Lately I have had it on my heart to write a post about the Gospel message.  Pure and simple.  I know many of you who read No Boys Allowed are believers in Christ, but chances are some of you are not.  Maybe it’s because you’ve been jaded by the church or you think being a Christian is boring and lifeless.  But maybe, just maybe, it’s because you have never heard about what Jesus did for you. 

I was raised in a Christian home, and assumed I was a Christian because I was a good kid and had Christian parents.  I knew all the Sunday school songs, had verses memorized, and was familiar with all the Bible stories and characters.  But in the summer between grades six and seven, I attended a prayer meeting at a Christian camp and my life changed forever. I was sitting there with my eyes closed, and suddenly I envisioned a gift being held out to me.  The gift would only be mine if I accepted it, and I hesitated.  I realized for the first time in my young life that Jesus was offering me the gift of His life and salvation, but I had to accept it in order for it to be mine.  So I did. I made the decision that day to follow Jesus and I haven’t looked back since.  It was the best choice I have ever made!

Here’s the Gospel Message in the words of author Max Lucado:

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us.  Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear.  Here is how it happens.  You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes.  Because of His justice He cannot dismiss your sin, but because of His love He cannot dismiss you.  So, in an act which stunned the heavens, he punished Himself on the cross for your sins.  God’s justice and love are equally honoured.  And you, God’s creation, are forgiven. 

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None of us are good enough.  All you need to do is look around you and see the brokenness of the world to know that this is true.  But the good news is that God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died.  But it didn’t end there: He rose from the dead, conquered death and sin, and offers life and hope to all who believe.  This is SUCH good news!  If we come to Him with humbled hearts, admit that we can’t be perfect, and confess our sin and brokenness, He is faithful to forgive us.  The Bible says that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we are saved.  Saved not only from eternal separation from Him and all that is good, but saved for a life of purpose and meaning here on earth.  I can’t tell you how full my life has been since giving it to Jesus.

No matter how far you’ve fallen, no matter how “non-religious” your background, no matter what you have done, no matter how “bad” you are, no matter how little you know about church, Jesus offers you hope and life in Him.  But you need to receive the gift He is holding out to you.  It is my prayer that you do!

Love you ladies,
Michelle

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I’m sure many of you played the board game called LIFE when you were growing up.  If you didn’t, the premise of the game is that each player makes their way through their life, getting an education, a career, a family, a car, and a house as they go.  Some decisions are made by the player, but sometimes life throws curve balls that each player must adapt to.

I was thinking about the board game randomly the other day, and remembered that the end goal is retirement.  The player with the most amount of money at the end when they ‘retired’ won the game.

Quite frankly, this makes me sick. It makes me sick because it is such a perfect reflection of our North American society.  We are always speeding ahead - getting that education, getting that new car, getting that amazing career…that we forget what our lives are actually about.  It is so sad to me that we are so obsessed with money, comfort, and security that we live our whole lives for the ultimate goal of a cozy retirement.

But what if life throws a curveball?

Three years ago today my best friend Katharine died in a car accident.  She was 19 years old.  If this wasn’t a curveball, I don’t know what is.  The fact is that we do not know when God will call us home.  If we spend our whole life racing ahead, we may find ourselves so far outside of God’s will that we don’t even hear his voice anymore.  I’d rather die broke and ragged serving Christ, knowing that I am doing His will, than congratulating myself at the end of my life at all the money and personal achievements I made.

Girls, let’s play this game called LIFE well.  If you are racing ahead and don’t know why, take this weekend to make some major changes.

Michelle

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As Easter gets closer, I have been thinking about Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Though fully innocent, He died a criminal’s death on a Roman cross.  For us.  But the part of the story that gives me shivers is when the women went to the tomb and found it…EMPTY!

Can you imagine how crazy it would be to see it all firsthand?  What would be running through your mind?  What kind of earth-shattering power raises someone from the dead?

It is the same power that lives inside of you.

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.  And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.  Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.” -Romans 8:11,12

If you have asked Jesus to become your Lord and Saviour, the very same Spirit that raised Him from the dead has taken residence within you.  Let this sink in and ask yourself the following:

How is God’s power evident in my life?  What is my sinful nature urging me to do, and how often do I remember that I am under no obligation to follow it?  Have a wrongly assumed that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is somehow different from the Spirit that lives in me?  What would my life look like if I lived out this verse?

