All posts filed under: Testimonial

Big revival in small town Kentucky

Published by

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. (Acts 3:19 NIV) While it is easy to be awestruck by mega churches which are typically defined as having over 2,000 people attending weekly services, God is not caught up in numbers but rather in matters of the heart. A revival has broken out in North Main Community Church, located in the small town of Barbourville in South Eastern Kentucky with a population of just 3,200. The church is pastored by Scott Phipps, 58, a former drug dealer in the town who turned to Christ shortly after his wife came home declaring she had become a Christian and was done with drugs. The revival, which has been going on for nearly three months, is impacting the small community as over 300 people have been saved during the meetings and over 150 drug addicts have been delivered. Scott told CBN that during the nightly services, they will have over 150 people who were …

The hidden cost of faith

Published by

As believers, we like telling the world that salvation is a free gift available by faith through Christ’s death and resurrection. But though it is free to everyone who chooses to believe, it also comes with a cost. And that was evident in a recent article on CBN about a young Christian woman, Leah Church, who chose to leave the University of North Carolina’s basketball team rather than compromise her faith.

How a daughter forgave her infamous serial killer dad

Published by

In a recent interview on 100 Huntley Street, Kerri Rawson, shared the heartbreaking story of when she found out her dad, Dennis Rader, was a serial killer and how God brought her to the point of being able to forgive her father. In 2005, the police arrested Dennis Radar for murdering ten people including a father, mother and two children between 1974 and 1991 in and around Wichita, Kansas. He was a serial killer who went by several acronyms including BTK, which Rader gave himself, that stood for ‘blind, torture, kill.’ He was also labelled as the BTK strangler and BTK killer by the media. During his killing spree, Rader sent letters to media and police taunting their efforts to catch him, but it was these letters that eventually led to his arrest and subsequent sentence of 10 consecutive life sentences. The arrest came when Rader started re-sending letters and messages to the media in 2004 after a several year hiatus. It was a floppy disk sent to Fox News that played a major role …

Ex porn star finds Jesus after watching boyfriend murdered

Published by

In a recent podcast, former American porn star, Brittni De La Mora, explains how she became a Christian and left the porn industry shortly after watching her boyfriend get stabbed to death. Forced into hiding as police looked for her boyfriend’s killer, De La Mora came across a Bible in a hotel room that so spoke to her, she became a believer. The Western Journal provides the details: ā€œSometimes, hardships that come into our lives ā€¦ are inevitable,ā€ she said on a recent episode of ā€œLetā€™s Talk Purity,ā€ a show she co-hosts alongside her husband, Richard. ā€œThere was a time in my life ā€¦ I actually was dating a guy who was murdered. He was stabbed in front of me.ā€ De La Mora went into hiding for a few days while authorities searched for the people who committed the crime, and it was there, while isolated in a hotel, that she encountered a Bible. ā€œI saw a Bible. I wasnā€™t a Christian. I was still in the porn industry during this time,ā€ she explained. ā€œAnd …

What is behind the opposition to Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination?

Published by

As Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation for the Supreme Court enters its second day, those in the media and some politicians are focussing on her religious beliefs as the basis for their attacks. Amy and her husband Jesse are Charismatic Catholics and attend a group called People of Praise. However, this opposition may ultimately backfire as a recent poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy on behalf of First Liberty Institute revealed that 62% of Americans do not believe that Supreme Court justices should be asked about their faith during the confirmation process. The poll of 1,000 Americans in early October asked if nominees should or should not be asked questions related to their faith. In fact, only 30% of those surveyed said they should be asked about their faith with 8% stating they didn’t know. It is interesting because it is becoming increasingly apparent that those on the political left are convinced that a person’s faith should somehow disqualify a person from holding such positions. Those opposing her nomination are equally concerned about her view …

Start walking

Published by

One of the problems with vision is that we want instant success. We want it to happen now, but in order for you to produce fruit, there first needs to be pruning.Ā  Pruning can be a long process for some of us, as in 40 years of pruning from when my husband started to write and pursue his passion for Bible teaching and world events.Ā  It wasnā€™t until my retirement that I began to pursue my dream and desire for women to connect and whenever I gave up and let go of the dream, it always came back stronger than ever.  Maybe God has given you a dream or vision that He has called you to do. Below are a few tips from a sermon delivered by Matt Adams a couple of years ago, that helped me in my journey: “It doesnā€™t matter how many we lead. It matters where we lead them and how you lead them.ā€ “Learn to lead from your placement, where you are now, without wanting to be a star.ā€ “We …

Is eternity in your heart?

