Blog | Grace on Parade

July 4, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Fighting Forward: 5 Steps Toward Moving Beyond Failure

Have you learned the art of fighting forward?

My daughter recently attended a 9-week Army course, which operated under the premise that to be a great leader, you must learn to cope in situations outside your comfort zone. In addition to the necessary activities, my daughter further challenged her limits by signing up for a combatives course designed to teach the participants how to not only deter an assailant, but if necessary engage and finish the fight. Being half the size of many of her classmates, she often found herself at the mercy of her opponent.

Listening to my daughter’s fight against discouragement brought back memories of my own experience of being pushed beyond my limits.

[Read more…]

June 27, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Personal Safety: What’s A Christian To Do?

As a Christian, should you take action to ensure your personal safety?

Has there ever been a time where you were afraid for your personal safety?

One of my most fearful moments happened on a day in January 2004, two and a half years after 9/11. The Northeast division of the Salvation Army paid to have me fly to their corporate office for a final interview and job training before I began a curriculum writing project for them. I wondered what it would be like to fly into the New York City area so soon after the city experienced the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

As we pulled into the small airport north of the city for my return flight, I got my answer. National guard surrounded our car and asked us to open the trunk. Other National guard stood erect at the entrances, guns poised. Dogs sniffed through luggage and scrutinized patrons.

It had been a long, tiring yet exhilarating day. I was hungry, my brain was stuffed with new information, I didn’t feel well, and I was ready to go home. The tense alertness frightened me. This wasn’t a news report. This was real. Having lived through the worst, these people knew the potential of what could happen, and they were ready to take it on.

What was I afraid of?

I think what concerned me most was how I would cope if there was a tragedy. Would I be able to care for my own personal safety? Would others be around to help or even realize I was more vulnerable and restricted because of my limited eyesight? How could I protect myself? Was God big enough to protect me?

Oddly enough, I did feel protected. Since, at that time, I carried a white cane to identify my visual limitation, I sensed airline personnel were extra attentive, making sure I was never left alone. Their vigilance reminded me that while I bore some responsibility to keep myself safe, my personal safety was not entirely up to me. Others were watching out for me and ultimately, God had the ultimate power to protect, prevent and provide.

Personal safety is currently a major topic of discussion. After the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, many churches, including mine, discussed security measures to keep their people safe. At a recent women’s fellowship, we told a group of women what our church leadership has done so far. Next month, we’re bringing in a speaker to teach us about personal safety – how to keep ourselves safe during a personal attack or an active shooter situation.

Shouldn’t Christians trust God to take care of them?

[Read more…]

June 20, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Think Big, Pray Deep: 5 Reasons to Pray for the Impossible

What impossible situation do you face?

What incredible dream do you carry in your heart? Here’s my challenge to you. Think big, pray deep.

Each year, our little community’s Ministerial Alliance plans a Concert in the Park. The wild card with concerts in the park, as you can already guess, is the weather. This summer in Western Illinois has already been hot and humid with unpredictable rain showers. The weekend of the Concert in the Park, the forecast shifted back and forth – one hour predicting thunderstorms for Sunday afternoon, the next hour erasing all chances of rain.

By the time of the concert, the weather was perfect – cool, breezy enough to keep the gnats away, and cloudy enough to ward off the heat and glare of the sun.

Yes, we prayed for good weather.

What? Pray about the weather?

Why not?

Because there are five reasons why praying for the weather to cooperate is not such a good idea.

Oh yeah?

Let’s look at those reasons. [Read more…]

June 13, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

World Christian: How You Can Be Part of Telling the World About Jesus

If you are a Christian, you are a World Christian. Rather, you should be.

As part of my preparations to lead a workshop at the International Conference on Missions (ICOM) in November 2018, I read a fascinating book entitled, “The Abrahamic Revolution” by Todd Ahrend. The author emphasizes that the Bible is missional; in other words, from the very beginning of creation, God implemented a plan to win the world back to Himself. That means every part of the world. Every nation. Every ethnic group. As one reviewer said, “[It is] the Church’s responsibility to make Christ’s last command our first commitment.” That last command, known as the Great Commission articulated in Matthew 28:18-20, is to go into all the world and make disciples in every nation.

Arhend shows how this theme threads through the entire Bible. He categorizes the major religions of the world and what they believe to give a taste of the nations we must try to reach. Finally, he emphasizes that this task belongs to every Christian, not just a few front-line, on-the-field missionaries. At one point, he makes the bold statement, “God doesn’t want Christians; He wants World Christians.

What is a World Christian?

Arhend says,

“The World Christian is a believer who has discovered the truth about God’s unfulfilled global purpose and His desire to reach all peoples.”

You can be a World Christian anywhere. A World Christian seeks ways to pray, give, mobilize, and support any effort to bring the gospel to any nation, tribe, or ethnic group. A World Christian bears witness to anyone who is different, whether race, gender, physical ability, morality or religion. When we become a Christian, we sign on to pass it on.

I’ve heard a lot of moaning and groaning over the years of how sad it is that the Bible has been taken out of the public schools and that this is the cause for the downfall of our present society. If the Bible was only put back in the schools, all would be well.

Let me propose something else and yes, this has to do with World Christians. What if the church and Christian families did a better job of rearing children to become World Christians? What if we trained the young people we do have to become missionaries in the public school? Imagine the impact on the public school system if there was a large dedicated group of students in the public high school determined to live out their faith to the extreme?

What difference would it make?

I think a lot.

What if more churches were serious about passing on the baton of their faith? How would that impact their neighborhoods, communities, stores, the government? I think a lot.

Will there be kickback? Oh yes. You can count on it. Satan always roars when he feels threatened.

Will there be casualties? Sadly, yes. When we – or our children – try to pull others up, they will resist and attempt to pull us down and unless you’ve got combustible engine force power, gravity will win. That shouldn’t mean we don’t try. Fortunately, God’s power is exponentially stronger than any solid rocket booster.

The Church doesn’t need Christians.

The church needs World Christians, people who care that the message of Jesus Christ is relayed to all people, no matter who.

How are you living the life of a World Christian?

Here’s how you can start.

Know what you believe and why you believe it.
Identify the people in your inner circle who don’t have an active faith relationship with Christ. Pray for those people daily.
Identify someone you know who is working with people from another culture. Message them, asking how you can support what they do.
View everyone you meet as someone who may not go to Heaven when they die but who needs to.
Gather the young people who attend your church. Ask them to give names of teachers and fellow students who are unbelievers. Challenge them to pray with you for those people and to ask God how He might use them to bring the message of Christ to those unbelievers. Then ask them to name teachers and students who have some semblance of faith in Christ. Pray for them, that God might strengthen them and embolden them to become World Christians as well.

What’s your next step?

How will you live as a World Christian today?

**NOTE: I am not an affiliate with any company. I receive no kickback from the books or organizations to which I provide links.