Oregon Ministry Network

BraveHearts Teen Girls

SHINE

Our BraveHearts Conference for Teen Girls is almost here!  We will be meeting girls from all around Oregon and have a great time of empowering our girls to be B.R.A.V.E Bold. Ready. Anointed. Victorious and Equipped to meet their world, their peers and to lead a new generation of believers.

ENDURANCE

Endurance: Running the Race

I have always loved to run!  I have done it on and off my whole life.  I love to challenge myself to reach a goal.  What I know about running is that in order to go longer distances you have to push past the pain. And as you push past the first pain, you get a second wind, and then it is easier for a while and then there will come another spot of difficulty, and another opportunity to push through it.  It is in the putting my running to the test, that I increase my endurance.

Our walk with the Lord is easy to compare with a race. It is something we enter and want to finish and along the way there are challenges and many things that test our faith. Running the race- whether our Christian faith or a marathon or some other type of race, the word endurance is key.

In James 1:2-4 it says, “Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

In this verse the word “consider” means to choose:  choose joy!

I agree it is difficult to have joy when your legs and lungs are burning; when you are in the middle of the test. But if we push through the pain soon it will become easy again and we will have increased our endurance.  The same is true with our Christian walk. We go through a test, which is usually painful, and then there is a rest period and then the cycle begins again.

Joy: A New Attitude for a New Year

Joy:  A New Attitude for a New Year

Smart Phones

SMART phones, do you have one?  Well the number of people that have one is increasing on a daily basis, and why?  Because they really are smart!  On my phone I receive my email, text messages, Facebook Twitter and phone calls.  When I have a question I Google it, when I want the definition of a word I can go to dictionary.com, when I am lost I have a GPS, when I’m bored I have games, and it is my camera, as well, and holds all my pictures.  It definitely is a smart phone!

Trademark of Love

If you had a trademark what would it be?  A trademark is a distinctive mark or feature identified with a person or thing.  A mark used in order to designate or distinguish them from merchandise sold by others. When I think of Disney, I think of children, when I think of Oscar Meyer, I think of hot dogs, when I think of Microsoft, I think of computers, and when I think of Jesus, I think of love.

I am continually asking myself, if others met me would they know that I am a Christian, would they see Jesus in me as I go through my daily life?  In Psalm 145:17 of the message it says, “Everything God does is right— the trademark on all his works is love.” I love the way that is stated and have been challenged to think about the way I do the things I do, and to see if I reflect God’s love.  David’s Praise of the Lord in Psalm 145 gives us examples of the loving things God does in our lives. 

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Servant Leadership

“All I did was pick up a broom and a dust pan and started cleaning the streets. When people asked what I was doing I just said, 'I am loving Portland like I think Jesus would.'" This was Marshall Snider's explanation as he shared about how Bridgetown Ministries began. If you haven't heard about the impact this ministry is having on Portland, I encourage you to look it up at www.bridgetownministries.com. But let me share how Marshall's simple statements have encouraged me as a leader.

I sometimes think that everything I do has to be BIG and maybe you feel the same way. I think my definition of success is BIG. My heart is to do BIG things for God, have BIG impact on my world, have BIG dreams and to accomplish them. I don’t know about you, but sometimes that thought leaves me feeling very small.

Breathe

It seems like the Lord speaks to me a lot through simple words. I will be praying or thinking and a word will come to me and that will be what I meditate on and study for the next few days. So last week's word was breathe. The definition of breathe is to pause and rest before continuing or to take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.

These thoughts led me to John 20:19-22 "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you". After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you!" As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."  And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

The disciples were in hiding, they were discouraged, disillusioned, depressed and afraid for their lives. And Jesus walks into their situation and says "Peace be with you".  He wasn't just greeting them; he was imparting to them his Peace. Then he commissions them, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 

The next thing he does is breathe on them. Are you ever in that situation and just need new life?

A Late Night Flat Tire

It was 10:30pm and I was driving home from Eugene with my two older girls.  I was too tired to be driving, and I got to the point where I just couldn't keep going.  I had this weird feeling,  it was almost an urgency to stop, so I decided I would take the next exit.  When I pulled off the exit I realized that I had arrived at the State police station.  So you would think I would get a clue, but no I just decided to let my daughter, who is learning to drive, drive the rest of the way home.

We got back on the freeway about 1/4 of a mile down the road, when the car started to sway back and forth.  It wasn't long before we all figured out that what we had was, a flat tire!  So there we were, three girls, late at night, with a flat tire on a very dark and scarry freeway. 

Immediately, I realized that I had missed what the Lord had been trying to tell me.  He had tried to warn us, to protect us, to provide for us, but somehow I had missed it.  Have you missed his warnings?  This experience made me question what we can we do to recognize the warnings of the Lord and avoid many of the hard times we face because we missed his voice?

The Giant Swing

At my daughter Karissa’s 13th birthday last Friday and we decided to celebrate by taking her friends to the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Ropes Course in South Salem.  I thought it was fitting for entering the teen years where they are beginning to take new steps of discovery and will face many decisions that will define who they are.  What I didn’t realize was the lessons I would learn as my husband and I chaperoned this event.

One of the most challenging parts of the Ropes Course is called the Giant Swing.  The Giant swing is 45 feet in the air with a platform you step off of, and swing out 80 feet into the trees.  From the ground it looks easy and you really can’t imagine why people have such a hard time with it. But let me tell you, it is a different story when you get to the top, and are all strapped in ready to make a decision.