Life as a Christian Woman

Remember the old Mary Tyler Moore Show from the 1970’s? The theme music started with the words:

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?

And then we were treated to Mary spinning in a circle and throwing her hat in the air, carefree and full of joy. (I’ve always wondered about the woman in the background wearing the head scarf. What was she thinking?)

Reality is that people respond to those who bring joy into their lives, not those that find fault or negativity in everything around them. God wants our lives to be full of joy, not full of grumpiness. The Bible is full of scripture that speaks of the joy God wants for our hearts:

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.  1 Chronicles 16:10

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.  Psalm 5:11

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.  Psalm 9:2

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  Luke 10:20

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  Luke 15:11

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

God wants us to be happy and rejoice, and to spread that happiness to those around us. He understands that we have sorrows, and He also understands we all have a bad day or two now and then… ok, maybe even three or four.

But we can’t spread the joy of the Lord to others and be Ms. Grumpy Pants at the same time!

Be sad when you need to be sad, mourn when you need to mourn… but don’t look for reasons to be angry or grumpy. Look to Heaven and share the joy!

The word church is from the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia is not a religious word as originally used among the Greeks. Ekklesia is a compound word meaning “ek” out of, and “klesis” a calling. The word is used in its basic, secular sense in Acts 19: 32, 39 - an assembly and, then, a lawful assembly.

From BibleQuestions.org

Some folks at my church are in a tizzy. Our preacher is away on sabbatical for six weeks. This is a part of our church’s “rules,” asking each staff minister to take a sabbatical every so often. Well, the last time we had a preacher who took a sabbatical, when he came back he resigned to take a job at another church.

So now, some folks are worried. But they’ve got it wrong. They have put too much stock in a man as leader of the church.

Now I like our preacher. He’s funny. I feel I learn something from his sermons. But he isn’t the church.

We are. The people.

A preacher is integral to the success of the church, no doubt. He is a teacher, but he is not the church. It is obviously important to be fed spiritually on the Sabbath, and that generally comes from the pulpit.

But we aren’t there to follow the man in the pulpit, we are there to follow The Man that the man in the pulpit is teaching us about (that’s tough to follow, huh?).

If the preacher comes back from Sabbatical and says, “I feel the call to go to (fill in the blank) church” we, as the church, should feel excited. First, the preacher is answering God’s call. It’s always easier to stay than to leave.

And second, that mean’s that God has someone new in store for the church, a new leader that He has been cultivating just for that body of Christ.

We have to be careful that we don’t get so wrapped up in our leadership that we lose sight of The One we are there to worship, to learn about.

If we elevate our preachers and other church leaders too high, we are nothing more than a cult of personality.

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

Proverbs 3: 3-7

How many of us have said it: I need to find a balance between work and family.

It’s something we all battle with each day. Work always seems to take precedent over other things in our lives, and with pretty good reason. Face it… work pays the bills. That paycheck makes it possible to have a place to live, something to eat, clothes to wear.

In other words, work isn’t an option for most of us.

But family? Where does that fit in the mix?  We all like to think we put family first, but it’s so easy to push it back. After all, work has deadlines, family will still be there, right?

But here is ther reality: Work may be necessary, but family is a gift directly from God. So really, we don’t need to search for a balance, we need to skew the scales in favor of family.

I’m not advocating everyone run out and quit their jobs. But you can’t let work overwhelm you to the point your family suffers.

I have a friend who’s husband is worried about work. More layoffs, more pay cuts. A lot to worry about, granted. But it started overwhelming their family life. To quote my friend, even when her husband was home, he wasn’t home. So they had a heart to heart about what was really important. God, family, friends.

Work was down the list.

They reminded each other that, no matter what, God is with them, they are a family, and they will survive. But no job was worth pulling apart a family.

We’ll all get through this recession/depression or whatever the economists are calling it today. But when trying to balance work and family, put God in front.

Then the rest will fall into place.

There is an old saying in certain parts of the country: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It will change.

