Gina Duke - Churchtown Ministries

Giver of Good Stuff for Authentic Christian Living and Women’s Ministry

  • Home
  • Gina’s Bio
  • Books
    • Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • Publishing Dreams
    • How to Beef Up Your Blog
  • Prayer Journal
    • Organizing Your Prayer Closet
      • Reviews
      • My Book’s Prestigious Award Press Release
      • Join My Facebook Group for Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • 31 Ways to WRECK Your Prayer Journal
    • Video Playlist Companion for Your Prayer Closet Organizer
    • Take the 31-Day Structured Prayer Journaling Challenge
    • Small Group Guide for Organizing Your Prayer Closet
    • A Tool for Your Prayer Journal
    • Easy Prayer Petition Organizer
  • Women’s Ministry
    • Free Resources
    • A Case Study
    • How to Host an Interactive Bible Study
    • Favorite Christian Speakers
  • Speaking
    • Why Book Me?
    • Speaking Topics
    • Prayer Retreat Format & Topics
    • Endorsements
    • Fee Schedule
    • Speaking Schedule
    • Gina’s Bio
    • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Gina’s Etsy Store
  • Resources
    • Series
      • 5 Misconceptions about the Church & How to Refute Them
      • Jesus’ Manifesto Video Series
      • What Do You Think about the Christ? Video Series
      • Lessons from the Lepers – Thanksgiving Video Series
      • Detect & Defuse 4 Opposing Spirits to Women’s Ministry
    • Interviews
    • My Poems
    • Prayer Journaling Tutorial Videos
  • Blog Link-Ups
  • The Chronicles of the Corporate Mom

Thursday’s Things // If Only My Hair Knew Jesus!

December 4, 2014 by Gina | 6 Comments

thursthings.jpg

I’ve got mean hair.  I know this from experience, and because I’ve been told so by more than one hair stylist.  It is very coarse.  It does the opposite of what I want it to do.  The older I get, the curlier it gets, and grayer.  The gray has only made it more coarse.  It is very thick, and did I mention gray???  As a teenager, I would proudly tell my friends that “my hair has just enough curl to give it body” but those days are long gone.  After many years of wearing it long, I finally went in to chop it off in 2000.  The stylist actually called over all the other stylists in the salon to lay witness to my hair – that is what a phenonoma it is.  Lovely.  Not.

In order to try to get it to act nice, I’ve wore it very short, very long and now shoulder length. I spend an obscene amount of money on color, stylists, product and hair tools.  I just can’t decide if my hair does better short or long. It’s exhausting, really.

All this hair business I deal with every day got me to thinking about how unruly I can be and have been in life. Any attempt to straighten up my mean hair would be just as futile as it would have been to straighten up my mean girl self when I was a teenager.  It would have been impossible. No amount of work or modification in behavior can redeem a person no more than hair gel can fix mean hair.

Hair

Whether we were good girls or bad girls, we all still have a deep need for the present of redemption. Salvation is free and available to everyone.  Once Jesus changed my heart, my behavior followed suit.

Perhaps the God is speaking to you about coming into a relationship with Him? You feel Him drawing you closer with a curious mind and needy heart. That was me. I had all this guilt built up from past and the truth was that there was only one way to get rid of it – salvation; it is the only cure for guilt.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1 NIV

The greatest gift I ever received was the gift of Christ. He took a mean girl and turned her into a redeemed girl.  Praise His name!  As for my hair – too bad it doesn’t have Jesus, too.

Before you leave…

Because the November give-away was so successful, I decided that I would do another 5-book give-away of Organizing Your Prayer Closet in December, but with a little twist; I am going to up the ante this time.  This drawing will be for my blog subscribers.  If you are not a subscriber, you can become one here.This will be another 5-book give-away, plus one more special give-away for the subscriber who most creatively promotes Organizing Your Prayer Closet.  Just email me with details of all the different ways you promoted my book, and my ministry board and I will name a winner on December 20th.

giveaway

Whomever does the most and is the most creative will win this really cool ASK cross necklace (valued at $38) with a copy of my book!

Here are some idea starters:

  • Tweet your love using #OrganizingYourPrayerClosetBook
  • Post a picture of yourself with Organizing Your Prayer Closet Book on Instagram
  • Tell me how many books you purchased as gifts
  • Start your own small group of structured prayer journalers using my small group guide
  • Mention Organizing Your Prayer Closet in your Facebook posts.
  • Write an online book review of my book for Amazon or Barnes & Noble, etc.
  • Write a blog post about it.
  • ETC!!!

