Encouragement

A Lesson from the Red-Winged Blackbirds

2 Comments / June 30, 2026

We have two Red-Tailed Hawks that take up residence in the field behind our house every year. They change their location slightly, picking a different dead tree to perch on each year, but they always show up. This year there are three, so I assume one must be a juvenile? I am uncertain. The hawks are actually awesome creatures to observe, albeit I have to admit their cry is a bit unnerving.

This year, for I think what may be the first time, we’ve personally observed their ruthless hunting practices. My husband saw one grab a songbird out of mid-air in our greenhouse area and I saw one soaring above the field with some unfortunate creature, its limp tail hanging out of the side of the hawk’s mouth. These predators are merciless in their quest for small (and even larger) creatures.

Something that has been interesting to watch over the years are the birds that attack these hawks. There are several species that do so, but the ones we see most often here are the Red-Winged Blackbirds. Brave and fearless, these birds will harass and poke at the hawks in mid-air to drive them away.

The other day, as I looked up at the sky, I saw this unique phenomenon yet again. High in the sky were two relatively small blackbirds relentlessly attacking this large, predatory bird as it flew in the sky.

And suddenly, I was reminded of something. Something rather important in our Christian journey. This analogy isn’t perfect. But I think it has value so I am going to share it.

But first, a little background.

Over the years, I have noticed an interesting dynamic among believers. There is an increasing distaste for anything even slightly controversial or convicting. And, in fact, if I post anything that is even slightly either of these things, I inevitably lose subscribers or followers.

I’d like to think this has not affected me, but as I am currently in the process of backing up each of my posts of the past sixteen years individually, I realize that it most certainly has.

Watching those birds made me realize that I have grown more timid and scared than I should have. I have been spending too much of my time hiding in the trees, hoping the relentless, persecuting hawk won’t find me. I’d rather guess, many of you do that, as well.

This is a difficult subject. Particularly in a Christian culture that doesn’t particularly love the truth, preferring instead to make up their own truth. It’s especially difficult because we are in a culture that accuses anyone who stands unapologetically on the Word of God to be arrogant and prideful; a Christian culture that has placed experience and feelings above biblical doctrine.

I don’t think I realized how much I’ve bent into the wind of these changes. Not until I read some of my old posts and I think…I can’t believe I wrote that.

And, while there is most certainly wisdom and discernment needed as we determine when and how to go about writing the hard things about sin, about false doctrines and false teachers, and about worldliness, it is so very important that we continue talking (and writing) about them—clearly, honestly, and without apology. Even when no one seems to be listening.

I often think of Jeremiah, who seemingly saw no fruit from his ministry. And, yet, perhaps there were a few individuals who heard and applied his message?

And I think about Jude, where we are told to have mercy on believers who are in doubt (in other words—who are interested in listening and have a humble spirit). We are to snatch them out of the fire of apostasy. (It’s probably important to note here that we, too, are supposed to be willing to listen to others and to have a humble spirit!) We simply cannot obey this passage if we are hiding, cowering, and never speaking up because we are afraid of a bit of ridicule and antagonism.

So back to the birds…

The red-winged blackbirds reminded me to stop hiding in a tree, hoping the devil doesn’t find me. They reminded me to courageously warn about the false teaching and the worldliness that is drawing so many Christians (or professing Christians) away from TRUTH. They reminded me to stop being apologetic for standing on the literal-grammatical-historical understanding of God’s Word.

FOR I am not standing on my own merit or my own intellect or anything else that is special about me. I am nothing.

But God and His Word are everything. I can confidently attack the devilish hawk with my sword of the Spirit. I don’t need to stay hidden when I am wearing the full armor of God.

I was encouraged by those small, brave blackbirds to be more courageous and bold. I thought you might be, too.

May I encourage you—whoever is out there still reading—to join me in standing courageously on the Bible, no matter what it costs?

The Greatness of His Power

1 Comment / June 23, 2026

Imagine you are a tiny, insignificant ant. One of thousands in a specific colony of ants. Just a few yards from you on all sides are other colonies, totaling millions of ants.

As you look up one day, you see a large shadow. It is the shadow of a human being, gigantic and awesome in its size. Capable of squishing you and dozens of your friends in a single footstep.

