Angela Beach Silverthorne's Blog, page 14

Living In the Fullness of Christ

              Our first speaker at The Cove was Dr. Charles Price, senior pastor of The Peoples Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His weekly television program, Living Truth, is broadcast across the United States, Canada, and more than 60 other countries throughout the world.         These are my prayerful considerations from Dr. Price’s first lecture.             “Test yourself to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.” 2 Corinthians 13:5               Dr. Price opened up our first session at The Cove with this scripture. Before arriving, I had prayed for a word or scripture to embolden me in my faith. Dr. Price slammed me with this verse. Test yourself. Examine yourself. The words stung and pierced. Was I a true believer? Was I a follower who was Christ centered? Did my actions represent who I am in Christ?             Ian Thomas stated, “To so many people, the Lord is in danger of being no more than a patron saint of our systematic theology instead of the Christ Who is our life.”             I want Jesus to be my life, my hero. I want others to see Jesus in me.             Test yourself.             No one can tell me if I’m a born again child of God. It’s the inner witness of the Spirit that shows me this. It’s only been in the last few years that I realized I had to die to myself to make room for Jesus. The whole concept seems insurmountable. Die to self? We aren’t programmed to do this. Our sinful nature wants to be fulfilled in ways that are not Christ-like. Our culture teaches us to live life to the fullest and please ourselves. Nothing we see suggests we should die to self.             So how do I die to self?             I become less so He can become more. The things of the world become less attractive to me. I begin to see truth in places where I once saw lies as acceptable. Once I began to see the startling difference, it was exhilarating and terrifying because I had to admit that the things that used to be impressive and flattering weren’t. Then I had to say “no” and disappoint people who didn’t understand that I’d changed. If I thought it was hard to change, it was harder to hear others tell me they liked me better before “the Jesus thing”.             “Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.” (1John 3:24)             Jesus lives in us by the indwelling Spirit of God.             Examine yourself to see if you are becoming more Christ-like.             1. Are you hungry to know more about Jesus? The Holy Spirit resides in us. His work is Christ centered. When we begin to draw closer to Jesus, the Holy Spirit creates an appetite in us for Christ. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we desire to live like Him. As we grow closer to God our relationship deepens. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.”             The process to grow Christ-like is an ongoing process like any other relationship that is worth having and important to us.             2. Do you hunger to be more like Christ? Qualities of Jesus are found in Galatians 5:22. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”             As I read these attributes, I checked off quite a few. Then I got to the one on self-control. A wall rose to great heights like a perpetual stumbling block. Here comes the battle between the spirit and self. I reread the attributes again. Patience struck a sour note. I haven’t been patient lately. I profess I’m tired, but isn’t that part of the self-control? Jesus, I’m in need of an overhaul!!!             What I realized was the fruit of the Spirit is not like picking a bouquet of flowers and inhaling their beautiful aromas. Fruit is to be eaten. I have to consume the fruit to squelch my hunger, to be more Christ-like so I can feed fruit to others.             Being like Jesus is not a trip to the fair. It’s more like going into the projects, or sitting with the homeless, the outcasts, and the misfits. It means denying self and not saying what we’d like to say in the midst of being tired, but refraining and reflecting on the situation and circumstance before speaking. To recognize that thrusting out bitter words is caustic, but when we purpose ourselves to act in love the outcome is usually quite different. This is so hard. Can I repeat this? It’s hard to push our feelings to the back, but when we remember the Holy Spirit resides in us as our Counselor then we are more apt to pause before acting.             3. Are you hungry to serve like Jesus? This is one I can answer with a definite “yes”. I am hungry to serve. I search for avenues to be Jesus’ hands, feet, and eyes. I’m hoping this blog will be another ministry for me. There are so many ways to serve and so many needs to fill. As you grow closer in your relationship with Jesus, He will guide you to serve in capacities and areas you could never have envisioned.             But I want to serve knowing I am using the fruit of the Spirit spontaneously in my home and on the ministry field. If I can’t be the wife, mother, and Nana I need to be, I may not be the servant I need to be. If I’m not in God’s Word, I may not be the witness He needs me to be. Daniel said he resolved not to defile himself. Resolve is self-control. I’ve got a lot of work to do!!             Test and examine yourself.             Do you recognize Jesus is in you? You might not until you fail the test. Session 2 of the session from The Cove will broaden our understanding on how we can live in the fullness of Christ.             God bless you!

