Amazing Love Event 2021

 

It was a blessing and honor to be a part of the Amazing Love Event 2021.  Here is my testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness to me.  

https://vib.by/v/71VK7AmJh

Thank you Anne Paulk

for this picture from the ALE

Living Waters - Would you pray with me?

What is Living Waters?  Such a good question and the answers could be many an varied.  I could share many things myself but there is one specific answer that best defines why I asked in the first place.

Living Waters is a discipleship series aimed at restoring God's image in humanity.  This restoration results in sexual and relational wholeness.  Living Waters defines "wholeness" as the freedom to manifest in one's personal identity & human relationships the goodness of what it means to be male and female.  This goodness is experienced in affirming non-erotic relationships with the same gender and in trusting relationships with the opposite gender, which can result in sexual fulfillment within the boundaries of marriage.

This past February 2019 I attended the Living Waters Leadership Training and was commissioned and released as a Living Waters Coordinator.  It's my hope to establish a Living Waters Pilot Program this Fall.

My hope for the LW Pilot will consist of 8 - 10 people, both male and female.  We will meet for a shortened version of the regular 20-week program.  For now, we are shooting for 10 weeks.  We will need a worship team, prayer team, 8 - 10 folks whom God calls forward to be a part of this.  We will meet at Christian Life Center here in Missoula, MT.

Some of the topics that we will choose from are:  Acknowledging our need, Becoming Responsive to the Father's Love, The Fighting Father, Revealing Christ through the Gift of Our Bodies, the Cross & Confession, Renouncing Idols, Identifying Brokenness & Resuming the Journey, The True Self Forgives, the True Self Loves His/Her Gender, Restoring Women's Honor, Restoring Men's Honor, For the Bride, and several others.

The Living Waters Ministry comes from Desert Streams Ministry.  Desert Streams was started by Andy Comiskey almost 4 decades ago and is now an international ministry to many all over the world.  You can read the Year End Report for 2018 by clicking on this link.

Would you join me in praying?  It's my heart's desire to see a Living Waters Ministry established in my church, Christian Life Center.  Establishing this pilot is the first step.  I cannot do this without prayer support.   Please pray for:

• Prayer Team consisting of 2 - 4 people (praying during each of the 10 sessions)
• Worship Team consisting of 2 people (male & female) 
• Participants, 8 - 10 people (who will become leaders after the pilot)
• Discernment of which of the 20 chapters we will use for this 10-week pilot
• Logistical details in my church, rooms to use, specific dates in the Fall, etc.
• Small Group Leaders for the men and women's small group time

If you are willing to pray with me, would you respond by adding your name to the comments section so I am aware and can keep you updated regarding the progress made?  Thank you.  

God heals, Dreams fade, and Life manifests

I read a blog post this morning by Amy Roidan, "Letting Go of a same-sex relationship," that brought back to me the memory of a dream that I held onto as I followed Jesus out of a lesbian life into a life lived fully devoted to Him.  That dream was a life jacket in the storm of letting go of my last lover.

It's been over 32 years since Jesus spoke to my heart and asked me to be fully devoted to Him.  I write now from the perspective of that life lived with Jesus.  I've been married to my husband Karl since 1988.  We have 5 children together ranging in ages from 27 to 14.  We have four sons and one daughter.  My daughter is my youngest and still in my home.  It's almost hard to believe that we only have 4 more years with her until we are empty nesters.

I could not have dreamed of the life that God has given me.  It was not possible.  My life today was not even in my imagination.

I had walked with Jesus for two years while living with my last lover.  When Jesus asked me to choose between my life with her or a life fully devoted to Him, there was no way to deny Him.  He had touched me, healed me, and changed me in two major areas of life and I wanted Him.  I knew there was no life without Him.  I also believed that I would not survive without someone sharing life with me.  I asked Jesus to bring me a husband and teach me how to love and trust him.  I also committed to Jesus that I would not get involved with any man that was not actively walking with Him.

Even with my prayer, I could not dream of the life that I have today.  What I did dream reflected the value of what I was giving up for Him and also incorporated my hope of what God could possibly do as well.  My dream was of one day sitting on the back yard deck, on a warm summers day, with my last lover.  We chatted over tea and watched our children playing together.  These children came from our separate lives and marriages.  This dream was living and active in my heart and mind.  I could feel the warmth of the day.  I could see the green grass.  I could hear the sounds of children playing in the yard.  I could see my last lover in the other chair.  It was strong and vivid.

