by Donya Dunlap | Nov 20, 2012 | How Great is Our God, Making a Difference
I write today to give thanks and to celebrate a modern day miracle and a new adventure.
You may recall two posts that I wrote at the beginning of this year sharing what I believed God wanted to do in my life in 2012. My “resolutions” were to dream God-Sized Dreams and to have A Supernatural Testimony–essentially, to live a life that could only be explained by God and His working through me. I can honestly say that He has done much more than I could ever have asked or thought…
and He’s just getting started!
Yesterday afternoon I resigned from my position at Oakwood Baptist Church as a step towards beginning a new women’s ministry in the heart of Charlotte under Citylight Baptist Church.
Until June of 2011, I never dreamed that I would ever want to minister in a public way or be a church leader. I was content serving in my local church and ministering to women through my writing and any mentoring opportunities that came my way. But when God prompted my heart towards starting a women’s ministry in the heart of a major city, He also changed my desires. I realized that the writing of my book, which I previously felt was going to be the pinnacle of my women’s ministry, was only the start. He has a far different plan than I could have imagined and I am in complete awe that I get to take part in it. I am humbled and overwhelmed at His working in my life and so very, very thankful.
God has given me a large vision for women’s ministry and I am excited about what is to come.
For now, my plan is to get established in Charlotte as soon as possible and begin serving in my new church and getting to know the people there and in the city. I will be sharing my journey through my blog, as always, so be sure to subscribe to the updates so you don’t miss any of the exciting things God does!
I ask that you would help me by doing three things to move this new ministry forward:
1) Pray for me, for the ministry, for Citylight and for Pastor Brian and Laura Norris
2) Consider giving a tax-deductible donation to help the ministry begin as soon as possible.
3) Rejoice with me at the goodness and greatness of God and His working among the children of men! (Psalm 107)
Click here to visit the new Women’s Ministry page of this site for more information and to donate.
Click here to visit Citylight’s website.
![Taking Back Our Minds [guest post by Sundi Jo Graham]](https://i0.wp.com/www.donyadunlap.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/believe_BLOG.png?resize=435%2C235&ssl=1)
by Donya Dunlap | Nov 15, 2012 | Guest Posts, The Spiritual Life
You’re a failure.
You’re not good enough.
You’ll never amount to anything.
You have to be perfect.
You have to look perfect.
Any of these hitting home with you?
Photo credit: spike55151 / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
Are there other lies you’ve believed about yourself, whether they’ve been words spoken to you, or something you’ve come up with yourself? I encourage you to write them down.
As an eight-year old, I specifically remember lies being spoken to me by my third grade teacher. I took them as truth and over the years, those lies were rooted deep within me. I still find myself sometimes having to remember what the truth is.
I have struggled with my weight all my life. Because I was a larger kid, I was an easy target for the wrath of my teacher. She would often make me skip lunch, telling me how fat I was. Not only that, but there were times she would make me run laps around the playground while she shouted obscene words at me. I have to wonder today what was in her heart at that time and pray that God has set her free from the lies she believed.
I believed the lie that I would always be fat. So, what did I do? Ate my feelings away. I protected myself from others by using my weight. I was held in the trap of obesity. I desperately wanted to lose weight and have a life, but I was too scared to allow others to get close to me. The more I believed lies about who I was, the more I turned to cheeseburgers, pizza, and Mountain Dew for comfort.
Until…
I finally stopped believing the lies. I was done letting the words of others and the lies I believed control me. I lost 145 lbs. and replaced that unwanted baggage with truth.
We have to stop letting others control us. We have to take back our minds.
If you’re reading this post today and find yourself in a similair struggle, I want you to picture me sitting across from you, holding your hands, and speaking this truth to you.
You can take back your mind. You don’t have to be perfect. You are not a failure. You are loved. And this I promise you – there is hope.
In what areas are you struggling to take back your mind today?
Sundi Jo
This guest post was written by my friend Sundi Jo Graham. If it was a blessing to you, I encourage you to leave a comment for her below.
