Archive for June, 2016

God’s Audacious Kindness: Let’s Give Away 40 More

 

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***CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS***

Comment #543– Nanette Price

Comment #190­– Caity

Comment #292– Lacey

Comment #426– Paula Rockwood

Comment #299– Sandy

Comment #236– Nita McAdoo

Comment #158– Anna Deaton

Comment #151– Karen

Comment #326– Dodi Timbrook

Comment #320– Vicki Clement

Comment #161– Susan Beckman

Comment #300– Debbie M

Comment #329– Louise

Comment #121– Jenn Nahrstadt

Comment #347– Pamela

Comment #512– Karen Burton

Comment #253– Hernsa

Comment #367– Stephanie

Comment #227– Donna Shrader

Comment #6– Sarah Stevenson

Comment #52– Geri Fitzgerald

Comment #240– Heather M

Comment #136– Leslie Jordan

Comment #323– Candace Ottoson

Comment #508– Sharee

Comment #346– Laura Zielke

Comment #421– Carol

Comment #435– Kelli S

Comment #413– Debra

Comment #427– Susie Ashworth

Comment #463– Karen Pope

Comment #141– Olivia

Comment #280– Kelly

Comment #216– Lisa Suit

Comment #278– Janet

Comment #108– Rebecca M

Comment #196­– Kym

Comment #572– TPM

Comment #109– Lauren

Comment #68– Pamie Peterson

Hey, you guys! My good friend Jennifer Lyell (trade book publisher at B&H Publishing) got word to me yesterday that Audacious had just received this award. A lump instantly jumped in my throat. I want so much for Jesus to get glory from it and to woo some hearts searching far and wide for a love that lives up to its press. I’ve never once written a book that meant little to me but a few of them were born out of such peril or passion, they are particularly dear to me. This is one of them.

If I just got one shot at saying what I think makes life here on this rocky planet worth all the heartache and worth pushing past the fear, the message tucked in this short book is what I’d want to say. We’ve given away more copies of this book than any we’ve ever placed on a shelf at Living Proof because it’s just straight to the point.

Jesus.

He is everything. Worth everything. To be swept up in the bold love of Jesus is life as we were born to live it.

So, it just seemed fitting to us to celebrate this grace by giving away 40 more copies: 20 hard copies and 20 audios. If you haven’t read Audacious but would like to, please by all means leave a comment to this post as your entry in the drawing. If you’ve read it but know someone who hasn’t and you think it’s worth recommending, tell her to hop on here and enter the drawing. You can’t beat free!

We’ll do a really fast turnaround because it’s just more fun that way. We’ll only leave the post open for comments until 3:00 CST today (Tuesday) then we’ll close it, do the random drawing and post the winners by 5:00 CST.

We love you guys and have a blast serving you!

Beth

 

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Timehop: Treasure in an Old Desk Drawer

Hey, you guys! My daughter Amanda shot a text to me this morning with this blog in her Timehop and we both smiled as we reread it, remembering when. Maybe somebody could use the encouragement five years later. So much love to all of you!


June 21st, 2011

Last week I was looking through the drawers of an old desk in our den that has become a catch-all of sorts through the years. Maybe you have one of those, too. It’s where you stick everything you really want to keep but have no time to file. I was searching for a picture of our house the year we bought it so that I could work it into a decoupage of our many years here. Ultimately, I found the picture elsewhere but I stumbled on a treasure while rummaging around in that drawer that sent me into a tailspin of memories.

First, the back-story because I bet some of you can relate.

I well remember being in the throes of family life and wondering from season to season whether or not we’d even make it. Or, if we made it, would we be glad we did?? Life is hard as it is. It’s even harder when two people have as many problems as we did. Both Keith and I brought heaps of issues into our marriage. Some we fell victim to. Some we inherited. Some we created. Some we earned through our own sinfulness and stubbornness. Some we passed right on to our beloved children, God forgive us. Like many of you, the odds were stacked against us and I knew – I’m saying I absolutely KNEW – that Jesus was the only way we were going to make it. Furthermore, He was not likely to do it without us.

The quandary was how we were going to head a certain direction if my man didn’t necessarily want to take the lead. What happens, sisters, when you (who are moms) feel strongly that your children need to be led a certain strong (Biblical) direction but you do not want to usurp your husband? And he’s not feeling so led? Even as I pose that question, I know full well that our simple blog format is not big enough to come up with crystal-clear, no-fail answers to those loaded questions. Yet, it’s part of our family story and a part my man does not mind me sharing. He’s never been much for bull. Or pretense, if you like that word better. Keith walked the aisle as a public profession of faith and was baptized right before we got engaged and, as clearly as I knew, that’s all that mattered. That might explain the timing. Grin. It was real. But it was also a prerequisite.

