When I’m feelin’ Some Kinda Way...

(By Lois Robinson)

I strongly dislike generalized statements like, “All women love to shop” or “All guys love sports”, “everyone” wants this or “everyone”  wants that. A  recent one  I’ve heard is “All teenage boys cuss when they are together with other teenage boys. That’s what teenagers do!” Or these little gems, “That’s a man thing because they’re stupid” or “That’s a woman thing because they’re so hormonal”. Just love when people boil down the complexities of individuals to such a small definition in order to understand how “everyone” functions. Wrong conclusions being made every time is usually the case!

Therefore, I will intentionally avoid a generalized statement here and simply say, “If you are anything like me, I have frequent times of “feeling’ some kinda way!” Sometimes its feeling frustrated out of the blue, sometimes it’s feeling hungry for the Chinese Buffet, sometimes it’s feeling angry over violations or other times its just feeling  UGH! At times my feelings are all over the place, hard to really understand what is going on.  Sometimes the anger is an appropriate response to external circumstances that are wrong and my internal response towards the violation or sin is anger. While other times my anger is strictly my own sinful heart not getting its own way. As my Pastor Nate has taught, anger is a barometer of our heart that says something needs to be dealt with. That’s a blog for a whole different day!! Remember, feelings are a gift from God but we must learn how to recognize them, process them appropriately and not avoid them. God has given them to us for a reason.  Feelings, oh they can be so powerful. I am very thankful God gave the human heart, mind and body, the ability to feel. How dangerous would it be if we couldn’t feel.  When we feel extreme heat, the normal bodily response is danger and we step away. When we feel sub zero temperatures, we normally  respond by putting on more clothing to prevent frost bite. Hopefully I have made the point regarding the importance of our body feeling sensations and responding appropriately.  Otherwise it could be very detrimental to us. For some who have lost the ability to feel, due to some diseases or traumatic accidents, they have to be very cautious and take proper measures to ensure they won’t be subject to danger. God created the human body with an awesome alert system to protect us from danger.

This brings to the next point. The beautiful gift of emotions that God has given us. They are designed to work in our favor, to be a part of our celebrations, our healing process, our warning signals from danger, our own brokeness and need for a Savior. We are so broken in this area friends and unfortunately many of us base our reality on “how we feel” and then label it as God’s leading or lack thereof because they can’t feel Go. I have sat with young girls who “feel” like they love the new boyfriend as of 3 weeks and has sex to show him. Only to end up feeling shame and guilt. Others have felt like fitting in with the peer group and made some bad decisions that get them arrested. Others compromise their values very quickly and perform sexual acts to get needs met. In the church, people operate in their feelings to the extreme of disengaging in worship because they don’t feel like it, don’t like the worship song or don’t actively engage in the celebration time because they aren’t feeling anything.

               NEWS FLASH

WORSHIP ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!!

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE GOD WHO DESERVES YOUR PRAISE

AND CAN SAVE YOU FROM YOUR SELF-FOCUSED ORIENTATION.

This is a little diddy I had as a piano lesson back in the day as a child. I thought I was all that being able to play it......OVER AND OVER!! Check out the crazy lyrics!

Feelings

Feelings ,Nothing more than feelings, Trying to forget my feelings of love 

Teardrops, Rolling down on, my face, Trying to forget my, feelings of love 

Feelings, For all my life I'll feel it, I’ll wish I've never met you, girl, You'll never come again

Feelings, Wo-o-o feelings, Wo-o-o feelings, Again in my heart,

Feelings, Feelings like I've lost you, and feelings like I've never have you, Again in my heart.

Feelings, For all my life I'll feel it, I wish I've never met you, girl, You'll never come again

Feelings, Feelings like I've lost you , And feelings like I've never have you

copyright (http://elyrics.net)

He is the God who created the entire universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

He is the God who parted the Red Sea and killed the Egyptians who were chasing His children the Israelites.

He is the God who parted the Jordan River in order for His children to walk into the Promised Land.

He is the God who sacrificed His only Son and raised Him from the dead in 3 days in order to Save us.

He is the God who HEALS. He is the God who PROVIDES. He is the God who REDEEMS. He is the God who COMFORTS. He is the God who is JUST. He is the God who CARES. He is the God who FORGIVES. He is  God, He is my God, He is my Savior, He is my Abba.

In spite of your feelings, .....I ask you friend....a question that Jesus asked His disciples...

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loose din heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19)

Feelings are a gift but must come under the authority of Jesus Christ. Through His Spirit, we can understand what we are feeling, why we are feeling that way and how to process appropriately so the feelings we experience lead us into a closer relationship to Him and Christ-likeness.

Blessings Friends-

She’s essential. I’m essential. We’re both essential.

I’ve recently been realizing that I have quite a few bad habits that I’ve never noticed before. I’ve didn’t know that I do them. It’s kind of been like playing a sport since you were young, and then realizing all of the sudden as an adult that you haven’t been implementing a fundamental skill correctly.

For instance, I had no idea that I was a perfectionist until this past summer. I also didn’t know that I tended to live without boundaries, and that my well-being is frequently enmeshed with other people’s opinion of me. I didn’t know that I tend to kiss people’s rear ends, and (this is the one that I want to talk about), I didn’t know that if I see someone else doing something well, I feel immediately threatened by it. Then I start to feel a push to either compete or to despair of my own worth.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen this same habit starting to develop in someone that I so wish could avoid it all: my daughter. She’s four and her younger sister is two. When I compliment her sister on doing something well, her typical response is to try to do the same thing and draw everyone’s attention to herself by saying, “Look at me. See how great I do it?” And if we don’t give her the same praise, she’ll express something along the lines of: “When you tell Bethie she is doing a good job, it makes me feel like I don’t do a good job at all. I’m not special.”

Bleh!! When I see it in a four-year-old, I realize what a ridiculous and yucky mentality it is to consider my value forfeit simply because someone else does something well. But I’ve realized that I do it all the time. If I have a friend who is gifted in some area that I’m not, I start to feel threatened. This yucky little feeling inside will start ‘whispering’ to me, “Oh no. Oh no. Your friend does this particular thing so well. She’s so gifted in that area. Why don’t you think to do that more often? Why don’t you enjoy serving in the same way that she does? People are going to like her more. She’s going to be safe and secure in life. She’s going to have a status of belonging in life. She’s going to be saved from rejection and pain in her life. And you won’t. You don’t do the same things she does; and because of your poor performance, you’re just not good enough.”

I didn’t even know that I had that habit: seeing what other people do well and feeling that I’m disqualified for not being able to do it just as good...or better. But I realized that I do it all the time, and I worry that my performance won’t be good enough to secure me the future that I think I need.

