Are Christians Too Obedient?

Posted on August 1, 2014 by This Woman Writes
The Misfit Christian book by Carolyn Henderson at Amazon.com

Stop worrying about fitting in, and start focusing on following Christ. When you do this, you’ll be a misfit in the contemporary world of Christianity. Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

Should you question authority?

You bet.

Generally I avoid words like “should,” “ought,” and “must,” because they are frequently misused to manipulate people into doing things that they don’t want to do, as in,

“You should go to Sunday School.”

“You ought to tithe regularly to your local church.”

“You mustn’t question everything you’re told or people will think that you’re difficult.”

But if a person is questioning human authority in light of divine teaching — which all free-thinking people should, should do —  these three dictates won’t influence him, because he’ll stop, consider, and, in the case of a serious, thinking Christian, crack open his Bible and research:

“Is Sunday School even mentioned in Scripture?”

“Isn’t tithing an Old Testament decree?”

Ocean Breeze oil painting of woman with red cloth on beach at sunset by Steve Henderson

For all that we talk about freedom in Christ, how often do we actually live it? Ocean Breeze, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas, Framed Canvas Art, and iCanvasART.

“The Bereans of the New Testament — they checked out everything the Apostle Paul said. If they checked out the Apostle Paul, what’s to stop me from questioning the words of my pastor? or Joel Osteen? or Dave Ramsey? or Joyce Meyers, James Dobson, Bev Moore, Rick Warren, Tim LaHaye, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham or Carolyn Henderson?”

Please follow the link to Should You Question Authority? my Commonsense Christianity blog at BeliefNet. As regular readers know, I am only able to post a teaser here, with the hope that you’ll be intrigued enough by what you see to read the rest.

We’ve got to wake up, my friends, and the general message of establishment Christianity is keeping us asleep, especially in the United States. Those with the money and the name to get their message out there are preaching the gospel of follow me, do what I say, don’t ask questions, just get through Sunday and live the rest of your life like the rest of society.

Is it any wonder that Christians, and their message, are considered ineffectual and out of step with real life? If you don’t want to be this way, then don’t.

This article is linked to Simple Moments Stick, Essential Things, Fellowship Friday, Family Fun Friday, A Mama’s Story, Hungry Hippo, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Life of a Lost Muse, Friday Flash Blog, A Look at the Book, Counting my Blessings, What Joy Is Mine, A Mama’s Story, The Modest Mom, Moms the Word, Life of Faith, Mum Mondays, 100 pound countdown, Serendipity and Spice, Thoughtful Spot, A Life in Balance, Mopping the Floor

Posted in Art, blogging, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Faith, Family, fine art, home, Life, Lifestyle, Parenting, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Failing Christian Corporation

Posted on July 30, 2014 by This Woman Writes
The Quiet Place of trees in the Wallowa mountains, original oil painting by Steve Henderson

Perhaps, if businessmen and Christian leaders would step away from the noise into a quiet place of contemplation, they would make wiser decisions. The Quiet Place, original oil painting by Steve Henderson

Recently, I spent an hour on the phone with a scam artist who was pushing an extremely expensive, vastly overrated SEO service onto an unsuspecting client of mine. A 30-second Internet search — even nowadays as Google continues to limit, in subtle progression, access to information — brought up four top stories about the questionable ethics of this organization.

Nonetheless, the client wanted me to talk to the representative about the company blog — because this service was “free” — and I saw this as a great opportunity to get an answer to a question all bloggers ask (and many, many “experts” write books about):

“Give me just ONE concrete idea, that is workable and plausible, and that actually bumps up blog readership numbers.”

“Oh, well, there’s no one thing anyone can do, but if you write great content and get it out there, you’ll grab the readers!”

Live Happily on Less book by Carolyn Henderson at amazon.com

If you want to know how to spend household money well, the best person to talk to about this might be a homemaker, because they generally make do one one, often modest, income. Paperback and digital at amazon.com

If that’s an example of concrete, then it’s no wonder skyscrapers free fall in 10 seconds to the ground when airplanes hit them.

Please read the rest at Business Advice from a Homemaker at BeliefNet’s Commonsense Christianity. Homemakers, who can be reasonably intelligent people, not only have observations about business, but about Christianity as well — this latter which is being run to the ground like the average corporation these days.