The first time I heard those words were visiting my grandmother in Florida. It was hot and sunny, yet minutes later a downpour of Biblical proportions drenched us. But five minutes later? Sunny and steamy hot again.

I’ve been reminded of those words this week as I have been reading about Michael Jackson’s death. Suddenly Jackson, who had twice been accused of child molestation, famously changed his looks over the years, and lived what can only be described as a bizarre life, is being hailed as a civil rights pioneer, thrilling showman and brilliant businessman (please explain how someone more than $400 million in debt is a brilliant businessman).

In the course of one day, the world’s opinion of him changed… dramatically.

Historians call it revisionism… when enough time passes, or a major event occurs, that cause us to view things differently. Sometimes that’s good, other times history gets a major (incorrect) rewrite. When a president leaves office, we are told that only time will tell us what the legacy will be.

In Mr. Jackson’s case, in just the matter of a few hours, he went from being called “Wacko Jacko” to being revered… often by the same people!

I don’t really have any thoughts regarding Michael Jackson. He isn’t the point. The point is that humans rewrite history all the time. People change. People’s perceptions change, often with no basis.

Only Jesus doesn’t change.

In Hebrews 13:8, we read:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We can’t rewrite Him, and we don’t need to. He was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He was crucified for our sins, and rose on the third day, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. He lives in Heaven at the right hand of his Father, our Father. His blood has washed us clean, and that forgiveness is ours for the asking.

No rewriting of history needed.

I don’t know how many times just this week that I have gotten one of those chain letter-type emails with the above phrase in it. You know the kind… the one’s that end with a phrase along the lines of “if you don’t forward this, you are ashamed of Jesus.” Or sometimes they quote scripture and say “If you deny me, I will deny you before the Father. (Matthew 10:33).”  And my personal favorite: “If you forward this to 10 of your friends, you will receive a blessing from God.”

Now, I’m not a big fan of chain letters/emails. I don’t think that I have to forward one on to my friends to be blessed, and I if I don’t forward one I don’t believe that I am ashamed of Jesus.

I’m sure many of you have gotten these emails, and half wondered what to do. But not forwarding one to your friends is not denying Christ. Denying Christ’s existence, his death and resurrection, that’s denying Christ.

God doesn’t base His love for us on whether we respond to emails or chain letters. He looks into our hearts. He knows our hearts, our desires, our true feelings. He knows our beliefs, and He doesn’t need us to send out a mass email to our friends to confirm our love for Him.

So the next time one of these emails crosses your computer screen, forward it if you like, delete it if you choose to. But rest assured, you pathway to heaven isn’t dependent on your response to it!

I’ve been down in the dumps lately. Nothing spectacular, just what we all go through from time to time. When I’m mired in one of those “Woe is me!” periods of life, it just seems like everything is wrong.

But after reading the wise words of a friend, I realize that when I’m in these doldrums, I’m focused on what is wrong in my life and the world, not what is right. She calls it a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” because we are so plugged into the negative that we only see the negative and end up seeking the negative.

That’s a lot of negative!

My friend went through the eye of the storm a year ago. She was pregnant with three kids under four at home, and was justifiably at her wit’s end. So, she decided it was all her husband’s fault. All of it. Kids, mess, backaches, war, pestilence and famine. Everything he did was wrong. She saw every fault magnified one thousand times over.

And she decided she wanted a divorce. Met with an attorney. Was ready to chuck it all.

A friend told her to wait a week, pray about it, and focus on the good in her life. And every time she saw something good, she had to say “God is Good.”

Then God held an intervention in her heart. He opened her eyes to what had been right in front of her all along. She started noticing that her husband was a pretty good guy, life was pretty swell… even if hectic and demanding. She noticed more of the good and the bad faded. And she said quite a lot of “God is Good’s.”

An amazing thing happened. By the end of the week, she was so focused on finding good, she forgot to look for bad. Today she looks back in horror at what “could have been” if she had gone through with the divorce. Her marriage isn’t just strong, it’s happy and fulfilling.

