3 Step Antidote To The Scariest Things On The Planet

By Emily Bansuelo

 

Tis the season to be scared. I’m sure we could all share our scariest Halloween moments. The creepy neighbor down the street, who we all thought did experiments on cats. Or perhaps the scary woods that your friends dared you to walk through. I grew up with shows that freaked me out, “Goosebumps” and “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” I was never allowed to watch them, but come on, you know you all snuck around your parents to get freaked out of your mind. Now we have movies that I’m sure I would pee my pants watching. Growing up, being scared was a game, it was taken lightly. But in our world right now there’s a whole new way of getting scared. And we can’t take it lightly anymore.

There are phobias for practically everything. Everyone seems to be afraid of something. We have so many fears that are running around wildly in this generation, having their way with us. We have become people of worry and fear. All of a sudden a sickness that a few weeks ago few of us even knew existed is the most talked about sickness in the US; Ebola. I watched people around me talk about how we should start wearing masks, and shut down the airlines because the risk of us all contracting this disease. Allow me to give you a statistic, you have 1 in 13.3 million chance of contracting Ebola in the US. You have 1 in 2 million chance of falling out of your bed and dying. We have fed into the hysteria of what the world tells us rather than feeding into the peace God so readily has available to us. Yes, right now there is an epidemic of Ebola, in West Africa. But here in the United States, there is an epidemic of fear. And I have the antidote.

1.       Perfect love. 1 John 4:18

God has not given us a spirit of fear but a sound mind. If God isn’t giving us fear than who is? We have the choice to receive whatever is being given to us. The enemy is dishing out fear in bucket fulls and we are eating it right up. It’s time we spit out that cold dish, and dine on some perfect love instead. Because this dish, this love, has the ability to drive out all fear. So how do we experience perfect love? By loving each other. When we do this, God lives in us. And we are perfectly in Him. How unstoppable, how powerful we become when we begin living with perfect love.

2.       Listen to wisdom. Proverbs 1:33

When we listen to wisdom, we will live in peace and remain untroubled by fear of harm. Wisdom can come in many shapes and sizes. But the best place I’ve found wisdom is smack dab in the Word of God. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, read a Proverb a day to begin. James even tells us that if we need wisdom, to ask for it and our generous God will give it to us! (James 1:5)

3.       Fear God... not man. Hebrews 13:6

This is the most important fear antidote I can give you. And it may sound a bit ironic. But when we fear God first, we will have nothing else to fear. Many have misunderstood and forgotten what it is like to “fear God”. We think it’s all about just having an awe and respect for Him and while that is in fact part of it, it goes much further than that. Whenever someone encounters God, their reaction is literal and utter fear. Isaiah had a vision of heaven, John saw Jesus after his resurrection, Mary encountered the angel of the Lord, and after they are stricken with fear but almost immediately all of them are told, “Do not fear”.  It’s this crazy concept that when we learn to fear God, we don’t have to fear anything else.

The truth of the matter is that by fearing something we are unknowingly empowering it.  When we fear spiders we walk around them no matter how far off course it takes us.  When we fear people we become anxious around them, our minds consumed with completely irrational and terrifying ideas of what may happen.  When we fear the future we lose sleep and sometimes even our appetites trying to think of ways to change or even fix it.  Whenever we fear something we change our behaviors, our attitudes, and our direction- but that is the beauty of it.  When we fear the right thing- God- we are given a new behavior, a new attitude, and a new direction.  So go ahead and fear.  Just fear the right thing.  Because what you choose will be the difference between living in bondage or in freedom.

 

 

1 John 4:18

"There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love."

What do you DO, when you CAN’T DO anything?

By Mikayla Moore

I have found that one of the toughest things to go through is not our own hard times, but watching others go through theirs. With me personally I’ve watched some of my closest friends and family, people I’ve known forever, go through things that they should’ve never gone through. I have felt so helpless. What could I, a fifteen year old girl, do to help my friend whose mom and dad are getting a divorce? How can I possibly help my friend who lives all the way across the country who cuts herself? We helplessly watch as our loved ones lives are falling apart. What can we do? It’s like when we hear there’s a hurricane in Florida. We watch the news as people’s houses are torn apart uprooting their sense of security along with their lives, but that’s all we can do-watch.

 

We may feel helpless but there are only two very powerful things we can do, and even though it doesn’t seem like much, they make ALL the difference.

 

The first thing we do is PRAY.

