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PLEASE DON'T THANK ME FOR MY OBEDIENCE TO GOD

 
 
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“Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,”

— Luke 24:45 | ESV

 
 
 

THEOLOGY & DOCTRINE

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What Is Theology?
What Is Theology?
Women, Let's Stop Praising Teachers Who Take Scripture Out Of Context
Women, Let's Stop Praising Teachers Who Take Scripture Out Of Context
Why The Story Of David & Bathsheba Isn't A Lesson On Modesty
Why The Story Of David & Bathsheba Isn't A Lesson On Modesty
 

christian living

See All in  Christian Living

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Please Don't Thank Me For My Obedience To God
Please Don't Thank Me For My Obedience To God
Women, Let's Stop Praising Teachers Who Take Scripture Out Of Context
Women, Let's Stop Praising Teachers Who Take Scripture Out Of Context
5 Types Of Teachings Christians Should Be Aware Of
5 Types Of Teachings Christians Should Be Aware Of
 
 

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False Teaching In Popular Women's Ministries
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There are many popular (and unpopular) Christian women’s ministries that glory unrepentantly in false, unbiblical teaching.

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For a people that were once separated completely from the fellowship of God, any day within His courts is a beautiful place to be, never a place to run from.

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PLEASE HEAR ME OUT SISTERS — I’ve been given the incredible honor of saying the “hard things”. So long as I can remember, I’ve never been too afraid of the consequences of what it meant to be a voice that spoke up about things that others may have been afraid to. For a long time, I was so so scared of the friends I would lose and the people I would offend, because of the call to say those hard things. Matter of fact, I’ve watched many the people disassociate themselves with me altogether, for that reason. — I organized and led whole marches in highschool to speak truth to the powers that be, because of the inequality of access urban high schools like mine, had in low-income neighborhoods. I “risked” a position given to me by my school district, to protest against those in leadership, who would not listen. It upset many, it caused bouts of fear in me to rise at times, but even then, I believe God was preparing me for the life I would live as His daughter today. — I say all this to say, I can’t be quiet. I can’t keep trying to stifle my own voice, out of fear of offending people. I can’t keep not speaking truth, no matter how hard it is to swallow, because I’ll lose things, friendships and associations. In the grand scheme of things, those things don’t matter in light of God being known. I was reading in Judges 2:10 the other day, and was astonished by a verse I read: “…And there arose another generation after them who did not know The Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.” This is my fear ya’ll and heart beat. With so much clouding the focus of Christ and His Word in these days, there lies potential for whole generations to not know God. Sure, they’ll know their “purpose”, their “calling”, their “destiny” and everything else, but if we continue to go in the direction(s) we are, they won’t. And if my little, firecracker self has anything to do with the influence of it, it ain’t happening on my watch! — I humbly say, that I love people. I want the best for us. I will give my last to anyone. But my kindness isn’t in competition with my boldness. I can do both and be both, by God’s grace. Things are changing around here. And I’m not afraid anymore.
Online ministries are great! They allow for and can provide instant access to Biblical teaching, Gospel-centered posts and quick devotional style posts that can uplift one’s day! They allow us to connect with women from all over the world, even if that means time zones vary. It’s instant. It’s convenient. It works. — And, just as easily as we can be connected to the good side of the online world, we can instantly experience the not so helpful or healthy sides of it too. Viral sermons with no commitment to context, become the most popular reposts on your timeline. Learning to discern between truth and error can get trickier, because the photo the caption has looks amazing, yet the content is off in some way. Irregardless of our experience(s) with the online world, one truth remains: Online communities, sites and posts, are not substitutes for the local church. — Too often, we can fall for the trap of using “good” things, as replacements for the better thing. Just like vitamin supplements, outside resources are there to supplement what we get in tangible, local, God-ordained community, not to replace it. Vitamins only help, as far as one is consuming what the vitamins were created to supplement one’s daily diet. — Our adversary wants nothing more than for you to run to social media to confess sin, rely on Facebook groups for community and be present online but inactive and distant from local accountability and faith family that can do what virtual entities cannot. The book of Acts is a great picture in Scripture, to see what God’s intentions are for His Church. Where He has provided local accountability through church government, sound teaching through Biblical education, and so many opportunities for fellowship and prayer, we must take advantage of it. Online connection is great, but it can’t replace or touch the great gift God has given in the local church Body.
Listen. In this influencer shaped social media scene, the temptation to search and post, is real. We want to share encouraging bits and uplifting posts with our social media friends and loved ones, and that’s such a good desire and aim! But, sometimes, we can do that at the expense of only going to Scripture, to pick out Instagram “noteworthy” quotes, severed from context and right application. — A Facebook friend needs some encouraging while expressing that they’re having a hard day? Jeremiah 29:11 seems like the PERFECT verse to post in their comments section…until we read the actual context and realize that “you” that is being spoken of, isn’t your Facebook friend, but instead is a prophecy, God is giving to exiles! Mightttt not be a great idea after reading the first verse of chapter 29, eh? — Social media is an awesome place to share things about God and The Bible. But not at the expense of cherry picking verses without understanding the context, first. As we communicate often here, all of Scripture is about God first. Let us allow that to drive our social media shares, even if it’s unpopular or inconvenient at times, to do so.
The latter part of 2015, I spent many days and nights in my townhome in Atlanta, GA, crying my eyes out, barely eating, face in my newly purchased John MacArthur Study Bible reading. This was the season I discovered that I really didn’t know The God I had proclaimed to many, for so many years. This was the season, that God uprooted all of the error I planted from seeds I’d gathered from my own experiences. This is the season, that my life changed forever. — The woman many people see today, is not who I was then. I was only becoming—and I still haven’t arrived. God met me there. As I researched and prayed and listened to Biblical teaching and wrestled and cried my eyes out, found a new church, made Lifeway my new regular visiting place, I saw God take a broken girl who didn’t have a solid grasp of who He was, and change things. — All my life, I’d listened to teachings and took “their” word(s) for it, because I didn’t know to weigh things, or how to do so. But, God took me through a season, where He revealed my legalistic, unsure, wavering and theologically unformed heart and mind, and put Potter’s hands to my clay brain (haha, imagine that!) I wasn’t always “this” way. I come from a past of teaching publicly women wrong things, yet, owning it. I come from a view of reading The Bible to find my storyline and not God’s. I come from a past of legalism, where I had zero assurance of salvation. But God. — This is who I was ( a snippet) and this is who I am today. And my life’s goal, is to reach back to every woman The Lord gives me the ability to, to help her put a solid “why” behind what she believes about God, through His Word. Andddd that’s about it ☺️
 
 
 

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