Good Wednesday morning, ladies! We usually aim to post the recap on Mondays after the LPL event, but because y’all had been very busy on the blog (grin) and because we had some new friends joining us here, we didn’t wan’t all of the Simulcast downloads to get buried. So we decided to press hold on posting until today! We are so thankful to Rich for the hard work he put into having this in my inbox really late Sunday evening. You’ll want to watch and remember all the Lord did this past weekend!

Living Proof Live | Ft. Wayne from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.

Also, about a million of you (that might be a bit of an exaggeration) have asked for the Identity Declaration song that the girls in the praise team led on Saturday. I’ve talked to a handful of you that can’t find it anywhere, and that’s because it’s not out yet! It was a song they wrote specifically for the Simulcast, which means two things: 1) They are very gifted in the Spirt, and 2) They are working on a way to see if they can get it recorded and into your hands. If and when that happens, we will certainly let you all know! Just know we are working out the details and most likely you will find information about all of that on the blog when that time comes!

Y’all are a joy to serve!

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I cannot thank you enough for the privilege to serve you at our Living Proof Live 2014 Simulcast. I do not take it lightly. I will think of you for many months to come and will remember this day for years. My deepest hope and prayer is that Christ broke through every distraction and any works of flesh and blood and revealed Himself profoundly, personally, and permanently to you. Forward, Sister. No going back. Your life faces forward from here on out and what you’re doing on this planet means something. Get to it, gifted woman of God, with unwavering confidence in Christ. I pray that every single word He has sown into you will take root and bring forth a harvest. Above all, I pray that God moved upon you and opened your female heart to RESPOND. Not just receive. RESPOND. Do not wait a single moment to take your first responding steps. Move immediately and obediently into what He’s shown you. Blessed is she who believed.

 

As promised, here are three writings from the simulcast for anyone who wants a copy:

 

First, the Identity Declaration:

(Click on the picture to enlarge and save.)

Second, the writing called “What does a woman of God look like?” It’s silly, really, and way too wordy but if it broadens our concept, it is worth putting out there. I originally set out to write it as prose on Wednesday before the simulcast as it started turning in my head that morning, but as I fooled with it that day, I just couldn’t resist the rhyme.  (Click on the link to pull up in a separate window.)

What does a Woman of God Look Like

 

Third, the commissioning we spoke over one another at the conclusion.

LPL Simulcast 2014 Final Commissioning:

My Beloved Sister,
Jesus drew you to this day
To call you to respond.
What will you do
With what He has said?
God chose you and gifted you
For this very generation.
You are the exact woman
Jesus came looking for today.
Stop telling yourself
This is about someone else
You are the one He wants.
You’re not too young.
You’re not too old.
You haven’t strayed too far
Or waited too long.
Let Jesus step fully into your story
And write a narrative for your life
That does the world good
And gives God glory.
People out there need what you have to offer.
Quit listening to your fears and insecurities.
Stand up and step out and meet some needs.
You are my sister.
I’ll cheer you on.
I will support you and love you
I’ll stop competing and comparing.
I want to be a woman women can trust.
Let’s do this thing side by side.
We’re so much stronger together.
Sister, stay in His Word
Fight for love and keep your faith.
Follow hard after Jesus
All the rest of your days.
He will never do you wrong.
He will never reject or betray you.
He will make something beautiful
Out of all your pain.
In every loss
He will be your gain.
A lost world is waiting out there.
The darkness is aching for light.
Get out there and serve with all your might.
Because, my beloved sister.
You
Are
A woman
Of God.
Go show somebody what she looks like.

 

Sister, thank you so much. Your time is so valuable. Money is scarce. You could have done many other things with the precious resources you have. You chose to join us for this simulcast. May God take every word He’s entrusted to you this day and cause it to yield a 100-fold harvest. (Luke 8:8)

Stick together out there, Sisters. We are a mighty army in the Kingdom of God. Stay close. Be kind. And be danged courageous.

I love you,

Beth

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Hey ladies! We want to express our deep gratitude for you honest participation in this survey. Your answers and your sincere vulnerability are gold to us and we do not take them lightly. They will be a source of insight to us for years to come as we seek to serve you. For now we will leave the post up but will close the comments. We appreciate and love you so much! Many blessings to you on this day!

