Walk With Me

I’m going to start a series of posts addressing each gender (there are only two: men and women), our temples, and how they all work together in a household according to the Bible. This first couple will be directed towards women so if you are a man, this weekend will be all about you. Women, let’s dive in.

I’m going to be sharing a lot of scripture just to share the truth of the Word of God as to what His vision for women is. Remember this scripture as it is our guide to live by.

I want to start by saying how wonderful it is to be a woman. We have such a special role in our churches and in our lives that God has given us the grace, strength, patience, and compassion to give to our world. God has a purpose for women, and we must make sure we are taking care of our temples to live out those purposes.

“And do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Paul writes this after addressing sexual immorality in the church of Corinth. He reminds us that when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and accepted Him to live in our hearts, we made a place, a holy temple, inside us for the Holy Spirit to dwell. Our bodies, created by God, are not ours to abuse. We are to use our bodies to glorify God, not ourselves. Glorifying God with our bodies means taking care of our bodies. There are so many ways we can damage our bodies in this world that Satan tempts us with. Drugs, alcohol, food, and sexual immorality are just a few. Smoking, drinking, and eating too much are not ways to honor God with our bodies. They are an immediate form of gratification to honor ourselves.

“Likewise, also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness-with good works.” 1 Timothy 1:9-10

God calls us to honor Him by presenting ourselves appropriately in what we wear and how we act. The words modesty and self-control are used in these verses, and they are two I do not want us to forget are in the Word of God. Be modest in clothing, do not wear clothes that show too much. Attention should not be drawn to us by the skin we show between our clothes but by the light from the Holy Spirit shining from us. Pray for self-control daily as it is something we all struggle with. Remain steadfast in your values and beliefs and do not let others influence you into things that are not honorable to God.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

The world has normalized sexual immorality so many people ignore the fact that it is in the Word of God to save yourself for marriage. There is something so holy about intimacy between a husband and wife that we have lost sight of. I encourage all of you, stay pure, pray against lust, and desire to honor God by not giving into unholy acts. Let’s unnormalize sex before marriage.

While the Bible does not directly address cursing, it does say in Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths” and in Colossians 3:8 “rid yourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene talk.” The language we use today is not the language being used in the days of Paul, but it is safe to say the Word of God is strongly discouraging us from using the language of today. Consider the cuss words of today’s language unwholesome and, therefore, obtaining from it. It is not pleasing in the ears of our Lord.

My concluding encouragement to you all: dare to be different in this world full of confusion and evil. Focus on honoring God through the way we dress, act, and speak. While we may look at this world as corrupt and a time we do not wish to raise kids in, what a perfect time it is to fight against evil and fight from the victory God already has over this world. Do not be afraid to stand up for the Word of God and live in accordance to it for God already has the victory we are fighting for each day.

Women, live biblically with boldness,

Praying for all of your hearts,

Courtney McKean

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book we were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:14-16

How often do we look at ourselves and think we are not good enough or we aren’t doing as much as the person next to us? How often do we compare ourselves to others and feel jealousy for someone else? This has been something I have personally struggled with most of my life. I have always felt like I’m a step behind everyone because I didn’t graduate college, get married, or have kids. I have been letting others steal my joy for so long because I’m so filled with jealousy.

I am now 31 and I’m looking at my life in a way I never have before. I’m sitting with my uncle last night and I’m writing a paper for school and he’s watching a show. All of a sudden, he pauses his show and looks at me because he could tell I wasn’t fully there. I stop and look back at him and start crying because my heart is so heavy. I’m praying every day for God to reveal more of His will for me, and I think one reason why I was crying was because I have spent my whole life looking at everyone surrounding me instead of looking straight ahead at my path. I cannot continue to let my jealousy steal my joy.

