Life as a Christian Woman

The following story is true. It has been shared by Pastor Richard Ryan of Sellersburg, Indiana, USA. He met Daniel as described in 1993 when he was pastoring a church in Corydon, Indiana. This is a story worth repeating:

It was an unusually cold day for the month of May. Spring had arrived and everything was alive with color. But a cold front from the north had brought winter’s chill back to Indiana. I sat with two friends in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town square. The food and the company were both especially good that day. As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying a well-worn sign that read, “I will work for food.” My heart sank. I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways.

I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car. Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: “Don’t go back to the office until you’ve at least driven once more around the square.” And so, with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square’s third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the storefront church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked, feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town’s newest visitor.
“Looking for the pastor?” I asked.
“Not really,” he replied, “Just resting.”
“Have you eaten today?”
“Oh, I ate something early this morning. Do you have some work I could do for you?”
“No work, sorry” I replied. “I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.”
“Sure,” he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. “Where are you headed?”
“St. Louis.”
“Where have you come from?”
“Oh, all over; mostly Florida.”
“My! How long’ve you been walking?”
“Fourteen years!” came the reply. I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, “Jesus is The Never Ending Story.” I hadn’t expected that!!

Then Daniel’s story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He’d made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent was not to house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God. “Nothing’s been the same since”, he said, “I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.”
“Ever think of stopping?” I asked.
“Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That’s what’s in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.”

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: “What’s it like?”
“What?”
“To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?”
“Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn’t make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people’s concepts of other folks like me.”

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, “Come ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I’ve prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.”
I felt as if we were on holy ground - we probably were! “Could you use another Bible?” I asked.
He said he preferred a particular translation. It travelled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. “I’ve read through it 14 times,” he said.
“I’m not sure we’ve got one of those, but let’s stop by our church and see.” I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful. “Where are you headed from here?”
“I found a star on this little map on the back of an amusement park coupon.”
“Are you hoping to find some work there for awhile?”
“No, I just figure I should go. I reckon someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that’s where I’m going next.” He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town square where we’d met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things. “Would you sign my autograph book?” he asked. “I like to keep messages from folks I meet.”

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture, in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you,” declared the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.”
“Thanks, man,” he said. “I know we just met and we’re really just strangers, but I love you.”
“I know,” I said, “I love you, too.”
“The Lord is good.”
“Yes. He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?” I asked.
“It’s been a while!” he replied, smiling. And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, “See you in the New Jerusalem.”
“I’ll be there!” was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bed roll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, “When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?”
“You bet,” I shouted back, “God bless.”
“God bless.”

And that was the last I saw of him. Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the handbrake, I saw them….a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. I remembered his words: “If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?” Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. “See you in the New Jerusalem,” he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will, I’m looking forward to it!

Pastor Ryan still has the gloves sitting on his desk. He wrote his account the day after his encounter with Daniel, although the facts are still fresh in his mind. As the story has circulated and grown over the years, Pastor Ryan has been amazed at the number of folks that have stopped by, asking to see the glove.

Although attempts have been made through the years to locate Daniel, he has never been found. Perhaps it is better that way. Daniel sounds like a man that thrives on the anonymity of his task.

I get lots of junk email. The delete button is my best friend on the keyboard when I turn on my computer and see nothing but ads and chain mails in my in-box.

But now and then a golden nugget comes my way that stops me in my tracks. That happened tonight, when I read the story of the “Sky Angel Cowboy.”

Logan Henderson is a 14 year old boy living on a ranch in the middle of Nebraska. Isolated from the big cities, Logan often listens to Houston’s KSBJ Christian radio. He picks up the station on the Sky Angel network. According to it’s website, Sky Angel has been America’s premier Christian-based television service for more than a decade, offering Christ-centered and family-friendly TV and radio channels to inspire and entertain.

On October 26, 2007, Logan made a phone call to KSBJ. Within weeks, the phone call from a small town in Nebraska was being heard around the world on YouTube and GodTube.

Click on this link to hear Logan’s Story.