Published by

Recently my niece, who has been dealing with cancer for the past two years, sent me this text: ā€œIn my dark times, I cry and ask for help but overall I am just trying to put one step in front of the other, trust in God and be grateful for each day. That is all I can do and need to do.ā€ Afterwards, I thought that is really all any of us can do, whether we are dealing with a life threatening illness like my niece or day to day stuff such as kids and money we need to put our confidence in God. When we worry about tomorrow, our future remains unsettled in our hearts.Ā  The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God ā€œhas set eternity in their heart.ā€Ā  One meaning for ā€˜eternityā€™ is future. There is a God-given awareness inside each of us that there is more to life than what we are currently experiencing in this unstable world. This verse says humans operate differently because we have a sense of this eternity …

The rest and the pest

Published by

Recently, I had a dream followed by a vision that spoke very clearly to me in my calling as a prophetic writer. Others here may find this resonates with them as well in this season. In the DREAM, I was reading some words out loud. When I came to the word ā€œretreatā€, I was having difficulty reading the word as there was an ā€œSā€ in the word, creating the word ā€œRESTreatā€. I asked the One present with me if there had always been an ā€œSā€ in the word retreat, and I was told ā€œYES!!ā€ Immediately following the dream, I had a very clear VISION of a GOPHERā€™S FACE. The gopher immediately LOOKED TO MY RIGHT. The vision ended. Interpretation: I live in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan. Here where I live, the Richardson Ground Squirrel (known on the prairies as a gopher) has been declared a PEST by the government of Saskatchewan, as it destroys farms and gardens in this region. This ā€œPESTā€, in my vision had literally turned its face toward my right (hand), …

When the Holy Spirit fell on me while I was vacuuming

Published by

EspaƱol: Cuando el EspĆ­ritu Santo cayĆ³ sobre mĆ­ mientras pasaba la aspiradora My husband had just gone out for coffee with a friend and I had the house to myself. It is a rare treat Ā these days with both of us retired and home together. So when he closed the door behind him, a peaceful silence wrapped itself around me like a warm blanket. I had the next two hours to myself. So, what did I decide to do? Vacuum of course! But the Holy Spirit had other ideas. As I leaned over to pick up the hose, I felt a nudge. It wasĀ  like a slight wind on my back. Initially, I thought it was the silence and peace settling on me. Then, I felt a breath blowing over me. And immediately, there was a stirring in my spirit and what seemed like a flame igniting inside me as the Holy Spirit engulfed me. I lifted myself up, raised my hands and began to dance and worship God and speak in tongues all at …

Priscilla Shirer: YouTube capture

Don’t be out of step with the Gospel in terms of race

Published by

I was recently struck by the words of Priscilla Shirer, 44. She is a black woman, a motivational speaker, TV host, author, preacher and founder of Going Beyond Ministries. Priscilla recently had her first acting role in the Christian movie War Room playing Elizabeth, the wife of Tony Jordan. Chuck Bernal, the pastor of Lifepoint Church, recently shared a video on Facebook of some profound statements Priscilla made about race, politics and the Christian faith. On the video that has been viewed nearly 7.5 million times, Priscilla said: ā€œI do not describe myself as a black woman because that gives too much power to my blackness. ā€œI donā€™t want my race to be the describing adjective of who I am as a woman. I am not a black woman. I am a Christian woman who happens to be black. ā€œItā€™s the job of your adjective to describe the noun of who you are. If thereā€™s gonna be an adjective describing me itā€™s not gonna be my race, itā€™s going to be Iā€™m a woman who …

Avril Lavigne in Brasilia, Brazil in May, 2014 Credit: Breno Galtier/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

Canadian punk rocker Avril Lavigne surprises with a worship song?

