This article puts what happened at the Olympics into perspective for Christians. As the Bible predicted, the world we live in IS growing increasingly evil, and to ignore that fact is spiritually dangerous.
From Prophecy News Watch…
Does the Demonic Olympic Opening Ceremony Really Surprise You?
Celebrating JESUS!
Tammy C
I apologize.
This has been sitting in my drafts since we were working on the site move.
I greatly regret the delay!
Although the red flags, which had begun waving before our marriage, started becoming more obvious when we moved in with his parents after six months of marriage, things didn’t blow up for me until he had his first affair (that I knew of) some years later. The experience crushed me.
And that, being crushed, drove me deep into God’s arms.
It’s sad that it so often takes truly horrific experiences to send us to the one place we most need to be! As a pretty typical American Christian, I thought I was doing well. I attended church regularly, served, tithed, read my Bible (some), prayed (fairly often)… All of that was good, and it was a start, but we were created for exactly what Adam had in the garden – an intimate relationship with God, one where we spend regular, quality time with Him as our sole focus.
I had young children, so I was able to keep myself distracted from what my husband was doing during the day, but once the boys went to bed and he was with the other woman, ignoring my repeated calls (which he’d explain away as bad cell signal the next day), it was just me and a waiting God.
I don’t remember how long it took me to wake up and turn completely to Him, but at some point I did. I changed my own actions, choosing to spend those endless hours in prayer, worship, and His Word.
Psalm 91 is fantastic, containing powerful instructions and promises that I and many others pray and declare regularly. It was in this season that I learned the reality of verses 1 and 2.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Psalm 91:1-2 (NKJV)
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
In turning my focus entirely on God during those long nights, I opened a door to a whole new relationship with Him. In getting to know Him better and better, developing a truly intimate relationship and learning to more clearly hear and understand His voice, I came to that precious place.
In the midst of the worst days of my life to that point, I was living in God’s secret place, hidden under the shadow of His wings. I had run to Him as my refuge, found myself safe in the fortress that was my God, and I was confident that if everyone else failed me I would always be able to trust Him.
I kept prayer journals at the time and I clearly remember telling Him in both prayer and my prayer journal that I didn’t want to lose what I had found in Him, what we had developed in the middle of the fire I was walking through. I straight up said that, while I wanted out of the fire, I was afraid that I would lose my focus when I left, that I would lose that closeness that was so radically changing me.
In point of fact, I had a group of online friends who knew what was going on and were genuinely worried about me. I emailed them at one point, and shared what would later become a blog post entitled “The View from Inside the Furnace.” I had discovered I had much in common with Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego who, while they obviously hadn’t wanted to be thrown into the fire, abruptly found themselves having private time with Jesus.
Like me, they suddenly were in no hurry to leave. Like me, they probably learned things in that time that changed their lives forever. Like me, they were perfectly safe while in the very midst of the flames. They didn’t leave the furnace until they were commanded to.
Like them, I walked out of that particular fire changed forever, freer than I had been when I was thrown in, and not smelling of smoke.
Admittedly, in years since this hellish season, I’ve had times of being more intentional and less intentional where my relationship with God is concerned, but I have never let myself walk away from my Refuge. It has always been God who has brought me through, and to this day I am grateful that I was driven so deeply into His arms during that time.
Understand that I could just as easily have run in a different direction. I could have stayed buried in the books I loved to read. I could have turned to drink or drugs as so many do. I could have let the fear and pain eat away at me until I landed in a hospital’s psychiatric ward. I didn’t.
I didn’t because I chose
to make God my refuge.
God is not only the only refuge you need, He is the only real refuge. We can try to do it on our own, but we aren’t meant to carry those kinds of burdens. His plan has always been for us to run to Him.
Make God your Refuge.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
I was at a meeting, recently, where four more mature ladies were each asked to speak for ten minutes on what they would tell their younger selves. Every one of them shared things I could benefit from, and I took mental notes. Some of their thoughts were so valuable that I found myself asking, “Tammy, what would you tell younger Tammy?”
