The Nothing Blog

The seeds to establish  FLOURISH Women's Conference  were planted in the heart and soul of Alison Everill. She fearfully, prayerfully answered God's call.  She told Him, "Yes." Alison Everill Songwriter, Worship Leader, Speaker, Concert Artist Flourish Women's Conference Founder “I have had a deep love for women’s ministry for many years,” says Alison. “I have taught ladies’ classes in my churches and have been very dedicated to seeing women grow. The desire to establish a women’s conference didn’t really become strong until about a year ago. I guess because I have such a strong desire to see women grow, the Lord had me branch out from church ladies’ ministry offering a local event where women from all walks of life and different churches could come together to center around God’s word and fellowship. To be honest, it was God’s idea, not mine." She chose the name,  FLOURISH , because it means ‘to thrive.’  “I want  Flourish  to live up to its name...

My Sisters, the raging spiritual battle is intensifying in America (and rest of the world) and there's no time to stop to put on our big girl panties. If you're not wearing them now well, then just go commando because we've got to suit up now, in the powerful and very exclusive Designer Wear given to each of us who are women who follow Jesus. It's called the Armor of God, and is beautifully described in Ephesians 6:10-18.                     "Finally be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power...Therefore put on the full armor of God so  that when the day of evil comes you may be able  to stand your ground, and after you have done everything,  to stand."   (Ephesians 6:1, 13).  Yep. The Armor of God is an all-powerful spiritual outfit specifically designed to protect the wearer in daily battles. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not ...

I'm just going to put it out there. The truth is our flesh craves stuff. Our flesh lusts. Our flesh lies with the promise of a good outcome of our sinful choice. It's a daily battle for Christians to say "no" to sin and "yes" to God.   And from Genesis to Revelation, we read how people easily pervert the word of God and His promises just to fit their moods and passions. Self. Self-centered. Selfish. This always causes pain.  It's the same today, of course. We still fight with our fleshly desires which is why we need a Savior, namely Jesus Christ. And still, in weak moments we don't feel like resisting -- even though we have Holy Spirit power to do so --  and we fall. We want to be accepted and follow the crowd. They say they're God's 'crowd' but they really don't have the fruit that proves it.  Look at the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9.   Babel, the 'monumental effort motivated by pride' (ESV commentary). B...

Dear Precious Sisters co-laboring in the trenches, What if our first thoughts each day were not about how we see ourselves with our vain imaginations (not good enough, too broken, too broke, too old, too overweight, too wrinkled, too thin, too depressed, too anxious...or, just a wife, just a mom, just a daughter, just a waitress, just a receptionist, just someone's co-worker, just a volunteer, just a corporate career girl, just a home school mom)...? What if our first thoughts before our feet hit the floor were to thank God we've been saved by His grace and that we are WOMEN WHO FOLLOW JESUS?  What if we transformed and renewed our minds to think biblically about who we are? Let's do it! We can daily learn to put on that highly-honored robe of righteousness and dignity of being WOMEN WHO FOLLOW JESUS. And with with our new mindset we can step out each day with an attitude of gratitude and filled with His mercy and love!  And, we would be on a mission to love God, love peopl...

This morning during my time of seeking the face of God for guidance, personal worship, grace, forgiveness and filling of my soul for the day, I came across something that made me gasp with awe and excitement. In addition to reading I listened to two well-known authors, Ann Voskamp and Liz Curtis Higgs, and heard this, "Scholars have written that the sound of our breathing is like saying the name of our God, Yahweh . They say this because the original Hebrew name for God is YHWH , and the sound of the Hebrew letters sounds like our breathing!" W-h-a-a-a-a-t? Tears came to my eyes immediately! How beautiful is that? The God of all creation was pulling me in a little closer to affirm to me how beautifully we've been made for His glory! Psalm 139 took over my thoughts because I knew it gloriously, intimately revealed God's creating, knowing and controlling everything about each one of us! He knows all!  "For you created me in my inmost being;  you knit me together in...

MJ walked into our lives one rainy Monday night on April 13. She was on her way to the church she attends in Atlanta but told us later that God strongly impressed her to steer her car into the Mt. Zion Baptist Church parking lot after she saw our sign, "Ladies Night of Praise!" She walked into the church foyer where ladies were gathered to have coffee and desserts. MJ was very friendly, outgoing and clearly was excited to be there. She told us,  "When I saw the word 'praise' I was convinced to stop, I am always up for the praise and worship of God!"   She told us she served in a couple ministries and is passionate about visiting churches in addition to her own because she loves the Word and the Worship of God. And then she said she was delivered from a homosexual lifestyle. When I heard that I began to jump up and down with excitement and say loudly, "Pastor Doug is preaching a series of sermons on "What the Bible Says About Homosexuality" and...

I'm there today, once again,   trying to comprehend all of  WHO GOD IS! I take deep breaths and shake my head in amazement of what is written in the Psalms about WHO HE IS!  Yep,  another day, another privilege to run to my Father to seek His Face for nourishment, guidance and strength for the day. I always begin my private time with Him with the Psalms because I want, no, I can't wait to start my day with the worship of my Father. Yep, joyfully on my knees, the lifting of my hands, sometimes even sangin' somethin'. Well, no one but God can hear me so it's always a joyful noise to Him! Ain't no god like our God. Nope.  But I can't comprehend His greatness. It makes me get teary that Someone so much greater and more powerful than my imagination would take such loving care of me! And so, this morning it happened again when I found myself reading Psalm 93 , and it spiritually took my breath away as I was soaking in the powerful words of God:  "The LORD re...