 

I know personally when bad things happen to the people I love most, prayer is the last thing that I want to do. Not because I don’t believe it will work, but because it seems like there are no instant results. All we want to see is results, and we want to see them fast. But a prayer, a single faith filled prayer, can make all the difference. Recently some of my family was really going through it. But they live across the country so how could I help? What could I do to get them out of it? I realized very quickly that sitting around talking about it to people, and crying for them, although it feels good sometimes, literally helps nothing. So I began to pray. Every time I thought about them, I prayed for them. I felt like it wasn’t accomplishing anything at first, but then I watched as God’s plan began to clearly unravel in their lives. It wasn’t like, they woke up one day and everything was perfect, all sunshine and rainbows. That was not the case at all. It was one step at a time; it was a very long and complicated road. And although they didn’t understand it while they went through it, now that they’re coming through the other side of their struggle they realize that each obstacle was a part of God’s plan to get them where they are today.

 

The other thing that is essential to helping others get through their storm is simply letting them know you’re HERE for them.  

 

I have a really good friend who I’ve known pretty much since birth. She is literally like my sister, and I don’t think we’ve ever gotten into a fight. That is why it really took a toll on me when I found out she was cutting herself. I wanted to fight the battle for her, to tell her to stop; I wanted to pull out my tool box and just fix all the broken parts of her life, to heal all her hurts. But, of course I couldn’t. All I could do was tell her that I was there for her. I pulled her aside one day and told her that I saw what she was doing and it scared me because I loved her. I told her that I didn’t know what she was going through or how she felt because I honestly didn’t. I also told her that I do not think any less of her, and that I would love to help her through it. Of course I was sure to tell her that she doesn’t have to harm herself anymore, that she never did. She thanked me, and said that it felt so good to have someone who actually cares about her. After that I started seeing improvements. I’m obviously not saying that I was the key to her stopping. I’m saying that knowing someone was there for her, was a key factor of it.

 

We can’t fight their battles for them and fix every broken part of their lives. But even when hurricanes destroy entire cities, they always get rebuilt. One brick at a time. One day at a time.  We feel so helpless when our loved ones are going through things that no one deserves and even though it feels like we’re accomplishing nothing- every prayer and every conversation are bricks that will eventually help to rebuild their lives.

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

^"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

Leaving My P#*% Stash In Michigan, Pt. 2

By Emily Bansuelo

 

The car was packed full and I was off to the biggest adventure of my life. I had been away from home before- mission’s trips, vacations, things like that- but nothing like this. As far as I knew, I was only going to be gone about 9 months. I had my big girl pants on, I took a deep breath, and away I drove. Like the Israelites leaving their slavery, I too was leaving my addictions in Michigan. So long slavery, I have decided to follow Jesus, NO TURNING BACK, remember? I was so sure of myself, and this exciting new adventure God was giving me. I was really sure of myself, except when I began realizing how uncomfortable I was getting. The further we drove, the more questions began rising up into my head. What if this isn’t for you? What if you fail? What happens when you have no friends, and you’re lonely? You know what happens when you feel alone. So many lies, so many questions, but I had to trust God and keep going.

 

When I arrived in the great state of California everything seemed to be going well. I was making friends, I was doing great in my classes. I was keeping up appearances and nobody had to know about my past dealing with that icky word, I still wasn’t hearing people talk about… *whispers* porn. But I didn’t need to worry about it, I was sure of it. But those questions kept creeping in. And they were getting louder. A year passed, and I was into my 2nd year of interning. And I had a stressful dark day. I was tired, alone, and feeling worthless. And the enemy swept in with a nasty, but cunning invitation back into my comfort zone. Slavery. Porn. If I chose yes, I would be picking up exactly what I had dropped in Michigan. And I picked it up. I snatched it. Just like that I was back in the vicious cycle I was in a year ago. What happened? What was going on? I was panicking like a lost little girl in a maze of mirrors with no way out.

 

But I had these friends, solid women of God. I reached out to them first. I was so tired, tired of silently suffering in my addiction to pornography. Tired of thinking I was alone in my struggle. I knew I had to tell my friends what was going on (read Romans 10:9). As difficult as it was, I could feel shame falling off. It’s been a really long road of finding and fighting for my freedom. So how does someone do it? How do we stay free in the midst of a world that is telling us our sin is better than our freedom? I compiled a list of practical tips that will keep us free; no matter the addiction, pain, or struggle you may be fighting against. We must fight for freedom harder.

