My insides are still in motion from Desperate for Jesus 2024 this past weekend! Speakers Dr. Nicole Massie Martin, Carol Kent, Jackie Hill Perry, as well as musical guests Niya Cotton and Amber Bullock used their gifts to fill the sanctuary with the Holy Spirit.

If you are someone or knows someone that needs a good talking to about our LORD and Savior, Jackie is the ONE they need to hear from! Often we are afraid to speak on our experiences because we don’t wanna insult folks or hurt their feelings, but your truth is your truth. And I love hearing Jackie speak it, because it’s the truth. And the truth is (I’m paraphrasing here), we (as a collective) have grown to be morally bankrupt because some preachers just ain’t preaching about Jesus no more. You go to church, do all the things, check all the boxes and still are no closer to your salvation, still sporting phony faith. I can say that my perception growing up was there was a whole lotta preaching to us, about us, which included the installation of fear for God. I was never taught about the love of God, so I missed out on an entire different aspect of His character that I needed to know!

Here’s the thing though….just like everything else in life, ignorance is not an excuse. At some point we have to take on the responsibility to find out who the Lord is and experience Him for ourselves. Even if someone tells us what we think is “right”, we need to pull out that bible and fact check, because His Word is the foundation. I was in the car this morning and the Holy Spirit gave me this analogy. I’m a registered nurse right. Let’s say I’m about to go round on my patients and another nurse tells me, “Don’t worry about room 123. I just walked by and the patient is asleep.” Let’s say I decided to take their word for it and let my patient sleep. Almost two hour later, I go into room 123 during the next set of rounds to a lifeless, still body. You’re probably thinking, Tiffany, that’s a little dramatic…is it really a life or death situation? YES, SALVATION IS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION!!! Without it, there is no access to eternal life. And, once you realize and take in the gravity of what needed to occur to GIVE us salvation (not earn, buy, steal, or borrow), it changes you.

“…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.: – Romans 10: 9-10

The Word is the absolute source of truth for verification. Don’t live off hearsay. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). To know the Word is to know God. Learn who He is for yourself. Start today!