You know what is so beautiful, though? There’s hope for me (and people like me)! I’ve got this habit of comparing and disqualifying myself, but God says there’s another option! There’s another way to live. 1 Corinthians 12 describes His way. I just love, love, LOVE this word picture:

“God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.

He decides who gets what, and when.

You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.”

Isn’t that like one thousand times better than being threatened by my friend’s gift and deciding that it means I’ll forever be rejected? I love the idea that we’re each uniquely gifted, and that if I don’t recognize and use my particular gift, The Body will miss out. The Body doesn’t need me to be someone else. The Body NEEDS me, and The Body needs me to be ME. As I am being changed into a new person with God teaching me His way to live life, I can appreciate the beauty of my friend’s gift, but the uniqueness of her gift doesn’t change or define anything about me.

She’s essential. I’m essential. We’re both essential.

Sarah Howard

Artificial Intimacy

(By Thor Knutstad)

Life on TV is far from reality.  I think we all agree with this simple statement way too easily without understanding its various implications.  Let me state it again – life on TV is far from reality.  Even when the show or series appears to be healthy, moral, family centered or even biblically rooted, a camera of lens and microphone was never intended to capture in motion the unique story, history and context of people’s lives.  Even while we applaud those who are loving, family oriented, God-centered and who defy the norm of society, their higher road living sometimes only serves to create more comparison, more depression and more striving of works and performance; it actually leads to less joy in most people.  Life is not The Ingalls Family (yes, this dates me – I’m referring to Little House on the Prairie from the 1970’s and 1980’s).  Life is not Duck Dynasty, though I love Willie Robinson’s bold and candid expressions of the Gospel and New Testament truth.  Life is not the latest Christian movie to come on the scene and touch the hearts of audiences (but I will say that God’s Not Dead did present the Gospel as clearly as any portrayal that I have ever witnessed in larger venue film).  Life is not movies or videos that depict the life of Christ like The Jesus Film, Jesus of Nazareth, or The Passion of the Christ.  These grip our hearts and stimulate us to see the life of our Lord, but John says that all the books of the world could not list all of Jesus works and miracles and life.  Hmm.  Are my statements pessimistic?  Am I labeling all these things as bad?  I’m not.  You may enjoy these things, but they are NOT the setting for your life, your world, your situation and your unique context.  They should NOT define your worldview or your values.  Even when “quality viewing” seems to touch the strings of your heart, it’s still like finding two diamonds deep in a large pile of manure.  You may find a few valuable pieces, but you get very dirty wading through everything else to find the treasure.  And you aren’t unaffected by it.  In fact, you’re worse off than without it.  Some of you may think this sounds legalistic.  It is not.  This is a call to prudence and sober thinking about what we view, how we perceive and interpret it and why some of our “better” viewing may just be a lesser evil and just another plot of the enemy to have us fall into the trap of Artificial Intimacy.  A sober evaluation of this requires spiritual maturity and a more “meaty” understanding of the Scriptures.  My heart is to make us think this: Am I filling my heart and soul with Artificial Intimacies?  If you are, then this article is for you.

TV, movies, FB and most social media (even including sports) and the internet promote Artificial Intimacy.  Artificial Intimacy can be defined as “the result of anything that promotes feelings of connectedness and closeness.”  Artificial Intimacy blurs the lines of reality and fantasy to create a passive distraction.  In it, we consume data and feelings are created.  We are emotionally manipulated, and we don’t even know it sometimes, if not often.  Artificial Intimacy is known by, but not limited to, the following defining factors:

1. It disconnects us from real life (makes us want another life)

2. It discontents us with real life (hmm, where is the secret of contentment?)

3. It devalues real life and devalues the ordinary by craving the extraordinary

4. It deceives our hearts and minds with world views that are less than biblical

5. It disappoints us and is often quite idolatrous (promotes a false worship of something/someone) without ever really saying the word “idolatry” or “idol of the heart”

6. It dramatizes everything that happens and looks to solve every problem

7. It deepens our sinful desires for a good, comfortable life (not a cross-bearing, self-denying one)

8. It doesn’t deliver the end of isolation and loneliness; it actually isolates us even more

9. It lures us with tastes and hungry cravings for more entertainment and self-preoccupation

10. It doesn’t tell you that the backdrop and setting for consumerism leaves us with a plethora of multiple choices, selfish humanism, false optimism, a gospel of social justice that trumps the Gospel of death and resurrection, a desire for more efficient and the faster version, a bow to rationalistic reason and a freedom of doings that go beyond biblical boundaries.

11. It doesn’t tell you that as you are emotionally manipulated, you will feel more passive and actually more depressed.   Consumer and cultural absorption will fill the sponge of you if you haven’t soaked up the deeper truths of God in His Word and soaked up His presence.   Artificial Intimacy would never tell you that you’re given dirty and sick water from manmade cisterns (wells) as a trade off to our Lord’s living water for the heart (tough statements, but read them again).

12. It will make you think that you are ruled by your rights and not by your responsibilities.  You are not ruled by your rights.  You are ruled by your responsibilities to the Savior and the King.  Artificial Intimacy calls you a victim, but the Bible calls you a culpable participant.

13. It won’t tell you that it wants your theology to come from culture and the world; instead, your theology should stand against and infect the world’s sick heart with cures and antibodies.

Whether it’s TV, social media or even our cell phones, we have to ask this question: are we becoming over connected to Artificial Intimacy?  We fear a slowdown from Artificial Intimacy because silence and conversations often reveal what lives below the surface of our hearts.  Distractions and busyness are welcomed (in Artificial Intimacy) because they keep us away from sober, somber and prudent considerations.  Loud surroundings, the motion of commotion and the visually fast will always occupy and attempt to dominate our minds.  But it’s artificial.  Let’s get real, people.  Is your Intimacy Artificial?  Are you over connected?  What masters and enslaves you?  What is the noise that preoccupies your soul with distractions and stimulations?  We wrongly allow the enemy a foothold over the cacophony of our hearts ponderings and pains and the even the voice of God – Satan and the world love the silence of Artificial Intimacy.  And Artificial Intimacy is a god (a false one) who serves that very desire.  But it is deafening to our souls.  And the cost of Artificial Intimacy is vast.  It robs you of the gold of True Intimacy – being connected in a still and quieted soul to your Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God –

Donuts, Gas Stations and Provision

I grew up in a house where we didn’t hold on too tightly to money. My parents’ faith taught me so much as I saw how they trusted God for provision. And provision wasn’t – or wasn’t only – money or a paycheck. Provision was also groceries left on our front steps or a car starting every day when it should have broken down or even a box of donuts brought to us when we all missed getting Dunkin’ Donuts on Saturday mornings.  Things weren’t always that way but I love looking back to when we saw God tangibly provide exactly what we needed – down to boxes of donuts. 

