Here's to Another New Chapter In a Beautiful Love Story

          Hello friends! I have big news . . . I MOVED! If you're looking for my latest blog post, pop on over to my WordPress. If you're here to read my earlier blog posts, look to your right! Thank you for reading, and God bless you.

A Christian's Guide to a Joyful Christmas

          This time of year is a time to gather your friends and family and hold them close and enjoy their company, but while some of us are really big on emphasizing "the reason for the season," we somehow find that our prayer life and our quiet time with God is sparse and less impressive than we'd like it to be during this time. 

          "Dry spells" in our walk with God can be frustrating and disheartening, and what we think we're doing to fix the problem is actually making it worse. Being so busy getting gifts and organizing parties and socializing with friends can drain your joy. You think you're having so much fun with your friends, but at the end of the day you realize that you've forgotten to make time for the Lord. You tell yourself you'll double your time tomorrow, but it never happens and guilt creeps in. You're a terrible Christian, God is angry with you, you'll have to work harder to "get right with God again." That's the voice of the enemy telling you these things. You know what God is saying to you? God is saying, "My child, I love you so much, and I'm so glad you're having so much fun, but I miss you. I miss spending time in prayer with you, I miss showing you more and more of Myself in my Word. I miss your joyful tears in worship and listening to your sweet voice when you sing to Me."

So how in the world to we get back our joy?

1. Our Testimony

          Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Your testimony is powerful, regardless of whether you've had a major "conversion" or you've been walking with the Lord since you were six, so use it! I've written down my testimony (which you can read here), and rereading the monumental things that Christ has done for me can be a powerful reminder of the reason for my thankfulness. Memory is great, but there's something about writing it down and rereading it to yourself that is so much more poignant and powerful. Write down your own testimony and keep it somewhere you can easily access it for when you need to remind yourself of the good that the Lord has done for you.

2. A Record of Blessings

          Being mindful of the abundant blessings we have is such an easy way to bring your heart back into a joyful place. I love quoting Scripture on my blog, but you need to go read Psalm 103:2-5 for yourselves. It gives such a good idea of what I'm trying to tell you (You can go do it now, I'll wait for you . . .) . . . With that, most of us have our phones in our hand at any given moment, so why not use it in a way to bring God glory? Starting today, December 22, I'm challenging each of you to join me in a social media revival! I'm going to keep a running list on the notepad on my phone of every blessing I can currently be thankful for, and every day until I go back to school, I'm going to post one of them on all of my social media accounts using #103Christmas . . . like, Psalm 103? And Christmas time? It's not lame, I promise. (Plus, your friends might ask you about it, and BOOM, evangelism time. You're welcome.) Let's fill our social platforms with joy this Christmas season, and we'll spread a spirit of gladness in the Lord. 

3. Just STOP.

          Lastly, remember that taking a break from the socializing will not be the end of your friendships. If you leave a party a half hour early to go spend some time alone with the Word and your friends get angry, maybe it's time to reevaluate the people you choose to spend time with. If they're friends you don't see very often, step out in faith and have a group Bible study! You never know how the Lord will bless your time together, but I guarantee you'll have deeper friendships because of it. Meditate on Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." God bless all of you and please remember that He loves you more than you could ever imagine. 

Just a little something for some extra holiday cheer!

Meet Nicole: A Survivor's Story

          So in my last post, I said that a young woman asked me if committing suicide would send her to hell. I'd like to introduce all of you to that young woman, Nicole Strong. Nicole is 18 years old, living in Byron, New York, finishing her senior year at Byron-Bergen High School. I asked her to write her testimony for all of you:

