Some great resources

I love my IPOD!  A friend gave me an old ipod and I could not make it work.  As I looked online for a way to fix it, I found that that model in that year had been recalled, and Apple would replace it for free.  A week later I had not only an ipod, but a new model brand new ipod!!  Believe me, it made the trip to Texas last weekend go by much faster.

2 of the things I listened to on that trip are linked below.  Both deal with homosexuality.

Revive Our Hearts, Out of a Far Country, which aired several weeks ago.  I had read the book the week before.  I highly recommend both the book and the program.  I will blog about it soon.

On that same topic of homosexuality, I listened to some messages by John Piper (the linked one and part 2 were the best), and also one by Al Mohler that I got off the Desiring God website.  The Al Mohler message was outstanding.

31 Days of Praying for Your Wife

Yes, I finally finished 31 Days of Praying for Your Wife!  Thanks to those of you who contributed to this list way back when I started it.  I post it with 1 disclaimer.  These are things I hope my husband (and whoever else feels led to) will pray for me as a wife and mother, and things I pray for myself.  No, nothing here deals with career.  Please don't feel that I am dissing career women.  Feel free to use this list as a starting point to make your own list that addresses struggles you have.  In a couple of days I will post a link to the 31 Days of Praying for Your Husband (don't have time at the moment) and also a couple of other things that I use as a prayer list for myself and my family. 

31 Days of Praying for Your Wife

1.       Pray that your wife will grow spiritually and consider her accountability before the Lord.  Pray that she will guard her heart by developing spiritual disciplines – Bible reading and study, prayer, meditation, scripture memorization, etc. (2 Peter 3:18; Prov. 4:23)

2.       Pray that your wife’s relationship with God and His Word will bear fruit in her life.  Pray that she will be a woman of wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord.  (Prov. 3:7, 9:10; Ps. 112:1)

3.       Pray that your wife will be humble and quick to agree with God about her sin.  Pray that her heart will be tender toward the voice of the Lord.  (Ps. 51:2-4; Micah 6:8)

4.       Pray that your wife will learn to trust and submit to the Lord and to you, joyfully and without fear.  Pray that she will encourage you and wait for you to lead.  Pray that she will faithfully pray for you.  (I Peter 3:1-5)

5.       Pray that your wife will guard her heart.  Pray that her affections, heart and energy will be directed toward your family and your home.  (Prov. 4:23)

6.       Pray that your wife will love righteousness and hate wickedness, especially the evils of the culture.  Pray that she will recognize and avoid wickedness in her own life, and if necessary, take a strong stand against evil. (Prov. 27:12; John 17:15; 1 Cor. 10:12-13)

7.       Pray that your wife will seek God first, and look to Him to meet her needs, rather than to you or children or friends. (Mat. 6:32-34)

8.       Pray that God will give your wife creativity in making your house a home that is warm, inviting, and comfortable.  Pray that she will seek to make the house orderly (since God is a God of order) and structured to help and serve the family's needs. (Prov.31:27)

9.       Pray that money will not become a source of discord in your family.  Pray that your wife will be content with your provision for your family, not longing for what the world tells her she needs. (I Tim. 5:6-7)

10.   Pray that your wife will seek to understand and be what God wants her to be as a woman, a wife and a mother.  (Prov. 31:10-31)

11.   Pray that your wife will have a humble, teachable spirit and a servant’s heart before the Lord.  Pray that she will listen to God and desire to do His will. (Phil 2:13)

12.   Pray that your sexual intimacy together will unite your hearts; that it will be fresh, positive, and a reflection of selfless love.  (Gen. 2:24-25, Song of Solomon)

13.   Pray that your wife will work to build up the Body through prayer and using her spiritual gifts. (Rom.12:3-8)

14.   Pray that your wife will tame her tongue; that she will speak words that build up you and your family and reflect a heart of love, knowing when to speak and when to be silent and pray. (Eph. 4:29, James 3:2-12)

15.   Pray that your wife will choose her friends wisely.  Pray that she will develop godly relationships with other women, particularly older women. (Titus 2:3-5)

16.   Pray that your wife will choose healthy, God-honoring activities.  Pray that she will not live in bondage to any questionable habits or hobbies, television or books, but that she will experience freedom in holiness as she yields to the Spirit’s control. (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:31; 2 Tim. 2:4)

17.   Pray that God will give your wife a hospitable heart, especially if hospitality does not come easily for her.  Pray that she will be comfortable inviting guests into your home. Pray that this will grow out of a heart for God’s people and also for the lost. (I Tim. 5:10)