Discovering More About The Power of God’s Story: A Visit ...

Discovering More About The Power of God’s Story: A Visit to Billy Graham’s Training Center at the Cove
 For Christmas Dallas and I were given a gift certificate by very special friends to attend a teaching conference at the Billy Graham’s Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. I had been looking at their ministry schedule for three years hoping to attend classes one day. You cannot imagine how excited I was for the prompting to finally go. In January, I booked us into the Senior Celebration.
I truly had no expectations except to hear God’s Word. On our drive over this past week, I prayed for a word or scripture that I could carry away for growth and spiritual enrichment. I had no clue who the spiritual leaders were or the entertainers. I just knew God would show up, and I would be blessed.
The drive to Asheville was beautiful. As we entered The Cove, there was an immediate feeling of beauty, serenity, and peace. The lodge was quaint, nestled into a knoll, and surrounded by blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, and daffodils. We were greeted and escorted through the main hall of the lodge down to our room. When we opened the door, we gasped. One whole wall was a window, exposing a steep incline of rock, flowers, and dense foliage. At this point, I wanted to stay . . . forever! No TV, no radio, and little to no cellphone reception. I thought Dallas would whine, but he didn’t.
Our next venture was to go to the Training Center to register. The story of Billy and Ruth Bell Graham’s life in ministry, and their impact in evangelism covered the lower level floor’s walls. You could imagine their lives being intertwined with God’s as they yielded to His business.
I want to tell you more about the ministry sessions we attended, but for now I want you to see a few of the pictures on Billy Graham and his ministry. I’ll share more in other posts. God bless you always!





 

Novelist &...

Novelist

             Wife, Mom, Nana, Novelist: Living Life Through Faith.
            I’ve tried to cover the bases on what’s important to me, although not in order. First and foremost is my faith, then family, and next others. If you were a Girl Scout it was your motto: God, others, and self. I’m an old Girl Scout leader. I believe the words and follow them.
            Novelist.
            I’m not as comfortable with this as I am my other roles. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write. I write everything from short poems to short stories to novels to Bible studies. I’ve written plays for Scouts. I’ve penned countless essay papers in college. Then there’s blogs, newspapers and magazine articles. I once wrote an author, raving over her book on menopause, and she put my letter up on her website. Okay, I’d rather not be a spokesperson for menopause, but it is what it is!
            Writing is easy for me. Telling people I am a writer seems like I’m violating my own character. It’s like I’m confessing. Writing can often be personal and intimate, daring to unevenly slice you to the marrow and expose you. It’s uncomfortable. The only time I’m completely in my soul’s writing zone is when I’m writing about my hero, Jesus Christ.
            For over two years, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to write a book about some things that were cutting me to the quick. Looking around, I didn’t find many people that seemed overly concerned about what I was seeing. And until I wrote the book, it plagued me night and day. I’d see a scene completely play out in front of me as I was stopped at a red light. Scripture would scroll across my mind when I wrote, causing me to halt and pray about the next scene.
            In all my years of writing, I’ve never wanted to talk much about my writing career. I’m timid and shy. I’m insecure and doubt whether others would even want to read what I write. My next book is hard. After the release date, I will begin a series of discussions about the topics in the book. I won’t give away the ending or pivotal areas, but just delve into a world most of us pretend doesn't exist. It is not a world of vampires, werewolves, black magic, or wiccans. There’s no hokey-pokey. It’s real, complex, and to me, more terrifying.
            Well, I’ll stop there. I write.
            Are you a writer?
            I’ve often wondered what Jesus stooped to write on the ground when the Pharisees brought him the adulterous woman.
            What do you think Jesus wrote?
 