My practical education in trusting God to provide equipped with me something wonderful- freedom. I definitely don’t walk in complete faith or freedom but I also know I don’t have to worry or be bogged down by fear of money. I can trust instead that God’s perfect provision will come through with exactly what I need. It started with boxes of donuts but I’ve seen His hand in school, cars, houses, jobs and relationships. 

So isn’t it a little strange that in the midst of all of that big, life-changing freedom, I still get caught up in the tiny every day lies?

As a server, I know I drive people crazy by talking a lot about tipping generously and graciously. I think it’s worth talking about because I truly believe Jesus wants to use us and the way we tip to tangibly bless people and show them His love. I also believe that for ourselves, God calls us to tip generously because He wants to redeem us from fear and stinginess and trying to provide for ourselves and all the other reasons we can be terrible tippers. 

Most recently, I experienced the curse of stinginess at gas stations. Until my brother worked at a gas station I had no idea tipping was even a thing or that the guy who pumped my gas would have even an inkling of a hope of a tip. I mean, did you guys know that?! Not a clue.
Once I knew though… and realized how hard my brother worked and how often and consistently he was treated poorly by customers, it changed everything. When I went to the gas station I wanted that attendant to know that I appreciated their work, that I noticed them and they had value. But then, at the same time, a funny thing would happen. Fear would creep up the back of my neck and my thoughts would start racing – we only budget so much a week for gas so is this wise?!? Can we afford this?!? What if something happens and we need that money?!
Honestly, none of those are even rational thoughts in the context of a $3 tip but there they were anyway. Apparently, I can grasp that God will provide me with an entire car, but I still struggle to believe he has power over even a few dollars. 

Until I remembered – I am blessed to be a blessing and my provision comes from God. Sure, that also includes living within my means and being a good steward but not the way Christians so often seem to use it as an excuse for greediness. I’m still left with miles of room to bless someone.

My brother doesn’t pump gas anymore but I still tip my attendant. I look forward to it because it’s exciting to have an opportunity to bless someone so tangibly.  More than that – for my own sake I’ve realized it’s important to exercise generosity so that I don’t get rusty and forget where my provision really comes from. 

Jessica Noblett

Feeling Followership

(By Thor Knutstad)

The enemy’s deception has slowly and methodically traded real freedom (in us) for the worship of what I will call ‘Feeling Followership.’  But we know that our feelings don’t really free us – they often mislead us, they often distort the truth and they often bring us into deeper bondage when we live following the misguided sense of direction that comes from Feeling Followership.  

Show me a man or woman enslaved by passions, feelings and desires, and I will show you a heart that is laced and bound with heavy chains of enslavement.  False teachers deceive people into thinking that freedom is found and experienced in the idolatry of Feeling Followership, but they would never call it that.  Oh, they never call it the adultery (unfaithfulness) or the idolatry (false worship) that it really is either.  They never label it as license or liberty of the world; and they surely wouldn’t call it the legalism that it often represents in its many rules and manmade traditions.   This is because the devil, though he appears to often work quickly, picks at our fleshly sin nature sometimes very slowly and patiently.  This strategy, coupled with the wrong desires that cause confusion within us, serve to thwart God’s deeper work within our hearts.  Feeling Followership promises freedom from the constraints God outlines in His Word, but ultimately real freedom is lost.  During the downward process of Feeling Followership, freedom evaporates and bondage takes hold and roots deeply.  While our hearts are held hostage in the deception of Feeling Followership, this soul-killing process that bathes in Satan’s great lies causes us to lose ourselves and become mastered by the very things that enslave us.  Feeling Followership is a legion of demons invading the desires of the flesh.  It is not real freedom.  Feeling Followership is a deadly and dark path – a highway with few or any exits.  Beware.  Beware of the false teachers and false prophets who tickle your ears with Feeling Followership appeals.  Beware of the lies – and behold the truth.  

This truth is a person – His Name is Jesus, the Christ.  And though He always comforts your pains and sufferings with an everlasting love, He will never call you to Feeling Followership.  Instead, He will take you to places that you never wanted to go; He asks you to deny yourself and carry your cross like He did – so He can get you home - to eternity’s Heaven, unto holiness.  Therefore, we must often forsake Feeling Followership, trading it for righteous actions and doings of holy moments that exemplify the Gospel and live out our real freedom.  Let’s see Feeling Followership for the lie that it really is – Praise Him.  

The Teacher Had No Answers

My Bible-in-a-year reading just finished Ecclesiastes. This is not my favorite OT book for sure. It tends to leave me annoyed and frustrated. Solomon (we assume he was the author) wrote many wise and true things here, but somehow it feels like he just doesn’t get it. There’s this disquieting feeling that he’s missing the mark. 

But what mark was he missing? God gave Solomon astounding wisdom, along with great wealth and power. It’s such fun to read his book of Proverbs, just one fantastic truth after another! He was surely gifted in every way. And he knew God.

 But this time I realized what was bothering me so much. It was this: that he seems to have had many periods of satisfaction and happiness, but in spite of it all, he was missing something which we have in such wonderful abundance!  He had no joy!  

He had no joy because he didn’t have Jesus! He didn’t have the confidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, guiding him, teaching him, correcting him. He didn’t have hope for the future.

For us it is a bit of ironic humor when we say, “You can’t take it with you!” But for Solomon it wasn’t funny! He only saw that good and evil people both died, and had to leave everything behind – so why work so hard? He knew that there would be a judgment, but the idea that God would provide a way for us to escape payment for our sin never entered his mind. That God would send the Messiah to earth to DIE was totally beyond him.

Do we ever seem to take this for granted? This is the very bedrock of our joy! This is the only reason for our confident hope! This is why we know, we KNOW that death has been conquered, that we will spend eternity with God and His Son, our sins having been washed far away by the very shed blood of His Son Jesus!

But just consider all those lost people out there whom we desperately need to reach with the wonderful Good News of the Gospel. They too, like Solomon, are living without joy, without hope, always looking for some elusive thing to fill that void which only Jesus can fill. You want to know their thoughts? You want to know how they, rich and poor, live? Read Ecclesiastes.

Read Ecclesiastes again, and think how it must be to have no answers, no future sure thing but death and taxes, no confidence of heaven, trying to believe that you will be good enough. You should ache for them, and want to find them, and to reach as many of them as you possibly can!

As we learn more clearly how to tell our gospel story, keep thinking of them. Don’t worry about yourself; God will give you the right words and the opportunities to say them. Just be willing. Just be yourself. And let God’s grace flow through you.

Norma Stockton

Grace and Shoes

Before I finally moved out of my parents’ house to my own place, my mom told me that I would never leave shoes all over the place in my new home like I did in theirs.