Now imagine the audacity (and silliness) of you stamping your six feet in indignation at this human being when he doesn’t do what you want him to do. Imagine the audacity (and silliness) of demanding something specific from this human being as one single ant in the midst of millions of ants.

It’s a silly, ridiculous scene, impossible to fathom.

And yet…

Aren’t we doing the same thing, when we shake our fists at God and demand our own ways?

As we contemplate the analogy, we can recognize that our situation is quite different in two very critical ways…

—we have an AWESOME God who actually cares about us personally. This is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!

—the difference between ants and people would be as nothing when compared to the infinite difference between people and God.

One of the things I love in the *Prayer Journal I created recently is the last section, where there are Bible passages to pray for my family. This morning, I reached the passage from Ephesians 1, which reads—

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23)

As I was praying through this passage this morning, I had to think about “the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe”.

If God chooses not to work in the way we want, it’s not because He can’t.

Rather, it’s because He can see what we can’t see.

We are like that ant, on the ground, with a very small, short-sighted view of the world around us.

Our perspectives are skewed by our sin, our environments, our pasts, our fleshly desires, and, yes, our human limitations.

We cannot begin to understand the fullness of God’s love or the intricacies of God’s plans. It’s impossible because He is so great and we are so small.

There are some amazing things to consider as we reflect on our likeness to the ant.

First, as mentioned above, the fact that we have a God that cares for His own redeemed children to such a personal extent is simply amazing. I never cease to be in awe over this.

Second, when I consider the arrogance I must have when I get angry or sulky at God for not giving me my way, I am ashamed.

Third, when I consider the worry and anxiety that can sometimes overwhelm me and then remember that I am personally cared for by this wonderful and loving Heavenly Father, I am stymied. Why would I be worried or anxious, when Almighty God is looking out for me?

This passage from Ephesians, chapter 1, not only gives us wonderful things to pray for our families and others that we love, but it serves as a powerful reminder that our loving God has all power to do anything for us.

If He chooses not to, it is because He knows what we don’t know. It is because He sees the pasts, presents, and futures of ALL people in the minutest detail. He sees that what might seem beneficial to us will hurt someone else. Or that the future will be changed irreversibly and terribly should we get our heart’s desire at this very moment.

Just as a person can see so much more than an ant, God can see infinitely more than a person.

I think that sometimes, in our efforts to define Jesus as our friend, we forget how great He really is. In the normalcy of our culture’s self-absorption, we forget that God doesn’t exist to serve me and my wants but I exist to serve Him.

Just some things I was thinking about this morning…

*I published a prayer journal earlier this year. If you are interesting in checking it out, you can find it at this link.

Staying in Our Story

Leave a Comment / April 21, 2026

The other day I heard the phrase “stay in your story” and I’ve been reflecting on it ever since.

The phrase was said in reference to a persecuted Christian who spent years in prison and, as a very old man, was able to see his son actually serve as chaplain in that very same prison. Only God, right?

But only by “staying in his story” was he able to see the miraculous way God would work.

Obviously, there are times we must escape our stories. There are lots of reasons we must choose to leave a particular aspect of our story—heretical teaching, abuse, the future for our families, etc.

But, let’s put those very valid reasons aside for a moment and think on the ways we leave/change our stories every single day by walking away from people or situations. How often do we just escape our problems rather than facing them and learning from them?

This phrase has had me thinking about how much easier it is to walk away from a person or a situation than to stay in the thick of it and figure it out.

My husband and I will sometimes watch House Hunters International and, occasionally, there will be a couple who walks away from family and friends to go live on an island somewhere.

Sometimes that looks like a good option, right? Just leave. People are messy. Relationships are hard. Situations are sticky.

I am not implying that it is wrong for a couple to do this. I am sure some have really good reasons. But can I be honest? There are times when escaping to an island looks quite appealing to me and it isn’t for good reasons at all. I’m sure you have felt the same way at times.

Many times we find ourselves in situations we simply can’t escape and we can find ourselves “chomping at the bit” for a nonexistent escape route.

We live in a culture that tells us to run. If someone is “toxic” run. If you don’t have personal peace, run. If you aren’t happy, just…run.