18.   Pray that your wife will have an eternal perspective – living in light of eternity.  Pray that she will reject materialism and temporal values and put God first in her life. (Matt. 6:33; Deut. 6:5; Eph. 5:16; Ps. 90:12)  

19.   Pray that your wife will seek a true friendship with you, and that you will be her best friend. (Gen. 2:20-25)

20.   Pray that your wife will find joy, peace and contentment in her role as wife and mother. (Eph. 5:15-21)

21.   Pray that your wife will learn to submit her emotions to God and filter them through His Word.  Pray that she will learn how to relax in the Lord and, in her greatest times of stress, find joy and peace in her relationship with God.  (Psalms)

22.   Pray that your wife will practice forgiveness in your relationship and with others.  Pray that she will recognize any roots of bitterness, and yield any resentment and unforgiving attitudes to the Lord. (Eph. 4:32; Heb. 12:15)

23.   Pray that your wife will be a good mother.  Pray that God will give her the ability, wisdom and strength to mother each child in their particular phase of life (infant, toddler, teen, adult, etc). (Prov. 22:6)

24.   Pray that your wife will lead a balanced life – that she will balance work and play.  (Ecc. 3:1-8)

25.   Pray that your wife will be wise in managing her time, activities and service.  Pray that she will submit her schedule to the Lord.  Pray that she will prioritize what is best over what is good, and that God will “establish the work of her hands” to prosper her efforts. (Psalm 90:17, Phil.1:9-11, Eph. 5:15-17)

26.   Pray that your wife will discover and live her God-given purpose.  Pray that she will offer all her dreams to the Lord, and pursue only those goals that will bring God glory and count for eternity.  (Jer. 29:11; 1 Cor. 10:31)

27.   Pray that your wife will understand the importance of taking care of her body – the temple of the Holy Spirit – for the glory of God.  Pray that she will practice self-control by making wise food choices, and get sufficient exercise to stay healthy. Pray that she will have physical strength each day and be able to rest each night. (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 6:19-20, 9:27)

28.   Pray that your wife will be a woman of prayer.  Pray that she will seek and pursue God in purposeful quiet times.  (I Thess. 5:17; Luke 22:46; James 5:16)

29.   Pray that your wife will serve God and others with pure motives.  Pray that she will obey the Lord from her heart and glorify Him in everything. (1 Cor. 10:13; John 7:17-18; Col. 3:23-24)

30.   Pray that your wife will recognize the lies of the Enemy in her life.  Pray that her attitudes and actions will be guided by the truth as she brings her thoughts into captivity to the Word of God. (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 10:4-5)

31.   Pray that God will continue to form your wife into a “wife of noble character… who fears the Lord.” (Prov. 31:10-31)

Challenge to Women continued

OK, here is the rest of the Challenge to Women article, it is the ministry ideas and comes at the very end:

That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood
Complementing a man's life as his wife
Ministries to the handicapped
hearing impaired
blind
lame
retarded
Ministries to the sick:
nursing
physician
hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
community health
Ministries to the socially estranged:
emotionally impaired
recovering alcoholics
recovering drug users
escaping prostitutes
abused children, women
runaways, problem children
orphans
Prison ministries:
women's prisons!
families of prisoners
rehabilitation to society
Ministries to youth:
teaching
sponsoring
open houses and recreation
outings and trips
counseling
academic assistance
Sports ministries:
neighborhood teams
church teams
Therapeutic counseling:
independent
church based
institutional
Audio visual ministries:
composition
design
production
distribution
Writing ministries:
free lance
curriculum development
fiction
non-fiction
editing
institutional communications
journalistic skills for publications
Teaching ministries:
Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
grade school
high school
college
Music ministries:
composition
training
performance
voice
choir
instrumentalist
Evangelistic ministries:
personal witnessing
Inter Varsity
Campus Crusade
Navigators
Home Bible Studies
outreach to children
Visitation teams
Counseling at meetings
Billy Graham phone bank
Radio and TV ministries:
technical assistance
writing
announcing
producing
Theater and drama ministries:
acting
directing
writing
scheduling
Social ministries:
literacy
pro-life
pro-decency
housing
safety
beautification
Pastoral care assistance:
visitation
newcomer welcoming and assistance
hospitality
food and clothing and transportation
Prayer ministries:
praying!!!
mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
helping with small groups of prayer
coordinating prayer chains
promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils
Missions:
all of the above across cultures
Support ministries:
countless jobs that undergird major ministries

A Challenge to Men

by John Piper, from the book, What’s the Difference, Manhood and Womanhood defined according to the Bible.