Mom was right about a lot of things, but this was not one of them. Shoes are in the bathroom, in the living room, in front of my dishwasher in the kitchen, on my front porch, strewn about my bedroom. My habit of leaving shoes wherever I take them off is a hard one to kill, apparently.

 I only think about how annoying a bad habit it is when it’s 6am and I need shoes to go to work. Yesterday I had to wear black shoes with brown pants because I couldn’t find one of my brown shoes. It’s somewhere, I’m sure. But in which room?

The road to permanent change is long and difficult. I resolve throughout the year every year to be a neater, more organized me. It happens, but it’s always a partial change. I slip into old mindsets and behaviors before I have even realized it. Periods of success and a sense of triumph are inevitably followed by the knowledge that yes, I still need to improve more. 

It’s here where I get frustrated with sanctification. Why can’t life just be an upward trajectory of growth and maturity? 

I want something that looks like this…

But I get something that looks like this…

Up, down, sideways. It’s not a smooth or easy ride in any way. 

As we go through this sermon series on what we as congregants should be doing to maintain a healthy church, I am reminded that growth is ongoing. That it will be a process throughout life. My habits in quiet times, tithing, Gospel sharing, and community are all sorely lacking in maturity and consistency. 

This self-knowledge is discouraging as long as it remains just that…SELF-knowledge. Add GRACE Knowledge to self-knowledge, and it is a whole different picture. Because there is grace for all of my imperfections and habits.

One of my favorite verses is Philippians 1:6, which says:

…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

We are promised that God will continue His work in us, no matter how frustrating or clumsy we are as we try to grow into healthy Christians. It helps immensely to remember this on days when you can’t seem to get it together or find your shoes.

Nancy Vasquez

Bagels, Burdens and Bruises.

(By Diego Cuartas)

It is interesting the kind of subjects we end up entertaining around breakfast times. As my wife and I were enjoying our bagels the other morning, we were faced with the fact that we are all vulnerable in many ways. Not only do we experience our own brokenness but there is also a reality we face when we move towards others who bring their own vulnerabilities. In a way a principle that is always at work in relationships is that we are impacted by what others bring with them. We are not inmune to other people’s brokenness. And some times in our effort to help we also run the risk of being bruised.

Thankfully, God knows this and is so willing to provide us with grace so that we can help bear the burdens of others as well as address our own. I am encouraged by the promise God offers us in Isaiah 58:9-10:

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.

Did you hear the strong tone of this promise? If I spend myself in behalf of other people’s vulnerabilities my light will increase. More and more and more light will increase in my life! So grace is given to us when we get close to others in their place of need. By God’s grace darkness will have to flee!

Here is another one. In Psalm 73:23-24 the writer evidences a confidence in God’s guidance and counsel in spite the negative predicament he finds himself in.

“Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.”

So we have the presence of God with us, His guidance and counsel plus a promise for His light to increase in our lives as we spend ourselves in the vulnerabilities of others.

But there is one more thing God offers to us in grace. He offers us a warning. Yes, warnings from God are a form of grace. Interesting, in the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul warns those seeking to help others by stating that they too may face personal temptations in the process of helping (6:1).

So the antidote to any fears or dangers we experience as we get close to other people’s vulnerabilities is to trust God’s grace. He has a record that shows His ability and commitment to help those in need. Consider Psalm 147:

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.

May He continue giving us courage to get close to those we would rather avoid as we trust Him to provide us with what we need to help others and honor Him.

Hola from Paraguay!

Carlos, Lily, Carly, Elia, & Lucas Saavadra

Read the latest updates from one of our partner families serving globally in Asuncion, Paraguay. You can follow there adventures, learn how to pray well, and support them by reading more at http://saavedramissions.blogspot.com/

Watch Your Mouth!

(By Lois Robinson)

How many of you remember hearing someone say to you at some time in your life, “WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”. In my case, it was usually because I was saying something out of anger, trying to be funny or just saying something stupid because I felt like I was supposed to say something. Boy oh boy, the stupid things I have said to other people not intending any harm, but I question if I did.

This brings me to the blog for the week. I have wanted to write this one but delayed it, waiting for the right time. I actually had a completely different one started yesterday, but God laid it on my heart to keep that one for a later date and proceed with this one.

My first thought was to entitle this one, “The Stupid Things Christians Say!” but thought maybe that would be a bit too heavy handed. The intention of this blog is not to offend but to be very thought provoking and encourage you to take a deeper look at yourself and the things that come out of your mouth.

Proverbs 18:21 says this:

"Words kill, words give life;

   they’re either poison or fruit—you choose." (The Message)

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

   and those who love it will eat its fruits." (Revised Standard Version)

"The tongue has the power of life and death,

   and those who love it will eat its fruit." (New International Version)

Sometimes I get tired of writing about this journey God is allowing me to be on. It involves a great amount of suffering, to be very honest with you - physical suffering on an hourly basis that is controlled by daily medications.  The physical pain and the journey itself cause emotional suffering. I must take every thought captive and remember who my God is. He’s got me! He loves me! He is faithful and good! His plans are good for me! This journey is all apart of Him producing beautiful things in my life. Let’s face it, my life is not, and never was supposed to be, all about my comfort and happiness. It is ALL for His glory. My broken body is ALL for His glory! I have learned and grown a lot through this process, and it is far from over. There is a strong possibility that it will not be over until I see Him face-to-face, unless He chooses to do a miracle. He has before in my life, but it is completely up to Him. He knows best! :)

With all that said, here’s another thing I have learned: many people (not all) do not know what to say to me. In that, words have been very hurtful, sometimes taking me days to battle out of what someone has said in response to the disorder I have. I got to a place that I did not want to come to church because I was afraid of what well-meaning folks were going to say.  At this point, you are probably asking a few questions in your head. One may be, “What did people say to her?” The point of this blog is not to focus on what was said but for you to ask yourself about the things you may haphazardly say at times, meaning no harm. I will give you some examples from my personal journey, and other common things I hear people jokingly say, that have hurtful repercussions you may never know about.

My personal experience

• Name calling- Handicaps can go first in line! HaHa, Gimpy, Tiny Tim

• Why don’t you cut that leg off? You don’t need it! ( I never thought that I would ever be in a position where amputation was a very real option that deeply grieves me. Jokes of amputation are not funny)

• People have actually sought me out to let me know people have it a lot worse than me. In response, I kindly say, “Yes, I am aware of that.”

Jokes about Suicide

• Just shoot me now.

• I want to hang myself.

• Will somebody kill me now.

• I want to find the nearest bridge.

And the list goes on. These are not funny. Many people have loved ones that actually did do the above and are forever changed because of that. Let’s not joke about the tragic.

Mental Disorder, Mental Disabilities, Addictions, Sexual struggles

• You are retarded.