If your spouse isn’t making you happy, run to someone else. If your church doesn’t do something the way that you like, just leave. If someone is annoying, just ignore them. If your friend hurt you, just avoid them.

Run away, leave, ignore, avoid…

But, yet, in doing these things, we don’t leave any room for God to work.

When we choose to stay in our story and have faith that God will work all things for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28) we leave room for God to work in amazing ways.

But, oh, that’s so much harder to live out than it is to type. And, in reflecting back on my life, I will readily admit that I have probably left people and situations that I shouldn’t have. And when I am in a situation I can’t escape, I can become grumpy and anxious. Oh, I have so far to go when I examine my heart regarding this particular subject!

Do you, like me, find yourself laying the same unsolvable puzzle or frustrating situation at the foot of the cross over and over again?

Sometimes—maybe even oftentimes—the way God changes a situation is by changing us. The verse that comes after the very popular Romans 8:28 is Romans 8:29, where we read that God’s purpose is to conform us into the image of His Son.

Frustrating people don’t generally become “un-frustrating” (only by God’s work in their lives is that even possible); Frustrating situations don’t generally disappear overnight.

But…

God will use these people and situations to work in our hearts. Puzzling, unfixable situations and frustrating, difficult people can teach us so much. We learn how to love unconditionally. We learn how to forgive. We learn how to offer undeserved grace to others. These situations release our grip from this world. They teach us to stop trusting in our own strength and help us understand how much we need God. Walking through these valleys will often cause us to evaluate what is important to us and…perhaps…show us what has become an idol in our life without us even realizing it.

When we stop making our comfort and happiness our idol and, instead, surrender our will to God’s and then turn to Him in prayer, seeking His will in His Word as we travel our dark valleys…well, this is when God will work in our own hearts and minds to conform us into His Son’s image.

I don’t know what you are facing today. I only know what I am facing today. May we both consider the value of “staying in our story” before we choose to run away.

Familiar Dirt

Leave a Comment / April 9, 2026

I shared the following on my Facebook page at the beginning of this week and I thought my email readers might appreciate it, as well. Hope it’s encouraging to you!

This past Sunday, as we all know, was Resurrection Sunday and my husband and I had to drive separately as we had to be at church at two different times.

In our church, we can purchase flowers to help brighten the sanctuary for this particular morning and so, after the service, I grabbed one the color of the sunset and took it to my car for the drive home.

I didn’t worry too much about situating it perfectly as I only had a five minute ride that had only one turn. I could hold on to it for that turn. All went very well until…

There was a second turn I hadn’t really thought about…the turn into my house. I am not sure what happened. Perhaps I grew distracted thinking about my day. Or I just had forgotten the tulip was there. But as I turned into my house, the tulip went flying, and made a royal mess on my recently swept car floor.

I was so annoyed.

But I took a picture. Because it seemed like there must be a lesson here (always, right?!)

My mind went to my sin, in this instance. We are so careful with a besetting sin. We pay attention, we work with the Holy Spirit, through prayer and scripture, to rid our lives of that sin.

And then…

Life throws us a curve ball. Or we allow ourselves to be too busy. Or whatever the reason…we start functioning on “autopilot”. We don’t pay as close attention.

And, plop! Just like that tulip slipped on to the floor and spilled dirt everywhere, we slip and find ourselves in a familiar pile of dirt. It can be very discouraging.

While a vacuum cleaned all that dirt in my car right up, a vacuum is absolutely useless in cleaning up our sinful messes. Thankfully, we have something far greater to cleanse our lives from the messes we make. We have a faithful God who forgives!

I John 1:9 puts it like this—

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we make a mess (which is almost every day, right?), we have a Savior who not only forgives and cleanses us from all unrighteousness, but who gives us a brand new fresh start each morning (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Praise the Lord for His amazing grace and abundant mercy! Today is a brand new day.

May we redeem the time, confess our sins, and use the gift of each day to seek the Lord in all our ways.

Here Lies a Man…

Leave a Comment / March 30, 2026

Yesterday, My Sunday School teacher (also my father-in-law) shared this epitaph that someone had found on a tombstone:

Here lies a man who went out of this world without knowing why he came into it.

Is that not one of the saddest things you ever heard? To never know purpose? To flounder and to wander through this world, always asking the question “why am I here?”

