I have an embarrassing confession to make. Today I cleaned our bookshelves, and even though we own FOURTEEN bibles, I’ve never actually read one the whole way through. Pathetic, I know.

14 bibles and an entire shelf full of Christian topics like fasting, fear, money, abortion, and by authors like Lucado, Piper, Alcorn, and NYSEWANDER, and yet I’m the girl saying, “You know that thing in the bible about what good would it be to love people that are easy to love? It’s in there somewhere, look around.”

So despite the fact that I have a brand new NOOK and can instantly download books without shipping, I’m refusing to read another book, Christian, fiction, or non-fiction, until I finish reading the entire bible from cover to cover.

Who’s with me? I have one or thirteen you can borrow.

I was going to post a video and be done with it, but I decided to write about giving. It’s what I’ve been thinking and talking and reading about lately, so why not?

Last week, a friend and I were talking about how nice it would be to be known for your giving. ACTUALLY I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to go around telling people that you’re a giver, but if you have to be known as SOMETHING, it might as well be that. Am I right? The problem is that you really have to give. And while I TRY to be sensitive to the needs around me, I mean – last year we attempted the YEAR of Giving Dangerously – I’ve realized something kinda sad. I give out of excess. I can remember sitting with JD at a banquet and thinking about the check we were going to write, really pondering just HOW MUCH to give. So we wrote a check. And suffered nothing for it. We didn’t stop going out to eat, didn’tstay home from movies, nothing.

Is giving out of excess really giving? If I give away clothes that don’t fit, or a television that’s been replaced with a newer and better model, what am I doing really??? I’m cleaning out my house. And if we write a check for money we don’t miss, is it giving or just lame? Where’s the sacrifice?

The bible has a lot to say about money, including something about sacrificing the BEST, and giving the first fruits.  A friend told me about a family that keeps a jar on their table. Every time they decide to spend money on eating out or going to  a movie, they put the same amount of money in the jar. If they can’t afford to do the entertainment AND the jar, they don’t go. Then every month they donate the money to a different missionary. I think it’s a pretty cool idea. I don’t know what we’ll do, but I want to do MORE in this area.

Think you’re not rich enough to help?  Check out this link to see how you stack up against the rest of the world.

http://globalrichlist.com/

Have a great Sunday!

I’ll be taking 4 small children to church today, but for those of you who’ll miss – here’s a sermon in 6 minutes.

John Piper bringin’ the Jesus!

Enjoy your Sunday.

How about a nice, jolt of truth this morning?

I want to be the person John Piper speaks of. I’m not there yet, but I am asking the Lord to make it so! Join me!

I had the privilege of joining The Atlanta Dream Center on Friday night for a ministry called Princess Night. This church, located in Atlanta’s Fourth Ward, spends every Friday night driving around some of the worst sections of town looking for women involved in prostitution. They give them a gift, a card, and a rose, and they tell them they are beautiful and loved.

I went with my friends, Carolyn and Kathryn, and a group of 12 other women from a local church. We spent the night handing out roses, prayers and even hugs. The first woman we spoke too, cried. She had never been given a rose before. What an honor; we got to tell women that God has not forgotten them!

One of the things that struck me is that we were driving around, praying and asking God to send us people that needed to hear His truth. And while I can’t go EVERY Friday night, I can spend my days actively LOOKING. There are hurting people everywhere.

Are you looking? Let’s do it together. The Atlanta Dream Center is transforming their community by showing them the love of Christ. What does He want to do in our neighborhood?

A  large group of people gathered this weekend to pray for California and the nation. It’s called The Call.

Therefore, we are again summoning thousands of young and old—those who have been marked by The Call’s solemn assemblies and those whose hearts burn for their generation—to gather in Sacramento as consecrated, intercessory representatives from, and on behalf of, California and every state to “altar” their lives, “altar” their states, and “altar” the nation.

There was a live webstream and I spend a few minutes watching it today. The event is over but it was amazing – seeing thousands of young people gathered together to PRAY.

Who needs YOUR prayers? Be an intercessor today.

We played this video at church on Easter, but I love to hear it anytime. It’s a great reminder of who Jesus is.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Today is Sunday and I’m in church instead of playing bridge at a local tournament. I take this as a great indicator of how much I’ve grown in my faith over the past year.

I’m not kidding.

Carolyn and I played 3 sessions of bridge over the weekend, came in dead last in two of those, and 7th out of 9 in the other.

I am proud to say that I didn’t cuss out anyone out loud OR in my head. This is a huge improvement.

I’m not kidding.

We met some really nice people. This guy isn’t one of them. Ha Ha. ACTUALLY,  he and his wife were very nice and I liked them DESPITE the fact that they kicked our tail. He only fussed on her once out of five rounds which pretty much puts him in the Husband as Partner Hall of Fame.

I’m not kidding.

Bridge players are not known for their friendliness. It’s competition and most people take it very seriously. I knew going into this weekend that I wouldn’t win, but UNLIKE previous times, that wasn’t a goal. My goal was to have fun. Beyond being kind to the people I meet, I can’t really think of any Kingdom consequence to the game.

This may seem obvious to you, but it’s taken me a long way to figure it out. Even though I lost BIG, I still won. This is a huge praise.

I’m not kidding.

Enjoy your Sunday.

The next book I want to read – True Religion: Taking Pieces of Heaven to Places of Hell on Earth.

A rising voice in the mission movement, Palmer Chinchen challenges Christians to a new kind of spiritual formation – one focused on pouring out our lives for others and radical dependence upon God.

When we get out of our comfort zone, our souls are awakened – everything seems more alive and vibrant.  So why don’t we live our faith that way?  Why is it that our faith can easily become an old, tired routine instead of an exhilarating, God-honoring lifestyle?

Discover why true religion involves engaging the problems in our world as we go with the good news of the gospel.  And in the process of pouring ourselves out for others, we’ll see God radically transform our own hearts as well.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Kids and parents, adults and children coming together for praise and prayer on Tuesday nights. Join us!

July 20th Song 3

July 27th Song 7