More Than A Closing
March and April always seems to be the time of year that I see God work in big ways. Which is fitting since spring has begun. While there is new growth outside, I see new growth in my own walk with God and how He has used me in this past year. This holds true within this ministry as well. April marks the beginning of our journey with Mill House Ministries and if you had asked me back in 2020 if I believed that I would still be writing, well to be honest my answer would probably have been “No”. Ordinarily I am not the type of person to speak a lot and at the beginning of this ministry I honestly did not know if I had enough knowledge to even write for a month. However, God did then and will continue to teach me and allow me to share with you all what He has taught me. So as we approach the three year mark of this ministry I want to say thank you to all of our readers from around the world. Seeing this ministry grow has been something that has uplifted me more than once in the past three years and I am excited to see what God does as we continue!
There is something that I would like to do however, and that is to remind our readers what this ministry is about. Today I am not going to talk about the big picture of Mill House Ministries, but instead focus on the Wednesday posts. When Mill House Ministries was just a thought, I took a moment to see where I felt that God was calling me within this ministry. And so I decided that I wanted to write to fellow sisters in Christ, in no way am I a Pastor, I simply wanted to come alongside fellow sisters in Christ to encourage them to grow deeper in their faith. I have not always had the best mentors in the faith, and so the Wednesday posts were designed to show women how to take charge of their faith, to grow deeper in their knowledge of the Lord and the love He has for us. It is why my signature has been “seek the truth and encourage one another”. However, I am wondering if any of you remember which verses I pulled my signature from.
The first aspect “seek the truth” comes from Ephesians 5:1-2, “5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” First and foremost, the focus of the Wednesday posts are on Christ. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Light (John 14:6). Without Jesus Christ in our lives, we are not saved and have not been reconciled to God. And so our posts focus on Him with the ultimate authority being the Word of God, the Bible. My goal has always been to seek the truth that is found in Scripture. Without Jesus Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this ministry would not be how it is today. There are many false teachers out there today, and I wanted to provide a place were those who are seeking or have already placed their faith in Jesus Christ can be assured that the words that are written are based off of the ultimate authority, the Bible. I do not place my writings above the word of God and nor should you. Take everything that you read here and other places, back to Scripture to ensure that it measures up with what God proclaims. Follow the footsteps of those mentioned in Acts 17:10-15.
Now the second half of my signature “and encourage one another” comes from Titus 2:3-5, “3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” As I mentioned, I have not always had the best mentors and so I wanted to be more. I wanted to provide a ministry that allows Christian women to understand and own their own faith, while also encouraging women to behave as the great women of faith. Hebrews 11 is the chapter of those who possessed great faith, but it does not mention only men. There are great women of faith such as Sarah and Rahab mentioned, and the Bible is also filled with stories such as Ruth, Abigail, Hannah, and Mary. We need more women of great faith today to encourage the younger generations to hold fast to their beliefs and this can only be done if there are women around who can help to teach them what Scripture says. Not just on topics about how to be a Godly woman, but hard topics such as being in a marriage with a nonbeliever; signs of the times; and how to deal with those who have sinned against you. Remember Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus to learn, this needs to be every woman who claims to be a Christian; we need to own up to our faith.
Now to be honest, there are times where even I have forgotten the verses that my signature came from. After three years of writing it simply became a habit to sign off with “seek the truth and encourage one another”. But now, with these verses fresh in my mind and understanding what I had hoped God would use this ministry for; I am excited to see where He takes this ministry for my fellow sisters in Christ. Jesus Christ is who I serve, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15b and I know through Him this ministry will accomplish great things. So while my signature is still the same, I hope that you are just as excited as I am to see what comes next.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex