PW: Hi Alicia! Thank you for talking with us here at Precious. There's so much to talk about, but first let's start with how you encountered Christ. You say that He 'interrupted your existence'. Can you tell us a bit about what your life was like then and how He stopped you in your tracks?

Truth for me was dead. God had never lived. Life was filled with pain. Death was the end of life. These four beliefs formed my worldview. I sincerely believed that there was no God. The day of the encounter, I was neither seeking God nor on a noble truth pilgrimage. I was neither high nor drunk nor in the pit of despair.

PW: Were you an atheist by choice or simply because no one had ever told you the gospel?

Atheism was a distinct decision. My parents tease me that the first word out of my mouth wasn't ''Ma'' or ''Da'' but ''WHY?'' Evidently I've been asking questions since I could speak. Unanswerable questions led me to the belief that there was no God. Over the years I encountered several streams of Christianity and also Spiritualism, Hinduism, and Buddhist thought. Faith seemed a construct of mankind to stuff in the gaps and calm fears or explain the unexplainable. As a young Atheist, I considered myself a realist who preferred unanswered questions over fairy tales.

PW: Why do you think so many Christians are afraid of speaking with those who say they don't believe?

Reasons abound, but perhaps almost all of the reasons are rooted in either fear or deception. Some fear rejection or embarrassment. Some fear not knowing what to say. And perhaps some privately fear that their faith isn't sound enough to withstand critique.

Fear married to deception keeps the Church caged. In our day, ''one way-Jesus'' is cultural blasphemy. The world's deceptive message is deafening: ''Move beyond the narrow elitism of one-way and enter into the enlightened inclusion of all ways. Affirm equally everyone's respective truth or keep your mouth shut.''

PW: Do you think modern Christian culture has in some ways made it more difficult for atheists to come to the church? Perhaps it's our lack of sharing life shoulder-to-shoulder outside of church that makes it difficult for people (Atheist or otherwise) to want to come inside a church. We give our gifts (money, talent) gladly but our lives (time, touch) little. Our lives are so full. Yet it would be life-giving, if we said ''no'' to one time-eater in order to say ''yes'' to some consistent activity (city league ball, PTA...) that would place us in proximity with others who wrote mental resignation letters to the church long ago.

PW: Coming to church is to come face to face with Jesus, yet church attendance universally is steadily declining. How do you think we, as Christians play a part in part?

The following progression in our minds and hearts can re-route us slowly away from faithful-church-participation and solidly into occasional-church-attendance: family: voluntary association
community: audience
sanctuary: building

PW: Your new book is called 'Intimate Conversations with God'. Can you tell what inspired you to write it?

An empowering organization called MOPS went on a search for a writer for their first theme devotional book. In writing Intimate Conversations, I thought through key conversations with women I've mentored and collected the thoughts, principles, and teachings that they found most helpful for realizing intimacy with God in the midst of untidy, real, raw life.

PW: What is intimacy with God?

Abandonment: rooted in love, realized in each moment, radiant in the world. My personal picture of intimacy is captured by two examples in Scripture:
Moses: ''The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.'' (Exodus 33.11) Moses' face-to-face friendship with God causes me to spiritually thirst. My almost daily prayer for intimacy is this: ''God, may I know you as Moses knew you and may those I invest in never leave your tent.'' The sinful woman who anointed Jesus: ''When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to set his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.'' (Luke 7.37-38) Basilea Schlink said that, ''Jesus and the penitent sinner belong together.'' I too was a slave to sin. Jesus' lavish forgiveness woos me to abandon all the world treasures at his feet!

PW: Could we maybe talk you into sharing with us one of your favourite intimate conversations with God? :)

Some of my favorites were the most painful. Here's one that was formative:
As a young woman, I remember sitting down after being called up onto a stage and publicly affirmed as a teacher. Instead of humble honor I felt sudden sadness: ''Lord, there's one voice that's never said 'well done.' The applause of many is nice. But I ache to hear the affirmation of just one.''
In response, Father God spoke three truths over my life:
''Child, you always have my attention. What can mankind's attention add to that?''
''Child, you already have my acceptance. What can mankind's acceptance add to that?''
''Child, your Daddy God is proud of you.''

PW: Why do you think so many of us are afraid of this level of spiritual intimacy?

Perhaps some are hindered by an untruth that's been deeply embedded in their spirit. Quietly sabotaging our personal hope for intimacy with God is this lie: ''God doesn't really want to be intimate with me. Others - yes. But not me, because...I had this past or I have this problem...I don't have that strength and I do have this weaknesses...I failed at this and didn't try at that...I'm used, worn, dirty, struggling...

Yes - true for us all. AND Jesus came for sinners, just like you and me. He's wasn't in denial about our humanity when he stretched out his arms and died.

PW: How can we grow in our own intimacy with God?

Whenever I sign Anonymous: Jesus' Hidden Years and Yours, I always add this encouragement: ''Be still, and grow.''
Stillness is a power spiritual discipline. Our souls would benefit from its development. Even starting with five minutes a day spent ''unplugged'' in a posture of attentiveness toward God can open a new door to deeper intimacy.
Worship him with silence. Love him with an offering of stillness. These disciplines unclutters our soul and clear the way for us to see God more fully.

PW: You come across as a very creative soul. Outside of writing, do you have any other favourite creative forms of expression?

Teaching my children. Watercolors. Playing the piano in an empty room.