Whether I was addressing 36, 26, or 16-year-old Tammy, my answer would be the same.
The most important thing you can do in life
is develop an intimate relationship with God.
My 16-year-old self would have accepted the advice, I hope, but she would have been puzzled. She had enough of a Christian background that she understood the value of having God in her life, or thought she did, but she did not have enough training to know exactly what that entailed. She’d not yet received the Baptism in the Holy Ghost and was only just learning that there were people around her who were actively seeking God on a personal level.
My 26-year old self had a four year old and a one year old. She was filled with the Holy Ghost, growing spiritually, active in church, and definitely seeking God, but she was also tired. Her marriage still appeared to be good (Yes, she was pretty naive), so she had that, but the responsibilities of raising two young men were beginning to dawn on her. She was looking to the future and wondering…a lot of things.
My 36-year old self was facing a marriage in serious trouble, the challenges of teen hormones, and the sure knowledge that God was her only answer. She knew He was the only One who could help her not only make it through days and nights of wondering what was up with her husband, but wondering if everything she was trying to invest in her children was enough.
I’ve written about this season of my life before. You can read pieces of my testimony in
A Different Kind of New Year’s Post,
At Last It All Makes Sense,
And all of my Surviving Narcissism posts.
By this point in my life, I was growing spiritually specifically because my personal battles kept me on my knees. With my husband spending many nights supposedly doing innocent things while I knew for a fact he was in another woman’s arms, I spent hours seeking God’s face. If you’ve read The View from Inside the Furnace, you have some idea what I’m talking about. This season was the one in which I learned what I would tell my younger self.
Younger Self, you will save yourself a lot of struggles and agony down the road if you will do one thing: Seek a personal, intimate relationship with God. I’m not talking about just praying when you need His help. I’m not talking about just going to church every Sunday, or even every time the doors are open. I’m not talking about just reading your Bible on occasion. Those are all great, but they’re not enough. Religion, in and of itself, is not enough.
I’m talking about relationship.
Sixteen-year-old Tammy, you really don’t understand relationships yet. You think the friends you have right now will be there forever. But the me of today, over forty years later, can tell you that exactly one of them is. And actually, she’s the one who will help lead you closer to God. Everyone else? You may talk to them on social media every once in a while, but they’re not the friends you knew back then. People will come and go throughout your life. You’ll lose your parents far too early. You will eventually get married and one day he’ll be gone. You will have children. As they grow they’ll move out and live their own lives. You will have grandchildren, who have their own lives to live too. In the end, only God remains.
God, if you let Him, will be your closest companion not only in this life but in Eternity as well. But…
Relationships don’t just happen. They require time spent in one another’s presence, conversation (which is both speaking and listening), and actively paying attention to what brings the other joy. If you want the intimate relationship with God that I’m urging you to develop starting right now, you need to begin actively reading, studying, devouring His Word, the Bible. As you do, you’ll get to know The Word, who is Jesus Christ. (No, you don’t understand that yet either, but you will.) You also need to set aside time, the more the better, to talk to Him and to listen to what He has to say. He really will talk to you, and it’s wonderful! You also need the Baptism in the Holy Ghost, which will empower you like nothing you’ve ever experienced. You can’t even begin to imagine the impact it will make on your life!
I promise you, if you do this, your life will turn out very different from the one I’ve lived. God has used the hard times in my life to make me the strong woman I am today, but if I’d prepared myself ahead of time, if I’d gone into those battles already a strong woman of God, things would have been very different. They can be for you.
Yes, that’s pretty much it, what I’d say to my younger self.
Sadly, I’m not sure she would have taken me seriously. She really thought she knew what she was doing.
Today? I’m…
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
I’m popping in quickly. I have to share.