After we physically separated our lives, which happened in a very short span of time, we spent many hours on the phone crying and lamenting the great loss we both felt.  There were many times during those calls where we talked about this dream of mine.  There was no rule book of how to unravel our lives after having lived with each other for two years.  As the next year progressed and our lives changed, the need to call ebbed away, the tears faded, and we became independent from one another.

Jesus never chided me for my dream.  He never even commented on my dream.  Jesus was drawing me closer to Him and helping me become the women that He had intended me to be from the very beginning.  I had no idea of who He had intended me to be.  If someone with the gift of prophecy had said to me in the beginning that I would be married with five children.  That I would love babies, respect my husband, teach Sunday school, that I would no longer struggle with same-sex attraction, that I would find safety and protection in being under the covering of my husband, that I would enjoy doors being open for me by any man, that I would enjoy being in the world of women, that I would love being feminine, that I would no longer walk in the fear of rejection, etc.  I would have dismissed this prophet easily, knowing that none of that was really possible.

Jesus did not need to say anything about my dream, it did not prevent him from what He was really doing in my life.  The dream just faded away as He brought forward the life that He purposed for me.  I am so thankful.

This past August, my husband and I entered a new season of life, that of being grandparents.  Our oldest son and his wife had our very first grandbaby.  The joy of a grammy's heart is indescribable.  Jesus is still at work in me to manifest the life that He has made me for.  I am eternally grateful.

“Comprehensive Sex Education: State Control of Our Children” By Dawn Stefanowicz

Since the mid-nineties, I have investigated and addressed various sex education policies. As a parent myself and with my own childhood largely seasoned with various GLBT dogmas, I do not trust so-called “experts” who introduce comprehensive sex education a la carte or muddled inside another creatively-named education strategy to catch parents unaware. Regrettably, most parents do not understand how the dark veils of equity, inclusive, diversity, and other positive-sounding terminology, using the nondiscrimination terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” mask the state’s plan to control our children’s minds and attitudes. As parents, we better be concerned about our children’s privacy, speech, and religious freedoms, and for all intents and purposes, our own.

Think about it this way. The application of school policies travel with your children and their friends in what is considered the “school climate.” “School climate” is not limited to school buildings and land, school buses, field trips, places where students hang out to eat and talk with friends (cafeterias, cafes, malls, and street corners), and research locales for school projects (libraries, workplaces, and home).

School education policies associated with the “school climate” also travel and apply to virtual environments which your children have access to. Such devices as computers, laptops, flash drives, cell phones, I-pods, and other personal devices used to upload/download text messages, music, and pictures and chat on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and private e-mail accounts) are not off limits to the “school climate” policies and policing thereof. No matter where these devices are carried to or stowed—even in your home or ethnic or faith communities– the “school climate” policies encroach into all facets of your children’s lives. As a model, you probably have heard of anti-bullying and safe school policies. As you look closely at these seemingly-good sounding policies, you will see that virtual environments can be policed for any bullying and unacceptable beliefs and opinions in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity. Now, do not get me wrong. I am not endorsing name-calling and hurtful words. Rather, I believe in freedom of opinion and speech where we publicly exercise our moral consciences and beliefs and opinions without fear of reprimand. Limitations are already in place in various ways as we shall see.

Let us take a look at what comprehensive sex education does. It mandates elimination of traditional morals, religious beliefs, and encourages children and youth to welcome explicit sexuality, diverse sexual orientations and gender identity expressions within the classroom and in their personal lives. Mention of moral boundaries and sexually transmitted diseases in the classroom is discouraged. Kinsey-inspired ideals are behind comprehensive sex education and are bad for students’ health because they increase STI’s, adolescent mental health issues, and unwed motherhood poverty in all societies. Comprehensive sex education assumes childhood and youth sexual experimentation. When contraception and abortion are offered as alternatives, chastity is not expected.

Comprehensive sex education offers no protection for parental rights; and there is no provision for parents to opt their children out of lessons, classrooms, and general assembly programs which teach explicit sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity as normal. One of the backers of global sex education is UNFPA which demands a redefinition of gender to include the "spectrum of gender identities," "comprehensive sexuality education" and "safe abortion." Another backer is UNESCO...

