The absolute coolest thing happened tonight. I know that I never really get personal and into details in my blog but I just have to share what has transpired tonight! My boyfriend Jonathan and I have been really rocky lately. We came to a point in our relationship where we really needed to make the choice: Do we want to put God in the center of everything we do and therefore obtain His blessings in our life’s, or do we want to continue in the life of doing things our own fleshy way and occasionally seeking Him when we feel like it. Basically, are we going to continue being 'lukewarm'. Needless to say, we took some time to ourselves separate from each other to reflect on God, who He is and who He needs to be in our lives…on the throne and reigning in every aspect. After really delving into His word and seeking answers, Jonathan and I decided to meet at the coffee shop in town to talk about what we have been learning over the past few days of our time with solely God. It was an extremely relaxing and refreshing evening…we drank our coffee and read God’s word together, pouring out our thoughts and prayers that we had. We discovered that over the past few days apart God had revealed scripture to us in such a way that was just indescribable. I remember I was putting my make up on in my bathroom three days ago and felt God’s voice telling me to go and read Philippians 3. Of course after that happened Satan intervened in my mind and began lying to me (isn’t he just so infamous for that?) telling me that I was crazy and not to even bother looking it up. Guess what I did? I said GET BEHIND ME SATAN and I ran to my bed stand, grabbed my Bible and opened to Philippians 3. Holy Moly! The whole chapter is about having NO confidence in the flesh! Not trusting my own flesh and leaning on God! Look at the verses that my eyes came upon: vs.13-14 ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ Praise Jesus! FORGETTING what is behind! STRAINING toward what is ahead: the PRIZE! It’s so awesome how the God of the universe can speak to me… one who is so full of sin and shame. And yet He reminds me that I am not who I once was! I am not who I was yesterday! He gives us as many chances as we need to get right with Him. What other religion can testify to that? NONE! So the same day that God revealed that chapter and lesson to me, Jonathan later told me that he prayed about God revealing to him what his heart needed to realize when he opened his Bible. No lie, he opened right to Isaiah chapter 42. Look at what verses lit up on his page! Vs. 8-9 ‘“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” WHOA! The former things have taken place…. AND new things I declare to you! God is the God of second, third and fourth chances! He says yes..those things in your past have taken place. That day you forgot about Me and made that decision based on your flesh? That is the former. BEHOLD, I have declared new things! I can make your life fresh and wash your sins as white as snow! I love it! So crazy cool, right? We are sharing these verses with each other at the coffee shop and Jonathan starts telling me his need for a small group. He wants a group of guys to come along side him in his journey with Christ. I mean after all, the Bible calls us to surround ourselves with believers who will lift us up and call us to be more faithful men and women of God. Not even five minutes later a few guys and a girl walk into the coffee shop. Jonathan leans in and tells me that he thinks he knows that guy.. ‘that guy with the pea coat and glasses and slick haircut.’ But the next statement that he made really puzzled me. He told me that that same guy used to take home school classes with him years back and Hunter (the guy’s name) was a major druggie and alcoholic with long hair and a beard. He said it didn’t surprise anyone if Hunter came into class stoned or completely drunk… sometimes even drinking in class! Hmmm. And Jonathan was so shocked to see him clean cut and all dressed up! The guys and the girl all began to sit down at some tables over near the other side of the café. But this is where it gets so good! Hunter looked over and noticed Jonathan. He came right over and started talking to us. I immediately noticed that Hunter was so full of life. He lit up when he talked about his girlfriend, when he talked about how God had changed his heart in the years since Jonathan had known him. He turned to Jonathan and I and he told us that he was there with a few people doing a Bible study! He said that he had started it a few months ago because he felt God calling him to do it. He then invited us to join in his Bible study! AH! I immediately said yes without consulting Jonathan. Which Jonathan has since thanked me for ;) The Bible study was SO relevant to what has been going on in me and Jonathan’s lives and our relationship. The struggles that each of us had been dealing with were brought up by others who were dealing with the same things! We didn’t even have to mention them! The verses that were discussed were just so relevant to our lives and our needs. Hunter later told Jonathan that last week after the Bible study he decided that he was done..it was over. He had gotten so discouraged with the lack of discussion brought forth by the group. By the Lord’s will he came back tonight for one last study… and when Jonathan and I were there and agreed to join his study, he was filled with joy! It was answered prayer for HIM! He needed the encouragement. Hunter has now decided to continue with the study! Praise the Lord! How cool is our God?! God ORCHESTRATED this all together tonight. Before Jonathan and I even prayed about Jonathan being able to join a small group… God answered that prayer! He is the God of answering unanswered prayer! Miraculous. After the study ended, Jonathan and Hunter went back to Jonathan’s house to talk and catch up. EXACTLY what Jonathan was yearning for just a few hours ago. This has all just made me see how FAITHFUL God is. How he hears the cries of our hearts before we even cry out to Him. It is just proving the point in the Psalms when so many times David cries out to God., “God you KNOW my heart!” God is so worthy of our praise and of our lives. He can turn the ugliest things into the prettiest things. After all, he is so faithful to make beauty out of the ashes of our lives.