Sundi Jo is a writer, speaker, and small business owner, making her home in Branson, Missouri. She is the author of Liar Liar, a manifesto that will challenge you, change your heart, and lead you in the right direction to believe the truth about your true identity. You’ll find her engulfed in the social media world, spending time with friends and family, hanging out in a pair of jeans and flip-flops, or writing. Find Sundi Jo on Facebook or Twitter(@sundijo).
by Donya Dunlap | Oct 31, 2012 | Modern Day Slavery
Photo Credit: kasiakay, Poland
These words may bring images to your mind of candy and costumes, but they mean a very different thing to the victim of modern day slavery.
(Warning: This post contains information that may be difficult for a sensitive or young reader.)
When a child or young woman (and often young men as well) is coerced or sold into sex slavery they are often forced to turn “tricks” many times a night. This means that their bodies are sold for another person’s pleasure to be used, abused, raped, beaten, strangled, etc. They are considered purchased property and therefore anything goes. If they resist their client, they may receive worse from their “daddy” when they come off the street for the night. If they don’t make their quota or do something else to make their controller unhappy beatings, torture, starvation and more can occur.
When a person is “treated” it means that they are severely degraded or insulted. This is a relatively minor and commonplace abuse these victims endure. I say “minor” not because it isn’t devastating, but as a comparison to other physical abuses. Emotional and mental manipulation is one of the ways owners or pimps wield control over their victims. This causes victims to experience high stress, depression, anxiety, Stockholm Syndrome, PTSD and other psychological distress.
Consider these facts posted in the research and resources section of the Girls Education and Mentoring Services website:
- CSEC is sexual activity involving a child in exchange for something of value, or promise thereof, to the child or another person or persons. The child is treated as a commercial and sexual object. CSEC is a form of violence against children.
- In New York City alone there are an estimated 2,200 children victimized by commercial sexual exploitation annually (OCFS 2007 Prevalence Study).
- The Department of Justice estimates the most frequent age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the United States is 12–14 years old (www.usdoj.gov).
- 100,000–300,000 children are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation each year in the United States (Estes & Weiner, 2001).
- 70–90% of commercially sexually exploited children have a history of child sexual abuse (Murphy, 1993).
So on a night when many dress up in scant costumes for entertainment, I plead with you to realize that so many hurting people will be walking the streets tonight in similar attire with more than a sugar high on their minds.
I encourage you to pray for those in the bonds of sex trafficking tonight.
Pray for their release and healing. Pray for their captors to come to Christ. Pray for physical, emotional and spiritual freedom.
Do you have questions about modern day slavery? Visit the modern day slavery page for more information or post a question in the comments section below.
by Donya Dunlap | Oct 28, 2012 | Guest Posts, The Spiritual Life
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of guest posting on the blog of the amazing Joseph Iregbu (To read that post click here.) Today I am privileged to have him sharing with us here. He has been an encouragement to me since meeting him through the book release team for Wrecked by Jeff Goins, and I know he will be an encouragement to you too.
Writer Joseph Iregbu
The Bible is full of extraordinary accounts of grace
like Ruth, Paul, Zacchaeus, Peter, Rahab and many more. What God did in their lives can often be described as:
Unfathomable
Unimaginable
Unthinkable
‘Absurd’
It’s a God Thing
But isn’t that what makes it a God thing?
Isn’t that what makes us a wonder to ourselves?
“A Holy God interested in the lives of unholy mortals, seeking to draw them to Himself, seeking to sanctify, purify and shape them…”
Grace is stupendous by nature. Whether we can fully understand it in this life, I couldn’t tell. And seriously I don’t want to – there’s eternity ahead to do just that. In the meantime, we should stand in awe.
Consider Rahab
Consider Rahab in Hebrews 11:31. Her story should continue to marvel us. There are some words you don’t naturally expect to see in the Bible, harlot being one of them. But Rahab would later be mentioned in the lineage of Christ. ‘Absurd’ grace!