1. Renew Your Mind. Romans 12:2

 

In order to keep our minds on things above and not on the distracting, lustful, and honestly disgusting things that can consume our thoughts at times (Colossians 3:2), we must renew our mind. And it has to happen DAILY. Get into the Bible, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, and 31 days in a month. Voila! You have a chapter to read that is full of wisdom! Every single day. It will then be easier for us to do what Philippians 4:8 encourages. “…Whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely… think about such things.”

 

2. Make A Plan. 1 Corinthians 10:13

 

When you are in the heat of temptation it is so helpful to have a plan in place. I keep a pair of tennis shoes by the door. If I’m feeling tempted I grab my shoes and get out of the house. At night I don’t have my phone near me, I keep it charging in the other room. What is your plan? If I’m feeling lonely I turn on music and dance. Make a list of silly, or serious things to do when your temptation is in your face.

 

And the most important part of my plan is number three…

 

3. Get Accountable. James 5:16

 

Having women of God in your life who you can trust is so important. I am blessed to have multiple women I can call on in my time of need. Trusting people can be so hard, but it’s more important to have someone you can rely on than continuing to be alone. Isolation is where the enemy’s voice is the loudest, but in a community of strong godly women, there’s only room for love and encouragement. 

 

My journey in the world of being addicted to pornography has been long and tiring. I have shared my story because I believe that I have been set free to set others free. God gave me a dream one evening of a room, dark, damp and cold. As soon as light shed on the walls I realized it was filled with young women who were chained up and had no idea that there were other women right next to them. The enemy has convinced us to be silent, but I’m revoking that lie. I will cry out from the mountain tops because I followed Jesus, and the enemy may have thought that he had the final say, but I do. He couldn’t keep me down. He will not keep us silent. Fight for freedom, because Jesus has set us free. 

 

 

 

 

John 8:36

"So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men],

then you are really and unquestionably FREE."

I'm Going to Die

By Vanessa Shepherd

It's true, I’m going to die. 

 

Now before your mind jumps to the worst conclusion, before you believe that I have indeed seen a doctor and been given a death sentence, think of what I am saying. 

 

I am going to die. 

 

It doesn’t take a medical professional to tell me that one day I will cease living a life on this earth for me to believe it.  It is reality.  Fact.  Unchangeable.  Even if Jesus comes before then, my life will still be over here.  And nothing can make that. Not. Happen.

 

What would possess a person to write or even say that?  Why would I of all topics to pick choose this one?  If you have faced grief in any regards it almost borders on insensitive… but please, hear me out. 

 

A friend of mine was asking some advice on potty training (yes I just took that leap) hearing that I had just been through Hell Week myself with my albino terrorist.  When you are a parent you know that potty training is in fact one of the worst parts of having children but if you do not have kids of your own, just trust me on this for now. While I laughed a bit because there is not a “right” or “easy” way to teach a kid to pee and poop in the toilet… not their underwear… not their beds… not the floor… not anywhere that is not a toilet… but indeed that white chair that flushes their unmentionables away to the great unknown, there are some things that got me through without losing all of my sanity.

 

As I typed out my reply to her, I got to the end and without thinking put “and above all else, just expect accidents to happen.  Because when you expect it, when you know that you know that you know that it will eventually happen, you won’t lose your mind when it does”.

 

I am so smart.  I read over my reply and realized that it was in fact the key to not losing my mind the second time around getting a boy to use the porcelain throne properly.  Expectancy.

 

And then as I have counseled with many through losses of their own I have realized something… I realized that coping is the same way.  It is easier when we expect it.  When grandparents are older we reason that they have lived a full life so while it still hurts, they are allowed to go.  There is an age limit on living and after that it is acceptable for death.  But my friend, I hate with everything in me to say, that there is no age limit.  There are no acceptable terms of any kind.  It is never ok to lose someone.  It is never something we want or pray for (unless of course there is extreme pain in someone’s body and we have given up praying for a miracle).  Death SUCKS.  Death HURTS.  Death is UNFAIR.  But death is EXPECTED.  At least it should be. 

 

The real surprise is not that death happens, but how we have lived so long hoping it doesn’t.  Or that it doesn’t HAVE to happen.  But it does.  Oh how I hate that it does.

 

It is one of the worst pains I have ever known to have lost someone that I love despite praying so fervently for their healing, but it is inevitable.  Reality.  Fact.  Unchangeable.  Death is in fact expected.