This article has been linked to Raising Homemakers, Wholehearted Home, A Wise Woman, We Are That Family, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Life with Moore Babies, Wednesday Blog Link Up, Ducks in a Row, Adorned from Above, Makeovers and Motherhood,The Life of Jennifer Dawn, My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Table for Seven, Titus Tuesday, Time Warp Wife, Joyful Mothering, Kathe with an E, Monday Musings, Modest Mom, The Life of Faith, Moms the Word, Women of Worship, Thoughtful Spot, A Life in Balance. Mama Diane, Proverbs 31, I Choose Joy, Graced Simplicity, Serving Joyfully, Motherhood and Missions, Jenni Mullinix, Shine Blog Hop, Children Are a Blessing, Over 50 Feeling 40, Fabulously Frugal, Living Well Spending Less, Simple Moments Stick, Essential Things, Fellowship Friday, Family Fun Friday, Hungry Hippo, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Life of a Lost Muse, Friday Flash Blog, A Look at the Book

Posted in Art, blogging, Business, Christian, Current Events, Daily Life, Faith, Family, finances, fine art, home, Lifestyle, painting, religion, simple living, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The New Hat: The Story of This Painting

Posted on July 29, 2014 by This Woman Writes
The New Hat 1940s nostalgia original oil figurative oil painting by Steve Henderson

Yes, we still wear hats, but baseball hats are hardly the same as the fashion of the 1940s. The New Hat, original oil painting by Steve Henderson.

The story of the painting, The New Hat, by Steve Henderson at Start Your Week with Steve:

There’s something about the 1940s, especially, and the 1930s, that we hearken back to. Of course, there is no “perfect” time, and especially those of us who are too young to have actually lived through an era, “live” it through the memories of others, the movies that have been made, and our impressions of what it was.

Impressions or no, however, the 1940s and the 1930s was a time of classy, and classical, fashion. Men and women wore hats, and few and far between are the people who do not look good in hats.

The New Hat is the first in a series of paintings celebrating an era of nostalgia, and the inspiration for this series was a woman of the day named Gladys Boldman.

 

Gladys was a career woman of the 1920s – 1940s. One of four daughters of a wheat farmer, she traveled through the area as a professional secretary and financial assistant in high end hotels. And yet, she never completely left the family home.

In 1912, when Gladys was four, the family moved into an 1883 farm home renovated into what became known as the Boldman House. Gladys was the last of her family to live there until 1999, when upon her death she bequeathed the home to the historical society. This home is the site used for The New Hat, which celebrates and honors the savvy and fashionable women of the 1930s and 1940s who stepped out into a man’s world and changed it.

live happily on less finance book by Carolyn Henderson at amazon.com

Another thing about the 1940s — it was a simpler time, living wise, and people knew how to get more out of the limited resources they had. This isn’t a bad thing for us to learn today: wear classy hats, and spend our money more wisely, Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

In The New Hat, Gladys is in the upstairs bedroom, trying on one of her many fashionable hats.

Read the Rest at Start Your Week with Steve.

The New Hat, the  Original Oil Painting by Steve Henderson, is available for purchase through the website. The 20 x 20 painting is painted on canvas panel, which is a superb substrate to capture color and brushstroke. The frame for The New Hat is included with the purchase of the painting.

Please contact Carolyn@SteveHendersonFineArt to inquire about any of Steve’s original oil and watercolor paintings or licensed open edition prints.

Shipping of original paintings, purchased through Steve Henderson Fine Art, is free to the U.S. and Canada. All other areas, contact us and we’ll figure out the shipping charges.

Check out Steve’s artwork at Steve Henderson Fine Art. Original paintings — licensed open edition prints — Santa and Holiday. Steve’s licensed work is available at Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, Amazon.com, Light in the Box, and Framed Canvas Art.

If you are a manufacturer who would like to use Steve’s artwork on your products, please contact his agents, Matt Appelman (matt.appelman@artlicensing.com). You can see Steve’s Art Licensing page here.

Check out, also, Steve and Carolyn’s products at Amazon.com:

The Misfit Christian: Empowering the Believers and Seekers Who Don’t Fit into Contemporary Church (paperback and digital book)

Live Happily on Less: 52 Ways to Renovate Your Life and Lifestyle (paperback and digital book)

 

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Surviving the Work Week

Posted on July 28, 2014 by This Woman Writes

Whatever day your Monday is, start it with class, aplomb, and encouragement. The New Hat, original oil painting by Steve Henderson.

