Father's Day is 4 days around the corner. How do you feel about it? What thoughts does the day bring to your mind? Whether the day brings discouragement or it brings your heart to a point of celebration, you may find this short blog a source of good perspective. Thanks to the desiringgod staff sound bites like this one can help us approach Father's Day with a renewed perspective. To read the blog click here. May God encourage you with realistic hope.
Sincerely,
Diego Cuartas
I went for a run yesterday with my Nike running app on my phone that tracks how long I run and how fast I go.
And I started thinking to myself: "Why in the HECK do I use this thing? If I run slower than I did the day before, I'm honestly not really able to push myself to run faster. It's like I should just get a thumbs up sign on this thing for just being out here, trying."
So I started brainstorming what a good running app for MOMS could be like. What if there was an app that said (through your headphones) "Great job! You're doing AMAZING!" instead of "Point five miles completed, average time <insert how fast you're running>." What if instead of pace and distance, the app measured how long it took you to get the kids and yourself ready, your tiredness level, how many pounds you're pushing in your jogging stroller, wind resistance, your personal level of motivation and how freaking hard it was to actually make yourself get your butt outside? What if it spouted phrases like, "I'm so proud of you! Just having your shoes on is a WIN! That you're even trying is success!"
Good idea, right, mommas? ;) You know you'd buy it.
A few weeks ago was Mother's Day. I like Mother's Day because I like getting treats. I like that my husband stops by Dunkin' Donuts to get me an iced mocha latte. I like cute cards from our children, and I like lots of hugs. So Mother's Day is pretty fun for me.
But Mother's Day also carries with it a darker side for me...and I'd guess it does for a lot of moms.
This year, I ended the day crying on my husband's shoulder at bedtime. All day long, I had had this subconscious BAD FEELING floating around in the back of my mind: "I haven't done good enough as a mom. I am not a good enough mom. I don't spend enough time listening to them, giving them enough attention, playing with them, being affectionate enough with them. I'm failing as a mom." I felt compelled to ask my husband, "Do you really think I'm a good mom??? I don't feel like I'm good enough." The question made me burst into tears...and I realized how pervasive that feeling is of "I haven't done enough, been enough, to be a good enough mom to these precious children."
I think my mind needs a change of gears just like I was imagining for my running app.
I feel all this pressure to do more, to be more, and it's never enough. But what if God is truly GRACIOUS? What if He's not disappointed with my progress? What if He's more like that Mom's Running App that I was picturing: "I'm so proud of you! You're out here giving this mothering thing your energy, your time, your effort. You're doing so well"?
Honestly, I'm still 'on the hunt' for what God thinks about me and my mothering. I'm in the stage of realizing that I feel that I haven't done enough pretty much all the time. I feel like: "Whoa, I didn't even know I felt this so often." And I'm planning on thinking that through and asking God for some insight into His feelings in the coming weeks.
But there are some things that I DO know. Here are three:
1. God Himself has entrusted these children to ME. Not to anyone else. He wanted their lives to be shaped and formed by my life. He could have given them to anyone else in the whole world, but He gave them to me.
2. That Numero Uno that I just wrote is a big one, because I tend to think of myself pretty consistently as the 'crap parent.' My husband happens to be both an elementary teacher, as well as a person who is very gifted in working with children. He's able to see through a lot of extraneous details into the heart of what's going on, as well as what needs to happen. I don't have the years of teaching that he does, and I just don't have the gift to see things as clearly as he does. My kids will ask me a question in a whiny voice, and I don't even hear the whine. I just reply. My husband, though, will realize, "Oh, they're whining. We don't want to reward whining. They're probably whining because of this, this, and this. Here's how I'll address the current whining, and here's how I'll proactively nip the whining in the bud for the rest of the evening by changing this, this and this." What the?!?
So as you can imagine, I think of myself as the sub-par parent who messes the kids up.