Published by

Canadian rock star Avril Lavigne, 34, has surprised everyone with the recent release of a song that some describe as a worship song. Called Head Above Water, this was her first song after taking a five-year break from public life due to her battle with Lyme disease, an infectious debilitating disease commonly spread by ticks. In 2015, she released information that she had been battling Lyme disease since 2014. The disease kept her bed ridden for months. On her website, Avril described how her struggle with the disease led to her most recent hit: ā€œOne night, I thought I was dying, and I had accepted that I was going to die. My mom laid with me in bed and held me,ā€ she said. ā€œI felt like I was drowning. Under my breath, I prayed ā€˜God, please help to keep my head above the water.ā€™ In that moment, the song writing of this album began. It was like I tapped into something. It was a very spiritual experience. Lyrics flooded through me from that point on.ā€ …

US Supreme Court, Washington, DC Credit: Matthew Buckley/Flickr/Creative Commons

Today marks the anniversary of the remarkable water baptism of ‘Jane Roe’

Published by

August 8, 2018 marks the 23rd anniversary of the water baptism of Norma McCorvey in a Garland, Texas swimming pool.Ā  She was baptized by an Evangelical minister Philip (Flip) Benham who today leads a pro-life organization called Operation Save America. For those who don’t know, Norma McCorvey was the woman involved in Roe vs Wade, the infamous 1973 Supreme Court case that ruled it was illegal to criminalize abortion, opening the door for unimpeded abortions across the US. She came from a rough family. Her mother was an alcoholic and her father abandoned the family. In 1969, Norma McCorvey, who was living in Dallas, Texas, was 21 years old and pregnant with her third child. She wanted an abortion which was illegal. Her friends recommended that she claim the pregnancy was due to rape, one of the rare exceptions that many states allowed for abortion. However, since she had not filed a police report that was ruled out. McCorvey was eventually told about two lawyers who were willing to take on her case. Using the …

Peter healing the lame man by Raphael (1483-1520) Credit: Wikipedia/Creative Commons/{{PD-US}}

Stepping into Christā€™s authority

Published by

I remember standing with my sister-in-law around the counter in my nieceā€™s kitchen. My niece who was fighting a rare form of cancer was worn out from the many rounds of chemotherapy and treatments to help battle this disease. These were desperate times, and her life was literally hanging in the balance. She had made a commitment to God when she was fourteen at a Bible Camp. And now, with the diagnoses of cancer she had renewed her commitment once again. I asked if I could pray for her adding that I wanted put my hands on her shoulders and her head as I did so.Ā Ā  There was no argument from her and I could see that her heart was prepared to receive from God. I was nervous about it and had sensed a few days earlier that I would pray for her. It was what God was asking of me and I knew it. But still there were questions. Who was I to lay my hands on her and pray boldly for her healing …

Credit: Camilla Carlstrom/Flickr/Creative Commons

The judging stone

Published by

I recently attended a funeral for a friend of ours and I found out something about Bill I had never known before. About 40 years ago his wife first accepted Christ and her transformation brought Bill to a place of decision in his own life. But after becoming a Christian, he became very judgemental of family and friends. But, that all changed when one day he read a story from the Gospels. In the account, the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. They asked Christ if she should be stoned for her sin according to the law of Moses. Christ responded: ā€œAll right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!ā€ ā€“ John 8:7 (NIV) After reading this, Bill went into their backyard, picked up a stone and put it in his pocket. He carried that stone with him for 38 years as a reminder that he had a sinful nature and could not cast the first stone of judgement.Ā  I can picture him grabbing that stone whenever …

Southwest Airline jet Credit: David 惇惓惃惉 Deitering/Flickr/Creative Commons

Born again with ‘Nerves of steel’, ‘hero’ pilot Tammie Jo Shults successfully landed stricken Southwest jet

Published by

Commercial pilot Tammie Jo Shults, 56, is credited with safely landing a Boeing 737 on Tuesday, April 17, after its engine exploded resulting in shrapnel shattering a window, de-pressurizing the cabin and damaging the jet’s wing and fuselage. It resulted in one death and another seven injured. The woman who died was being sucked out of the plane, but several passengers bravely fought to keep her inside. She died later in hospital. UPDATE: USA Today wrote a story on the stetson-wearing cowboy,Ā Tim McGinty, who along with firefighter Andrew Needum risked their lives to pull the woman back into the plane. In the interview, Tim’s wife Kristin said,Ā “My husband loves God and believes our purpose here is to love fiercely and to serve others. Some heroes wear capes, but mine wears a cowboy hat.” Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 was on a regularly scheduled trip from New Yorkā€™s La Guardia Airport to Dallas Texas, when Shults was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia. Shults’s journey to the pilot chair with Southwest Airlines was not an …