This is good news for us. We are grace misfits in every possible way, naturally alienated from God but bought by the blood of Christ. This is beyond human wisdom but it’s good news. And good news are to be spread, shared and proclaimed.
Hope, Courage and Strength
Draw hope from the fact that God is the One that makes us ‘good enough’.
Draw courage from the fact that, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
Draw strength from the fact that it’s not about your past record of shame and sins, but forgiveness by the One who shed His blood for you.
And if you haven’t experienced this wonder, I urge you to come in by faith. Come in and dine on this ‘absurd’ grace.
Do you remember when you first experienced God’s stupendous, ‘absurd’ grace? We would love to hear your story in the comments below!
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About Joseph
Joseph Iregbu leads on purpose and is passionate about raising the next generation of leaders. He blogs at http://josephiregbu.com and is a Coach and Mentor to young leaders. He is the author of a book (Even in the Well), husband of one wife and father to a gorgeous daughter. He lives in Germany. Connect with him on Twitter , Facebook and read about his Story of Hope that has inspired many to live bold.
by Donya Dunlap | Oct 25, 2012 | Art and Design, How Great is Our God, The Spiritual Life
As a beginning designer I knew very little about what artists call The Creative Process. When working on a logo, I might sketch out a few ideas, but then I would jump right into my design software and work on flushing out a solution. I skipped several important steps.
Before you can adequately summarize an organization, a person, a product or group into a symbolic representation, research must be done. You need to learn all the various aspects of the its goals, its personality, its people, its mission and more before you will know how to begin a design.
From there you need to brainstorm. Taking into account all the various things you learned in your research, you then begin to consider images that symbolize those concepts and how they relate to each other. You have to consider color and the color meaning, single shapes, complex shapes, and styles. You have to try out a multitude of ideas and from there refine and refine and refine until you arrive at a completed image that adequately represents everything your client is trying to communicate to their audience.
There is a similar creative process that happens in our relationship with God.
Often we are saved and become comfortable at a church then jump right into super-Christian mode and try to serve the Savior without really knowing Him. We skip the learning and meditating parts of getting to know God and try to make Him happy with us based on our performance.
This kind of mentality hurts us and our “audience” in several ways.
- We never know what it is like to have a true, deep, meaningful relationship with God
- We lack an understanding of who God is and how He views us as His children
- We are continually frustrated with our shortcomings, and translate that into a belief that God must not be pleased with us either
- We misrepresent God to others by not walking in the Spirit and therefore causing unsaved people to think that Christians aren’t any better than the world which also effects their view of God
I wrote of this in my soon to be released book, Forgetting the Fairy Tale:
We blissfully enjoy all of God’s blessing until He takes away a relationship, or allows us to have a terminal illness, or doesn’t allow us to get married, or anything else contrary to our picture perfect Christian lives, and then we turn our backs on Him. Why? Not because He doesn’t love us anymore, but because we really never loved Him. We never got to know Him. So when He does something that doesn’t match our image of Him we get angry… We become bitter.
God is so far above us and His ways are so much higher than our ways. We will never be able to truly know Him in all of His complexity because we are human and He is divine. But we can continually grown in knowledge of His person and His grace if we “do our homework” so to speak. If we stop the continual motion of our lives and simply sit at His feet, read His Word and listen for His voice, He will reveal Himself to us.
James 4:8 tells us to “draw night to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”
The reason that we struggle so much with what God does is that we don’t know who God is. We need to pause, rewind, and court our Savior. Just like any human relationship, understanding and love takes time.
I encourage you to pull out some paper and colored pens and hang out with Him for a while. Write out His characteristics and what they mean to you. Look up verses that talk about His majesty. Read through the Gospels and write down observations of Jesus’ character and personality that stand out to you. Draw picture graphs outlining truths of who God says He is and who He says we are in Him. Get creative!
What can you do today to get creative with your relationship with God? I’d love for you to share your ideas in the comments below.
