The Beginning

Starting doing beading in @1995 after getting alcohol poisoning while out partying with friends. It is a talent that God gave me to keep me from trying to kill myself (literally through binge drinking and then driving while drunk) From broken to Reborn, from lost to Found, God gave me this talent to make jewelry and I didn't realize how relevant it was to my life until I was listening to the radio praising God and this song came on (of course I forgot the name and such) but it talked about taking the old and making it new again. God did that with me as I do that with my jewelry! I love taking old broken pieces and recreating something new and exciting. If the necklace doesn't have earrings with it, I can make some to go with it. Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of death. vs 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It only through Jesus can we be truly changed, He alone has all power to deliver us from the bondage of sin and give us new life.
And while this started out as Jewelry, it has become a creative outlet in Bible Journaling and other crafts. Keep God number one in everything you do!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

That AH-HA Moment

On Wednesday nights at Church (Mountain Springs Baptist Church, Cabot, AR), we have been studying Jesus Among Secular Gods by Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale.
Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale defend the absolute claims of Christ against modern belief in the "secular gods" of atheism, scientism, relativism, and more. The rise of these secular gods presents the most serious challenge to the absolute claims of Christ since the founding of Christianity itself. The Christian worldview has not only been devalued and dismissed by modern culture, but its believers are openly ridiculed as irrelevant. In JESUS AMONG SECULAR GODS, Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale challenge the popular "isms" of the day, skillfully pointing out the fallacies in their claims and presenting compelling evidence for revealed absolute truth as found in Jesus. This book is fresh, insightful, and important, and faces head on today's most urgent challenges to Christian faith. It will help seekers to explore the claims of Christ and will provide Christians with the knowledge to articulate why they believe that Jesus stands tall above all other gods.(Google Books)

We just finished up Humanism. OH MY how God opened my eyes and ears! All the nights and days I spent crying and fretting over my purpose, my worth, my reason because I was more focused on my job, a guy, and a number of other things that didn't fill me with joy because they were always changing. People let me down - hurt me and I was focused on pleasing them - making them happy at my expense. Focused on pets - they can't save me or fix my problems either but I still thought they were more important than God. Focused on Family - OH BOY - while I love my family, they didn't bring EVERLASTING UNSPEAKABLE JOY, NEVER ENDING, RECKLESS LOVE!

For years I thought I understood, I thought I was doing good. Without a moral compass, how can I do good? I can claim to be a Christian but did my walk really show that? No...not when I was focused on "I am capable of being in control. I know the difference in right and wrong. I am following so-so's example. I, I, I, I...."  Thank you God for showing me that I have purpose, reason, dignity, unity, and many other intrinsic values. Thank you God for growing me and showing me that I was still a sinner and how YOU still searched for me.

I pray that God continues to help me remove these strongholds and opens ways for me to continue to bless others. I pray for all my friends and families no matter what their circumstances are that God will open their eyes and ears to His True Love!