My man is a believer in Jesus Christ. He bears fruit of the Holy Spirit’s activity. He has often prayed over me and over our family with a power that left me bug-eyed and bereft of natural explanation. But he has still been very much his own man with his own idea of how he wanted to practice his faith. He was a maverick. He’s still a maverick. The harder you push him, the slower he goes. He sets his own pace or he walks alone. He is also God’s chosen man for me…and my chosen man before God. I cannot imagine my life without the likes of Ivan Keith Moore.

Rewind 15 or so years to those days when we had young adolescents under our roof who not only needed human direction (which both parents gave), they needed divine intervention. So did their parents, and in the worst way.

I did lots of reading in those days just like I do now. I’d read about how many godly homes practiced what they called a “family altar time.” They prayed together on a regular basis and maybe the parents even led in a family devotion. We didn’t do anything like that except when we were in a full-on crisis. (I am so thankful that we did it then, needless to say. I don’t want to be harder on us than our history really calls for.) We did a little more moderate version of “the family that prays together stays together.” Keith and I prayed at mealtime with our kids and, then, on numerous other occasions when something called for an extra measure of attention. I guess one of the most spiritual things we did along the way was simply ask for forgiveness when we were idiots to them or in front of them.

I’d long-since been practicing a morning quiet time and certainly prayed for my family members then but I knew that the greater victory in our family was somehow going to involve all of us…some how, on some level. I’d learned through the years that guilt-tripping your husband into spiritual leadership wasn’t going to bear much fruit or last over the long haul. And let me just go ahead and say the embarrassingly obvious. Would the man ever have done it consistently like I thought it should be done???? Could he have lived up to whatever expectation I had? I assure you, this man got more than he bargained for when he married. He had not signed up for all of this.

So, what was a woman to do?

I was stuck on the whole family altar thing. I’d convinced myself that it was the key. (I’m not saying it was. I’m just saying that I believed to the bone that it was.) “Family altar” was the buzz phrase of all the families that seemed to be doing it right. (It’s interesting how spiritual terms have fads, isn’t it?)  So I figured out how we could have an adaptable experience without Keith being forced to take charge of it or me taking authority over him in the eyes of my children (or, as importantly, in his own eyes).

I got an idea.

I set up a little altar area on the hearth in our den. It had a journal for recording any prayer requests that members of our family wanted to share. It was solid gold to me. Sometimes they’d write “unspoken” and you know what that does to a nosy mother. What they didn’t realize is that, most of the time, Mom had already figured out that “unspoken” request. I also set out an age-appropriate devotional book on the hearth.Here is a picture of our makeshift “family altar.” The only reason I have this picture is because our dogs loved to lay on the cushion that I’d set out. We used to say they were having their quiet times.

I also got up earlier than the rest of the household in the morning and chose a verse for that day for our family. Most often I’d select it from my own time with God but sometimes circumstances dictated the choice. I’d write the Scripture with a Sharpie on an index card then lay it out on the altar. Everybody in our family was invited to kneel at that altar one at a time when they first got up in the morning. (Well, OK, only Keith was really “invited.” The girls were strongly urged. As their mother, I could full well take that authority over them.) After they read the verse, they were asked to sign the index card.

So, this is what I found the other day in that old desk drawer: Scripture card after Scripture card after Scripture card after Scripture card.

Some of them were signed by all four of us:

It was okay to be a little silly and even throw in an occasional nickname. Keith alone knows why he tagged Amanda as “Rooter” when she was a little kid. Most of our nicknames have morphed into much weirder tags in recent years.

A number of times Keith opted out and that had to be fine, too.We weren’t his boss.

On occasion, it would just be two of us:

Or another two of us:

Sometimes I’d add a little extra encouragement because it would break my heart wide-open with love to see those young teenage girls taking their turns at that altar in their jammies.

One girl obviously didn’t get to see that encouragement that morning.Laughing. I love them both so much.

It was a very imperfect shot at the whole thing. In fact, I can’t convey strongly enough that I hope you’ll receive this only as a simple short story in the lives of God and a family of four Moores. It’s not meant to be an example of a discipline you should take up. It was too messy to turn into a science. It’s just what worked for a season for us. We still made it on the grace of God alone.

I glance back over my shoulder at those turbulent years and recall a home bulging with hormones and woes, fears and foes, maybe too many yeses and not enough nos. Like every woman, I wish I could cut and paste our family story into all that sparkles and nothing that stinks. Like most women, there are a few things I wish I could blot out. Maybe more than most women, I have some sizable regrets. But, that day last week when I went looking for a photograph in that old desk drawer, I found a whole handful of our family life, held it close to my heart, and remembered.

