{Testimony}

I wanted to take some time to clarify some major points of my story. I became very hesitant after I posted this about how you may take some points I made about growing up specifically. I hope you get to read this before you click 'play' because this is very important to me. Growing up was great! I had my parents to myself (other than their work) because my half-brother did not live with us, so I had so much attention it was ridiculous. I absolutely love that I was not forced into an "organized religion" and that it was literally a tug from the Lord that brought me to my knees in surrender to Him. I believe everyone, even if your Father is a Pastor and Mother is a Women's Director in a church that you ultimately choose your faith, after God has chosen you! Like I say in the video, I am so incredibly grateful for my parents, for the values and characteristics they instilled in me and for the woman they have brought me up to be. They are both amazing people, both as a couple and as individuals and I think everyone should get to know them. My heart so beats for them, gosh I love them so much! I also want to make this clear...in the way I was brought up with the sports I played, activities I was involved in, etc. so many characteristics were taught: loyalty, respect, love, fight, work ethic, team work, honesty...I could go on for a long time. But, here's the deal...what I said is true, it is true to the core of me and if it is truth I will not stray away from it. I am so thankful, please hear my heart. 

This is my testimony that I was asked to give at the young adult ministry I attend. We are in the middle of a series called Sovereignty plus Grace equals ENOUGH. 

Thanks for taking the time to watch :) I pray that it blesses you in some way

{Mother's Day}

My Mom is da bomb, 
she knows how it's sung.
Willing and able, she shows 
how it's done. 
Her heart pours out over 
and over till it's wrung. 
Yet, she keeps it going
like nothings wrong. 
Mom is cool. 
She went to school. 
Married my Dad and
that was no duel.
I'm blessed to call her Mom,
while we all sing her a song...
she is most of all, my stinkin mom!

I love you Mom!

{Psalm 130}

Last week sometime I was asked a pretty challenging question...

Let me start by giving you some background. I serve on the Creative Team for Impact, the college/young adult ministry that I attend and serve at. The Creative Team is a group of individuals that we feel has creative ideas and biblical input to challenge each other and pinpoint what it is that Impact as a ministry and the people that attend need to be challenged with. We have been praying about and forming the mission statement and heartbeat of this group and desperately trying to be and stay in the center of God's will for this ministry. We think/pray about the teaching, challenges, creative aspects (logos, stage elements, leadership, etc) and responsibilities. 

Now that I got all of that out I can move forward. Each person on the team was asked to bring a Psalm of your choosing that has challenged you the most and means something to you...be ready to explain it and why it is important to you. I would go to the extent to say that most Christians and even individuals who are not believers read Psalms more than any other book of the Bible. I may be wrong on that, but I would venture to say that I am probably right. I think many people can or try to relate to the crying out of mostly David, not even realizing the place and the destruction in his heart when writing most of these laments. They at times give hope, peace, understanding, and nurturement (I know that's not a word, but work with me here :)  ). I knew most of the people in the group, keep in mind there are only 7 of us...would probably come with well known Psalms...for example, 139, 37, 23, etc. There is no problem with that at all, but I wanted to challenge myself...

You have probably guessed by now, but the Psalm I chose was, Psalm 130... I'll put it in here so you don't have to pull out your Bible....(horrible I know, asking you to open that...whew) Please read my sarcasm there...

Psalm 130

English Standard Version (ESV)

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

130 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

² 

    O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³ 

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

    O Lord, who could stand?

⁴ 

But with you there is forgiveness,

     that you may be feared.

⁵ 

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

    and in his word I hope;

⁶ 

my soul waits for the Lord

    more than watchmen for the morning,

    more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷ 

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

    and with him is plentiful redemption.

⁸ 

And he will redeem Israel

    from all his iniquities.

Oh, goodness...where do I even start! My heart is so, right there...I want to you get something from this..I want you to desperately grasp the fact that...are you ready for this???? Even in our deepest pit we can cry out to God and be heard! Profound, right? Ha ha now it may not be very profound to you, but this wrecked me, yes in a good way. 