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”

--Isaiah 42:8

Do any of you like roller coasters?! This past month has been so crazy and exciting and stressful and painful and heart-wrenching and delightful and warm and cozy and sad and hectic and wonderful. Have I covered it all this month? I think so...probably. To say that I have been on a roller coaster would be lightly touching the surface. But hey- it's all good! God has taught me more in the month of December than I think I have ever been taught in my entire life! It is almost as if God used this month as a way to detoxify me ( to be completely honest with you!) Is it just me or can someone else testify to the fact that we can sometimes live such messy lives and get so caught up in our sinfulness that sometimes we just start living like nothing is wrong! Like we just get used to our sins?! Whoa whoa whoa. Get used to our sins? No. My God does not let us nor does He like us to get so caught up in a sinful lifestyle. So without too much rambling I will say this- God is so amazingly wonderfully faithful to reveal sin in us! I have a God who is my daddy, who doesn't let me touch the hot stove or even want me to go near it because He knows whats going to happen... I will get burnt! But sometimes it can be too late, and we do get burnt. But you wanna know how cool my Father in Heaven is? He can take the worst of situations (me getting "burnt") and be that daddy there for me to heal me and make it better. He can 'sit me down' and talk to me and take me through His word revealing to me the dangers of sin and what can come because of it! I am incredibly thankful that God never leaves us. He never leaves me even though I give Him plenty beyond plentyyy of reasons to. When I shut the door in his face and leave him out in the cold and dark areas in my life, He STILL manages to find His way back inside and grab hold of my heart usually in ways of STRONG conviction. Which, hey God? THANK YOU for the HOLY SPIRIT that you have placed inside of me! He has taught me in so many ways this month that I must trust God's promises rather than my own feelings! After all, my feelings can lead me in so many different directions ( i'm a girl :)) but God's promises ALWAYS lead me to the cross... where His blood was shed for me and for you. So that we may have Salvation in Him who has called us to Himself! When you take a glimpse at the life of Abraham, we sure do see a roller coaster of a life. In Genesis 12 he is called by God to leave his homeland, his family, and his father’s inheritance for another land that he has never seen, for a another family—God promises Abraham that he will be the father of a great nation (keep in mind that for 75 years his wife has been unable to have children), and for another inheritance of some vague “blessing.” He chooses by faith in God to go; he decides to trust that God’s promises of greater things will come true. He trusts that this rollercoaster ride will be exhilarating, but that God can be trusted. God is like the cars of the rollercoaster. Even though life plunges up and down, and Abraham gets a little queasy in his stomach, he knows that the cars will not fly off the track. In the end, all will be well. The ride will actually be exhilarating. There are twists and turns, but he is trusting all the way through the ride. That is my goal and I am so thankful that this month God placed me in the front seat of this roller coaster... and he sure did remember to buckle me in :) Praise and Glory go to HIM!