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.
2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.
3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.
4. That you be men of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.
5. That you be men of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.
6. That you be men who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.
7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on excessive sports and recreation or unimportant hobbies or aimless diddling in the garage; but that you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.
8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God (the way Jesus and Paul did) and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.
9. That, if you are married, you love your wife the way Christ loved the church and gave himself for her; that you be a humble, self-denying, upbuilding, happy spiritual leader; that you consistently grow in grace and knowledge so as never to quench the aspirations of your wife for spiritual advancement; that you cultivate tenderness and strength, a pattern of initiative and a listening ear; and that you accept the responsibility of provision and protection in the family, however you and your wife share the labor.
10. That, if you have children, you accept primary responsibility in partnership with your wife (or as a single parent), to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord – children who hope in the triumph of God; that you establish a pattern of teaching and discipline that is not solely dependent on the church or school to impart Bible knowledge and spiritual values to the children; and that you give your children the time and attention and affection that communicates the true nature of our Father in Heaven.
11. That you not assume advancement and peer approval in your gainful employment are the highest values in life; but that you ponder the eternal significance of faithful fatherhood and time spent with your wife; that you repeatedly consider the new possibilities at each stage of your life for maximizing your energies for the glory of God in ministry; that you pose the question often: Is our family molded by the culture, or do we embody the values of the Kingdom of God? That you lead the family in making choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.
12. That you step back and (with your wife, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.
13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.
14. That in all your relationships with women (not just in marriage) you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that expresses your God-given responsibility for humble strength and leadership, and for self-sacrificing provision and protection; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as she must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with women.
15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as license for domination or bossy passivity, but as a call to servant-leadership that thinks in terms of responsibilities not rights; that you see these principles as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you encourage the fruitful engagement of women in the countless ministry roles that are Biblically appropriate and deeply needed.

A Challenge to Women

ok, I know I linked to this yesterday, but it is so awesome I want to post the whole thing.

January 01, 1995 by John Piper Topic: Women

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.


2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.


3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.


4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.


5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.


6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.


7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.


8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.


9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.


10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.


11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.


12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.


13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.


14. That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.


15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood
Complementing a man's life as his wife
Ministry to those around you... more on this in a post to follow. As well as John Piper's challenge to men.

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

"At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's differing relationships."

"At the heart of mature feminity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman's differing relationships."


John Piper, What's the Difference? Manhood and womanhood defined according to the Bible

What a great little book this is! I found it at 2nd and Charles when I accidentally went in there a couple of days ago. The motorcycle suddenly cut across 3 lanes (empty) to turn left into the parking lot. Anyway, at the back of the book is a 15 point challenge for men and women, which I am going to print off and keep with my prayer list, as things to pray for myself, my husband, my kids, their future spouses, and my church. You can find the Challenge to Women here. I can't find the changes he put in the book for a Challenge to Men... I will either find it online or type it out this weekend.

Man Whisperer

This is a great read

Man Whisperer vs True Woman

Submission

These are the notes I took from a chapter of Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book Becoming God's True Woman. The chapter is called "Liberated Through Submission", by Bunny Wilson.

Everyone submits to someone.
Husband yields to God
loves wife as Christ loves church
final decision maker
spiritual head
lives with wife in understanding way (I don't think I want this job)
Wife submits to his final decisions

When a boss makes an unreasonable request:
Stop
collect thoughts
speak the truth in love
submit and yield
give the issue to God
Faith - believe that God knows and hears all,
and will intervene on my behalf without further input from me
wait to discover God's will

submission means God intervenes

Sharing the truth in love will allow God to use us as an effective "helper" in our husband's life.

Faith recognizes that God can make a straight line with a crooked stick.

Because I am a Christian, I submit to your decision. I believe God can lead you in the way you should go. I also believe if you make a mistake, God can fix it. Now, what can I do to help?

All this gives us the right to be heard next time.

Patience is one of the main ingredients necessary for a successful submitted life... it requires us to release control of a situation. We must walk in faith, believeing that God will intervene when we are called to submit to someone in authority.

"I remember the day my wife turned me over to the Lord. She didn't tell me that's what she had done, but I knew it had taken place. Before, when she would contend with me, it allowed me to justify decisions I knew were not pleasing to the Lord. But when she relinquished control, the only person I had to deal with was the Lord, and that's an uncomfortable position."

