The Marriage Thing

So, it has been a very long time since I've posted anything. Recently things have been changing a lot with work... having a new pastor and all. Make sure you check out the new website of our church. On the sermons and resources page there is a little comment box on what you'd like to hear preached, or something you've always wanted to hear about. 

Marriage... whoever said they are perfect were lying. They are a lot of work sometimes. Everyone has their own opinion, and I really enjoy being married. Ana's input in invaluable to me and I love that she is by my side through it all. But there are those days that can get rough sometimes. (I'm not posting this because today was rough or that we have issues often. I'm just stating a fact) One thing I believe those of us who are married have to realize is that there are two of us, but we are one. There are two brains and they don't always see things the same way, but we work together. There is one emotion that can contradict the other, but we're striving for the same thing.

All of us have dreams of marrying the perfect spouse. We contain within ourselves our picture of the ideal and when things don't go our way we feel our dreams have been shattered. We've been let down and they aren't ever supposed to do that. Resentment builds up and we even think they did it on purpose. We dwell on it and eventually believe that they actually did do it on purpose. But instead of bringing it up when it happens we hold on to it and the bitterness eats us up on the inside. The more we dwell on it the more we realize that nothing they do is right. Our solution is to try and change them and even manipulate them into seeing things our way to prove our point.

Have we forgotten something? Like, our spouse is a human being? My wife is different than me and has been created different and unique. I cannot try to change her! What God has made her to be is how she is supposed to be: different from me. Anyone who looks to their spouse for complete fulfillment is going to be let down every time. My wife and I found that true fulfillment only comes from the Lord. Having our relationship built on Him as our foundation helps us see and come to the point of forgiveness and reconciliation. I'm not saying that we have everything figured out, but I can tell you from experience that keeping God as our focal point in our relationship has helped us through the tough stuff. 

I'm going to steal this thought from someone else. You've heard Jesus say, "how can you say to one man, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye' without paying attention to the log in your own eye? First remove the log in your own eye then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I think Jesus was talking about relationships in general. One thing someone pointed out to me is that the "speck" in someone else's eye is merely a reflection of the log in your own. Our own stupid pride keeps us from seeing it. If we can remove the log from our eye, the speck in someone else's will be gone. The speck in their eye becomes less of an irritant in ours. So truly, our dissatisfaction with our spouse is stimulated from a dissatisfaction with ourselves. That's hard to swallow...

I beg you, if there is something that needs to be straightened up between you and your husband or wife, look in the mirror first, put yourself in their shoes, clean out your own eye and go make things right! The first step is to pray and ask God to show you what you don't see, to get yourself out of the way (nobody can expect their life to center around themselves once they are married). Then clean house. Then go reconcile and forgive.

I really hope this was an encouragement to those who know that marriage can sometimes be difficult. This lesson I've learned from a conference my wife and I went to has helped us see that it's okay for the other to be different and understand that God made them that way. We've decided that no matter how bad things might get between us divorce (the "d" word) will never be an option. I hope you can and will make the same commitment to each other. It's work and it's worth it.

A Portrait of Grace

One of the neatest Psalms I've read is Psalm 36. For some reason there was this urging need to read this particular Psalm yesterday. Check this out:

"Transgression speaks to the ungodly in his heart;

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

For it flatters him in his own eyes

Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.

The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;

He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

He plans wickedness upon his bed;

He sets himself on a path that is not good;

He does not despise evil.

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Your judgments are like the great deep

O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O GOD!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of

Your wings.

They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.

O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,

And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Let not the foot of pride come upon me,

And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

There the doers of iniquity have fallen;

They have been thrust down and cannot rise."

Isn't this neat? You can see a picture of grace in the making, the need for salvation because of our sin. 

In the first verse I read how desire strikes... within my heart. 

Sin... I fall because for that moment I no longer fear God. I don't think of Him. I think of myself, my pleasure. The sin looks good, flatters me and tempts me to do it more... it speaks to me. But even though it brings pleasure it brings pain. I like it, I hate it. Every time I do it I know it's wrong but it's just so pleasing. I can't let anyone know. I'll lie to cover it up. My wisdom begins to fail me because all I can think about it that sin, that one moment of pleasure that bites me at the end. When I go to bed, I lay down and think of how tomorrow I can do it again without getting caught. I can only think about it and nothing else. I'm headed down a destructive path. I know I will get caught, but it's too late... it has caught me. SAVE ME!!! Please save me...

God's love doesn't end. We can't see the end of His love just like we can't see the end of the universe. His faithfulness never stops! It keeps going! God's goodness, His righteousness cannot be moved like a mountain stands majestically and unwavering against any storm. God's judgments look deep into my heart... He knows my heart... He sees where this all started within me. And yet, He doesn't destroy me because of my evil. He is good! His love and the kindness He shows me because of His love for me is precious, something to be held dear in my heart. I can take refuge in Him! I need to be saved. God can save me!! The more of Him I know the more my heart begins to change, the more His delights fill my heart, the more His delights become mine. There is LIFE with God!!! Because of His light I can see... I can see...

God please don't let me fall! Continue to show yourself to me! Show me your grace and love! Show me the WAY!! My pride can ruin me. May I always fear You. 

