“From your Valentine”

Every February, during the days leading up to the 14th of the month, you can walk into almost any store and find an abundance chocolate hearts wrapped in foil, stuffed teddy bears in a wide variety of colors, cards that send out affectionate messages, and pink- and red-colored everything else.

In the United States, Valentine’s Day is the holiday when both lovers and friends express their feelings for others through romantic exchanges of cards, candy, presents, flowers, and other gifts.

For some, it is a favorite holiday. And for others, it is dreaded and despised. Nonetheless, people spend pocketfulls of money each year at this time to show just how much they love those special someones in their lives.

So where did this holiday originate? Who first started the concept of setting aside one particular day out of the year to show those special people how you really feel?

History says that Valentine’s Day is possibly named after one of three early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine who were killed in...

Are you ready?

At church, we’re doing a study on Nehemiah. Most recently, the pastor taught from the fourth chapter titled (in my Bible): “Progress in Spite of Opposition.”

Background up to this point: Nehemiah, the Persian king’s cupbearer, heard about the destruction of the walls of his hometown, Jerusalem, and the devastation of his people, the Israelites. He got permission from the king and left with his permission to return home, gather his people together and rebuild the city’s walls.

Up until this point, the people had made progress but there were still gaps in the wall. But some leaders in surrounding areas got upset when they heard what was going on and decided to attack the Israelites and destroy what progress they had made.

Nehemiah placed individuals and their families—the jewelers, the goldsmiths, the gatekeepers, and others from all walks of life—in the lowest gaps and armed them with a weapon in one hand while they continued to work with the other.

We can assume they were terrified, because Nehemiah told...

Searching

“Set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 1 Peter 3:15, HCSB

I’ve heard sermons and Bible studies based on this verse more than once in my lifetime. But just recently, it came alive for me in a real-life situation.

A new girl joined our small group this past week. We’ll call her Sarah. A friend of mine introduced her to my roommates and me, so we invited her over.

We all went through the typical introductory questions: Where are you from? What do you do? How long have you lived here? And she seemed like the rest of us—until we started the study.

My roommate asked everyone to open to 1 John 2. Sarah pulled out a brand-new Bible that was still covered in factory stickers and plastic. As she cracked it open for the first time, she looked at my roommate and whispered, “My Bible is new. Can you show me where First John is?”

It wasn’t hard to notice that she was unfamiliar with the book lying on...

Rebelution

Alabama State Supreme Court interns. Grassroots statewide campaign directors. Web site designers and bloggers. Published authors. Conference speakers. These are just a few titles that 19-year-old Alex and Brett Harris can officially add to their resumes.

These twin brothers from Portland, Oregon, may seem like normal teenagers. They love filmmaking, music, basketball, soccer, and food. But, in fact, they aren’t. They have started “The Rebelution”—a “teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture” that began in August 2005.

Sons of homeschool pioneers, Gregg and Sono Harris, and younger brothers of speaker and best-selling author, Josh Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye), the twins released their first book for teens in April titled, Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.

Recently, they spent some time on the For Faith & Family radio broadcast where they commented on this initiative.

According to these revolutionaries, today’s society associates negativity and...

Seeking God: Part 4

In 2006, God broke me—but I asked for it. I lost my job. I was poor—in spirit and my pockets. My grandfather died. I began to slip again spiritually. And God told me to leave my family and friends in Dallas—my comfort zone—and go to serve him at a suburban church just southwest of Houston. All within the first six months!

I remember my second interview with the south Texas church very well. I was resentful toward God for even asking me to show up. And afterward, in my hotel room, most of the rest of my evening was filled with wailing, weeping, rending of clothes, gnashing of teeth, and my frantic pleas, begging God not to make me go.

In my spiritual growth journey, one thing I have learned is: trust and obey. Yes, that’s the title to an old hymn you might recognize and words that I continue to live by today. So I did just that. In July 2006, I left my homeland and ventured, by faith, to a land unknown.

If you’re waiting for me to share a land-flowing-with-milk-and-honey kind of ending here, you won’t get...