• You act like a crack head.

• You need a cheeseburger.

• What are you, bipolar?

• You’re gay, homo.

Jesus followers: this is a call to clean up our mouths and be sensitive to the very real issues that have torn others’ lives apart. My life has been forever impacted by every single issue that I mentioned above. When I hear others casually joke or use the tragic to be humorous, it offends me. I bet I’m not the only one. Please think about what you are going to say before saying it. Let’s get those filters working and remember:

"Words kill, words give life;

   they’re either poison or fruit—you choose." (The Message)

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

   and those who love it will eat its fruits." (Revised Standard Version)

"The tongue has the power of life and death,

   and those who love it will eat its fruit." (New International Version)

Proverbs 18:21

Amen and Amen!

What I Learned from Video Stores

As a child, one of my fondest memories is going to West Coast Video as a family and walking slowly through the store, specifically along the wall where the “New Releases” were, looking for a movie to rent.  We would each pick up a few of the boxes, read the back, then debate amongst ourselves to decide on what we would watch that evening.

Last night, my sons wanted to have family movie night.  We turned on the Apple TV, flipped through some choices, read some descriptions, selected, and rented a movie from our sofa.  We were watching the movie is less time than it used to take all of us to cross the parking lot into the video store.

I know that my kids memories of “family movie night” will be different than mine, but they will be great memories none-the-less.  My father and grandfather probably had different “movie night” experiences than I did, and before there were movies, they had “something-else night”. 

I don’t particularly mourn the loss of Blockbuster or any of the other video stores that have gone the way of the buffalo, but I do often find myself wanting to hold on to the past.  We are comfortable with our memories, and generally remember things with more joy and happiness than they actually had.  We tend to elevate our memories, build a scaffold around them, and hold them in such high regard that it feels like nothing new can come close to them.

We are comfortable in our current church family.  We have friends that we like.  We feel useful and involved.  So the prospect of changing all of that and helping to plant a new church seems… uncomfortable.  In our minds, there is no way that a new church in a new location with a new group of people can come close to the experience we have had in our current situation.

One aspect of living in reality is realizing that things change.  Often for the better, sometimes for the worse, but inevitably, things change.  There is nothing wrong with holding on to fond memories, but when those memories become an unreasonable, unattainable litmus test, they can actually hold us back from experiencing the newness that God has for us.  If things aren’t changing, they aren’t growing, and there’s a name for things that aren’t growing. Dead.  

If God leads, we need to be willing to follow.  Into uncomfortable places, places we may have never wanted to go.  But the reality is that change is not something to fear.  West Coast Video and Blockbuster went out of business because people found a better way to find movies to watch.  And while letting go of the experience that I used to enjoy is a little sad, honestly, I hadn’t been inside a video store for years, even before they closed.  The new movie rental experience is really quite nice.

God is blessing us in our church, but that’s not a reason to stay stagnant.  If anything, it’s a reason to pursue God’s leading into new experiences, whether that means planting new churches, stepping out into ministry, or joining a Pastorate.  New memories will be made, and while it might seem now like they can’t compare with memories of the past, give it some time.  But don’t get too comfortable, there will always be a new way to rent movies.

Jeff Hyson

“Relating Without Guile”

(By Thor Knutstad)

Most of our patterns of relating are naturally very self-protective and actually quite manipulative. While distance or demand provides us a setting to be safe from the transparencies of vulnerability, contact and relating in conversation often only touches others to the degree that we get our own needs met. This is sad. Neither strategy is loving, but actually very self-serving.

Life’s disappointments and our deepest pains will almost always seem to occur in the context of some of our closest relationships. Our sinful strategies that try to control our relational world are very self-interested and very self-deceptive. 

Maybe we need to repent of these manipulative styles of relating and move toward others with risky involvement and words that connect to their hearts? Do you fear this style of intimate relating? Do you crave closeness but avoid it to the measure that it serves you?

Though Jesus was careful not to entrust Himself to the Pharisees, He does pour Himself into the hearts of the apostles and sometimes even other disciples. There were emboldened moments of relating – yet there were many tender ones as well. My friend Karen is now 71 years old and is in ministry in the Rochester, NY region. About 10 years ago, this 60+ year old woman came to me (a young pastor of about 33) and asked to be my Philadelphia Biblical University (PCB, now Cairn University) masters level counseling intern. What business did this mature, godly woman have being my intern, but I am grateful for her ministry – to others, and even to me. She was a good learner, but a good teacher as well. She knew how to love people and how to encourage. She gently and confidently once said to me in response to how I had handled some situation at church, “Thor, you are like Jesus – you are without guile.” She then proceeded to tell me what she meant by that. Guile is a military term from the Old King James Version of Scripture that denotes one who strategizes and plans in a sly and cunning manner – like a military leader who in crafty preparation knows how to flank his enemy and set up the victory. 

She was calling me to continue to deal with people and in their relationships (and mine) with a form of innocence – a reminder to never trade it for a shrewd plan or strategy that relies on a craft or skill that manipulates situations. This style of relating is vulnerable, but it cuts to the quick of the heart and often reaches the hearts of others. It touches people where they are, but it doesn’t pretend to have all of the answers. It listens and loves but doesn’t do so with a cunning agenda. It’s how Karen was – it’s who God has made her to be. This encouragement has stayed with me, and I have even passed it on a few times myself. If I have said it to you at some point, you are smiling right now. She blessed me and laid a foundation for my life, my relationships and my ministry.

While the Pharisees were self-righteous, self-absorbed and quite manipulative in tactic (hence, FULL OF GUILE), our sweet, loving Lord Jesus was the COMPLETE ANTITHESIS OF GUILE. His innocent, loving, merciful, gentle, unassuming ways reached into the hearts of His Most Beloved Relationships. Without guile, He healed and did miracles. Without guile, He spoke the Word of God – boldly and unapologetically. Without guile, He fulfilled His calling of His ministry and lived “on mission” with all whom He came into contact with daily. Without guile, He didn’t try to control or manipulate the outcome of those moments – He simply loved others well. Without guile, may WE repent of our maneuverings and the craft of relational control – instead, may WE turn toward our Jesus and replicate His love for others as an instrument of His heart.

Praise Him.

Pursuing God's Glory When I Run

I have two daughters. They’re both mine biologically. So that means I physically carried them both in my body...and my body carries the tell-tale signs of those two pregnancies. I don’t feel (or look) 16 anymore. 

After my second daughter was born, for a long time, I wasn’t happy with how much weight I had gained in the pregnancy and how much of it still remained on me after she was born...and crawling...and walking...and talking. And I’m going to confess something: I felt shame about that extra weight. 

