Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Follow Julie Ferwerda to get new release emails from Audible and Amazon.
Truth is not a destination, it's a journey. If you think about it, many things that were true to you 10 years ago are no longer true today. I have learned in my second half of life to embrace more questions and uncertainty as the road to godliness. The boxes created for God and myself in my younger years no longer serve me, and so leaving them was very liberating and expanding in my faith journey.
If there is one super encouraging truth I have learned through my human frailty and doubt it is this: With God, there is no “Plan B.” In other words, our lives are already written on the pages of “His (and Her)-Story.” Nothing I have done or will do takes God by surprise because He already knew me before I was born. He knows the exact experiences I need to become whole and healed in my relationship with Him/Her and others. I am who I am today because of my failures and imperfections, not in spite of them. There is nothing that has brought me more comfort and peace than learning and believing this truth.
The other completely radical truth that has changed me from the inside out is studying and learning the truth of the Gospel message, all but forgotten from mistranslations and misinterpretations in today’s popular, modern Bible versions:
“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” Romans 5:18
As you will see in my latest books and writings, I firmly know today that there is no such thing as hell or eternal torment, but the truth is that God created "all of this" to teach us who He is and who we are—beloved, awakening children of God—not ultimately to punish us. If you have struggled with doubts about the character of God, the "limits of His love," or the afterlife, I hope you will read the greatest message I have ever been given, through my book, "Raising Hell: Christianity's Most Controversial Doctrine Put Under Fire." It is my Magnum Opus; nothing I have to offer you could be more full of the love, grace, and liberation of my new heart and life.
Even as a devout evangelical Christian, I used to describe myself as "a salesman who doesn't believe in my own products." Today, I am a woman who is empowered and liberated to love like never before, and I now believe in my products. I have experienced the incredible power of grace. God took a completely failing, powerless, weak, angry, fearful child of His and made me, by His redeeming power and love, into a confident, joyful, free, purposeful, peaceful woman who is excited about His plans for my future. He has given sight to the “blind,” and brought light to my darkness. He has put the power of truth in my mouth, my head, and my heart so that I can stand in faith and defeat every lie that I encounter. My exhortation to anyone struggling in fear, failure, or discouragement is to learn the truth. Your life will be free to the degree that you know, understand, believe, and stand on the truth, which is the living Word of God, found only in dynamic relationship with Him/Her.
From my heart to yours,
Julie
Read more
Read less
