Author: sharon

The Seven Checkpoints by Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall cover the critical beliefs that our youth question within their belief system. It exposes the world’s point of view that compromise their thinking resulting in actions and lifestyle which set them up for disappointments, confusion, and just plain trouble.

From learning how to establish moral boundaries (how and when sex is a part of their lives) to choosing friends and the consequences, whether good or bad, Seven Checkpoints sets a foundation they can see and accept with clarity.

Having a copy of this book at your fingertips will have you ready to offer solid solutions that are obtainable and supplies a path of guidance for parents and youth leaders wanting to fulfill their role God has given to them.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green proves that big things really do come in small packages. First published in 1951, My Heart – Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger, may be considered a tiny literary work but it is filled with timeless truth.

In John 17, Jesus prayed to His Father, “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

I Corinthians 3 says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Grasping this truth is a discipline in the Christian life.

Join in the exploration of this treasured masterpiece as Munger shares his depiction on how to apply scripture to our lives.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green takes the book “9 Must-Have Conversations for a Doubt-Free Wedding Day” by Gary Thomas and Doctors Steve and Rebecca Wilke and gives us an inside look.

There are a lot of challenges in life but making and keeping a happy marriage is a rare art form.  Less than 1% of marriages worldwide ever make it to the 50 year anniversary.  Expectations for an intimate relationship most of the time are based on desires, personal needs and wants.  When those are not fulfilled the pain and disappointments of living exposes our true character and independent personalities. People are not prepared to preserve and sacrifice for what they once held so dear.

Having the RIGHT premarital counseling can establish the priority of any marriage and set the goals for a couple that will thrive and not just survive in a “me first” society.  Marriage wasn’t created just to make us happy, but to merge two lives into one for the ultimate glory of God.  Helpful hints from this book can make falling in love a life long passion for staying in love.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green takes a look at Peace Perfect Peace by F.B. Meyer and finds that perfect peace comes with a high price tag.  It has been purchased through the Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It cleared us of our helpless position and provides guaranteed hope for now and all eternity. It also gives us the ability to live fruitful conditions within circumstances, while we travel our earthly life, in quiet confidence and joy.

When we are troubled we will cry out for peace which He says He alone gives.  Not as the world gives, which is relief from temporal troubles, happy circumstances, escape patterns for just the here and now.  We pray to desire the world’s mindset and wonder why we don’t have peace. Because peace comes from above and from a PERSON, Jesus Christ.

In John, chapters 14-16 Jesus gives an understanding on how to be nourished in the peace that He gives. Praying for peace within but refusing to rely on the PERSON of PEACE may close the door to the supply we so desperately need and desire.

To have a mindset of wanting peace but not paying the price of loving Jesus with our whole heart, departing from the ways of the world, and resisting the enemy will withhold His peace that He has already provided, freely. It is not a thing we obtain but a Person we trust.

He never said peace would be without tribulations, but peace could still be ours in the tribulation of life.

Open your eyes and ears to true peace as you follow Peace Perfect Peace by F.B. Meyer.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green continues with Part 2 of “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn. It will bring joy to our spirits and rest to our souls as we anticipate our forever together.

• • Eternal life in the immediate presence of the triune God.
• • All that diminishes the quality of life on earth will be gone in heaven.
• • The heights of joy on earth will be eclipsed in heaven.
• • Failure and its consequences will be a thing of the past.
• • No more temptations from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
• • Knowledge will no longer be limited.
• • The body will no longer suffer from mental, emotional, physical anguish.
• •Seeing our loved ones, making new relationships and getting acquainted  with those that paved the way before us.

HEAVEN IS BETTER – FAR BETTER – THAN THE BEST EXPERIENCES OF EARTH

This week on Sharin’ Hearts The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green begins to share insight into “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.

Most of us believe there is an afterlife.  Even if the body returns to dust for an unknown period of time, we do live on; but where?  Luke 16 gives a description of one who chose to live for himself here on earth, and after dying, tells a grim story for those who reject the way of Life in Jesus Christ. In that same chapter, there is a great insight for those that trust, no matter difficult life was while walking on earth. Many that are confident in their home going to Heaven still have questions about facts of their future.

• How do we Gain Entrance into Heaven?
• Is Heaven a Place or a State of Mind?
• Will We Know One Another in Heaven?
• What Will Our Resurrection Bodies Be Like?
• What Will We Do in Heaven?
• What are the Mansions like that Await Us?
• Who Will Receive Rewards in Heaven?

And so many more questions.  The Word is very specific on some issues and gives glimpses into other matters that cause us to need to know the Word and accept, by faith, our Heavenly Father when “unknowns” to us still exist.

Heaven by Randy Alcorn, define answers that bring great peace and comfort to those that want the “real deal”.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green pulls “A Christian Manifesto” by Francis Schaeffer from the shelf to examine.

Most of the Christian world of today know little or nothing of a biblical world view regarding life.  We may know scripture or have a sincere desire to serve the Lord; however, we lack an understanding of how to view life through biblical eyes. For this biblical world view, we need to use the word of God to define our decisions and actions regarding circumstances, situation, relationships, and choices that need to be made each day of our lives.

A Christian Manifesto is not an easy book to assimilate into the fabric of one’s daily walk.  It is a book that is worth making a commitment to read and understand the erosion in our world culture.

Christians have been slow to see the decay of values.  This is mainly due to our dividing between our “spiritual” and the “material” worlds.  True reality is the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life.

