Always True by James MacDonald

James MacDonald offers his readers a gift in the pages of his newest book, Always True. He reminds us all of the simple and yet precious and profound promises of God as we go through life's harshest storms. 

I needed to read this book. As I battle the storms of life and relationship, quite frankly, I sometimes feel like I am in a three legged race with a one legged man. Life is hard and it comes with much baggage. As I read through the promises of God, I would tear up being reminded of the things that I knew to be true from His word. God is good. I needed to be reminded of each and every page in the book. About a quarter of my copy is underlined. I would put this as a must read book of 2011. Start off by remembering, or learning for the first time, a few of God's promises. 

I loved this book because it never deterred or derailed from anything other than the beauty and steadfastness of the goodness of God. It was page by page an exaltation of the attributes of the Lord. I was deeply blessed to meet my heavenly Father there for encouragement. Thank you, James MacDonald. Your work and warfare have enriched my relationship with God at a much needed time.

Please pick up a copy of this for yourself. Keep your heart steadfast on God.

This book for graciously given by Moody publishers for review. I also have a copy to give away. Leave a comment to win!

Mi Tierra in San Antonio, Texas

Mi Tierra in San Antonio, Texas is one of the state's most eclectic places to dine. As you will see from my photos, they have decorated to the hilt. You could go here a multitude of times and never take it all in. What you can take in is the excellent food. At our table enchiladas, tamales, tacos, fajitas, and homemade tortillas did abound! Each of us were scraping our plates. Then we topped it all off with coconut covered fried ice cream in a crunchy shell. Excellent. The Mariachis are always fun as well. it's the most fun six dollars we have spent in a long time. 

They are open 24 hours a day and located blocks from the Riverwalk. ¡Muy bien!

http://www.mitierracafe.com/

Gomer: It's a Sheetrock Revolution.

There are things only God can do. We have been privileged to see those things every single day here at Gomer's House. I cannot begin to tell you how many times we have been praying for a specific individual and they will show up at our house within minutes of our praying. God is good. He has opened doors and churches up to us that we are waiting on the Lord to tell us what to do next.

Only God can cause hearts to want to come work all day for free. I am constantly amazed at this. Only God. We are all by nature selfish, but God will so enrich our hearts toward our brothers and sisters that we desire to serve. As we have set out to serve others, we have been repeatedly humbled to be served. It is truly overwhelming. Being here has taught me how to love and be loved without any pretense or expectation. God is good and faithful to us.

Say a little prayer for us as we seek God's guidance on steps and provision for a church plant. A door has opened that we are praying about going through. Blessings and love to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Support Gomer's House.

Flowers of the Son

Flowers of the Son is a new movie from Jews for Jesus featuring their mission efforts to reach the Jewish people in Israel. It is a truly a compelling documentary. I was struck by how few people in Israel knew who Jesus was. I believe it was one tenth of one percent. 6,000 out of five million of God's chosen people actually know the name of His Son. The Jews for Jesus team were repeatedly attacked by othodox Jews. It showed me how narrow my thinking about Israel is. Some ninety percent of the population are secular. The Jewish people call Jesus Yeshu instead of Yeshua. Yeshu means "may his name be blotted out." The Jews for Jesus team holds up signs that say "Yeshu = Yeshua = Salvation." May all of Israel be saved. 

This is a great resource to get you thinking about God's people in Israel. Watch it with your family or small group or church. It is fascinating.

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/flowersoftheson

Talk to me, Abba.

I want to speak to the people around you. I want to pull them close to me. I want to use your voice and actions to draw the people closest to you closest to me. It is time to break the bondage to the passive spirit. It is time to engage the world around you in love and battle. I want to speak. Loose your tongue to Me and do not try to quench My words. My word divides. My word brings together and builds up. It is My choice as to what it will do. Your choice is to let Me speak through you.

Lioness Arising by Lisa Bevere

"The people rise up like a lioness;

like a majestic lion they stand."

Numbers 23:24

In Lioness Arising, Lisa Bevere shares a dream she had about a powerful lioness. This dream propelled her to find her voice and study the power and the prowess of the lioness. Her hope is that we too would rise up in power and become the women God has created us to be.

I thought the study of the lioness was fascinating. It is interesting to see the habits and lifestyles of the animals of scripture. I was amazed to see how the lioness was such a huge support to the lion and how the females in a pride were the ones who held it together. They hunted. They stalked. They protected the  young. When a male lion wanted to take over a pride, he would try to kill their children because a female will not mate while she is raising cubs. When three lionesses roar together, they can scare off a murderous male lion. From reading this book, I realized that somewhere along the way, our feminine culture has lost it's voice. It is time we reclaim it. It is time we unite to bring honor and to fight for the Lion over us.

"I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar." -Winston Churchhill

Awaken. Awaken. Awaken.

Some Side Notes: There was a small portion where the book seemed to lag to me, but it was resolved quickly. She addressed women speaking in church in a different way that has given me much to ponder in order to determine what I agree with. When I first saw that Joyce Meyer and Victoria Olsteen were backing this book, I was hesitant. I did not want to read any word of faith doctrine or find out how I could have my best life now. It seems that she and her husband are not proponents of this movement. I am not reviewing their doctrinal philosophy. I am simply reviewing this book.

 This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Press.

©stephaniecherry.com

Chicken Pot Pie

You can also do 1/2 cup each of fresh peas, carrots, peas, and green beans instead of the frozen mixed veggies when they are in season.

©stephaniecherry.com

Gomer: Thanks, Jesus!

 It's a wild ride living in the Spirit here at Gomer's House. Hold on to our hats. We have been sanding down the front of our house a bit at a time. It is quite a bit of work to sand off a hundred years of caked on paint. We just do a little at a time. Then we congratulate ourselves. I figure if all my friends would just come sand one board we could knock this out in no time.

 Randomly (as usual), some neighbors came to hang drywall Saturday in the servant's stairs and the parlor. It is such a blessing to have friends come give an hour or two here and there.

 Here is another photo of some of what Joel and Denbigh did in the foyer. We are on the fast track to having our drywall downstairs complete.

This is the ceiling in our bathroom. It looks depressing, I know. The thing is, it looks way better than it did. It was full of staples and the remnants of old tiles. Now, we can get down to business and finish the drywall on the wall and ceiling. I'm gonna feel like a million bucks in my bathroom with it's fancy drywall.

Yasha is 11.5 pounds and 23 inches.r 

©stephaniecherry.com

Heal Us, Abba.

Talk to me, Abba.

You were long in a place that was vapid and left you sedated. That time is ended. You have been emancipated by My Spirit. Rise up. Awaken Arouse. The time has fully come to you. You are fierce. You are full of the power of My Word and My Spirit. Do away with timidity. Prepare your weaponry. You are battle ready. I want to move through you in power in your day. Humble yourself. Do away with your drive to accomplish your will in your life and the lives of others. May your meekness make you a warrior.

©stephaniecherry.com

Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby

I was reading a post recently about revisiting your major spiritual markers and thanking God for what He did during that time. After I saw that, I kept coming across Experiencing God every where I would turn. I did this Bible study during a huge spiritual transition in my life. I cannot credit the study with that, but God definitely spoke to me through it. This led me to pick up a copy of the book and read it.

I must say, it touched me in a real and personal way again. It took me back to my transforming encounter I had with the person of the Holy Spirit ten years ago when I did the study. It realized that I have been missing studies of this nature. Most Bible studies I come across are meant to make us feel good and focus mostly on us. Experiencing God, focuses solely on God. It takes you to where He is working and invites you into the work. I must say it is a beautifully poetic work that reminds you of Christ and the work He is doing through us. Pick it up for the first time or revisit it again. It is by far one of the best studies I have  participated in. The book is equally encouraging to us as we face this dark world and the challenges of a church culture that demands that we have a plan. Trust God's guiding.


Millions of copies have been sold worldwide.

©stephaniecherry.com

Writing Letters

I have been doing a thirty day challenge with my friend Kristi. We each picked three people that we wanted to deepen our relationships with and we do exercises each day toward that goal. The idea is to be real, personal, vulnerable, intimate. Living in a world of fast food communication, this is a difficult process. Society has taught us to be consumers of communication. Everyone scrolls the facebook feed to gorge on information. The problem is that we have stopped having genuine fellowship. We have traded our coffee talk for a cyber chat. One of the challenges in the study we are doing is to forego social media for a day each week and write a real note. Yes, a note on paper. A note written with a pen. You have to stamp it and mail it. I chose Thursday. I didn't get on Facebook or Twitter and I wrote some cards. I wrote cards to people and tried to be as vulnerable as I could in my expression.I believe I prefer it. 

It's your turn. Buy a box of cards.

©stephaniecherry.com

ps. I made party shrimp and minestrone for my new recipes this week. Gomer has guests this weekend. Must prepare for them!

Gomer: Shiny, Happy Foyer

 It's a thrill a minute here at Gomer's House. We never know who the Lord is going to send our way to volunteer. In December, God put it on Joel's heart to come sheetrock our foyer, dining room, and study. Today he showed up in the 32 degree weather to get started. It is the same temperature downstairs as it is outside, mind you. Denbigh and Joel worked for six hours. I took pictures about halfway through what they did today. After that, it was too cold for me. The cool thing is that he is coming back next week to do more. I am constantly amazed at what God does. He stirs hearts and brings us help that we could get no other way. Our help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Now, doesn't seeing this drywall make you want to run over and strip the paint off the rest of this moulding so we can stain it? You can. That's right. We will let you. You can come on Monday to our work day. You can also bring out your church group, Bible study group, or a bunch of your friends at any time. We will load you up with food, drinks, and power tools. Come one. Come all.Come to Gomer's to volunteer!

 Support Gomer's House.

©stephaniecherry.com

Sign of Hope

Do you think Noah ever sat in the ark and asked God if He had forgotten him? Sometimes, living by faith feels that way. The waiting can make us feel forgotten . . . even though everything that He said would happened has happened up until then. In the waiting, we weep. We ask God if He remembers us. We wait. I don't know where you are at, but today I am asking God for a miracle. I am asking God for a sign that He remembers that He sent us out here. I am crying out for provision. I know He sees me. I know that He desires to satisfy His people with good things. I am awaiting those good things. I am thankful and grateful for what He has done for us and given to us. God, show us the next step. Pour out your Spirit and your provision on us. We long to share and give you away to those around us. Reveal your beauty and your glory here to the lonely and the broken. We want You here. We desire You. 

We belong to You, Abba.

©stephaniecherry.com

Talk to me, Abba.

Learn to love. Love is not based on the performance of the other individual. Love doesn't react in anger or disdain at every wrong move. Love wants what is best. I want what is best for those around you. My hope is not to punish them and lead them into regret that leads to bitterness. My hope is that kindness leads them to repentance. My hope is that you display that kindness. Boundaries and lines can still be issued with grace. Extend that grace.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

For more on this segment, see this post.

©stephaniecherry.com