I don’t believe he is the only person who died not knowing why they were born. And even those who find some semblance of purpose through their jobs, their manmade religions, their families, or charity work still feel empty if they take a moment to actually examine their hearts and be honest with themselves.

This is because we all have only one true purpose and that is to worship, glorify, and obey the One True God in the way He demands, according to His Word, the Holy Bible.

There is rebellion in a man’s heart that keeps him from having a natural desire to do this. And so he searches in all kinds of places, hoping to fill that desire to worship with inferior, temporal things.

It’s only when we bow our knee to Jesus Christ and turn to Him alone as our Savior from sin and death, that we can even begin to understand our true purpose in this world. Jesus is not just one way. He is the only way to be right with God (John 14:6).

We can choose to bow our knee to Jesus Christ now and acknowledge Him as Lord….or we will be forced to do this later. It’s our choice. God leaves it up to us. For now.

Paul puts it like this—

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Believing this—that Jesus is our Savior and Lord and our only way to be right with God—is life-changing.

I came across these verses yesterday (also from Philippians) and found myself meditating on them and what they mean for me (and for you) today, in this current time we find ourselves living in.

Here’s what Paul writes—

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:7-14).

Paul tells us to follow him as he follows Christ (I Corinthians 11:1). His example has been providentially given to us by God. If this is true, then what can we learn or be looking to attain for our own lives, based on this passage from Philippians?

First: All things are considered loss when compared to Christ. Counted as garbage, even. While these verses are nice to read, they are very difficult verses to actually live out. God has been revealing some idols in my life over the course of the last few months. Things that have taken too high of a priority in my life. While it can be painful, I am so thankful that God is opening my eyes to this.

Second: Christ alone is my righteousness. We stand before God clothed in Christ’s righteousness. There is nothing good in us and we can do nothing to make ourselves right with God (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10) Any good works we do for the Lord should be because we love Him, and not because we need to do them to attain salvation or because we think He will be mad at us if we don’t do them. We can get a little mixed up with our motivation for good works, can’t we? Even those of us who know and believe this truth with our whole hearts.

Third: We must stop looking behind us and press toward the mark. One of Satan’s biggest tricks is to get us focusing on all we’ve done wrong in the past. Or to imprison us in our disappointments, our grudges, our unmet expectations of yesteryear. Again, easy to read and be inspired by these verses, but much more difficult to actually live out.

As we approach Resurrection Sunday and take time to reflect on what Christ has done for us, may we also reflect on the change His victory at the cross has wrought in our own lives.

May we remember our true purpose and turn from those temporal things that call to us, demanding our allegiance. May we turn back yet again with bowed knee and surrendered heart to the One who loves us most.

It’s Not One or the Other

1 Comment / February 11, 2026

I’ve had an interesting past week, which included visits to a surgery center and the hospital. As I reflect on these visits, I realize they are a great analogy as to how we are to approach the “love vs truth” dichotomy we find in Christianity today.

A nurse or doctor who is loving and kind is worthless if they won’t do the hard stuff. If they won’t give us the medicine that we need because it will make us “feel bad”, they can be as nice as can be but we will understand their complete incompetence, won’t we?

As we grow sicker and sicker—or even lose our life—their “love” will mean nothing. In fact, we will recognize that it wasn’t love at all that drove their actions, but rather a self-love that made them want to avoid our “bad feelings”.

On the other hand, a nurse who is mean and gruff who gives us the right medicine, in spite of how it will make us “feel”, is certainly not the blessing they could be. They can do everything right, but if they do it with a frown on their face and a mean spirit…well, love is important, isn’t it?

Love and truth aren’t enemies. They are the greatest of friends.

I’ve noticed a really strange dichotomy in the recent years and I really want to encourage my readers to avoid it. It seems that many Christians are drawn only towards the “love and grace” posts, podcasts, sermons, and books. While another group is drawn only towards the “truth and discernment” posts, podcast, sermons, and books.

This ought not to be. As believers, we need to highly value both. I strive very hard to be balanced here because God has clearly shown in scripture that BOTH are important. I am well aware I don’t do this perfectly but I am trying.

If we step back and really think about it, we will recognize that there is no genuine love without truth.

