No More Shame

by Sharon Jaynes | | 2 comments

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Debbie’s paternal grandparents had both a housekeeper and groundskeeper who lived in their basement apartment. Nina and Silas were like part of the family and had lived with the grandparents for as long as Debbie could remember. On many occasions, when Debbie’s parents and grandparents went out to dinner, she and her older sister were left in the care of Silas and Nina. The girls’ parents had no idea that Silas was molesting their precious children time and time again.

From the time Debbie and Beth were three and six years old, until they were ten and thirteen, Silas fondled and sexually molested the girls in the basement apartment lit only by the black-and-white television blinking in the background.

When His Face is Toward Us

by Mary Southerland | | 5 comments

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Pastor James Moore of Houston, Texas tells the story of a young man whose wife died, leaving him with a small son to raise alone. After a beautiful and moving memorial service, the young man and his son returned home from the cemetery.

Family and friends had all gone home. The man was lost. Numb with grief, he decided he and his son would go to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do.

After tucking the little boy into bed, the young father laid in the darkness – heartbroken and weeping – wondering how he could go on without his wife beside him. The voice of his son broke through the darkness with a haunting

Breaking Free of Strongholds and Strangleholds

by Sharon Jaynes | | 8 comments

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A stronghold is one of those churchy Christianese words that is hard to wrap our minds around. It’s not a word we use everyday. So what exactly is a stronghold? Let’s take a look.

A stronghold is a thought pattern that forms a fortress around the mind, holding it prisoner to faulty thinking. It is formed brick-by-brick by repetitive faulty thinking or all at once by a onetime traumatic event such as a rape, molestation, or abuse.

In the Old Testament, a stronghold was a fortified dwelling used for protection from an enemy. David hid in wilderness strongholds when he was hiding from King Saul, who was trying to kill him (1 Samuel 22:4; 23:14). These were usually caves high

When The Hurt is Horrible

by Gwen Smith | | 11 comments

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Danita is a friend who experienced a tragic loss. Her husband Dave was a military officer stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. An avid runner, he was the picture of good health. Over six feet tall, his tanned, athletic build never failed to take Danita’s breath away.

Like every other married couple, they had their issues, but they strived to live together as one. Early on they surrendered their household to the Lord. Faith, friendship, and fun were the foundations of their home and the cement that held them together during difficult times.

In October 2003, Dave had been wrestling with some issues of spiritual surrender about the possible relocation of their family. At their Wednesday night church service, God

You’re More Than a Cleaned-Up Version of Your Old Self

by Sharon Jaynes | | 9 comments

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Most Christians see their conversion as a cleaned-up version of their old self, rather than as a brand new creation who did not exist before. The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The old is gone, not just spiffied up.

After high school I went to college where I met and married an awesome Christian man whom I met at a friend’s Bible study. I saw him sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his red flannel shirt rolled up his masculine arms. He had a worn Bible in his lap and an easy smile on his

Chasing Beauty

by Gwen Smith | | 3 comments

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From the time I was a young girl I wanted to be beautiful. In the fifth grade, I resorted to desperate measures in a very “eleven-year-old, clueless-adolescent” kind of way. I distinctly remember some bright blue eye shadow being involved.

I can even picture in my mind what said unauthorized makeup looked like in its case – like a pallet that would normally hold watercolor paint. Five fabulous, or not so fabulous, color options ranging from pale green to bright blue were available to this pre-adolescent.

Mercy!

Keep in mind, we are talking about the early eighties here. Blue eye shadow was all the rage and a very accepted beauty solution. It was everywhere! On magazine covers, commercials, and on every

Take Hold of the Faith You Long For

by Sharon Jaynes | | 3 comments

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Have you ever watched a circus performer on a flying trapeze? A short horizontal bar suspended by ropes or metal straps dangles high above the crowd. The aerialist grabs the trapeze bar, jumps off of a high platform, and swings through the air. She swings out once, swings back above the platform, and swings out again.

It is during the peak of the third swing where the fun begins for those below. The performer releases the bar mid-air and grabs hold of another bar or second performer hanging from his knees who swings toward her. Once she grabs hold, the crowd remembers to breathe. Somersaults, backflips, and triple twists wow the crowd. And each move requires the performer to

What My Brain Tumor Taught Me About Trusting God

by Tayler Beede | | 8 comments

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Three and a half years ago I had basically no eyesight. I’d been to three doctors in one day. I sat nervously in a dark room, with nothing more than a hospital gown and my quickly diminishing faith. Three and a half years ago I was in the ER about to find out I needed brain surgery to remove a large tumor growing off my pituitary gland.

I prayed and prayed. “God, if you could just bring me through this I promise I’ll never doubt you again.” Because surely, if I got through that, everything else would seem like nothing. I wouldn’t need to worry about the smaller things because heck, I’D BE ALIVE. What more could I ask

You Are Worth Pursuing

by Sharon Jaynes | | 7 comments

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I was in college when I first eyed my husband. He was sitting on the floor at a friend’s Bible study gathering with his back against the wall, dressed in scruffy jeans and a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his muscular forearms.

His thick brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes left me weak in the knees. And the best part was that this handsome hunk of a man had a tattered Bible in his lap. He laughed easily, prayed humbly and read intently. I was smitten from the first time I laid eyes on Steve.

After a few weeks, he finally asked me out on a date. We continued seeing each other over the next several weeks,

You Can Count on the Promises of God

by Mary Southerland | | 3 comments

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I love money-back guarantees. We once bought a car to replace a van that had 125,000 miles on it. Our first vacation in the new car was a disaster. We began having trouble the very first day. On our way home, we stopped in four different cities, trying to find a mechanic who could repair the car. No one could explain or even find the problem. Needless to say, we were not happy campers. But when we returned home and contacted the dealership, we were told that because of the guarantee on the car, we could get our money back or trade it in for another one. Loved it!

Did you know that every promise of God is backed