Humbolt's main street Credit: Monique Vezina/Wikipedia

Where was God? The Humboldt Bronco tragedy

Published by

They did not know they were going to be the latest news and that it would send waves of shock and sorrow across the nation. The Humboldt Broncos, a hockey team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League consisting of 16 to 20-year-old players, were headed to a play off game in the northern town ofĀ  Nipawin, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Their team bus t-boned a semi-trailer crossing highway 35 killing 16 of the 29 people on board — 10 players and 5 team personnel including the head coach and the bus driver. The Humboldt players had all dyed their hair blonde which made it difficult to identify them. Tragically because the players were so badly hurt, two were misidentified. It would take a couple of days for one family to find out that a son they had thought died was actually alive, and for another family to sadly learn their son was dead. How heart breaking this must have been. What were the players thinking as they traveled on the bus?Ā  The bus was quiet recalls …

Peter Ruben's (1577-1640) painting of the women at the tomb. Perhaps fitting of her reputation as a prostitute, Ruben's had Mary of Magdalene wearing a red dress.

Taking a second look at Mary Magdalene’s tattered reputation

Published by

EspaƱol: Mirando por segunda vez la reputaciĆ³n de Mary Magdalene It was during a sermon preached by Pope Gregory 1, in 591 AD, that Mary Magdalene’s reputation was publicly scandalized for the first time and she never full recovered. In his homily, Pope Gregory said that Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute. And it is a view that stuck. He based this conclusion on a couple of things. First according to the Gospels, Mary had seven demons cast out of her (Mark 16:9, Luke 8:2). Pope Gregory suggested these seven demons involved seven capital sins that included lust. Gregory then added the unnamed sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50, who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, was none other than Mary of Magdalene. It was generally believed by everyone’s reaction that the immoral woman was probably a prostitute, but even that can’t be certain. But nevertheless, Gregory concluded: She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. What did these …

Letitia Wright with Forest Whitaker at 2017 Comic Con International in San Diego Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/Creative Commons

‘Black Panther’s’ Letitia Wright: ‘I went on a journey to discover God and I became a Christian’

Published by

Black Panther has become the shocking hit of 2018. Many though it would do well but nobody expected it to be the second highest grossing film in history during it first four days. Made up of a largely black cast some says it provides an overview of Americaā€™s current racial and political climate with the intent of finding a middle ground in a country that is splitting apart over the issue. One of the breakout stars in the movie is British actress Letitia Wright, 24, who plays, Shuri, the younger sister of the King Tā€™Challa. People are raving about her performance around the world with Vanity Fair titling its article about her sudden rise as Black Panther Star Letitia Wright Might Be the Next Leonardo DiCaprio But for God, it may not have happened. In an interview on Feb.9, 2018 with This Morning, a British talk show, Letitia explains what happened: ā€œI was going through a lot, a very difficult time in my life and I just needed to take a break from acting because …

A touch of heaven

Published by

I felt a light touch and then it was gone. It was a bright and beautiful fall day. My jacket was open because it was getting warm. Ā My daughter and I were running errands and crossing the mall parking lot to the bank. There was a spring in my step. Ā  Life was good and there was so much to be grateful for lately. The warmth and brightness of the sun made it even better. I saw the truck out of the corner of my eye as it rounded the corner where we were crossing the parking lot. Ā I hesitated and then stepped forward confident that he had seen me. It was a big, white, wide, 4×4 truck. Ā As my daughter and I continued across the road I was blinded by a white light in the shape of a large cross. Ā It was the cross that struck me in that moment. I heard my daughter’s concerned voice urgently say,Ā  “Mom, did you feel that? Ā That truck touched your leg!” Then, I remembered the gentle touch, …

Credit: Lucy Lang/Flickr/Creative Commons

Neither do I condemn you

Published by

In an article for Foxnews, Angel Hatfield shared a powerful story on forgiveness. Hatfield, who serves as executive producer for a movie “Because of Gracia” grew up in a Christian home. In fact, her father pastored a church. As she left her teen years, Hatfield became rebellious: “I skated in sin believing the big lie that there was more pleasure to be found in this world than in God.” Hatfield became pregnant and after hiding her pregnancy for five months, she finally decided to come clean with her father on what had happened. She was expecting her father to react and judge her for what she had done. Instead, he hung his head and when he finally spoke, her dad expressed his disappointment for what had happened but then he added: “And you have made poor choices which now have consequences. It won’t be easy — and there will be struggles and a hard path ahead of you. But I love you — and now I figure I have been given more to love.” Then …