 

And while this may bring you no comfort whatsoever, my friend, have faith in this- death makes living special.  Having a limited amount of time on this earth makes every moment so incredibly powerful.  Each day, no matter how monotonous or unsurprising, is a gift from our Creator.  A gift that we can choose to use to make the world a better place, or a gift that we can hide away and forget that there is meaning altogether. 

So cherish living but as much as you cherish it, do not fear death.  For, as Helen Keller put it, “death is no more than passing from one room to another.  But there’s a difference for me you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see”. Death is only final for us here on earth; in heaven it is merely our permission slip to enter.  That is why we as Christians should not fear the inevitable, death, for it shall be the greatest adventure we’ve ever known.  I pray this for us, that we embrace and grieve for what we have lost but not as one without hope.  We have hope.  We have Christ.  I am going to die… and it will only be the beginning of something new and wonderful… but until that day comes… I will live.

 
Philippians 1:21 
“To me, living means having Christ.
To die means that I would have more of Him.”
(New Life Version)
 

1 Corinthians 15:54-58
“…this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves
and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.
Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave
sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious
stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master,
Jesus Christ. Thank God! 58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends,
stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work
of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.”
(Message)

Leaving My P#*% Stash In Michigan, Pt. 1

By Emily Bansuelo

Sing it with me, the old hymnal song some of you may be familiar with, “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.” I hated that song, for a couple of reasons. One, it always seemed to put me to sleep, and two I was always really good at turning back. My entire life, I grew up hearing, singing, playing on the piano songs like these. I was the girl who was really good at playing a game many people consider themselves aficionados, “CHURCH”. It’s a really boring game, but for some reason, I felt obligated to play this game. Every once in a while I would have moments of losing this game and actually have a relationship with Jesus, but alas I would always turn back.

 

I would turn back to P#*%. The “P” word. The word that was only whispered from the pulpit. And if it was talked about it was only geared toward the guys in the room. Yes that word.  Porn.  Have you ever been swimming and had someone swim behind you -dunking your head under the water repeatedly? Or if you’ve been in the ocean and you get caught in a wave, you fight to swim to the shore but the wave keeps taking you under? That’s pretty much how I felt near the end of middle school and through the entirety of high school. A girl who was drowning, isolated, and feeling completely helpless. Better known as being in the DICH.  All because of that four letter word. 

 

At the ripe age of 18 I had graduated high school and was working full-time as a nanny, living in my DICH. That’s when I had, had enough. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my mom, and I knew at that moment I had to confess the sin I was living in. I didn’t want to keep turning back anymore. It was crazy because I couldn’t even speak it, I literally had to write on a piece of paper and slide it across the table. Oh the thoughts that were running through my mind, “Would she disown me? Would she storm out of the house? What if she can’t look at me? I’m so disgusting…” Then before I know it my mom looks at me, gets out of her chair, comes over to me and slaps me across the face! JUST KIDDING!!! She didn’t do that, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Let’s pick that back up, she walks over to where I’m sitting, tears coming down my face, and she says, “Emily, I love you.”

 

That moment changed everything. I finally gave a voice to my greatest fear and instead of killing me, it set me free.  Not too long after, Jesus called me to Sacramento, CA. This was it, like the Israelites, he was calling me out of slavery (Exodus 3:7-8). Like his disciples, he was calling me away from my mundane jobs and even my family (Matthew 4:18-22). Like Paul, he was calling me out of the game called, “Church”, and into a reality of Jesus’ love and freedom (Acts 9). This was it, THIS WAS IT!!! My car was packed, and I was leaving my P#*% stash in Michigan. I could finally sing with such excitement, “I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK.”

James 5:16

 ^“Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart].”

 

 

Life isn't always easy

By Mikayla Moore

I was eleven years old in fifth grade. At that age my life wasn't really that complicated; it consisted of just two things, school and church. I lived in Tulsa Oklahoma and attended a school called Lincoln Christian School. The church and school were connected and my dad was a pastor there. Everyone knew who I was, I was so popular and was friends with everyone. Everything was perfect. I had two girls that I had gotten to know extremely well, they were like my sisters, or like we called it "BFFL". I didn't know that my life was about to flip.