I’ve been going through some papers and just now stumbled across this. I vaguely remember writing it down a very long time ago. It says…
This is what life should have been all along,
the relationship I desire to have with everyone.
You are no more special than anyone else.
You have merely developed the art of listening
and learned to trust your ability to hear.
–God to me
Apparently I was talking to God about how much I valued our relationship, and He let me know that what we have, and even more than what we had then (Since He draws me closer every day), is exactly what He wants to have with everyone. I mean, think about it. Why did He create Adam? I totally believe it was for fellowship. He longs for us to reach out to Him and accept Him not just as a supplier of our needs, but as the best Friend, best Father, best Brother, best Teacher we could ever have.
A friend texted me today asking for three tips for someone who wants to grow their relationship with God. Here’s my response.
If you think about it, this is essentially the same things you do to develop a strong relationship with anyone. Get to know everything you can about them, spend quality and quantity time with them, and strive to make them happy.
Anyone can have the relationship I have with God, one that is constantly growing as I grow. You just have to decide it’s important to you and do your part to make it happen. As He said to me, develop the art of listening and learn to trust your ability to hear.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
I haven’t talked much about October 7 and the mass insanity that has flooded the world since that day, but I’ve done a lot of watching, praying, and hurting for Israel and the Jews around the world as well as those I know personally. Even now, I’m hesitant to start this post because there is so much on my heart that I’m concerned it’s all going to spill out in a jumbled mess of words and emotions.
First, to make myself clear,
I fully support Israel in this war and in general.
If you believe in replacement theology,
you and I are not on the same page.
Here are some of the reasons why:
Genesis 12:3: “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Psalm 94:24: ” For the LORD will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.”
Psalm 122:6: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”
Ezekiel 37:21: “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;”‘”
Zechariah 12:9: “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Bottom Line: If God were to change His mind about the covenant He made with Israel, He would immediately become a God you couldn’t trust not to change his mind about you. It’s ridiculous to even think about God in the same way as you would a cheating husband. You know what I mean: The other woman is just sure he’d never cheat on her, but if he cheated once… No. That’s not my God.
So, again, I have a heart for Jews, those I know and those I don’t, and for the nation of Israel, so seeing her vilified is beyond painful. I can’t even fully express how the rampant Anti-semitism hurts. How a world of people can choose to utterly ignore the reality of what happened on October 7th and what is being revealed in Gaza in favor of the carefully orchestrated…
No, I can’t even go there. I simply cannot comprehend the insanity.
If all you listen to is regular media and celebrities, you may think I’m nuts. If this is the case, I challenge you to download the Telegram app, subscribe to Amir Tsarfati’s channel, and pay attention to what he shares. I actually encourage everyone to do this. He’s a Messianic Jew living in Israel. He was a Major in the IDF, so he understands military campaigns, and he presents information in a way that makes sense. Just make sure you subscribe to his real channel, not one of the endless list of fakes. You can see in this picture that he has over 500,000 subscribers, so that’s the Amir Tsarfati you’re looking for.
Amir is someone I’ve trusted for years. He’s also an expert in End Times Prophecy and has several excellent books, both non-fiction and fiction, that are well worth checking out.
Ok, I’m determined to control my potential rambling, so I’ll say one more thing.
This is a spiritual war.
I’m not talking about the war in Gaza right now. I’m talking about the devil’s war on Jews everywhere. He hates the people God called His own, and we’re seeing that hatred exposed like never before, even in the church, which is heartbreaking. What’s happening isn’t natural; it’s supernatural, backed by demonic forces. What I’ve realized recently is that it’s also not limited to Jews who lives in “dangerous” areas.
True, I’ve spoken with a limited number of friends about this (talking about both practicing and Messianic Jews), but what I’m seeing leads me to believe that a full-blown demonic attack has been launched against all Jews everywhere. People who have been doing ok are suddenly fighting battles they never dreamed they would face, battle after battle in a seemingly never-ending cycle.
