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In Case You Missed It…

Michelle Lesley

There’s a lot of great stuff going on in Christendom lately, and I didn’t want you to miss out (especially if you’re not on social media)! So, “in case you missed it”…

Several weeks ago, just for fun and encouragement, I put out the call on social media for women who are using one of my Bible studies – either individually or in a class – to send in some pictures of their study time. Here are the responses I’ve received so far:

Natasha lives in Kiev, Ukraine and is currently working on Imperishable Beauty: A Study of Biblical Womanhood. (She has also completed Living Stones: A Study of 1&2 Peter.) Natasha says: “I pray that God will help me understand and study His Word. And this is not easy since I have 4 children and three of them are under the age of 4…But God is good to me.” I’m sure many of us can relate to that!

My friend, Robin Self says, “Our ladies are LOVING studying verse by verse!” They are working through 1 & 2 Timothy: The Structure and Spirit of the Church.

Megan says: “My friend Paige and I are working through the Colossians Bible Study!! It’s been so refreshing to actually study the Bible, not someone’s book!! We have a group on Facebook1 for people to join (WOMEN ONLY, but we’d love to have more ladies join us!) and watch any recordings if they can’t meet. We got to meet in person for the first time this morning to work through the 5th lesson! Thank you so much for what you do!”

1Just a reminder, Facebook groups, pages, and Bible studies – even mine – are great, but they are not a biblical substitute for active, faithful membership in a local church.

Are you or your ladies’ group working through one of my studies? Send me a picture (email or social media private message), including the study’s title image, if possible, the name of the study you’re using, and a brief comment. I’d love to share it on social media and/or the blog!

Can you believe my A Word Fitly Spoken podcast partner, Amy Spreeman, and I have only spoken at one women’s conference together? We’d like to change that. If you’d like to book both Amy and me to speak at your next women’s event, please click here.

Did you know that G3 Ministries has a shiny new church finder? Check it out, and if your church isn’t listed, pass the link for the application page on to your pastor.

Don’t despair that you can’t find a church in your area or that there are so few listed. For a brand new site with an application process, this is quite a good number of churches. I’ve got it all linked up at my Searching for a new church? tab (in the blue menu bar at the top of this page), so you can keep checking back from time to time to see which new churches have been added.

If you’re looking for a new church right now and you can’t find anything near you on G3’s map, be sure to check out all the other wonderful church search engines and resources at Searching for a new church? I highly recommend the Founders and Master’s Seminary search engines.

And speaking of G3, the hits just keep on coming! You’ve loved their national conference, maybe you’re looking forward to a regional conference, and you’ve probably heard about their expository preaching workshops for pastors. But did you know they’ve added another workshop specially geared toward worship pastors?

Grab this link for G3’s first Biblical Worship Workshop, and pass it along to your pastor or worship pastor. (And you might want to tell them to hurry up and register. I’m really surprised it isn’t already at capacity.)

The singing portion of this video was recorded at my church. You can briefly see yours truly (at the 0:05 mark, near the top of your screen) in the pink glasses and black sweater. Fun stuff! :0)

Another reason I’m excited about this particular G3 workshop is that one of my own pastors, Laramie Minga, is going to be one of the instructors. He knows his stuff, and your pastor will really benefit from sitting under his teaching. (The other guys are good, too! :0)

Also, in case it wasn’t clear from my saying that this workshop is for pastors, this one is for men only, ladies, particularly men who are already pastors or who are on track to becoming pastors.

Interested in becoming a certified biblical counselor? Spring 2022 regional training events are coming to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Bardstown, Kentucky, and Moore, South Carolina, so get signed up! Find out more about training and other events at the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) website.

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Hurricane Ida

Michelle Lesley

Just a quick heads up: In case the blog schedule is interrupted next week, it’s all Ida’s fault. :0)

This is our local news guy, Jay. I know everybody thinks Louisiana + hurricane = Katrina, but in the Baton Rouge area, Gustav and Andrew did more damage. We were without power for about a week after each of them, and at my house, we lost a rather large tree during Gustav, whereas during Katrina we got some wind and rain and the power was out for maybe 30 minutes. The good news is, Ida should die down to a Cat. 1 by the time it gets to us.

Anyway we’ll probably spend today prepping and battening down the hatches, and having a hurricane party (aka: grilling all the meat from the freezer before it spoils) next week if the power’s out. And if it is, I obviously won’t be posting anything on the blog.

I’ll check in on social media when I can. Your prayers are appreciated.

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A Jolly Good Show: Recommended Recent Podcast Episodes

Michelle Lesley

I’m like y’all. I listen to podcasts – probably some of the same ones you listen to. Here are a few particular episodes that have caught my ear lately. (I’m sure there are bunches more great episodes out there, I just haven’t had time to listen to as many podcasts as I’d like.)