Initially, I thought I would transcribe the phone call, but that doesn’t do the story justice. You need to hear Logan’s voice. Through his voice you will look into his soul and see true faith, tested yet unbowed, in action.

Take time to listen to Logan’s Story. It will make your day!

A Smile for you from God!

Mundane: common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative.
Miracle: such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
Definitions courtesy Dictionary.com

We pray for miracles. We beg God to show us some grand gesture that we may know what His will is for us. We lament the fact that there are no modern day miracles, no “Parting of the Red Sea.”

If only we had those miraculous signs, we think to ourselves, the signs God gave freely in the Old Testament to Moses, Abraham and all the Biblical patriarchs, then we could have faith without doubt. We could boldly go spread God’s word, confident that these miracles would change the world.

There are two problems with this line of thinking… first, despite all the miracles that God worked throughout the Old Testament (parting of the Red Sea, Manna in the wilderness, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, etc.), the people of the O.T. rarely kept the buzz going for more than a few days following one of God’s great miracles.

Secondly, there are miracles around us every day, we just are too blind, too rushed, too everything! We miss them. I guess it is the old “Can’t see the forest for the trees” mentality.

Every time a baby enters this world, it is a miracle. When strangers randomly meet and become lifelong friends, it is a miracle. My husband would probably say that on the rare occasions that I cook dinner, that is a miracle!

The reality is that miracles are everywhere, we just need to open our spiritual eyes and see them.

Last spring, my husband and I were battling over where to send our soon-to-be-kindergartener to school. We visited several different schools. As we sat in the parking lot at our last visit, we prayed these words:

“God, if this is where you would like us to send our daughter to school, give us a sign. And God, we are stupid people, please make it an obvious sign!”

We went through the doors of the school and met the director of admissions. She pulled out her keychain… which was emblazoned with my hometown. We had mutual friends and life experiences from a place more than 200 miles away.

Some would call this a coincidence. Nope. It’s a miracle. It was God’s way of speaking to us in our own language.

Today, keep those spiritual eyes open. You just might witness your own miracle!

“The frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance. Question: Isn’t the real truth that they are intolerant of religion?”
- Ronald Reagan, August 23, 1984

I stumbled on this quote tonight while preparing to write my blog, and thought, “Bingo!” Late President Ronald Reagan summed up, in his own way, exactly what is happening to Christianity both here and around the world.

We Christians are told that we are intolerant, that we are single-minded in our pursuit of Heaven. We are criticized for believing that there is only one way to Heaven, that there is only one God and one Savior. We are called simple-minded. Media mogul (and well-known Christianity hater) Ted Turner apologized for calling Christians “losers” in the 1990’s, but has continued to bash Christianity as intolerant and for the weak-minded.

We are expected to passively sit by and allow our religious freedoms to be taken from us… our right to speak out and defend our faith.

On a regular basis I get emails from people who read this column and take me to task for my Christian beliefs. First of all, if you are going to read a Christian blog, expect Christian beliefs to be a part of it. Otherwise, it is a bit like going to a swimming pool and complaining if you get wet!

Recently, I received this comment on a column I wrote regarding the election:

Please consider the evidence in favor of your religion and look at it from a skeptical angle. I hope you’ll reconsider the the biblical “truths” that you blindly hold dear.

I respect your freedom of religion, but please, don’t bring it into our government. We need smart people to lead us; it’s dangerous to assume a hypothetical god will take care of everything.

“Theodore”

To the writer: I have considered the evidence regarding my religion. I have looked at it from every angle imaginable. I have doubted, searched, and questioned. And after all of this introspection, I can only come to one answer…

There is a God. He is an awesome God. He is my God. And He is your God, too, whether you accept Him or not.

I cannot remove Him from my decision process any more than I can remove DNA from my body. I bring my faith into every decision that I make.

Yes, it is important to me to know the beliefs of the candidates, even though I realize that the truth is hard to come by in an election year. But I will pray for guidance, for discernment.

And when the election is over, no matter who is elected, I will pray for the new leader of this country.