Seeking God: Part 3

In my mother’s womb, my parents dedicated me to God. At six-years-old, I realized I was a sinner, begged for His forgiveness, received His grace, and committed my life to Him. At 15, even when I didn’t understand His call, I surrendered to serve Him in ministry with my life. With our history together, He wasn’t going to let me forget these things and His purpose for me.

When my world came crashing down around me at age 20 and I was left at the merciful hands of the Father, I made a decision to change. Not the kind of change you make and then turn your back on three days later—like when you change your eating habits, start a strict, new diet, and out of nowhere, just a few days later, a piece of chocolate cake walks right into your mouth before you can say anything. It was a change that involved total surrender.

My decision to finally wave the white flag and surrender changed my world. I knew that to truly seek Him, I had to literally move away from the environment that had entrapped me. I had to...

What does it mean to seek the Lord? Part 2

When I left my adolescence and graduated to middle school and the first two years of high school, I was more than made fun of for my faith.

Consistently, I was called “God’s daughter” and “Prude” and “Jesus freak” to my embarrassment. (Actually, I proudly wore the last label since that particular DC Talk song was popular at the time.) I was left out of most secular social activities. I was mocked behind my back and to my face—in the youth group and at school. And even got plenty of criticism from church members.

I was one hurt little girl—not understanding how my Protector could not protect me. So I waned in spending any time with God—feeling as though He had nearly abandoned me and was even allowing the torture to take place.

In my heart, I loved Him like I loved my family. But, in my flesh, my resentment grew and bubbled up inside of me until it erupted my sophomore year of high school. My parents didn’t know it at the time and neither did I, but I began slowly spiraling downward and out of control.

I...

What does it mean to seek the Lord? - Part 1

I’ve decided to break up the story of my journey in search of God into a few parts. Being a writer, it seems like the right thing to do since my life has worked itself into some semblance of a novel—broken up chapter-by-chapter.

Hopefully, my story will inspire you to seek God and know that not all stories are perfect—but are pieced together like a patchwork quilt with various God experiences, wrong moves, right moves, hits and misses, and incredible blessings spotted all along the way.

I grew up in a solid Christian home, the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher, but I often think my religious perception was a little one-sided as I began my spiritual journey. I was sheltered from much of the world’s evils yet fully aware that I lived under a magnifying glass—under the watchful eagle eye of church congregants 24/7 just waiting for me to make a wrong move so they could snatch me up and swallow me whole.

Because I developed this perception growing up, I viewed the church that way as a whole. And because...

Jessie Miller interns with Jars of Clay’s Blood:Water Mission

In 2002, Dan Haseltin, Jars of Clay’s lead singer, visited Africa and was changed forever. He saw poverty, physical and social suffering, and disease that “shook him, challenged him, and changed him.”

When he returned home, he knew he had to do something. According to his Web site, “He came back with a vision for clean blood and clean water in Africa—blood free of the HIV virus and water free of parasites and bacteria that cause AIDS patients and others undue suffering.”

He and his bandmates began Blood:Water Mission—an organization committed to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic and build clean wells, support medical facilities caring for the sick, and fight poverty, justice, and oppression—all in Africa. The band’s target audience is the church and young people, so they saw an opportunity to spread the word and call the church to action.

Recently, Blood:Water began an initiative called the “1000 Wells Project.” This project seeks to build 1000 wells and clean water projects in 1000 African communities. And...

Jody Johnston

If you were to randomly meet Jody Johnston on the street, you would immediately notice a few things about him: he’s a bold, unashamed 17-year-old and he’s not the least bit afraid of sharing Jesus with complete strangers. This Josiah Road blogger was gifted at a very young age with a passion and insatiable drive for telling others about Jesus.

At age three, Jody spoke with his parents about his desire to know Jesus and be forgiven of his sins. But because of his age, they thought it best that he wait awhile.

Despite his age, Jody knew exactly what he needed at that age—salvation in Jesus. More than a year passed by and Jody was still asking questions.

“My dad was asked to preach at a church in Houston, Mississippi—a little town just outside of Tupelo,” Jody said. “I went with him, and on our drive there I began to ask my dad questions—what heaven was like, what hell was like, who went to heaven, and who went to hell.”

After 20 minutes of exchanging questions and answers, Jody’s dad pulled over on the...