Behind UNFPA and UNESCO, are the Yogyakarta Principles which are international guiding principles which special interest groups developed in 2006 and plan on forcing on all educational environments globally. See a brief on the Yogyakarta Principles here by Family Watch International.

A UN initiative, The Yogyakarta Principles, the “Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” and other UN global initiatives have far reaching implications for a nation’s sovereignty if any of its principles are adopted through legislation.

The World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, in conjunction with the World Association for Sexology express that to ensure the development of healthy sexuality in human beings and societies, sexual rights must be recognized, respected and exercised, promoted and defended by all societies through this governing framework. Thus, thisplan presupposes that by teaching “safe” sex practices, offering contraception, promoting abortion, and reducing sexual violence (by teaching sexual consent), these lessons will eradicate major societal problems.

Within the globalist agenda, distinct gender roles are seen as bad and discriminatory. This puts young people at risk of not valuing their own gender as represented in manhood and womanhood. Today, we know male and female brains, hormones, genetics, and anatomy are different. Yet, there are special interest groups pretending this isn’t so. Children benefit from the unique and complementary qualities fathering and mothering bring. Gender roles, especially associated with mothering and fathering, are tied to biology and are not social constructs. However, if the globalists have their way, gender will be treated as only a social construct, teaching that a young boy can grow up to be a “Mom.” Therefore, same-sex and transsexual parents, alternative marriages, and various family forms are presented as normal and healthy in all materials to young children within the classroom. At the same time, man-woman married couples are marginalized and eliminated.

Forcing each child to be indoctrinated with comprehensive sex education and the “human right” to all forms of sexual and gender “diversity” at a time when children and youth are undergoing huge physical, hormonal, emotional, psychological, and social changes is unconscionable. Meanwhile, no student or school staff or parent is permitted to speak against any form of sexuality or gender identity they disagree with.

Using sexual orientation and gender identity terms causes children to question their innocent same-sex play and labels children’s developing sexuality prematurely. When children and youth have particular feelings, it is not compassionate to label children’s developing sexuality and gender identity with social and political terminology such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual. However, some schools actually label these children and permit them to use washrooms and change rooms according to their feelings and not their biological gender at birth. Furthermore, some schools provide these children with counseling to accept their feelings rather than to remove their gender confusion. As an healthy alternative, there are a number of researchers, medical doctors, and therapists who are compassionate towards youth who struggle with their sexuality and gender identity. Parents, educators, and students can find more helpful information at Facts About Youth http://factsaboutyouth.com/ .

Often, special interest groups are allowed into schools to set up their programs under the banner of anti-bullying, safe schools' policies and through Gay-Straight Alliances. In reality, these policies provide a direct legal entranceway for indoctrination, desensitization, personal and political recruitment of our vulnerable children by special interest groups within our schools while silencing all students, teachers, administrators, and parents who oppose the “sexual” rights or “human rights” agenda.”

Basically, teachers receive sensitivity training and are taught how to be “thought” police. Teachers and other school staff police speech and report anyone who holds up traditional marriage, speaks against particular sexual acts, or supports traditional gender roles. This could lead to the introduction of hate crimes where particular teachers are reported to the authorities and penalized for committing a “hate” crime. Comprehensive sex education does not allow for any form of discriminatory speech such as expressing opposition to homosexual conduct, same-sex marriage and parenting, or transsexual dress by school administrators, teachers, students, parents, or other staff.

Comprehensive sex education permeates and encompasses all policies, implementation guidelines, strategies, curriculum materials, grade levels, classrooms, and the “school climate.” As well, families are not off limits to supervision by teachers and administrators who are watching for any “abuse” of children. Could it be that parental moral and religious instruction around sexuality and gender will be considered abusive and punishable and children will be removed from their homes because of complaints?

Spiritual Truths found in the Physical World

I love that God placed us in a physical world.  All around me I see spiritual applications in the physical world that gives me hope and helps me to stay grounded in reality.

 

The bible uses "light" and "darkness" to manifest the spiritual reality of living with God in Christ and with out Him.  It uses "water" to talk about the Holy Spirit.  I can also see others that are not actually identified in the bible but have spiritual application all the same.  There is gravity, and eating food, and many others.  Let me take just a moment to expand on what I am talking about.

