Now that the Christmas movie season is over and the dreadful months of cold, wet winter have come, one of my favorite things to watch on television is home repair shows. I enjoy watching the builders and designers take an old, dilapidated disaster of a home and recreate it into something beautiful and modern. The storylines are fun to follow, too.
Of course, these shows are not without their drama! No matter what the project, something always goes wrong. They always find mold or termites or trouble with the electrical. However, one of the most dreaded problems that wreak havoc on people's projects and budgets is when they find problems with the foundations. It's a nightmare! Suddenly, someone's comfy $100,000 budget that's going to get them all the shiny new bells and whistles in their glorious new white kitchen (because they all have white kitchens, LOL) is cut drastically because a massive chunk of money has to go into fixing issues in the foundation that no one will ever see.
While it's heartbreaking for each couple to decide, "I guess we'll just repaint the old cabinets or skip remodeling the bathroom so we can fix the foundation," it is absolutely essential. Because as any good builder knows, it doesn't matter how impressive your exterior is, how beautiful your finish work is, or how much cool stuff you have in a building, it all needs to start with a solid, dependable foundation.
For some projects, fixing the foundation means digging a trench around the property and applying a waterproofing material. Others have added support beams or posts. In the worst situation I've ever seen, the guys who owned the house had to jack up the entire house and pour a completely new foundation. Then they lowered the house and reattached it. But they had to do it because nothing is more important than the foundation.
As I was praying and preparing for 2023, asking God what direction He wanted the women's side of the ministry to go this year, these are the word that kept coming into my mind:
Back to Basics.
Fundamentals: "A basic principle, rule, law, or the like, that serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part."
That's what we're going to be focusing on in 2023—the fundamental things—the essential elements that create our spiritual foundation.
In our weekly blog, we're going to be "shoring up our spiritual foundation."
What does that mean?
On a construction project, you support or keep something from falling by placing wood or metal under it or against it. The "shoring" technique is used during alterations, repairs, or when there's a risk of collapse.
Spiritually, we're going to "shore up our foundation" by going back and talking about the essential spiritual truths that all Christians need to learn and believe. Each week, we will talk about another element of the fundamental truths on which Christianity is built.
We're going to talk about the things all Christians need to believe and why we need to believe them.
Why?
Well, because, as Christians, we are facing a spiritual storm. Like the big bad wolf huffed and puffed and gave all of his energy to destroy the homes of the three little pigs, our culture, secular humanists outside of the church, and progressive Christians inside the church are trying to destroy your spiritual foundation. Lie by lie, compromise by compromise, these forces want to chip away at your foundation until once strong Christians will abandon the truth of the Word of God in favor of society's lies.
This attack isn't going to end anytime soon. Instead, we're just starting to feel the drizzle and breeze of the hurricane that is coming. That's why we must prepare now and ensure our spiritual foundation is secure.
For some of us, shoring up will mean inspecting our foundation to confirm our beliefs are grounded in the Bible and living by Biblical truth.
Others may discover serious foundation damage because of sin they've entertained or false teaching they've accepted. These will have to make dramatic changes to their lives and their belief system.
Still, the important thing is that no matter what shape your foundation is in today, each of us must put in the work to make sure our foundation is solid and secure.
We need to be women who know what we believe and why we believe it. Our beliefs need to be built on the unshakeable truth of God's Word so that we will stand firm for God's truth no matter what comes against us or who huffs or puffs.
If this is your desire, consider this your invitation to join me as we explore how we can better know God and become the women He created us to be. Join me each week as we explore the aspects of Biblical truth and make these convictions the foundation of our lives.
Are you ready for 2023? Let's go!
Adessa Holden is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God specializing in Women's Ministry. Together with her brother, Jamie, they manage 4One Ministries and travel the East Coast speaking, holding conferences, and producing Men's and Women's resources that provide practical Biblical teaching for everyday life.
When asked about herself, she'll tell you "I'm a women's minister, a sister, and a daughter. I love to laugh and spend time with people. My favorite things are chocolate, the ocean, sandals and white capris, anything purple, summertime and riding in the car listening to music. It is my absolute honor and privilege to serve Jesus and women through this ministry."
