Search Results discipling women

Identifying Gospel-Centered Resources

By Christina Fox|2024-02-10T19:41:12+00:00February 29, 2024|Blog, Discernment|

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR A few years ago, I read a Christian book I heard recommended over various platforms. A podcaster said she couldn’t put it down. A friend at church shared wisdom she gleaned from it. A book reviewer classified it as “a must read.” When I opened the pages for the first time, I was expectant and excited. What I didn't expect was to disagree with so much of it. The principles felt more as if they were from the author's experiences than the Word of God. The practical applications only gave false hope. There were chapters of the book that I did agree with and gained from, but I found that it was confusing to separate what was true from what wasn’t. As I reflected on this book, I began to think about why I chose to read it. I read it because I was influenced by the opinions of others and didn’t do my own research on the author or the content. There are many books and resources available to us in the Christian community. No matter the topic, there is a book or resource that will address it. While this can be a good thing, it is important that we be responsible to identify resources that are gospel-centered and in line with God’s Word. Since reading that book, the Lord has led me to be more thorough in examining what content I digest in my mind and heart, as well as what I recommend to others. There are five questions I have used to help guide me in choosing God-honoring books and resources. Five Questions to Ask About Resources Is it gospel-centered? The message of the gospel is central to God’s Word. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). There are many books and resources that talk about God, but do they point us to the gospel? Do they communicate salvation by grace alone through faith alone? Many books point to all the things we need to and should be doing to grow as Christians. While that is often helpful, we want to ensure we are being pointed back to God’s grace. If it doesn’t, we are left thinking that it’s all up to us. Our hope should be that we walk away with our eyes focused more on Jesus and less on ourselves...

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Made for More

By Chip Evans|2024-04-29T21:50:40+00:00February 19, 2024|

WHO SHOULD ATTEND THE MADE FOR [...]

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The God Who Sees and Redeems

By Christina Fox|2023-08-15T13:18:28+00:00July 20, 2023|Blog, God's Word|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST My family loves music. While we love all kinds of music, many nights after the kitchen is clean and the kids are bathed, we find ourselves dancing to 90’s pop and swinging our children around the room. Recently, as I danced with my little boy and looked over at my husband holding my little girl in the air, I thought to myself, “This is the life I dreamed of. Oh, how I feel seen by the Lord!” It’s a simple thought and a true statement, but it stops me in my tracks. Of course, I feel seen by the Lord right now. I’m living the life I wanted. I hold the children for which I longed for so many years; I look at my husband for whom I spent many years praying, and although my life is far from perfect, I am living a life which brings me much joy. Yet, did the Lord not see me four years ago when we moved to a new city? I felt completely alone in a new church, our marriage was hard, and our children were an unmet desire. Was He not just as present then as He is now in this moment? The God Who Sees I’ve always been drawn to the story of Hagar...

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How Team-Based Ministry Shapes Us

By Christina Fox|2023-08-15T13:43:52+00:00March 9, 2023|Blog, Ministry|

JANET LAROCQUE|GUEST When you think of leadership in the church, how often do you think of team-based leadership? We often think of leadership as an individual exercise. Perhaps someone who is specially trained in leadership who runs and manages everything. Or maybe someone who is the go-getter, who gets everything done. But team-based ministry is how God created us to serve the Body of Christ. In working as a team, we not only accomplish what God has called us to, but He shapes us in the process. Teams Are My Testimony I love team-based ministry. Currently, I serve on the PCA’s National Women’s Ministry Team as Regional Advisor to the churches in mid-America. In my local church, I serve on our women’s ministry Servant Team in the area of Titus 2 discipleship. But let me back up to explain how I got here. I grew up in a liturgical, works-based denomination, fully believing I was a Christian because I had checked all the boxes. There is a beautiful story about that for another day, but around my 40th birthday the Lord decided it was time. He placed a number of people in my path and a greater number of questions in my mind. That all led me to my very first Bible study at Naperville PCA, taught by Karen Hodge, and I’ve never left. As a “made-new believer” in my 40’s I was hungry to know the Lord, devouring theology. Thankfully, the preaching and shepherding I received was solid, well-communicated, and true-to-the-Scriptures. But in my mind, I was making up for lost time and this gnostic quest to know Jesus became kind of a solo-act. At that time, my team was often just Jesus and me—the vertical without the horizontal. Enter God’s grace again, and He began moving me toward less “doing” and more “watching.” So I watched—how women at my church served together on teams—quite joyfully. And I watched—Care Teams, Prayer Teams, small group co-leader teams, teaching teams, and the women’s ministry Servant Team. Then zooming out I watched my pastor and his wife serving together, modeling was a team looks like. Next, I watched our session, a plurality of elders, leading our church—all serving together. All these teams reflect the Godhead—the ultimate team of three persons in one being, eternally serving and pouring into each other. And the best part is, we are invited into that union! As Jesus prayed in John 17: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (vv.22-23)...