Truth, no matter how it’s spoken, will save your life. To confirm the salvation of someone who has no fruit and zero interest in repentance or being more like Christ is not true love. No matter how that truth is spoken, if someone who has been deceived repents and believes on the name of Jesus Christ, they will receive eternal life.

But love does change everything. It makes [some] hearers much more willing to listen and plants many more seeds than a harsh, critical word. I write “some” in brackets because, at this juncture, we find many who have no interest in hearing the truth, no matter how lovingly it is said.

We are told that people will turn from the truth in the last days (2 Timothy 4:3-4). We are told there will be many false “Jesus”s in the last days and they will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). We are told that there will be perilous times in the last days with people following their lusts and calling it godliness (2 Timothy 3:1-9). And we are told that people will be deluded in the last days because they did not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).

No matter how close we are to the actual return of Christ, we are most definitely seeing these things the Bible warns us of. Christianity is getting more and more confusing every day because so many things are done in the “name of Jesus”.

But is it the real Jesus? When we compare this “Jesus” to scripture, we can see most definitely it is not our beloved Savior who died for us and calls us to forsake our sin and the world and follow Him.

The Bible is true or it isn’t. Our faith is either based on the Bible or it’s based on human philosophy and opinion.

We can’t just define Jesus to be the way we want Him to be and then call ourselves a “Christian”.

Honestly, I think many of us Christians thought we would be in jail by now, being persecuted for standing up for the true, biblical Jesus.

Instead, we find ourselves being persecuted and rejected by those who either profess a different Jesus or are deceived to think all of the “Jesus”s are the same person.

So let me go back to the beginning of this post. As genuine believers, who desire to follow Christ wholeheartedly, we need to understand that there is a very concerted effort to move the world towards a one world religion (which is exactly what scripture tells us will happen! The Bible is 100% true!)

This is something that can’t be done without taking the eyes of the people off of God’s Word. And so there has been a real effort to move the hearts and minds of Christians from the Bible and to, instead, value more highly human opinions and their own personal experiences.

As we live in the midst of this crazy, confusing migration of “Christians” from Bible-believing religion to mysticism (let’s call it what it is), we must be passionate about both truth and love. We cannot—we dare not—eliminate either one in this very dangerous time.

And by doing this, God will use us to plant seeds for His Kingdom. He is still working in the midst of the “Christian” chaos and He is still using His people here on earth. We don’t want to be deceived into unbiblical thinking or a wrong focus, lest we be rendered ineffective. We don’t have to choose one or the other because, as believers, we must choose BOTH, just as Jesus shows us so perfectly in scripture.

We won’t change the world, but one day at a time, we can make a difference in the lives we touch. May we be courageous enough to speak the hard truths of scripture with love and grace. May we love others well and stand boldly in the swelling tide of apostasy.

A Look Back

Leave a Comment / January 13, 2026

The other day, while searching for something on Amazon Prime, a movie was suggested on the screen that we had watched years ago. We wouldn’t watch that movie today as God has so kindly been gradually convicting us of the things we set before our eyes since that time. There are many things I “used to watch” that I wouldn’t choose to watch today.

Sometimes I can find myself thinking even today, “oh, it probably wasn’t that bad” and turn something on for nostalgia’s sake. However, I almost always end up turning the movie or show off because I realize now that it simply doesn’t please the Lord. Sometimes it’s hard to turn something off. Mostly, I don’t miss my old entertainment but I need to be honest with you—sometimes it’s hard.

But when we saw that specific movie on the screen, my husband and I started talking about some friends that had encouraged us to watch it along with other things that were simply not beneficial to any believer. We had a period of time where we watched a lot of popular tv and movies and the reason for this was because of these friends, as we had mostly avoided it earlier in our lives.

When we started to drift apart from these friends, we were very, very sad. We had appreciated our friendship with them. However, we got used to life without them in it and moved on.

It wasn’t until we saw the movie pop up on the screen the other evening that we realized that God took something that was sad and hurtful to us, which certainly didn’t seem “good” to us at the time, and He used it to protect us and to move us away from something that was hurting us spiritually. We never really thought of that before.