They need our prayers. Wherever they are, whoever they are, they all need our prayers.
I stand with Israel, and I stand with the Jews.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
On the Saturday before Resurrection Sunday (AKA Easter), I “happened” to be studying Genesis 22. The word happened is in quotation marks here because I don’t for one minute think it was coincidence. I’d been trying to study this chapter for a couple of weeks, but hadn’t had enough cell signal in my apartment to run the Through the Word app. (Awesome app: If you don’t have it, get it. Use it.)
So, on the day before one of my favorite days of the year, I read one of the most challenging chapters in God’s Word, and the timing was perfect.
You probably know the story. God makes a request of Abraham, asking him to sacrifice his only son. You can tell going in that something isn’t quite right, because God has a clear stance on human sacrifice. (He’s totally opposed.) So… God’s up to something. Right?
This chapter is so full of rich details that it’s easy to miss some things. Like the fact that it’s God who speaks to Abraham in verse 1, but after Abraham proves himself it’s God’s Son, Jesus, who does the talking. I can’t go into all the details, though. Let’s just look at this.
Obviously, Abraham was convinced God was up to something too. He knew God well enough, and so completely trusted God’s promise to give him countless descendants through Isaac, that he dared obey. As Hebrews 11:18-19 (NET) tells us, “God had told him, ‘Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,’ and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.”
Sound familiar? It should. In writing, it’s called foreshadowing when something is a warning or indication of some future event.
When Abraham told Isaac that God would provide the offering, he wasn’t just speaking about their personal sacrifice. He didn’t realize it, of course, but looking from this side of the cross we know he was also prophesying about the Ultimate Sacrifice. Abraham didn’t withhold his only son, his child of promise, and God didn’t withhold His only Son, His child of Promise.
Perhaps my favorite detail in Genesis 22 is one I had either never noticed before or hadn’t recalled. In verse 14 it says, “And Abraham called the name of that place ‘The Lord provides.’ It is said to this day, ‘In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.’”
And it was. On that very same mountain, Mount Moriah, outside of Jerusalem, IT – Salvation – was provided when God gave up His only Son. A proverb spoken for about 2,000 years in the future tense was fulfilled when Jesus shouted (SHOUTED, my friends! Have you ever noticed that?!) “It is finished!”
Like I said, God’s timing is perfect. Due to weak cell signal, I’d been unable to do the Through the Word study for this chapter until the very day I needed to see it. It’s such a timely reminder of how completely God has everything planned out, and how wholly we can trust Him.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Ok, so I’ve not been too obviously quiet, since I had several blog posts scheduled weeks out, but there are reasons you’ve only seen a few posts from me in the past month. One reason is that gnats invaded my apartment and this gal is allergic to gnat bites. The results had me down hard for about two weeks, but I’m coming out of it now praise God. But that’s really secondary to my big news.
We’re working on my new website!
I know things look the same here, and they will for…I’m not sure how long. One of the biggest hurdles has been successfully run, however, and my developer has completed the process of moving my blog to their server where it will become part of a new website in which I’ll be able to go more in depth in several areas.
This has been an educational trip, I tell ya!
We’re working on multiple things at once, and one of the most exciting for me is branding: color choice, style, etc. It’s kind of fun, and really interesting. It’s also making me think outside of my usual box. On the branding questionnaire, for instance, I encountered some surprises. One that caught me off guard was something along the lines of “If your brand were an animal what animal would it be?”
My answer? A peacock!
If you know me, you know I love peacocks,
but my response goes beyond simple animal preference.
Have you ever heard a peacock? If so, you would probably agree they can be pretty annoying. Frankly, the same could be said about me – has been. Honestly, there will be times you probably don’t want to hear what I have to say. In the past, I’ve been pretty conservative, staying in the middle of the road, trying not to offend anyone, but there’s no time for that anymore.