Faith:Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the co...

Faith:

Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)
            I love Martin Luther King, Jr’s quote, “Faith is taking the first step when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
            All I can think of when I read this quote is trying to make it up the staircase in the Currituck Lighthouse. Being slightly claustrophobic, it’s all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. If someone is coming up close behind me, I panic. There’s nowhere to go! There’s nothing to hang onto. The wall is slick as glass. If you lose your footing, there’s no place to go but down!
            Several years ago, my granddaughter would hear none of my whining about not going up to the top of the lighthouse. She literally pushed me up the first step and became my encourager with each step I took after that. “You can do it, Nana!”
            I thought I was doing really well. I finally took my eyes off my feet and actually looked ahead. Then this rotund man decided I was going too slow and squeezed past me, causing me to almost lose my balance. It was not a pretty sight. But my granddaughter put her hand on my back and said, “I’ve got you, Nana!”
            My granddaughter’s hand became a physical presence of reassurance and faith that I could make it up those steep, winding, narrow steps. Plus I knew her, trusted her. Our relationship and love gave me extra comfort.
            But what about God? How do I establish faith in an unseen God?
            Trust me, I’ve struggled with this. Wondering. Questioning. When I shared my doubts with a sweet, elderly woman in my church, she said, “Read the Bible.” Read the Bible? I left thinking the woman was a simpleton; she hadn’t helped me at all. Just read the Bible?
            I picked at verses and chapters, nothing made sense. I went back to my church friend and announced, “I’m so confused. Where do I begin?” She looked at me as if I had two horns and pronounced, “Read John! Get to know your Savior.” I didn’t question her.
            Her advice began my daily journey into discovering faith. Let me confess, crawling into the Bible wasn’t easy. It was often hard to digest, being firm, bold, and relentless. Then one day, I ran across Romans 10:17. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
            I remembered my friend’s words. She didn’t tell me what faith was. She sent me to the source to find it for myself. That’s when I declared her to be a spiritual genius. Well, in my limited knowledge of geniuses, she was a genius!
            “To one who has faith no explanation is necessary, to one without faith, no explanation is possible.” (Thomas Aquinas)
            Faith is too grand to be fully explained. It is a way of life, an awakening to something more than we can ever become. Faith comes through a relationship with Jesus.
            Last summer, I sat staring up at the lookout area on top of Currituck Lighthouse. With a huge sigh, I went inside, paid my entry fee, walked to the first step, and hesitated. Looking up at the circular steps I uttered, “Jesus, you’ve got my back on this one.”
            I kept my head up, imagining Jesus walking ahead of me and standing behind me. My breath stabilized. With each step, I became more confident. By step sixteen, I could have cried. We were doing it. I wanted to high-five Jesus, but stopped when I heard two teenagers say, “excuse me”. The next few steps were swallowed up behind a wall. I could not see them, and the teens were shoving and pushing one another to see who could climb up faster.
            I reached into my pocket, grabbed the index card I had placed there the night before, and read, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of the faith is to see what you believe.” (Saint Augustine)
            My back straightened. I could almost feel the light pressure of a hand. Taking one step at a time, I began my ascent. Two more people passed me. I kept moving forward. When I reached the top, I realized the journey wasn’t really about climbing Currituck Lighthouse. It was about confirming my faith. It was a pivotal moment for me, one that continues to be affirmed
            “The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
            Faith.

Here's my family!

