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What Do We Do When Old Insecurities Surface? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12). Sometimes, even as mature adults, the insecurities of the past can creep in. Last weekend, I attended my high school reunion in San Antonio, Texas. Due to my father’s death before I was born and my mother’s emotional health issues, I had little parental support in high school, and I was one of the poorest teenagers in a very wealthy school. I lacked confidence. While…
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Who is Our Helper? By Lane Jordan Burday
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). There are thousands of religions in the world, with estimates ranging from over 4,000 to as many as 10,000 distinct religions, though there is no precise consensus on the exact number. Most people adhere to one of the world’s major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,…
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Who’s in the Fire with You? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV). Wouldn’t it be nice to have a trouble-free life without trials, spiritual attacks, jealousy, or division? As much as we might try to create a consistently peaceful environment, the perfect, problemless existence will not happen this side of Heaven. Jesus gave us a heads up that we are to expect trouble in this world, but we are not to worry because He has overcome the world. Jesus is with us amid…
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How’s Your Tongue? By Lane Jordan Burday
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21) Did you know that the words we speak to ourselves can have a profound impact on our lives? As the verse above says, the words we say have the power to encourage or discourage, to motivate or deflate, to generate joy or stop it. Here are some examples of phrases that you and I may have said: When we think or say words like those above, we are aiming at a life of despair and one lacking in joy. So,…
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Symphony of Chaos by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
It all seemed to go too perfectly. I left my hotel on time for the airport and made it to my gate at Portland International with plenty of time to spare. Good news! The plane was on time—until it was not. There was a problem with “bad oil,” so the boarding process for my return flight to DFW would be delayed. No problem. It was a short delay, and we boarded fifteen minutes late. However, once on the plane, there was another maintenance issue with the plane’s computer. Fifteen minutes became thirty, then an hour. All totaled, we sat on…
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Finding God’s Comfort by Rosemary Legrand
Are you afraid and need to be comforted? The Lord promises in Isaiah 41:13: I am the Lord your God, I am holding your right hand, and I say to you. Do not fear, for I will HELP you. At some point we all want or even need to hear these words. They speak directly to some of our greatest fears and challenges, as well as isolation, loneliness, vulnerability. They remind us that we are not destined to walk this earth without direction or help. We do not stand alone. God is always with us. God promises that He will never…
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How Do You Get Peace? By Lane Jordan Burday
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27). As you well know, Charlie Kirk was murdered last week while sharing his views and thoughts at a college campus in Utah. One would think that in America, we would have freedom of speech. But hatred abounds, and he lost his life. A life that sought to show the world, especially young minds at college, the truth of God’s word and the moral compass that would…
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Let’s Ramp it Up! By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Over four weeks ago, I became an Executive Pastor within a church, and the same week this happened, I received an email addressing me as “pastor” and inviting me to a Messianic pastor’s prayer retreat in Woodland, Washington. I thought, How did they know I am a Messianic pastor now? I believed this invitation was significant, and after receiving a green light from my husband and the senior pastor of our new church to attend, I made plans to travel to Washington State…
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Limit Your Limits by Onyx Conklin
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1) I’m about to remove your excuse factor. I’m sorry to do this to you but you have been holding on to your limits long enough. So here goes….Kokichi Akuzawa, a citizen of Japan, just made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for climbing Mount Fuji. His age? 102! I should mention that when he was a “young” man…
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Shake it Up! By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
God often likes to shake things up. When we are sold-out believers, regardless of our age, He will challenge us to move into realms of servitude that we never dreamed we’d tackle. Like pastoring. I was once inside the church as a women’s ministry leader, then was outside the church for eleven years leading our Pearls of Promise ministry. Now I am back inside the church as a pastor and also outside with Pearls. People call me pastor, and God has given me a heart for our new congregation. I know it is a new calling. On Tuesday, the LORD…
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When Is Your Day 41? by Lane Jordan Burday*
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is a hard concept in today’s world, where chaos and confusion reign. There is a tremendous amount of conflict, wars, murders, and hatred, where the thought of peace is an intangible item to have. So, what do we do? We turn to God’s Word and read the stories of those who had faith. Those before us who looked to God rather than their circumstances or the world. Here are some of those who lived by their faith in God, and…
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How to Be Wise by Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Often, we are thrust into a scenario where we don’t have the answer or the frame of reference to make an educated decision. We might spend sleepless nights thinking about a scenario. We probaby know it is essential to do the right thing. Seeking God’s wisdom is the answer to this dilemma. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says, “For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” As an…
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Entertaining Visitors by Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. (Matthew 12:30-31). This week, we have three different sets of people staying at our house. That means washing the sheets and cleaning the bathroom three times in one week. So why do it? Because my husband and I believe our house belongs to God, not ourselves, and we often open it up to others in ministry. Hebrews 13:2 says, Do…
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Embrace the New by Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you (Psalm 32:8, NIV). Like an unbroken horse, I don’t go easily. I am fiercely loyal and do not like change, but when we are fully committed to the LORD, sometimes God shakes up the routine. He makes us move. He provides a new assignment. How do you respond when the comfortable world you know turns upside down and you have to say adiós to your comfort zone? Do you trust God, or do you fight the change? Generally, if we…
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God Gently Leads by Lane Jordan Burday
He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to His heart, He gently leads those that have young (Isaiah 40:11). Every August, my family has a beach vacation in Florida. My husband and I, two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren! We rent the condo, and then everyone gets here when they can, hopefully some overlapping, so I have the whole family at one time, and we can get a family photo. As you can imagine, the traditions that are built year after year are very special. We visit the…
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Just Sayin’ Thank You By Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17) Sometimes we just have to pause and say—thank you. As the Word states in James 1:17, every good and perfect gift originates with God, and so if that is the case, our heavenly Father is the one we should thank. How has God blessed you this year? When I look at this year, I want to fall to my knees and praise the one who has poured out his blessings on our Pearls of Promise ministry. While…
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Birthing a Baby by Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). I’ve been reading Robert J. Morgan’s book, God Hasn’t Forgotten You: 24 Remarkable Ways God is Working In You and Through You. It’s based on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth who conceived John the Baptist, at an old age. This book could not come at a better time, as I, along with a newly-formed ministry team, am birthing a new church called Messiah’s Hope Congregation. Led by Dr….
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What Fills Your Mind? by Lane Jordan Burday
So as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). We are bombarded with all types of stimuli—advertisements, commercials, movies, books, YouTube videos, Instagram, etc., to the point that it is tough to keep our minds and thoughts pure. However, the soundest way to improve the quality of your life is first to improve the quality of your thinking. We protect our homes and our families. It’s just as critical to protect our minds. How do we do that? By staying in God’s Word daily and refraining from seeing or exposing ourselves to anything that would harm our…
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Where is Stability? by Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God (Psalm 42:1, NLT). Almost a year ago, I experienced a 6.2 magnitude earthquake while in Guatemala City for a documentary shoot. It was so powerful that it shook the entire hotel where we were staying. There was nothing we could do to stop it. It was out of our control. We prayed that we would be okay, and praise God, we were. Life can shake us up as well. There are times when, no matter where we look for stability, the ground is moving. Have…
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Depression by Lane Jordan Burday
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:2-3) The older I get, the more I see people of all ages, races, and financial statuses talk about being depressed. I believe it’s part of the end times we live in, because there is so much confusion, war, and misery for people…