Losing to Gain

"If through losing what this world prizes we are enabled to gain what it despises - treasure in heaven, invisible and incorruptible - isn't it worth any kind of suffering?  What is it worth to us to learn a little bit more of what the Cross means - life out of death, the transformation of earth's losses and heartbreaks and tragedies?
Poverty has not been my experience, but God has allowed in the lives of each of us some sort of loss, the withdrawal of something we valued, in order that we may learn to offer ourselves a little more willingly, to allow the touch of death on one more thing we have clutched so tightly, and thus know fullness and freedom and joy that much sooner.  We're not naturally inclined to love God and seek His Kingdom.  Trouble may help to incline us - that is, it may tip us over, put some pressure on us, lean us in the right direction."

~ Elisabeth Elliot

Our pastor, Pastor Chris Pappas, often speaks of us needing to break our sword in surrender to Christ's lordship over our lives.  This verbiage came into my mind the other day as I was praying:  May He break our flesh that we would break our sword!

~Brittany

Thoughts to ponder for women . . .

A few statements from Elisabeth Eliot out of her book Let Me Be a Woman.

You can’t make proper use of a thing unless you know what it was made for, whether it is a safety pin or a sailboat. 

Chapter 5 page 13

And as the bird easily comes to term with the necessity of bearing wings when it finds that it is, in fact, the wings into freedom – so the woman who accepts the limitations of womanhood finds in those very limitations her gifts, her special calling – wings, in fact, which bear her up into perfect freedom, into the will of God.

Chapter 8 page 23

Powerful Testimony of James Jennings

We have been so blessed by James Jennings and his ministry on I'll Be Honest for years now.  His honesty and openness is so precious and rare these days, and yet if we want true freedom we must be honest.  Honest with ourselves, honest with our parents or spouse and most importantly honest before God.   I hope you will be blessed and that God might continue to use Jame's testimony to help others come to know Christ as the only one that can save them from themselves and the sins that beset them.  We are more than conquers through Christ Jesus!  

When we give the government the power to make medical decisions for us...

Ron Paul's Farewell Speech to Congress

This is a must hear even if you are not a Ron Paul fan.  

Just for the record, the Alexander's ARE big Ron Paul fans!