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! In case you’re new to this blog spot, I’ll take just a second to set the tone for what makes us tick around here. I have had the joy, privilege and responsibility of serving God by serving women for over 3 decades. If you’re a girl, you are an interest to me. I love men. I respect men. I have fabulous guys in my life. But my entire work life is geared toward women. Every few years I pitch a survey of some kind out into the public sphere to gain some fresh insight into the hearts and lives and current challenges of women. So, that’s what this is all about.

 

If you’re willing to take the survey, your honesty is absolutely crucial. If you’ve gotta lie, pass on by. But, if you’re willing to stick around and tell the truth, your privacy will be completely protected. All comments/survey responses to this post will be kept confidential and out of public view.  That’s why the zero will continue to appear in the comment space.

 

There is no hidden agenda in this survey.  Rest assured that you will not be contacted or added to any kind of listserv. The purpose is straight forward: to gain insight in order to serve and represent women more effectively in teaching, writing, and communicating. In order to block these comments from public view, it will be necessary for us to close comments to previous posts until Thursday. Thank you for your patience while we temporarily give all of our blog attention to this survey.

 

Your participation in the survey is, however, your permission for me to quote you (anonymously and with your identity protected)  whether in writing or in speaking and to involve your responses in survey calculations, findings, and conclusions.

 

A few ground rules: Try to answer all the questions or as many of the questions as possible. Stay succinct on the ones that require explanations but by all means speak your heart. I try to read all survey responses myself. Answers that are short and to the point are a tremendous help.

 

I cannot thank you enough for participating. Your insight is solid gold to me. May God bless you for your time and input here and may the findings of this survey be used by Him to benefit you and women like you.

 

Alright. Let’s get started.

 

Women’s Survey

1. Biographical: Age? Single or Married? City and State (and country if outside the U.S.)?

 

2. Your biggest struggle or challenge as a woman. 

 

 

3. Your biggest struggle or challenge with other women.

 

 

4. Do you have good (women) friends at this season of your life?

 

 

5. What is something you’ve lost that you wish you could have back again?

 

 

6.  What one word would best describe you right now?

 

 

7. Do you have a religious affiliation? If so, what?

 

 

That’s it! You have helped me so much! I am tremendously grateful. May God reveal Himself to you in a very personal way in these coming days.

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This could be the shortest blog post of my life because I’m in my pajamas, face washed, on the bed, ready to call it a day, and needing to get up way before dawn in the morning. But a tidal wave of grace hit my heart this evening and I want to try to put it into words right now at the tall foamy crest of it. I’ve gotten so many tweets from women starting Bible studies over these last 3 days. It’s, of course, because September is such a great time for getting back to some of our disciplines as summer has come to an end. As I’ve scrolled through the feed, a number of women are giving shout-outs about starting Children of the Day this week. Another sister told me on Twitter earlier today she’d just started Beloved Disciple. Another Stepping Up. Someone brand new to the whole concept asked me where she should start and I told her, among our own offerings, Jesus the One and Only.

 

 

A different woman told me yesterday she was starting A Woman’s Heart. The mention of that one always brings me close to tears because it was my maiden voyage into a life of study that by God’s unfathomable kindness and grace I, to date, have never gotten over. I almost couldn’t get up off the floor over that one. I fell so in love with Jesus and into such awe over His Word in that journey that it was nearly painful. Each study means so much to me because it overlays a stretch of my own personal life –  miles of ups and downs and hopes and dreams and disappointments and detours and uncertain destinations – upon the life of Jesus, the Holy Son of God, on the pages of His own Word. I hope you could describe something similar when you spend weeks of a Bible study series with Him. Our imperfect, insecure lives converge with the fullness of the holy Christ right there on the page through the work of the Spirit and the result is transformation.

 

I want to say something to you girls. It has been and will continue to be, God willing, the honor of my ministry life to serve you in Bible study. One woman I heard from today has done all 15. Another one was starting her first one. I was overwhelmed by the grace of it. In February LifeWay and I will celebrate 20 years of Bible studies together. We never had a single thought that there would be a second one. We begged God early on to grant us diversity of reach in the Body of Christ so that we could see women’s Bible studies invade barriers and make heavy investments of heart into unity. He has done it. You are from all sorts of churches and backgrounds and denominations. Many who are coming into Bible studies in these last few years have no religious background at all. First generation Christians.

