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Shannon Wexelberg Shares Her Story

Grace Reif — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:27:42 +0000

Today Susie is joined by worship leader and well-known recording artist Shannon Wexelberg. We talk about Shannon’s own faith journey, struggles with infertility, adoption, and the power of music in building up the body of Christ.

Key Scripture: Habakkuk 3:17-19

Every Body Matters

Grace Reif — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:45:39 +0000

Few pastors or Christian writers have dared to approach the subject of how proper eating and an active lifestyle can affect how we serve God. Author Gary Thomas offers tips and stories from his new book, Every Body Matters. He reaches all the way back to the apostle Paul, who wrote that we need to prime our bodies to become, ‘an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.’ Together we make a direct connection between our physical choices and their spiritual consequences.

Key Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 9:24-28

Share Jesus!

Justin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:23:41 +0000

For one day our Twin Cities sister station KTIS is running an online campaign to invite people to share their faith:

This Wednesday will be an exciting day at 98.5 KTIS and you are invited to be a part of it!

The majority of Christians don’t feel that it is their responsibility to share their faith and only a small percentage actually do so.

A few of the common reasons why we don’t tell others about the difference that Christ has made in our lives include:

-We are fearful and afraid of rejection
-We lack faith
-We lack knowledge and don’t know where to start

Faith Radio will be joining in on this — posting this message and video to Facebook and Twitter. We’re inviting you to do the same.

Learn more about sending this message of Good News from this website — or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to follow along with the day’s campaign to Share Jesus via Social Media.

A Wood-Carved Valentine

Jennifer Dukes Lee — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:12:03 +0000

I ask the world’s most obvious question: “All right, who did this?”

I jab a finger at the letters carved into the back of the wooden kitchen chair:
A N N A.

Anna’s older sister chimes in first, rolling her eyes for dramatic effect. “I recognize those backwards Ns anywhere,” she says.

Anna’s fork falls with a guilty clink on the plate. She buries her face in her palms, as if she might squeeze her whole self behind her hands if she presses hard enough.

I trap my tongue behind clenched teeth. Hush, Jennifer. You’ll regret what you’re about to say. I can see the red of shame rising in her cheeks, behind a camouflage of fingers.

I had pledged that I’d never yell over a child’s error or misbehavior. Furthermore, I had actually acknowledge weeks earlier that I found beauty in the unintentional etchings of this wooden kitchen table.

This pine rectangle is a tableau of life with its nicks and scrapes and grooves. I’ve run my fingers along the wood, like a memory-Braille. In the golden slant of sunlight, I find a grandfather’s check marks, which he inadvertently carved with his firm handwriting. He’s gone now.

I touch deep-grooved tine points. They were banged in by a toddler; it was her first time with a “big-people fork.”

I run a finger along that one long scratch. It was an accidental souvenir left by a visiting missionary’s laptop.

And now this: Anna’s name carved in half-inch tall letters on the back of the chair.

She is shuddering behind her hands. I peel her palms back and lift her onto my lap, ladling her body. She shakes. Shame runs fluid down her cheeks.

I hold her tight, swallowing the caustic sermon about the difference between right and wrong. She knows. She knows.

*****

Three days later, she stands at the back door, with her gaze locked on her feet.

“I did it Mommy,” she confesses.

“Did what, Anna?” I ask, making a panicked inventory of the room. (I had forgotten about the chair, but suddenly remember the Sharpies within reach.)

“I carved my name on the chair because I want that to be my chair, and you always move it when you mop the floors.” Her words bear the hope of a pardon. “Are you going to be mad at me now?”

I drop to my knees in front of her, lifting her chin to release her gaze from the tips of her snow boots. We talk about why it was wrong to carve letters into the wood. I repeat a lesson about respect and caring for things that God has given us. We talk about the importance of saying sorry. And she did. She said she was sorry. And just as I have been forgiven much, I forgive. We seal the sorry with a hug.

But there’s something I didn’t tell her. (So let’s keep this one between you and me. Deal?)

When she wasn’t watching, I snapped a few photographs of a single word carved in wood. It will be an enduring little Valentine from a girl who won’t write with backward Ns much longer.

*****

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32

The Will of God

Grace Reif — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:30:03 +0000

When we use the phrase “the will of God,” what do we mean? How can we understand verses in the Bible that refer to God’s will? Today Susie is joined in-studio by Pastor JJ Slag of Emmanuel Christian Center. We wrestle with the sovereignty of God, salvation, and how to better understand His plan for our lives.

Key Scriptures: Micah 6:8; Romans 8:28

Click here to link up to Pastor JJ’s sermons.

God’s Grace vs. Our Achievements

Grace Reif — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:47:29 +0000

Many of us believe that we are saved by grace–but for too many, that’s the last time grace defines our life. Instead of clinging to grace, we strive for good and believe that the Christian life means hard work and a sweet disposition. As good girls, we focus on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. When we fail to measure up to our own impossible standards, we hide behind our good girl masks, determined to keep our weakness a secret. Today Susie and author Emily Freeman invite women to let go of the try-hard life and realize that in Christ we are free to receive from him, rather than constantly try to achieve for him. Emily’s book is Grace For the Good Girl.

Key Scriptures: Colossians 2:6; Ephesians 2:7-10

Bringing 20-Somethings Back into Faith

Grace Reif — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:40:48 +0000

Many people are talking about how to reach the millennial generation and bring them back to the church. But how many people are talking to them? Today Susie is joined by author Drew Dyck, who’s done substantial research on the topic and spoken to the youth themselves. They’ll unpack their own faith journeys, as well as what kept them in – or drew them back to – the church.

Key Scriptures: Philippians 2:3-4

Michael Card in Concert in the Twin Cities

Justin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:39:36 +0000

Come hear the story from the gospel of Mark during an evening with Michael Card in Maranatha Hall Thursday March 22nd at 7pm.

Michael Card is an award-winning musician, performing artist and writer of “El Shaddai,” “Immanuel” and many other songs. He has produced over twenty albums. He has also written numerous books, including A Sacred Sorrow, A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy and Sleep Sound in Jesus (a children’s book). A graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biblical studies, Card also serves as mentor to many younger artists and musicians, teaching courses on the creative process and calling the Christian recording industry into deeper discipleship. Card lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.

Tickets are available at Northwestern College’s Ticket Office or call 651-631-5151.

The Whole-Hearted Marriage

Grace Reif — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:45:11 +0000

Today Susie welcomes back Focus on the Family’s Greg Smalley. They discuss how to be “whole-hearted” in our response to our families and spouses! Greg’s book is The Whole-Hearted Marriage.

The Sustaining Power of God

Grace Reif — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:45:53 +0000

When we turn our lives over to God, He develops gifts and brings us to places we don’t expect. Today on Live the Promise, Susie is joined by fellow author and speaker Dee Brestin. Dee will share her faith journey and talk about the challenges of losing a spouse, as well as her thriving prison ministry.

Key Scriptures: Isaiah 62:5; Psalm 139:23-24