Putting in the WorkI wouldn’t say growing up in the Winans household was like boot camp, but my parents definitely ran a tight ship. For my first four years of life, I was the only girl among seven older brothers. You can imagine the chaos created by seven young men living in cramped quarters!When my parents were home, however, order reigned. They both believed discipline was a virtue. And when we...  Read More

An Underutilized ToolWhen I was a child, the Winans family was in church every Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Mom Winans didn’t care if we fully paid attention, she simply wanted us to be in the “atmosphere” of God’s house and God’s people.When I had my own children, we also made it a priority to attend church as a family. My children understood church was not optional. And that church was a safe...  Read More

Recognizing the BattleIn 2012, when my husband, Alvin, and I decided to pastor a church, the catalyst came through our son, Alvin III. In his mid-twenties at the time, our son was going through a crisis of faith. To get some distance from Mom and Dad, he moved from Nashville, Tenn. to Melbourne, Australia. Alvin wasn’t making terrible choices, but he was consumed with his music. He had earned a mu...  Read More

Zechariah 9:9-10Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.   will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His domi...  Read More

Most of us have been chasing the perfect body weight, the perfect spouse, the perfect job, and the perfect life. We’ve looked far and wide, taking advice from moms, friends, and Oprah, yet we still have this aching emptiness inside. We sense we are made for something better, but we’re not sure where to start.The mistake we’ve made is thinking perfect satisfaction can be found in a new object or fr...  Read More

Getting a new wardrobe!‘If you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.’ Colossians 3:1 MSGTake a moment and read these words from Colossians 3 in The Message. Don’t just read them once – meditate on them, digest them, then put them to work. ‘Your old life is dead...that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity,...  Read More

As believers, we often find ourselves caught in the storms of life where we have little visibility and no guidance. We have marriages that are falling apart, children who are falling away, and promises that are falling through. During these times, we need an Anchor to survive the treacherous situations.In the first century, Christians were persecuted and martyred beyond what most of us can imagine...  Read More

The apostle Paul was a ninja when it comes to spiritual issues. In a quiet and powerful way, he sliced directly to truth and left his listeners stunned and amazed.For example, in Philippians 1:21-23, Paul stated, “To live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire...  Read More

Some of us are going through hard things right now. We feel exhausted. Our hearts are dry. Our souls are restless. Our hope is gone.Fortunately, God is in the business of speaking life back into us.Ezekiel the prophet was taken by the Spirit to a valley of very dry, dead bones. God told him to speak to those dead bones…and they would come alive. So he did. And immediately flesh began to appear on ...  Read More

In John 15:4-5, Jesus told His followers,Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in a vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing (emphasis added).I imagine that as Jesus was walking along the path with His d...  Read More

The power to change‘I will strengthen you and help you.’ Isaiah 41:10 NIVWe go to seminars and conferences looking for a painless cure by which our lives can be zapped and changed. We go on diets. We join health clubs and our enthusiasm runs strong for about two weeks. Then we fall back into the same old rut. We don’t change. We read self-help books, but the problem with self-help books is that th...  Read More

A fruitful life‘He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.’ John 15:2 NLTWithout regular pruning, a vine will live up to only a fraction of its potential. Vineyards have only one purpose – grapes! Energy spent on anything else, no matter how impressive, is wasted. Expert pruners have four things clearly in mind: a) removing anything that’s dead or dying, b) making su...  Read More