I’ve been reading a couple of books recently by a woman named Brene Brown, who’s a researcher who became somewhat famous after doing a TED Talk  (a 20 minute talk on ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’) that went viral in 2010 about shame and vulnerability. She defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing we are flawed and therefore unworthy of acceptance and belonging.” Yep. That’s exactly what I felt about being a different size postpartum: unworthy of acceptance and belonging. I felt embarrassed in social situations, like everyone knew that I was failing at an ‘essential’ part of who I am. I felt not good enough.  

So guess what I did? I decided to do something about it. I jumped into an exercise routine. I started attempting to incorporate a lot more fruits and veggies into my diet. “Great!” you might say. In the past few months, though, I’ve realized that it’s not so great. 

I’m realizing something about the way I exercise that I want to share with you. I honestly don’t tend to exercise to be healthy and care for my body. I exercise to chisel myself into being good enough. I felt shame (remember? ‘not good enough for acceptance’) when I was at my ‘unacceptable’ limit of what I weighed. I thought my extra fat on my hips made me unworthy of love. So I started exercising as a means to prove my worth. As a way to save myself from the pain of not being accepted and loved. 

As a side note, do you know how I can tell what my motivations are about exercising? It’s how I feel, and what thoughts are going through my mind when I’m doing it, and how I view my body afterwards. When I’m running to mold my body back into shape so that I can prove my worth, I feel driven. I feel like I have to run harder, go further. Or I might feel prideful if I did a good run. I’ll think thoughts like, “This will really help how my body looks.” Or, as I’m running, “I’m literally running the fat on my rear end off right now.” I don’t feel gentle or kind or caring to myself. I feel more like, “Make it happen. Fix it. Prove it.” 

Wow. Talk about an internal striving for something much more than just taking care of my body. The exercise turns into a means of obtaining the ‘False Savior’ of being skinny and having a toned body. It promises me that I’ll have safety and status if I’m skinny. I won’t have to feel the pain of rejection or or the vulnerability of not belonging because it will save me. I’m using exercise to achieve something for me that it can’t. It can’t rescue me. 

Now that I’ve realized what’s been going on in my heart, I’ve been wondering what repentance would like. How would I practically turn away from ‘skinny’ being my hope for salvation?

My honest answer is that I’m not quite sure yet. I have some ideas. But I’ve grown up in this culture that’s told me my whole life these terrible lies that I have to be skinny to have worth, and that people who lose baby weight in the blink of an eye are better than those who don’t. I know the answer isn’t to eat whatever I want and to boycott lunges and squats for the rest of my life. It’s got to have something to do with my heart. Where deep inside, I reject our culture’s push and let God train me in a new way of thinking. And it’s got to have something to do with taking care of my body in a way that’s mentally and emotionally kind and gentle to myself. I focus on other benefits of exercise and eating right: the ‘therapy’ that running is for my thoughts and emotions, the enjoyment of moving my body and pushing it to work hard, the way my body feels better when I’ve eaten in a balanced way. 

I’ve heard people talk before about ‘eating for the glory of God,’ and I guess that would be the difference: to do even exercising and eating as an outflow of being already loved and accepted and belonging to God, instead of doing them as a means to secure my salvation among my peers. It’s like doing the exact same actions, but with a very different mentality. I definitely don’t have all the answers for what it can look like, but I’m hoping that God will continue to teach me...as I run. 

Sarah Howard

What's Wrong About Comparing Pain?

This week I want to draw your attention to a resource Ed Welch, faculty at CCEF, produced a few years ago. In his blog "No More Minimizing Pain", Welch help us consider the dangers of comparing our experience of pain to someone else's, and the implications that such actions can have in terms of our reliance on God. When I read his blog I thought about situations I have encountered where I felt I had to suffer in silence because someone else's pain was greater than mine, or where I felt less than considered because someone did not regard my pain as important. I believe Welche's blog is provocative and very relevant. I recommend you click here and take a few minutes to give your soul a gift.

Sincerely,

Diego Cuartas

Reaching Into the Unknown

My life right now is all about the unknown. There almost isn’t a question you could ask me about my life in 3, 6 or 12 months that I have an answer to other than “wherever God says next.” 

Of course, because of my severe control issues (also known as FDD or “Flexibility Deficit Disorder”) I learn big lessons about letting go and embracing God’s timing and trusting His character every time I hit a life transition such as this. 

This time feels a little different because I think I’m also learning about being proactive and not just reactive even when I have no idea what’s happening next. My natural instinct is to only react: to go kicking and screaming all the way- and who among us is really any different? I don’t know anyone who looks forward with joyful anticipation to any change they can’t predict, control or understand ahead of time. It’s just plain scary. It’s the same feeling I have when I watch a movie without first seeing a preview or knowing anything about it. I have no idea what will happen next or what the big storyline is. 

In this case, I don’t know if we’ll be moving this year or when that will happen or if I’ll need to change jobs. There’s very little I can predict or even guess. My tendency in the face of that would be to make plans anyway, add up pros and cons lists, research the best season to move and develop three back up plans, just to be safe. 

And all of that would be in vain. I’ll still wait until God says “go” or “stay” and that will have nothing to with the weather or what I see in front of me. 

All this to say, the lesson in waiting on God isn’t only about not running in circles as I try to weigh the odds of what will happen next. It’s about showing up where I still am. Now. I’m learning to be faithful in what God has already given me. I may be surrounded by my neighbors and co-workers and community for another two months or two years but either way I’m called to love them.

Until the day comes for something new, I’ll show up where I am now and trust that God will do the rest. 

Jessica Noblett

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal!

(By Lois Robinson)

I don’t know about you, but I find myself holding onto things that I really don’t need any more. There is a show on television called “Hoarders” about this. I’m not talking about the disorder of hoarding, but I am talking about keeping things based on the assigned value you have given it, then not wanting to give it up because you might use it someday. Sound familiar?

This issue came up in me recently. Here’s the back story. About two years ago, I realized I needed a recumbent exercise bike for my home as my knee was continuing with its struggles. Since my back had then become involved, a recumbent bike was the ticket! I searched and searched Craigslist and other places.  I then searched some more. Finally, one came up for sale in Cherry Hill on Craigslist for only $75.00- right in my budget.Yay! With extreme excitement, my best friend Jessica and I took a road trip up to the owner’s residence. The bike sat in his garage. Boy was it nice! An Edge 491 with all the bells and whistles for only $75.00! You can’t beat that. I immediately said I would take it, so Jess and the man loaded into the truck and we rode home. This was going to be one of the pieces of equipment that was going to help rehab this leg and get me on my feet walking normally again!

We lugged it into our house when we arrived home and set it up in the living room so I could pedal, pedal, pedal while watching TV, which made the time go quicker. You may know what I am talking about. All I kept saying was that it was such a huge gift from God to get such a great bike for $75.00. I then began the journey of using that bike every day, praying that this new bike would be a tremendous part of getting the knee joint mobile. I rode it faithfully. The discouraging piece was that no matter how much I exercised on it, the knee would still return to the same level of stiffness two minutes after I stopped pedaling. This went on for a year.