But when I can remember that God chose to give these two goofy ganders to ME, guess what? My perspective starts to change: I realize that my husband brings what he has to give to our family. But he CAN'T bring what I have to give to our family. He's not a woman. He's not ME, with my thoughts, my background, the way God speaks to me. I would conclude that if I don't have the same giftings as he does, then I bring nothing of value. BUT WHAT I BRING IS VERY SIGNIFICANT AND NEEDED. God entrusted these lives that He knit together so carefully into my care as well.
3. But saying that I'm significant and needed doesn't rule out my need to grow. It doesn't mean I'm perfect. If leading my children doesn't come naturally to me, that doesn't mean that I can just say, "That's just the way I am." It's like there are the two extremes: concluding I'm worthless because I'm not the same as someone who has certain obvious giftings, or deciding that because I'm significant, I can just stay the way I am, with all my weaknesses and my kids just have to deal with it. THERE'S A MIDDLE GROUND! I can learn from my husband's strengths. I CAN ASK QUESTIONS! I can intentionally look to grow in areas where I'm not very strong. I can ask him what he thinks through as he leads our kids. I can LEARN. And the only way to really learn is to go back to number two and reject the conclusion that 'I'm not good enough if I'm not perfect.' Only when I'm OK with who I am and the strengths and weaknesses that I have, can I genuinely ask for help in a healthy way. Only then can I truly grow.
So these are the things that I already know. If you agree with them or like them, maybe you should go to the App Store and look up "Gentle and Kind Running App for Moms Over 25"...just kidding! ;)
Sarah blogs regularly, connect with her at www.somuchhope.com
When I quit smoking, it was because of God. I was playing guitar for a seventh grade girls Sunday School class (no, I am not a musician; EVERYONE played guitar in the early 70s). Along about then, God clearly convinced me that I should not go in there smelling like an old ash tray. So that week I just threw it all away: cigarettes, case and lighter. And because it was all God, I was able to go cold turkey, and was never ever tempted again. That was wonderful, but that’s not my point today. The whole thing was quick, it was clear, and it was totally effective. And that’s because no one else messed it up.
No one had judged me for smoking. No one looked down on me. My good friend who taught the class (who was also Principal of the Christian school) obviously did not feel that my nasty habit precluded my participation in her class of impressionable girls. And any non-smoker can attest to the fact that one needed only to be in my vicinity to know that I smoked! I was living proof of the wisdom of Romans 14: 3 and following:
Accept other believers who are weak in faith. Don’t argue with them
about what they think is right or wrong. God has accepted them. They
are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or
wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and receive
his approval.
In spite of having grown up in church, I was a new believer. And I was accepted and loved, faults and all, which is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
We are responsible to judge those within the church. We are supposed to be able to discern sin (1Cor.5:12). But more important than anything else, we are told to love. Our motivation makes all the difference in the world. Are we coming from a critical spirit, or from a desire to heal and uplift? We are told that it is a very good thing to be one who turns a fellow believer from sin, and that many blessings follow. That can only happen with love. And if any of us cannot approach that sinner without anger and condemnation, then we are definitely not the one to approach him at all.
Paul tells us not to judge the world, that God will judge them, that unless they change they are judged already. But of course the whole import of evangelism is to do our part in effecting that very change! And although we need to be able to see what is wrong, there too the most winning approach is surely love. My dear little friend Sherly Giglio put it best: “We have to love them where they are, don’t we, Norma!” And she was so right. Without love our message is not received, cannot be received. Without love, we are building walls, not bridges. “I really love you, but …” is not acceptable. The Word does not overreach in telling us so much about the absolute necessity of sincere love for those we would reach for Jesus, both saved and unsaved. If you pray for anything, pray for love.
If, all those years ago, I had been met with disapproval and distance, I don’t know where I would be today. Surely saved, because when God calls we answer. But not then, and not there. And who knows, I might have missed many years of fruitful service to my Lord and Savior, all because someone messed it up.
(By Lois Robinson)
When I was a teenager, I lived on a 25 acre farm and raised African Pygmy goats, as well as an assortment of dairy goats. I would travel for hours with my mom to buy good stock, breed them responsibly, then sell them to responsible owners. I loved it! I still love to watch those crazy videos that come over social media, namely Facebook, with baby goats hopping wildly all over the place. It just cracks me up!