Into Thy Hand I Commit My Spirit

“Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me O Lord God of Truth” (Ps 31:5)

The first thing I think of when I hear this verse isn’t always that they were the words of my Lord Jesus Christ on the cross; more often I relate them to the last funeral I attended. A bit grim I know, but true. But this morning, as I was doing an online study with Beth Moore (lifetoday.org/beth) I heard this Word in a whole new light. Though I could just tell you to go to the site and listen for yourselves (which I hope you’ll do), I had some things on my heart and mind that made these words so very pertinent to my life in the past 3 weeks. ..maybe they’ll encourage yours.

I have recently been tempted (and) fallen in an area that I had once had victory over. And let me tell you the victory was sweet and wonderful and life-giving! I was even turning away from the temptation when it started poking it’s ugly head up in my life. It was amazing to be living out the very life and path God had laid out before me. I thought I had finally learned something (yes please laugh out loud to that statement!)! Then a few weeks ago I walked right back up to that old habit and opened the door (flood-gates is more like it) and said “welcome”. There didn’t even seem to be a struggle; it was like second nature. Then, before I knew it, something other than holiness was taking up residence in my life. My insides (spiritually speaking) began to remind me of the Taiwanese temples dedicated to their many gods…lifeless, dead, but appealing to the human eye. Then the struggle began.

It really wasn’t an epoch moment when I recognized God’s voice of conviction (gentle but stern); for, I knew it would come soon (I hoped it would). The epiphany (a sudden thought of realization – my 9th grade English teacher would be so proud!) arrived at a time I cannot remember, but the Word was loud. “You have left your first love” (Rev. 2:4). Why? How? I dared to ask. And the thoughts that came to mind were: What is love to you? Do you know real love? Do you know My love? When will you deal with your misconceptions about love and start living in it with Me? Do you trust me?

This Word and these questions came as somewhat of a relief to me because I realized there was going to be some greater good coming out of all of this, but this Word and these questions also became a mirror that I had to look into – and there was no relief as I stood looking into the reflection. I felt my soul echo the words of Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man (woman) of unclean lips.” (Isa 6:5) I’d love to say that I got on the band wagon and surrendered right away and had God take care of business in my life, but that was not the case. Instead my earnest prayer was that God would stay with me, be patient with me, in essence not give up on me. I won’t go into all of the studies of a prayer like that – whether or not it was theologically correct or not; it was just my prayer.

The frustration and dredge of my stumbling lasted for a little while longer (and I’m not claiming that it’s over, if my past experiences have taught me anything, I’d say I’ll expect a “knock” soon.) Then this morning came. I woke up expecting it to be a repeat of the many days before, when I realized my thoughts had become different. I had a longing, instead, to hear His Word. I wanted to hear testimonies of His greatness. And I did just that. Following this new morning desire led me to that scripture above (Psalm 31:5) and some comments that got me thinking, pondering, praying, and hoping again. Here are some of the insights I gained (“thank you Holy Spirit for still giving me insights!”)…

-committing my spirit to God does have something to do with death – death of myself and then life in Him.
-God desires to rescue me for He has ransomed me! That little girl desire to be Cinderella, has come so very true in my life (and will continue to do so as I trust in Him)
-the Hebrew word for “Truth” there is Emet (pronounced emeth)…this word is made up of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, sometimes referred to as the very seal of God. God can be trusted completely – beginning, middle, and end – with all of me and my life circumstances. (Hear more on this when you listen to Beth Moore’s lesson at lifetoday.org/beth “The ‘I Am’ over your ‘Was’ parts 1 and 2)
-“Real Love” cannot be found in human devices; no matter how hard I search for a real life example in movies, tv, or others, I will only know true love when I know Him. For love doesn’t begin in being a thing or a character trait, its beginning finds itself being a person. God is love.
-This is going to be a builder in my faith, my devotion, and in my love relationship with God and others, but it will not happen overnight. Even as I’m typing these words I sense a pull in the wrong direction. Will this Saturday end in victory? Or in another mess? in another jaded view of love? I pray the former.

I will end this entry with two prayers…one from a book I’m reading entitled God As He Longs For You To See Him by Chip Ingram and one from my favorite character Pastor Tim Kavanagh from the Mitford Years series and ofcourse from my Lord Jesus Christ…

O Lord God, holy and pure, awesome in majesty, as I consider your perfection, grant that I might
Commit to holy ways,
Think holy thoughts,
Live in holy obedience, and
Reject evil with a holy attitude.

Let me hear the tender conviction of your Spirit and help me remember that you are jealous for your holiness. Because of your love, you see the pain our sin will bring us, and you long to rescue us. So that your name may never be profaned in my life, you have my permission to do whatever you need to do to make me holy. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

-The prayer that never fails…”Thy will be done.”

Seeker Sensitive Truth?

So I'm trying to figure out exactly what "seeker sensitive" means. The more I think about it the more I'm convinced it's a wrong idea to have. How's that for starting a post? I believe I have just offended a bunch of church goers and church leaders.

Right now my Scripture reading has taken me to Acts, the beginning of the church. In chapter two is one of the most disturbing sermons I've ever read. There's another one in chapter 3. It almost seems accusatory and rude. But Peter is simply telling them a reality and truth that they all knew about and one that had been on their minds for a while...the unjust crucifixion of Jesus. I'm convinced that he wasn't telling them something they didn't already know, but making what they all felt and knew public. Their guilt was in front of them all the time since that event.

