Timothy's First Birthday, in Pictures

Lots of presents...

...a display of Timothy's favorite books from the past year...some pictures...and his animal crackers...

...cupcakes and his Curious George birthday cake...

Mmmmmm-mmmmm...

Grandson's first bite of birthday cake - ever, in his whole life!

When we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him, he looked a little suspicious...

...a guitar from Unker Jonathan and Auntie Sarah...

...who were both taking video...

Timothy really "gets" this whole opening presents thing...

In the foreground, this is Birthday Buddy Ethan, also born last year on December 14th.

Auntie Wendy and Ethan - also the birthday boy!

Bethy and the Band of Birthday Brothers...Timothy on the left, Ethan on the right. CUTE!

Changing of the Guard

“To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson




Matt and Kelly, who are expecting the arrival of their fifth child, as well as looking to buy their first house, have made the decision to tend to those enormous life-responsibilities, and step back from pastoring our teenagers. They did an incredible job, with years and years of faithfulness. They are still very much an integral part of Harvest Church - aren't leaving Harvest and wouldn't dream of leaving unless God was sending them into ministry somewhere else. I have a feeling this isn't the end of anything, but a continuation of their story, and even a new ministry-chapter, once they get to the other side of transition...


....and now, we at Harvest Church covet your prayers for this next couple, as they, along with a team of two other strong, single women, take over the leadership of our teenagers:




Yeah, not only are they expecting our next grandson or granddaughter, our son-in-law and daughter have taken on the profound responsibility of pastoring young people. Harvest's single super-mom Angel Ewing, and our television producer Liz Overton will be working right alongside them..."the dream team".

The Preacher and his Trust Issues (and by the way, this is my 800th post!)

The UPS man (I so heart him...have I told you that before?) dropped a small package by my front door today. The Preacher made a mad, panicked dash for the box, and disappeared into our bedroom.

A half an hour later, he came out, put on his trusty brown jacket, and left for an appointment. I sneaked to his desk, to "just look" at the box. I swear. I was just going to look. ::cough::

This is what I found:

All. Taped. Shut.

The man has trust issues. And I don't know why.

Some Things Should Mean "Forever"

I get hand made cards from a little friend of mine almost every week. Here is the back of my card from this past Sunday:


"I love you. The end."

Doesn't that just say it all?

I love you too, Judah.

Grace Versus Law - How About a Little Visual Evidence?

Tim and I have been grace teachers and preachers for many years - probably a decade or so. But it was just over three years ago when the Holy Spirit led my Preacher to preach it straight up, hard, and exclusively. Golly. Is there another way to preach the Gospel? (I know...Paul was so sweet and professional about it, and he mixed it with law like crazy, right??)

Out went the mini behavior modification seminars. Performance based Christian living was dealt a death blow in our church. Mixture of any sort was put on a shelf. We took a chance, baby! After all, people might throw sin parties, or become do-nothings.

Oh well. It was pure grace, pure New Covenant, or it didn't get taught. A few literally didn't know what had hit them. Therein lies the sad truth: they didn't know. As in, had not heard it preached quite that way. As a church we were told, week in and week out, that our salvation was a Holy Thing, an act of the grace of God...plus nothing. The writings of dead moralists were examined respectfully. (Gasp! I know, right? "Who has the courage to touch the 'holy Oswald'?!", as a dear Jewish friend of ours joked this past week...)

Yeah. "Oswald chapter 7 verses 11 through 15", Wesley 3:16, and Bonhoeffer 1:1 was challenged, held up to the light of Scripture, and parts of it found to be slightly less than the inspired word of God. That messes with the juju of some people's universe. And make no mistake - Oswald is one of our very favorite dead guys. We read him daily - but read him with a firm New Covenant foundation built under us.

We were accused of seeing things in Scripture that were "fringe" at best. After all, the ones upset were not familiar with the big picture, or even with a lot of historic Bible teachers that fell outside their doctrinal performance confines. I do not fault them for that, whatsoever. Such is the case with most of the modern church. We did our best to defend the Gospel and not ourselves, not always succeeding, but refusing to name-drop in some misguided effort to convince the critics, who by that point were even hurling words like "cultish" around. (Whew...a word I would tremble before using against a church. I fear God and love the Bride too much...) But we knew we could name drop.

Fast forward. Harvest is still not a mega church. Or even a big church. But we have been a faithful church. And we are a joyful church...a relating church...a healthy church. Tim is still preaching the Gospel. I think he preaches it with even more bliss and passion than ever. A young man approached him in a Starbucks recently, and asked him to sit in on a men's small group (in another church) which he is facilitating, one that is exploring the issues of New Covenant grace. He asked because, in his words, "You are kind of becoming known as one of the foremost grace teachers in the city." My Tim said he would do it if he could clear his schedule, and have the blessing and permission of that church's pastor. Permission was given - we'll see what comes of it.

Which brings me to my next point. Why do I re-tell our story from time to time, here on this blog? Why not let it lay where it is...in the dusty annals of history, long since moved on from? Because I get new visitors to this blog every week, and based on their search words, they are just now becoming clued in on issues of law versus grace. Some are coming out of Jewish mysticism. A few email me. They visit this blog, and some weep as they read. Some of them could be in the exact same place in their respective churches as Harvest was a few years back - feeling a bit persecuted, needing someone to come alongside and encourage them. (Thank God for our Master Builders oversight!)