THIS IS TOO FUNNY :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA


hope you all are getting so excited for Christmas!

Ever thought about Hell? I know people think of it as a hush hush subject these days... but this is real stuff. It's a real place and people go there every single day. Lets face it, even the people that we love most die and go to hell if they are not believers. Key words: people we love most. We need to have such an urgency to be sparing their lives and telling them about the gospel and God's amazing love for us! I read this article below and felt such a deep conviction about my lack of urgency. Read this and let God work in your hearts.

The Horror of Hell

by Tom Ascol

“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1967. The idea of eternal punishment for sin, he further notes, is “a doctrine that put cruelty in the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.”

His views are at least more consistent than religious philosopher John Hick, who refers to hell as a “grim fantasy” that is not only “morally revolting” but also “a serious perversion of the Christian Gospel.” Worse yet is theologian Clark Pinnock who, despite still regarding himself as an evangelical, dismisses hell with a rhetorical question: “How can one imagine for a moment that the God who gave His Son to die for sinners because of His great love for them would install a torture chamber somewhere in the new creation in order to subject those who reject Him to everlasting pain?”

So, what should we think of hell? Is the idea of it really responsible for all the cruelty and torture in the world? Is the doctrine of hell incompatible with the way of Jesus Christ? Hardly. In fact, the most prolific teacher of hell in the Bible is Jesus, and He spoke more about it than He did about heaven. InMatthew 25:41–46 He teaches us four truths about hell that should cause us to grieve over the prospect of anyone experiencing its horrors.

First, hell is a state of separation from God. On the day of judgment, Jesus will say to all unbelievers, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (v. 41). This is the same sort of language that Jesus uses elsewhere to describe the final judgment of unbelievers (see 7:23).

To be separated from God is to be separated from anything and everything good. That is hard to conceive because even the most miserable person enjoys some of God’s blessings. We breathe His air, are nourished by food that He supplies, and experience many other aspects of His common grace.

On earth even atheists enjoy the benefits of God’s goodness. But in hell, these blessings will be nonexistent. Those consigned there will remember God’s goodness, and will even have some awareness of the unending pleasures of heaven, but they will have no access to them.

This does not mean that God will be completely absent from hell. He is and will remain omnipresent (Ps. 139:7–8). To be separated from the Lord and cast into hell does not mean that a person will finally be free of God. That person will remain eternally accountable to Him. He will remain Lord over the person’s existence. But in hell, a person will be forever separated from God in His kindness, mercy, grace, and goodness. He will be consigned to deal with Him in His holy wrath.

Secondly, hell is a state of association. Jesus says that the eternal fire of hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). People were made for God. Hell was made for the Devil. Yet people who die in their sin, without Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, will spend eternity in hell with the one being who is most unlike God. It is a tragic irony that many who do not believe in the Devil in this life will wind up spending eternity being tormented with him in hell.

The third truth is that it is a state of punishment. Jesus describes it as “fire” (v. 41) and a place of “punishment” (v. 46). Hell is a place of retribution where justice is served through the payment for crimes.

The punishment must fit the crime. The misery and torment of hell point to the wickedness and seriousness of sin. Those who protest the biblical doctrine of hell as being excessive betray their inadequate comprehension of the sinfulness of sin. For sinners to be consigned to anything less than the horrors of eternal punishment would be a miscarriage of justice.

And that brings us to the fourth truth — hell is an everlasting state. Though some would like to shorten the duration of this state, Jesus’ words are very clear. He uses the same adjective to describe both punishment and life in verse 46. If hell is not eternal, neither is the new heaven and earth.