After his sermon was over chapter 2 says that they were "pierced to the heart". They asked what to do now and Peter didn't tell them "it's okay, Jesus loves you still." He told them to repent and ask for forgiveness. He didn't give them a Jesus that's all about making them feel okay but told them that they made a big mistake and that they need help. Here's where the whole "seeker sensitive" thing doesn't make sense to me. We have been called to present the truth, not a version of the truth. The Truth makes people feel uncomfortable, it calls us out, the very core of our life is laid bare before the Truth. The reality of Truth is something that people don't want to have to deal with. The Truth tells us that we have made some mistakes, that it is our responsibility, and that we need forgiveness to escape punishment.

Seeker sensitivity seems to give off the idea that when someone comes to church they must feel welcome and made comfortable...like this is something that isn't going to bother them. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are so glad you're here. This service is for you, and today we are going to hear about how God accepts you just as you are." And if you say that enough, people will truly believe that God always accepts us as we are. Well, the church leaders in the New Testament saw things a little differently than we do now. They weren't there to make anyone feel comfortable or even welcome them but to stir things up, to preach a Truth that convicts the heart and attacks sin. There seems to be a stipulation to being a part of the church: repentance. God doesn't accept us just as we are for forever! He wrote out a guideline for life that leads us to build and develop within us the character of Christ! We have to understand that God does accept us, but does not want to stay where we're at. He wants us to change and the Truth is supposed to do that.

If we have gone so far as to preach a gospel that doesn't stir up within us an uncomfortable and lifechanging feeling, then we have failed! If the Truth doesn't change us, we have made God out to be less holy, less faithful, less consistent! People don't come to church to hear that they are doing well. Think about it...the broken come to be mended, the sick come to get healed, the hurting come for comfort, and we can't offer that if we preach a gospel that makes Truth an "okay" thing to hear. Truth needs to pierce the heart. There is no comfort with sin, no comfort with guilt that goes on unconfronted with the Truth. How can people possibly know what God desires of us if we are "seeker sensitive"? How can people have their souls saved if we spend our time making sure they are comfortable in their surroundings?

I'm not suggesting that we don't welcome people into church. I'm suggesting that we stop selling Christ with what people want and win them to the Lord with God's very own Truth. Seeker sensitive churches continue what the United States has created in the minds of its citizens: consumerism. A majority of truth preaching churches don't seem to have large congregations because people aren't hearing what their "itching ears want to hear". What you win them with is what you keep them with. If you win them with the Truth they will leave the church with the Truth and won't ever leave the church until it's no longer being preached. I believe people come with a desire for change in their own life. They come with guilt that needs forgiveness. They need their heart to be pierced. They know they've done something wrong and need to know how to be forgiven. They are looking for something different than what they see everyday. God's Truth gives them that.

I truly believe that this isn't something new, or that I'm the only one who thinks this. There is a generation that's rising right now that sees what's going on in the church and doesn't like it. Seeker sensitivity has made the church complacent...which is a terrible sin that God simply cannot stand. This attitude about church is wearing it out and has caused the world to laugh at us and our freedoms to be taken away. We don't stand for anything anymore because we have been told that we need to be seeker sensitive...try and avoid all conflict and let people have what they want. We don't love our enemies when they "strike" us, we ignore them (not what God tells us to do). We are called to love our enemies and if we're going to love them then they need the Truth. And yes, it will convict, it will make them feel uncomfortable, it is imposing. What we have to realize is that it is more than simply our beliefs that are being imposed on them, it's a reality that they'll have to face on Judgment Day, a Truth that if they don't receive now they'll wish they had when it's the end.

Here's a truth for you if you are a Christian: people are dying and going to hell...are you doing anything about that? If you're not a Christian, here's a truth for you that I'm pleading with you even to the point of tears: God is real and Jesus died for you, God wants a relationship with you that will last for eternity even in His presence, God wants to change your life and has a great plan for you, and if you don't repent you know what happens in the end...have you done anything about that?

Sorry, guys, I'm not seeker sensitive. Jesus loves you...I love you. Love isn't a "seeker sensitive" thing.



Just for laughs: And this post doesn't mean "be a jerk". But if you are going to be one, at least be a loving one.

Understanding My Place

So, I probably just experienced one of the best times in my prayer life today. I'm not saying that I've got it all figured out, but one thing that has continually crept up to me spiritually is my lack of humility. I'll be the first to admit, I'm pretty sure of myself, and that I don't really struggle with understanding my "place" wherever I'm at. I'm good at what I do. I possess confidence in my abilities and surety of myself. Sometimes...well, maybe a lot of the time it comes across as arrogance to others. Anybody else recognize this in me? Don't answer...

The other day we were reading as a family a little portion from Luke 18 where Jesus is talking about prayer, that famous little parable about the tax collector and Pharisee praying. I read it and always feel better about myself because I definately don't pray like that Pharisee! Who ever liked a Pharisee anways? Jesus even said that he "prayed to himself" instead of to God, even though he addressed God at the beginning of his prayer. I don't recall ever saying to God that I'm better than all those other people and then proceed to give Him a list of all the great things I've done for Him, implying that He should reward me. I do remember asking God to be merciful to me. But I think we get this parable a little confused with what we should pray about instead of recognizing that these two prayers show us how we should come to God.