Not everyone’s Monday is actually on Monday. But regardless of what day your week actually starts, it’s highly likely that it’s not a smooth transition from your day off to your day on.

This low point of our week, when we grab the last 45 seconds in bed before we really have to tumble out of it, is a time when we can punish ourselves with dispiriting, discouraging thoughts — ones that we have a lot of help coming up with because our society focuses on the wrong things.

As Christians, we don’t have to fall for misconceptions. Let’s look at three encouraging, truthful thoughts that will get us out of bed, and through the week:

Click on the image to see Live Happily on Less at Amazon.com.

Click on the image to see Live Happily on Less at Amazon.com.

Please click through to Three Encouraging Thoughts to Get You Through the Week at my blog, Commonsense Christianity at BeliefNet. As my regular readers know, I am only able to post a teaser at this site, and am eminently grateful when readers follow through the finish the whole post.

In today’s post, I am also providing you with a link to my book, Live Happily on Less because, no matter what you do, you probably feel that there is never enough money to live the way you want. Most people think the solution to this problem is to work more jobs or more hours, but if you change your way of looking at things, you can generally get by better than you think with what you have.

Live Happily on Less is a series of quick, easy to read bloggy essays that give you simple, reasonable ideas on how to make what you have, work better.

This article has been linked to Raising Homemakers, Wholehearted Home, A Wise Woman. We Are That Family, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Life with Moore Babies, Wednesday Blog Link Up, Ducks in a Row, Adorned from Above, Makeovers and Motherhood, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Table for Seven, Titus Tuesday, Time Warp Wife, Joyful Mothering, Kathe with an E, Monday Musings, Monday Musings, Modest Mom, Nourishing Joy, The Life of Faith, Moms the Word, Women of Worship, Thoughtful Spot, A Life in Balance, Mama Diane, Proverbs 31, I Choose Joy, Serving Joyfully, Motherhood and Missions, Hope in Every Season, Jenni Mullinix, Shine Blog Hop, Children Are a Blessing, Over 50 Feeling 40, Fabulously Frugal, Living Well Spending Less, All Things with a Purpose,

Posted in Art, Business, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Economy, Faith, Family, fine art, frugal living, home, Job, Life, Lifestyle, painting, religion, simple living, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Tired of Living in Fear?

Posted on July 25, 2014 by This Woman Writes

While we frequently associate Satan with goats, this is just a goat, and a very good one, because she looks out for the rest of the goats in the herd. Ironically, her name is Shai. Photo credit Steve Henderson Fine Art.

Fear is one of Satan’s best weapons, because it’s relatively inexpensive.

For a minimal outlay, Satan — who generally works through the assorted people on this planet who love him, worship him, or have sold themselves to him for whatever it costs to buy them — wields control over good people who fear the things that might happen, or could happen, but don’t necessarily have to happen.

That’s the beauty of it: in a small town or big city, the sheriff’s deputies or city police can burst into one home at  3 a.m., with all the noise and violence of a military commando operation launched against “the enemy,” — and this will frighten 10, 20, 50 times as many families into saying nothing, because nobody wants this to happen to them. For some reason, even when it turns out to be the “wrong house,” this doesn’t make things any better.

Jesus was a misfit in the religious society of His day. That says something about 1) the religious establishment and 2) following Jesus. Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

The two most frightening things about 3 a.m. raids are that 1) they happen at all and 2) ordinary people, living ordinary lives, even consider the possibility that they could happen to them. When I was a child, we acknowledged this the norm in communist Russia, where people were oppressed and persecuted by their own government, even the most benign of individuals considered to be a potential enemy of the state.

In an earlier article, Afraid to Post on Facebook, I mentioned the number of Christians, especially in the United States, who are afraid of . . . just that — posting on Facebook, because they’ve heard that they’ll be put on a list of potential troublemakers — enemies of the state — for no more than expressing dissatisfaction with or distrust of their leadership (which is supposed to be serving the people, incidentally. Do we believe that?)

Please read the rest at Letting Satan Win, at my BeliefNet Blog, Commonsense Christianity.

