Comments on: can i get a witness? (whoop! whoop!)

By: Meg @ Spicy Magnolia

Meg @ Spicy Magnolia — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:06:57 +0000

Thank you for this post! I had started a blog post about something and didn’t know exactly where to go with it, and the Lord used your post to help form the words to complete it.

Right at this moment, I’m so thankful for the family the Lord has blessed me with and the long weekend we have to be in each others company! Happy Fourth to you and your family!

By: Donita

Donita — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:14:39 +0000

I am thanking God today for do-overs!
This past week, indeed, this past year I feel like God has put a bunch of do-overs in my path. Places I stumbled before that I have encountered again. People I failed in the past have come around full-circle. Situations I wish I had done differently and now I get a chance to do them differently.

I was thinking about all this and remembered a teaching I once heard about Samuel’s stone of Ebenezer…his stone of remembrance. I prayed, “God, is this a season of do-overs? A season of remembrance? Have I really come full circle?”

And then we sang:
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
(Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

Thanks for encouraging me to tell my story!

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:21:57 +0000

I just want to echo Janelle Taviano…thank God for Jesus….the Cross….and the constant drawing us in….even in the hard times….He is love that is so perfect that we don’t have to be!

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:00:18 +0000

I’m so thankful that the Health Dept. did not shut down our pond with BRAND NEW waterslides this week (they were considering it), and that they allowed us to use our camp water again today after determining that there was no problem with the chlorination – thank you, God, that we didn’t have to send campers home or alarm parents! Also, we had a camper accept Christ last night, and 2 more raised hands that said they were interested in hearing more!!! Praise Jesus!

By: Omom

Omom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:55:37 +0000

Even though I’m going through some sort of trial right now I’m so thankful for the ways He keeps bringing my focus back to Him. A song, a word, a scripture, a blog….it always speaks to my situation and keeps me taking another step in Him.

By: Emily Kay

Emily Kay — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:40:06 +0000

There’s a fine line between “arguing” the gospel and “defending” it. That’s why it’s so hard to participate in theological discussions…especially with non-Christians. After all, the gospel is foolish to those who do not believe.

While this is more my husband’s testimony than my own, it directly impacted my life so I feel like I’m allowed to include it as one of my own. God has brought us SO far in a mere three years. You know how people say that it took God hitting them over the head with a 2×4 t get their attention? Well, for my husband it was an F-350. Just short of three years ago my husband was struck by a truck while riding his bicycle at a family camp we were both attending. The deer guard on the truck snapped his upper arm and it was rendered useless for several months. The accident effectively ended his landscaping business but through a series of “chance” encounters, God led him to the manager of a company who was willing to hire him on the spot in spite of his injury. He was working 4 weeks after the accident, broken arm and all. The new job with a stable income plus the insurance settlement allowed him to pay his medical bills (he was uninsured at the time of the accident) AND buy an engagement ring and propose to me two months later. Had he never been hit by that truck, it may have been years before we were able to get married. A year and a half later we were offered the opportunity to buy our first home (the whole process took less than a month…to some that seemed dangerously impulsive). Two years TO THE DATE after he started his first job, he began a new career with the San Antonio Police Department. Oh, and had we waited to buy a home like many said we should have we wouldn’t have been approved for financing because of the new job and we would have been stuck in a one-bedroom apartment with TWO babies. It really is AMAZING how God has directed each step we’ve taken because He is ALMIGHTY and knows exactly what we need!!!

By: Joy

Joy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:57:48 +0000

I’m praising God in advance for the way He will bring much greater glory to Himself out of the death of our church than He did during its life. We meet tonight to vote to dissolve and hopefully to pass the torch to a young, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching body that will have a God-honoring ministry to our community… if our little body can put its own desires and dreams under God’s dominion.

By: Kelsie

Kelsie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:28:12 +0000

Marla, yes that makes sense. Thank you for clarifying. Testimonies are great, don’t get me wrong. I was concerned that we were diminishing the importance of apologetics…
I will conclude by praising God for an opportunity with a neighbor lady today. My husband and I are burdened for our neighbors, and we desire greatly to be a powerful witness to them. May God use all of us!!

By: Suzy

Suzy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:24:00 +0000

I am forever grateful to the Lord and absolutely amazed at how he can take the ugliest of circumstances and make something beautiful. 9 years ago my husband had an affair; it was one of the most awful times in my life and yet through that affair I became saved, my marriage was rescued, later my husband became saved, I gave birth to a 4th child who would not have existed if our marriage had failed and so far, 2 of my 4 children have also been saved. I believe that through all of that ugliness the Lord dramatically altered the course of my families future for many generations to come. Thank you God you, are so amazing!!!!

By: Marla Taviano

Marla Taviano — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:16:13 +0000

Great question, Kelsie. I should have worded that differently. That verse has come to my mind many times since this whole debate began. And it’s actually the main reason I started the conversation.

Here’s the thing. I DID give a reason for the hope that is in me. And I still will. What I DON’T want to do is give that answer OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER to someone when it is clear that the only thing that will ever convince him/her of Christ’s love is the Holy Spirit Himself whispering to that person’s heart.

Does that make sense?