I have a revelation of Eternity that demands I do all I can to help others not only live well in this life, but also prepare for the next. There’s not a person on Earth who is guaranteed tomorrow. We may want to ignore that fact, but we can’t change it. Hebrews 9:27 (NET) speaks truth loudly when it says, “And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgement…”
Yep, I’m not the only one who can say things that people don’t want to hear. The Word of God can be just as annoying as that peacock’s voice when you don’t want to listen to what God has to say. Even so, our preferences do not change the truth God speaks.
And then there’s the undeniable beauty! Even if you’re not a peacock lover, you have to admit that, when he fans his tail, the peacock demands attention. He’s lovely. He’s majestic. Each feather is simply amazing, so much so that they’re reproduced in myriad artistic ways! Have you ever studied one, literally handled it with intent? They’re awesome!
God’s Word is like that too! It’s beautiful! You can look at it in intricate detail and be absolutely amazed. You can come to the same passage you’ve read before and see something entirely new that you missed the first time. Like that extraordinary peacock, the Bible demands attention, drawing you in and leaving you in awe. Of course, the peacock is only a bird; it can’t even begin to the compare with the Word, but you get what I mean. I hope?
And that is why I chose this animal as the answer to that question.
I am super excited about this move and all it will help me do! The website will serve as a home to Experiencing the Bible and a devotional I’ve begun writing, as well as anything else God has me do. I’m also making plans for a newsletter that will allow me to communicate more personally and share snippets from the upcoming book. But there’s more! At my developer’s request, I’ve been making a wishlist.
One of the things I’m particularly excited about having is a dedicated reviews page where I can share my thoughts on, and experiences with, various resources. My primary focus being on helping Christians grow in the Lord, you can expect to see reviews of Bibles and other such things for sure. At this point, I don’t know if I’ll include other types of reviews on a permanent page or simply keep sharing them here as blog posts. Feel free to offer up an opinion on that.
Don’t worry, my blog will continue to be just as eclectic as it has been.
My brain demands it!
So yes, I’ve been quiet lately. In large part, it’s because I couldn’t post anything that wasn’t prescheduled during the transition, at least I don’t think I could have? It’s also because I’ve been busy, not just with this move to a full-blown home on the web, but also with my full-time job; I kept working during the gnat debacle (and came home each night and cratered) because there’s so very much to do.
You may remember that I work for a church, Hillside Church in Mont Belvieu, Texas, to be exact. We’re deep into one of our two busiest times of the year right now as we prepare for the auction that provides the bulk of the funds for Operation BAM, a vitally important ministry that helps untold numbers of people, all around the world, every year. You read a little about it in my post “Relief to the Texas Panhandle.”
This ministry is one of my absolute favorites. Yes, we have the disaster response truck. We also provide car seats to a local hospital so that mamas who can’t afford one are taken care of. We support missionaries and organizations around the world. We provide protein for shelters and other organizations that usually only receive donations of non-perishables. We make Christmas dreams come true for multiple families every year, and also celebrate Christmas by taking trailers loaded with bicycles into neighborhoods and passing those bicycles (and trikes, and this past year scooters) out to resident children and any others who show up. We have a team of quilters who make special blankets for those who are going through cancer treatments, we support a men’s rehabilitation facility, and we help out a local pregnancy resource center.
And more!
It seems every time I turn around
Operation BAM is doing more, and I love it!
So right now I’m neck deep in auction items and preparations for our upcoming Crawfish Boil & Auction. Yes, this means I’ll still probably be a little quiet, if not as much as I have been, but only for a couple more weeks…maybe three.
Hopefully, I’ll soon be fully back and you’ll be seeing at least three posts a week from here on out. In the meantime, thank you for being part of my community. I love having you here!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
A great resource for anyone who wants to apply the Bible to their life
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2023
I have enjoyed this book, and I’m sharing some images from pages I haven’t written on to give you an idea of the various entries.
