Teresa's Treasures

Lifting hands in praise to God while singing is something I've not always been comfortable doing. As a matter of fact, years ago while attending a Sandi Patti concert, I was one of those who cringed when I saw other people lifting theirs. It was something that made me feel very uncomfortable and I was almost embarrassed to be sitting next to someone or near someone who did. I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but on the inside it ashamedly did. I remember thinking it must be a part of "their religion" yet not be a part of mine. I remember wondering if they had always been comfortable raising their hands to God and if everybody in their church raised them as well. I remember almost making fun of them because it was something so out of my comfort zone, I couldn't imagine anyone in my comfort zone doing it. Today, I raise my hands when I sing. It's hard for me not to. Let me tell you why. About four years ago, I was watching television and everytime I saw a ...

My mantra is three-fold. God is in control. His timing is perfect and He has never made a mistake. It’s the first part of my mantra that has gotten me through some very difficult times, but is the part I've struggled with the most. The other two, to me, are the easy parts. When I was 29 and going through the pit of depression, I did not see nor understand, any of the three parts. But, 23 years later, I do. This is what I know about God’s will. God has three wills: Permissive, as in James 3:15--He will let us sin, even though it hurts Him; Perceptive, as in Matt. 7:21--He perceives who is doing His will; and Decretive, as in Acts 2:22, 23--Jesus was crucified according to God's set purpose and foreknowledge. I very much so believe that everything that happens to me has gone through God’s sieve of approval before He ever lets it happen to me. If God did not think I could handle it, He would not have allowed it to happen. That is so hard to understand in our “human” minds, but “if...

My husband is one of GWP's elders, who happens to be on sabbatical. My mother-in-law, his mom, is our preacher’s step mom. My mother-in-law’s husband is the preacher’s dad. The preacher’s dad’s wife’s son is my husband…who happens to be the elder who is on sabbatical. The preacher’s sister gave me a wedding shower when I was marrying her dad’s future wife’s son. The preacher’s biological mom or, the first wife of my mother-in-law’s husband, wallpapered my daughter’s bedroom before she was born. That daughter’s grandfather, my father-in-law, died when my daughter was 7, so the father of our preacher who is married to my mother-in-law became the grandfather to my daughter when my mother-in-law, the mother of the elder on sabbatical, married him. She now considers her grandmother's present husband to be more like a grandfather than the first husband of her grandmother, since she has known him longer. Even though the preacher is leaving, his dad, who is married to my mother-in-law,...

What can I say, when differences arise like some of us are going through right now? Talking about religion, and our beliefs, I believe, brings about more conflict than any other subject. How sad it is that the church becomes the battlefield, instead of the safe haven. There was dissension in the first century church and even Christ himself could not please everbody. I really don't even think He tried. I believe His primary reason for coming to earth was to show man what unconditional love looks like and to save man's soul. He taught us that relationships are more important than rules and that the entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself," Galatians 5:14, and the admonitions continue in Galatians 5:15 when Paul says, "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." During the time my dad was an elder and I was in grade school, the elders at my home congregation, made the de...

Last night during home Bible study I watched as three babies lay on the floor (Kennedy, Bella and Brayden). One baby walked reluctantly from the sidelines into the group (Zoe), knocking over one of the younger ones (Kennedy), while the older ones,(Caroline, Taylor and Ally) played upstairs and Trajan participated with the adults. Intermittently, all or some of them came into the group only to leave again. Each of them, at some time, needed reassurance from parents, help, permission or discipline. Adults surrounding them sang, prayed, and shared a message from scripture, led by my husband. How much like the first century church, our home Bible study really is! Regardless of age, when a person becomes a Christian he comes in a baby. No, not because of ignorance, but because of love. That's how Christians come into the church. God is our first love because He first loved us, way before we loved Him. He wants new converts to be loved, embraced, held and fed. None of the three babies th...