Well, one afternoon, while my mom and I were out in the yard mowing or some such thing, my goat Alfalfa began to holler in a typical “goat stress” manner! He was a 100 lb. Toggenburg with big horns. I typically dehorned all of my goat kids when they were only 2 weeks old (kid is the name of a goat baby) so children would not get hurt, but Alfalfa was an adult when I got him. He had fallen into the septic tank! Actually, it was a homemade septic tank that my grandfather made 100 years ago on the farm. It was hand dug with an old wooden lid on it with an old wooden fence around it. Alfalfa had successfully gotten through the fence and fell into this gross mess. Both my mother and I dropped what we were doing and fled to the scene. Here was Alfalfa, thrashing about in this nasty, stinky, bacteria-filled septic pool. Remember, he was about 100 lbs. I will never forget it. My mom, who weighed about 130 at the time, grabbed that goat by one horn. The scene looked like something right out of the movie Hercules. She lifted that 100 lb. goat out of that septic tank with one full upward motion. I can still see it today, 45 years later. I then rushed in and used my index finger to swipe any nastiness out of his mouth. In the process, he bit me. Goats grind their food sideways so it was not a straight down bite. It was a shredding type so I had to go to the doctor. He did declare my presenting issue his first goat bite!
This blog, entitled ICU, is actually not about the goat bite, but I use this true story as an analogy illustrating some of the important steps in our own healing journey.
Step 1. The I stands for Identify In many cases (not all, but most) in order to have healing in your life, you must Identify the specific issue and state with your mouth what you need healing from. From the above story, we identified that Alfalfa was hollering because he had fallen in the septic tank, a place he did not belong. If he stayed there he would die. When I go a restaurant and the waiter says, “Can I take your order?” I need to identify and state out of my mouth what I want to eat off the menu. In the bible, people approached Jesus to heal them. He would ask, “What is it that you want me to heal?” They would have to identify the issue and state out of their mouths what they wanted healing for. Notice, this is not a passive response but a proactive one.
Step 2. The C stands for Confront- Identifying the issue is not enough. If mom and I just saw Alfalfa in the septic tank and did nothing proactive, he would have died. We had to step up and deal with the situation. Praying the whole time, I knew neither my mom nor I would be strong enough to lift that goat with mess all over him, out of that deep hole. But God! God gave my mom the strength not her own to accomplish something good. When we are willing to identify our problem, our sin, our issue and desire healing in that area, we must call out to God to give us a strength not our own to proceed in the confrontation, the battle ahead. With the goat, it stunk, it was ugly, it was scary, it required more than either of us had to give. But God. We were not afraid to confront the situation. We didn’t run from it nor did we deny it. We did recognize our limitations and cried out the the Almighty One, our God, and we won the victory.
Step 3- Notice in the last step I used the word WE a lot. The U stands for Unite. When desiring transformative healing in your life, you cannot do it alone. You must identify it and state it out of your mouth. You must confront it with others and unite with others to face the battle ahead. You must also recognize you are created to live in community, meaning with others around you. Even if God has made you to be an introvert and crowds exhaust you, you still need to live in community in the way God leads. In the goat illustration, my mom needed to be the one grabbing him up out of that septic tank. I was right there, as her teenage daughter, praying for her and my goat! I witnessed something that my Mighty God did that I will never forget. I was there to swipe his mouth clean. I got bit in the process, but that happens! For any of you wondering, Alfalfa lived for many years after that, and I have learned that my God has lifted me out of some deep septic tanks I jumped into. I had to learn to recognize that I couldn’t stay in them or else I would die. I praise my God for my Savior Jesus who died for all my septic tanks and yours. Check out John 3:16 in the bible.
Blessings, Friends- Lois
I envy confident people. I see them everywhere—at work, at church, at family gatherings. Their lives seem so much easier than mine. They breeze through life, never paralyzed with doubt or second guessing. They never seem to wonder if they are “good enough.”
I want to be them.