 

We have studied hard together and graced each other where we didn’t necessarily see eye to eye. We’ve given each other the grace to be different. We’ve esteemed each other as equally cherished by God, saved by the cross of Jesus Christ, and invited to the dining table where divine words become the feasts of queens.

 

I just want you to know I am sitting on the bed tonight deeply moved and with tears in my eyes. God has been so merciful. What grace to have gotten to be part of your lives though Bible study journeys. Thank you. I don’t even know how to say those words with the volume and force that my heart feels them right now.

 

Thank you.

 

It has never gotten old to me. I have never taken it for granted. And my past is too bad for me to take any credit. I know what a mess this woman was in and I know the miracle He did in me with His Word. He completely bathed and reworked and rebooted my brain until I was a completely different woman. And He keeps doing it because I keep needing considerable help. That drive – believing with all my heart that if He can do it for me, He can do it for anybody – keeps me in it every single day, even when days get hard.

 

Someone asked me in the last post if “Breaking Camp” meant I was saying any personal goodbyes. Not one single one, Sister. Not that I know of. Not unless somebody kicks me out. Smile. I don’t agree with everyone. But I will dang well serve anyone. I’m so thankful right now in my life not to feel enclosed and cramped in a camp. Just blessed by gracious communities. To see women discipled in God’s Word is the passion of my life. The air in my lungs. My partnership with LifeWay through curriculum  and women’s events has been in an environment of truest community just like my church and LPM. I am blessed out of my mind.

 

 

So, anyway. That’s all I wanted to say. That I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude tonight. If God should ever decide to sweep me home suddenly, I’d have wanted there to be a place somewhere in public record where I just said these words:

 

Sisters: Feverishly following Jesus with you has been the greatest adventure of my life. THANK YOU.

 

So grateful to serve you and honored beyond words to serve this generation of women with other Bible teachers and communicators like Priscilla Shirer, Kelly Minter, Lisa Harper, Jennie Allen, Tammie Head, Jen Hatmaker, Christine Caine, Sheila Walsh, Angie Smith, Kay Arthur, Joyce Meyer, Lisa Bevere, Anne Graham Lotz, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Ann Voskamp, Lysa TerKeurst, and other stellar women I could name and write about all night. Great things are happening in women’s discipleship all over the globe. GREAT THINGS AMONG OUR YOUNG WOMEN. Great things among the seasoned and all those in between. Most of us don’t care whose Bible study you’re in or if it’s even a formal curriculum. We just want to see women with their faces planted into that Book so their feet will be planted on that Rock.

 

The gorgeous, glorious, breath of God on the sacred page.

 

Maybe this is a great post for you to tell us if you happen to be in a Bible study of any kind (by anybody! share the wealth!) or just diving into the Scriptures on your own this September of 2014. It would be so much fun to have you share it and somebody undecided might get an idea for her own pursuit of Scripture this Fall. Let us hear from you if you get the chance.

 

And thanks for listening. It wasn’t short after all. Why couldn’t it just ONCE BE SHORT????

I love you,

Beth

 

 

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“Break camp and advance… See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession…” Deuteronomy 1:7a,8a  NIV

 

The opening chapter of Deuteronomy lifts a curtain on a scene in the land of Moab where the people of God are gathered before His servant, Moses. The day is memorialized in Scripture with pin-point precision: it was the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month.

 

That’s Day 1 of Month 11 in Year 40.

 

The stopwatch on this forty-year time frame took its first tick just as precisely. It was on the fourteenth day of the first month of the first year. The day carved out on God’s sovereign schedule for their massive exodus from Egypt.

 

 

That’s Day 14 of Month 1 in Year 1.

 

 

Endure the tedium of the dates for a moment because each set swells with significance. The first twelve months in the wilderness were calendared by God for the construction of a dwelling place for His glory. According to Numbers 10:11-13,  in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud then lifted above the tabernacle of the testimony to advance the people of God toward the land He’d solemnly promised to their father Abraham. 

 

That’s Day 20 of Month 2 in Year 2.