This article is linked to Graced Simplicity, Shine Blog Hop, Jenni Mulllinix, Children Are a Blessing, All Things with a Purpose, Donna Reidland, Simple Moments Stick, Fellowship Friday, Essential Things, Family Fun Friday, Hungry Hippo, Jenny Evolution, A Look at the Book, Count My Blessings,

Posted in blogging, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Daily Life, Faith, Family, home, Life, Lifestyle, News, Politics, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Are We Afraid of Our Own Government?

Posted on July 23, 2014 by This Woman Writes

Xena the Warrior Princess, whose outlook on life belies her name. Photo credit Steve Henderson Fine Art.

I have a cat named Xena the Warrior Princess, which is a diverting misnomer because she is one of the timidest animals alive.

Admittedly, as far as staying alive, running away from trouble is a successful stratagem for Xena, who spends her days concealed in the bushes, wide-eyed and paranoid. When she does venture out, she flat out runs, which invariably results in the dog hard on her heels. And then it’s back to the bushes.

As I say, it’s a successful stratagem for staying alive, but not necessarily for living.

So it is with many Christians, who are some of the timidest humans I run into. Not all of them, mind you — there are many, many believers persecuted and punished for living their lives with honor, grace, and truth, and too many of them we know nothing about because they are in prison or in poverty . . .

But in the United States, the country in which I was born and in which I live, while we are not yet at overtly complete totalitarian status, we’re definitely not free and swingin’ in the tropical isles, contentedly living our lives in liberty and without interference from the powers that be, which, theoretically, “serve” us.

The more awake you are as a Christian, the less you fit into the group. So why do we insist upon trying to fit in? Paperback and digital at amazon.com.

Even the densest insensate realizes that “stuff is going on.”

Please follow the link to Afraid to Post on Facebook — especially if this is a sentence that describes you — at my blog, Commonsense Christianity at BeliefNet. Also, you can hear this read on YouTube by Conrad Carriker, who picked it up from Google Plus. Thanks, Conrad!

This article is linked to Time Warp Wife, Titus Tuesday, Table for Seven, Kathe with an E, Handmade Tuesdays, The Shady Porch, A Peek into My Paradise, Wholehearted Home, Raising Homemakers, My Daily Walk in His Grace, A Wise Woman, We Are That Family, Ducks in a Row, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, I Love My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Graced Simplicity, Shine Blog Hop, Jenni Mulllinix, Children Are a Blessing, All Things with a Purpose, Donna Reidland, Simple Moments Stick, Fellowship Friday, Essential Things, Family Fun Friday, Hungry Hippo, Jenny Evolution, A Look at the Book, Count My Blessings

 

 

 

 

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Beachside Diversions: The Story of This Painting

Posted on July 22, 2014 by This Woman Writes
Beachside Diversions original oil painting and licensed print by Steve Henderson

Children are the world’s greatest natural resources, but society does not accord them the honor, and protection, that they deserve. Parents and family, as always, are their best and first teachers and protectors. Beachside Diversions, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas and Framed Canvas Art.

The story of the painting, Beachside Diversions by Steve Henderson, at Start Your Week with Steve.

There is a sense of nostalgia in Beachside Diversions, as an adult and a child interact, while each continues to reside in her own world, on the seashore.

The adult, as adults do, is caring for the child, adjusting the hat so that it is not blown away by the coastal breeze. She is calm, practical, gentle. Even that she stands between the child and the ocean is a physical expression of how adults — parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles and aunts and cousins (notice that these are all family relationships, because family is the first and best protecting force for vulnerable children) — are charged to care for children.

The child, as children do, puts up with, so to speak, what she considers the adult’s fussing. Looking off in the distance, the child is in a dream world that makes up her reality, because children have an intrinsic ability to fuse the two. It is as they grow older, trained in the adult world of reality, that they drop the world of dreams.

Is it possible to recapture the sense of wonder and awe that children possess?

The Misfit Christian book by Carolyn Henderson at Amazon.com

Christianity, art, writing, living sustainably — since they’re all a part of our lives, they’re all subjects of books, or DVDs, that we — Steve and Carolyn Henderson — write or produce.

Yes, it is, but it takes a desire to do so, and the ability to watch, and learn from, children.

Money, precious gems, gold, oil — these are not the world’s greatest resources. Children are the world’s greatest resources, and more than any resource need to be treasured, protected, and valued, but most of the people in the world don’t realize this. If there are children anywhere in your life, make them a priority in your life.

