2021 Schedule
Thank you for your patience! Here’s the schedule for this year’s VWEC. Packed with goodness…
You can register HERE if you haven’t let us know you’re coming. All welcome, and it’s FREE!!!
~Shannon
Thank you for your patience! Here’s the schedule for this year’s VWEC. Packed with goodness…
You can register HERE if you haven’t let us know you’re coming. All welcome, and it’s FREE!!!
~Shannon
Want to take a listen? We discuss the upcoming conference, the right kind of comfort, neediness, and Bible Chat goodness.
Check out the latest episode HERE!
Make sure you check in as more and more details are shared! But no need to wait, you can register right away!
You can find the information for VWEC 2021 has begun to be shared right HERE!
Can’t wait to see you there!
đ±Are you committing Bible Study Adultery?
The only teacher you need is the Holy Spirit. Do you believe this verse? Or do you just believe and obey what the commanding voices in your life have said?
Itâs time to get to know Scripture for yourself⊠just between you, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. Thatâs it.
Itâs a big deal in the Bible Challenge to say no to commentaries & study Bible notes. This verse I shared is what drives me to unadulterated time with my Bible.
I get a lot of commentary in life. I chat doctrine with people, I read books, I listen to sermons. I get a lot of input on the thoughts, convictions, and doctrines of others. But when I sit down to read my Bible Challenge portion each day, no one else is allowed in with their views for that time Iâm spending with the Holy Spirit whoâs anointing teaches me what I need to know. We donât need a third wheel for our Bible time. We just need the mind of Christ free to lead us to what we need to learn.
Many of you are following commanding people with their commanding doctrines & rules with no ability to defend your (their) stance from Scripture. Many of you follow a way of thinking & obey certain folks not veering from it because you fear the backlash from those commanding presences in your life. Itâs time for the desert island approach again! Itâs time to ask yourself, âIf I had never met so-n-so would I read my Bible and come to THAT conclusion?â Ask the Holy Spirit to show you wondrous things from your Bible time. Heâs quite capable to teach you all you need to know even if you never pick up a commentary again and ignore all your so-n-soâs for a while. đ đđ»đ
~Shannon
Can you imagine a farmer that gets up and runs 5k each day, works out at the gym, then watches videos of previous races in order to tweak how he can run faster for another competition? Can he really expect to look out at his corn field and see it thriving and producing? Heâd be crazy to expect to reap a harvest from the land while heâs off focused on a completely different set of goals.
⊠Or an athlete who gets up to bacon and eggs every morning before heading out to check cattle and mend fences expecting to nail the 100m dash at the olympics the next time they roll around.
⊠A carpenter who spends his days fixing cars⊠you get the idea.
Paul reminds us to remember whoâs and what we are. đđ»We are Christâs soldiers – âRemember Jesus ChristâŠfor which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!â (2Tim.2:8,9) Though things werenât playing out comfortably for Paul he could look at his job description and being in jail didnât change the fact that he was fulfilling his duty. The Word of God was being obeyed and displayed through him. He was obeying his Master, Jesus Christ.
If Christ saved you, remember you are HIS and playing by HIS rules and following HIS orders and you arenât to be getting sidetracked by orders or plans from outside the camp. Stick with your purpose no matter how bossy or alluring rules are from other professions or commanding officers⊠they arenât yours; you are Christâs.
~Shannon
Girl, are you vulnerable?
Can you stand your ground spiritually? Or are the voices and influences around you able to shake you up and convince you of their way of thinking and distract you from your rightful course?
Is the culture, christian or secular, leading you around like a puppet on a string without you even realizing it?
This is why the Bible Challenge is so important. The independent confidence through learning hard and fast Truth from the Word of God grounds us women who can quickly be swayed by emotion, difficult relationships, material enjoyment, and selfishness. We are so easily bogged down and blinded by our sinful circumstancesâŠthe same sinful circumstances hailed as powerful and life giving and âyour rightâ by those around us.
The clarity that Scripture study brings will give you STRENGTH, LIGHTEN your sin burden, and FREEDOM from your self. Youâll start GAINING ground in your knowledge of the TRUTH and stop being tossed about by every wind of philosophy & doctrine that crosses your path.