How can God exact infinite punishment for a finite sin? First, because the person against whom all sin is committed is infinite. Crimes against the infinitely holy, infinitely kind, infinitely good, and infinitely supreme Ruler of the world deserve unending punishment. In addition to that, those condemned to hell will go on sinning for eternity. There is no repentance in hell. So the punishment will continue as long as the sinning does.

The dreadfulness of hell deepens our grateful praise for the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Hell is what we deserve. And hell is what He experienced on the cross in our place.

Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation?

Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people

it's been FOREVER.

Hey y'all! I have to apologize for the amount of time that has gone by between my last update and now today: December 10. I will not make excuses :) Can I just say how cool God is though? He has been totally working in my life and showing me who He is! I LOVE IT! I also adore how God will meet you right where you are at, ALWAYS. always always always. He knows what you're going through and he reveals things to you that HELP you get out of whatever pit you are in! He guides you! He strengthens you! He upholds you! He helps you! Gosh... He LOVES you! So here I am today, sitting on my couch in the study with my puppy Jake right next to me. We have been listening to sermons online for about three hours. Because you know what? Thats just what needed to be done today for me. And of course God has lead me to such amazing sermons online that relate to EXACTLY what I am going through right now! Needless to say, during all of this I stumbled upon an article written by Lauren Barlow. I started reading it and had to pause a few times because WOW... what she had to say is exactly exactly exactly what has been on my heart this week! So instead of trying to reword it myself..I am just going to repost it in hopes that you will read it and get something out of it, just like I did. God rocks, guys.

Before you read this I want you to know I am not trying to come across as judgmental. I am not trying to put people down or make them feel less than. I am simply sharing my heart and my passions and I am truly sorry if it comes across as condemning. I say this out of a heart of love for my generation and a longing to see us all live a life worthy of our calling..

Now, with that in mind something interesting happened tonight that I can't seem get out of my mind... I tweeted something the other day that I didn't think would be all that controversial. But what can I say, I was born to rock the boat :) The tweet addressed the fact that a lot of the magazines in the "male interest" section has a picture of a half naked or pretty much totally naked woman on it.. And the way I was raised I really don't think that should ever be an "interest" of men.. And then I said that the women who pose for those kinds of magazines and dress (or not dress at all) that way is because their dads (and moms) never had the courage to stop their daughters from going out of the house when they were in skanky outfits and never spoke identity into their life.. Now of course so many thanked me for saying that but then there were a few comments that we've heard quite a few times from different people and weren't as supportive. I know people think us girls are too legalistic and we need to "live life" a little bit. And every time it is said to us, it saddens me. I don't think we should be deemed legalistic cause we think that women shouldn't be portrayed or portray themselves as a sex object. It breaks my heart that girls in the "spotlight" these days think they need to show everything to sell their product or to get on the cover of a magazine. And that is all we have to look up to or look at. And then little girls start to want to dress like the famous girls they see on tv and little boys think its ok to see those things. And its a vicious cycle and if we don't have the courage to put a stop to it, I don't know if it will ever end.