I then had to get the next surgery because the boney scar tissue still grew no matter how much exercising I did on the bike or with stretches or weight training. The same result would occur: extreme stiffness and weakness. The surgeons said he would remove the entire scar, get the joint mobile again and then lots of bike work for the rehab. I was optimistic because I had my own bike at home now, a recumbent one at that!

Surgery day came and went. I stayed for 3 days in the hospital, strapped into a Continual Passive Motion machine on my back for all three days. Once I got home, I had to start the bike and stretches. I followed the orders because my hope was this surgery would be the last and I would walk normally again. So I rode the bike: pedaling, pedaling, pedaling.

Well, today is the day I sold my recumbent exercise bike to a lady that was in rehab for her hips. It was a battle for me to even consider selling it. As some of you know, my leg is far from healed. I have to walk with a crutch due to extreme stiffness and weakness. I will get a 3rd opinion next Wednesday, but this may be a lifelong chronic condition I have to learn to live with. As I processed what was going on inside my mind and my heart, I realized that I had in some way linked the exercise bike to my healing. In my mind, that bike meant I was going to walk again, and selling it said I was not going to walk again, that I had accepted the notion that I will not walk normally ever again. I was not ready to accept that. So holding onto the bike meant there was some form of hope. Though I have another upright one in my office, the recumbent was the one that I had such high hopes for. The journey of rehab certainly didn’t unfold the way I thought it was going to when I excitedly loaded it up that night in Cherry Hill.

As I watched the older couple leave with it today, I was thankful that the Holy Spirit allowed me to see how I had assigned such irrational value to the bike, as if it was responsible to help me walk again. Yes, it is an integral part of the rehab journey, but God and God alone is my Healer. He could choose to heal me instantaneously without any bike if He chose to. For now, He is choosing not to heal my leg that way, but He is certainly healing other aspects of me: my heart, my mind and my ability to understand what is truly valuable and what’s not.

I do hope the hip patient enjoys the bike. As for me, my rehab journey is doing well.  The leg is the same, but my heart and mind are healing well!

Cluttered House, Cluttered Heart

My summer vacation has consisted of cleaning and organizing my house. I found very quickly that this task was going to be time consuming and would be composed of many, many, MANY stages. I think there were 27 different piles of junk on my dining room table alone to be sorted and trashed or placed in the proper room.

Why is my house this much of a pit of clutter in the first place? Well, I have really long list of excuses.  They are sound reasons: crazy school year, bouts with some nasty viruses, the emotional toll of grieving my mom’s death. My house reflects the chaos that has been my life for a year.

The realization I have come to is that the clutter didn't happen overnight. It was a result of a process of little things that were neglected over a long time. My house reflects, in many ways, the states of my mind and heart during some very difficult days.

States of mind and heart are not one time only moods or feelings. They are built up of minutes, hours, weeks, months and all the emotions that make up those times: Brokenheartedness. Hope. Confusion. Happiness. Strength. Weakness. Sadness. Tiredness. Fulfillment. Love.

When these changing emotions become your cornerstones, your realities, your ways of living life, you’ll be lost in a sea of contradictory and constantly changing beliefs and truths. I do not think most of us who are believers deliberately walk away from God. Rather, I think we drift away gradually when we mistake our passing feelings and moods for the Truth of The Gospel.

A friend shared this quote with me as we discussed the day to day grind of daily life and the negative attitudes it creates:

“It’s the little things in life that bother us. You can sit on a mountain but not on a tack”

--From Emilie Robbins in Country magazine, February/March 2014

While the big traumas of life can shake our faith, often it’s the buildup of lesser battles—the daily “tacks” that poke us—that drive us gradually away from the Truth of God and our relationship to Him. As Pastor Nate preached on Sunday, spiritual warfare is daily. It’s not a “once in a while” problem. We are constantly being barraged with our fears, doubts, and insecurities.

The Enemy uses this mental and emotional clutter to wreak havoc in our faith. It’s a gradual wearing down of our defenses.

The great news is that we are not alone to fight this. We have the support of the Creator of the Universe, the Messiah and Redeemer. We have the most powerful resources in the world at our disposal to hold us fast while we remember that we are children of the King. We don’t have to be victims to the whims of our fleeting emotions and weaknesses. We don’t have to futilely try to save ourselves from self-destruction. The saving is already finished.

Pray at all times. Read the Word. Hold it close.

When darkness closes in during tough times, keep praying and keep reading. 
When you are tired and frustrated and helpless, keep praying and keep reading. 
When your mind and heart are cluttered with the negative, keep praying and keep reading.
Jesus has already won this war. 

Nancy Vasquez

We Are Not Alone!

(By Diego Cuartas)

So many times I find myself trying to figure out certain aspect of life, and as an introvert person this can become a wearisome task. Really, there are days when I feel like my mind can become a “mined zone”–you know the kind of zone where you step on something and something pops and triggers another thought that you don’t seem to be able to shake easily? Soon, I find that I am going into a vicious cycle trying to understand someone, something or myself.

Where do you turn for help when this happens? Where can I anchor my soul so that I can rest assured that there is a more fruitful path for me?

Recently, I have found lots of help in what someone wrote in the 73th chapter of the book of Psalms. I am so thankful when I find perspective such as this! It is like stumbling upon a little treasure that someone has purposefully placed in my path for my good, for my encouragement. I hope it is for yours as well.

So this man, we read in the chapter, tried to understand on his own the path and outcomes of those who do evil. In the process, he becomes embittered, pricked in heart and ignorant–to the point of event having a different attitude towards God. Furthermore, he regards his situation as “slippery” because he became envious of the ones he was critical of.

What changed for this man is that he had an encounter with God, as he entered the place where he would seek and find God. When this happened, he obtained the clarity to discern what he was not able to discern before. “I discerned their end”, he said. But there is more. He goes on to acknowledge four key things:

1. “…I am continually with you [God]“
2. “…you [God] hold my right hand”
3. “…you [God] guide me with your counsel”, and
4. “…afterward you [God] will receive me to glory”

These truths revealed to him  by God lead him to conclude, later in the chapter, that God can be trusted to give strength to his heart and to be his portion forever–that in God he will find everything he will ever need regardless of his circumstances. Even though he knows that his heart “may fail” him again and he may find himself in a new situation trying to figure out life, others or himself, or being envious or proud, he knows where he will find strength and the life resources he will need. In his mind there is no question that the best place to be is to be near God!

