grace
Grace Upon Grace
“You’ve shown me that even my mistakes and sins can be recycled into something good—through Your transforming grace.” – Jesus Listens,April 12th Some experiences from our teenage years we can remember as if they had happened yesterday. I still remember with stunning clarity the day I learned a powerful lesson about grace. I was working my first job over the Christmas holiday season at a local department store in the gift-wrapping department. For some reason, I was running late. I rushed around the house getting everything together and jumped in my car. I quickly put the car in reverse and backed out. Immediately, I felt the impact and heard the crash. In my hurry, I had completely forgotten to open the garage door. As I got out of my car and assessed the damage, my mom came rushing outside...
Touching Women’s Lives
One woman was caught in the scandalous act of adultery. Another was rejected and ignored because of her promiscuous lifestyle. And even another was shunned for her shameful condition. Nonetheless, Jesus personally reached out to those three while He was on earth. Sharon wanted to use their stories to connect with women in her area. So she prayed and planned an outreach at the community center. She chose to show a film about their stories. Many wept as they viewed the movie https://www.youtube.com/user/magdalenatoday Some prayed to receive Christ, while others rededicated their lives to Him. Friend, help others understand true freedom and value are found only in Christ. He still reaches women today no matter what their story might be! To learn more, go to https://www.youtube.com/user/...
Guilty as Charged
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16 He had been out of prison only a few weeks when I met him. It was the result of a cold call that I made to ask him to speak at a men’s retreat I was leading. He said yes and it was the beginning of a long friendship. He was known as “The Hatchet Man” in the White House. He went from the Oval Office to standing in front of a judge and answering “guilty as charged.” While confined in a jail cell he was touched by John 3 and once again said “guilty as charged.” He became a new creation…. a new man as he gave his heart and life to Christ. He wrote a best seller in Born Again and the rest is evangelical history. He called me one day to say that he had a heart for those in prison and wanted me to help. A group of us later...
Choices
Colleen Reece had a career choice to make! She’d been offered the position as personal assistant to a bank president. Definitely a step up the ladder for Colleen. And to add icing to the cake – the salary she was offered was twice what she was making as a school secretary. Colleen had given her life to the Lord many years before. And a big part of her life since, was counseling at Christian youth camps. It was something she loved to do. This new bank job would change all of that! Her summers would no longer be free. In Revelation 2:4 God reminds His church: “Do not forsake your first love.” Do the things you did at first. Colleen stayed where she felt God was using her. And she has never regretted it. Follow God’s leading for your life....
Forgiving is Not Excusing
Forgiveness is not excusing! Nor is it pretending. To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don’t excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. Revenge is God’s job. By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? It’s a huge issue in the Bible. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace. In the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18:32, the master calls the servant in. “You wicked servant, he said, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” It’s a good question. We’ve been...
A Broken Hallelujah Is Still a Hallelujah
“I can invite You into those broken places and collaborate with You in putting the fragments back together in new ways.“ – Jesus Listens, July 3 Have you ever stopped and marveled at how the Bible, including God’s chosen family, is filled to the brim with screw-ups and sufferers? This is my favorite thing about the Bible. All the screw-ups and sufferers that are in there. It gives me hope, because if there is saving grace for bottom-dwellers like them, then there must also be saving grace for bottom-dwellers like me. The unfiltered stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab, David, Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, and others might make the middle class in spirit person’s skin crawl. Even though they are all considered heroes of the faith in the Bible and throughout the centuries, these “heroes” h...
Hope, Grace, and Love: Teaching Kids the True Meaning of Easter
“The truth is, I love you so much that I died for you. There is nothing you can do that I won’t forgive.” – Jesus Calling for Kids, May 15 On Easter morning as a young girl, I remember posing in the front yard wearing a floral dress with lace-trimmed socks and white patent-leather shoes. My hair had been curled with sponge rollers the night before, I had big bangs my kids giggle at today, and there was a not-so-pleasant smile on my face. It was all for that once-a-year photo opportunity my parents used to get a snapshot of me all dressed up in front of the pink azaleas. After a few photos, we’d leave for church, where I’d pay attention to small details the preacher mentioned rather than the message he was teaching. When we came back home, it was finally time for my favorite part of the Eas...
By Grace are you Saved Through Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I firmly believe that the Bible teaches that we receive eternal life by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. But is that what Paul is teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9 when he writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”? Though many Christians think so, I do not. This study of Ephesians 2:8-9 will explain what I think Paul is really talking about in these verses. Before we get to that, I want to address a question from a reader about whether it is sinful or not for Christians to engage in New Age practices. Question from a Reader about New Age Practices I feel like a lot of Christians are against things like manifesting, meditation, and positive affirmations. I do believe Jes...
The Biggest “But” in the Bible (Ephesians 2:4)
Trivia time! What’s the biggest but in the Bible? We will discover the answer to that question today in our study of Ephesians 2:4. I will also answer a quick question from a reader about the topic of Calvinism. Before that, however, I have a bit of news! I now accept Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies on my website, and if you follow some suggested steps, you can earn about $60 in free cryptocurrency, which you can then use to join my discipleship group, cash it out, or keep it invested. How to Join My Discipleship for FREE and also get paid $50! If you’ve been thinking of joining my discipleship group for a while, I have a way for you to get one month free and also get paid $50 extra in the process. If you’re already part of my discipleship group, you can do this also. I now accept cryp...
What is Redemption? (Ephesians 1:7-8)
Christians love to sing and talk about redemption and forgiveness, but strangely, few Christians really know what the Bible teaches about these two topics. We look at both terms in this study of Ephesians 1:7-8. Though we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, this does not mean that the blood of Jesus was used to pay God for our sins. God does not need to be paid off. He is not the mafia who demands payment for protection. Instead, the redemption of Jesus shows us how to live free from sin, which is what the forgiveness of God shows us as well. Listen to this study on Ephesians 1:7-8 to learn more. Current Event: Critical Race Theory We’re discussing some of the content in the best-selling book, FaultLines, by Voddie Baucham Jr. In this book, Dr. Baucham discusses Critical Race Theory and sh...
What is the Adoption as Sons in Ephesians 1:5-6?
Do you know what it means to be adopted? Of course you do. We all know people who have adopted children. Maybe you have adopted a child, or maybe you yourself are adopted. But did you know what the modern form of adoption has almost no similarities with adoption in biblical times? If we don’t know how adoption worked in Bible times, we will misread and misunderstand Scripture. This study on Ephesians 1:5-6 explains how adoption worked 2000 years ago, so that we can better understand Ephesians 1:5-6. But before we look at Ephesians 1:5-6, we will look at a current event and answer a question from a reader. Current Event: The Fault Lines in Critical Race Theory Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the Social Justice (SJ) movement are causing intense damage to the world, and to Christianity. Those ...
The Two Greatest Blessings (Ephesians 1:2)
In this podcast episode about Ephesians 1:2, we discuss the gun violence and the shooting in Boulder, CO this week, answer a question from a reader about the warning passages of Hebrews, and take a detailed look at Ephesians 1:2, in which we discover two of the greatest blessings we have from God. Take a listen! Gun Violence in the USA A short plea for clear thinking and fact-based conversations about gun violence in the United States. Don’t listen to the lies from the news about this. They have an agenda and will not give you the facts. Question from a Reader about the Warning Passages of Hebrews When I was 7 I “accepted Jesus”. I grew up in a pastor’s home but was never discipled. When I hit my college years, I became involved in sexual sin and alcohol. Unfortunately I was un...
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