 

Thirty eight harrowing years had flown by at a sloth’s pace when Moses gathered the people of God on the damp edges of Canaan for the renewal of the covenant recorded in Deuteronomy. The skeletons of the faithless were scattered across the desert, picked clean by jackals, bleached white by a searing sun. Idolatry had fed gold to a bonfire and brought forth a graven calf in pangs of revelry to the tunes of slurring songs. Spies had returned from Canaan weighted down with the paradox of fruit and fear.

 

The delay had not come because the people disbelieved that God could do wonders. They’d seen Him split the sea, swallow their foes, shower down bread, and spit water from rocks. What they disbelieved was that God could do wonders through them.

 

We are not able…for they are stronger than us…The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. Numbers 13:31,32

 

As it turned out, they were devoured not by their foes in their land of promise but by their faithlessness in a desert where, ironically, every dawn sprayed sunshine on a twinkling blanket of wonders. (Exodus 16:14-15)

 

But in the fortieth year and the eleventh month, something different happened. The sun rose bold and bright over Moab on a brand new day. Before Moses stood a new generation.

 

A generation ready to break camp and advance. We are not told that they were taller than their predecessors or that the giants across the river had shriveled and shrunk. In all their human frailty leaned against the gargantuan task, that new generation simply believed, broke camp, and advanced. Even without the leader who’d raised his staff to the Red Sea, rousing an east wind that made walls out of waters.

 

Fast forward thousands of years. Same God, looking for the same thing: people with bona fide faith who will swallow their fear and step out there into the unknown to make His praise glorious.

 

Every generation of Christ-followers is commissioned to advance the work of His kingdom across this globe, not to dispossess but to disciple, until a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages can cry out with a loud voice,

 

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Revelation 7:9-10)

 

Many of the generations behind us stepped up to the challenge and did the work of the gospel, even if it killed them. We read about them. We marvel over them. We quote them. But we’re the ones dotting the landscape now. This is our tenure. They had nothing that we do not have. We have the same Savior, the same commissioning, the same Scriptures, and the same indwelling Spirit. We’re on.

 

But if we really want to advance, it’s probably time to break some camps.

 

 

Our camps are stalling us. They’re distracting us, dividing us, detouring us and detaining us. They are depleting the energy we need for the supreme task: to see people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ with a clock ticking so fast and furiously that our heads are spinning like tops.

 

God forbid in this metaphor that we’d confuse a camp with a community. Community is essential within the Body of Christ for individuals to flourish.We’d be hard-pressed to fulfill our callings apart from community. We can’t forsake meeting together. Nothing could be further from my mind than all of us out there on our own, unattached, unaccounted for, and unaccountable.

 

But camps are something else. They call for allegiance.

 

We’re all drawn to camps because they help satisfy our bone-deep desire to belong. But our pledge of allegiance to a camp will become a snare to us over and over. Our camp will eventually come into direct conflict with our allegiance to Christ because He will personally see to it. Jesus will systematically challenge every single confederation we hold dear in order to make sure that His authority stands completely alone and uncontested. Even good affiliations. Even godly ones. Those, in fact, can be the biggest competitors for authority in the lives of believers in Christ.

 

As a pen to the ink of the Spirit, Paul described the tendency of spiritual people to wrap a death grip around precepts and religious practices instead of “holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Colossians 2:19)

 

There is a growth that is not necessarily from God.

 

If we want the only kind that matters to Him, we’ve got to hold fast to the Head.

 

Not to the camp.

 

To the Head.

 

The camp does not equal the Head.

 

When our loyalty to Christ or camp is tested and the camp wins, we lose. Our advancements with the gospel work will eventually either brake to the pace of an inchworm, screech to a stop, or reverse directions entirely until we’re inadvertently working in opposition to the Holy Spirit. The bleakest part is that we could be the last to know. A camp vision can get so thick, cloudy, and all-encompassing that we don’t even realize we’re missing a move of God. A banner can become a blindfold.

 

One way we’ll know the difference between a camp and a community is how freely we can move within it, around it, and even out of it. A camp elicits adherence. If departure would feel like a break up and differing perceived as disloyalty, we’ve probably got ourselves a camp.