Comparison is something I think we all deal with whether its comparing lives, comparing material things, or comparing people. The question is why are we so fixated on everyone in this world and how do we stop? The first thing I am doing every morning before I get out of bed is pray. I pray for God to lead my steps for the day and to open my heart and eyes. This prayer time in the mornings sets the stage for the rest of my day and gets me focused on God. Then I get up, get dressed, do my makeup, and fix my hair so I feel good about how I look going out in public. Physical appearance is not everything, but it does build confidence. If I can be happy with how I look then that eliminates my desire to look at what others look like. Making plans and finding things to do that will help others is another thing I focus on because it takes the focus off of me. I have realized that as soon as I shift my focus off of this world (including myself) my eyes look to God. A way to look at it is this: if you look down you see yourself, if you look to the right or left you see other people, but if you look up you see the world, and when you look at the world and its beautiful magnitude, you see God. And then your mind shifts to Him and remember it’s not about you at all. Our joy comes from Jesus Christ alone.

God has paved a path for me, my best friend, my cousin, and for you and they are all different. While my path may look very different than my best friends, both of them are beautiful. There is only one you in this world, and you have a wonderful purpose. If you are single like me, cherish this time of growth because God is building you to do something you can’t even imagine. If you are a husband and wife praying to have kids, believe that God’s timing is perfect and He is using you for something else right now. For mothers and fathers, every house looks different. Some mothers work, some don’t and there is nothing wrong with either one. Your primary role in life is to love God, and that looks different for everyone. Show your kids love, teach them about Jesus, and be present in their testimony. Your path is perfect and it’s a path only you can walk.

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

As we move forward in our lives, remember that God created you from nothing. He made you a man or a woman, He colored your skin, eyes, and hair. He put your bones and heart in place. He took His time to make you exactly who He wanted you to be. He wrote your book and filled it with dates according to His plans. He gave you gifts to use throughout your life. Let’s not be so wrapped up in everyone else that we run out of time to use those gifts and walk our path. I want to stand face to face with God on the day He calls me home and say with empty hands, “I gave everything for You.” I don’t want to carry anything undone into Heaven.

This was a long one so if you’re still here, thank you. I encourage all of us to walk our paths and not stray off the pavement. You are perfectly and wonderfully made, and there is only one you.

Love you all and God bless you,

Courtney McKean

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone had a great week and are ready for an amazing Sunday. I want to start by encouraging everyone to invite someone to church tomorrow. We had a lot of people attend church for the first time last Sunday because of Charlie Kirk, and I want us to keep that momentum going! Church is intimidating for people not used to going, but friends make it better.

“Among other things, this means that I need to discover my vocation, my overall calling in life, composed of my talents, spiritual gifts, and so forth. And I should passionately seek to occupy my vocational place for the good of believers and unbelievers alike.” -J.P. Moreland

I have been on this journey of figuring out my calling for a long time. I do believe our callings change depending on where we are in life, but our overall calling to lead people to Christ never changes. I just spent years working at several different places and figuring out how to bring Jesus into conversations was difficult. People around me knew I was a Christian, but I wasn’t intentional about sharing why. I also wasn’t intentional about inviting co-workers to church. I have learned through the past couple years that building relationships is so important when introducing the Gospel. Sharing about Jesus first starts with love. You have to show someone love before you go into any deep conversation. That is how Jesus approached non-believers before he started telling them about God. He knew that in order to reach someone He needed to spend time with them. Build relationships, love through actions and words, and intentionally tell someone about the reason you are a Christian when the time is right. That is our primary calling that we should be doing everyday either inside or outside our vocation.

The second calling we have is our job or hobby. Right now I am in school to become a missionary. That is what I feel my calling from God is. Are we always going to have a straightforward answer for what our “calling” is? No. For me, I went to Spain recently on a mission trip and came home completely engrossed in missions. I actually spent the last day I was there praying that something would happen that would keep me there a little longer. Suddenly I felt God tugging at my heart so hard towards missions and I was so excited. When I came home, a lot happened in the span of 2 weeks. I immediately met with my missions pastor to talk about steps to make this happen, enrolled in seminary, was let go from my job, moved to another job, got very sick and had to quit that job, started school and now here we are. I just recently got another job that will get me through school until I become a missionary, but for a minute I wasn’t sure what God was doing. All of this happening gave me a feeling of peace that this is what God wants me to pursue and that my calling is missions because He made several things happen when I came back. Will His calling for you be revealed like this? Probably not. All I could do and am still doing is waking up every day praying for God to lead my footsteps for the day. Our God is very much a day-to-day God so we, as Christians, have to stay flexible. I feel called to missions right now, but I know that when I finish school, He could be calling me somewhere else where my degree will be needed and that’s ok.