Encouragement is a profound thing. I plan on encouraging you, and every visitor to this blog, in the grace of God. Sometimes, that will involve some context...some background...some personal "war stories"...and the resulting "victory stories".

Fringe movement? Are you kidding me? I went to my local Christian bookstore last week, and spent a mere five minutes snapping pictures with my smart phone...I didn't even dig! Here is what I saw:




New book. "Freedom From Performing - Grace in an Applause-Driven World"









new book, "...the tired supergirl's search for grace". Wow. This girl might be my BFF.

new-ish book - note the author. Mmmmmm-hmmmmm. Not quite your "cult" material.






Still not convinced? Still worried your grace-preaching pastor, in your small midwestern or east coast or west coast church might be dabbling in dorky doctrine?  Well.  I saved the best for last:

Yeah. Good old Chuck. "Believing in Grace is One Thing, Living it is Another". When Tim and I said the exact same thing, a few years back, there was talk of burning us at the stake. (Just kidding....but I'm not far from the truth.)

There is another great book Tim and I have been discipling people out of for over ten years, "Grace Plus Nothing". (The title of which was scorned and excoriated and darn near spat upon by a very, very few...perhaps it would have been better received if it had been titled "Jesus Plus Nothing", but that is an exercise in word semantics. The law was given....Grace came. Grace is a person, and His name is Jesus. Search this blog - been saying it for years.)

One time, years ago, it was either Tim or me who remarked how many times the word "grace" is written in the New Testament. I remember a worried someone astutely pointed out that, though "grace" was mentioned "X" amount of times in the New Testament, "Jesus" was mentioned "X" amount of times more.

Yeah.  It really happened.  (Like grace is something SO DIFFERENT from the person of Christ)  That's the sort of thing that makes a Bible teacher want to drop an anvil on his own foot, or smack his own head against a brick wall.

Friends, this New Covenant, Jesus-centric Grace-Gospel is well on its way to being preached with a purity we have not seen in over a hundred years. I am excited to be part of a REAL move of God.

Join me?

Another Way A Woman Can Be Dead While She Lives

"Your...daughters will prophesy..."

I wrote a short piece recently, about how a woman who delights in luxury for the sake of luxury is dead while she lives. Have you ever seen a woman who lives in the lap of luxury, yet does not open her heart or hands to the needy, does not have healthy relationships, does not have an agenda beyond negativity and acquisition. A life so small and narrow in scope, its impact cannot be felt. Hmmmm..."The Real Housewives of _________ " comes to mind.

There's another way to be dead while you live. That way is simply...to be silent.

The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. (Ps. 115:17)

I remember a time, about three years ago, when I began to write with clarity and courage on the doctrines of grace, the temptation became strong to be intimidated into silence. Note: I was not writing as a renegade. I was following the lead of my Preacher (who happens to be my husband, if you are new to my blog). I was celebrating in, and yes, sometimes even developing on his teaching and preaching. He was proud of me for doing so. I was doing so in the full context of flowing with the direction of my local church, and supporting its leadership - a character trait which has defined me since the days of my youth. What's more, I often solicited Tim's permission before sending an email, or hitting "publish" to my blog.

Like a lioness, I began to roar and proclaim and defend and protect what was the embryonic beginning of what has become a real move of God in our church....and in the world. (More on that in a few days...I have proof - even visual proof - of this world-wide tsunami of New Covenant preaching that has developed in just the last year to two years.)

It was this very Psalm 115:17, along with several prophetic words to my spirit, that kept me from becoming a woman who was dead while she lived. It truly would have been a fatal mistake for me.

I was designed for declaration, and positioned for proclamation. If I am alive, I will be heard praising Him.

Here is what I want you to hear, beautiful girlfriend: proclamation is not gender exclusive.

Do not allow anyone to intimidate you into silence, or label you as insubordinate or manipulative or somehow "wrong" simply because you lift up your voice to declare the wonders of the Finished Work of Christ. To "lift up" your voice is indeed even to shout!

O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard. (Ps. 66:8)

Incidentally, I would not be part of a church where shouting "just isn't done". You don't hear shouting in my church every single Sunday, but you do hear it often enough. Aaaaand my tangent alert is going off....telling me this is another blog post for another day. Suffice it to say, our voices matter. We don't praise Him in prim and proper silence, sisters! That is not our heritage as women.

It is not our history. It should not be our legacy.

Around the glorious throne, the words "Holy...holy...holy" are not telepathically communicated. No, the words are cried out, night and day. Um...as in, you can hear them. And it is loud.

If ever there was a reason to speak up, this precious gospel, this thoroughly New Covenant good news we have been entrusted with is the reason. Proclaiming the grace of God is not the sole domain of the men, it is our job as well. Church government is, in my opinion, a man-thing, though vibrant churches all throughout Africa and the Far East could be proving my opinions to be a bit Fundamentalist-Western. History will tell the tale, and I am content to have it so.

To hold a governing position is one thing. But to lift up your woman-voice with courage and strength? To support and verify New Covenant truth with your voices, pens, keyboards, emails, blogs, and tweets? To roar and proclaim that the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing of a Better Hope did?


Girls, if you are alive, you must proclaim. The dead can no longer do it. And those who don't do it might as well be dead.



Daughter, I say to you, prophesy!

Perhaps I Shall Never Grow Old?

She who dies, having truly cared for the most people (wisely and well, not resorting to cheap sentimentality or crossing legitimate boundaries)....wins. Can I provoke you to love and good deeds with me?

On your mark....get set....GO!

Beat ya to the finish line, sister!