But…let me start with the beginning. Not only does the author take the time to introduce herself, but she also shares about her life as a Christian. Her comments about reading through the WHOLE Bible have inspired me to start reading through the whole Bible, too, because it feels like I tend to reread only certain books. She explains how reading the WHOLE Bible helps you see a bigger picture of what God is doing and how the books come together to tell His Story. She also shares the way she first read through it in 90 days.
I immensely enjoyed the intro; it made me think about how much I read and study the Bible.
I really like the portions of scripture she has chosen for this book because, with each one, she shares from sermons, study notes, and her own experiences. Half of the page is blank for you to write your own study notes, cross-references, or whatever you choose to do with the page. It’s there for you to interact with the scriptures and comments on that page.
I hope she does more books, but I wish she would do them on whole books of the Bible. For instance, I’d love to see a book on just the book of Ephesians or James (probably the two books I read the most).
However, whatever she writes – I will read it because I find her notes thought-provoking, and they encourage me to learn more.
Experiencing the Bible by Tammy M Cardwell – available on Amazon in paperback, ebook, and audiobook. Ebook also available at your favorite online shops.
Photo Credit: Angela Hernandez of Creative Heart Photography
Aphantasia Network publishing my latest aphantasia post as an article triggered the need for an updated set of portraits. Or, more accurately, it shoved me forward into doing what I know is a professional necessity for my upcoming new website and my social media accounts.
But, you see, photoshoots are one thing I have always dreaded, because I almost never like photos of myself. This is literally the first time I’ve gone into a shoot unfazed. I’d decided to leave the whole thing in the hands of God and the photographer (and told God about this decision, of course). The result was a Tammy who wasn’t worried about “producing” and could simply relax into obeying the photographer’s instructions.
It was a great experience over all, even though our outdoor shoot in Baytown’s historic district meant very cold wind. I told my photographer that I had a whole new respect for models who do bikini shoots in the middle of winter! We did get some good pictures, though, including the one above. My favorite is this one of me against a plain brick wall. It was one of the few times that the wind worked in our favor. Or, as she put it while shooting, we got a diva wind.
You see those crossed arms? Yep, not only for looks.
It was fuhreeeezing! But fun!
It got even more fun when we moved to the studio. Not being at the mercy of the elements meant we could take our time and get more creative while having laughs and picking on each other. I really like a lot of what we accomplished there!
I genuinely appreciate the results of this shoot, both because I had an experience I not only totally enjoyed and that we ended up with such completely satisfying results.
And I leave you with the last photo we took. Well, one of the last. I’d already kicked off my shoes and moved to the floor for other poses when she asked me to “sit criss cross.” My book, Experiencing the Bible, was sitting right there so I snatched it up as if I were reading it and she started shooting.
When she was finished, I read aloud the verse I’d randomly turned to. It was Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” That “happens” to be my life verse, has been for years, and I don’t believe there was anything random about it being the one I was looking at in those last shots. God is so cool!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
PS: The links to Experiencing the Bible are associate links. If you buy a copy using this link I’ll not only earn my usual royalties, but will also get just a little bit extra as an Amazon associate. Thanks!
I have multiple projects running simultaneously today, so my bed has officially become part of my desk.
I’m particularly excited about what’s on the bed, because it represents a definite start on my next book. I’ve been asked repeatedly if I would write something else, and I’ve had a few ideas I wanted to pursue, but none were quite right.
Until now.
Those of you who appreciate my reactions to scripture in Experiencing the Bible will be happy to know this is going to be similar. Note: Not the same, but similar. At this point it’s looking like it might be a devotional, though it’s too early to know that for sure.
I’m so excited about it that I’m seriously considering starting a newsletter so I can keep those who are interested up to date on the progress. If you would like to receive it, probably twice a month at most, email me at tammymcardwell@gmail.com so I can notify you when I open subscriptions.
And now I need to get back to work. I pray you have an amazing day!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C