 

Any organization or system in Christendom becomes a camp when it holds sway in our spiritual identity. We are known, not so much for being Jesus-followers as for being a  ___________________________________.

 

 

Camps have more flag bearers than cross-bearers.

 

Camps consider significant differences as one of two basic things: menacing threats or colossal signs of ignorance.

 

If you can go wholeheartedly with Jesus and still stay in a group and flourish, you’ve got yourself a fine community. Your calling and your community can peacefully coexist for years on end. But, if what you’ve got on your hands is a camp and you risk adjusting your doctrine according to what you’re learning right there on the pages of Scripture, you can count on a head-on collision. To decide exactly what we believe by the time we’re 30, choose our camp, and carefully reaffirm that exact line of belief till our dying breath will freeze our feet on the field. Getting people to come to us will eventually and invasively replace our *going  to them.  (*Mt. 28:19)

 

 

We can’t cram for life in the Spirit. It’s not a degree and the Bible’s not a diploma. We are summoned by the Spirit to study the Scriptures and seek Christ all our lives, increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)  A life-long disciple is a life-long learner. That means that we take the risk of realizing that maybe we were wrong about a strong stand we took. If we’re in a community, that can be okay. If we’re in a camp, that’s a cat fight.

 

Hold fast to the Head.

 

Not to the camp.

 

Look up from the huddle to fields white for harvest.

 

 

If we want to advance with the gospel of Jesus Christ on the battlefield of this globe where the carnage amounts to millions of souls, we are not called to keep camp.

 

We are not called to trade camps. (This will be the natural tendency of the long-term camper who feels the need for change. Simply hop on one foot to another one.)

 

Nope.

 

We are called to break camp.

 

Break camp and advance.

 

Here we get to pledge our affection to every brother and sister but here we pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.

 

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11 NIV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The other day I read something written to me that, while I understand was meant to encourage me, actually ended up slightly offending me. I was a little taken back at the offense because I’m usually not the type that ends up easily offended. A few days later I heard the exact same thing and all of the sudden, I took up my defense and simultaneously had the sudden revelation of why I was offended in the first place. Thank you, Lord.

 

I was offended because I was being associated with something and defined by something I didn’t want to be known as. It was something I had no control over. There was nothing I could do to create change and while it wasn’t rude, or bad, or even ugly, I just know it’s nothing permanent.

 

I realize I’m being vague but the point is not what I was categorized into, the point is that we do this to people all the time without even realizing what we’re doing.

 

We constantly are associating people with something whether it be their job, their marital status, their gifts, their friends, their family, their finances, their church attendance, their weight, their height, their clothes, and all manner of things I’m not listing. This list is exhaustive.

 

My mind immediately went to Zacchaeus.  (And let me just go ahead and categorize, if you grew up in church, go ahead and sing along with me. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he…” And seriously, what man wants to be labeled as a wee little man?!)

 

“He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10

 

Here we learn that Zacchaeus was a tax collector, he was rich, he was small in stature and he was obviously a sinner, so they grumbled because Jesus chose to go stay with a sinner. Gasp!

 

“And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” (Luke 19:7) I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a they. Shame on me.

 

I’ve seen Jesus do things for people that I didn’t think they deserved because of this or that, and no doubt, the Lord put me back in my place.

 

But thank you, Lord, for grace and mercy. As one of my favorite authors puts it, “Grace doesn’t seem fair until you need some.” Bob Goff.

 

Last night I got to pray for a girl who confessed to a group of people that she just wants to love people. It was obvious that her heart matched her confession. And that’s what I want, too.

 

Whether it be positive or negative, so often we base our love on the conditional, the seen and the status.

 

I’ve realized in my own life there are two dangers to categorizing.

 

Either they’re better than me or I’m better than them.

 

Admitting that makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little. Gag!

 

When we associate people by being “better” than them, we feel like we have so much to offer that person and try our hardest to mold that person into someone we think they should be. Or, we ignore them because they simply don’t deserve our attention. We don’t give them the time of day because the more “important” people deserve it. It is sickening.

 

The danger in placing people in a category better than us is that instead of seeing and loving them as Jesus sees them, we start acting out of intimidation and performance because we want them to accept us.  We believe they would never accept the real, messy us because certainly he or she never struggles, so we place them on a pedestal and put on a mask.