I know that my viewpoint is a huge generalization and is mistaken in many ways. The mistake I am wrestling with right now is that I have an inaccurate definition of confidence.
Dictionary.com defines confidence as “belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.” The dominant word here is SELF. And isn’t this just what our society demands, a devotion to our talents, appearances, careers, and material possessions?
Even the lack of self-confidence is a type of devotion to self. The focus is on one’s own deficiencies and the wish to be a “better” self. Why else would self-improvement books, videos, and television shows be such a prominent part of American culture? Having low self-confidence is just as self-absorbed as having high levels of self-assurance.
Placing confidence in anyone outside oneself is such a radical approach to living that I can’t grasp it. The Book of Philippians presents a view of the possibilities of life that flips all conventional cultural wisdom on its head. The verses on confidence are no exception.
We are to have no SELF-confidence? That’s what Paul calls for.
Since Pastor Nate’s sermon last Sunday on confidence, I’ve been trying to imagine a life rooted COMPLETELY in Christ, not my performance. Not basing my value on my job performance? Worrying about how effective a teacher I am is such a huge part of my life, my brain space, that I can’t imagine life without that stressor. A life lived doing my job to the best of my ability but not worrying about it all the time? Wow. That seems so far out of reach!
Imagining this life is revealing how amazingly self-focused I am and how few of my thoughts center on Christ’s view of me as a child of His. I really struggle with the concept that none of life-NONE OF IT!-is about me. It would be such freedom to live without the struggles of performance based values, but do I really want to let my selfishness go? I’ve lived with it for forty years…it is just a part of who I am.
The human mind and heart are tricky. We want to have confidence, but we shy away from the only One who can give us true assurance of our worth. We still tend to put faith in the temporal things of our own weak and inadequate brains because we want it to be all about us, all the time.
As I sit here wondering with my low self-confidence if my clinical strength deodorant and anti-humidity hairspray are still working in this unbearably hot room, I realize once again how sanctification is an ongoing process. Someday I will be confident in Christ and stop worrying about all this other “stuff.” Starting with one step at a time, right here, right now.
(By Thor Knutstad)
Media, which used to mean 'newspapers and radio then became big screen and television,’ has evolved to an "out-of-context forum of public opinion" where injustices are highlighted, sadness and sin are put on display, and the diluted facts are often completely distorted and deluded. When each does what is right in his or her own mind (and each is his own authority), it's a panacea and panoramic display of anger, self-protection, chaotic expression and 'the false glory desire of being heard.' Being heard? Yes. Heard. Listened to. Acknowledged. Not dismissed. Is the issue about ISSUES or is it about being heard because life has silenced many? Hmm - ponder this. Being heard. Defiance and "sin glorying" and hate, dividing and excusing actually do "SAY" something, don't they? Where has reason gone?
As the final tide of eternity turns and as earthly division arises, may believers be unified and of one heart for the sake of the Gospel. Sin and the enemy Satan are winning daily battles in subtle ways via Heard Media, but the real victory is ultimately in Christ Jesus as depicted in God's Word - and the foot of the Savior journeys on to save many souls. If that doesn't make any sense to you then you are eating from the famine of truth. No wait, you may be eating from 'the famine of Hearing The Truth'. The latter may be greater than the former by all means. Oh what grief this brings to our hearts. Even Christ-followers have traded the quiet of God's Holy spiritual wisdom in Word for a blue and white scrolling catalog of nothingness that tries to highlight everything. Connected but lonely. Lonely yet connected. Sort of. Yet we have gained the appearance of horizontal intimacies for a loss of vertical intimacy. Maybe this is why anxiety and fear reign in darker moments? Maybe this lack of personal truth in our embattled hearts creates blind spots that are darker than the worst London Fog. Does 'The Son' really clear out the fog in your life, in your perceptions, and in your viewpoints? Passion and voice aren't an excuse for lacking clarity, reason, and Truth.
