Footwear of Faith

Footwear of Faith
Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection - Marikina Shoe Museum
Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection

How many pairs of shoes do you personally own? Does your family jokingly refer to you as “Imelda”? Or are you a one-pair wonder who sees little point in owning more than one functional, comfortable pair of shoes? I, myself, am a little closer to the one-pair wonder than Imelda Marcos (who owned more than 1,200 pairs of shoes).

I tend to have one pair of shoes for every occasion: I wear flip-flops everyday ?; tennis shoes for the gym ?; ankle boots with my dress pants ?; sandals in the summer ?; heels for special occasions ?; and winter boots when it’s cold outside ❄️. Oh, I almost forgot: I also have an old pair of those “special” Sketchers® that never did firm or tone anything saggy ?. Oh well!

Why all this talk about shoes? I thought this was a devotional. True. True. Well, shoes have soles, too! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist! ?)

The truth is, as I prayed about this month’s theme, God brought to mind some common idioms about faith, and they all involved feet! For example, a person takes a “step of faith”; another is “walking in faith”; and someone else just took a “leap of faith.” Apparently, the practice of faith requires moving your proverbial feet. Before we start selecting shoes, however, let’s first define what faith (the verb) is and is not…

Click here to continue reading my devotional at “Rooted at the Throne” hosted by Rachael Carman.

PSA about Sex Trafficking of Minors

Human Trafficking Awareness

In case you were wondering:

  • It is NOT okay to obtain sex with a minor;
  • It is NOT okay to watch a video featuring someone else having sex with a minor;.

Sexually exploited youth are VICTIMS of commercial sexual exploitation or sex trafficking.

It is illegal both to offer and to obtain a child, and cause that child to engage in any kind of sexual activity in exchange for anything of value, whether it be money, goods, personal benefit, in-kind favors, or some other kind of benefit.” Citizen’s Guide to the U.S. Law on the Prostitution of Children

If you respond to an online ad with the intention of obtaining sex, and you have a gut-check that the person is a minor, you need to know:

  • According to U.S. Law, the minor IS BEING TRAFFICKED;
  • If you have sex with the minor, even though you paid for it, you are committing a FEDERAL CRIME;
  • The MINIMUM sentence for obtaining sex with a minor is 10 years in prison (15 years if they were under the age of 14);
  • For more info: Citizen’s Guide to the U.S. Law on the Prostitution of Children

Rather than go through with your plans, do this instead:

  1. Call the National Human Trafficking hotline number and let them know what just happened. You can remain anonymous. Call Now: 1-888-373-7888 
  2. Then, would you consider reading through this article about sexual desperation. You are not alone in your fight.

Did you know?
When you watch pornography featuring sex with a minor, that child was sexually exploited for your entertainment. Whoever made the film has committed a FEDERAL CRIME. Do you really want to be a part of exploitation of children? Children cannot consent to sexual activities. They are too young. It’s a crime, and it’s not okay to watch.

The best way to fight sex trafficking is to stop the demand. You can help.

#raisingawareness #humantrafficking #stopthedemand

3 Types of Joy

3 Types of Joy

I’d like to tell you a story: Three friends met for lunch at the golf course ⛳, and each one was full of joy. Reggie, after slightly puffing out his chest, exclaimed, “Well, guys, I “hate” to rub it in, but my team made it to the Final Four …AND my company gave us tickets to the playoffs!” He leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head, and challenged anyone to top that! 

Tyrone replied, “Jealous. Not jealous. That’s cool, man! But…I have some pretty good news of my own: My wife told me this morning: ‘We’re having a baby!’ ? I can’t believe it! I’m gonna be a dad!” ? ?? He was beaming and smiling from ear to ear. 

“Congratulations, man!” Jim chimed in, “That’s fantastic! When is she due?”

Their conversation continued for a few minutes until Jim changed the subject: “So, I hate to break the mood, but I need to let y’all know that we finally got the pathology report back yesterday. Turns out, I have prostate cancer. ? It’s treatable, but it looks like I’ll be practicing my putt at home for a while.” 

“Wait!” you interject. “I thought you said all three men were ‘full of joy’! How is that possible when the third man is sharing a cancer diagnosis? I’m sure he was ‘exuding’ something, but there’s no way it could be JOY!”

As a matter of fact, he was full of joy—just a different type than the other two—we’ll look at that in a bit. But first, I want to share with you about a discussion we recently had on my Facebook page.

As I prayed about and contemplated the word JOY for this month’s devotional, I spent some time in the Bible and a few minutes on Google. Did you know there are 19.5 million articles explaining how/why joy is better than happiness?! Good grief! Just so you know, I’ve decided NOT to add to that total. You’re welcome! 

While I was clicking around, I came across a number of images and memes promoting the popular motto: “Choose Joy!” Upon reflection, I wondered if it were literally possible for a person to CHOOSE joy. Rather than ponder this by myself, I chose to pose the question to my Facebook friends—a fantastic cross-section of folks from across the U.S. (and the world)—to see what they had to say…

Click here to continue reading this reflection on JOY at “Rooted at the Throne” hosted by Rachael Carman. 