Ladies, if you feel like you are losing the battle, I encourage you to think of the following words by Casting Crowns as we approach Easter.

I’ll go but I cannot go alone

Until you bring the victory

By the power of Christ in me.

Michelle

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I will never forget the shrieks of laughter that occurred this past Thursday morning.  We ran, giggled, spun in circles, fell head first down the drive way and haltingly picked ourselves back up for the better part of an hour.  I could give you time to guess what we were doing…but you wouldn’t!  We were chasing shadows. That’s it.  There were no dramatic events or special props we were just enjoying a beautiful spring day and the effects that the shining sun was giving us.  Playing is one of my favorite parts of my job!  For those hours while I look after these children, I get to stop acting like an adult and get down to their level.  I get to relearn life and how each small detail thrills or horrifies them.

As Sam and I chased our shadows, I began to wonder…when exactly was it that I stopped loving the simple things of life?  When did I stop being thrilled by a shadow, or awed by moth?  Children have this unique gift of taking time to smell the roses and appreciate the hugeness of everything God has given to us.  When was the last time I took time out of the busyness of life, to simply enjoy life?  I have found that when I allow the spontaneous, unplanned and sporadic moments to happen and when I have allowed myself to truly appreciate them for all they are, that God has often chosen those moments to whisper his words into my heart.

So here’s the question I’ve been asking myself.  A question that really I think we all need to be asking.  How can I begin appreciating the simple things of life again? What needs to change in my life so that I recognize the simple things as being unique God moments?  Today I took time out for a long walk in nature and a phone call to my Grandma.  Not only do I feel less stressed then I do when I am in constant high gear mode, but I also have a Grandma who was blessed that I thought to call her and made sure to tell me that she prays for me daily.

So what does it look like for you?

Andrea

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I received an email from Rebekah Hoefnagels last week.  This is what it said…

Hey Jay, I was on your website today and I found it very interesting. I am passionate about the way women treat others and get treated negatively in our culture. I am not a feminist but I think that girls too often get sucked into false things (reality tv shows, clothing, popularity etc).

This is something I wrote a bit ago, that you haven’t touched on (from what I could see) on the website that I think should be addressed. it’s just an idea, pull ideas from it if you like and write something more relevant to the website. and Beware: It’s just a bunch of random thoughts thrown together.

Which is great, because this entire website is just a bunch of random thoughts thrown together!  As you can see, Rebekah is passionate that women learn to live right.  Which makes me very happy.  Check out her thoughts below…

This is Rebekah.

Don’t you love getting told that you are beautiful?

That you made a difference in someone’s life?

That you are funny?

We all know that sometimes a comment can either brighten our day or ruin it. So why is it that we continue to judge people and comment about their lives that we really don’t know anything about?

Yes a girl may have done something mean to you but that doesn’t mean you should go and tell others that she is a terrible person. A girl may not be up on the latest fashion trends but that doesn’t mean that she is out of touch with reality and won’t be hurt when you make fun of her clothes. And even if we don’t cut people down we still don’t go out of our way to encourage them.

For some reason subconsciously we think that if we tell someone they did a good job or look nice or are funny then that means they are better then us. We want to be at the top, the best in hopes of increasing our self-esteem. But all this competition just hurts us. Instead of having a group of close friends you will have a group of girls you are competing against so you don’t tell them your fears, struggles, and weaknesses.

When you truly believe that “you are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and that your identity lies in Christ (not in the clothes you own, the friends you have, the sports you play), encouraging others will come easily.

As females we need to come together and lift each other up. Too often in the media we get told to look a certain way, have certain interests, and date a lot to be confident. But our confidence comes from Christ. If we expect guys to treat us with respect we need to start treating each other with respect.

And if we don’t get treated with respect, don’t turn around and talk about it to someone else, forgive. “May we understand that forgiveness doesn’t justify the other person’s actions; instead, it makes us free.” I challenge you go against the flow and encourage those around you.

Rebekah

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