PW: Alot of your work has a very calming and comforting quality about it. Is that a conscience decision or just something that comes about naturally?

How encouraging to hear you say that. In 1994, God rewired my life. I had seen rest as a reward for faithfulness. He showed me that rest is a pre-requisite for fruitfulness. If I have anything of substance to offer publicly in service to others, it has been planted by the Holy Spirit in my heart privately through resting in God.

PW: You seem to be a real 'citizen of the world' having traveled far and wide. What have been some of your most memorable experiences as you've journeyed from country to country?

Backpacking through China with my husband. Touching the pyramids in Egypt with an amazing woman I've had the joy of mentoring. Dressing in a sari to attend an Indian wedding with dear friends who took me into their hearts in Singapore. Witnessing the second birth of Chinese college students in Australia. Eating tacos from Senora Martinez's street cart in Mexico with my mom...

My memories are a rich blend of people, nature, art, and food! Walking each morning to order steaming Indian sweet tea from my Muslim friend, Ibrahim, in Singapore. Devouring hot chili-pepper noodles with mission teammates in Indonesia. Wishing I had another stomach while delighting in dim sum with colleagues in China. Warming up with too-hot chocolate in the Swiss mountains with a dear friend. Hot tea sipped along Australian shores...

PW: Can you name some of the places you'd still love to visit?

Kenya. India. Japan. Chile. Russia.

PW: As you travel to minister the word, what are some of the commonalties you've found across the body of the church?

Two commonalties especially stand out to me: sobriety and salvation.
Sobriety: The church is weary of bright but hollow programs and loud but empty words. A generation is craving something genuine and substantial. Salvation: God is drawing the lost home! In every church service and retreat, dozens are committing their souls to the Savior. It's beautiful - a God-ward movement across the land!

PW: Thinking again about intimacy, many women particularly struggle with that because of past hurts. How can we learn to wipe clean the memory of broken trust and lean more fully on God?

I rejoice when God supernaturally removes a memory chip, but more often in my own life he calls me to keep the wound uninfected. Obeying God in that pursuit requires a few choices: (1) whatever the justification might be, we must refuse to relive the wounds' details in our minds, (2) we must forgive and ask forgiveness seventy-seven times seven times a day to keep that wound clean, and (3) we must be assume a posture of gratitude: our wounds give us the opportunity to fellowship with Jesus' sufferings. Somehow, pain can open the way to greater dependence and, consequently, great intimacy IF we work to keep the wounds uninfected.

PW: As a wife and a mother in ministry who spends alot of the time on the road, how do you manage to balance your own time with the Lord with the time you spend ministering to others?

I view life as a series of concentric circles of relationship. At the core is my relationship with God. The next circle encompasses my relationship with my family. Third is my relationship with friends and those I minister to.
If I take the time to well-water my two inner circles, then - though I have less time for ''ministry'' - the time I can offer is more fruitful.
So we accept fewer invitations to ensure that our family is healthy. In the end, those I am able to minister to receive a much more peaceful, sensitive, creative, substantial minister than they would if I prioritized relationship with them over relationship with my God and my family.

PW: How has your family adjusted to having a traveling wife/mom?

My husband and I both work from home, team parent, and accept/decline invitations as a family. Our three fabulous children have grown up with that rhythm. One of us is always home and in most years I only accept 12-15 out-of-town speaking invitations. Recently I returned home very tired from a trip and my six-year old wrapped her arms around me and said, ''But Mommy, you MUST keep telling people about Jesus.''

PW: What have you found to be some of the most useful tools for your spiritual growth?

Mentors. Silence. Stillness. Honesty. Repentance.

PW: What scripture would you say is your favourite in this season of your life?

Exodus 33.11

PW: In our 'have-and-do-it-all' society it's easy to get overwhelmed by external pressures, how do you stay sane?

By (1)listening in silence to know what I am and what I am not called to do, and (2) paying the price of disappointing others to spend the best of my energy on Jesus' ''what is better'' for me in each season. It's not easy...but less busy produces more fruit in/through me.

PW: Who are the heroes you look to for inspiration when things get hard?

My Jesus and my husband.

PW: Are there any other women in ministry whose teaching particularly inspires you?

I've been greatly moved by the writings of Madam Guyon. She spoke and wrote centuries ago, but her example of abandonment still mentors me.

PW: What books are reading? What music/teaching CD's are you listening to?

Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Madam Guyon
Aspergers: what does it mean to me? By Catherine Fauherty
Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman
He is our God by Hillsong

PW: What is the one spiritual area you would like to grow more in this year? Selflessness.

PW: Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?

Oh yes!!! We are preparing to launch Leadership Investment Intensives (Lii)in January! So many of my senior pastor friends have shared how they wish they had an avenue to invest in their women in leadership. Lii will be a spiritual-health mentoring intensive: 3 nights, 4 days, 3 one-on-ones, 4 teaching sessions, private rooms for prayer..

Alicia, thank you SO much for your time and for answering our questions!

For a chance to WIN a SIGNED copy of Alicia's books 'Intimate Conversations: Devotions to Nurture a Woman's Soul' & 'Anonymous' email your name and contact details to; theeditor@preciouswomanmag.com

For more details about Alicia's books and speaking schedules, please visit www.truthportraits.com

Questions (c) Precious Woman Magazine, 2009. All responses (c) alicia britt chole