Back in August, I wrote a post called A First Look at Beth Moore. It was the result of my first exploration into the ministry and teachings of Mrs. Moore, an exploration that turned up a number of problems. Please see that post for why I began looking into her ministry and what I discovered. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to become more acquainted with Mrs. Moore. I did more reading online and revisited her website. While there I discovered that it was possible to sign up and watch her Living Proof Live simulcast from the comfort of my own home. I was interested in the simulcast because I knew it was scheduled to be aired at our local church in a couple of weeks, and it seemed like a good way to follow-up and examine her ministry more. Since I would not be able to see it at church because of my health situation, being able to stream the simulcast on my laptop was very convenient. [...]
Today marks one year since I started working on a website for Chapter 3 Ministries. The time has flown by! I praise God that he has allowed me to do this work and that things are going well. Since my last update in July, I moved my site from WordPress.com to a self-hosted site, this one! The move gave me more control over design and a lot more features. Making this new site was fun. I really enjoy the website layout and design work for this ministry. Code is cool. The code files are just letters, number, and symbols; but when you go live with them, they shape the look and layout of the page. If you know what line(s) of code to change or what custom code to add, you can affect the changes you want. The first time I saw how it worked, I was amazed and hooked! [...]
A special thing happened at church this past Sunday. My husband and I had the chance to testify to the goodness of God in the midst of suffering. We shared about our life situation regarding my chronic health problems and how God has sustained us through it all. It was a real blessing to be able to attend church again and to testify. We are so thankful that we had this opportunity.
This came about because my husband Butch sent an e-mail to the pastor. The pastor is currently preaching a series on suffering called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering: The Gospel According to Job”. Without me knowing about it, Butch wrote to him to share our story with him and to thank him for the series. [...]
Counterfeiting is alive and well in America and across the world. The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), an organization dedicated to fighting counterfeiting and safeguarding intellectual property, reports that the Department of Homeland Security confiscated counterfeit goods worth more than $1.7 billion at our borders in Fiscal Year 2013. The coalition also reports that counterfeiting is a major problem worldwide.¹ When I think of counterfeiting, I immediately think of money; but all sorts of goods are also counterfeited including car parts, handbags, watches, and jewelry. I wonder if 3D printing technology will open up a whole new world for counterfeiters. If so, the government and the IACC are going to be quite busy.
Being aware that there are fakes out there can go a long way in protecting us from being taken. This is true not only for consumer products but also for matters of faith. We need to look out for counterfeit Christianity. [...]
With 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and 31,102 verses¹, the Bible is a considerable read. I have seen word counts of approximately 780,000.² War and Peace “only” has 561, 304 words!³ Have you read The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy? Combined they are only 576,459 words.³ The Bible exceeds this by over 200,000 words! The Bible is a thick book, but it is wonderful. It contains words of eternal life and the greatest story ever told.
Since the Bible is so big, it is helpful to have resources that summarize things for us. [...]
Suffering is universal. It is experienced by all who live and breathe upon our planet Earth. It cannot be avoided or paid off or scammed. It comes and for some it comes often and brutally. There are many ways to suffer be it emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually. I would not dare to choose which is the easiest to deal with, because suffering is very personal. Some of us can handle physical pain better than emotional or vice versa. In my mind, neither the type nor the amount of suffering can be truly weighed by anyone but the person experiencing it. When people apologize for telling me about their troubles in light of my own suffering, I always tell them there’s no need to apologize. Their troubles are troubles to them. They experience whatever sorrow or pain they do in their own being. If they think it’s bad, then I want to be there for them. I don’t minimize any suffering in light of another.
What I do try to do is share what has helped me through my trials with suffering due to chronic pain. [...]
This past week students everywhere went back to school. New milestones were reached as some started their first day of kindergarten while others started high school. Our family reached our own milestone this past week. We have begun our final year of homeschooling! We started eighteen years ago with our daughter and now we are finishing with our son. He has begun his senior year.
It is not easy to describe what homeschooling has meant to me all these years. I believe it is one of the best decisions my husband and I have ever made. It was right for our family and has brought many blessings. [...]
Beth Moore is a name that many women are familiar with. She is the founder of Living Proof Ministries and the author of many books and Bible studies. Her name is familiar to me as well. I have heard her name off and on through the years, though I have not taken any of her studies. I do know women who have used her material. Some of those women participated in studies offered through the Women’s Ministry at our church. I never pursued her studies there because they didn’t appear to be the kind of studies that I prefer. Recently, I became a lot more interested in Mrs. Moore. This is because I learned that on September 13 our local church is going to be hosting a live Beth Moore simulcast. [...]
In my post God-Fashioned Living I mentioned that there are obstacles that can interfere with submission. Some come from the world around us and some come from within us. Not every wife will experience the same obstacles, but I think it’s safe to say that we all face them. Even when our heart fully desires to follow the Lord’s will, we can still face challenges that hinder our submission. Thankfully with the Lord’s grace and help we can grow in those areas.
This week I’d like to take a look at one obstacle that some wives experience: A Perceived Intelligence Gap. [...]
Welcome to the new home of Chapter 3 Ministries! I recently made the move from Chapter 3 Ministries on WordPress.com to chapter3min.org. I am excited about the opportunities this brings. I invite you to take a look around.
My next few posts will be posted here and on my old website. I am doing this to provide readers a few opportunities to connect with me here. After that, I will no longer be posting there and will set up a redirect. [...}
God is beautiful. His beauty is discernible even though we cannot see him. Nothing compares to him nor is anyone like him. He is holy and good, not in the sense that we are – only to our flawed, finite, human limits – but intrinsically, infinitely, and perfectly. That alone is mind-boggling beauty, but there is more. There's always more when it comes to God. [...]
The following post is by blog contributor Judy Bourret
“A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine.” So true! And the opposite is true, too,”but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (KJV) My heart tends to be merry pretty easily, for which I am thankful. I see blessings and beauty and fun in my daily life most days. There are days, though, when my spirit does feel broken. Life on this planet can be tough, discouraging, and even depressing. I believe 100% that God is in control, [...]
It is with great joy that I welcome Judy Bourret as a new contributor to the Chapter 3 blog. Judy is a beautiful woman of faith who brightens a room as soon as she enters. Her optimism is contagious and her gentle kindness is inspiring. I have no doubt her posts will be a blessing. She is a faithful Christian who seeks the will of God in all areas of her life. [...]
Tomorrow is Father’s Day! It is a joy for me to come to my first Father’s Day after starting this site. That means I have a really good reason for writing about my husband, not that I need one. There is much that I could say about him and probably would if the world could endure it. He is an exemplary husband and father. In him I see the love of Christ poured out daily. [...]
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV) These familiar words are comforting and give perspective to a lot of situations, many of which are listed in the verses that follow. For example, verse 7 mentions that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. How true is that? That wisdom can save us a lot of trouble. I have found that wisdom practically helpful in the work of apologetics. [...]
