It's Really Quite Simple by Tony C

Friends...I'm very thankful and happy to be back writing for Kingdom Bloggers. Andrea is taking a break to focus on some other ministry opportunities, and I want to start by expressing my heart-felt appreciation for her leadership for the past year plus. She is both a talented writer and effective communicator. May God keep pouring blessings on you Andrea as you continue to serve the Kingdom for His glory.

So after three years, I've come full circle and find myself in the lead off position again. Cool. I couldn't think of a better topic to start my new stint on KB with than the one Scripture or Bible story each of us relies on most to both grow as a disciple or help others grow as disciples.

After all...isn't growing disciples what the Church is called to do this side of Glory?

I have a number of favorite verses from God's word. On the signature line of any email I send, you will find Luke 1:37. I've probably written or even spoken more about 1 John 4:8 than any other single verse. So, it might surprise you a little when I reveal my personal go-to verse from Scripture is actually Luke 10:27...or Matthew 22:37 if you like.

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”  









I work hard at being a diligent student of doctrine because I take very serious what James says about teachers of the Word being held to a higher standard (James 3:1). The problem with deep theological study is sometimes the basics start becoming a bit muddled if you're not careful. Nothing glosses over the eyes of a group of college students in Sunday School faster than a dissertation on the relationship found inside the Holy Trinity. Wow. They will mentally check out on you during the very first PowerPoint slide!

But really...why is that necessary to share in the first place?  Sure. I enjoy reading and studying on such complex subject matters, but when you get right down to it, God didn't make the plan of salvation or discipleship complicated...thankfully. Plus, most of the deeper theological stuff gets into educated guessing at best and always back to matters of faith. So again, I say cool.

If I can stay focused on the two greatest commandments as pointed out by Jesus Christ Himself, I will become the disciple God expects me to be. That's a daily reflection for yours truly. Can it really be that simple Tony C? 

Don't just take it from me...read those red letters found in the Holy Word.

Mission Statement of Jenna Vick Silliman

I am a woman that is led by the Holy Spirit whose passion in this lifetime is to see God’s abundant life and love manifested here on earth; to carry the fire of God and to shine for Him. “Our God is a consuming fire.” (See Hebrews 12:29.) I have been called "A Divine Arsonist" and I agree!

I am blessed to be a wife to Cliff, a mother to eight awesome children, and to be a writer, a communicator, and a dancer and flagger for worship and intercession. Dancing in the Holy Spirit has become a passion and a ministry in an of itself, but it is not my sole mission in life.

First and foremost I am a seeker of God’s Kingdom of joy and power in His Holy Spirit. His Kingdom is within us, here and now, heaven on earth—eternity has begun! Jesus said, “This is eternal life, to intimately know God.” (See John 17:3.) I am a worshipper of the One God, the Almighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I love Him with my whole self and enjoy unbroken fellowship with Him, giving Him thanks and rejoicing always. I am His little girl and I trust my Papa God. I delight in knowing Him and hearing His voice and He delights in me and hearing my voice. Day by day I seek to know Him more and know His Word. 

I love to soak in His Presence, like basking in the sun!

My life Scripture verse is: 

“You show me the path for my life; 

In Your Presence is fullness of JOY, 

At Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” 

This verse is in the Bible two times, in both the Old and the New Testaments. 

See Psalm 16:11 and Acts 2:28.

 I am a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and I live in the power of His Holy Spirit, His anointing, His calling. As Jesus did, I do. As Jesus prayed, I pray. I am a prayer warrior; my prayers are powerful and effective. Like Jesus, I am a mediator, a connecting link, between people and Papa God and the destiny He has for each one. Like Jesus, I am a revealer of truth, a storyteller; I share testimonies, parables, spiritual awareness, and Bible stories—as the Spirit leads. Like Jesus, I am powerful. He said we would do far greater things than Him; therefore I will heal the sick, raise the dead, destroy the works of the devil, and perform miracles just like my Lord and King. “As Jesus is, so are we in this world.” (See 1 John 4:17.)

I am a creative person with unlimited potential because all things are possible with God. I am a living epistle, a letter, to be read by anyone. “Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you have.” (See 1 Peter 3:15.) I am ready, willing, and able to do whatever Papa God tells me to do.

I am a minister and I live to make God’s truth known. I live by the awesome seven ‘F’ words that I preached on at Deep River Church: Focused, Faithful, Fulfilled, Free, Fearless, Fun-loving, and Firey! I believe the words of John Wimber, “There is only one ministry and that's the ministry of Jesus. If you find out what He's doing and participate with Him, that's where you'll find what you're made for and with it you'll find joy.”

I AM ALL OUT FOR JESUS and on fire with the good news of great joy, abundant life, and healing for all! Carpe Diem…Seize the day! GO FOR IT!

www.TheDanceOfLifeWithJenna.blogspot.com

On this Good Friday...

Today, there is nothing I could write that comes remotely close to one of the most significant passages in the history of mankind...

Luke 23:32-46 (New King James Version)

32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” 38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

44Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last.

You Must Be the Mrs.

I’ve seen a lot of people who you would consider famous. I’ve seen in person several presidents and even shook their hands. I was on Romper Room with Miss Jane as a child and later on Bozo the Clown. Owning a coffee shop near Nashville, I had some of the top singer/songwriters in the business come in and have me serve them. Probably I’ve had more brushes with the famous than the average person.

While working in a church office in Tennessee I took a phone call inviting the women's leader to a promotional luncheon with Lisa Whelchel, the former Blair Warner on the popular sitcom Facts of Life. We probably all remember the snootiness of Blair, Tootie on her roller blades, Natalie’s quips, Jo the girl with the street edge and the wisdom of Mrs. Garrett. It was a good show.

I went to the luncheon. Lisa was there to promote some Christian event for women. Most of the women were much younger than I was. Most were in that young mother category. My daughter has an interesting category for these type of women – she calls them Target people. The event was in Franklin, Tennessee so they may even have been a few shades above Target women, maybe Talbot women would be better. They were all sort of grown up Blair Warner's.

I was late so I sat at the only table in the back with a seat. Lisa got up with all the bubbly-ness of Blair. She asked if anyone could sing the Facts of Life intro song. I could but decided to not embarrass myself. While the book she was also promoting was probably very good, I really didn’t want it. It was the prize for successful singing of the Facts of Life intro song.  I was surprised, Lisa couldn’t sing it all either. I could have. I am not sure what that says about me.

Then she threw out an ice breaker for table talk. As if women ever need help in this department. I was already feeling a bit like the grandmother in the crowd so I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to break the ice. She asked us to think about which Biblical character we would want to be married to if we could be married to anyone in the Bible besides Jesus (ah, duh?). Then share it with our table.

There was the predictable conversation about Paul. He seemed rather hard on women, traveled a lot, ended up in prison and always seemed to be broke. Then David, ahh, the man after God’s own heart, right? Yes, but how many wives and concubines did he have? Then there is that messy story with Bathsheba.  If you wanted to have unlimited wealth, there is always Solomon. However, he too was not what you call a faithful husband.

The more the women shared, the less promising this exercise seemed; there were some pretty slim pickins to chose from the sacred scriptures.  As we went around the table each women settled in on an answer that was filled with adoring words about the character of their would-be Biblical husband. There were some laughs. There were some exclamations of “why didn’t I think of that!”

Finally, it was my turn. I had already thought of my answer. Never one for sameness or predictability, I had an answer that was very different from those making the rounds. I was sure I’d be the only person in the room who had my answer.

As the eyes of these young women turned to me, I said I wanted to be the wife of Lappidoth. I am sure you are having the same reaction as they did. Who? Who the heck is Lappidoth? What is a Lappidoth? Sounds like a breed of dogs. Oh no, that is a Labrador. They probably thought I still had my mouth filled with food and couldn’t speak clearly. Maybe I was already senile. Oh they smiled. They were polite. They were good little "Blair's." I just sat there soaking in the experience.

Then I said yes, I would want to be the wife of Lappidoth. He was married to Deborah, the woman from the book of Judges. I rather suspect than most of them had not heard of her nor had read anything other than the New Testament.

Deborah is one of two people in the scripture who were both a judge and a prophet. The other is the more well-known Samuel.  Deborah was also a warrior. Her buddy Barak (not the president) would not go into battle without her. She defeated the enemy sending their the enemy leader right into the hands of another strong woman, Jael.  If I had thought of his name, I would have said I wanted to be the wife of Heber the Kenite. Then I could have been the woman to slaughter the enemy in his sleep with a tent peg. You like action stories? This has it all. Read it in Judges 4-5.

I am not saying I have the attributes of Deborah. Definitely, I'm no Jael. I could never wield a tent peg like she did. The question was if you could be the wife of anyone in the scripture, who would you WANT to be? My answer was Deborah. Whose spouse would you want to be and why?