CALLED TO HOLINESS, but what does that have to do with worship?

For that past month and a half, the worship and music ministry here at Central has been reading “Holiness, the Heart God Purifies” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. (I strongly recommend this book for any believer!) 

One might ask the question, “ Wouldn’t it make more sense for the worship ministry to read a book about worship? “ The reality though, is that living a life of worship cannot be separated from living a holy life. You can’t just  be a worshiper, and you can’t just be holy. One’s pursuit of holiness, their obedience in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and change them, is an essential part of their life of worship. It is by living holy lives that we live lives of worship. In Scripture it is clear that sin is serious and that believers are called to be holy:

But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

While this is not an easy task, it is a possible one as the Holy Spirit continues to sanctify us, making us more like Christ as we walk with Him. 

Why is it that people have such a negative view of holiness when it is how we are to live as believers? Much of the time people would rather take the easy road because to put it simply, holiness is hard. Total focus and dependence on Christ is the only way to live a holy life. If we know we cannot save ourselves and that Christ is our salvation, then we must also know that we cannot possibly live a holy life without dependence on God. We can’t do it on our own, yet we still have to be obedient in following wholeheartedly after Christ. When one is focused on Christ holiness is not over burdensome because our true desire and ambition is to please the Savior. That is living a life of worship. 

God is calling his children to live lives of holiness, let’s not make excuses for ourselves. Listed below are 7 key motivations for holiness take from chapter 2 of DeMoss’s book.

We are to be holy because:

1. God is holy

2. Holiness is God’s stated goal for every believer

3. We are saints (so act like it)

4. Our intimacy with God depends on it

5. Jesus died to deliver us from sin

6. We are going to live eternally in a holy city

7. The well-being of others depends on it

I am constantly amazed by God’s faithfulness. While I often mess up, He continues to use me. Aren’t you thankful that as believers we do not have to strive for holiness on our own. We don’t have to meet a standard ourselves. Christ has already met it for us and through the Holy Spirit the Lord will continue to work in us! 

..being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Couponing Trip

Allen has been after me for about a year now to do a blog about couponing, so here it is. As many of you have probably already seen on facebook I had a great shopping trip last Thursday. Today's blog is going to tell you each item that I bought, how much it should have been, and what I paid for it. Pictures from each store will be included, as well as the total price from each trip  before coupons and savings and after coupons and savings.
With the new program on TLC called "Extreme Couponing", I wanted to give my readers a real perspective of how to do couponing. The show makes you think that you can go into any store and get thousands of dollars worth of groceries for nothing or in some cases have the store pay you. This is not true at all! In fact, most grocery stores do not allow to have overages on coupons or give you money back. So for those of you who have maybe tried to do what is being done on the television show, and have gotten discouraged because you can't do it, this blog is for you. Again, I will say the show does not let you in on the amount of work involved with couponing and the women are also using unethical ways to get their groceries. Do not be discouraged if you can not do this the first time you go couponing. It takes almost two months to get your coupon inventory up, and probably another three months to stock your pantry. I now go shopping about once a month, if that, to get groceries that Allen and I need, and most of the time I am just restocking what we have already used. Most months, I only buy meat because I have the ingredients to do everything else. So here goes last Thursday's shopping trip.

Kroger

 Pictured above:

6 packages of Bar S hot dogs- The hot dogs were on sale for $1 a package- $6 total- Coupon: $1 off two packages of hot dogs, making each package of hot dogs- $.50

6 bags of Knorr Pasta sides- The pasta was on sale for $1 a package- $6 total- Coupon: $.50 off when you buy two packages of Knorr Pasta sides. Coupon doubled making each bag $.50.

3 bottles of All laundry detergent- The laundry detergent was on sale for $2.99- $8.97 total- Coupon: $1 off when you buy any All laundry detergent making each bottle $1.99.

2 bottles of V8 Juice- The V8 was on sale for $2.29- $4.58 total- Coupon: $1 off two bottles of V8 juice making each bottle $1.49.

Total price of groceries before coupons: $35.33

Total after coupons: $16.81. However, I had a $5 Kroger gift card bringing my out of pocket expense to $11.81.

 Now you are probably asking why did her $.50 coupon double? Kroger allows you to double any coupon $.50 or less. Therefore making my $.50 coupon a dollar off.

Harris Teeter

This was my biggest grocery store purchase with the least amount of out of pocket expense.