Just as I now pray for you, Theodore.

Keep your yearnings below your earnings.
Seen on a sign

Interesting message, huh?

The economy has finally caught up with us. For quite a while, we have been a gluttonous society, only not limiting our gluttony to food. Live in a beautiful home, but it’s gotten a little bit dated? Don’t paint, just sell it and move! Your car isn’t the latest model? Heck, buy a new one!

We want more… more of everything. We want the newest, latest, brightest. It’s not good enough any more to keep up with the Jones’, now we have to outdo them.

As a result, many of us are swimming in debt. But economic times are dictating some changes in the way we live our lives, and I’m thinking that it is a good thing.

I recently read a study where families that live in smaller houses tend to be happier. They actually (gasp) spent time in the same room, rather than spreading out between basements, media rooms and bonus rooms. Dinner together? Not when you are running between ballet, soccer, football, and whatever else is on the schedule.

The trouble isn’t wanting more. The trouble is what we want. We yearn to be successful, but our definition of success is skewed by the world’s view, not God’s. We don’t need more money, more things.

We need more GOD!

I believe God wants us to be happy. But until we learn that happiness is not in the size of the house or car, or in the clothes that we wear, we will keep searching in vain for fulfillment.

It’s not sexy, it won’t turn the heads of your friends like a shiny new toy. But it will bring you a happiness beyond words. It will bring contentment, and probably relief

Kind of a good trade-off, huh?

I have had one amazing week. And in the process, the power of both prayer and Christian friends has been brought home to me in droves.

I had to have outpatient surgery this week. Nothing too serious, thank goodness, but enough to knock me on my back for a few days. At each step I was surrounded by the love of my Christian friends, and by their prayers and concern.

A few months ago I wrote about small groups within the church (The Value of a Small Group). Small groups can become vital to the life of a Christian, in both growth and care. These groups become a small subset of the church, and the reach knows no end. This week, my small group cared for my family by providing meals, taking care of my daughter, praying non-stop, and checking in on us at each turn.

Nothing spectacular, and yet it meant the world.

So I felt the need to revisit the small group idea. I want to reinforce to all of you how important it is to stay connected, to reach out in times of need, but also to reach out to others. The small group provides an overwhelming sense of community.

But don’t let it stop at the doors of the church. I have become close to a group of women at the dance studio where my daughter takes class. They ministered to me, although we represent 4-5 different churches and denominations. But we all believe in one God and one Christ. What a uniting force that is!

I reached out to friends on the internet. They prayed and checked in on me through email and Facebook. At every corner of my life, by reaching out to others I was lifted up.

What an overpowering feeling, to know the love of Christ through the love of your brothers and sisters here on this side of Heaven.

So, once again, I encourage all of you to find a way to be connected to others around you, whether next door, around the corner, or around the world.

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support.
– Huntley Brown

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past, oh, four years, you know that we are in the final stages of a political campaign in the U.S. As we enter the last few days (yippee!), the mud is sailing, the rhetoric has gone into double-time.

And the out-and-out lies are flying. But not from the candidates…

From you and me.

The internet can be a wonderfully informing place to be. But it can also be a dangerous place. We all know about predators that lurk in chat rooms, scams trying to drain your bank accounts, and hackers who want to steal your identity.

But those seemingly innocuous emails that come in from friends, with challenges to “step up to the plate and let all your friends know how bad “Candidate A” or “Candidate B” is, well, in most cases they, too, are dangerous, and all lies.

Each time I get an email, I go straight to Snopes.com to verify. And in the past two weeks I have gotten over 20 emails, each one with more lies than the last. They are full of innuendo designed to scare the reader away from one candidate and straight to another.

These emails challenge me to pass them on, to help warn other voters about the dark past, or secret goals, of one candidate or the other.

First of all, I doubt that any email has ever changed someone’s vote. But if they are forwarded without thought to fact-checking, then the forwarder becomes complicit in the smokescreen.

