Letting go

Letting go started for me on August 19th when our son drove out of our driveway and took off for Texas to begin his internship at the Honor Academy.   Never did I know that letting go would be so hard.  God had shown us this was His plan for Ben but are we moms ever ready to send our children
across the country?...I suspect not.

Well, although the process has been incredibly difficult for me I can see incredible results!!
God is working like crazy in Ben!  He is pulling things out of Ben that weren't good for him and is replacing them with creativity, passion, independence while at the same time being reliant on Him!!
He is making Ben into the man He would have him be which is far greater than the man I could ever hope or imagine him to be. 

So as I continue to take my hands off of my son and leave him in the hands of his Father I also learn a trust lesson.  With each step of trust I take I am blown away by the work He does in Ben.

The Duncan's Shallow Evaluation

The following is Part 3 of my response to the Duncan's article, as quoted by RA bloggers. The Duncan's wrote a cult is “A group or movement that to a significant degree:

a) “exhibits great or excessive devotion to some person, idea, or thing” By this definition, every Christ-follower is a member of a cult. I am excessively devoted to Christ. I read his instructions to take up my cross, deny what I would rather do, and follow Him, and I believe that Jesus meant what He said. His followers obeyed these words too, as did the first century church, and the Christian church throughout history. We are called to forsake a comfortable, self focused life and pursue Christ where ever He leads. And I have never been happier than when I pursue Jesus on his terms.

Cults, Culture and Unfounded Allegations

I've studied and taught extensively on cults. Whenever God's Spirit pours out his power to build God's kingdom, the gates of hell respond, and issue a stale blast of hell's own confusion and distortion of the truth. When I came to Christ at the end of the Jesus movement, non-traditional churches offered a smorgasbord of spiritual meals. The Children of God said they were God's true people. The Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses made a resurgent comeback. The Way, Intl. was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille, and Scientology was launched by former science fiction author L Ron Hubbard. The 70's and 80's were filled with new, non-traditional ways which tangled young believers in spiritual untruth. I lost a lot of friends to these spiritual potholes.

A Parent's Response to the Recovering Alumni Bloggers, Pt.1

I recently came across the Recovering Alumni blog (RA). Actually they found me after I wrote abvout my support for the Teen Mania's Honor Academy. Written by students who attended Teen Mania's internship, the RA blog accuses the ministry of emotionally, spiritually, and physically abusing their interns. As a parent with a son at the Teen Mania's Honor Academy, I read the blog to try and understand the position of kids who declared they had to “recover” from the Honor Academy. I'm troubled, not only by the statements coming from this blog, but by the damage that's happening within the body of Christ, between groups who are now at odds because of misunderstanding, and emotionally painful events. These actions aren't consistent with a heart focused on building the kingdom.

and God proved himself real

WE had tried to figure out how we were going to pay for Ben's Honor Academy year or two or three.   We do not normally have that much extra every month to go towards that and we couldnt take loans out so we were completely dependent on God to provide.   We prayed as a family.  We prayed individually.  We had our friends praying.  We prayed alot.  We KNEW Ben was to go but didn't know how we would make it all happen.  That was the problem.  WE couldn't make it happen.  But God could and He did.  We recieved two phone calls the next day each providing finances in a different way.  Ben is there and is doing well.  What a faith builder for our family and even our friends.  I just needed to learn that sometimes I have to get ME out of the way for HIM to step in!!!  What an awesome God we serve!!!