Salvation | Laurie Coombs

Archive for the ‘Salvation’ Category

The Cost of Discipleship

Posted on: December 5th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs

Jesus came that we might have life. And life to the full. He came to bind up the brokenhearted. To bring good news to the poor. To proclaim liberty to the captives. To provide for our every need. To love us. To care for us. To provide a home for our wondering heart. He calls to the people. “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). “Come, follow Me,” He says (Matthew 19:21). “Learn from Me…and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Promising to guide us into His will for our lives, He beckons us to follow. We’re called to be disciples. Followers of Christ––the living God––but discipleship comes at a cost. All that stuff I wrote above is pleasant to the ear. We like hearing the truth of God’s promise to love and care for us. To restore us to wholeness and healing. These…

God’s Love Note to Humanity

Posted on: November 26th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

“Did you write our mommy notes yet?” I hear my girls ask most mornings before school. “Yep! It’s in your lunch box,” I say, as we head out the door to start our day. These little, seemingly insignificant “mommy notes”––as my girls dubbed them––mean the world to my two daughters. They don’t just read them. They cherish them. They keep them. In fact, there are times that I see them pull out an enormous stack of mommy notes so they can read them all over again. Ella even knows which one is the very first mommy note I gave her on her first day of first grade, over two years ago (we homeschooled for kindergarten). And let me tell you, on the rare occasion that I don’t have time to write that sacred little note, you better believe that I hear about it. It almost seems they’re not quite filled with my love…

I Am Not a Victim

Posted on: November 17th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

The following is a repost of one of my most popular posts that I’ve edited and revised a bit. I believe it contains important truths for each of us to consider. What I’d like you to take away from this article more than anything else is this: we are not victims. “Victim” is not our identity. We may have been on the receiving end of evil, but that evil does not change our identity. Far too many people carrying the heavy label of victim around on their shoulders. Far too many of us are crushed beneath the weight of this false identity. It’s time to free ourselves. I never intended to be a victim. Shortly after my dad was murdered, my family and I were referred to the victim services department at the courthouse. It was the first time we were called victims, but I honestly didn’t consider myself to be…

Watch “Heaven: A New Message from Billy Graham!”

Posted on: November 6th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” – Isaiah 40:9 “Heaven” has been released! The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has done an incredible job with this powerful, thirty minute message, and I wanted to take a moment to share it with you. Quite honestly, I am still humbled to have been a part of this project. It’s unbelievable, really. Billy Graham has been an inspiration to me in my faith, as he has been to millions of others, since my early days as a new Christian. I remember reading his book, The Journey: Living by Faith in an Uncertain World (affiliate link), just about one year after coming to Christ. I was looking for answers, trying to figure out how to do…

A Story of Hope

Posted on: October 23rd, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments

My family and I attend a church here in Reno called Life Church. It’s an amazing church full of people sold out for Jesus. And I love that! Our pastors have been teaching a series on hope, using the recently release book The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston. Shortly before the series began, my pastor and I had spoken to one another about bringing my story to our church. And after a while, he asked if I’d be willing to film a short video to be used during this series to illustrate the truth that hope can be found on the other side of tragedy. To show that God does, in fact, work all things for good for those who know and love Him. I’m sharing that video here with you today, and I pray God uses it as He intends to bring greater perspective and hope and light to those who need it. Laurie…

My Book Cover Has Been Released!

Posted on: October 15th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments

Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness will be released June 27, 2015, but I wanted to take a moment to share the cover with you. There’s a pretty incredible story behind the making of the cover that I may share sometime, but for now, it’s sufficient to say that there is not a doubt in my mind that this is the cover God willed for this book. I hope you like it! I am so looking forward to see how God uses this story for His glory! It is my prayer that He uses it to bring hope, healing, and even salvation to many!

“Our Eyes Are on You”

Posted on: September 22nd, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

What do we do when we’re afraid? What do we do when we’re presented with opposition or trials? Check out the video blog below to hear what God has been placing upon my heart. If you’re having trouble viewing the video, click here to watch it on YouTube. Any thoughts? Share in the comments.

The Billy Graham “Heaven” Trailer Has Been Released!

Posted on: September 3rd, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 13 Comments

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It’s here! The trailer for Billy Graham’s newest film, “Heaven,” was released recently. It’s the one I had the privilege to be a part of. The film is intended to be used as an evangelistic tool and will be released just in time for Mr. Graham’s ninety-sixth birthday in early November. If you’d like to get involved or if you’d like to see how you might be able to pre-order and use this resource, please go to the My Hope with Billy Graham website. What an honor it was to be included in such an amazing project. Be sure to check it out! If you’re having trouble viewing the video, click here to watch it on YouTube. Any thoughts? Share in the comments.

All is Grace

Posted on: August 21st, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

It’s easy to see the grace of God and be thankful for it in all that is good in our lives. But can we recognize His grace and be thankful in our trials? In the midst of uncertainty and pain? Can we see that everything––the good, the bad, and the ugly––all of it, is grace? Like many of you, my story is not one I would have chosen for myself. For years, I found it difficult to embrace the life I found my self living. But over the course of the last few years, God has opened my eyes to see the thread of grace He had been weaving throughout each and every moment of my life from the beginning. Grace, it turns out, was there all along––through the good and the bad. Grace was there, guiding me throughout my childhood. Grace was there, strengthening me through my parents’ divorce….

Fail Fast and Forget about It

Posted on: July 23rd, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

I recently heard a pastor say, “Fail fast and forget about it.”* It made me smile and think about what Paul wrote to the Philippians, the scripture I used in my last post, where he said, Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14 I know I’m stating the obvious, but we all fail. Everyone of us has failed in the past, and more failures are sure to come to us in the future. Failure, after all, is a given. We are imperfect sinners in need of God’s…