Brooke Simpson Blind audition Credit: Youtube Caputer/The Voice

Church youth leader wows ‘The Voice’

Published by

It was a four-chair turn for church youth leader Brooke Simpson on ‘The Voice’ as she sang a song by Demi Lovato called Stone Cold. Entering is sixteenth season, the winner of ‘The Voice’ receive $100,000 and a recording deal. Simpson is a graduate of Lee University, a Church of God University based in Cleveland Indiana. She works for Potential church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In a YouTube video uploaded earlier this year, Brooke said that she and her husband Ray started a program called ‘Youth in Revolt’ encouraging youth to live as rebels for God in a society that is increasing becoming anti-Christian. Before she was done all four coaches were standing applauding her performance. Pop Singer Miley Cyrus said ā€œYou know youā€™re good because I am a little speechless and that never happens.ā€ Adam Levine called her ā€œone in a million.ā€ I find it more than a coincidence that Simpson is following in the footsteps of another Lee graduate Jordan Smith who won ‘The Voice’ in 2016. All four judges turned their chairs …

Guatemala City Credit: Carlos Reis/Flickr/Creative Commons

The elevator ride

Published by

We were on an elevator at the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala City heading up to the fifth floor to pick up the visa that would allow us to bring our adopted son home to Canada. We were passing the fourth floor when the elevator lurched and began to jerk downward. Our one year old son, who was in my arms, began to cry. Then it stopped. We were stranded halfway between the 3rd and 4th floor. The frantic pressing of buttons did not produce any movement. Our lawyer, a Christian woman, began to confidently and loudly pray in tongues. Ā We waited holding our breath. After what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, the elevator began to inch upwards to the fourth floor. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then there was another lurch. The elevator stopped and we began rapidly descending down. We watched the numbers flickering by as we passed the main floor to the basement. It seemed we were descending much faster than we should be. Just before we hit …

The Peruvian desert, one of the driest places in the world. Credit: Mariano Mantel/Flickr/Creative Commons

A rose in the desert

Published by

We were in shock. We had just been pulled off a bus by two armed soldiers.Ā  I thought it was the last time I would see my husband. Terrified, we stood as they searched our passports and found what they were looking for.Ā  A small piece of paper stuck in our passports stamped with our entry date to Peru. We had no idea how important that inch-sized paper was. It was all that stood between us returning to the bus or jail. The soldiers motioned for us to return to the bus and we sat in unbelief about what had just happened. The terrain around us was all desert. Tall, barren mountains hung over us as we traveled on to our destination. Two hours later we entered a valley. Suddenly there was vegetation as the landscape turned green. This valley had been irrigated and the small town in its midst survived because of it. The desert in Southern Peru is one of the driest places in the world. We learned later it hadn’t rained there …

Crystal Bassette and her husband Credit: YouTube capture -- This Morning show

From porn star to Christian to pastor

Published by

Itā€™s a story that is sure to turn some heads. When she was 21 years old, Crystal Bassette performed in her first porn video. According to the British Newspaper, The Sun, after the shoot she sat in her shower and cried for two hours. She was supporting a son after becoming pregnant at age 16 and was working in a California bar with dreams of becoming an actress. And though initially uncertain about continuing, the draw of a monthly salary of $25,000 proved too much and a month later she did her second porn shoot. Over the next several years, she would make over 100 porn movies. With the money the lifestyle provided, she lived in a mansion complete with a maid, a gardener and seven cars, but to cope Bassette turned to alcohol and drugs. But that all changed in 2014 when she had a serious car accident where police charged her with impaired driving. After the crash, Bassette attended her sister’s church on Easter Sunday and became a Christian after the pastor preached …

Brazilian Amazon Credit: Guto de Lima/Flickr/Creative Commons

From Debutante balls to the Brazilian jungle

Published by

The National Post ran a fascinating article on Canadian Ruth Thomson who 50 years ago left her high-class life as a Toronto debutante to serve in the jungles of Brazil as a Wycliffe missionary. Her father was a highly successful Toronto lawyer, and Ruth grew up in a mansion and attended private school. She became so proficient at horse riding that another wealthy family — Pittsburgh’s Mellon family — asked Ruth to ride their horses competitively. As she came of age, her parents expected Ruth to attend Downton Abbey debutante balls where parents signaled to Toronto society their young daughters were ready for dating and marriage. It featured flowing gowns and elbow-length gloves. She recalls having disagreements with her parents in 1959 who wanted her to attend a number ofĀ  balls held at private clubs and the major event on that year’s social calendarĀ  — the Governor Generalā€™s Ball. She said ā€œI had no patience for any of it. It all seemed so artificial. It wasnā€™t the life for me.ā€ But despite their wealth, she …

