Certainty in Uncertain Times
Welcome to Tuesday’s Daily Joy! Editor’s Note: You may have seen Jasmine Timm on a Sunday morning. She serves with the kids’ and women’s ministries, helping teach and develop curriculum and Bible studies as well as contributing to this blog. She is currently studying counseling at Western Seminary, and thus, we have asked her to…
Defending Our Faith
For a little book, Jude is packed. What a great book to study as it is especially relevant for us today. What did I find so relevant? First, I note Jude’s desire to confirm for the faithful their standing with God. Jude wants them to know how special they are, to understand they are chosen…
Toolbox #6: Black Gold to Flourish
Editor’s Note: As a reminder, we aren’t meeting in person for our final session of Jude, but we encourage you to read this last Toolbox piece by Jamie Harms and a summary of Jude 24 and 25 from Kathleen Harwood, both shared below. Then, tomorrow, you’ll find a reflection piece from Andi Hines on Jude,…
Saying “No” in Order to Say “Yes”
A friend of mine from Portland, who is in ministry, helped me put what I have been feeling regarding the coronavirus cancellations into words. She said, “Sometimes courage means saying ‘no’ when everything in you says ‘yes.’” I so want to say “yes” to finishing up our last week in Jude together in-person and so want…
He is Able
One of my favorite memories from childhood is spending warm summer evenings riding bikes around the neighborhood. My older siblings and a handful of neighbor kids would get together and race each other up and down the steep hills surrounding our homes. At first, my little bike with training wheels satisfied my thirst for inclusion…
Toolbox #5: A Few Extras for Your Toolbox
Before the seeds and starts of my garden can actually go into the ground, I curl up inside under a blanket with a cup of tea, my gardening book, and a paper and pencil. I sketch out my garden to create a visual of the space in my mind and then add and rearrange the…
The Key to Perseverance
As we huddled together in a cold Sunday school classroom on a Thursday evening to listen to Jackie Hill Perry, I could feel my paranoia rise. Jackie cautioned, “There will be false teachers among you — your favorite Christian authors and speakers, and even Bible study leaders — some of them will turn out to…
Toolbox #4: A Little Pizzazz
Until we moved into our current house, I had lots of garden space. I let my tomato plants sprawl, my cucumber bushes take over large plots of space, and my squash vines creep into the yard. However, now that I am more limited in space, I am contemplating some additions to my garden — beautiful…
Throwing Shade: An age-old sin in our modern culture
A grumbler is someone who has negative opinions about something but only makes enough of a fuss to cause more problems, offering no solutions and vehemently mumbling indecipherable words under their breath. Jude had a lot to say about people who couldn’t control their tongues. In his letter, Jude called out false teachers by their…
Toolbox #3: The Good Old Standbys
The sun taunted me this week as I am itching to get out into my garden and put some plants into the ground. I have my gloves and spade next to my backdoor, and they are set and ready for the first day following our last hard frost. I did end up contenting myself with…
Your Gut Will Know
Our teaching this week comes just after Jude realizes he can’t talk to this body of believers about good news. Instead, Jude must address the danger of tolerating erroneous doctrine, writing they had “abandoned themselves to the error” of wrong teaching. They would need to remove this harmful element to be well, which makes me…
Toolbox #2: The Right Tool for the Job
We have tools to study God’s Word that help us till the soil and plant seeds of truth, so it can be fruitful … For the next few weeks, we are going to take a look at specific tools that will help in our study of Jude. Some of them Jackie uses in our study…
Contending as the Beloved
Here’s an excerpt from today’s post in our series on Jude’s letter: To contend for the faith is an effort of the mind, for we must know God’s Word to adequately defend what it true. It’s also an act of the will as we choose with godly love to respond to those who oppose us.…
Toolbox #1: Planting a Garden
Welcome to the first week of Bible Study Toolbox with Jamie Harms. In this Sunday series, she will share different tools to help us study Scripture accurately and to apply God’s Word to our lives.
Introduction to Jude
UFC Women begins a new Bible study today, using Jackie Hill Perry’s newest book, “Jude: Contending for the Faith in Today’s Culture,” and it’s not too late to sign up. Here at ufcwomen.blog, you can expect a Bible study tips column each Sunday and a reflection post each Thursday. We have two reflections today as…
Bible Memory for Eternal Impact
As a child, I struggled to see the point in wrestling to memorize verses, but I started to understand the eternal impact of hiding God’s Word in one’s heart as my parents read aloud The Hiding Place.
Review: Gay Girl, Good God
In her first book, Jackie Hill Perry says of her transformation in Christ, “I am what God’s goodness will do to a soul once grace gets to it.” Today we provide a brief look at Jackie’s early years as we prepare for our work through her study of Jude.
Don’t Miss What’s Next
UFC Women has an exciting winter ahead here online and face-to-face as we look at the topic of evangelism, and then delve into a new study of the New Testament letter of Jude. Beginning Thursday, January 16, Pastor Brett Gilchrist will take the UFC family through the three-week Continuing Ed class Ambassadors of the Kingdom…