Keep in mind...We do not know the writer of Psalm 130

Here we see expressed:  

• His desires
• His repentance before God
• His attendance upon God
• His expectations of God

Get this, "We are taught to humble ourselves before God, before the justice of God guilty in His sight" -Matthew Henry

I venture to say that you, whomever you are, you have probably at some point felt like you were in a similar place to the writer. That when he says, out of the depths you grasp that... it hits you in your heart...I can say that I have been there, probably not to that extent, lets be real, but in my darkest deepest pit, lets just say...my thought was, "I feel ya!". 

I'm very curious to know your answer to the question I was challenged with...bring a Psalm of your choosing that has challenged you the most and means something to you...be ready to explain it and why it is important to you. Will you write me back and share? Don't feel like you have to go into depth, but I would love to know your heart.... 

{Tozer}

A friend recently sent me this site from his new software: logos. It is a great tool as a Scholar to use to be well equipped for teaching, etc. I have read some of A.W. Tozer's work and thoughts before, but this page was overwhelming with quotes from some of his books...I challenge you to take a look at this and really reflect on it...mind-blowing stuff, I tell ya!

A.W. Tozer quotes 

Aiden Wilson (A. W.) Tozer was born in a small farming community in Western Pennsylvania on April 21, 115 years ago. His spiritual path opened up when, as a 15-year-old, Tozer responded to a street evangelist. Five years later, with no theological training, he began pastoring his first church.

Tozer spent the rest of his life as a pastor, rising to national prominence during his tenure at Southside Alliance Church, Chicago, IL (1928–1959). Tozer wrote the spiritual classic The Pursuit of God during his time in Chicago, and over his lifetime authored more than 40 books. His steadfast call to repentance and faith earned him the nickname “the 20th-century prophet.”

On May 12, 1963, he went to be with his Lord after suffering a heart attack. The epitaph on his tombstone simply reads: “A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.”

To celebrate this remarkable man of faith, I put together 10 of my favorite Tozer quotes:

1. “I want the presence of God Himself, or I don’t want anything at all to do with religion. You would never get me interested in the old maids’ social club with a little bit of Christianity thrown in to give it respectability. I want all that God has, or I don’t want any.”—from The Counselor
2. “I wonder also how many Christians in our day have truly and completely abandoned themselves to Jesus Christ as their Lord. We are very busy telling people to “accept Christ”—and that seems to be the only word we are using. We arrange a painless acceptance.”—from Who Put Jesus on the Cross?
3. “The world lives in such a time of crisis. Christians alone are in a position to rescue the perishing. We dare not settle down to try to live as if things were normal.”—from Born After Midnight
4. “But a lot of people have gone too far and have written books and poetry that gets everybody believing that God is so kind and loving and gentle. God is so kind that infinity won’t measure it. And God is so loving that He is immeasurably loving. But God is also holy and just.”—from The Attributes of God, Volume One
5. “I can only say, let us be tolerant wherever we can be, and let us be charitable toward all those we cannot tolerate. But let us not imagine for a minute that we are called upon to take a top-of-the-fence stand, never knowing exactly what we believe.”—from Faith Beyond Reason
6. “It is a high Christian privilege to pray for one another within each local church body and then for other believers throughout the world. As a Christian minister, I have no right to preach to people I have not prayed for. That is my strong conviction.”—from Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts
7. “In some circles, God has been abridged, reduced, modified, edited, changed and amended until He is no longer the God whom Isaiah saw, high and lifted up.”—from Whatever Happened to Worship?
8. “No matter what the circumstances, we Christians should keep our heads. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. It is a dismal thing to see a son of heaven cringe in terror before the sons of earth.”—from The Warfare of the Spirit
9. “Rightly understood, faith is not a substitute for moral conduct but a means toward it. The tree does not serve in lieu of fruit but as an agent by which fruit is secured. Fruit, not trees, is the end God has in mind in yonder orchard; so Christ-like conduct is the end of Christian faith.”—from Size of the Soul
10. “The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God. Outside of the will of God, there’s nothing I want, and in the will of God there’s nothing I fear, for God has sworn to keep me in His will.”—from Success and the Christian: The Cost of Spiritual Maturity