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Showing posts from August, 2019

The Pursuit of Holiness | Hebrews 12

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Welcome to Real Life . What are you pursuing? Run swiftly toward holiness, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 TPT Dark clouds gather. A storm brews. I try. But nothing I do-say-think seems good enough, pure enough for a holy God. Holiness feels daunting at times—like scaling One World Trade Center! When I think this way, I'm caught in an old trap. I’m attempting holiness in my own strength. And it is impossible! It's also a form of legalism. “Legalism is a matter of the heart, (legalism is) not obedience to God and radical love for others. Legalism is when we’re trying to earn God’s favor to be saved, not when we’re following Jesus because we’re saved by grace.”  –John Piper [1] Legalism places us back on Mt. Sinai. The stormy mountain is ablaze. The ground quakes. God’s voice booms like thunder. “Please don’t speak!” we beg, trembling. “Who can stand before you?” In our own strength, we try. We offer endless sacrifices. But nothing

Ministry Spotlight: Rita Ballenger, Abolition Bakery

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Welcome to  Real Life ! Join my conversation with…  Rita Ballenger, Founder Abolition Bakery www.abolitionbakery.com Mission: To raise awareness of human trafficking and to raise funds for organizations that serve human trafficking survivors. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, For the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted And to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” Isaiah 61:1 NLT I was shocked. I fully expected to hear about human trafficking in third world countries. Instead, I learned about human trafficking in our states, our city, and in every city!  Rita thought when she attended a human trafficking presentation by the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking. Rita, how did Abolition Bakery happen? After hearing the HT presentation, I immediately took their speaker training to promote HT awareness. At the time, I was enrolled in the Culinary Baking Trac