This past week I got a forwarded email that I found out was true. Huntley Brown, a fabulous African-American pianist and strong Christian man, had been asked repeatedly by his friends who he was voting for and why. Mr. Brown has said it was never intended for mass publication, but one of his friends posted it and it has entered the internet, never to be stopped!

At any rate, there are several parts that jump out at me:

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support.

I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads, I follow. I can’t dictate the terms, He does because He is the leader.

I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second.  Neither should anyone from other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

All of this makes sense as a Christian. We have to put aside our personal biases, and look at this and any election as a Christian first. Which leader is more likely to continue an agenda that is faith-based?  Who is more likely to take our Christian beliefs and push them to the back, in the name of political correctness.

This isn’t about being Democrat or Republican, Blue State or Red State, Black or White, Liberal or Conservative. It is about following your Christian convictions. It is about breaking through your own biases and opinions, and seeking the opinion of the only One who matters.

And then following Him.

It also means that, as a Christian, you must get out and vote! No excuses. Christians cannot lead, cannot expect to hold onto this country, if we do not take the time to vote for the ones we feel God leads us to vote for.

Vote!

I admit it… I’m guilty. I hate to pray in public. I have major “performance anxiety” issues when it comes to praying out loud. I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing, or I’ll leave something out.

When our small group meets, when it comes time for the opening and closing prayers, it always falls to one of two people to say the prayer. Normally talkative members go silent when asked, “Will someone lead us in prayer?”

Obviously, I’m not the only one with this issue!

But do you really think that our God is sitting up in Heaven, grading our prayers and thinking, “Well, if Linda had just presented her case better, then I would have approved her request.” I doubt it.

The truth is, God is like any loving parent. He’s hoping we remember to call home and talk to Him. He wants to hear all about our day (even though He knows). He wants us to unburden ourselves to Him, share our joys and triumphs, sorrows and defeats.

He doesn’t care how we say it, what form it takes. He isn’t judging our prayer, He’s glad that we have stopped and taken time to go to Him.

When I moved out of my parent’s house, I couldn’t understand why my mom and dad were so insistent that I call them to check in periodically. Sheesh, didn’t they know I was all grown up and could handle my own life? Now that I have my own children, I see things differently. It isn’t about control or thinking that your child can’t survive without you. It is about knowing they are safe, wanting to be a part of their lives. It is about being there.

God is no different. I minimized my parents in my life when I believed I didn’t need them anymore. I minimize God when I reduce Him to the “Go-To Guy” when times are tough, yet push Him to the back when things are running smoothly. He wants to share everything with me. Doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it?

After all, He gave me everything I have.

I was watching a football game the other day when I saw something interesting. The team was out to a big lead, and just a few minutes remained on the clock. This team has struggled all season, but was winning this game big.

Earlier in the year, the team had started a different quarterback, but he struggled mightily and was finally replaced by his backup a few weeks ago. With just a few minutes remaining in the most recent game, the head coach walked down the bench and asked the player if he would like to go in the game. A fairly lengthy conversation ensued, with the player obviously declining to go in. When the team got the ball back, the former starter stood alone on the sideline while the third stringer went in to finish the game.

I have felt badly for the player who lost his starting job. He had looked forward to leading the team for several years, envisioning a pro career that will follow a successful stint in college. But the reality now was that his dreams were most likely over.

But now I was angry. I mean, c’mon! He is still getting a free education at one of the nation’s top schools. He could still earn his starting position back.  And instead he’s going to be sullen and mopey? Time to grow up!

And as I sat there, thinking how I would never do such a thing, I had an epiphany.  I’ve done the exact same thing, only not in the football world, but in God’s world.  God has asked me to do things for Him, and I have said no, and then pouted when things didn’t go my way. Or I would grudgingly follow His path, complaining the whole way. I might obey, but I was going to let God know I wasn’t happy about it!

The truth is, if we are following God and obeying Him, taking the path that He sets out for us, we should rejoice. If He has chosen a “special assignment” for us, whether it is taking care of our family or going to a foreign land to serve, to be in His will is a wonderful, blessed thing.