 

And in both cases, we end up withholding love.

 

In either situation, there is no real relationship. Only pride. And pride keeps people at arms length while humility invites people in.

 

But when we put on lenses to see people by Jesus’ eyes, we remember that we’re no less or more loved than the person standing in front of us. That we ALL fell short of the glory of God and Jesus came to see and to save the lost, which, if you needed a reminder like me, was all of us at one point or another.

 

It’s a reminder that our love for people is no comparison to God’s love for people. Nor do our ideas about someone else determine God’s love for them. Or what He’s doing in them. Or how He wants to use them.

 

I often have to remind myself that if I were in a large group and asked those of us to raise our hands that have ever struggled with any sin, whether it be bitterness, anger, lust, laziness, or addiction, just to name a few, the hands raised would represent two groups of people: those who were raised in church and those who were not, but don’t we categorize people into those two groups? Don’t we assume that churchgoers struggle with less? My point being, we’re all flesh and blood born sinners, churched or not.

 

Lest we forget, church does not cause transformation, only the power of Jesus Christ does. Nor does perfect church attendance equal godliness.

 

But when we greet and see people and honor people with the love of Jesus, despite where they work, what they do, or who they are or who they’re not, or what gifts they’ve been given, we can relate because we’re all just human and we’re all struggle in one way or another. And that alone is comforting.

 

And all of the sudden we realize we’re just one of them, instead of a they.

 

It’s all grace.

 

Dear Lord, help us. Give us eyes to see and hearts to love. In Jesus’ name.

 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

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Well. I don’t know much about this past weekend in Memphis because I wasn’t there myself, but I can only imagine how the power of the Holy Spirit showed up simply based on this most excellent recap. I just told Rich this morning, one of our LPL photographers, that this is one of my favorite recaps. And coupled with the song “Awesome” off Travis’ new I’m Living Proof CD, it’s nearly perfect.

So, I don’t know if you normally take the four minutes to watch these recaps or not, but I’d encourage you to stop what you’re doing and watch this one.

If you just sent your Kindergartner off to school for the first time, watch this.

If you showed up to work this Monday morning discouraged again, watch this.

If you are in a season of joy, watch this.

If you are in a season of crushing, watch this.

It’s so good, y’all. Trust me.

Living Proof Live | Memphis from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.

I can’t wait to hear about the weekend. Have a happy Monday!

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I started working on a little post yesterday, but set that aside for the time being to talk to y’all about music.

Yes, music.

I don’t know what else to say except that I love, love it. Any and all kinds, I’m not very picky and so easily pleased. When people ask me to recommend some music, I usually send them no less than 10 albums. I’ve also been known to have a lot of favorites.

Since we’ve been sharing so much this week about the ways God has used us to creatively serve others, I thought it would be sweet to share how some of that creativity has ministered to me!

So, if you’re looking for some new worship music, allow me to share with you some favorites as of late.

In no particular order:

1. Travis Cottrell: I’m Living Proof – Travis and team released a CD just yesterday! I know many of you are familiar with and love him through our Living Proof Live conferences, so you’ll be thrilled to know this album is a compilation of songs they sing at the conferences. I’ve had it playing all day and I love it. I’m especially fond of Take Me to the King and Victor’s Crown.
2. Matt Redman: Your Grace Finds Me – I’ll be honest, it took me a few listens to get into this album, but once I did, I was sold. The lyrics. The melodies. The Truth. The everything. It’s so, so good.
3. Hillsong Worship: No Other Name – This is their newest release and I think I adore every song on the album. That doesn’t always happen!
4. Hillsong Young & Free: We are Young and Free – If you’re looking for an upbeat CD to workout to, this is it. It’s young and free and awesome.
5. Bethel Music: You Make Me Brave – Little known fact, this album was recorded live at a women’s conference, even more reason why you should get it. Grin. (This is the CD that It Is Well comes from, the song I blogged about a few weeks ago.)
6. All Sons & Daughters: All Sons & Daughters – I’ve listened to this CD for a year straight and I’ve never tired of it. Amazing. The whole thing. I so appreciate not only their gifts of creating music, but also their pastoral hearts.
7. Passion: Take It All – This CD includes songs from Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, David Crowder, Matt Redman and some others recorded live at the Passion Conference. Just imagine worshiping along with 20,000 college students as you sign your way through this CD.
8. Kari Jobe: Majestic – If you can only purchase one song off this entire album, don’t miss Forever. It’s breathtaking!
9. Audrey Assad: Fortune Fall – I know I’ve mentioned Audrey on this blog before, but Audrey has the unique ability to pen lyrics that are so full of truth and straight from scripture and sometimes all I can say is, she’s so speaking my language right now.
10. Lindsay McCaul: One More Step – Lindsay is the daughter-in-law to one of our beloved staff members, so naturally, we all love her, too. But I think you would love her as well if you heard her sing. Angelic! The song With the Brokenhearted is worth the entire CD.  God is WITH us. Amen? Amen.