We can see from this man’s story that help really comes from God and from him doing two things: being present in our lives and offering his knowledge and resources to us. The most encouraging news I see in this story is that before I even seek God He is already there with me. He is not far, but rather near. What He is doing in my life and yours on any given moment is more than what we can realize or even grasp.

I therefore can confidently say that all the perspective I have found in this Psalm is not something I stumbled upon, I can see now that I was guided to it by the God who is with me, walks with me and guides me.

He is with you too!

7 iPhone Apps for Your Spiritual Formation

Our phones are changing us. That much is clear. Much has been written about how and why this is happening, what cause lies at the root of this cultural pandemic. This is not a post about that.

This is a post about the other side. Our phones are not evil any more than a car is evil; they has no intrinsic goodness or badness to it, which means we can make them work to our benefit. We may even be able to grow spiritually thanks in part to our phones.

Below I've listed 7 iPhone apps (sorry, Android users) that I think, if wielded properly, could be a great source of encouragement for you in your walk with God. Check it.

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The Bible App

Chances are you already have this one anyway, and for good reason. It has all the standard highlighting/bookmark features, as well as a full-screen reading mode. Lately it's been updated to include a social feature that allows you to see what your friends are reading and being impacted by. One particularly underrated feature is the Reading Plan option that keeps you reading through Scripture passages and topics on a regular basis rather than playing Russian Roulette with your trusty NIV. It's the Bible app Jesus would use, so shouldn't you follow suit? ($Free)

ESV Study +

The Bible App is great, but it's a bit light in terms of textual exegesis (understanding what the text means). The ESV Study Bible app is like having a bible scholar in your pocket. This one's a paid app, but if that's the only reason you don't buy this app, I think you're making a big mistake. Sometimes I keep this app open when Nate's preaching to help me understand confusing passages. Very clean design features to boot. There's a slimmed-down free version of this too, but even though it's pricey for an app, it's far more accessible and easier to use than the print version. Bite the bullet and press download. ($14.99)

Lift 

Lift is one of my favorite apps to use. Lift is a habit tracking app that helps to keep track of how often you're practicing the habits you want to develop. Habit formation is one of the hardest movements in the spiritual life, so being able to remember when the last time you took time to pray or practice being silent becomes a great tool as we work to become more Christ-like. I've written about Lift in the past, and I still use it every day. You'll thank me later for this one. ($Free)

Prayer Notebook

"Oh, I'll pray for you about that." How many times do we say that and then completely forget to pray for someone? Prayer Notebook gives you a place to put all those requests. Turn your phone to landscape mode and all your requests essentially become notecards you can shuffle through, distraction free. There's even a small timer in the corner so you know how much time you've spent in prayer. I've been using this more lately and can confidently say it does everything it needs to do. A great addition to your quiet time. ($1.99)

recoveryBox

Nate once said there are two types of people: people who know they're messed up, and those who don't. RecoveryBox helps those trying to work through their destructive patterns of behavior in a healthy way. Pick which issue you're wrestling with, then check in every day with how your doing. List your triggers and keep your accountability partners updated on how you're doing. This app is based off of the Celebrate Recovery model of addiction recovery, and it's a great companion app as you're walking the path to freedom. ($1.99)

BibleMinded

Scripture memory and mastery is a lost art. Perhaps being increasingly connected to Google or digital copies of scripture has made us lazy. It's time to take back that lost art. BibleMinded allows you to set a daily reminder for you to work on memorizing scripture passages of your choice. They even give you fill in the blank tests to make you reproduce the verse in its entirety. This one is a keeper. ($Free)

Spiritual Wallpapers

Recent studies show that we check our phones between 100-150 times a day, on average. Let that sink in for a moment. If we're going to be using these things so frequently, why not pin up a background filled with excerpts from Scripture? The developer creates really cool backgrounds and fonts, so they'll be right at home on your phone. Worth the buck. ($0.99)

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So there you have it. By no means is this an exhaustive list, though. Got anything to add? Be sure to leave a note in the comments below.

Dominick Baruffi

Vacations, Family Meetings and God-Moments

(By Thor Knutstad)

Our family recently had the opportunity to spend a week together at Spofford Lake (Camp Spofford) in beautiful southern New Hampshire.  During our monthly "family meeting" in June prior to the trip (yes, we actually do this after a good meal together, usually on a Thursday evening for about an hour once per month), I lovingly warned our sons (Jordan- 20, Bryn- 13, Jadon- 12 and Elijah- 7) that the gift and the investment of vacation would be discussed and evaluated at the next family meeting.  I explained the costs, what was expected as we journeyed north toward NH and told them that we would talk about it in late July after our week away together.  Needless to say, besides a few battles among one another (siblings) over who would shower first after canoeing or swimming in the lake, space in the bunk beds, and electronics with limited usage, it was a memorable and enjoyable trip.  There were loud moments, ornery moments of teen boys and lots of laughter filled with pictures, memories and good meals together.  But even after a week of travel distance and the dynamics of our energetic boys, my wife Lisa and I truly needed a vacation from our vacation.  The stress of managing the excursion took its toll on us, and we needed some real rest.  This rest is actually happening as I write - and we are both working this week :)   

 In our follow-up family meeting with all six of us together, I addressed the following aspects from the previous month: 

1. Scripture memory and Bible reading- though the culture distracts our kids from God's Word in a thousand ways, we want to teach this and model it as a priority - we as the parents even have our own verse to study and memorize
2. Chores- to help manage household tasks and take the pressure off of one another, as parents we are teaching our kids to assist and work together for the benefit of the household with time sensitive expectations 
3. Relational Dynamics- this is self-explanatory, but it relates to how everyone is getting along and 
4. Vacation Behaviors and Observations from the trip- this took some gutsy honesty on my part, laced with encouragement of the positive that I observed.  

Near the end of the family meeting, I asked our children two pointed questions of risk as I affirmed our love for them and for one another: 

1. Are your needs being met? 
2. Can Mom (Lisa) and I do anything better as your parents? 

 Before you try to precisely replicate what you are doing or want to do as a family, ask the Lord to help you think of creative ways to bring unity, wise communication and disciplined reminders to your children and one another.  It's not that these meetings are perfect for us - they have rough edges all the way around.  And so do our kids.  The goal is to sandpaper smooth some of the rough edges of our children's hearts, carving away the desires of their own hearts’ idolatries. Overall, this is God's artwork in their lives.  He is ultimately creating each as a workmanship (literally "masterpiece").  Our hearts want to MODEL and TEACH selfless Christ-likeness, merciful grace of the Gospel in less than perfect moments (there are many of these) and to overarch every moment somehow with the undying and sacrificial love of our Father God.  I would challenge you to have these "tune-ups" of whittling to that God's carving work happens through you the parents in your family - your children may just respond to you and the God Moments may just surprise you.