          I've recently found myself facing many struggles and tough situations in the flesh. Having been in the church my whole life, I've always had an understanding of who Christ is, and I'm in the church every chance I get. However, Christianity is much more than going to church, or simply believing in the Lord. Christianity is a lifestyle. You can't just admit there's a God and that He has a divine plan for your life. You have to live out this truth: God sets you free. You can't just say He's King of kings and Lord of Lords then have your actions speak otherwise. I've found this out and it hurts me knowing I've strayed away from my God, the Author and Perfecter of my faith, the ultimate healer of all my pain. As I went through struggles recently with depression and thoughts of suicide, I realized that instead of trying to get answers from the world, I needed to be getting them from the Creator of this world. I mean, it's good to seek wisdom from other believers, but it doesn't mean I need to seek answers from the world. When I would hear what I don't want to hear, I'd cry about it. But no! I need to accept the truth — I'm a child of God who is fearfully and wonderfully made. I need to stop worrying about my future, because God's got it in His hands! He has delivered me thus far from pain and struggles. He's saved me from killing myself three times in the past. Jesus has saved me! I, Nicole, am so unworthy of His love, yet he wants nothing more than to give it to me. He wants me and everyone else to realize that I need to just continue having faith and trusting in Him. He's never failed, so why would He start now?

           I love her testimony of perseverance in the face of adversity. Like I said in my last post, the enemy wants nothing more than to tempt you back into your old ways and your old problems, but when we focus on who God is, all of those problems fade away. In Philippians 1:4-6, Paul tells the church at Philippi, "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." 

          I hope that Nicole's story has inspired you as much as it has inspired me that those who have accepted Christ as their savior and invited them to reign in their hearts can rest fully on His grace. For, "where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)"

If I Commit Suicide, Am I Going to Hell?

          This is such a delicate subject, and it needs to be treated with respect and gentleness that can only come from God's perfect love. I recently had a conversation with a young woman who asked me this question, and my heart was absolutely broken. She is active in the church, active in youth group, and she still has to ask this question. Has the church just failed here? Well yes, and no. The blame doesn't fall entirely on the church; there's only so much we can do, and the rest is the work that the Holy Spirit does on an intimate, individual basis that we can't really get to. So youth group leaders and pastors, it's okay -- we know you can't do it all! From what I've seen in my lifetime, however, churches are afraid to talk about these things in a straightforward and honest manner. We skirt the question, afraid to offend people, instead of tackling it head-on with Scripture and love. Well I am unashamed of the gospel, so I'm not afraid to jump in and find out what God has to say on this matter and to tell it to the world.

           There are three points to this discussion when we dig into the Scripture:

1. Suicide is a sin.
          1 John 3:4 says, "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." Sin is anything apart from the law. In a New Testament world, the law is the moral law that God has written on our hearts and explained to us in the Bible. The moral law also includes God's perfect plan for our lives. So deviating from that plan is sinful. 
          God's plan for your life never includes suicide. Nothing inherently good comes from it; sure, God can use tragedy for His glory, but it brings pain and suffering to those around you, and it effectively ends your ministry that God has specifically given to you for your time on Earth. If the Lord wanted you dead, He'd strike you down Himself. Not once is it God's desire for you to commit suicide and take your life into your own hands, but rather it is always God's desire for you to always give your life completely to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12). 

2. God forgives sin.
          The moment that you allow Christ to rule in your heart, He takes your place in the judgement seat. At the end of your life, all of your sin will be accounted for, and it will be laid on Him in full. There is only one sin that the Bible mentions as being unforgivable. It occurs in Matthew 12 and Mark 3, and it's called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I have another post in the works on that subject, but for our purposes here, it's irrelevant; suicide is not an unforgivable sin. Suicide is, in effect, self-murder. David -- you know, the psalmist David? King David? -- he committed murder. And once he had repented of his sin, he had a restored relationship with God. David was favored by God and deeply loved, despite his sin, because our God is a God of forgiveness and mercy.

3. If a Christian commits suicide, we need to ask questions.
          This is the most delicate part of this whole discussion, but it needs to be addressed. Hebrews 6 gives one of the most beautiful pictures of the hope we have in Christ. Verses 13-20 read as such:

"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [for refuge] to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

          I'm going to be as ginger as I can here, and speak from my love for each and every person who reads this. A full understanding of the message of Christ gives us hope. It gives us hope to endure this life's hardships, and hope for what is yet to come. So to reach a point of despair so great that a person actually follows through with their plan of suicide begs us to ask the question of whether or not they actually had a relationship with the living God who dwells among and within His children. This hope that I'm talking about is not just an added bonus of Christianity; it's the bulk of the message! So for such a crucial factor to be missing, something has to be wrong. 