True Woman 2010 Indy

Well, yesterday finished up my random thoughts and notes from the conference. But I am thrilled to report that it doesn't have to end... all the conferences are now available online for free! You can watch, listen, or read transcripts of everything! I have been listening to 2010 Chatanooga lately (while I clean house)... and there are several that I will need to go back and take notes on. I don't get the atmosphere like being there live, but God has really been speaking to me through these messages. The whole focus of Revive Our Hearts addresses an area that I have struggled with, whether I realized it or not, since I became a believer as a teenager. Everything in my sin nature, everything in the world, and everything Satan tells me oppose what Scripture calls me to be as a godly woman. Thank you Lord for bringing this ministry into my life!

Nancy DeMoss on Deborah

Deborah - prophetess, wife, judge (appointed by God)

Israel has followed a pattern:
Disobedience, Discipline, Desperation,Deliverance
Judgement begins with believers
Discipline, chastisement and pruning are all meant to turn us to God

There is a lack of male leadership
God used Deborah to cultivate that leadership
There is no indication that she set herself up to lead
She describes herself as a "mother"
She is a nurturer
She encouraged men to be men
She affirmed and lifted up male leadership
She takes the helper/ responsive role
Barak is the one listed in the Hebrews list, not Deborah!
Deborah encouraged men with God's word and promise

Stacy Smith on Emotions

Mind + Will = Overcomes Emotions

A woman will throw away truth for an emotion.
Emotions turn you into a dangerous woman, an instrument of cruelty.
I am the first victim of my heart.

I can choose to change my mind.
Be intentional with the will.
Scripture overcomes emotions.
The Word tempers and calms emotions.
Identify the thought, give it to Christ.
Speak, think, and pray the Word!
Find, memorize, and meditate on scripture that specifically speaks to my fears.

Fears and broken relationships cause wrong emotions.

Accept your design.
Accept your unpredictable emotions.
Don't give in to them.
Anticipate the cycles of life.
Sleep and nutrition are huge factors in emotions.
Develop godly, discipling relationships rather than just friends.
Make failures right.

Joni

Short notes but one of the most powerful talks at True Woman, by Joni Erickson Tada:

A host of angels and demons are watching me to see if I will follow God...
to see what work I will allow God to do in me...
to see my faithfulness or failure...

Do I make God look good?

Mary Kassian on Proverbs 7:6-27

Wild Thing!

Wildness warps true womanhood
in big ways, like infidelity,
but also in many little ways.

Dress as a prostitute
Wiley of hearty - crafty, manipulative, nag, badger
Loud - clamors to get way, brash, sassy
Wayward - rebellious
Never home - self-indulgent, priorities are wrong,
going out at the expense of what she should be doing.
Lies in wait - predator, waiting for the next thing
Warps focus
Warps roles - she seizes him and he follows her
She comes out to meet him - lonely,
only God can fill that deepest desire, not man (her husband traveling is no excuse)
Opulance in the bedroom - shopoholic
Entitlement - self-gratification,
wanted fun, wanted to be loved, immediate gratification
She talked circles around him
No boundaries

There is a powerful pull on women to go wild
She was religious
In church that morning, having a fling that night
Wildness seems attractive, harmless, promising
Women have great influence

There must be an intentional turning from wild to wise

Marry Kassian on Creation

Man and Woman - more like God than anything else

Gender displays God
We are an object lesson, it is not about us.
Gender, sex, manhood, and womanhood tell a story about who God is.
About who He is and about what He does.
Gender tells the love story of the gospel.

Male
1. Adam was 1st born, therefore holds responsibility.
(Christ is 1st born of God)
2. Adam was created outside the garden, then put into it.
Man leaves his parents and becomes head of his own family, with a new position of responsibility.
(Christ left heaven to pursue his bride, the church)
3. Man is commissioned to work, to provide.
4. Man is commissioned to protect. He has a stronger body and is built to fight.
5. Man received spiritual instruction, and is to provide spiritual oversight.
6. Man learned to exercise authority (named the animals).
Woman's authority is different and not interchangable>

God made man need woman, and made him aware of that need.
He pierced the side of man (Christ was pierced) for woman.

Woman
1. Female was created from male.
Remember where you came from! We have an obligation to respect.
2. Female was made for male. She exists because he exists.
3. Female was created to help male. For what?
To fit as a like-opposite. To help along-side.
Not about exaulting man and serving him, but to help him image God and tell the gospel story.
To help him in the purpose to glorify God.
4. Female deferred to male.
He leads, he names, she responds.
God does not violate our personality!
5. Female was the perfect counterpart
man - ish - strength, virility, worker
woman - isha - soft, responder, relator, receiver
6. Female created in the garden.
Created in a place of safety. Always under protection, kept safe, , loved and cherished.
Sensitive and vulnerable.