And I have been thinking of two things to consider from this look back at our lives…

First, it’s a vivid reminder that God really does work all things for our good (Romans 8:28). But it doesn’t always feel good. And it doesn’t always seem good. And we might not know for years and years later of any good that came from it. Perhaps we may never find out. But we need to trust Him. We need to trust that God is good and that He will fulfill His promise: If we love Him, then all things will work for our good.

Second, it’s a convicting reminder to be the kind of friend that encourages and builds up our friends in the Lord, rather than the kind of friend that leads people towards worldliness and sin.

It’s not just about entertainment—although that is a sadly overlooked problem among those who profess Christ. It IS a big deal and it changes us, whether we believe it does or doesn’t.

I can’t even begin to express how much difference it made in my walk with God as I intentionally began to remove worldly entertainment filled with bad language, sexual immorality, violence, and vain humanistic philosophies (the most subtle of all! and found in even the most innocuous entertainment) from my life. Not that I ever watched, listened to, or read really bad stuff. We can always rationalize, can’t we?

Even today, I can still catch myself trying to rationalize. Thankfully, I am now at least aware that I need to really pay attention to what I am allowing in my mind. I really encourage you to do the same.

Entertainment of all kinds—what we watch, listen to, and read—is a big old open door for Satan to implant his philosophies and perspectives in our minds. It’s just so dangerous. NONE of us are so spiritually strong that we can withstand the barrage of wickedness that comes through entertainment. There will be some kind of collateral spiritual harm. There always is, whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not.

But, it’s not just entertainment. We can also, if we aren’t careful, lead people in things like gossip, anger, and grudges; in encouraging people in humanistic and psychological philosophies; we can be a stumbling block by drinking alcohol; we women can tempt a man to lust by wearing immodest, revealing clothing.

Another very common way we lead people towards the world is by only discussing the temporal things of this life—the news, work or career, sports, our children and their doings, fashion, celebrities, etc. There is nothing innately wrong with discussing these things but when God and His Word rarely, or never, come up in our conversations or when these things are not discussed in light of God and His Word, it shows something about where our hearts are and it leads people towards the world, rather than towards Christ.

There are a lot of ways we can lead people away from Christ instead of towards Him.

Honest self-examination is the first step to determining if we are helping God’s kingdom or hindering it.

Of course, none of us will help 100% of the time. That’s never the goal because it’s not even possible.

But may our lives, as a rule, lead people towards Christ. Jesus says we are His friends if we do what He commands (John 15:14). May we be shining examples of leading a life of submission and obedience to God and His Word, rather than leading a life of “doing just enough to get by”, while clinging to the world or our sin.

And so there are two things I’ve been reflecting upon as I have been thinking about those cherished friendships that simply…disappeared. I have no idea where those friends are today and how the Lord has led them in the area of entertainment. Perhaps He has led them on a similar journey.

One thing we can be sure of—the Lord will lovingly and faithfully lead anyone who seeks Him. One step at a time, He will conform us into His image and use all things for our good and His glory.

May we be faithfully examining ourselves and seeking to humbly obey Him as we take the path of growing in Christ.

Never Satisfied with Status Quo

1 Comment / October 15, 2025

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to return to a church that has welcomed me as a speaker for several years now. This year my topic was about aging and beauty. What exactly does scripture have to say about these things?

The topic was my idea—as I had been wanting to dig into the Bible and see what it has to say about these things for a long time. We hear so many things about this topic but what does the Bible actually have to teach about them? That’s what I wanted to know. And I hoped the ladies at the church would be interested, too. Thankfully, they were! No matter who we are or what age, we women especially, find this topic particularly relevant to our daily lives in one way or another.

This morning, I’d like to share just one point of that presentation. This point has continued to personally cause me much consideration, reflection, and conviction.

There is a little verse at the end of I Corinthians 10 that says—

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Whatever we do, we are to do to the glory of God. Do ALL to the glory of God.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself doing so many things with myself much more in mind. Our flesh cries out not only for glory, but for love, comfort, convenience, indulgence, popularity, fairness, justice, revenge…to name just a few.

And we make choices with these things in mind. Many times, without even realizing it.

For example…

We may choose not to speak truth because we desire to be loved more than we desire to glorify God.

We may choose to eat too much or buy too much because our flesh wants to be indulged and that’s more important than glorifying God.

We may choose to wear something (or allow our daughter to wear something) that is utterly inappropriate because popularity is more important to us than glorifying God.