We do have a tendancy to ask God for a lot of things that we want. We talk with God about ourselves all the time, don't we? We tell Him about our day, we ask Him for stuff and healing, we sometimes even make the prayers ellegant and nice to listen to, feeling like God definately had to hear that one! Let me challenge you real quickly to go to the bottom of the page and type in the reference in the Biblegateway box and read this short parable to get an idea of what I'm talking about. The reference is Luke 18:9-14.

We've got something messed up about prayer. This isn't a time for us to simply tell God all the things we want or need, God already knows it. Prayer isn't all about ME. Prayer is a moment where we can spend some time telling God just how awesome He is. Seriously, we spend so much time during each day making ourselves look great, feel great, and just making ourselves great. Then we come to God and tell Him that we're not great and need more? Does God ever get a chance to talk in the prayer/conversation?

That parable tells me that God expects us to come before Him with an understanding of who He is when we address Him. I mean, we are talking to the Creator of the universe, the One who loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us, the most holy, most righteous One, the One in charge, Who reigns supreme, clothed in glory. It's not like we're just talking to a friend! Sure Jesus calls us "friend" but understand that it's a privilege to be able to talk with the King, to be in the presence of the Creator on a one on one basis. So if God is all this and so much more, if He is so much greater than we are, if He sent His only Son to die for us, is it too much to ask for a little humility when we pray? A little reverence? A tad bit of respect for the Love? Is it really going to kill us to be on our knees? Or stand in His presence like we would if the Judge were to walk in the room? Are we really "good enough" to sit? Have we devalued who God really is when we pray, when we address Him? Just some thoughts...

Prayer is a moment where we can recognize God's GREATNESS over our own...our own puny greatness that disappears as soon as it comes. Let me challenge you, the next time you pray to God, spend the first few moments to recognize Who you're talking with. Mention how great He is. Tell God thank you for being a hiding place in the storm, a rock to hold onto, your salvation. Let God come first this time. And don't pray about your stuff until you really believe you've grasped an understanding of exactly Who it is you're talking with. Let me tell you, when you understand your place in prayer, nothing will be the same for the rest of the day. You get lost...lost in honest praise, in honest worship, in honest repentance, in honest purpose. We've got to understand our place: God is God and I am not.

Leave me a comment.

My Sweet Evening

Good Morning, Afternoon, or Night. This morning I lay in bed, as I imagine many mothers do, unable to completely fall back to sleep after getting up and down with a child, a bathroom trip, and what I thought was a child getting up only to find they must have been talking in their sleep. I have found that God uses the early mornings for sweet moments with me. So, though a little weary, I was able to have a date with the Creator of the Universe before the sun even peeked its head up.
I lay there sharing thoughts with the Father of my truly blessed evening last night. The minister’s wife at our “Momma-Church”, Sunnyside Christian Church has all of the other minister’s wives over about every 2 ½ - 3 months, and boy was I ready! Nathan kind of caught on to my excitement as I giddily announced at 5:42 p.m. that I would be leaving in 8 minutes. Then at 5:43, “I will be leaving in 7 minutes!” So off I went at 5:50 to Mrs. Ruth’s house for a sweet time of fellowship, and sweet is was!
There ended up being only 5 of us total, but at the end of the evening I think we could all see how God used our small size to infuse BIG thoughts, feelings, and dreams. As we sat together our conversation quickly turned to mission work and our missionary friends. Mrs. Ruth’s daughter Anne and her family have returned from working in China for many years and are now in the midst of raising support for work in Italy. Carol and her family spent some years in Honduras as missionaries. My friend Sarah and I have both been on short-term mission trips. And so the sharing began. We talked of living situations whether scary, hot, strange, or admirable. We discussed the way people had to live and what determined their futures. We discussed the spiritual states of many we had encountered and others we knew of. We talked of those people that God so blessed us by letting us know them. We talked of the way God worked – because He so does, you know – in the hard and easy economic places and in the hard and harder spiritual places.
We then shared how many times here, in the US, we take forgranted all of our physical blessings. Talk to any of these ladies, my friends, and you will realize this in a few short minutes. Yet, with all of these physical conveniences I think we all came to agree that it seemed so much easier to stay focused on our purpose, to “Go make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 28:19), when we were in the other countries; for, when there, we no longer had the distractions that we are surrounded by, and sometimes surround ourselves with, here in America.
Through these thoughts I was reminded of an email a friend of mine sent out when she returned from a short trip to Africa. While there she began wondering what she had truly given up to know and serve Christ here in our country. In other countries people give up there livelihoods, their acceptance with their families, their freedom, and/or their lives. So what have we had to really give up besides maybe some bad habits? (I’m not down-sizing our salvation stories; we are truly saved from so much!) God helped her come to this conclusion: Those of us who are choosing day in and day out to lay down our lives, take up our crosses, and follow Him (Luke 9:23) here have in every way given up the “American Dream”. That dream that says go do what every you want. Go satisfy your every dream and desire, no matter what it takes. As a mom those childhood dreams can pop in your mind when you are exhausted at the end of the day and you’ve changed the last diaper and you think everyone’s in bed for the night and then a child awakens sick. Or when you, a single mom or dad, have worked all day, come home to a messy house and children who need the rest of you that’s left. Or when you, a dad, who is working one, two, three jobs to support your family and you get home and they all want to see Dad, hang on Dad, talk to Dad and though you want the same things, all you have the energy for is to sit.
These dreams are not unwarranted. Quite frankly having these dreams got me through some tough times and situations when I was growing up. As I have grown in my faith, though, and matured in the knowledge of Christ and what He was and is about, I see so very clearly how there is a lot to be given up in His name where I’m at. It may not be nice, convenient facilities. It may not be food I can get down without cringing. It may not be living in fear of rats scurrying around in my house. It may not be that I can’t openly express my faith and what I believe. But what it may be, and I believe is, is the dreams that make me number one. For His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than ours (Isa 55:9). Whatever we may dream or scheme to accomplish, it will never compare to the greatness of our God’s.
I don’t know if there is any great lesson to be learned from these thoughts but maybe some questions we can think about are: Where/With Whom do our dreams lie? What have you given up for the sake of Christ, to be called children of God? Have you ever thought about missions…about being a missionary? Do you realize that as often as God has called us to “Go Out” He has also called us to “Go Among” (go among those we currently live with)? Do you realize how great our futures are in the sight of the God who has planned them? Are you following His plan?
Needless to say I have been refreshed, Friends, and I do pray that some of what I’ve shared has done the same for you.