God has a spectacular design for my womanhood.
God wants me to say yes to His design.
God will do an amazing work of restoration.
Jesus has the power to restore what has been damaged.

Karen Lorritts on Col 3:15-17

Prov 28:26 - don't trust yourself, God will deliver (ugh... that one hits home)

Trust in the:
1. Peace of Christ
2. Power of the Holy Spirit
3. Prescense of God

1. Let God call the shots
Word of Christ dwells in heart
Cultivate thankfulness

"God is not playing games with our lives. We are not pawns in a chess game."

2. Surrender the power to control
Produce fruit

3. Ps 37:3-5
Waiting is hard, don't run
Cultivate faithfulness
Delight in Him
Commit your ways to God
Trust in Him and He will do it.

My heart breaks, but God is good.

Janet Parshall on Mary

And still more random thoughts from True Woman 2010, Indy:

Think about the questions Mary doesn't ask!

She is submissive, humble, obedient.
No argument, no complaint, no hesitation.
She calls herself the Lord's handmaiden - the lowest of servents, who sits watches for a hand signal from her mistress.

Zechariah says, "But God?!" and is silenced.
Do I let circumstances define me, or God?

Mary rushes to tell Elisabeth.
Mary does not ask, "What are the consequences?"
She says, "This is truth."

God has the right to interupt my life.

"Struggle is a word for delayed obedience." Elizabeth Elliot

Nancy DeMoss on Titus 2

More random thoughts from True Woman 2010, Indy:

Older women should:

What?
Teach sound doctrine - not relevance, not law, not whatever is new
be tethered to the Word
control their tongue
self-control

Character comes before calling
Life comes before ministry

Teach what is good

be an example

be intentional

value on home

priority on love (love is taught and learned)

self-controlled, sound mind

kind - other centered

submissive to husband

character qualities flow out of sound doctrine

belief changes behavior

How?

The grace of God enables us

The return of Christ

Power of the Cross

Why?

Word of God not be reviled

Opponents will be put to shame

Adorn the doctrine of God

TW 2010 Indy, Crawford Lorritts

Random thoughts from Crawford Lorritts:

I John 2:15-17

The World
don't love it
see it for what it is
live your allegience

Being a lover of God is not theoretical!

Is that all there is to you?
What defines you?
This is a gut question, not an intellectual love.

Cravings, passions - I want it, I will violate Biblical principles to get it.

Strong, powerful, tempting - transient
The one who does the will of God - forever

Worldliness - anything in your life that causes you to lose the enjoyment of the Father's love, or your desire to do the Father's will.

Why do I want this?
Does this consume, control, change me?
Am I clean?

True Woman 2010 - Indianapolis

I couple of weeks ago, on a Wednesday afternoon, I got an e-mail from a friend inviting me to go to the True Woman Conference in Indianapolis. The ticket, hotel and transportation were paid for. The trick was, they were leaving that very evening. I sat reading the e-mail in disbelief. I thought through the schedule for the next few days. Impossible. I work, home-school two kids, get those same kids to various activities, teach karate. I can’t keep up with all the stuff I have to do, how can I be ready to leave in a few hours and be gone for four days? How can I take off the two main work days of my week? I called my husband and laid it all out for him. He said if I wanted to go I should ask to get off work and get someone to cover my class. He would take care of everything else. I made phone calls and one by one each obstacle disappeared. It was disconcerting that both my boss and the young black belt I asked to teach for me told me I should go because I have obviously been stressed lately and needed a break. Do I have that printed on my forehead? It all came together. I called and had one of my kids do my laundry. I got home at 8pm, ate, packed, wrote out instructions for stuff that had to be done, left home at 8:30 and arrived at my friend’s house at 9:00. Then I found myself sitting in a van headed for Indy with three other ladies. It was more than a little unreal. This trip was so far out of the realm of possibility for me that I would not have even dreamed of praying for it.

The trip was wonderful. The company was great, the speakers were great, the music was great... you should have heard 6000 women singing praises to God! I came home encouraged and filled and fed and ready to tackle life once again. I am now going back through my notes, and I thought that over the coming weeks I'd post some random comments that I wrote down during that weekend.

I encourage you to go to a True Woman Conference if you ever get a chance. It was a tremendous blessing to me!