Vickie Williams-Tillman (right) Credit: Baton Rouge Police Department

Vickie Williams-Tillman — a 21st century Good Samaritan in more than one way

Published by

Vickie Williams-Tillman, 56, a black Christian woman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was on her way to the store when she saw a white police officer, Billy Aime, being assaulted by another man. She was also doing what she normally does when driving, Vickie was listening to Gospel music. The police officer had come upon the man sleeping in his vehicle. When Aime saw drug paraphernalia in the car he woke Thomas Bennett, 28. However, after getting out of his car, Bennett quickly gained the advantage. He grabbed Aime’s baton and began beating the police officer on the head. Bennett was also after the police officer’s gun. When Vickie saw the confrontation, she immediately called the police for help. But she did more than that. She got out of her car and jumped on Bennett’s back. This caught Bennett totally off guard, confusing him and hindering him from grabbing the gun. When another police officer showed up a few minutes later, he subdued Bennett with a stun gun. The police charged Bennett with assaulting a police …

Reba McEntire in concert Credit: Alisha Morgan/Flickr/Creative Commons

Country superstar Reba McEntire produces first gospel album

Published by

After divorcing her husband of 25 years, Narvel Blackstock, in 2015, country singer Reba McEntire, 61, turned to God and her faith to keep her through this difficult time. Referred to as the “Queen of Country,” Reba is one of America’s great country singers. She is a member of the Country Hall of Fame. In a career that has spanned 42 years, she has released 32 albums and sold over 85 million records world-wide and has 35 chart-topping singles. After seeking God during this dark period of her life, Reba sensed that she needed to release what would be her first Gospel album. Entitled, “Sing it Now: Songs of Faith and Hope,” the two album set features 22 Gospel recordings. Reba wants this album to encourage people to return to God. During the recording of one of the songs, How Great Thou Art, Reba felt the Holy Spiritā€™s anointing on the music: “When I got through with singing the song, I would go in there with Doug Sisemore, my co-producer, and Todd Tidwell. We would …

Credit: Michael Mazzamuto/Flickr/Creative Commons

But the Lord directs our steps

Published by

Twenty years ago, my husband Dean and I were pastoring a satellite church plant in Hong Kong on an island called Discovery Bay. We had gathered a diverse group of people in one of our house churches — a good mix of new and established believers. People were coming to the Lord and being filled with the Holy Spirit. But within this group, there were also some very established missionaries. They had ministered in Hong Kong for several years, and were without a house church so they joined our small group. They were faithful servants of the Lord, but did not believe in the moving of the Holy Spirit. They saw the Holy Spirit as only ā€œthe Comforter,ā€ and they often disagreed with the way Dean and I ministered. There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that warns evil times can suddenly fall upon us: 12 Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil …

Learning a lesson on grace at Tim Hortons Credit: buck82/Flickr/Creative Commons

The day God schooled me

Published by

I was at a Tim Hortonā€™s drive thru, a popular coffee and doughnut shop in Canada. Our coffee maker died (may it RIP) and I needed my caffeine fix. Thatā€™s when I saw a person in a white car in the drive-thru lane beside me. He had his window rolled down and was smoking a cigarette. As a Cystic Fibrosis mama, that is a trigger for me.Ā My daughter was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) at 23 days old. The disease affects the bodyā€™s ability to produce sodium chloride, as a result a personā€™s mucous is very thick. This causes many problems, most seriously lung failure and the struggle to keep a healthy weight as it affects a personā€™s ability to absorb nutrients. This means hours spent each day ensuring my daughter takes her many medications including the ones given by mask and her nightly tube feedings. I also need to perform physiotherapy on her multiple times in a day to loosen the mucous in her lungs to delay the progression of this terminal disease. In …