God Sight

“I in them, and Thou in Me…Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me…that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.” -John 17:23b, 26b

This past Sunday during communion I went searching in John (probably my favorite gospel, if you’re allowed to have a favorite) for a Word that would ready my heart for “remembrance”. I couldn’t help but wind my way back to the Vine and Branch speech; I love reading about how we are connected to Jesus and the ways in which He ensures our growth in Him! I then moved on to Jesus’ prayer time, and I couldn’t wait to get to the part where I am included. “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word…” (John 17:20)

In my devotional time this past week I have been responding to questions about my “early years” (those of you who know that I’m 25 will get a kick out of that statement – well, now all of you know!). These questions have had me remember back and try and recognize GodSpots during that time. Well, I love doing this because I am always amazed at how my God, and yours, gets His hands dirty on our behalf. I lived in a mess of danger and chaos the first 5 years, and a few plus, of my life, but as I look back I see where God put His pure, holy, strong right hand right in the midst of a “fear factor” kind of situation and grabbed a hold of me. And guess what girls, He hasn’t let go yet! I get chills, tears, and a smile just thinking about it. Ooh, got goin’ on that, back to John chapter 17.

So Sunday, as I scanned that wonderful section of His remembrance of us, God shed light within my heart and mind on two verses, 17:23 and 26. In these verses Jesus speaks the Truth about how God sees us. Yes, God made us each individually unique and special to Him. He made Anastasia, He made ___________ (your name can go there!) and He knows us and our forms – even before we were thought of on this earth! But God also looks upon us with the same love and affection that He has when he gazes at His Son. If we are believers in Christ, we are as Christ is to Him. That means something.

I know for me, when I have watched another parent’s child that though I may love them, teach them, and nurture them in my own way, I do not look at them with the same heart and mind as I do my 3 boys. I tell ya, at night I’m exhausted and waiting for the slightest motion of a yawn from one of them so I can say “Bed time!”, but by the time I lay my head down on my pillow, if I’m coherent enough to have a thought, I’m thinking about seeing them for the first time in the morning. So, it is hard for me to understand how our great God who’s Son is perfect can look at me (us) and see the same image. Amazing! Nothing less than True Love right there!

I continue to meditate on those words now – right now actually. And I’m so thankful I read them on Sunday – a time in which I was able to commune all the more with my God because I caught a glimpse of how He sees me; hence, how He feels about meeting with me over His Son’s “body” and “blood”. I’m also so thankful that I am reading them now because it gives me strength in knowing who I am in Him.

Be blessed my sis’s in Christ, and remember in those times when you’re squinting to see anything good in the spiritual mirror to take a look through God’s lenses. His vision never fails!

A Fool

Do people think you're a fool? Sometimes I wonder if I'm viewed that way. We're really defined by our actions. Our actions are brought about by our thought process and how we handle situations. We consider our choices based on our wisdom or maturity.

I was reading in 1 Corinthians 1:18 and following about foolishness and wisdom. This is what I think. The Bible has things to say that really don't make a whole lot of sense to us. Most of what God says in it the world considers foolishness. I mean, come on...who would ever look out for someone else instead of ourselves? Advertisements sell to me what I think I need. We're considered a consumer driven society. We go so far as to forget about people who don't have anything and distance ourselves from them so we won't feel guilty about having more. We even relieve ourselves from our guilt by saying we're "blessed" so we won't have to lift a finger to help people who have less, the poor, hungry, homeless, and naked. We give to charity to ease our consciences so we won't have to personally meet the needy. God says to take care of the poor...in a parable in Matthew Jesus says that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and meet the needs of the least we do it unto Him.

The world doesn't take care of the poor but feels sorry for them. In Acts the early church had no poor people among them...that's a new concept...sharing...foolishness. For us to even consider doing anything like the early church did is foolishness, right? We keep to ourselves and there are poor among us. Wait a minute...no there isn't! The poor aren't among us but are somewhere else on the other side of town. We've even distanced our church buildings from them! Does that mean something's wrong with what we're doing with God's church? Does that mean we're missing something?

Does this sound foolish to you? If it does, then most likely we have been corrupted with the world's wisdom. You see, the stuff that God wants the church to do and become, God's wisdom is foolish to the world. The world would never do something like that. God would. On the other hand, the world's idea of wisdom is foolishness to God. We have to ask ourselves a very important question: who considers me a fool? God or the world?