Read the rest at Start Your Week with Steve.

Beachside Diversions, the  Original Oil Painting by Steve Henderson, is available for purchase through the website. The 30 x 36 painting is gallery wrapped, which means that it is ready to hang immediately upon your wall. Beachside Diversions is also available as a  Licensed Open Edition Print through Framed Canvas Art and Great Big Canvas.

Please contact Carolyn@SteveHendersonFineArt to inquire about any of Steve’s original oil and watercolor paintings or licensed open edition prints.

Shipping of original paintings, purchased through Steve Henderson Fine Art, is free to the U.S. and Canada. All other areas, contact us and we’ll figure out the shipping charges.

Check out Steve’s artwork at Steve Henderson Fine Art. Original paintings — licensed open edition prints — Santa and Holiday. Steve’s licensed work is available at Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, Amazon.com, Light in the Box, and Framed Canvas Art.

If you are a manufacturer who would like to use Steve’s artwork on your products, please contact his agents, Matt Appelman (matt.appelman@artlicensing.com). You can see Steve’s Art Licensing page here.

Check out, also, Steve and Carolyn’s products at Amazon.com:

The Misfit Christian: Empowering the Believers and Seekers Who Don’t Fit into Contemporary Church (paperback and digital book)

Live Happily on Less: 52 Ways to Renovate Your Life and Lifestyle (paperback and digital book)

Grammar Despair: Quick, simple solutions to problems like, “Do I say Him and Me or He and I?” (paperback and digital book)

Step by Step Watercolor Success (digital DVD workshop designed for beginning to intermediate watercolor students and artists)

 

 

 

Posted in Art, children, Current Events, decor, Family, fine art, home, interior decorating, Lifestyle, outdoors, painting, Parenting, Relationships, simple living | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christianity’s Broken Promise — or Man’s?

Posted on July 21, 2014 by This Woman Writes
Captain's House original oil painting by Steve Henderson

In the Father’s house, we are beloved sons or daughters, and yet we often continue to act like slaves. Captain’s House, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, sold.

This weekend I enjoyed the company of three out of four of my adult children.

It is impossible for me to describe to you how much I love these four progeny of mine — whenever I talk to them, play cribbage with them, eat with them, or just spend time with them — even mentally — I delight in them.

Eldest Supreme had just washed her hair and was walking around the kitchen like a sultana with a towel around her head, bantering with the Son and Heir about the bread he was making. Tired of Being Youngest bustled in, checking on her cheesecake and ensuring that no one surreptitiously broke off a piece. From the sofa I watched in absolute delight, just loving them from across the room.

The Misfit Christian book by Carolyn Henderson at Amazon.com

Being a misfit means you’re out of step with the majority, and it’s good to remember that the majority frequently isn’t right. Paperback and digital at amazon.com.

I delight in my children.

So does God, but in our clumsy attempts to figure Him out and please Him in ways that we do not — or should not — demand of our own children, we forget this:

To find out what we forget, please follow the link to the full story (which I am unable to reprint here in its entirety), Do You Long for the Love Christianity Promises? I know I did, and I wasn’t finding the answer in the pat answers and phrases other Christians were throwing back at me.

So I started reading Scripture for myself, as opposed to allowing others to interpret it for me, and I began to find this love. I also began to write about it in my column, Commonsense Christianity at BeliefNet. And then, when I figured out why I had never fit into contemporary church culture, I wrote The Misfit Christian, for other believers who wondered why, even though they loved and followed Jesus, they were out of the loop in the Christian establishment.

This article is linked to Modest Monday, Mama Moments, What Joy Is Mine, Mom Moments, Moms the Word, The Missional Woman, Thoughtful Spot, Motivation Monday, Time Warp Wife, Titus Tuesday, Table for Seven, Kathe with an E, Wholehearted Home, Raising Homemakers, My Daily Walk in His Grace, A Wise Woman, We Are That Family, The Life of Jennifer Dawn,

Posted in Art, blogging, children, Daily Life, devotional, Encouragement, Faith, Family, fine art, home, Lifestyle, Parenting, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Celebrating” the Anniversary of the Vietnam War

Posted on July 18, 2014 by This Woman Writes
Sailing on the Sound original watercolor painting by Steve Henderson

It would be nice to walk, or sail, away from the unpleasant things of life, but sometimes they follow us. Sailing on the Sound, original watercolor by Steve Henderson, sold.