When it comes to figuring out our calling, we have to make sure it falls in line with our talents and gifts like the quote above said. Why was Charlie Kirk so good at what he did? Why was he so good at debating? Because that is what he was called to do. We were all born with gifts so when you think about your calling, think about what you are good at. Growing up I can’t tell you how much I wanted to be a singer. I always knew I wasn’t called to it because God made me tone-deaf. I’ve spent a lot of my professional career now being a manager and leader and now I’m going into a field where I’m going to have to be independent and lead groups through my ministry. I’m going to school so I can be properly trained and knowledgeable to guide and teach where needed. Finding your calling requires prayer and hard work. Yes, we are born with gifts but those are just the basis of what prepares us for God’s calling.

What I’m going to leave you with is this: do you feel that where you are right now is where God wants you? Do you feel peace about your job, or do you have a sense of doubt every day? If you do feel doubt, I encourage you to pray about it. Now I’m not saying if you pray about it then God will close a door. He might but keep your eyes open for other things. It may be that you pray about it, and you continue to have doubt in your heart about where you are. I think then that will be your answer. But whatever you do, work for the good of both believers and non-believers. Be intentional about making relationships. Have a lot of friends. Listen to God and pray constantly.

You are loved, you are worthy, you are beautiful. Have the best Sunday and God bless.

Courtney McKean

Just like the title of this post, I am going to be unapologetically bold when discussing this subject so hang with me.

I’m going to start out with a straightforward question: Would you take a bullet for your faith? Let me ask it in another way: Are you boldly sharing your faith in front of non-believers who will persecute you?

Matthew 10:22 states, “And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” Let that sink in for a second. To follow Jesus is to be hated by the world. Will you endure to the end, or will your knees buckle when you have the opportunity to pray for a stranger? Are we just being bold in the comfort of our own house or church? Do you think if God told Charlie Kirk the morning of September 10th, 2025 that this was going to happen and it had to be today that he would have willingly stat in his chair underneath that tent? Would you?

Let me ask a different question. Did Jesus run from Gethsemane when God told him the time had come? Did he deny God in front of all the people that wanted him dead in order to be spared? To live boldly for our faith, we must live like Jesus. That sounds simple but when you evaluate your life, are you taking advantage of all the opportunities God gives you throughout the day or are you ignoring them? Part of being bold means taking initiative and doing something unpopular. Are you letting the fear of what others will think or say get in the way of God’s purpose for you?

God gave you life. The sole purpose of our life is to glorify God by telling people about Him. Do we not think the very One that gave us life will see us through life and into the afterlife? Stop thinking about the expectations the world has for you and think about the expectations God has for you. My fellow believers, sisters and brothers in Christ, I am asking myself these very questions. The world is our battlefield. Are we armed with the knowledge to defend our faith? Are we armed with the “belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit?” -Ephesians 6:10-18

God gives us everythig we need to be bold and as intimidating as it can be, in order to obey God we must do it. Dr. Michael Youssef says, “Genuine faith can only be demonstrated by obedient action.” Noah had this when he was building the ark and people thought he was crazy.

To continue in Matthew 10:23, he says, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” The job does not end. Every day is another day the Lord has made for us to share the Gospel with someone, to be bold in our faith. That will look different every day so pray in the mornings for God to give you the eyes to see these moments when they come. Do we feel good about how we have lived our life on earth if God were to call us home today? I encourage us all to take a chance on someone this week, to be bold in acting in our faith and not focusing on how the world responds to it but how God responds.

Always praying for you all,

Courtney McKean

Have you ever seen someone from afar and watched how they interact with people and think, “I want to know that person.” I have. And it’s typically at church that I find those people. What draws me to them? You can see their heart through their body language.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how to do one simple thing more often and that is smile. I am guilty of not smiling enough, and one thing that shows joy is smiling. Where does joy come from? The Lord. So what does this say about my heart? Well, I’m not going to sit here and say I’m not a joyous person because I try to be. But I will say I do not wake up every day with the mindset of, “this is a day the Lord has made.” That verse comes to mind when thinking about being joyful but also Mark 12:30-31, “And you shall love the Lord God with all your heart and of all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” I touched on “loving God with all your mind” yesterday but I want to discuss “loving your God with all your heart” today.