What it is to know the True and Living God in a practical way; opening our minds, strengthening our convictions and consciences to impact ourselves and those around us.

“But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so  that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” Acts 20:24

For those whose lives are hit with a crisis that turns into a lifestyle, this verse should be what we keep before us at all times. The goal is to accept what we may not be able to change, whether it is only for a season or extends for a lifetime.

Pain does have purpose, but most of the time our first priority is to get out of pain. We may search the many different options afforded us to find a relief from pain; sometimes to no avail.  Pain should not stop us, only reorient our hearts with Heaven, our eternal home.

If pain comes and makes a home in your body and soul, then we need to reflect on God’s  Plan:

• God has a PURPOSE, He never moves without purpose or plan.
• God has the PERSPECTIVE, He sees things from the perspective of eternity.
• God has a PROGRAM, says suffering is part of the plan and not to be avoided.

So come be a part as Ginger explores You Gotta Keep Dancin’ by Tim Hansel

Today we tackle the issue of sanctity of human life.  Immediately the scripture found in Psalms 139 sets out the  foundation for how and when we come into life.  “For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul  knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written.  The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them”.

Seeing how we were planned in the mind of God as being “formed ” by His doing, we can then turn to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “ Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For your were bought with  a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s”.

Based on only these two scripture passages, we have outlined for us the wrong of abortion. Hearing the stories of lives destroyed because they were convinced that they owned their own  bodies and can do with them as they please, sets up individuals, as well as a nation, to stand in the presence of God in disobedience and unbelief of the Truth; with consequences.

When small moments of time are all you have to call your own, this book, written in concise short chapters, is perfect. Today, Ginger explores The Way of the Cross by J. Gregory Mantle.

This book discusses one of the most crucial principles of the Christian life that we rarely find being talked about in today’s Christian circles.

Mantle digs into the heart of the church and seeks to pull out the root of sin. This small book is packed with nutrients that feeds a hungry saint in search for a closer walk.

Ginger recommends that we use this book as a devotion for a month to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” Romans 7:15

How often have you said the very words Paul expresses here in Romans? How often have you felt the frustration of trying without succeeding? How often have you meant to please the Savior, only to fail utterly? How can you escape these feelings of guilt and sometimes even despair?

In Adjust or Self Destruct, author Craig Massey describes and illustrates these struggles in terms of the old and new natures that the Bible speaks about; particularly in Romans Chapter Seven. He discusses the titles the Bible uses for the two natures, the effect each nature often has on the Believer, the effect each nature should have on the Believer, and ways to mature towards Christ-likeness.

This book is for the Christian; new or old, young or mature, who, in seeking to live a Christ-like-life, feels as though they may self-destruct at any moment in the vague struggle of trying and feeling guilty. Adjustment is imperative, but above all, it is God who gives the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So come be a part as we join Craig Massey in the study of the Believer’s two natures.

This week on Sharin Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green explores What the Bible Says About Child Training by J. Richard Fugate.

The book is based solely upon the Biblical viewpoint and acceptance of the Bible as the final authority of truth.

There are many conflicting theories about how to train children, disagreements on means of discipline, and confusion on the definition of love.

“The need for clear guidelines for parents to be successful in child training is dramatically evident in our society today.” But more importantly than helping parents be successful in training their children, is the hope to save our nation.

“Are you a Fan of Jesus or a Follower?”

Ginger Green takes us on a journey through the book Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. As she leads us through this book, she asks several questions along the way that empowers us to search our heart to discover the true intent of our hearts. “Am I a self-empowered fan or a spirit-filled follower” is one question that we will be able to answer at the end, if we will take each step with purpose and honest examination.

This week on Sharin’ Hearts: The Fireside Bookshelf, Ginger Green takes a look at True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer.

Are you tired of not seeing results in your own spiritual life and others.? Do you find yourself talking about Christianity, but not living it? IS being a Christian really making a difference in your life? If you are struggling with deeply perplexing questions like this… you are not alone.

After being a pastor for over a decade, Francis Schaeffer, founder of the L’Abri Fellowship found himself wrestling with these same questions and so he decided to go back to the beginning and reexamine his Christian faith.

The result of Schaeffer’s search for honest answers was amazing. So come be a part as we examine his work entitled, “True Spirituality” and take the journey with Mr. Schaeffer as he helps us to learn, “How to live for Jesus moment by moment

“And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray” Luke 11:1.

Ginger Green takes a journey with us through the pages of “With Christ in the School of Prayer” by Rev. Andrew Murray. As long as we look at prayer, chiefly as a means of maintaining our own Christian life, we shall not know fully what it is meant to be. But, when we learn to regard it as the highest part of the work entrusted to us, the root and strength of all other work, we shall see that there is nothing that we need to so study and practice as the art of praying aright. This classic is clearly written and arranged in such a way, as to break it down into perfectly proportioned bites.

“If marriage is this wonderful thing designed by God, then why does it seem that mine is always so filled with stress and strife.”

Ginger answers this question as she shares the “Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas. She shares her personal experience and how God used this book to enlighten her understanding of a Biblical marriage. Many of us enter into marriage with expectations that no one can ever measure up to them. There is an enemy to your marriage in the room, but it isn’t your spouse; the true enemy has set out to wage war on Christian marriages. Join Ginger as she explores some of the framework that makes up what God intended in marriage.