Wife, Mom, and Nana:
            Well, here’s the clan. All precious 16 ½ of us. Yes, ½! Dana is due July 7th, which happens to be my father-in-law’s birthday. Dallas, my husband, and I feel overwhelmed with blessings when we see all of us gathered together. Outside our faith, we are devoted to these precious ones.
            I wanted you to see my family. There is no doubt I will be talking about each and every one of them over time. To ease my daughter’s minds, there will be no son-in-law jokes. On occasion, you’ll hear tales of our grandchildren’s antics and the “truth” that often erupts from their mouths. It is startling and honest. Sometimes it causes pause, other times it causes bright, red cheeks. You grandparents will know exactly what I mean.
            Part of our family is also a Boston terrier. She is almost 4 years old, and we are crazy about her. She is equally devoted to us and to all the grandchildren. She thinks everyone belongs to her.            Okay . . . let me introduce my family. You’ll have to guess who’s who in the picture.
            Dallas, my sweetheart.
            My oldest daughter, Tia, and her husband, Ed. Their girls are Jackie, Reagan, and Maddie.
            My middle daughter, Tara, and her husband, Brian. Their girls are Dani, Grace, and Allyson.
            My youngest daughter, Dana, and her husband, Keith. Their daughters are Samantha and Sydney. In July, we’ll welcome our first grandson, Hudson Edward.
            If you read my bio, you saw that Dallas and I met as teenagers. We were baptized together at sixteen in a pond outside Williamston, NC. We married early and put one another through school. When we look at this picture of our family, our knees almost buckle. God has been so good to us.
            We also have a beautiful family beyond our nuclear one. God is at the center of our lives. We trust Him and purpose to follow Him daily. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will join me often to hear about my family, faith, and writing.
            I also love to cook. So I’ll share recipes. I read a lot and will share books with you. I write bible studies for a group of women that have become my family. Sharing our times together will probably wind up in a blog post, too.
            Share something with me about you and your family.

Tackling That Scary First Posting

This is scary. Opening up and telling people about who you are, what you believe in, what you’re concerned about, and what you’re passionate over. You would think I would be more comfortable doing this since I actually do it a lot. I teach Bible Studies and speak in front of groups. But it’s not my comfort zone. At all. Writing is easier for me. I do it alone and on my own schedule. I can throw away what I don’t like or keep what I do.
Following Jesus isn’t always easy or comfortable. I wake up every day and purpose myself to follow Him. I believe in Rick Warren's purpose-driven life, but I have also endorsed Jason Benham’s stand, “We follow a Person-driven life. We let the Person of God take control of the purpose.” This grounds me further.
A Person-driven life keeps me focused on God. Sometimes my eyes fall to the right or left, and I let the world slip in and cloud my vision. Oftentimes I run into questions or situations that I don’t have answers for. There are days I just struggle for no apparent reason or for an accumulation of reasons. But, I’m learning that’s okay. It keeps me headed back to the Person-driven focus, to reading Scripture, and getting on my knees. I’m learning to trust that when I slide down the wrong side of the mountain, God will pick me up, dust me off, and point me toward the craggy end of the narrow path, the one I’ve skidded down so many times the base is rutted out. I never feel God's wrath over my struggle. I only feel His love. That’s the beauty of our faith. God loves us so much, even when we fail.
Picking yourself up is always an effort. Effort builds endurance. And trust. And intimacy. With perfect precision and timing. I notice I get up quicker now. I rush back to the start line with a sharper determination, realizing the pitfalls, and Satan’s taunting lures. Standing there with a lot of other folks is perfect joy. We’re running with one another, but not in a competition. We’re running to be encouragers and enablers to the whole assembly of Christ followers. It’s staggering and amazing. It's what we're called to do. So, let me ask you something.  What takes your mind off Christ?
            My answer: Busyness. Filling up the calendar without blocking out time to worship.

What causes you to slip?            My answer: Allowing Satan to drudge up my insecurities. What's your answer?

Welcome

I'm thrilled you are joining me here! I'll be sharing my writing experience, but more importantly, I want to share Jesus with you. I want us to share living-out-loud about real life issues - faith, family, friends and heartbreak. Politics is foreign to me, but the condition of the heart is not. Sign up to get my blog posts. Comment so I won't miss the honor of getting to know you! God bless you! Our God is mighty!!!