We may choose to say something sarcastically or make a snide remark because fairness and revenge take priority over glorifying God.

We may choose to watch, read, or listen to something for so many reasons—popularity, wanting to be liked or loved, indulging our flesh… we have so many reasons (and excuses and rationalizations) as to why we fill our minds with wicked entertainment.

We may… well, you get the idea. It is the nitty gritty of the Christian life. It encompasses life-altering choices and the smallest decisions of every single day.

Do I want to glorify God most? Do my choices and decisions reflect the fact that glorifying God is more important than anything that has to do with ME?

I’ll just be flat-out honest (since those who know me already know this, anyway). The answer to that question is: NO. I don’t.

I’d rather guess that you may have to answer this the same way. We believers are so far from perfect, it’s scary. And we know it, too. It’s why we are so grateful for Jesus. He is perfect so we don’t have to be.

But, that being said, we want to, right? We want to make decisions to glorify God instead of to fulfill some fleshly desire.

And we make more decisions based on this than we used to. We can see how God is growing us and changing us. So we need to be grateful and not wallow in a pit of discouragement. We are not the same people we used to be. Praise be to God, we are not the same as we used to be!

But there is always so much room for improvement, right? The further along we walk in the Christian life, the more we comprehend how far we have to go.

I don’t know if you ever noticed the tagline for Growing4Life. It is “never satisfied with status quo”.

It is so tempting to be satisfied with status quo in our current culture. To just do enough to be considered “Christian” without making any sacrifices; while still fulfilling our flesh.

But this is not what God calls us to. Over and over again in scripture we read of God’s call to deny self, turn from our fleshly desires, offer our bodies as a living sacrifice—to live as a new creature.

We are going upstream in a downstream world. We live a totally different life because God has changed us and is changing us into a totally different person.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I can lean into status quo far too easily and just live day to day without really considering these things. Ignoring verses like I Corinthians 10:31 (not purposefully) as I go about my day to day activities.

That speaking engagement really made me stop short and start paying attention to why I do what I do. And while it has been a rather discouraging exercise, I am thankful. Thankful that the Lord has, yet again, opened my eyes to see myself as I really am.

These things tend to keep us humble and full of grace for others who are on the spiritual battlefield beside us, as we realize we aren’t “all that” and have so much further to go in pleasing our Lord and Savior.

I know this isn’t the feel-good, touchy-feely kind of post that people tend to be drawn to these days. But sometimes we just need to face the cold, hard truth about ourselves, don’t we? Or we will never change. We will never look more like Christ.

Instead, we will be caught up in the endless quagmire of “status quo”, always and only trying to do just enough to be called a “Christian” while still fulfilling our own fleshly desires.

Oh, may this never be said of us. May we never be satisfied with status quo. May we get in the habit of asking the question: What will bring glory to God?

May we keep moving upward and onward, one choice at a time.

Keep Looking Up!

1 Comment / September 30, 2025

Did you happen to notice that the internet and social media were abuzz with predictions that the rapture was happening on September 23? I even saw one guy say he was “a million percent positive” that it was happening on that date because God had told him this in a dream.

Of course, what do we know about unfulfilled prophesies?

We know that false prophesies are told by false prophets (Deut. 18:22). That would be the case with all men and women who label themselves prophets these days. They are rarely (if ever) right. And, yet, somehow people keep trusting them as “prophets”. What are they thinking?? But I digress…

What took place with these unfulfilled predictions has been a new wave of hatred against the biblical doctrine of the rapture. And, yes, it is biblical.

First, and foremost, we must turn to scripture to find out if it’s true. We can see this doctrine clearly expressed in I Corinthians 15:51-52, as well as in I Thessalonians 4:16-18. The doctrine is found other places throughout the New Testament, in other verses and passages. I really encourage you to dig into scripture and to believe it for what it says. Rather than believing what someone else tells you it says.

And, by the way, this was not a doctrine that started with some guy named Darby in the 1800s but it can be traced back through church history. Did you even know this? Because I had to do some digging to understand this. It is not a well-known fact of church history.

It is so important that we don’t just believe what we read or hear on the internet.