Stand firm in the faith, people. Do not let your ears be tickled by the deceiving spirit of antichrist all around you in this latent fog disguised as a vapor of mist. Only when you have absorbed more Bible and reckoned with the Man of Truth (The Risen Christ called Jesus) than those hourly poisonous doses of news and FaceBook, will you ever possibly begin to comprehend a larger, wider, and bigger picture of His unfolding plan. Stand firm, brothers and sisters. For He will bring all things under Him who is Head, even Christ. Come quickly, Lord Jesus - for the groaning and the longing of your people is echoing through Heaven's hallways like the hourly church bell rings throughout the town. Praise Him.
(By Diego Cuartas)
Just this morning, I was fretting. While I was considering the different things that were in my day, I was feeling like I had little margin for anything else. It is in this context that I fretted because of some comments my wife made that I was interpreting as demands or expectations on her part. When I get to this point I'm recognizing that I am not as a loving in my responses to my wife. I offer short answers; I get frustrated and deep inside annoyed by the circumstances. I also think there is a belief going through my head regarding what I assess as unfair or unjust. An undercurrent line that says, "It is not fair that these things are being imposed on me at this moment!". And I find myself reacting to that.
So as I found a few minutes to slow down, before taking care of some lab work, I sensed God prompting me through His Spirit to read Psalm 23. This chapter is packed with with descriptions of who God is and what He is doing all the time--now and future. The following verbs or actions give me insight into who He is and what He is doing in every circumstance--including those when I am fretting:
In light of these realities, I can ask myself the following questions in my moments of fretting--and use them to X-Ray my heart and hopefully realign my thoughts with Him and be able to live hopefully, in gratitude and loving others well:
May God help us believe that we can live as people who have a Good Shepherd--who oversees and cares for us--rather than living life as an orphan who believes that life, good and justice depends on our own efforts. Fretting will turn into trusting!
“It developed like a second language that I don’t understand. I believe I was praying perfectly. I know other people say they faked it, but I don’t feel like I did. I know it was real.” -anonymous, on speaking in tongues
(This quote is from a podcast called “This is Actually Happening”, from the episode “What if you used to speak in tongues?” If very strong language doesn’t bother you too much, I recommend listening to it - but not in front of the kids.)
Is it possible to have a fully authentic Christian experience, and walk away from it? Did someone who “loses” their faith, ever have it to begin with, or were they just faking it, or going through the motions? Having grown up in the Church, I have had the opportunity to meet some super-spiritual people, and watch some of those same super-spiritual people walk away from their faith. Either I am a terrible judge of character who grew up surrounded by adolescent and teenage scammers, or something else is happening. I have known people who seemed to have it all together, and decided that Christianity wasn’t for them.
The speaker in “What if you used to speak in tongues?” recounts her experience in a charismatic church setting, with tongue-speaking, faith healing, and being slain in the spirit, but at its core it is not much different that the church I grew up in, or that I see my kids growing up in. We, as parents and CM leaders, want to provide opportunities for authentic God experiences, which is fantastic. But the young person in “What if…” seems to have had that. She believes her experience was real, authentic, and valuable. So why is her story called “used to” speak in tongues? Because she gave up on religion. If you listen to her story, it boils down to the fact that she was hurt by the church, and all of her very real and meaningful experiences weren’t enough for her.
I have witnessed this trajectory before, and I don’t know if the modern church has a valid strategy for preventing it in the future. Statically speaking, one of my own kids or their friends, having experienced God, will decide that staying in the church is either more painful than leaving, or simply lacks enough meaning to them.
So what are we supposed to do? First, we need to understand that people change. I have a friend who’s beliefs are not far from mine, but he can’t see them fitting into the narrow box of his idea of Christianity. He can’t get past all of the prerequisites (including the need to speak in tongues) that he grew up with, so he feels that he has no place in the church. We are all at different places, and accepting people on the journey without judgement is important. Church is not an exclusive club for people who meet the requirements.
We can also recognize that young people leave the church because their faith isn’t personally meaningful to them. They have the faith of their parents, who made them attend church and have God experiences, but it never became their own, first-hand faith. Maybe their friends went to church, but if their faith is not their own, they will likely see no reason to remain in the church, when there is no requirement or pressure to do so.