Joy comes from the Lord, we know that. But how do we remain joyful in our everyday lives when things keep happening. How do you keep that smile on your face? I think the biggest part of what keeps us smiling is our love. Love your God and love your neighbor. These are the commandments Jesus gives us above the others. These are the most important because through these, the rest follows. If we are so occupied with loving God, we have our eyes fixated on His glory, joy will come naturally. And what comes from joy? SMILING. Be that light that others will see and be drawn to. Imagine what would happen if you remained that joyous person you are at church in your workplace? How many people would be drawn to gravitate toward you like a plant gravitating to the sun for life?

There are so many people in this world looking for sunlight to live. All they see around them is darkness. If you watched Erika Kirk’s message 2 days after her husband was shot and killed, you could see the joy she had, despite her immense grief, because of her love for God. I think many of us looked at her that night and thought, “How do I have strength and love like that?” I want to encourage you all, as I’m encouraging myself, to intentionally smile more this week. I want to know what happens when I show my pearly whites more to my neighbors. Love your God with all your heart by loving your neighbors. Have joy in the Lord. Have contagious faith. Be a person a stranger would want to come up to and talk. Lead with your heart.

With love,

Courtney McKean

Hello friends and family,

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday and getting some rest before the next week starts. As I think many of us have, I have had a lot on my heart this week. God is really stirring things up in me, and I want to share it. In light of what has happened with Charlie Kirk, my heart’s desire right now is to encourage all of us to come together and support each other through prayer and devotion. I am starting this blog to share with my friends and family in hopes of being part of a change in our community and culture. I want to thank everyone in advance for taking time to read this, and please feel free to share it with your friends if you feel led.

As some of you know, I have recently enrolled in Luther Rice College and Seminary to pursue a career in missions. This blog is also to help prepare me to share my faith full time by writing about it regularly to more eyes than just my personal journal. As I learn and discover more about the Lord through books I read, I’m excited to share with you so we can continue on this journey of “loving God with our minds” together.

That is actually where I want to start this blog. Currently I am reading a book for my Philosophy class called “Love Your God with All Your Mind” by JP Moreland. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in growing in their faith by growing in knowledge. One quote that I have hung onto in the book is, “According to the Bible, developing a Christian mind is part of the very essence of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus.” I have been convicted of not using the greatest source God gave me when He perfectly connected my brain to my body to be filled with knowledge of my Father. There are a couple of ways we can look at this but the biggest questions I’ve been asking myself are, “What am I filling my mind with?” and “How am I using my mind?”

In the book, Moreland mentions a bible study. After reading a passage of scripture, the question was asked, “what does this passage mean to me?” While there doesn’t sound to be anything wrong with that question, Moreland points out the question that should be asked prior and that is, “what does the passage say and why do I think my interpretation is correct?” This causes us to get away with believing our first impressions and not getting into the nitty gritty of the text. That is why Bible studies and Sunday school classes are so important. Those times allow us to come together as groups and discuss a passage to challenge our minds to see and understand the scripture from different perspectives.

I want to end with this: are you intentionally growing your Christian mind and, in turn, increasing your faith? Are you able to back up your beliefs, opinions, and morals with scripture? When I think about Charlie Kirk and the legacy he left, I think about how all he wanted to do was inform young people (and old) about the issues of the world and how to improve them by aligning them with the Word of God. He had filled his mind with so much knowledge of scripture which, in turn, increased his faith, which then gave him the confidence and courage to stand up in front of non-believers and tell them what was biblical and what was not. I can’t imagine continuing to live my life the same way after his assassination. I have a new light burning inside me now and I pray you do to. If someone asks you about Charlie Kirk this week, use his name as a chance to tell someone about Jesus. I pray you feel something shifting in the air and are prepared to put on the armor of God and fight.

I will be praying for you all as we go into this week. I am here for you as a sister in Christ, and I am praying that this is a time where Christians can come together, strengthen our backs, and “flex” to “make Heaven crowded.”

Thank you!

Courtney McKean