          I hope my love has shone through in this midst of this difficult discussion, because I know that those who have struggled with depression, or hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts before they came to Christ will not always be free from those temptations. The thoughts may come creeping back at the worst possible moments; the enemy is a seasoned veteran in the battle of discouraging God's children. But the beauty of being a Christ follower is being able to see through the antics of the enemy and live by our faith, and not by what we feel. My dear brothers and sisters, take heart in the unchanging truth of our God. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)" If the Lord dwells and reigns within you, your sins have been covered in full, and His hope will shine in and through you.

Why Wait to Have Sex?

          Being at Liberty University, I've been exposed to so many more "types" of people than I thought I would be. I naively thought that everyone I met would be a passionate Christian Republican who loved the NRA and Ronald Reagan. Boy, was I wrong. I've met those kinds of people (like my boyfriend — praise the Lord), but I've also met people who aren't Christians at all. My best friend at Liberty (and my future roommate!) is a Christian, but tends to lean to the left sometimes. Being in a Christian environment, our discussions never escalate into yelling matches or ignorance. That's something I've grown far too comfortable with at Liberty -- rational, sensible people who are (for the most part) working toward one goal, and that is making much of Jesus Christ. 
          With this unexpected diversity, I've had multiple occasions to learn about different people's viewpoints on different topics, and when confronted with a view that is different than my own, I have an opportunity to question my own belief and either come out with a better understanding of God or a more firmly held one. One of these beliefs is abstinence from sex until marriage. I've ran into more than a few people who struggle with lust, and don't see a real reason for waiting until marriage to have sex with their significant others, especially if they have every intention of being married one day. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that lust isn't a struggle for every teenager or young adult, including myself. This isn't some crazy unusual thing that only the worst sinners deal with. God has built our bodies to be attracted to members of the opposite sex in a sexual way.
          He also designed us for marriage. Sure, there are those who are predestined to remain unmarried for the sake of their ministries (1 Corinthians 7:32), but look at the Garden of Eden. Adam was alone in the Garden, and the Lord took a look at what He had created and said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. (Gen. 2:18)" And Eve was Adam's partner for the rest of his life. So we're called into a lifelong, loving relationship with one member of the opposite sex, which includes having sex with that person. (Fun fact, the book Kama Sutra, which many claim to be the book on sex, was written between 400 BCE and 200 CE, but the Bible's longest passage about sex, Song of Solomon, was written some time between 971 and 931 BC. So take that, Kama Sutra.)
          So what's the difference between having sex with someone you're married to, and having sex with someone you know you're going to marry? The difference is in God's sovereignty. God specifically commands us to wait until we're married to have sex. While He doesn't specifically give us a reason for it, He has proven Himself to be good. And not just good but absolute goodness. God is the standard for perfect goodness. And Romans 8:28 tells us that He's always working for our good. So why would God command us to wait until we're married to have sex if it wasn't for our good? Science is slowly catching up, and more and more the scientific community is leaning towards monogamous relationships being the most healthy physically and sociologically, and one way to guarantee that you only have sex with one person is to make a covenant before God that this one person will be your only person.
          Regardless of scientific backing for God's design being the best design, the fact still stands that God is good, and His plan is always better than ours. I refer back to Isaiah 55:8-9 quite a bit when I come to something I don't quite understand, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" And most importantly, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5 puts it all into perspective. God loves us above all. Everything that He does, everything that He's planned, it's all because of His love for us. God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Are You Guilty of the Greatest Commandment?

               "If you were being accused of being a Christian, would they have enough evidence to convict you?"

          This is going to be short and sweet to some, but short and full of conviction for others. We're starting in John's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 34. The New Living Translation puts it very eloquently when it says, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." So really, we are on trial every day. The world shines a harsh spotlight on Christians, and most Christians have probably already experienced this. It happens in school when you get angry and your tongue slips. "I thought Christians weren't supposed to say that." It happens at the office when you go in with the guys on a lottery ticket. "I thought Christians didn't gamble." They're waiting for us to mess up.
          So how do you respond to being on trial? Are you guilty of loving the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind? How do you plead? Do you take the stand and plead the fifth, ashamed of your Father? Do you stand, proudly guilty? Regardless of how you plead, this part of the case is in the hands of the jury. You don't get to defend your case, either. The only thing that determines your fate is what your actions speak for you. 

