Grace Riot
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Our last night in Oklahoma about 11pm, we rolled into Buffalo Wild Wings hungry, tired and desperate for peace. We had just spent the last 45 minutes in an argument that I’m gonna blame the devil for- I know when it’s us and I know when it’s the enemy causing confusion. Still, we walked in not talking, arms crossed defensively- I’m just being real!
Yet in the back of my head I remembered my friend Austin saying, “God has more for you guys to do in Oklahoma. You’re not done yet.” I held onto it in that moment of quiet between Jeremy and I.
The food arrives and we pray for God’s Presence despite our own shortcomings and thank Him. I pound ten wings quick enough to scare our waiter and every chicken in the county. As we ready to leave, Jeremy’s curiosity peaks at the waiter’s tats. Three crosses.
Long story short, we lead Trae to the Lord, and we celebrate, forgetting the argument that tried to stop the glory of God!
Now, I know we rejoice when we get to baptize and disciple those we bring into the Kingdom for Jesus, but I think back to warnings made by pastors and critics to evangelists. That “the lost are babies in Christ and we can’t leave them without a church and discipleship,” etc.
But Trae was ready for Jesus right then, wanted forgiveness, wanted to surrender and repent. When we prayed, Trae felt the fire of Holy Spirit ignite in him 🔥 Would Trae have been better off not getting saved, because I had nothing else to offer Trae but Jesus Himself? Is Jesus enough to finish what He started in Trae?
Evangelists get a lot of grief when we blow in and blow out of cities we visit and people get saved, because we don’t always have the “next steps” lined out for them. There’s been times when all evangelists can do is get folks the Bible app, exchange numbers and Google a local church 😱
Evangelists can’t just shut up the fire, the Good News, and the testimony God has built us with. So sometimes we are just like Philip & the eu**ch- people get saved, and we are sent on to the next place… Or like Jesus and the demoniac. In fact, the demoniac even asked Jesus if he could join Him and leave with Him (can you say discipleship opportunity?). Jesus said, “No, go home and testify (Luke 8:38-39)!”
Anybody wanna correct Jesus for not discipling this new convert? Instead of throwing shade, let’s praise God for the ripe harvest and the few laborers bringing it in. Evangelists truly make every attempt to connect believers with the resources they need to work out their salvation.
And when we can’t be there to walk beside new believers, Jesus already is ❤️
06/27/2026
A couple days ago God brought to our home a Polish, Catholic young adult who was selling bibles over the summer to help raise money for his education back in Poland. The student definitely believed in God, went to mass, was doing all the right things, checking all the right boxes, but he had never given Christ his life!!
I asked him to return when my husband was home. He returned Friday. We blessed him with a personal financial gift first so he understood there were no strings attached, and he didn’t owe us anything or have to stay a moment longer to chat. He chose to stay, so I explained grace was a free gift, too. Just like the check I wrote him that he didn’t earn. It’s free, because of love.
As I moved through testimony and he professed belief in the Gospel, all that was missing was his Yes. “Do you want to give Jesus your life today and have a relationship with Him?” A slow nod. He felt something stirring in him. “That’s God drawing you. That’s good.” We prayed and afterward he looked deep in contemplation.
I worried something was wrong as he struggled to verbalize in English what was happening. The student relayed that he was having a “different” feeling inside him. He said “Lighter” was the word. He said it was the same feeling he had as a young boy when he took his first communion! He had not felt God inside him since that moment! And just like that, Holy Spirit begins moving in a surrendered vessel 🙌🏼
Afterward we gave him a Bible, though he settled on the Bible app in his native tongue. Then we went to the garden and loaded him down with zucchini and cucumbers. He could not believe how big American cucumbers are 😂 We hope to stay in touch, such a precious kid radically touched by the hand of God yesterday!
If I don’t leave my house, God keeps steady bringing opportunities literally to my doorstep. Why? I gave Him my YES nine years ago and have never stopped saying, ”Ok Lord, whatever you want.” Remind me to tell you soon about the detective God brought by a few months ago… wild things!! ⚡️⚡️⚡️ Make the most of every opportunity!
06/22/2026
My older sister always pulled me higher in life. Whether it was her example to finish college or her example of physical fitness, she influenced me. Her example guided me. This weekend the Lord used me to pull her higher.
Growing up in religion you get accustomed to the program- you say the things expected of you, you go through the motions, have knowledge of God, yet the program can fail to pe*****te your heart. That’s where I used to be. And that’s where my big sis was.
The day before my wedding I led her down to the river and talked to her about Jesus. She wasn’t ready yet. It wasn’t time. That was almost four years ago. God was working on her heart though, so I kept praying.
A couple years ago she started attending church with her family. She wanted her boys to know about God. She joined Bible studies and began learning the Word for the first time in her life. Yet she still had not given her life to Christ.
This weekend, she visited with my nephews and her husband. As I went for my morning walk with the Lord, He told me He was “opening space” for this moment. In my mind’s eye, I saw myself speaking to my sister and her husband about Jesus. I actually bowed down on the pavement and worshipped God right there on my country road, knowing He was about to save them.