So I thought maybe, during these dog days of summer, we might want to do our own “God is Good” list. Instead of hearing the negatives around us, thinking about the heat, work, whatever, name something good in your life. Be specific. Try to name one “God is Good” for each finger on one hand. If you feel brave, go for the second hand.

I’ll start. I hate hot weather, despise it. So for me, #1 on my “God is Good” list is that for every degree over 90 this summer, this winter I will be blessed with an equal number of days of cool weather… maybe even cold. I even went so far as to put a picture of snow on my computer. Cheers me right up.

Now this little list won’t save the world, cure all your ills, turn you into instant Sally Sunshine.

But it just might make the day a little easier to bear.

Millions watched tonight as a marriage ended.

Oh, there was no surprise when Jon and Kate Gosselin announced they were separating, followed by the announcement that on Monday the two had filed for divorce.

As I watched, I was saddened by the statements coming from them. Jon, in particular, said he was both sad and “excited” about the new chapter of his life.

Really? Excited? He reiterated that he is only 32, and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Kate, for her part, kept repeating how she would always put the kids first (Jon said the same thing). Then, each talked about the new “schedule” that they would have with the kids.

Both said that this would have happened even if they had never done a reality show.

And then it was over. Really over.

Many people are going to have strong opinions about who is at fault, what the two of them should have done, etc. But finger pointing does no good, and none of us are in the marriage to know what “really” happened, reality show or not. We don’t know them, no matter how many episodes we have watched. We know what they want us to know, and what editors think will make better TV (and really, the happiest people on earth must be the folks at TLC, the network that televises Jon and Kate plus 8, talk about a ratings winner).

But what this should re-emphasize to all of us is that marriage is a fragile thing. It is hard work, and when you let anyone enter into the marriage with the husband and wife, you are inviting trouble. It doesn’t have to be a reality show, it can be in-laws, friends, anyone who can in any way turn the focus away from the union itself.

A marriage is between two, a man and a woman. No one else has the right to tamper with that union. Vows taken before God between two Christians are meant to last a lifetime, not until one party or the other wants to move on.

It’s easy to want out. Sometimes it’s harder to stay. I’m going to write more this week about marriage. We’ll look at what scripture says vs. what popular culture says.

A Godly marriage may be hard work, but it is worth every minute… even the tough ones!

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.
When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
~ Jack Welch

The above quote, by former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, doesn’t just apply in the business world. Switch a word here and there, and you have a phrase applicable to Christians:

Before you are a Christian, success is all about growing yourself.
When you become a Christian, success is all about growing others.

Once we become Christians, we can’t focus solely on ourselves anymore. Time is too precious. We live in a lost world. While it would be wonderful to immerse ourselves in our relationship with God and commune with Him alone, that’s not possible. With so many around us that have no relationship with God, we must grow others, while continuing to grow ourselves.

It’s kind of a pleasant version of a double-edged sword. We can’t stop growing in our faith. If we do, we will wither an die on the vine. But in the midst of our own Christian growth, we have to reach out to others, to lead them on the path to Christ.

I remember when I was a child at church, the analogy my Sunday School teacher used was that of a sword. It has to be tempered in the fire to become stronger.

But once it is sharpened and ready to go, if it is left in its sheath, it does no good. Oh, it’s there, ready to go. But if it isn’t put into action, you might as well have a rotten banana in there!

I have never wanted to use this blog as a personal forum, and I don’t intend to start now. But God has placed a mighty conviction in my heart, and I need to use every outlet available to me. You, dear readers, are my first and best stop!

I am asking for prayers tonight.

I cannot be more specific, and for that I am sorry. These are not prayers for me, but for a family in turmoil. Please lift them up to God. While you will not know them, He does. This family needs a miracle, and while our abilities are small, God’s are not limited.

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to descend on this family, for God to work a miracle in their lives.

Thank you all!

