She became, and her process of becoming was like most of ours: she developed a hatred for things that mystified or obstructed her; acquired virtues that were easy to maintain; assigned herself a role in the scheme of things; and harked back to simpler times for gratification.

Daily life took as much as she had. The future was sunset; the past something to leave behind. And if it didn't stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it out.

You have pissed your last in this house . . . and I don't make velvet roses anymore.

Whether you received brokenness or goodness from your own father, you are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 17).

Here is the secret to your life as a kingdom woman of excellence: a short memory coupled with a clear direction. If you are going to live in excellence, you have to forget yesterday. Whether it was good, bad, or ugly, if it's yesterday, you need to let it go. When you carry yesterday further than you ought to, you ruin today. If you ruin today, then you spoil tomorrow.

When you hang on to the weight of yesterday, it will hinder the progress to tomorrow.

Pastor-theologians exist to embody the evangelical mood, an indicative declaration ("He is risen! He is Lord!") and a concomitant way of being that is attuned to the world as already-not-yet made new in Jesus Christ.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

You were saved when you believed in Jesus, but you were transformed when you realized He believed in you.

There is no circumstance that He can't change, no hand dealt to you with which He can't win, and no mistake so bad or sin so great that He can't fully restore you!

I personally believe that when we receive Christ, every curse, no matter its origin, should automatically be broken over our lives. We have become a new creation and old things have passed away. We have been given a new heart and a new mind. We are of the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ.

As the Holy Spirit restores us, He trains our wills to choose thoughts, values and behaviors that bring Him praise.