We grew up in a great household. It wasn't all perfect but I can honestly say we always tried to keep God the focus. And yes, I will admit it, when I was a kid I thought it was a bit extreme all the rules that were made and we had to follow. But you know what's so awesome?! Our parents knew what was good for us. And they knew the kind of women that my sisters and I could be and I believe we rose to that standard and it was only because they set the bar high. We were never allowed to wear immodest clothing. No bellies, cleavage, butts, short shorts or skirts, bikinis or extremely tight clothing were allowed in the house. If we bought it and brought it home it was taken back to the store or thrown out. Did I want to kill my parents at times?! Uhhh, duh. I was a teenager once too ya know :) But if I was gonna live in our house I had to obey the rules. Another rule that made me want to run away from home and be adopted by "cool parents" was the "no teen magazines" or magazines with anything inappropriate in it, nothing about sex or immodest women or anything like that was allowed. Oh here was another rule I just adored.. The "no rated R" movies rule... Or any movies for that matter with excessive swearing, bad jokes, sex scenes (even if nothing is shown) or nudity. And I must admit it, as much as I despised it then, now I am 25 years old and I can make my own decisions I still uphold those standards. And its cause I was taught that I can live my life by a higher standard. I didn't have to do what everyone else was doing. Now did I mess up? Of course I did. I snuck and watched movies I wasn't supposed to but of course my mother would find out cause mom's stinking know everything! But in my heart, even though I was found out and got in big trouble, I knew it was wrong and knew I couldn't watch those things. Us girls grew up being told all the time that everyone was called to change the world. But we can never change a world that we look and act just like. So still, to uphold our commitment to purity in our movie selection, before we see ANY movie we still check www.pluggedin.com and that tells us if the movie is appropriate or not and if a magazine has anything about sex or sexual talk in it we refuse to buy it. Oh, and you couldn't pay us a billion dollars to wear a bikini. My simple question to this generation is, where have our standards gone? It makes me so sad that we think its ok for a woman to be half naked or literally totally naked on the cover of magazines and we don't bat an eye. And even more, those magazines get bought. And when did it become OK to watch movies where people are naked or having sex? And Dads and Moms, why do you think you have no right to speak into you child's life about morals and values ?! You're the parent! They may say they hate you to your face but if you do it right they will thank you in the long run. You're not here to be their best friend. You're here to train your child in the way they should go and show them what a godly man and woman is supposed to look like. Thats what my parents did for my sisters and I and if they didn't I would not uphold the standards I currently do. And what's amazing is now we are best friends.

Yes, I know that pornography is a struggle for a lot men out there and with this blog I'm not trying to belittle you or shame you at all.. It's not your fault that America's marketing slogan is "sex sells", its not your fault that women pose for those awful magazines or walk around wearing less clothes then my dog wears. You don't have any control over that first glance and I believe God does not judge you for accidentally seeing those things. But its what happens after that. Men, you are stronger than what you think. And maybe when you start not getting those magazines or hitting on scantily clad women we will be forced to rethink what we are subjecting you to. And ladies, you are worth more than that. You are a precious beautiful daughter of God. Respect yourself. You are a treasure. Ask God what he thinks about you. And when He tells you, you wont have to go to boys to see what they think cause when you are rooted in Him nothing can sway you and you will always feel loved and valued.

So yes,I know I'm extreme, but I'm sure everyone thought Jesus was extreme when he flipped the tables over in the temple and yelled at everyone there. But they were defiling His temple. And our lack of morals and justifying the impurity in our lives even in the smallest form is defiling Gods temple. WE are Gods temple. And the sooner we realize that I think we will see that purity just isn't for the extremists and for "those weirdo Barlowgirls and their fans" its for everyone. God is trying to raise up a generation dedicated to purity.. It's time we stop trying to get as close to the line as we can. We need to challenge ourselves and not just get by doing what everyone else is doing. God's standards should be our standards. Not stupid hollywood standards. You were created for so much more then to just fit in. And yes, it feels good to fit in and be popular. Its hard doing what is right. But us girls have been made fun of our entire lives (yes even still today) for the stands we have taken in this life, but I do not regret one day taking these stands. I'm not saying we have done it 100% right. I have seen things I wish I never had, read things I regret, laughed at jokes I never should have, watched movies that were beneath who I was. But that doesn't mean it was over for me. God is a God of second chances, and third chances and millionth chances, When you pursue the heart of God and He becomes your focus and love you aren't gonna want the things of this world because you know they don't please his heart. Live your life to please the heart of the Father. Don't live a life that is below your calling.
I know this was a hard word. But the impurity in this world, in the Christian scene and non christian scene, breaks my heart and something needs to be done about it. I know one blog won't change the world but maybe it will challenge people. And you are the ones who can change the standard. Do you realize how powerful you are because of the God that we serve?

Robert Frost says so beautifully in my favorite poem, "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

Guys, take the road less traveled. Because in your life its going to make all the difference..