Something Disturbing

So something came up this past week that kind of threw me. It was amazing and disturbing all at the same time. The other night I was invited to work at the Casting Crowns concert in town (which was really neat) and got a free t-shirt and ticket to the show. The band really did a great job. Have you ever noticed how serious their songs are? To be honest, I'm not their biggest fan and it's because their songs always seem so serious. Nothing is fun or exciting. They're good musicians and good vocalists, right on every time. But for some reason their stuff hasn't really been all that attractive to me. I do like some of their songs though. When they came out with their first album a couple of them were very convicting and challenging. But all their songs were that way. They write songs about God's Word and what it tells us to do. They even make application in the song...and it's scary.

Have you ever thought about the Bible before? We go to church and listen to messages, attend classes, and worship and don't even realize what we're there for. I read in "The Irresistable Revolution" a line Shane entered that Rich Mullins said at a chapel service. Rich said that we tend to hi-light the passages we like and ignore what we don't. The same man, Jesus, who said to one guy that you must be born again also said to one guy that you need to sell everything you have and give to the poor. The unsettling thing is that the early church listened to both those sayings and followed them. An example is in Acts when a couple named Ananias and Saphira lied about selling it all and God struck them and they died. Does that scare you? We put so much emphasis on being born again and no emphasis on what to do next, the change that's supposed to take place. And you say, "Am I supposed to sell everything and give to the poor?" I think you know the answer to that question yourself. God calls us all to do different things. But if he's calling us to do that then we shouldn't ignore it because we think that the rich young ruler just had an issue with money. The whole early church sold everything so they could all take care of each other and there was no one poor among them.

God's Word tells us to do all kinds of things that have a tendancy to mess up everything we've worked so hard for. We want nice things and desire good relationships, we have a dream of what our life should look like. We work hard to reach our own personal goals and ask God to help us. We read His Word wanting to become a better person but like what we're doing so we don't change. We go to church all excited to be there with other Christians, have a great time at the altar and then walk out the door. Our excitment about Christ and the convicting experience we just had disappears on our way home. You know why? Because it's unsettling to change.

The fact is that God's Word should be disturbing and unsettling. It says in Hebrews 4:12 that His Word is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, penetrates to dividing even the soul and the spirit, joints and marrow. You see, God spells things out for us, His guidelines for life which is right and what's not in His guidelines is wrong. Things are written as black and white. God drew a line in the sand, the line is Jesus and to get to God we go through Jesus.

What is wrong with us? The Christians? No wonder people don't like us! No wonder people say we're hypocrites! WE are the ones who erase the line, make a gray area out of the black and white, and stop God's word from breathing, from being living and active! People take a look at us and pity us because we don't believe what we read in His Word. There is no change! We make little compromises with our faith that eventually have us running away from God to do other "things". We believe we're missing out on the sin, or that maybe just one time it won't hurt. We rationalize why we should do it. We give up meeting together, we give up encouraging one another, we give praying, we give up on faith, we give up on God's faithfulness, and even on the Holy Spirit to help us change. We end up changing God and His Word, neither of which can change. Yet for us there is no change! Come to God as you are and leave the same?

GOD'S WORD IS DISTURBING AND UNSETTLING. It changes us. It changes our thought process. It changes our lives. It never changes. We try and change it. God tells us to give up lying, cheating, selfishness, immorality, and to love our enemies, turn the cheek, to serve, to give...and here's some biggies, to stop sinning, to be baptized, to confess our sins, to pray, to hold each other accountable, to love the unlovely, to bless those who curse us, even to sell all we have and give to the poor... I didn't say this stuff, God did.

Isn't that disturbing? Does that unsettle you? It's supposed to. God's Word is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It will divide you. It will cut. It will hurt. It will rip the world you know away from you. It's scary, mortifying, radical, foolish and rediculous.

If you claim to be a Christian, then this is the most important part. God's Word is calling us out and this is the scary thing I've read. The truth is this is the line: God's Word means what it says. This is the question: Are you going to follow it? This is the end: What will Jesus say to you about what you read in His Word?

Isn't it disturbing? Don't worry...I'm just as disturbed as you. So what do we to do now?

New Lead Pastor!

Well, in case you're wondering, we have hired a new lead pastor! We're really excited about his family moving here. He'll be moving out here soon. If you want to know more, check out the link to the right for Meridian Point Church and catch up with what's going on in our lives in ministry.

Today I spent some time reading a book called The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Right now I'm only in chapter 4 or 5...he was just talking about his trip to Calcutta. You know, I'm not really big on leprosy. I don't know if I could bring myself to shake Shane's hand because he said he touched them. But as I was reading he made a very clear point:

Jesus had the ability to heal people of this disease. Jesus had the power to heal anyone of anything, even raise people from the dead. But even those rose from the dead died again. And those who were healed from sicknesses got sick again. What imprinted Jesus in people's minds was the love He showed. Jesus said that we are known as His disciples by our love. We may not have the ability to touch people and heal them physically, but we do have the ability to touch them with love. It was Jesus' love for people that brought Him to touch them. What kind of love do we have...do I have if my love doesn't match this, if I can't bring myself to a point of humility before someone else and value them as an equal no matter what they've become, how they look, or their past!