          Thankfully, we don't have to wonder what kinds of actions speak for us in a positive light. Right back in John he tells us that our love is what will prove our hearts. If we have love, we'll be noted as different. Think about the word "Christian." How do you think it got started? Acts 11 says that during Paul's first missionary journey, in the city of Antioch, a mass of people finally realized that God had made the way for Gentiles to enter heaven. This was a huge moment in the history of the church, and verse 26 says that the disciples were first called Christians, or "Christ followers," there. They didn't call themselves Christians, the people of the time noted their actions and knew what Christ had been all about, and the disciples' actions were so undeniably Christ-like that the people addressed them as Christ followers. 
          This is the bottom line: Do you act in a way that your actions alone speak to the fact that you follow Christ? Do you emulate the life of Christ so much that people would call you a Christian if you didn't claim the title yourself? "You may be the only Bible someone reads." That's a favorite saying of church-y people, but it's true. Do you really want to fulfill God's purpose for your life? If so, open up your Bibles, read about who Jesus was, and act like Him. That's it. That's the key to living a life of purpose. Live a life guilty of being a Christian.

A Letter To My Daughter About Self-Worth

          One of the things I look forward to most in this life is knowing you. I love you, even when you're screaming and biting and covered in . . . who knows what. Seeing the smile of a toddler brings me so much joy, and I know it's going to increase tenfold when you are my own. I am going to finally understand for myself how it feels to love a child the way the Christ loves me. I am going to have your fragile little body sleeping on my chest, your wonder-filled eyes reflecting shining lights on Christmas morning, and your tiny fingers wrapped around my pinky finger, unwavering trust in my every step. You will steal my heart and I will gladly lay down my life for you.
          Your father and I will make a promise to God to do our best to raise you as a strong woman who loves the Lord and loves His people. We will teach you right from wrong, We will teach you to defend yourself, both physically and spiritually. We will teach you that you are more precious than gold, more cherished than any wealth. We will teach you that you will always have a place to lay your head next to us. We will teach you that your father and I love the Lord, and we will teach you what your marriage ought to look like. We will do our best to prepare you for what lies ahead, and when the time has come, we will try to hide our tears as you leave our home and begin your own life. We will rejoice when you rejoice, and we will cry when you cry.

          The truth is, I'm terrified to meet you. I am afraid of letting you down, and I'm even more afraid of this world hurting you. The majority of the men in this world do not love Jesus. The majority of the men in this world see you as something they'd like to have sex with, and nothing all that much more. There may be a point in your life where you will want the affirmation of these men. You may find yourself forgetting your worth and staking it all on how many compliments you receive, on whether you have a date to the homecoming dance, or on how many boys want to kiss you. My precious, precious daughter, look into the eyes of the girl staring back at you in the mirror. Look closely at the intricate details of your eyes; notice how the colors blend, how the texture reflects nature's beauty. See the magnificence that is undeniably woven into every fiber of your being.
          That beauty comes from the One who made you. The all-powerful, unchanging, everlasting God of the universe breathed you into existence in my womb. He began you, and He is sustaining you, and all of your worth is found in His glory. All the satisfaction you crave can be found in His unspeakable gift of love. When you think you want him to call you sexy, you really want Him to remind you of the beauty of being made in His image. When you think you want him to tell you that you're smart, you really want Him to assure you that He has equipped you for His plan for your life. When you think you want him to tell you that you're his world, you really want Him to remind you that He gave his everything for you.

          I hope and pray that you never forget how valuable you are. I hope and pray that every day you wake up with the intent to love the Lord more than you did yesterday. I hope and pray that you are filled with wonder at the magnificence of your existence and that not a day goes by that you are less than satisfied with what God has called his beautiful creation. I know that there is a very real possibility that this will not be the case. I know that the evils of the world will whisper in your ear when I am not around to hold you. I know that people that you trust will let you down, and I know that it's very possible that you will give your heart to a boy who only desires your touch. But hear me, dear child, when I say, with all the authority of God, that you are fearfully and wonderfully made with a purpose and a plan, and that you are loved more deeply than I could ever show you and more intensely than you could ever comprehend by the God who bends galaxies with His mind and crushes the enemy beneath his feet.