After being in your Bible with us day after day I hope youâre seeing a stark contrast in your life compared to these verses in 2 Timothy. The Bible Challenge ladies are growing in their strength and the Spirit is using Scripture to save us from being lovers of self. (Shout out to the guys reading along, too! But these verses aređ„ for us ladies. Amen?!đ )
~Shannon
đ„ đ· Christ came in flesh to break bread WITH His people, and to break His body FOR them. He poured the wine at the table WITH them as one last object lesson of His blood Heâd be pouring out FOR them in a matter of hours.
đ„ đ· With & For. Two extremely important words. Jesus modelled life for us. He got down on His knees with a basin and washed filthy feet to show us what life should look like. Life is meant to be up close and personal… dirty and smelly and raw. He broke His body for us from day one and we have Scripture to pour over each day to learn how to pour ourselves out into the lives of others, striving to be like Christ.
đ„ đ· One thing that is becoming louder and clearer these days is that you canât break your body for people arenât with. You canât commune with a group of people and meet them in their hurt, despair, and confusion at 6 feet apart. You canât rejoice with them and come alongside in fellowship at 6 feet either. You canât distance yourself from people and wash their feet and pass them some nourishment. Jesus commanded full contact and immersion into our local fellowships. Anything less is not what Jesus modelled.
And so, in a day when the lesser authorities in our lives demand allegiance, we donât ask first and foremost what our government says is âlegalâ. We first ask Christ what He requires of His body. We first ask God how to care for, feed, wash, and clothe His possession… all else is secondary.
When we see this ultimate object lesson of a cup and piece of bread we have to understand that God wasnât making sure we wouldnât forget to sit together and drink and chew… He was reminding us to go out and break ourselves and pour ourselves out for His body the way He showed throughout His earthly ministry. We arenât supposed to just remember, weâre supposed to follow in His steps. We are supposed to go out and be WITH and live FOR others. Donât settle for less. Strive to be like Christ, legal or not.
âGather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!â The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah ~ Psalm 50:5
~Shannon
We know that the Old Testament saints were required to perform sacrifices as part of their obedience & worship… those sacrifices were all pictures of what Christ saved us from and a hands-on constant reminder of our dependence on Christâs work.
As I read Daniel 3 again today I realized God didnât want an animal sacrifice this time. It wasnât a sheep or a bull that was going to cover what was necessary for the true worship of almighty God in these circumstances.
Itâs easy to feel godly as you perfectly execute the letter of the law when it only requires your animal to be placed on the altar, the animalâs blood pouring out, not yours. The animalâs flesh licked by the flames, not your own.
What about when God asks you to take it to a whole new level? We know who we truly treasure and worship then. That moment when you have to choose whether youâll climb on the altar yourself or not, because thereâs no animal in sight to cover this sacrifice for you. God wants you. All of you.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didnât choose a lesser sacrifice. Self-preservation wasnât what God was asking for. They gave Him their reasonable and acceptable sacrifice (Romans 12:1), the ultimate form of worship.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~Psalm 51:16,17
~Shannon
~Shannon
đżIn their world their gods wouldnât meet them face to face.
đżTheir godâs hands were tied down with wood, metal, & stone, unable to move unless their worshippers took hold of them.
đżIn their world the gods didnât care so much about revealing themselves to their people and showing up in their need.
đżRevealing a brand spankinâ new secret like a detailed dream someone had was an impossibility. It was pointless to even ask.
âSure, o king! We can help you out! Just let us know what that dream was and weâll figure it out for you!â
But what kind of a god could fill them in, in detail, about the actual dream before they get to the interpretation part?!!!
đ„Thatâs why I love the way God handles his passionately obedient followers being thrown into the 7xâs hotter fire a while later… I believe God was making a point to show up IN FLESH with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He didnât have to. He could have saved them easily without making an appearance. But those Babylonian wise men had a lot to think about beyond the fact that the men werenât harmed, didnât even smell like fire…. The Hebrewâs God had come down and walked the fire WITH them.
đ„We have a God whose dwelling IS with man. He humbled himself to meet us in our need… heâs been doing it all along. And the idol worshippers had a lot more revealed to them that day than just the fact that this God could save. This God was personal. This God came down & met with His people.
~Shannon