simply me

Voice of the Martyrs Logo I recently attended a Voice of the Martyrs ( VOM) conference which transformed my view of persecution and how we ought to act when we are persecuted for Jesus name. I am still grappling with some things, but it is apparent to me that I don't do a good job of showing love those who hate me or my King. In all the stories that I heard at the VOM Advance Conference  everyone who was persecuted prayed fervently for the lives of those persecuting them. Many villages have come away with stories of individuals who once did the persecuting but now are among our brothers and sisters in Christ!  The assistance which is most frequently asked for is prayer. Those in restricted and hostile nations know that the greatest thing they can do for themselves and their communities is pray. I shudder to think what some of the individuals I heard about would react to my Christian walk. Would I even be recognizable as their sister? Or would my lack of devotion...

I am simply me, Whom do you try to be? Are you simply you? If not, then who? - J. Ann

Growing up communion didn't hold much value to me. I knew that is was something important that we did at church, but the reasons and value were lost on me. What did it mean that the cracker represented Christ's body broken for me and that the juice represented Christ's blood poured out for me? All this ritual seemed to do was remind me of the cruel and brutal death of Jesus. Jesus did say "do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19 NASB) though, so was this the only point? But it is also said "for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26 NASB). What did it mean to proclaim the Lords death? These were questions I didn't know I had. I just went along and partook. Now I have a greater understanding of what is mean't by each of these verses and the significance of taking communion. I heard a sermon in which the pastor spoke about the healing power of communion. Ev...

Whenever I hear or am singing this song I apply the words "this is how I fight my battles" to the action of singing in worship. This is truthful, but it is not the point of the song. If you listen to the other lyrics they point to Jesus Christ, "it may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you" "my victory's in Jesus name." The song itself points to the love and power of Christ our Lord in any battle that we are in. But what does it mean to fight our battles? This year at the Jubilee Conference  I received a lesson in what it looks like to fight battles. Context: The main sessions at Jubilee are split up into these 4 main themes - which reflect the Biblical narrative - Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration. Friday night: Creation, Saturday morning: The Fall, Saturday night: Redemption, Sunday morning: Restoration. During the day on Saturday and before service on Sunday there are workshop sessions which pertain to vario...