The other day a one-minute video popped up about the rapture by someone who had been recommended to me. And so I thought I’d watch it to see what he had to say. In this video, the guy “exposited” a chapter of the Bible that wasn’t even about the rapture, using it to prove there is no rapture!

This is the stuff that is going on. We need to be aware.

There is a reason the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is so maligned, ridiculed, and hated. And that is because it is TRUE.

I don’t know how they will explain the disappearance of the Christians but I have come to realize that it will be a much smaller group than I had first thought. The way is narrow, after all.

This unwelcome and unpleasant truth becomes clearer as we watch so many fall into the deception of the false and self-centered religion of “American Christianity”. Some of those are true believers who are just deceived but, looking at the fruit of lives, I am so grieved to wonder if many are not saved at all. Only God knows.

But there is a beautiful remnant of souls saved by the blood of Jesus. We know full well we have no merit of our own and that our salvation is based on Jesus Christ alone.

We are so deeply grateful to our loving and merciful God. We are the ones who must not be deceived but, rather, to keep looking up!

We have been told that we have not been appointed to God’s wrath which is going to be poured out upon this earth (I Thessalonians 5:9) God will come to get us one of these days, just as His Word says, and we are closer now than ever!

The Butterfly Method

2 Comments / September 9, 2025

I enjoy a well-written novel. Always have. Sometimes it’s just wonderful to lose yourself in a good story. Of course, the challenge is finding one that doesn’t dishonor the Lord and His Word. And quite a challenge that is.

A few weeks ago, I decided to read a Historical fiction novel that is labeled “Christian”. I don’t have particularly high expectations with this label anymore and I am always curious to see if it really IS Christian. Most skirt around the Gospel and remain pretty vague but, thankfully, they aren’t filled with offensive content.

This particular novel, however, was interesting in that it basically promoted the belief that everyone is saved (what is called universalism). The author basically took all the happy and comforting promises from scripture and applied them to everyone.

Jesus’s death saved every person in the book and, thus, they were all entitled to God’s wonderful promises. There was no sin. No repentance. No Gospel. No indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No sanctification. God loves everyone and, therefore, everyone is going to heaven. Sure, it’s because of Jesus that everyone can feel so loved but why Jesus even had to die if there is no sin is simply never explained.

A few days later I was listening to an exposition on Ezekiel (I have been trying to understand this book at a basic level as I was reading it) and the teacher, in order to help us understand the context of the book, told us to turn to Jeremiah 29. In the midst of that, he asked how many people love verse 11 and have embraced it as a promise to themselves personally—

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

He went on to say how it is such a bad practice to take these Old Testament verses that are specifically promises for Israel and apply them to ourselves.

He then went on to call this the “Butterfly Method” of reading the Bible. People just flit and float to the happy verses and take them for themselves. They imbibe the pleasant promises and the verses that bring good feelings. And then completely ignore the hard-to-understand and the unpleasant.

In fact, they even flit to promises that weren’t for them because they are such happy promises. The promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is not for us. Admittedly, there is a principle behind the promise that is repeated in the New Testament (Romans 8:28-29) but we mustn’t pull verses out of context in the Old Testament and apply them to ourselves. A lot of false teaching has been a result of this practice. As serious Bible students, we need to understand the difference between a specific promise and a principle.

If we take a step back, we can see why it is so tempting to use the Butterfly Method of scripture study. We live in a culture that thrives on the pleasant and the good. We love a good happy ending. To focus on anything unpleasant or negative has become one of the greatest sins in this culture.

We have been steadily brainwashed with the message that “positive is good” and “negative is bad”. This is a very destructive message.

And here is the thing…

Is the Bible true or is it false? Either the entire Bible is true. Or the entire Bible is false.

We simply cannot just pick and choose what we like from the scriptures, while ignoring or changing the passages we don’t like.

That is simply intellectually dishonest. And it is self-serving.

The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. It is cohesive throughout and proves itself over and over for the serious student who takes the time to actually study it.

The entire Bible IS true. We may not understand it all and we may even abhor some of its messages, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.

Oh, that we may be courageously willing to accept the difficult messages while, at the same time, embracing the wonderful promises. It isn’t an either/or. It is always AND. We need to study and accept both.

May we be wise and courageous Bible students who trust in God and His Word—every single word of it.

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