Lorie Newman

My Funeral

Have you ever thought about what your funeral will one day look like?  A dear friend of mine lost her husband last year and I watched as she planned each song, each bible verse, and each detail of his service.  She also took great care in purchasing his grave marker. 

It makes me think- what will my funeral be like?  What will people say about me when I'm gone?  What will my grave marker say? How do I want people to remember me?

As I think of all the things I would want to be known for, one thing comes to mind- LOVE. 

God has been teaching me so much this past year about His love.  It's so vast, so wide, so deep- I have so much to learn and I have only just begun to touch the hem of what God's love is, but that's what I want to be know for... Love. 

I want people to say, Lorie oozed God's love everyday. And those who know me well will agree that I have a LONG way to go! It's a high calling, but it's what I'm striving for.  When I focus on how much I love God, I fall short everytime.  But when I focus on how much He loves me... well, that makes me overflow with peace and joy.  I can't help but ooze love on other people. 

And I want it to start in my own home.  If I can't love right here in my very own home, even when it's hard, then I'm just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal when I try to love others.

So there you have it.  What do I want people to say at my funeral?  What do I want to be written on my grave marker?  Not my great accomplishments.  Not my good deeds or my past gains.  But instead I want to be known for being radiant with God's Love.  Love for my husband. Love for my children.  Love for my friends.  Love for the poor.  Love for the needy.  Love for the hopeless.  Love for the orphan. Love for the widow.  Love for the oppressed.  Love for the hungry.  Love for the hurting. Love for the forgotten.  And even love for the stranger. 

Love is my highest calling.  Even if I live a "full" life of success, power and wealth, what have I gained if I don't have God's love?  To me, life is nothing without it. 

God, make me radiant with your love today and everyday.

A Cup of Cold Water in His Name- Book Update

Drum Roll, please! My new book, A Cup of Cold Water in His Name, has a release date- April 1, 2012!!!

I can't believe I just wrote that! It seems like a dream, but it's my REALITY!  April will be here before I know and I'm about to start really promoting the book on Facebook and Twitter.  I hope my friends in cyberspace will understand and not get tired of my self-promotion!  I will need YOUR help to spread the message of this book! :)

You can get a sneak peak and even pre-order the book on AMAZON.COM. Click here for the link.

Here is a description right from the website-

God calls every Christian to help the millions of forgotten, impoverished, and hurting people in the world. How can one person make a difference when the need is so overwhelming? A Cup of Cold Water in His Name: 60 Ways to Care for the Needy offers practical and creative ideas, websites, and ministry contacts~everything needed to inspire readers to become the hands and feet of Jesus. Ranging from easy to high level commitment projects, readers will find instructions to help them make a difference in the lives of individuals, families, and even an entire community.

2012 Impossible List

Each January I make an "Impossible List." I sit down and think of things that I would love to see happen in the upcoming year- things that really seem virtually impossible. I write them down, and give that list to the Lord. I just prayerfully offer up my list to the God of the impossible!

Friends, amazing things happen when you go to God believing that He can do the "impossibles" on your list. But here's the catch- You have to truly believe that He can do it! And why wouldn't you believe that? He *is* the God of the Universe!

When we pray to God and enter the realm of 'the impossible,' we have just stepped into a deeper realm of the Spirit of God. He specializes in the impossible!

I've seen Him do it in my life and in the lives of others. I have a dear friend who prayed and fasted at the beginning of 2011 for something HUGE... she wanted to be debt free by the end of the year. Some of you may be thinking- Debt free?? That *really* is impossible for me to be debt free! Really?? She put it on her impossible list last year, and guess what?  Here, at the end of 2011, she's DEBT FREE! 

Start praying "Impossible verses" and see what happens.

 There are only TWO things that are impossible for God. When you can get a hold of the truth of both of them, it will change everything for you-

The two things that are impossible for God are-

1) It is impossible for God to sin. He is pure love! He *wants* your Impossible List!

2) It is impossible for God to lie. He cannot lie, therefore we can STAND, (stand, friends!) on the verses in His Word that tell us that God CAN do the impossible!

Verses like these- Matthew 17:20- So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief: for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (I keep a mustard seed in my Bible to remind me of this- seriously!)

Luke 1:37- For with God all things are possible.

Hebrews 6:18- ...it is impossible for God to lie.

Matthew 19:26- ... but with God all things are possible.

Genesis 18:14 (at the promise of Isaac)- Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

So what are you waiting for? What's on your "Impossible List" this year? An unsaved family member? A pregnancy? An adoption? Debt? Missions? Prodigal child? Godly husband? It is NOT too hard for the Lord! He delights in you even asking Him for the impossible! You're telling him by praying the impossible that you *know* only He can do it.

Go make out your Impossible List! Bring it before the Lord everyday and speak these "impossible verses" outloud so the Enemy, (who will try to tell you your situation is impossible) can hear you!

Praise to the God of the Impossible!

What I Want is You

I came across this beautiful Christmas prayer-poem by Ruth Calkin last week. In the midst of the Christmas madness which seems to always be a part of this season, it pretty much says it all for me.

The Gift

It's Christmas, Lord

It's Your birthday

What can I give You-

You who have given

So much to me?

I search and search

Through my talents

My possessions

My friendships

My loves

But with all my searching

I find nothing new.

Strangely-- What I could offer

Is always that

Which You have first

Given me.

And now in the soft silence

I hear You say

What I want from you--

Is you.

This Christmas, don't let the busyness distract you from what matters most. "Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord." Psalm 89:15

The Important Ones List

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on a list of possible endorsers for my new book, A Cup of Cold Water Given in His Name, which is hitting the shelves sometime in March/April of 2012. The other night I was working on the list and brainstorming people of "importance" who have names that may carry some weight for an endorsement, when I was struck with the realization of how God sees people of "importance."

In this world's eyes the important people are movie stars, singers, entertainers, and others who are icons in the world of Pop Culture. It's sad really, how much we idolize those types of people. We even call them Stars... Idols. They are treated like royalty.

God's "important people" are the complete opposite of what our world thinks. The poor, the downcast, the orphan, the widow, the impoverished, the stranger, the homeless, the sick, the prisoner... those are the ones God calls us to treat as royalty. Those are the ones left in the margins of our society to suffer alone. They don't have a voice, unless we speak up for them.

While I understand why I have to fill out a spreadsheet full of "important names" for the endorsement of my book, as I filled out the sheet, it occured to me that if I put down the names of those who are "important" to God, my sheet would look very different. It might look like this-

1) Annette- prisoner awaiting trial. Accepted Christ in prison, trying to make a new start and counting down the days until she is released.

2) Sabu- orphaned teenage boy in Swaziland. Relying on God to provide his needs and fulfull his longing for love.

3) Mercy- impoverished single mother in Liberia. Left her baby boy at an orphanage because she didn't have the money to feed him.

4) Devin- 8 yr old boy in US foster care. Taken from the only home he knew two years ago- has lived in 6 foster homes.

5) Jean- battered wife. In fear, she left her husband- living in a protective home for battered women.

The list could go on and on. Yes, if this list were portraying the "real important people" it would look much different.

One day soon, God will make all the wrongs of the this world right. Until then, it's up to us to be a voice for the forgotten and the marginalized- the "important ones."