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Walking With God in Motherhood

By Christina Fox|2023-08-15T13:46:09+00:00February 23, 2023|Blog, Motherhood|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST BETHANY BELUE|GUEST The moment I brought my little boy home from the hospital, so much in my life changed. Overnight, my whole world shifted, and I began to see life through the lens of another human being who was completely dependent upon me. My time went from things I needed to do to what the baby needed: when did he need to eat, when did he need to sleep, and why was he crying so hard? One morning, as I stood at my sink looking out at the fresh flowers in the flower box outside my kitchen window, while my baby slept in the room beside me, tears welled in my eyes. Motherhood overwhelmed me. The to-do list felt endless, the sleep felt too little, and the needs of this tiny little human felt exhausting. My need for the Lord felt great, yet my time with Him was almost nonexistent. In that moment, the voice of the Lord spoke to me, a voice of love and compassion: “My presence will be with you and I will give you rest” (Ex. 33:14). I’m not sure there could have been more needed words for a tired, anxious, first-time mother. I knew then that He was near and He saw me. He reminded me that in those days of early motherhood, He was with me, and although rest may not be found in sleep, it was found in Him...

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A Celebration Grounded in Prayer: How You Can Pray for the PCA

By Christina Fox|2023-03-24T17:22:49+00:00January 26, 2023|Blog, Prayer|

MARLYS ROOS|GUEST In 2023, the Presbyterian Church in America will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Years before its organization, those who would become founding members prayed individually and corporately about separating from the southern Presbyterian Church to form a new denomination. In 1973, before the Convocation of Sessions met to form the PCA, twenty-nine churches in eleven states held a two-day prayer vigil asking God for guidance.[i] A Celebration Grounded in Prayer With the importance of prayer in the PCA’s birth, it is only natural prayer should play a role in the 50th anniversary celebration. At the 49th General Assembly, the Anniversary Celebration Committee was introduced, from which was formed the sub-committee for prayer made up of Sue Pitzer, Susan Hunt, and Laura Dowling. These three were charged with “organizing initiatives and support materials to ground the 50th year celebration in prayer, fostering a growing culture of ongoing prayer similar to that out of which the PCA began . . . , and generating a list of stories of answered prayers and ongoing prayers to encourage the generations to come to continue to be a church ‘true to the Bible and the Reformed faith and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.’”[ii] In other words, they were to develop the means to involve all members of the PCA in united, worshipful prayer. As they brainstormed about member participation, they decided to create a calendar for members to use in 2023. It would incorporate the initiatives of “50 Weeks of Prayer for the PCA” and the two denomination-wide days of prayer (May 21 and December 3). With her love for discipling children, Susan Hunt wanted to include a way for children to participate too. So, she contacted Stephen Estock (PCA’s Committee on Discipleship Ministries Coordinator) to ask for CDM’s help. He suggested the prayer committee work with Katie Flores, PCA’s Children’s Ministry Director to develop a plan for families[iii] and that I be brought in to oversee its publication...

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A Journey Worth Taking

By Christina Fox|2023-03-24T17:45:44+00:00December 19, 2022|Blog|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST When I was a child, our family would take long road trips in our brown-paneled Dodge Caravan. My sister and I each got our own row, and we would nestle down in our matching Care Bear sleeping bags, with all the snacks and activities a kid would want. My dad’s road trip tunes of choice, Barry Manilow, became the background music for our journey. It was the ideal family road trip setup. But no matter how many activities we played, how many snacks we ate, or how beautiful the scenery outside, I would always ask that question that sends a shiver up every parent’s spine, “Are we there yet?” Every trip is too long, and the destination is always better than the journey. The Journeys of Life As an adult, I still don’t like road trips, but I understand that to get to any destination there must be a journey. I thought about this as I recently celebrated my 40th birthday. I reflected on the past 20 years of my life and where the Lord has brought me. As a 20-year-old, I had big dreams for my life. I had a plan for marriage, children, career, and even where I would travel and when. I had no idea I wouldn’t meet my husband for 13 more years, or that I’d walk a road of infertility before becoming a mom 17 years later. I didn’t know my career would go in a completely different direction, that friends would pass away, that desires would go unmet, or that I’d receive gifts unimaginable...

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Giving Thanks Every Day

By Christina Fox|2023-03-24T17:46:59+00:00November 14, 2022|Blog, Thanksgiving|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST Ten years ago, I sat across the table from a dear friend whose mother had recently passed away. As we shared a bowl of cheese dip, she talked to me about the pain of losing someone so close to her. Her grief was raw; her questions were real. But what I saw even more was how she clung to Jesus through her pain. That night she shared with me about keeping a journal of gratitude through the difficult season of watching her mom battle an illness and eventually go into the arms of Jesus. Each night, she wrote out specific things she was thankful for, things she was trusting God for, and a promise of God she was clinging to. Over time, she had pages and pages filled with her thoughts and desires. Although it did not change her circumstances, it gave her perspective in the midst of life's storms. What Happens When We Trace God’s Goodness As I walked the Manhattan streets back to my apartment that night, I was challenged by the discipline of my friend and her simple practice to remind herself of truth. At that time, I was in a season where life felt mundane and so many desires were unmet. It was so easy to lay my head on my pillow at the end of the day and think that the Lord was not answering my prayers and wonder where He was in my story. That night, I decided to start keeping my own journal...

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Hurrah for the Seasons

By Christina Fox|2023-03-24T17:47:08+00:00November 10, 2022|Blog, Christmas|

HOLLY MACKLE|CONTRIBUTOR In college a friend told me she welcomes the seasons—even celebrates them. I’m sure I nodded to look cool, “I totally get that.” (Not likely.) I’m getting older now, with definitely more wrinkles and possibly more maturity, but finally I get it. Now I too celebrate the seasons. For me, this celebrating of the seasons is more than pumpkin spice lattes and tall boots—it’s about worship. God has been about the business of seasonality for a long time. He’s the One who set the Old Testament festivities for his glory and our good when we were just being introduced to his character. By way of introduction, the Old Testament Jews were given Passover, Purim, and the Feast of Booths—just to name a few. Through them it’s as if he said, Allow me to introduce myself. And once you understand me a little bit more you’re going to want to worship me—so here’s how you do it, and here’s how you celebrate who I am and the story I am writing. On this side of the cross, we have tremendous Christian liberty and holiday celebratory leeway as we walk around indwelt with Christ himself—the personification of the Temple, Jesus—abiding in our very hearts. In John 2:19 Jesus referred to himself as the temple, and 2 Corinthians 6:16 pulls from Leviticus 26:11-12 to explain how this indwelling extends to us, “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”...

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The Most Important Discipleship Group

By Christina Fox|2023-03-24T17:49:07+00:00September 26, 2022|Blog, Parenting|

SHEA PATRICK|CONTRIBUTOR In high school and college, I participated in discipleship groups. These groups met each week to talk about our struggles and what the Lord was teaching us. I grew in my relationship with the Lord because of these wonderful opportunities to learn and grow in my faith. But as I became a mom and began to consider what it looks like to disciple my children, the discipleship model I was used to did not seem to fit. My children would not even sit still! With the Lord’s help, I have reconsidered what discipling my kids means and how it changes as they grow and mature. Now that my kids are nine through fourteen years old, discipleship looks very different from my early expectations. But the three main components of instructing, coming alongside, and getting at the heart have remained consistent...

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