Anniversaries are supposed to be celebratory things, generally of weddings, when a couple starts a whole new life together. How odd that we use the same word, “anniversary,” to acknowledge — surely not celebrate? — the unwanted introduction of the Vietnam War into all of our lives.

I was two years old when Lyndon B. Johnson sanctioned the forcible sending of young men into a conflict that, according to my U.S. History teacher years later, “was never intended to be won.” I was 13 when the debacle officially ended.

The Misfit Christian book by Carolyn Henderson at Amazon.com

The more awake you become, the less that you will fit in. Learn how to be a successful misfit. Paperback and digital at amazon.com.

Only it didn’t end, because those soldiers who came back returned to a life that their mothers never envisioned when their sons were born. How many of us have seen men with alcohol, drug, and lifestyle problems and said,

“Oh, yeah. He was in the Vietnam War. He’s never been the same since”?

I know. War, and especially the Vietnam War, is not a popular subject. But as Christians we live in a world where war is imposed upon us, and we might want to develop an opinion about it. Please read the rest at Will We Ever Say Good-bye to the Legacy of the Vietnam War? at my Commonsense Christianity blog.

This article is linked to Graced Simplicity, This Sweet Life, I Choose Joy, Hope in Every Season, Jenni Mullinix, Shine Blog, Mom on Demand, Children Are a Blessing, Simple Moments Stick, Missional Woman, Christian Mom Blogger, Essential Things, Fellowship Friday, Family Fun Friday, Friendship Friday, Hungry Hippo, The Jenny Evolution, Love Bakes Good Cakes, A Look at the Book, Modest Monday, Mama Moments, What Joy Is Mine, Nourishing Joy, Mom Moments, Moms the Word, The Missional Woman, Thoughtful Spot, Motivation Monday

Posted in Art, blogging, Christian, Culture, Current Events, Faith, Family, fine art, home, Life, Lifestyle, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Frozen by Fear — What Do We Do?

Posted on July 16, 2014 by This Woman Writes
Cadence original oil painting of woman walking on beach by Steve Henderson

As long as we’re walking, we’re not frozen in fear. So let’s wake up, and get walking. Cadence, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, and Framed Canvas Art.

The other day, I found myself in the middle of a church picnic.

It was totally unintentional, and I’ll tell you the story someday, but the upshot is, I was chatting with a safe woman from the group, when I tossed out my usual question to determine whether or not a person is awake:

“So, do you completely believe and unquestioningly accept the government’s official version about 9/11?”

“Oh, no,” she replied without hesitation, then stopped, troubled. “It’s disturbing to think about the ramifications.”

Well, that’s an understatement, but at least I could see that her eyes were open.

The Misfit Christian book by Carolyn Henderson at Amazon.com

Christians are supposed to be misfits, but unfortunately, not among ourselves. The Misfit Christian, for the believer who feels like the odd man, or woman, out. Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

But then she went on to a statement that I hear on a regular basis:

“There’s just so much going on, and we don’t seem to have any power to stop any of it. I don’t know what to do, and I don’t see any value of being awake.”

That’s a valid statement, and I sympathize with the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Please follow the link to Once You’re Awake — Now What? at my BeliefNet blog, Commonsense Christianity. Christians really can and do make a difference in the world, but when we focus on fear, discouragement, and the sheer size of the enemy camp, we freeze.

This does not have to be.

This article is linked to Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Paradise of Praise, Kathe with an E, Oh My Heartsie Girl, The Shady Porch, This Mommas Ramblings, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Wholehearted Home, We Are That Family, Homemaking Link Up, The Mom club, True Aim, My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Graced Simplicity, This Sweet Life,  I Choose Joy, Hope in Every Season, Jenni Mullinix, Shine Blog, Mom on Demand, Children Are a Blessing, Simple Moments Stick, Missional Woman, Christian Mom Blogger, Essential Things, Fellowship Friday, Family Fun Friday, Friendship Friday, Hungry Hippo, Love Bakes Good Cakes, A Look at the Book

 

Posted in Art, blogging, Christian, Daily Life, devotional, Faith, Family, fine art, home, inspirational, Lifestyle, painting, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments