TLRMinistries

Chapter Two is here. Thank you for taking this journey with me https://amzn.to/4wa4jvl

It’s 5:30AM. Prayer time. If you’re up..PRAY.
☀️

I’ll be praying in the AM. Let me know if I should pray for you too.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my guy friend about the Museum of the Bible, and he asked if it was something I thought we should experience together. I said yes, especially since it would be his first time visiting.

Yesterday, we finally went, and we had an amazing time. What I enjoyed most was watching him engage with everything. He stopped to read, talked through what he was seeing, and really took it all in. Later, I asked if he enjoyed it, and he said yes. So did I.

Later, over dinner, I casually mentioned that Chapter Two of my memoir series would be released soon. He immediately asked, "What are you doing to celebrate?" I laughed and told him, "Nothing." His response was, "Well, I want to celebrate you."

I had to fight back tears, not because of what he said, but because of what it represented. It wasn't about the celebration itself. It was about someone seeing what I had accomplished and deciding it was worth celebrating.

It was a really good day. I don't know where all of this will lead, but I am grateful for the experience and I'm going to enjoy the journey.

In light of the recent conversations coming out of the Southern Baptist Convention regarding women in ministry, I feel led to say something.

Most people know that I do not speak on every issue. In fact, there are many times when I remain silent because I am praying, listening, and interceding. If I do not feel released to speak, I don't. But on this, I will say this. One of the most dangerous things we can do is take our traditions, preferences, and interpretations and speak of them as though God said them. The same Bible that records Paul's words also tells us about Deborah, Huldah, Priscilla, Phoebe, and the women who first proclaimed that Christ had risen from the dead. Before a preacher ever stood in a pulpit, God entrusted a woman to carry the Savior into the world.

As for me, I am grateful that my calling was never determined by a denomination, a committee, or the opinions of people. My calling was settled the night God visited me and spoke to me. To this day, it remains the first and only time I have heard the audible voice of God, and it was God who called me to preach. Because of that, I have never spent much time debating whether I am called. I know what happened. I know what I heard. I have also never felt the need to chase platforms, fight for a seat at someone's table, or work my way into anyone's circle. Wherever God wants me to be, God knows how to get me there. The same God who called me is more than capable of opening the right doors. My prayer is that we spend less time trying to determine who God can use and more time seeking to hear God's voice for ourselves. A revelation from God will settle things that arguments never can.

Yesterday evening, I was sitting by the window when the sky suddenly changed. One moment everything looked familiar, and the next moment it looked completely different. It was beautiful, but it was also scary.

As I logged on this morning, I noticed that several people had posted pictures of the sky from yesterday. That blessed me because it reminded me that when God does something significant, everybody can see it.

As I sat there, I felt God remind me that this is the season some of us are entering. God is about to do things that are so unexpected, so different, and so undeniably God that they will stop us in our tracks. It will be beautiful, but it may also be a little scary because we've never seen God move in quite that way before.

When it happens, don't shrink back from it. Don't overthink it. Rest in the fact that if God brought it, God will sustain it. And when God does it, nobody will be able to take the credit for it but God. Some of the things you've prayed for are closer than you think. Enjoy what God is doing.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

What you got coming is BETTER than what has BEEN.