I had gotten home from school one day to see my mom and dad sitting on the couch, they asked me to sit with them and I knew something was up. It was then that they told me two words that I never in a million years would have expected to hear, "we're moving." Of course there was more to it than that but that was all I heard. When I heard those two dreaded words my eyes welled up with tears, I turned to my mom and just sobbed in her lap.  Soon my sadness turned to anger and I got up to run upstairs to my room. When I got there I fell onto my bed and I couldn't do anything but cry, so that's what I did I  cried... and cried... and cried. I wasn't allowed to tell any of my friends so for a whole school year I had to keep it a secret. I know that it seems like at eleven years old it couldn't have been that big of a deal, but it was. When we moved that summer something inside of me twisted, and I began to feel myself slip into a deep depression.

You may think I was just being a baby but I had already moved once from Indiana, so when we moved to Oklahoma I made it my home. I planted my roots there, and moving to Visalia in California, a town where I knew no one, and I had never even heard of, it completely uprooted me. I didn't want to be involved in school, or church, and I began to get bitter and angry with my parents and my family. My brothers automatically fit in and found friends. I was just there. I was tired of my parents telling me that I had one foot here and one in Oklahoma, they told me to be "all in" here. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to go back home to Oklahoma. I convinced myself that I didn't belong here, that I was simply dragged along by my family. All I would do was lock myself in my room and cry most of the time.
    

Finally I came through, I began to make my way through the fog. And I'm so glad I did. Of course there was a ton of steps between this but now my family has started a church and I know I have a calling for kids church, at least for now. I realize now that if I hadn't moved, I wouldn't have been able to make an impact on the kids I see every Sunday. I love those kids. I still think about what it would be like sometimes if I had stayed in Tulsa. But any time I feel like I wish I was still there, I think about all the little faces I see in kids church. And I know I'm supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be here for all of them. And I know He has even bigger plans in store for me in the future. In three years of living here, I'm just now figuring out why God put me here. Me, Mikayla Moore, not the pastors kid, or the new girl. But me. And I wouldn't trade any of that time for anything, it was all worth it.
    

I may have not known it then, but there was not one second during those three years that God left me. When I was angry with Him, He was sitting right there by me. When I cried, His heart was breaking for me. When I questioned Him, He was chasing my heart. He was walking with me every step of the way. And He still is.

 

Life isn't always easy... but God is always good.

 

 

 

Psalm 27:13

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

What Now?

I’m not sure if there are enough adjectives in the English dictionary to describe our annual girl’s conference, this year’s theme of course being “Keepin’ It Classy”. So much freedom took place in the lives of so many. We heard powerful testimonies of lives redeemed by Jesus and received tools to walking out the life God created us for in our breakout sessions. We learned from Caitlin the power of compromise, but the greater power of allowing God’s best for our life. Meagan challenged us to make Jesus our #MCM by ‘making time’, having ‘constant communication’ and ‘mastering our purpose’ with Him.  Then Vanessa gave us the encouragement of a big sister telling us what to do when we have made a mistake or find ourselves in the middle of a trial, telling us to “Press on sweet girl, press on. You’re still called.”

We laughed to the hilarious Kara, whose impressions of celebrities are unmatched. I don’t know if we can ever forget her dancing abilities as she honed the skills of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and my personal favorite Nicki Minaj. Wow, just wow. Many of you participated in our Variety Show and gave us a glimpse of your flexibility, talent, bravery and humor.  Do you remember those Christian pick-up lines? “Are you looking for a knight in shining armor? Because I’ve got the full armor of God on right now.” Or, “So last night I was reading in the book of Numbers, and I realized, I don’t have yours.”

I can’t help, but wish I was back in that room laughing, crying and welcoming the presence of God in with you dear sisters, because it’s true, everything changes when He walks into the room.  It’s almost this homesick feeling in my heart, to be with you all again. It was such a safe and beautiful place.  Many of you found freedom there. For some of you it’s the place where it all began. I remember going away from conferences in the past and having this worry of falling right back into my old self that I desperately surrendered to Jesus.  Picking back up the things I had surrendered on those boxes. If you’re feeling that worry, hear this encouragement; God reminded me of this scripture that changed everything for me…

           

2 Corinthians 3:17- “…Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Yes, the spirit of the Lord was in that room at Keepin’ It Classy, but even more so, the spirit of the Lord is dwelling in you, right now! (1 Cor. 6:19) You received freedom last weekend. So walk in it, because the spirit of the living God is in you and with you ALWAYS.  And if you fall, get back up. Brush off the dust, turn toward Jesus, and keep walking.  He’s waiting for you with open arms.