My list extends far beyond these 10 albums, but if you’re looking for some good Jesus music, this is at least a start.

Also, Beth is heading to Memphis as I type this. (By the way, we are out of our fifty tickets! So sorry, ladies!) Will you all join us in praying for her and the LPL team this weekend? We’re praying that the enemy would be bound from that arena and the Holy Spirit would do an extreme work in every individual heart there. He is more than capable to bring people to salvation and cause miracles to happen. Let it be, Lord! Break down walls and build up faith. In Jesus’ name!

Happy Thursday, y’all!

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Hey, Everybody! I think we may be on the verge of some fun in this post. My good friend, Angela Cottrell, and I were talking recently about how cool it would be to hear women testify publicly to the creative ways God has used them to serve people.

But one reason many of us may struggle to find our stride is that we shortlist limitless possibilities into categories we could count on three fingers of one hand. We assume that to serve God effectively, it must look like __________________ or be similar to ________________________ or maybe ______________________________. And we don’t feel like those are a fit for us. Or perhaps we don’t have opportunities to serve like that. So, what happens? We sit down bewildered and unsatisfied and feeling lame.

 

But what if we gave God credit for more creativity than that? What if we realized that there are as many ways to minister in the name of Christ as there are needs out there?

 

No matter how familiar Ephesians 2:10 may be to you, read it again:

 

The same God who created the galaxies in their vast array, the seas in their unsearchable depths, the beasts of the field with spots and stripes, who landscaped the horizon with pines and cedars and sequoias, and set in motion some 37 trillion cells in the human body…

…This same God created us in Christ Jesus for good works.

 

His creativity did not come to a screeching halt on the Sixth Day.

 

He is never uninspired and uncreative in His work. The primary way He spreads His broad hands throughout this needy world is through gloves made of warm human skin.

 

All of us have opportunities and they are as diverse as the people trying to leave their footprints in the loose dust of this passing planet.

 

If all our works in Christ’s name look exactly the same, something has run amok. Massive populations and types of people become invisible in our shortsighted vision.

 

I love the wording of Acts 10:38 – “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

 

Since His ascension to the right hand of God and the coming of His promised Holy Spirit, each generation of Christ-followers is anointed by Him to go about doing good and to see Jesus heal multitudes oppressed by the devil.  And behold, Jesus says, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

 

Shine your flashlight on the less familiar wording of these two segments from The Message, holding it right up close to the catch words of creativity:

 

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LPL Memphis is coming upon us quickly! As in just days away! In keeping with our new initiative, we have some tickets set aside and available for you to give to some friends you might want to invite to an LPL event. They might not even attend church, or know Jesus as Savior;  they might be new to faith, or simply less discipled in the Word. Listen, if the Lord puts someone on your heart that might be interested and blessed by going, by all means call them up and invite them. You never know what kind of investment you’re making in their life!

If you have someone in mind that can attend with you, or if someone told you about free tickets and pointed you to our blog, or if you stumbled across this blog and don’t know why, just call and ask for Kimberly here at the ministry and she will get you set up: 1-888-700-1999. (Not 800.)

Oh, that our people would taste and see that Jesus is good; that they would be willing to enter in even if just for 24 hours to hear that Jesus DOES exist, HE IS the Savior, and He is LIFE!  If while inviting a friend you need a ticket yourself, we want to gift you a ticket also.

We love y’all.

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