doctor’s appointment? Whatever the fear is, one thing is certain: in the mind of the fearful one, it can seem like an impassable mountain.
Missions Wednesday: Saudi Arabia
Imagine living in a family where becoming a Christian means persecution, and often death. Imagine living in a society where you are the only Christian and there are few Bibles, few avenues for fellowship, and hardly any Christian places to worship your Savior. It’s hard to think about isn’t? Especially hard when many of us pass multiple churches on the way to our own church, or when the local Christian bookstore is not too far, or when we have unrestricted internet access to some of the greatest resources for our own growth. Imagine living in a country where Christians weren’t even allowed to get to you.
Goals for 2010: Making My Time Count
Like many people I made goals for the upcoming year. I can’t recall ever making goals for the year before, at least as a believer. But I find myself saying “I want to work on that” a lot, so it seemed only right to make a list of said things, if only to have something to pray about and reflect on next year at this time. As I prayed and thought through the list, I found a recurring theme—time management. Most of my aspirations for my growth this year stem from my own lack of time management and self-control.
Remembering Mrs. Dubert
Today I am linking to a post I wrote in the fall of 2007 about a dear friend of mine. Her name was Mrs. Marjorie Dubert. The post includes something she wrote about her time as a missionary in New Guinea. Mrs. Dubert was a dear lady, who loved and served King Jesus. And on Wednesday, she was in the presence of her King.
Missions Wednesday: Turkey
Will You Mentor Me?
A biblical mentoring relationship is a choice—for both parties involved. While we see the mandate in Titus 2 for older women to train the younger women, the latter must be willing to receive the discipleship. Often, as younger women, we stay only in the waiting position. We see the command for older women and hope that they will see us at church and resolve to find us and mentor us. It’s not wrong to hope for that. In fact, it is a very good thing to hope for that kind of a relationship. But we can take that hope and help make it into a reality. We can take steps to foster relationships with older women, seeking their advice, desiring their help, and wanting their friendship.
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 2010
Yesterday was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention. Every year Southern Baptist churches take the third Sunday of January to encourage believers to continue to care about the lives of the unborn. Our pastor preached a message yesterday out of Psalm 139. He showed us again that God is the author of life, human beings are created in God's image, and human beings are created for the glory of God.
More Thoughts on Haiti
Throughout the day we have been seeing updates from various Christian organizations saying they have yet to hear from many of their staff in Haiti. For many of them they are in the poorest places in Haiti, and in the world. And they chose to be there. Many of them left the comforts of America to live among impoverished people. And they chose to be there. Many of them have now lost their lives, buried next to the very people they were seeking to bring the Gospel to. And praise God, they chose to be there.
Missions Wednesday: Pray for Haiti
For this missions Wednesday I think it would be appropriate to talk about Haiti. Yesterday a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the country and has left horrible destruction in the aftermath. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is located on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. To say that the people of Haiti are poor would be an understatement. Many live in utter poverty and an earthquake of this magnitude means much devastation.