Trash to Treasure

Posted: September 14, 2014 in women

One night when I was four years old, my mother leaned over to kiss me good night. I excitedly told her that I couldn’t wait to go to heaven! I believed heaven was real and only a breath away. Why doesn’t Jesus just let us live with him now?  I have often wished for that childlike faith and pure heart as an adult. Life has a way of robbing us of both. Oh how I have grieved the loss of innocence.

Sometimes the depth of my depravity hits me like a ton of bricks. The weight is so heavy, I am certain it will crush me. I cannot bear to read scripture, to view my face in the mirror of truth. Self-loathing sets in. Depression. That darkness that embraces me like a long lost friend then strangles me till I can’t breathe.

Have you ever been so sad that you couldn’t cry? Terrified that the first tear would begin an avalanche of despair that you could never stop? I had endured such an emotional beating from someone I trusted that it took everything I had to escape. Then after I escaped, I had no idea how to be ‘one’. Then proceeded the struggle to survive, a string of bad decisions, learning to trust again… This past year has been a year of brokenness. In a few words, 2013 sucked ass.

When you are told you are garbage long enough, and treated like garbage often enough, you begin to believe it. Then you begin to live like it. Then all the lies said about you come true, self-fulfilling prophesy. I believed the lie. I became the lie.

God abandoned me. The church abandoned me. No one came to my rescue. No one heard my cries. Like the homeless man sitting on the street corner, I became invisible. I know they see me, but they pretend they don’t. Too repulsive. I thought everyone would be better off if I were dead. At least my kids would get the insurance.

Then there was a break in the darkness. Someone said I was beautiful. Someone said I mattered. Someone said I made a difference. Someone said thank you. Someone loved me. Someone showed me.

new

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,” Ps. 103:1-5a

Christ pardons. Christ heals. Christ redeems.

I am who Christ says I am.

I am pardoned. I am healed. I am redeemed. This is truth.

Rejecting the lie and living the truth is a daily process for me. I am an impatient person. I want to be whole yesterday. But I have learned that my faith is found in the process.

Depravity, depression, and darkness are overcome by the sacrifice of true love. The transforming power of Christ is my legacy to my children.

A legacy of faith. A legacy of hope. A legacy of love.

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Video  —  Posted: January 27, 2014 in women


This is reposted from carm.org, a valuable resource for parents and students alike! For more on the article follow the link to their site!
Logic in Apologetics
by Matt Slick

Logic is typically very important in apologetics. To defend the faith, the Christian must use truth, facts, and reason appropriately and prayerfully. The Christian should listen to objections and make cogent and rational comments in direct response to the issues raised.

Logic is simply a tool in the arsenal of Christian apologetics. Logic is a system of reasoning. It is the principle of proper thinking used to arrive at correct conclusions. Of course, some people are better at thinking logically than others, and there is no guarantee that using logic to the best of one’s ability will bring about the conversion of anyone. After all, logic is not what saves a person. Jesus does that, and we are justified by faith (Rom. 5:1).

Therefore, the proper use of logic in apologetics is to remove intellectual barriers that hinder a person from accepting Jesus as Savior. Logic is not to be looked at as the answer to every problem facing Christianity nor every objection raised against it. Logic has its limits. It cannot guarantee wisdom. It cannot prove or disprove inspiration or love. It cannot replace the intuition gained through experience, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, nor the clear truth of God’s word. Nevertheless, logic is still very valuable and can be quite powerfully used by people, both saved and unsaved.

Our students are engaged in a battle and while they have all the spiritual tools they need to overcome, they lack the training on how to use them. So their spiritual blessings remain idle and our kids remain vulnerable.

I am helping prepare a discipleship program for our high school students at church. I searched and researched, but could not find an inductive study that kept the kids noses in the Word and forced them to think about it. We also wanted to be very intentional about teaching the kids how to practice the presence of God in prayer while allowing the Word of God to transform their lives. Out of that desire emerged Crave Bible Study and Discipleship. This is the first week handout the kids receive. The following weekend they receive a 20 minute teaching and then discuss what they learned by exploring the scriptures the previous week on their own.

The handout folds in half and fits in their Bibles and requires about 20 minutes of study time each day. You are welcome to download the first handout to share. If you want the whole study, shoot me an email or just comment on this post. Have a very blessed day!

1/27/14 update
What a blessing to receive requests all over the world! Yes, I am still emailing the study to all who request it. May God be glorified!

Ephesians ch. 1