I had an email from a friend who is serving God overseas. She has had to learn a new language, new foods and new customs. Recently, she found herself sitting at a table with an animal’s stomach lining in front of her.

Folks, I would have been out of there!

But not my friend. She may have wanted to run out of there screaming, and caught the first plane back to the States, but she didn’t. Instead, she graciously sat with these people, waiting for the right time to tell them about our Lord.

In other words, she answered God’s call to take the field and lead His team, with the ultimate goal of life everlasting…

Now there’s a touchdown!

I admit it, I stress. Job security, health issues, raising children, you name it and I stress out over it. But something tells me I’m not that different from anybody else

According to WebMD.com, stress effects our bodies in many ways… none of them good. Short-term symptoms may include rapid heartbeat, sweating, headache, backache, fatigue, irritability, nausea and diarrhea. Long-term effects are staggering: Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, heart attack, and worsening of ongoing medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

In short, our bodies were not created to handle stress. So if God created us, and we assume that He created us to successfully survive in this world, we have to draw the assumption that He doesn’t want us to stress out over things… so what do we do?

We can’t avoid conflicts in our lives. Bad things are going to happen to us and to those we love. That’s just life. But how we respond to conflict strips away the outer layers and shows who we are, and where we put our trust.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

God tells us time and time again to turn our worries over to Him. In Matthew, Christ goes into detail about our worries, and how to handle them.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

Years ago, a Christian counselor taught me a stress management tool that I use to this day. When I feel life overwhelming me, I write down my worries on a piece of paper. I am very specific in my listing. Then I pray over the list. I pray for God’s guidance, for discernment. I pray that His will is followed, that my heart will be open to whatever and wherever He leads. Then I put the list in an envelope, write the date on it, and put the envelope in a safe place. At some point in the future, usually a month or so, but sometimes as long as a year, I go back, open the envelope, and read about my fears from that day. And I see how God has been faithful and answered my prayers.

I’m not perfect with this system, I wish I could say that I was. But we all need to learn to let go of our stress, of the situations that cause them, and turn them over to God. He is ever faithful and will not leave us.

His promises and love endure forever.

…But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

The other night my little girl was saying her prayers. We have a little routine where she thanks God for His blessings that day and puts in any “special requests.” She also has a part that we call the I’m Sorryies, where she asks forgiveness for any sins she has committed.

When she got to her I’m Sorryies on Friday night, she paused. She had a pretty active day, and had gotten in trouble more than a few times. So her prayer went something like this…

“I’m sorry for all the bad things I did today…. (pause). God? Just forget about them, ok?”

I laughed to myself, and I imagine God got a chuckle out of it, too. But it isn’t it amazing that God actually does forget our sin? When we go to Him and confess our sins to Him, asking forgiveness, God takes His big old eraser and it is gone.

Amazing!

We don’t deserve this treatment, yet He willingly gives it. He sent His beloved son, Jesus, to shed blood to cover our sins. This blood ensures that we are forgiven, if only we believe and ask.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.   Ephesians 1:7

This verse says it all, simply and perfectly. We have redemption, we are delivered from sin, through his blood… according to the riches of God’s grace.

God’s unending grace.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all my sin.

from Grace Greater Than All Our Sins
Words by Julia H. Johnston
Music by Daniel B. Towne

Everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy

When my husband and I were house hunting a few years ago, high on our list was a big yard. We bought a house with a nice-sized yard, perfect for gardening and landscaping. There was just one problem…

We both hate gardening and working in the yard.

Visions of beautiful flowers and ripe tomatoes had danced in our heads, but the reality was constant weeding in the hot southern sun, running up the water bill due to drought conditions, moles that ravaged our yard and jobs that kept us too busy. We were willing to start the process, but the upkeep held no interest for us.

Our dreams of a landscaped paradise was turned into the reality of overgrown weeds and dead grass!

Unfortunately, the same can often be said of the spiritual discipline in our lives. We become Christians, sit back and wait for the flowers to bloom. But unless we study, pray, and keep ourselves open to Him, the weeds take over and we become spiritually neglected.