Let’s just get the “tooting my own horn” part out of the way right up front. Well…it’s not so much tooting my own horn as sharing a resource with you that I think will be helpful and encouraging.

Earlier this summer on A Word Fitly Spoken, Amy and I released Pride, Pronouns & Prodigals, an episode designed to help you navigate the division and difficulties the platforming of perversion has caused in our society, among our friends, and even in our families. What can you do to be loving, yet faithful to Scripture, if your job requires you to use untrue pronouns for a co-worker? Should you attend a family member’s homosexual “wedding”? What if your adult child chooses a lifestyle of sexual immorality? We talked through these situations and more, taking you back to Scripture, as always.

Maybe it’s because the topic of worship has been on my mind a lot lately, or maybe (more likely) it’s because my friend Chris Huff – a former minister of music with a lot of experience in this particular Matter of Theology – really knows his stuff, but I enjoyed immensely Chris’ teaching on worship in his episode A Retrieval of the Word “Worship”.

At the risk of breaking the entire internet1, I learned a lot from the Sabbath Refresher episode of the What Have You podcast. It’s always fascinating to me to learn about other families’ traditions, so listening to Rachel Jankovic and Nancy Wilson describe how they have hosted Sabbath dinner over the years provided an interesting perspective on family dynamics and practicing hospitality. They also shared a lot of practical tips that would be helpful for anybody who’s having company over for dinner.

If you think Romans 13 means that We the People have to bow and scrape to megalomaniacal tyrants, listen to the Governor Ron DeSantis & the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate episode of The Sword and the Trowel podcast – and think again. Pastors Tom Ascol and Jared Longshore discuss the biblical need for, and the duty of Christians to stand together and resist tyranny. This would be a great one to pass along to your pastor, your husband, and all of the other Christian men in your life. It’s quite encouraging. Quit you like men, my brothers.

This isn’t a recommendation of one particular episode. It’s a recommendation of every episode. WWUTT is the only podcast I listen to daily, and the only one of which I never miss a weekday episode. Monday – Wednesday, Pastor Gabriel Hughes teaches through a New Testament book (currently, 1 Corinthians), Thursdays he teaches through an Old Testament book (currently, Proverbs), and on Fridays he answers questions from the listeners, usually with his charming wife, Beki.

You might enjoy making WWUTT part of your daily Bible study routine. Study the passage Gabe will be teaching that day, then listen to the podcast to hear his commentary and compare notes.

You need to listen to this podcast. I am personally offended that it’s not number 1 on the charts every week. Let’s get it there. :0)

1I am totally, completely, and thoroughly aware that some of you have strong feelings about Doug Wilson and his family. This is not a blanket endorsement of him, his theology, any instance in which he may have erred, or anyone in his family. This is also not some sort of signal that my own theology is changing in any way. I just enjoyed a podcast episode about tablecloths, centerpieces, and feeding numerous people. That’s it. For. the. love. – please don’t send me any links from websites or social media accounts obsessed with hating Doug Wilson. Comments containing Wilson-related histrionics will not be published.

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FYI about this week’s blog schedule…

Michelle Lesley

Hi ladies! Just wanted to give y’all a little heads up on the blog schedule this week.

Normally, I schedule my blog posts to publish at 5 a.m. (CST), Monday – Friday. But this week, I’m going to be posting the video sessions for the Open Hearts in a Closed World conference every day, and that doesn’t start until 8:30 a.m. (CST).

So, long story short, if you subscribe to the blog, and you’re used to seeing your daily blog post email at 5 a.m., don’t worry when you don’t see it at that time this week. This week’s blog posts of the conference sessions will publish between 8-8:30 a.m. (CST).

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The Word on Wednesdays

Michelle Lesley

Hi ladies! I hope you’ve been enjoying The Word on Wednesday Bible study lessons and resources, and that you’re looking forward to our new study as much as I am.

I’ve been taking a break on Wednesdays getting ready for our new study. I hope you’ll enjoy it and that it will edify you as you seek to grow in Christ and His Word. (The picture above does not mean we will be studying James. :0)

Unless Providentially hindered, I hope to announce the new study in the next few weeks. Stay tuned, and keep an eye on the blog on Wednesdays.

In the meantime, I’ll be posting some articles from the archives that I think you’ll find helpful as we make our way toward our next study. Here is this week’s article:

Wednesday’s Word

Wednesday is Bible study day here on the blog. In my Wednesday’s Word Bible study series you’ll find miscellaneous, one lesson Bible studies from each book of the Bible. One chapter of Scripture followed by study questions. This sampler series demonstrates that there’s nothing to be afraid of when approaching those “lesser known” books and that every book of the Bible is valuable and worth studying.

Wednesday’s Word ~ Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether… Continue reading…