Pictured above:
6 tubes of Degree deodorant
                         Sale Price: 2/$5.00
                         Total before Coupons: $15.00
                         Coupon: Buy 1 Get one Free, and I used $.75 off one tube of Degree deodorant
                         Total after Coupon- $3
3 bottles of KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce
                         Sale Price: $1.50
                         Total before Coupons: $4.50
                         Coupon: $1 off when you buy KC Masterpeice Suace or Marinade
                         Total Price after Coupon: $1.50. 3 bottles for the price of one.
1 tube of Colgate toothpaste
                         Sale Price- $1.99
                         Total before Coupons- $1.99
                         Coupon: $. 75 off one Colgate Toothpaste
                         Total Price after Coupon: $.50
2 bottles of Gillette body wash
                         Sale Price- $3.99
                         Total before coupons- $7.98
                         Coupon: Buy one get one free, and I used $2 off manufacturer coupon when you buy 1
                          bottle, and I used $2 off store coupon when you buy one bottle of body wash.
                          Total after Coupon- FREE
1 tube of Crest 3D White toothpaste
                         Sale Price- $2.49
                         Total before coupon: $2.49
                         Coupon- $.75 off one Crest toothpaste, and $.75 off store coupon
                         Total after coupon: $.24
1 Tide to-go pen
                         Sale Price- $2.99
                         Total before Coupon- $2.99
                         Coupon- $1 off one Tide-to-go pen, and $1 off store coupon
                         Total after Coupons- $.99
1 Colgate toothbrush
                         Sale Price- $1.99
                         Total before coupon- $1.99
                          Coupon- $.75 off one toothbrush
                         Total after coupon- $.49
6 bottles of Classico Pasta Sauce
                         Sale Price- 2/$4
                         Total before Coupons- $24
                         Coupon- $1 off two
                         Total after coupons- $18
2 boxes of Tampax Pearl
                        Sale Price- $6.49
                        Total before Coupons- $12.98
                        Coupons- $3 off when you buy 2, and $3 off when you buy 2 store coupon
                         Total after Coupons- $6.98
2 Freschetta Pizzas
                         Sale Price- $3.97
                         Total before Coupons- $7.94
                         Coupon- $1 off one
                         Total after Coupons- $5.94
2 packages of Chicken Leg Quarters
                         Sale Price- $.47 a pound
                         Total Price- $5.82
1 bottle of Finesse Shampoo
                         Sale Price- $2.50
                         Total before Coupon- $2.50
                         Coupon- $1 off
                          Total after Coupon- $1.50
1 bottle of Finesse Conditioner
                         Sale Price- $2.50
                         Total before Coupon- $2.50
                          Coupon- $1 off
                          Total after Coupon- $1.50
1 bottle of Finesse Mousse
                         Sale Price- $2.50

                         Total before Coupon- $2.50
                         Coupon- $1 off
                          Total after Coupon- $1.50
                           I also have a $2 rebate on this item, so after I get my rebate it will be a $.50 moneymaker.
2 tubes of Lysol Wipes
                          Sale Price- $1.69
                          Total before coupon- $3.38
                          Coupon- $1 off two
                          Total after coupon- $2.38, making them $1.19 a piece
3 bottles of French's Worcestershire Sauce
                          Sale Price- $.99
                          Total before coupons- $2.97
                          Coupon- $.75 off one
                           Total after coupons- FREE
2 bottles of Clorox 2 Laundry treatment
                          Sale Price- $1.99
                          Total before coupons- $3.99
                          Coupon- $1.50 off one
                          Total after coupon- $,99, making each bottle $.49. I also have a Saving star account that
                           gives you money when you buy certain products that you choose. After that is added to my
                           account it makes both bottles FREE.
1 bottle of Dawn dish detergent
                            Sale Price- $2.50
                            Total before Coupon- $2.50
                            Coupon- $.50 off one
                            Total after coupon- $1.50
4 half gallons of Turkey Hill Tea
                             Sale Price- $1.25
                             Total before Coupons- $5
                             Coupon- $1 off when you buy 2
                             Total after Coupons- $3, making each half gallon $.75
1 bottle of Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash
                              Sale Price- $3.99
                              Total before Coupons- $3.99
                              Coupons- $2 off when you buy one, and $2 off when you buy one store coupon
                               Total after Coupons- FREE


Total of this trip before coupons and savings- $163.45
Total after coupons and savings- $53.58
That's right, I saved $109.87.

Lowes Foods

Pictured above:
2 tubes of Crest toothpaste
                 Sale Price- $1.99                
                 Total before coupons- $3.98
                 Coupon- $.75 off one
                 Total after coupons- $.98
2 Colgate toothbrushes
                  Sale Price- $.89
                  Total before Coupons- $1.60
                   Coupon- $.75 off one
                   Total after Coupons- FREE
2 Crab Classics Crab Meat
                   Sale Price- $1.50
                   Total before Coupon- $3
                   Coupon- $1 off one
                    Total after coupons- $1 for both
5 bottles of Old Orchard Juice
                    Sale- Buy 2, get 3 Free
                    Total before coupons- $5.70
                     Coupon- $.50 off one
                     Total after Coupons- $3.70, making each bottle $.74
1 Cascade Complete Action Pacs Dishwasher Detergent
                      Sale Price- $3.99
                      Total before Coupons- $3.99
                       Coupon- $.25 off one
                      Total after coupon- $3.49
1 Cascade Action Pacs Dishwasher Detergent
                     Sale Price- $3.99
                     Total before Coupons- $3.99
                      Coupon- $.50 off one
                      Total after coupon- $2.99
1 Febreeze Set and Refresh
                      Sale Price- $2.50
                      Total before Coupon- $2.50
                      Coupon- $1 off one
                      Total after coupon- $1.50
1 Febreeze Air Effects
                      Sale Price- $2.50
                      Total before coupon- $2.50
                       Coupon- $.50 off one
                       Total after coupon- $1.50
1 Dawn Dish Detergent
                        Sale Price- $1.99
                        Total before Coupon- $1.99
                         Coupon- $.50 off one
                         Total after Coupon- $.99
1 Fusion Hydro Gel Shaving Cream
                         Sale Price- $1.99
                         TOtal before Coupon- $1.99
                          Coupon- $1 off one
                           Total after coupon- $.99
2 bottles of Old Spice body wash
                          Sale Price- $2
                          Total before coupon- $4
                          Coupon- $1 off two
                          Total after coupon- $3
2 cartoons of Lowes Foods Grade A Large Eggs
                          Sale Price- $.99
                          Total- $1.98

Total before coupons and savings- $74.89
Total after coupons and savings- $27.82

Some of you are probably wondering how did she get some of her money off when her coupon may have been for only $.50 or $.75. Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods allows you to double any coupon that is $.99 or less everyday.

There you have my entire days shopping trip and how I did it. Some of the coupons and prices may be wrong for Lowes Foods, but I could not remember everything. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my coupon trip. Be sure to look for more blogs to come. :)