 

Light.  Jesus claims to be the Light of the World.  Have you ever just watched the light?  I have.  If you have a closet say, in the hallway of your home.  Your sitting adjacent to that closet in the room.  Your brother comes by to grab his jacket out of the closet and opens the door.  When he opens the door the light from the room you are in floods into the closet space and the darkness that was there is pushed out.  Notice that the light invades the darkness.  The darkness never invades the lighted space.  This is a physical truth that demonstrates a Spiritual Truth.  Jesus came as the light of the world.  At the time that He came the darkness ruled.  Jesus gave Himself as the perfect lamb of sacrifice to over come that darkness and death that was ruling.  No longer does darkness rule but Jesus, the Light, has overcome the darkness.  He has invaded the space that the darkness used to rule.  Where ever Jesus is allowed to enter the light takes over and the darkness must be pushed back.  It cannot do anything but to be pushed out and overtaken by the Light.  

 

Continuing on that thought just a bit.  The door also represents our free will.  When we shut out Jesus out of our life by our choices, He will not come in and over come that darkness with His marvelous light.  Only when we willingly turn to Him and ask Him to come in will He enter and overcome the darkness in our lives with His light.  Just like that closet door had to be opened before the light could do what it is made to do, invade the darkness.  

 

Water.  In the bible the Holy Spirit is likened to Living Water.  I find it quite ironic that our bodies are made of something like 93% water.  If we give up food we can live for days and weeks but give up water and in 3 to 4 days time we will die.  What a marvelous physical demonstration of our need for the Holy Spirit in our lives.  With out physical water my body will physically die and my soul and spirit are connected to my body so I die completely.  Without the Holy Spirit in my life I cannot live.  I am a slave to my flesh and Satan.  Only in my life with Jesus do I receive the Living Water that gives to me abundant life, here and now, and also eternal life.  The bible says in Revelation that the river of living water of life, clear as crystal, comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  

 

Eating.  When I think of how I need to eat food it reminds me of how I need to be in continual communion with Jesus through the spiritual disciplines of reading the bible, praying, fasting, etc.  I do not function well when I miss a meal or let my life get so crazy that I am not only not eating continually but the proper things as well.  All this helps me to remember that there is a spiritual truth there, helping me to remain aware of it.  Just like when I skip meals and eat the wrong things I must also continually be in the bible and in prayer to keep my relationship with my Heavenly Father strong.  Particularly in prayer.  I just cannot go long and do well in my life without being in His presence through prayer.  Talking with Him listening to Him.  Like food I can go for a time without talking to Jesus and my life will not get derailed but going to long and pretty soon I'm losing strength, purpose, focus, etc.  So, like I fuel my body well, I also need to fuel my Spirit well.  That involves being in the presence of the One who made me.

 

Gravity.  I love the law of gravity.  To me it speaks so loudly of the reality of Truth and it's absoluteness.  When my sisters and I were growing up, my older sister had a friend who wanted to fly.  One time while partying, he decided to demonstrate his belief that he could fly.  He went to the top of a second story building and attempted to fly.  He lost his life on that day.  Gravity can be over come for a time but you cannot ignore the physical truth that gravity is there and effects your life.  Look what it takes to over come gravity for a time.  It takes a concerted effort with lots of extra energy to make a plane fly.  It can fly for a time but comes back to the earth to refuel and maintenance the plane.  You cannot over come gravity for long.  Even birds and gliders can use the natural winds and currents to fly for a time but there time in the air is also continually eroded by the law of gravity.  They can start out high but slowly come back to earth.  Even a space rocket has it limitations.  By great power a rocket can actually get out of our atmosphere and move into space.  While a rocket can over come gravity it cannot remain out there forever, it must reenter to maintain life.  If a rocket carries livings things those things need unlimited supplies of food, water, shelter, etc.  The rocket will not be able to carry those things so for life to continue it must come back into the place where gravity exists.    It the same way, to live without Truth for a time can be done but to do it for long periods of time cost you your very life.  I can know that absolute Truth exists and impacts my life because the law of gravity speaks loudly to that reality.

 

These are where my thoughts have been today.  I love the Lord and am not able to express enough my gratitude for His pursuit of me and my life.  To Jesus be the glory on the earth and forever.  Amen.

 

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He has made a way to God possible

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It's Not too LATE

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