Love Songs & Unselfish Love

Unselfish Love

Love is in many ways fine:
      Like a nickel, like a dime.
But love is more valuable to me
      Than one, two, or even three…

And so begins one of the most *ahem* “memorable” poems I’ve ever written.  (I won’t make you suffer through the rest of it.) Judging by my handwriting at the time, I’m guessing I was around nine or ten years old when I penned that masterpiece. Back in the day, apparently, those two silver coins represented huge value for me, because I compared them to the one thing everyone on the planet desires: LOVE.

It should come as no surprise that my nickel and dime view of love wouldn’t last forever. As I entered the teen years, my experience of love shifted from coins in my pocket to “teardrops on my guitar.” (Well, make that my pillow. Taylor Swift, I am not.)

All the Feels

In high school, hormones had me convinced that love was a feeling (or more than a feeling)—one I couldn’t fight anymore. When “the feels” eventually subsided or my heart was broken, that all-consuming “love” evaporated into thin air. And then, I was all out of love, and so lost without ____________ (fill in the blank). Emotion took me over—tied up with sorrow; lost in my soul. And time? It kept flowing. Like a river.

As I matured, I struggled to wrap my mind around that crazy little thing called “love.” It’s such an ambiguous term, we shouldn’t be shocked that people go looking for love in all the wrong places. For with this singular word love, I express my passion for penguins, “The Princess Bride,” dark chocolate, football, and family.

If I were to explain the power of love according to hit singles on the radio, it might sound a little bit like this… Click here to continue reading my devotional at “Rooted at the Throne” hosted by Rachael Carman. 

Stop Saying “Praise the Lord!” & Give Authentic Praise

Stop saying "Praise the Lord!"

You keep using that word.
I do not think it means what you think it means.
Inigo Montoya

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes from the movie “The Princess Bride.” In this scene, the Spaniard confronts Vizzini, his Sicilian boss, about repeatedly blurting “Inconceivable!” during scenarios playing out before their very eyes (or behind them, as the case may be). Vizzini, Inigo concludes, is clearly confused concerning the meaning of the word “inconceivable.” His observation is simple, yet profound. For with it, he shines a spotlight on one of humanity’s most annoying tendencies: the habitual repetition of a common word or phrase by someone who lacks a clear understanding of its meaning.

As children, we initially learned how to speak by mimicking sounds and words and phrases. Unless we make a conscious choice to stop, think, and choose our own words, we may accidentally adopt a favorite phrase without giving any thought to what it means. Take for example this exclamation: “Praise the Lord!” Although you will find it throughout the Old Testament (most frequently in the Psalms), it is often misused in Christian circles today.

In this post, I will make the case that the expression “Praise the Lord!” does not mean what you think it means. And I will challenge each of us to think twice before saying it, in the hope that we replace it with authentic praise. Join me over on Rachael Carman’s blog “Rooted at the Throne” to Continue Reading. 

Printable: 12 Alternatives to saying "Praise the Lord" 12 Alternatives to "Praise the Lord!"

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Insights: A Prophecy of Pentecost?

Insights from the Word

As often happens when studying various passages of Scripture simultaneously, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to new insights and correlations. It’s no wonder we say that the Word is alive!

I’m currently leading a weekly in-depth, verse-by-verse study of the book of Acts at my church, and for my own personal study and reflection, I am reading through the book of Isaiah. I love the juxtaposition of studying both Old and New Testament books at the same time. It’s like ham and eggs—different, but complementary! This morning, however, I ate an omelet!

Lemme ‘splain! No, there is too much… Lemme sum up:

A couple of days ago, I taught on the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-13. We observed that there were three external signs given to Jesus’ disciples as sensory evidence of the internal arrival and infilling of the Holy Spirit: Sound. Sight. Words.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:1-4

Insights from the Word

This morning I read Isaiah 32 which contains prophetic words concerning the “Kingdom of Righteousness” as well as a warning to the “women of Jerusalem.” Isaiah 32:1 says, “See, a king will reign in righteousness, and rulers will rule with justice.” This could be interpreted as a Messianic prophecy.

Then the eyes of them who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
Isaiah 32:3-4

I realize this is plucking a verse out of context; therefore, I am not going to force this to mean something it doesn’t. But there is no denying a strong correlation between the two passages: Sight. Sound. Words. And something happening internally—an increase of knowledge and understanding.

Was this a prophecy fulfilled at Pentecost? Possibly. One could postulate that the “king reigning in righteousness” is Jesus and that the “rulers ruling with justice” are the Twelve apostles sitting on thrones at the renewal of all things (cf. Matthew 19:28). Or, it’s just as possible that this prophecy has nothing to do with Pentecost.

Either way, though, these verses in Isaiah describe what happens when we receive and are filled with the Holy Spirit: We see things more clearly. We hear the Lord. We know and understand Him and His Word. And we are given words to speak the truth clearly to those who the Lord brings our way.

Amen, and amen.