No Man Is An Island (A Tribute to My Parents)

Tenth Avenue North

          If you've never listened to the band Tenth Avenue North, you're missing out. They're a contemporary Christian band, and I absolutely love their music. They recently released an album titled "Cathedrals," and the first track on the album is "No Man Is An Island." The idea behind the song is a call to a revival of Christian community. I see it in my own life and in the Christian community at large. The church is supposed to be our family, our place of refuge and our support in this life. We're supposed to draw each other closer to the Lord and help each other endure this life. In the months before I left for college, I had close to no Christian friends. I made no effort to reach out and make real connections with any of my church family; I was a lone wolf. And I suffered greatly for it. When I got to Liberty, things changed. I found friends, I'm anxious to get settled into a church and start making connections, and I learned a lot about relying on Christians of all ages and dispositions. 
          One particular area that I had still yet to relinquish control of was my academics. I refused to reach out for help even though I was literally drowning in work for my honors Philosophy class. I was putting everything off because I just couldn't do it. So over Thanksgiving break, I had a total of 14 pages to begin and finish. And while that may not seem like much to some, it was very difficult reading and even more difficult analyzing to do, not to mention that writing for school is not my strong suit. It seemed insurmountable.

Tenth Avenue North's
most recent album, Cathedrals

          I began the work on Wednesday morning, and I got no more than three words written before I burst into tears. I was sobbing, feeling so utterly defeated by schoolwork, which I thought was my pride and joy, the one thing I could excel at. I may have written one paragraph in the span of two hours, sobbing and shaking the entire time. Eventually my parents heard my cries from the living room and came in to see what was wrong. I didn't want to tell them that they're little prodigy was being taken down by one class, but I had to empty myself of my pride and admit that I couldn't do it on my own.
          I'm not one to brag on myself, but I will brag on my God, because He deserves it. My God has provided through every moment of my life. This situation was no different. Once I humbled myself and reached out to allow my parents to step in and help me, God moved, and God moved powerfully. This Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for my father's compassion and his steady shoulder that holds my head and dries my tears. I am thankful for his strong arms that hold me tight, and I am thankful for his faith in me, even when my faith in myself falters. I am thankful for my mother's dedication to helping her children no matter what the cost. I am thankful that she will drop anything, that she will leave the dishes dirty and the laundry unwashed, to wipe my tears and walk hand in hand with me through my toughest battles. I am thankful for the intelligence that the Lord has blessed her with, and I am thankful for her willingness to exercise that intelligence to help me understand this subject material that I didn't think I would ever understand. 

The greatest parents in the world,
featuring my dad's broken wrist.

          My mom sat in my room with me for hours upon hours on Wednesday afternoon, reading article after article after article and taking notes and helping me summarize what was being said so that I could grasp the concepts I needed to grasp. Even with my mother's help, the writing was grueling. I would venture downstairs to get yet another Diet Mountain Dew, and my dad would stop me, look me in the eyes with tears in his own, and tell me how proud he was of me for pushing through. My heart goes out to those who don't have the love and support that I have in my parents. 
          I think I speak on behalf of my parents, and my whole family for that matter, when I extend an offer to every one of you: we will treat you as our family, because you are. You need only to reach out your hand. The sense of community in the Church today is dying, and it's dying quickly. Let revival start with us. Let revival start with me. No man is an island. You are not alone, from a brief conversation to the nights when your world is falling down, you have a sister in me. You have a family in the Church. Don't forget that, and don't let it go to waste. You can't do life alone, no matter how hard you try. Thank you Mom, and thank you Dad, for showing me what it means to have a family. Here's to 25 years of marriage, 18 years of family, and 16 years of an annoying little brother whom I love so dearly.  

Here is the video for their song, "No Man Is An Island." Listen and be encouraged.