Deuteronomy 4:23 “Be careful not to forget…”

1 Chronicles 16:12 “Remember the wonders He has done…”

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Today is a great day for gift giving!

**WINNER UPDATE!!**

#984-Tammy Disch
#958-Tammie Kovacs
#327-Jill Joe
#90-Tammy
#507-Denise Fiducia
#28-Elaine
#287-Valerie Deib
#867-Diane Lopez
#510-Karen Helms
#183-Tensie Palmer
#800-Sheryl

Congrautaltions!! Watch for an email from Lproof.org to arrange shipment of your gift!

_____________________________________________

Hey blog friends!

Do you ever have one of those days so full of celebration that the joy doubles to an overflow?  I like to call this a swirl day, because it is fast with a lot of movement, a lot of fellowship, a lot of laughs, a lot of love, it is full – complete joy.

I am pretty sure LPM is set to have this kind of day today and we would love for you to join in!

Happy Happy Birthday Beth Moore! 

We are so glad you were born!

I seldom call her Beth, usually I call her Gp, sometimes sister, and occasionally Beth-le’-ham.  smile.   One of Gp’s favorite birthday gifts is giving gifts.   So, the LPM team would like to invite you to join some of the celebration swirl today.  Your comment on this post enters you in the drawing for these gifts.

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Anywhere you have an Internet connection, visit mywsb.com, and you can access Bibles, commentaries, study Bibles, reference works, and more online. Once you’ve added a book to your library, not only is it available on myWSB.com, but it will sync to the WORDsearch® mobile apps. Save your work in either of these places, and you’ll be able to access it no matter what device you happen to be using.

We will receive comments until Friday morning at 10am CST.  Once the names have been randomly drawn,  the post will be updated with the winners’ names.  If you are a winner, watch for an email from Living Proof to arrange shipping (or emailing) of your prize!

Wherever you are today, whatever your plans are for this day, we pray for His joy to fill you, to strengthen you, and to delight you in His unending love for you!

with love,

sabrina and the LPM Team

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LPL Springfield Recap Video

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LPL Springfield, MO – Scholarship Tickets

LPL_box_leaf_LONG 2016

Good morning! This weekend Living Proof Live comes to Springfield, MO!

Beth and the entire Lifeway team are looking forward to serving you in worship and the Word.  Pray for all, and for Beth as she prepares her teachings, would you?  We prepare to gather in unity for one distinct purpose:  Taste and see that the LORD is good! 

 

We would like to help you go if you are in the local Springfield area.

This year, our scholarship tickets are set aside especially for first-timers!
We have fifteen (15) tickets to share with you for Springfield: first come, first served.

If you have never attended an LPL, or if the cost would keep you from coming, one of these tickets is for you!  Newbies, just give Kimberly a call at our office and she will set you up. Toll-free 1-888-700-1999 (NOT 800).

We sure hope to see you this weekend! To purchase tickets, or for detailed information about this weekend, visit Lifeway.com here.

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Something a Bit Fun: www.BethMooreNovel.com

Hi, everyone! Sabrina Moore here! All of us on staff at Living Proof are tremendously familiar with our blog community but you may not be familiar with those of us who work behind the scenes. I’m the LPM ministry director and have served with Beth for many wild years. (Same last name but no blood relationship except in Jesus.) I’m so happy to share something with you that we think is pretty delightful.

The great folks at Tyndale Publishing developed a fun webpage we can’t wait for you to see!  

Why is this web page fun???

Well, for starters the web page introduces Beth’s debut novel. Wait for it……….

The Undoing of Saint Silvanus, releasing September 20, 2016

That sounds fun to me!  Beth is one of my favorite story tellers. She peppers her Bible teaching with living-color stories and you would not believe some our lunchtime stories.  Girlfriend is live!  So, a fiction novel from Beth?  I can hardly wait.

Now,  just in case there is the slightest chance you are anything like me and maybe thinking, “September? Really? I am so going to forget in 4 months. I’ve already forgotten my items for next week!”  No worries – we will remind you.  However, Tyndale has a few other items on their webpage to help occupy the time until it releases.  Hop on www.BethMooreNovel.com and these are some things you can do: www.BethMooreNovel.com and these are some things you can do:

  • Read the free chapter sampler!
  • Register for the free webcast, Beth’s Big Book Club – LIVE from the Big Easy | January 20, 2017 (registrants qualify for monthly prize drawings). This free webcast is going to be a blast! Beth’s going to do Q&A and share the backstory and lots of fun things about the novel that aren’t in the book.
  • Pre-order your book  (super easy – there is a list of select retailers for your convenience).
  • Email your proof of purchase to Tyndale at: [email protected] and receive 4 free downloadable prints.

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September 20th will be here before you know it!

Oops, I got so jazzed I almost forgot (smile), here is a message for you from Beth!

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