When I returned to the house, I asked to speak with both of them. I told my brother in law and sister how proud I was of how they have chosen to raise their boys. Then I asked individually if they ever had made the decision to lay down their lives for Christ so He could live through them. She answered, “In my head.” He answered, “No one has ever asked me that… how do I do that?”
I told him, “The Lord has brought you to the house of an evangelist this weekend (😂). Give me your hands.” There we sat, the four of us, in a holy moment- Jessie, Chris, Jesus and I. And on Father’s Day these children of God returned to their Father through Jesus.
It took four years, but He pursued them until He had their Yes. Because He loves them, and because He hears our prayers.
Don’t give up on your family. Don’t stop praying for their salvation. At the appointed time, at just the right moment, He will open time and space for their “Yes!” to reverberate the heavens! I am so pleased to welcome my brother and sister into the family of God!
When the Bible says, “The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force,” that violence means eagerness, like a city besieged on every side. Last night eager hearts reached and took the Kingdom of Heaven for themselves. Two young adults reached out and took Jesus for themselves. Five people from 7 to 23 years old publicly declared Christ as Savior and were baptized, clothing themselves with Him. Eagerly. Violently.
There’s an open heaven here. I’m so overwhelmed as I write this. There’s not much more I can say…
Thank you to the amazing team that comes out to minister alongside us, The Depot at Union City, Elise Ferris, Jami Nemeti and many more! Thank you to my anointed mentor Shelley Norton Lowery (and Amanda Smith!), who drove all the way from Kansas City tonight to join the RIOT and preach the Gospel.
We are taking donations to buy Living Free discipleship books so we can go in weekly and walk these 7 disciples in how to live out this new faith. And there’s more coming, so much more, but for now I rest in who He is. He is simply… Everything 🙌🏼
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PO BOX 251 Ozark, MO 65721
Love you all SO MUCH. Thank you for watching this unfold with us. Keep praising God for His Goodness and expecting miracles, signs and wonders ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Second year evangelizing Pridefest was different. Not because the culture or vibe has changed. I’ve changed. This year I just felt so much love in my heart for the person beneath the lifestyle. I saw individuals the way God sees them- loved, creative, unique, special. Sure, there’s demons at these events, but I’m more concerned about the demons operating within churches. At least these don’t try to hide.
Before we even got downtown, an atheist let us pray for him. He told us he had just left and that it seemed like the speakers on the mic were hypnotizing people, and he didn’t like it! You know we stopped right there and began to take authority over darkness.
Some people say you shouldn’t go to events like this because there isn’t much fruit to be had. What is fruit anyway? Is the number of salvations how we are measuring impact? No, fruit is the small moments where you tell the boy in the belly shirt and lipstick how God formed him in his mothers womb to be sweet and caring and attentive and how God so loves that about him. Isn’t fruit when you walk up to two women in relationship together and tell them how you made them a bracelet with a word from God on it, and it is exactly the word they both needed to hear in their situations? And then you take their hands and pray it forward into their lives by the Spirit. Isn’t fruit getting to tell Temple of Satan followers about God’s Power and them accepting prayer afterwards??
If we Christians don’t go, who will, church?
Holy Spirit moved today, and we got another year to re-present Christ to a dying world.
Father, we pray over every seed planted today, that You would water it, and faith would grow in as many as we had the obedience to talk with. Save Springfield, Lord. Save our city! In Jesus’ Mighty Name, amen ⚡️
That time of year again… Calling the mamas and the papas of the faith, those of you who wanna love on a group of people Jesus cares deeply about! Ozarks Pridefest is an event in downtown Spfd that draws 5,000 people annually and celebrates pride in homosexuality. As we saw last year, it is truly a large number of orphans.
That’s why we need the moms and dads with changed hearts to BE the love they don’t have or never got. Love isn’t accepting someone’s lifestyle, it’s accepting the person beneath, right where they are. Just. Like. Jesus.
We have a great opportunity to ask questions, pray with and lead the lost to Christ here.
⚡️Join the RIOT ⚡️
That time of year again… Calling the mamas and the papas of the faith, those of you who wanna love on a group of people Jesus cares deeply about! Ozarks Pridefest is an event in downtown Spfd that draws 5,000 people annually and celebrates pride in homosexuality. As we saw last year, it is truly a large number of orphans.
That’s why we need the moms and dads with changed hearts to BE the love they don’t have or never got. Love isn’t accepting someone’s lifestyle, it’s accepting the person beneath, right where they are. Just. Like. Jesus.
We have a great opportunity to ask questions, pray with and lead the lost to Christ here. ⚡️Join the RIOT ⚡️
Joseph looked saved on the outside. He was wearing a Catholic university Tshirt. He had a Bible. He goes to church. I really had to spend time in conversation with him and ask direct questions to understand that he had never actually given his life to Jesus. We could have easily passed him by assuming he was saved. I post this to encourage you to be authentically curious about people you encounter with the intent of finding out their relationship with Christ: I also encourage you that all the times you spend with folks and never lead them to the Lord, those moments matter.
In 2023, a Joplin cab driver opened Joseph’s mind to the possibility of God, helping him realize God was real. Without that man’s contribution aiding in my own, the other night maybe wouldn’t have been the night Joseph met Jesus. Consider these things, as you witness the Hope radiating from him. Keep stepping out. It matters.
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