In short, unless we change ourselves, how can we change the world?

Ask yourself two questions: First, what can you do that you are not currently doing, that would bring you into closer communion with God. Second, what can you stop doing that you currently are doing, that would bring you into closer communion with God.

Similar questions, yet opposing answers.

So often we dance around, unable or unwilling to commit to God beyond the minimum. Next week we will look at some of the disciplines that God requires of us… things such as stewardship, solitude and silence, service, prayer, and fellowship.

Have a great weekend!

Lying is a dangerous sin. First of all, it is a lot like the old potato chip commercial… you just can’t seem to stop at one. If you tell one lie, you usually end up telling another lie to cover the first, and so on. They just build on and on into an entire web of deceit, hard to keep up with where the truth ends and the lies begin.

But perhaps the most dangerous part of the lie is the mistrust that is built as a result.  When a lie is told, inevitably it is found out. Whether the truth comes out sooner or later, it always comes out. And the result is a relationship that is damaged, maybe not beyond repair, but definitely injured.

As a parent, I have spent more than a few evenings checking up on my oldest after she had lied about where she was. She bristles, doesn’t understand what the big deal is. After all, she said she was sorry. What she doesn’t understand is that the trust she had built up was wiped out by one lie, a lie that didn’t need to be told.

Lying takes many forms. Some lies we attempt to disguise or downgrade, saying that we were protecting ourselves, Hey, if it doesn’t hurt someone, it’s ok, right? Wrong!

According to scripture, lying is an abomination before God:

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.  Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV)

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The above quote is from John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834-1902). A historian and moralist, in 1887 Lord Acton wrote in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton:

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

This is a sad, yet true commentary that can be proven time and time again. We see good men and women rise to power, whether in service to community, nation or church, and then forget their beginnings and believe their “press clippings.”

As the election nears, we are being bombarded by advertising and sound bites, as well as lies and half-truths. What makes these politicians, who begin with such lofty goals of service, promises to do things “the right way,” turn into caricatures of themselves?

Power and it’s co-conspirator, Greed.

The opportunity to “rule the world” or at least a little corner of it, can turn the head of even the most resolute person. But the Bible speaks to this directly:

“A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live.” Proverbs 15:27

Greed brings to mind the movie Wall Street (1987). Michael Douglas, as Gordon Gekko, gives a speech that is at once both electrifying in it’s intensity, and alarming in it’s message:

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation call the USA.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Gekko’s words prove wrong. If you look at our economy today, you can see that the greed of the past years has caught up with us.

But still we don’t learn. Our Bible tells us the evil of greed, and to beware of power.

Check your greed quotient. Are your goals in line with your values?

A few years ago I was at a football game with my husband. A woman was sitting next to me with her five year old son as well as her sister, while her husband and a friend of his were sitting a few rows in front of them. Their agreement was that the son would sit with her in the first half, and with dad in the second half. The little boy squealed and squirmed his way through the first half, and the mom was ready to pass him to dad.

At halftime, they made the exchange… but just a few minutes later, the little boy wanted his mom. He called to her, and her husband turned around and said, “He wants to sit with you.” Her response? She crossed her arms in an ‘X’ and said, “Access denied!” The little boy pouted (so did the dad!), but mom got to watch the second half.

This past weekend, as we sat at a game with our five year old, we remembered that mom’s words. We laughed about it, but we also know that if that little boy had really needed his mom, she would have dropped the ‘X’ and been there for him.

Isn’t it great to know that we have a Heavenly Father who never denies us access? He never says, “Sorry, I’m busy over in Alabama right now, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” He’s there, no matter how small or large the problem.

Our God is omnipotent!

The only hard part? Reminding ourselves to go to Him! Here we have this open access to the Most Holy, and we tend to worry, fret, anything but turn to Him. We have an omnipotent, awesome God, who always listens, never turns us away, and yet we will talk to everyone about our needs… our hairdresser, our friends, our family, even complete strangers, yet won’t turn to God.

Maybe we need to open up the access on our end!