I was also reading about the disciples and them fighting about who was the greatest in Luke 9. Jesus told them that in order to be the greatest you must be the least; receive the least. Another mention was a parable that Jesus was telling people about the Kingdom of Heaven. He said that whatever we do to the least of these we do it unto Him.

The point is that those of us who claim to know and love God need to realize that we only love Him as much as we love the least person. It's easy to love those who love us, but to "lower" ouselves to love the unlovable, to touch the untouchable, demonstrates who Christ really was and who He really is now. The Jesus of the Bible loved unconditionally. Do we...really?

I'll Be Praying For You...

How many times have we said that phrase? People pour out their souls to us and that's the best we can come up with in response. I know that I've said it multiple times. Have you ever come accross someone that you said that to and then realized that you could have been an answer to their prayer?

This whole thing comes from James 2:14-17. If you want to read it, at the bottom of this page there is a link to Biblegateway where you can type in the reference and it'll bring up the verses in a new window. James is talking about our faith and living it out. I'm going to allow it to shoot from a different angle...try and get to where we are now and make it applicable to us today; our copping out of living out our faith by telling people that we're praying for them. I know what you're thinking and I also know that some of you will comment on how I'm reading this wrong. But bear with me for a moment.

We all pray for ourselves and sometimes for other people. Have you ever said that you'd pray for someone and then forgot to do it? I've done it. Here's the reason why we forget: their needs are not all that important us.

Basically it all boils down to our lack of faith. No matter what we believe our actions should convey to others that we actually believe what we say. I say I believe in God, that He exists, and that He has a purpose for my life and yours. If I truly do believe in God then I'll do what He says. I'll proclaim what He says verbally and physically. God will have an impact on my life if I believe Him. That's faith. Faith has to do with living out what we believe. James uses a very practical analogy that still sticks with us. In his day people would call out blessings to others. We do the same thing. They would ask for things to pray about. We do the same thing.

Now don't get me wrong. Praying for people and their needs are very important and I'm not bashing that at all. The thing is that we really do cop out by telling people that we'll pray for them. Half the time we don't because we forget. We end up doing nothing at all. You've heard, "It's the thought that counts." Well that's not true. It may be true to us, but not to the one who has the need. The only thing they can see is the need before them. The only thing we can see is the time they're taking, so we tell them that we'll pray for them. Some of us do remember to pray and some of us even pray with them right then and there. I'll tell you from experience, if you say you're going to pray for them do it now. Do it while they're with you, now. Don't let them leave without praying for them, now. That has a bigger impact than telling them that you'll keep them in your prayers. The importance of immediate prayer with them can encourage them to see that we have faith that God will help them if we can't. How blind can we be when someone tells us what is on their heart or stirring in their home and we can actually do something about it and don't!

Another thing we're basically doing when we tell others that we'll simply pray for them is telling God that it's His problem to deal with. We're telling them that it's a problem that they'll have to take up with God. What kind of faith is that? Then we suddenly put ourselves in a position to allow God to be mocked, to give them opportunity to lose hope, to allow our faith to be trampled on. They will blame God! Their whole situation could be used as an opportunity for God to show them His power, an opportunity for Him to work in their lives. But even we end up mocking God when we don't do anything when His power could be working through us! It's blindness.

Here's the deal; some of you probably heard me tell this story before about a homeless guy I met in St. Louis, Missouri. There was a large group of us out there for a Christian convention and we were on our way to lunch. The homeless man stopped us for a second asking for help. He didn't have any food. Instead of taking him with us (and believe me, we had enough money to feed him the left half of the menu) we gave him a dollar and told him to "take care"...another one of those blessings we say half-heartedly without any meaning or sincerity but do it anyways because it's a nice thing to do. It hurts me to think that that was an opportunity wasted. There are others that have happened in my life too. I bet you can think of something that you could do to help someone in need. You know someone you work with or go to school with or are even related to that has a need that you can meet. But instead of doing the right thing, meeting that need, we bring them up in prayer circles, tell them we'll be praying for them, or tell them to "take care".

It's time for our faith to take action!! I'm convicted by this, people. If I can't possibly do anything outside of copping out of meeting a need, then my faith is small. I think part of this active faith that should be living through us is being the answer to their prayers. And if I can't do it myself I definately know someone who could help me. People don't just come to us because we are the nearest person to them, they come to us because they believe we can help. Jesus did something during His ministry on earth: He met people's needs. How can I claim to be a follower of Jesus if I don't make it a point to do the same? Being human or having an interruption in my daily "priorities" is no excuse. And if meeting someone's needs is interrupting my priorities then they're screwed up. God calls us to reach out. How can we do that as beleivers?

The world all around us is suffering because of a lack of Christ in their lives. Our faith shouldn't be something that simply puts everything at the feet of God and say, "Deal with it." No, we need to take everything to God and ask Him for wisdom in how to deal with it. God is on our side. Our responsibility to them would be not only to pray but to meet the need. I believe this passage is intended to stir the passive believer, and it's definately stirred me. What do you think?

The Response

"Hello!" Normally people respond with a "hello" back... It sure seems like it's been forever since I put anything up on this ol' thing. But something struck me as interesting this past week and I have to share it with you.