A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and
said, ‘ God, I would like to know what Heaven & Hell are like.’

God led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table.
In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.
They appeared to be famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were
strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach
into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their arms, they
couldn’t get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and
suffering. God said, ‘You have seen Hell.’

They went to the next room and opened the door.
It was exactly the same as the first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew
which made the holy man’s mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled
spoons, but here the people were well nourished and
plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand.. ‘

It is simple,’ said God .
It requires but one skill. You see they have
learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.’

I have been thinking a lot about greed lately. You see, there are all kinds of greed. Obviously there is the type of greed involving possessions and money. That’s the most obvious type.

But there are so many other ways to be greedy. Often we are greedy with our time. It’s so much easier to write a check than it is to actually enter someone’s life and help them.

Remember that old saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”? We live in a society that would rather hand out a fish than take the time to actually teach.

That’s greed. And selfishness. It’s all tied in there together.

We get comfortable in our world. We look out and see need, think how awful it is, say a prayer and think we are done.  But when we can, we have to do more.

Tonight, in many cities, people are camped out. No, there aren’t homeless. They are camping out for the newest version of the iPhone, which goes on sale in the morning.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if in the morning people were lined up at a soup kitchen… to help feed the poor? Or lined up at food banks… with bags of food to donate?

We point to Christ as our example. Yet Jesus never once stroked a check and moved on. He never said “go” unless he was going, too. He never once asked the disciples, or us, to do anything that he hadn’t already done first.

But we always seem to think it is someone else’s job to help those who need it.

The next time you are giving money, write the check… then get in your car,take it to the site, hand it over, then volunteer.

That’s what Jesus would do.

¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2: 1-4

I was on Facebook the other day (yeah, I know… but I like keeping up with friends back home). Anyway, I saw the page of a girl of about 10 who attends a Christian school in the area, who is the daughter of a friend of mine. I clicked to look at her page, expecting to see the usual pictures of dance classes, band and school friends.

But right there, next to Political Views, she had typed: I hate Obama.

I stared at it for a minute, then started checking other friends’ pages, friends who are outspoken conservative Christians.

And I saw more of the same.

Phrases such as “Obama hater,” “Obama must go away,” and my personal favorite, “I hope Obama and Oprah like to spend time together, because they will be in Hell together for eternity.”

Seriously?

I mean, really? What part of any of that screams, “I am a Christian, a follower of the risen Lord who died for my crummy sins?”

Now, lest you think I am some “left wing, radical, liberal nut” (I hate labels), I am a conservative Christian who voted for the other guy. I have grave concerns, worries, about the direction of our nation.

But when I read scripture, I’m missing the part where it says to hate, to wish Hell on someone. I mean, isn’t that the opposite of what we are called to do? Aren’t we supposed to base our faith on love? To hate the sin, but love the sinner?

We are told to pray for our leaders, to lift them up to God. How, exactly, do you lift someone up that you profess to “hate” or that you hope to condemn to Hell for eternity?

And worse yet, are parents imparting this to their children?

Agree or disagree with the President, Senate, House, state officials, etc., we are told… COMMANDED!… to pray for them. According to scripture, they have been placed in power by God:

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Romans 13: 1-2

Later in Romans 13 we read:

⁸Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13: 8-10

Explain to me how you can fulfill our command to love one another, yet hate? Sorry, those two things are diametrically opposed to each other.

Should we take whatever our leaders say and follow like sheep? No. However, we must pray for them, pray for their spiritual life, pray for their ability to seek and discern the will of God in the mountainous decisions that they must make.

To do anything less, to hate or cause others to hate, to disparage our leaders, is sin.

My daughter brought home an outline of her hand the other day, with instructions on a simple way for her to pray. I thought it was pretty neat, and wanted to pass it on to others, so here goes!

1. The Thumb is nearest you, so begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you.. They are the easiest to remember. As C. S. Lewis once said, praying for loved ones is a “sweet duty.”

