In Jesus' Name

Recently I called my sister-in-law and she answered the phone laughing. I asked her what was so funny and she explained that they had just picked up Tayton (my three year old nephew) from his Awana class at church. As soon as they got into their car, Tayton immediately exclaimed "Mom!! Did you know that Jesus named Amen?" :)

As we were talking about how cute that was, I began to think about how often I have prayed to God and ended with "In Jesus' name, amen", without truly thinking about the significance of that small phrase. It is only because of the name of Jesus that I have the ability to approach God's throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). It is because of the name of Jesus that I can ask anything according to the will of God and He will hear me (I John 5:14). It is because of the name of Jesus that I have everlasting life and do not have to face hell for my sin (John 3:16).

"For this reason God...gave [Jesus] the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow - of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth - and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil 2:9-10)

Today, as you spend time in prayer, take a moment to stop and pause when you end with the name of Jesus. Thank God for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do not pray the name of Jesus from repitition, but with a deep heart of gratitude and love that we as sinners can approach the Holy God IN JESUS' NAME.

divine appointment at the preschool desk

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV).

I worked my volunteer job at church this morning. I'm the preschool check-in lady. That may not sound very important to you, but it is the open door that the Lord has given me to be faithful to do. Each Sunday morning, I arrive at about 9am and check in new preschoolers who come to our church. I usually leave at about 11am to go to the worship service. The church is quite large and just to give you an idea, we run about 700 preschoolers (birth through kindergarten) on a Sunday. It is quite a busy place and where I sit is also the "problem-solving headquarters" for all that is happening behind the scenes. I have to admit that I am not in charge but can problem-solve as need be. It is a perfect fit for me in this busy season when I am gone on numerous trips since it doesn't take any advance preparation (on my part - obviously there are hundreds of workers who do massive amounts of preparation!).

The best part about my job is that I get to meet newcomers to the church. You would not believe how many new parents come to church for the first time! I have gotten to share with many parents and grandparents about the love of Jesus and pray with them over things like broken relationships (separations, divorces, etc), special family needs, and lost family members. I have seen them walk up and burst into tears, seen them filled with joy over their newborn, and watched many a grandparent try to deal with armloads of young ones. Almost every week, I see someone that I know was encouraged or settled during a hectic morning.

This morning was another crazy one - but God granted a divine appointment right in the middle of it. I won't tell you all the confusion but there was a lot. God provided a moment for me to pray with a young mom who had never openly confessed her faith. I shared with her the gospel message and started with Jeremiah 29:11-13. She told me it was a sign. Yes, it was! It was a huge sign that God had led her there, was helping her to understand her new found faith, and to understand what had happened and what to do next. I promised you that I was more blessed than she was!

When we seek Him, we find Him! When we seek to lead others to Him, He uses us! What are His plans for you? How are you serving Him? Be faithful in the little things and He will show you great and mighty things! Let's make a fresh commitment for Him to use us to share the love of the Lord with those who are seeking Him!

Follow Me!

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19, ESV).

The world is screaming, follow me! Look at me! Me, me, me! I want...I need...I think! Somehow in a world all about me, it is easy to get lost in ourselves, our desires, and what is the best for us. The enemy is (unfortunately) doing a good job of getting us off-center.

Jesus said, "Follow me." Over and over again, we see that He continually told His disciples to keep their eyes on Him. He wanted them to know that there was a great cause as stake. There was something more important than what they wanted; it was about what God wanted. Jesus wanted the disciples to follow Him so they could become fishers of men. He wanted the world to know that He was the answer.

I worked at our church's fall festival today. I admit to having one of those "me" days myself. Why am I here? Why did I volunteer? I have so much to do! Yet, as I watched the crowds, I realized how in the midst of all the fun festivities, people were still hurting. You could see it in how they dressed, you could hear it in what they said, you could see it in their eyes. Somehow, God showed me again how important it was that everyone work together for the cause of Christ. While there were a few at the helm, it took many volunteers to make this great outreach event happen. Had it not been for the church, none of us could have individually pulled it off. Today, our church was a gifted2go church. We all worked together, using our gifts, to make a kingdom difference. And while I didn't do much, I was there to lend a smile to those who came.

Let's be gifted2go individually, but let's be gifted2go in our churches. Let's work together to share the love of Christ. It's good to be reminded, that it is not all about "me"!

A Time for Dancing

Psalm 149:1-4  "Praise the Lord.  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.  Let Israel rejoice in their Maker.  Let the people of Zion be glad in their King.  Let them praise his name with DANCING and make music to him with tambourine and harp.  For the Lord takes delight in his people, he crowns the humble with salvation."

Ballroom dancing!!!  What does that have to do with anything????  My husband and I decided that we needed to be intentional about meeting new people who did not live in a seminary or Christian school "bubble."  So, we signed up for free ballroom dancing lessons for 8 weeks.  This was something definitely out of our comfort zone, but it has given us the opportunity to meet new people.  We have especially formed a friendship with the instructor and her husband and have met them for dinner the past two weeks.  They were surprised that a Baptist preacher was in a ballroom dancing class, but that totally broke down any barriers about Tim being a "preacher."   We listened to them share about their lives and told them a bit about what we both did; the second week, before they even said hello, they said: "Tim, where is the church where you are preaching?  We would like to come here you."   They expressed their desire to come to "his" church.  Tim and I pray that we will continue to be intentional about looking for opportunities to build relationships and share what He has called us to do. 

check that off?

Romans 11:35-36 reads, "Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen" (Holman Christian Standard Bible).  


This afternoon, I saw an exercise t-shirt that read, "Check that off!"  It made me question myself, "Do I sometimes obey God like it is a check-off for my to-do list?"  Do we obey Him out of habit?  

God's grace and mercy make His character stand out.  God meets us where we are, no matter how messy life can seem. Action and obedience are important, yet it is God who gives us the strength to follow as we believe in, turn to and trust in Him.

I pray that we will share the Good News of His grace.  We can take a deep breath and rest in knowing that He loves us and is there to guide us every step of the way.


Flashback: 2007 music video by Switchfoot, "You Already Take Me There" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l1KgHI5GxA

God, Women, and Southern Seminary

Learn to minister to young women at the W conference. http://events.sbts.edu/wconference

Read the Baptist Press article to learn more about what God is doing with Women at Southern!
http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=33943

Don't Forget Your Neighbors

"The second [commandment] is this:  Love your neighbor as yourself.''' (Mark 12:31)

As I have still been thinking about the article from last week on the Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter, I was convicted of his challenge about neighbors. He says:  "Christians must also recognize their responsibility to their neighbors.  Believers should speak to their neighbors about Christ, and not stop, 'till death hath stopped your mouths, or stopped their ears.'"  Christians need to go to their neighbors' houses to converse with them concerning spiritual things.  'Take all the opportunities that you possibly you can.' Baxter exhorted, 'to confer with them privately about their states, and to instruct and help them to the attaining of salvation.'" (Beougher, Tim.  "Richard Baxter and Puritan Evangelism")

My husband and I need to make a plan--set a date-- to get the neighbors on our cul-de-sac together (we have a lot of new neighbors within the past year).  We talk about it.  We think about it.  But we need to PLAN it--just a simple dessert fellowship.  Baxter has given me the little "push" I needed to do more than just think about it!