Are you a parent? A boss? Or want to be a boss? I actually do know some things about parenting...I want my kids to respond when I call them. We're getting to a point now where if I call their name they better come running and find out what daddy wants. Sometimes in a relationship with others we hold a conversation about things that are going on in life, explaining situations and our response to those situations hoping for our friend's approval of our choice. Lots of times they reply with what their response would have been if they went through the same thing you did...as if what they would do would have been the "better" choice, and it always ends up being exaggerated. When you think about it, just about everything we do stimulates a response from someone else, doesn't it? If we're walking straight toward someone either they're going to move out of the way or you will, or both of you will consent to the other's presence respectfully and slightly turn. When we hear a joke that's funny we laugh. When we're told bad news we cry or show sympathy. When we're told good news we rejoice. Do you get where I'm coming from?

I'm reading in Luke 5 and in the first 11 verses there is quite the intriguing story about Jesus and Peter's first encounter with each other. The Rabbi just started His ministry and was preaching to, evidentally, a very large crowd by a lake. So, Jesus got into a boat that belonged to Simon, later to be called Peter (for short?). I don't know how long Jesus talked but I bet what He was saying was delivered from a different perspective than from what a majority of the listeners were taught growing up. Simon heard it all. He listened. He had to. Some teacher that he'd never met before took his boat into the water and was speaking from it.

After the "lesson" Jesus, the newly respected Teacher, the man with great wisdom so it seemed, told a weary fisherman to go out and fish. It seemed like this "wise guy" doesn't really know what He's talking about. Any fisherman knows that midday isn't the best time to out. Peter's response was basically, "I don't want to, but if you say so..." He did it. He caught a huge amount of fish! So many he needed help! So many that both the boats they filled were sinking!!

Stop for a minute... Here's this guy that was teaching and suddenly earned a following that hung on every word He said. Teacher's had that kind of respect in the Jewish culture and if the teacher valued you at all he'd teach you what he knew. Jesus valued all of them. He was teaching them. It feels good to be respected doesn't it? I mean, when people respect you a little you end up responding with some respect for them. Jesus told Simon to do something and I think, from what I can tell from the tone of his response to Him, Jesus earned Simon's respect. He followed through. His response to Jesus' command ended up with a blessing, a big blessing. It's almost as if Jesus showed Simon a little about who He is in His teaching and asked him to try out Jesus' words. "Just try it. See what happens when you follow My commands." Simon responded accordingly, reluctantly.

You know, sometimes God's commands aren't all that exciting or even attractive, but He does ask us just to taste it, just to see if God will really live up to His Word. Simon found out that there's a blessing that results. Do you think that if we just take some time and try out God and His Word that there will be a similar result? Let me encourage you to try God out. Just try doing something that He commands in His Word and see what happens. Let me help... in John 8 Jesus talks about how God doesn't like lying. He covers deceit in a lot of chapters in the Bible. It seems to be something that He doesn't like and is against His nature to do or even to have any part of. God asks that we don't lie. Try it. Don't lie or be deceitful for a day or longer and see what happens.

Well, back to the story. Simon saw the power of God in a very physical way. His response once again was realizing who he is compared to Jesus - unworthy. Simon's response was total humility. He realized that he was in the very presence of Someone great, Someone capable of so much, Someone holy, Someone worthy of a capital "S" at the beginning of the pronoun "Someone". Notice Jesus' response to Simon's obedience, to Simon's agreeing to try out Jesus' words: don't be afraid. Well, hang on a second. Jesus is telling him not to be afraid of Someone capable of miracles? Someone with so much power to create a large catch of fish like that? When we are confronted with the very power of God and see it for ourselves our response needs to be similar to Simon's; falling on our knees in front of a Holy God. In Hebrews it says that we have the opportunity now because of Jesus to enter into God's throne room (in prayer) with confidence. The Creator of the world deserves our humility and fear of Who He is and yet He tells us not to be afraid. Isn't that interesting?

And it's only when the heart is humble before Him that God can commission us to do great things for Him with purpose and calling. Jesus didn't just say "don't be afraid" but commissioned Simon to do something great. Isn't it neat that God would take time out for us, consider us valuable enough to share what His idea of life is all about through the Bible, to ask us or give us an option to try Him out (which that seems odd. Isn't He God? Shouldn't He be commanding us to try Him out?), and then when we are brought to humility, a state of recognizing who God is in a very real way, for Him to commission us to be a part of His great plan for the universe!

Even the commission needs a response. Notice that they left everything and followed Him! God gives us opportunity to respond to the commission...we can do what we want with the new option He has given us. God calls for committment now.

God's Word calls for a response from each of us. How are you going to respond? Are you going to try Him out? You know that He exists. If you say you don't, or say you don't believe in Him, you end up using His Name every day. If we aren't praying to Him we're using God in a state of astonishment or cursing. Who hasn't said "Oh my God"? He exists doesn't He? How will you respond? Just try Him out and see what He is capable of in your life. And when He shows Himself to you how are you going to respond? When He commissions you, will commit to Him? He's already committed to you.

Please Pray!

Hi all! I know, it has been an extremely long time since I've written anything, but lots of things have been happening. Currently our church is seeking a new lead pastor. Please be in prayer over this. Our late pastor has resigned and is seeking new ministry or a job. Please also really be in prayer for him and his family. Right now he doesn't have a job but does have a wife and two children to take care of. Thanks a bunch for lifting us up to God! Let me know how you're doing. Send me an email! God bless.