A Cellist in the Tuba Section

When I was in the third grade, I started taking cello lessons at school. The first few weeks, we used wooden sticks as bows and a toilet paper tube to represent the bridge of the instrument. This was necessary to learn how to hold things before actually getting the instrument (and also because you don't hand little kids expensive instruments with absolutely no knowledge of how to not break it). And the thing that I most remember from this toilet paper roll period in my life was my parents' willingness to watch me practice with this little toilet paper tube. I couldn't even make noise, and they sat with me as I practiced and made progress. After I (finally) got my actual instrument to play, they still were willing to sit and listen to me practice. (My mom wanted me to practice more because I was a little lazy in my practicing, but that's another story.) My point is that my parents were excited to see the new things I learned, even before the things I did were perfect...

Hebrews 2:18  For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. These passages are discussing Jesus: God in the form of a human. God, out of His great love for us, chose to come to earth as a human to save us, and since Jesus walked in human form, He understands what it feels like to face temptation (Matthew 4:1-11), to lose a loved one (John 11:1-44), to be betrayed (John 13:21-30). Jesus relates to the experiences you are going through because He experienced similar things. So, when you feel as though there is absolutely no one who understands, remind yourself that you can always run to Jesus, and He will always understand. An...

I want to do a video on what men and women want in a godly spouse, so please fill out the appropriate form below and I (and a special guest) will read and discuss some of the responses in a future video. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D7C2KCM -->survey for what men want in a godly woman https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DD98L2P -->survey for what women want in a godly man

Hello friends, If you're struggling with feeling incomplete in your season of singleness, I want to share with you a different way of thinking. So often, we think of our lives as a puzzle, where God will reveal how all the pieces fit together someday when we get to Heaven. While this is a good comparison in some respects, it can make us feel useless in a season where we wait for the piece that represents our husband. I have good news. Your wait is not a puzzle. Instead, I would encourage you to think about it like salt and pepper shakers. Both of them go together, they're a set. However, they both are complete objects on their own. You will find your pepper shaker if that's God's plan for your life, but do not use your lack of a pepper shaker stop you from doing your job. A salt shaker without a pepper shaker is still perfectly good for seasoning my french fries. So don't give up. Keep working on your ministry, and your pepper shaker will come when the timing...

Sometimes, when someone is bullying you or spreading rumors about you, it can be our first response to want to fight back or gossip about them behind their backs. (I personally struggle a lot with gossip so this lesson is just as much for me as anyone else who might read this.) However, God calls us to react differently. If we are living as Christ followers, we should be marked by our love for others-even those who treat us poorly. No, not even those who treat us poorly--especially them. That's the thing that makes us unique, in that we love when everyone would seem to say that we don't have to love anymore. This is a supernatural thing that God helps us to accomplish. Below are some Bible verses about dealing with difficult people. Memorize these now so that the next time you have to deal with someone difficult, the Spirit can remind you how to react. Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  (ESV) Romans 12:18-21  If possible, so far as it...

John 11: 20-27 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, " Your brother will rise again ." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, " I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? " She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (ESV) In this second story of Mary and Martha that I selected for our study, the focus is on Martha. (For more on Mary in this scenario, read the verses after 27). The reason that Martha's actions here are important is ...

Mark 5:25-34 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, " Who touched my garments? " And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, " Daughter, your faith has made you...

John 8:3-11 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, " Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. " And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, " Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? " She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, " Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more ."   (ESV)...

Mark 12:41-44 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed our of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on". (ESV) Normally, this story is used to point out a lesson in generosity or trust in God's provision. That is definitely an important part of this story because this woman gave all her money to God, trusting that He would continue to provide for her needs. However, another thing that I think we can learn from this woman is the difference that can be made even though we may feel like we're not enough. If you notice, Jesus just praises this woman's faithf...

Ever heard someone say "Don't pray for patience" or talk about how someone prayed for patience and then endured some terrible experience like cancer that won't go into remission for several months/years or a period of infertility that seemed to go on forever. Now, in a sense I understand why people say this: praying for patience means that sometimes God allows you to experience life circumstances that will frustrate you but ultimately build you into a more patient person. But I hate that people always say "don't pray for patience". First, it makes us seem like we can control the circumstances that God sends our way. That's in no way the case. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (ESV). We cannot understand what circumstances we need to become the person ...