Thank you, friends!

~gina

Dear Guest,

When you subscribe here to my blog, you will receive these weekly features: (Click and check out the corresponding posts!)

prayertip.jpgWOMMINWED.JPGThrowbackThursHdr

 

 

 

 

This week I am linking up with HolleyGerth.com, ChristianMommyBlogger, and FaithAlongtheWay.  Check out this page for a full view of all of my preferred blog parties.

Award-winning author Gina Duke is a wife, mom and the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church. With a B.S. in Organizational Leadership, she is able to bring a clear word for authentic Christian living. Through her book, “Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray” (Abingdon Press), she imparts 1 Peter 4:7 with the gift of structured prayer journaling. If you would like to schedule Gina to speak on prayer or host a prayer journaling workshop, click here for more information. You may also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TheGinaDuke.

Check out my video for Organizing Your Prayer Closet!

P.S. Before you leave, please click here to go to my home page to subscribe to my blog. Thank you!

P.S.S. If you have found this post helpful, why not share it?

 

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Salvation Tagged With: John 3:16, Mean girl, mean hair, Redemption, Romans 8:1, Salvation

About Gina

Gina Duke is the award-winning author of  Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray (Abingdon Press), that introduces the gift of structured prayer journaling.  You can enjoy her weekly #ShePrayerJournals weekend workshops on YouTube, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @TheGinaDuke.

Comments

  1. Angela says

    December 5, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    I found your post through Fellowship Friday and I just had to click on over 🙂 Even though I’m also a redeemed girl 🙂 I can still be unruly. I love that you point out Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation for those in Jesus. His grace is just amazing! Blessings to you!

    Reply
    • ginaduke says

      December 5, 2014 at 7:24 pm

      Thanks, for stopping by Angela! God is good! ~gina

      Reply
  2. Susan Shipe says

    December 10, 2014 at 11:35 am

    The title of your blog caught my eye over at Holley’s place today. I am married to a hairdresser and he always tells me I have mean hair! And, did I mention gray?
    Loved your post and how you tied in the silly with the serious. Blessings as you live with mean hair. It takes one to love one!!! xo

    Reply
    • ginaduke says

      December 10, 2014 at 11:58 am

      Amen, Sister! Oh, to be blessed with being married to a hairdresser when you have mean hair! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

      Reply
  3. Christie says

    December 11, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    The hair title definitely caught my attention. My hair is almost black, coarse as wire (thanks Native American genetics), and as I’ve gotten older, curlier, and curlier! And I can relate to all of that, and trying to tame it is like taming some of my wild streaks but I’m learning to balance it! I’ve learned that my hair will continue to have a mind of it’s own, that ponytails/buns/a braid are very useful (as is my Chi iron) and that God will do what He wants with me, just as my hair will.

    Reply
    • ginaduke says

      December 11, 2014 at 8:35 pm

      Christie, we must from the same family. I have the same black hair with my own native American roots, and it has also gotten curlier every year. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Up to Date

Signup to receive my latest blog posts.

Privacy Policy

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • The Less-Than Cure!
  • For the Love of Singles Ministry
  • Re-Engaging the Church After a Pandemic
  • Can You Count on God? I’ve Got the Proof that You Can!
  • The Slowing of the Soul

Join Us on Facebook

Join Us on Facebook

Categories

  • Book Reviews (6)
  • Church (17)
  • Conduct (10)
  • Corporate Mom (13)
  • Encouragement (18)
  • Event Planning (1)
  • Faith & Follow Through (11)
  • Grace (1)
  • Hearing God (11)
  • Passion (7)
  • Pinterest Pins (11)
  • Praise (8)
  • Prayer Journaling (141)
  • Prayer Tips (69)
  • Prayer Videos (3)
  • Press Releases (7)
  • Recipes (7)
  • Reconciliation (4)
  • Restoration (6)
  • Salvation (2)
  • Scripture (4)
  • Serving Others (2)
  • She Speaks (3)
  • Thankfulness (5)
  • Uncategorized (31)
  • Women of the Gospels (1)
  • Women's Ministry (78)

Archives

Latest Tweets

My Tweets

Recent Pins

Affiliations

She Speaks Graduate

Copyright © 2021 Gina Duke | Design by The Design Diva | Development by MRM | Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.