How ‘Back to the Future’ actress Claudia Wells became a Christian

Published by

I was recently reading an article on Claudia Wells, 50, at News.com.au. For those not familiar with Claudia, she played the role of Jennifer Parker, Marty McFlyā€™s girlfriend, in one of my favorite movies — Back to the Future. Starring Michael J. Fox, it wasĀ aĀ blockbuster release in 1985. Fox played the role of Marty McFly who traveled back to his family’s past in a time machine cleverly disguised as a DeLorean sports car. Towards the end of the article, Claudia answered the question on what she would do if she could really travel back in time in a DeLorean. Claudia said: ā€œI would go back in time to hangout with Jesus. Iā€™d just hold his hand, look Ā in His eyes and just take Him in and have a good chat.ā€ Claudia Wells is a Christian and if you go to her Facebook page you will see her feed filled with inspirational Biblical quotes. It took a bit of digging but I discovered an interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine on how Claudia became a Christian. She …

Bethany Hamilton surfing off the coast of Santiago, Galicia, Spain. Photo Valdovino.net/Flickr/Creative Commons

God will fulfill His purpose for your life

Published by

Despite our setbacks, mistakes, accidents, failures, sins and fears, God fully intends on accomplishing His purposes for our lives. That was the first thing I thought of when I read the powerful testimony of Bethany Hamilton. You may remember her story, Bethany was thirteen years old when a shark attacked her while she surfed in Hawaii in 2003. Though the shark cut off her arm, incredibly Bethany survived. Three weeks later, she conquered her fears and was back surfing. Her strong faith in God helped her through the ordeal and her story would spread around the world because of it. Since then a feature film, Soul Surfer, has been made on Bethanyā€™s triumphal return to surfing. She is now married to Adam Dirks and they have a one year old son. Aside from winning several surfing competitions, she and Adam also placed third during the 2014 filming of The Amazing Race. The World Surf League announced that on May 30, 2016, Bethany, 26, finished third in the World Surfā€™s League Fiji Womenā€™s Pro. She wasnā€™t …

Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Flickr/Creative Commons

The first prayer

Published by

After I lost my first-born son, Graham, to suicide, I still had my sixteen year old, second born son to care for. I watched my adolescent boy reeling from his own grief as he sat on the couch in the basement for days on end. He had made up his brother’s bed and formed the blankets to look like he was still sleeping in it.Ā  He could not accept that his brother was gone. My perspective on life had tilted dramatically.Ā  I knew that I could no longer “take care of everything.”Ā  I was no longer superwoman. All that I felt I could do was pray for my son. Behind our house there was a two-mile hike up to a huge coulee.Ā  Once you reached the top you just had to sit down and admire the scenery below. Farmers crops and cows grazed at the base of this coulee. Hues of gold, green and geometric patterns stretched out over the wide open land before me. From the rock pile on top of the plateau, I …

Report: America’s first Muslim Miss USA has converted to Christianity

Published by

When Rima Fakih, 30, was crowned Miss USA in 2010, it was generally believed she was the first Muslim woman to ever win the title. Shortly after winning, Fakih acknowledged her Muslim faith stating: “I’d like to say I’m American first, and I am an Arab-American, I am Lebanese-American, and I am Muslim-American.” She was born in Lebanon and raised in a Shia Muslim family, that admittedly had been luke-warm to their Muslim faith and would often observe both Muslim and Christian holidays. The family immigrated to New York in 1993 and continued to observe both Muslim and Christian holidays including even attending church on Easter. But in 2003, her family moved to Dearborn, Michigan and became involved with the large Islamic community in that city. When Fakih started attending the University of Michigan, her father urged her to reconnect with her Muslim roots through the Islamic group at the University. It was here that she began to learn of her Muslim faith including Ramadan — that involves a month of fasting and prayer in …

Women in Iran. Photo: Sebastia Giralt/Flickr/Creative Commons

Middle East Muslim leader puts daughter under house arrest for becoming a Christian

Published by

Paul Siniraj is founder of Bibles for the Mideast an organization that smuggles Bibles into Middle Eastern Muslim countries. In a recent report on his website, he told of the remarkable Christian conversion of an unnamed young woman, 16, who is the daughter of one of the rulers of an unnamed Mideast country. The young woman, who Siniraj gave the name Najima, was receiving a higher education at a Western school in that Muslim nation. Najima was eating in the cafeteria, when she noticed paper jammed between the tables. Pulling it out, she discovered it was a Gospel tract. She read it and one of the Bible verses on the tract caught her attention: “For God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21) Being from a strong Muslim family, Najima faithfully followed all the Muslim traditions, so she tossed the tract into the garbage. But though she got rid of the tract, the Bible verse began …