2. The pointing finger in next. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The middle finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God’s guidance. We are charged in 1 Timothy 1:1-2:

¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

4. The ring finger is next. This is our weakest finger. Let it remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. Finally, our little finger, the smallest finger of all. The Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you.” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

This story came to me in an email recently:

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I’m afraid to die.  Tell me what lies on the other side.”

The doctor responded, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” the man responded. “You’re a Christian man, and don’t know what is on the other side?”

The doctor was standing by the door, and on the other side was the sound of scratching a whining. When he opened the door, the doctor’s dog ran into the room and jumped on the doctor, glad to see it’s owner.

The doctor turned to the patient and said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was in here. He didn’t know anything except that his master was in here, so he ran in without fear.

“I don’t know what waits on the other side of death,” the doctor continued. “But I do know one thing…

My Master is there, and that is enough.”

I’m pretty sure that the email I received is one that has been generated by someone, I doubt it is a true story. However, in many ways what it attempts to portray is very real, very true.

We try to figure out our future, we want to know what Heaven is like, we want to know it all. But God is there, and that is enough.

I once joked my Dad, saying that when he died he would be able to “haunt” me, he would be watching my every move.  Dad, who was a big jokester, turned very serious.

“No,” he replied. “I won’t be watching you. I will be face to face with my God. I love you, but I won’t be taking my eyes off my God.”

Our Master is there. That is enough.

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

…………..

²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19: 15-17, 24-26

My daughter has a habit of walking in one direction while looking back over her shoulder. As a result, she also has a habit of running into things. I keep telling her to look where she’s going, not where she’s been, but that hasn’t done much to keep her from running headfirst into furniture, doors, and other people.

It seems like we spend a lot of our time looking back. We talk about “the one that got away” or regret the road not taken. But God doesn’t want us to live our lives like that. We can’t change our past mistakes or sins. We can learn from them, pray for forgiveness, but then God wants us to move forward with our lives.

All of us have regrets. But continuing to dwell on our mistakes doesn’t lead us toward God, it diverts our attention away from His divine forgiveness and purpose for our lives.

Look at Paul. Prior to his face to face meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was a persecutor of Christians, and frankly an all around bad guy. “Saul,” as he was known, struck terror in the hearts of those around him. But after his conversion, he became a force for Christ that still resonates in our world today. He often referenced his prior life, yet he put it into use rather than wasting away in a life of regret.

Lot and his family were told by the angels to flee Sodom for their own safety, and warned not to look back. Lot’s wife looked back, and was instantly turned into a pillar of salt. Why? Well, she disobeyed God for one thing. But it also serves as a lesson. When you are looking over your shoulder, how can you follow God as He leads you?

My prayer today is that we could all free ourselves so well from past failures and keep our eyes focused on the cross and our future.

The past has passed, and the future is God’s!

I read an interesting line in Newsweek Magazine today (June 8 edition).

The article, entitled Let’s Talk About God - A new book redefines the faith debate, is by Newsweek’s religion editor Lisa Miller, and it looks at a new book by Robert Wright called The Evolution of God. According to Miller, it doesn’t attempt to take on the “Is God real” debate, instead looking at how our vision of God has changed throughout history.

It’s an interesting proposition. The line that sticks out to me most, though, comes from a section of the book in which he has an imaginary conversation with a scientist. In this conversation, Write compares God to an electron. An electron, he points out, has never been seen and it’s properties are unknown, but scientists know that it is there because they can see the results of electrons.

As he goes on to point out:

“You might say that love and truth are the two primary manifestations of the divinity in which we can partake, and that by partaking in them we become truer manifestations of the devine. Then again, you might not say that. The point is just that you wouldn’t have to be crazy to say it.”

We know that electrons exist. Any thinking person who has studied science knows that electrons exist and what they do. Yet so many find it easy to believe in electrons, which have never been seen, but refuse to believe in God, when all around us we see proof of His existence.

God is here. He is all around us. He hears us, listens to us, answers us.

Just like electrons… only better.