So, is authenticity enough? Sometimes. But no amount of striving on my part can create authenticity for someone else. And even when an authentic experience happens, there’s still no guarantee that it will outweigh all else. I suppose it’s truly a miracle when a person decides for themselves that, despite the potential for pain, an authentic relationship is worth pursuing, and holding on to.
Jeff Hyson
(By Lois Robinson)
A question I get asked a lot is, “How do I learn to hear God’s voice?” It happens to be the same question I had years ago. Through the years I have learned there are many teachings on how to hear God’s voice, how to discern His voice over the enemy’s voice and so forth. All are very important to learn. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
I have learned by spending time with Him, much like spending time with a best friend or family member, you tend to learn the sound of their voice. A good example of this is when that person calls you, it would be silly if they actually identified themselves. You usually know the sound of their voice because of the close relationship you have cultivated.
But, there is another way I have learned to discern God’s voice, and as the title of this blog reads, it involves a cool little story about a great man of God named Hoppy, an oyster boat, and lights on pilings down at the pier at night!
Way back when I was a young adult, 27-28 maybe, I remember serving in the role of the organist at Deerfield Methodist church. One weekend a Revival Service was held and the evangelist was a man by the name of Wilbur Hoffman. His nickname was “Hoppy”. Boy did he preach! What he shared, I have never forgotten. I am 51 years old now and I still hold on to what he said that night. Here goes:
By trade, he ran an oyster boat down at Port Norris, NJ. At night, when he came in off the sea gathering oysters, he had to make sure his lights lined up. What he meant was quite literally the lights on the pilings at the port. He then proceeded to draw a set of 8 circles, each representing a light on a piling. There were 2 circles drawn on the top, about 5 inches apart, then 2 more below them, again 5 inches apart and so forth. This image was to give the appearance of the lighted port that his boat had to navigate through in order to dock. Something like this:
O O
O O
O O
O O
I was fascinated by what he was saying. He explained that when he would come in at night, naturally he would not be able to see in order to navigate steering his boat into the port safely, without damaging it. So the lights on the pilings were crucial in order to pull in safely to dock. He then went on to use this example to explain his analogy of how to hear God’s voice.
Each of the above lights were labeled with some specific things:
O O - God speaks through His Word
O O - God speaks through Prayer
O O - God speaks through His People
O O - God speaks through Circumstances
Here is a practical example of how I used this in order to discern God’s voice in my own life. Back in the mid 90's, I had just completed my Bachelor’s in Youth Ministry from Eastern University, then Eastern College. :) My Youth Ministry professors told me I should go back to grad school to get my Masters in Counseling. I said I didn’t think so but would pray about it. They apparently were discerning something God was saying about my life, but I sure was not seeing it! I honestly thought, “There is no way I’m heading back to school, nor do I have any money to do something like that!” Well, I prayed, “God, if this is what You want, then You better help me find out about this counseling thing!” I was in the Bridgeton Bible Book Store, which is now gone, and Miss Tammy Vaughn was in there. I had no idea who she was, but she hollered across the store to me, recognizing me from Eastern. She was a counseling student at Eastern and proceeded to tell me about the program. I couldn’t believe that God did this!
So as the events began to unfold, reading scripture, praying, circumstances, His people. All my lights were lining up. So, I went to the Eastern College parking lot with the Grad School Counseling Program application in my hand. I prayed, “God, if I am NOT supposed to do this, CLOSE the door. If I am supposed to do this, let me get in with flying colors.” That was my actual prayer. I soon received a letter saying I was welcomed into their program. I then discerned that I was “pulling my boat safely into port because my lights did indeed line up.”
That was the start of God revealing one of my greatest passions in serving Him. I am so thankful for God’s voice. I would be lost without Him. Truth and Light counseling was born three years later. Amen
Our Spring Break this year was really different. We didn’t visit Cancun. We didn’t spend our time washing our windows or doing other spring cleaning tasks. Our family of four moved into our yucky, dirty garage for the week.
We did it to try to experience a tiny bit of what it would be like to live below the worldwide poverty line...where people live on less than $1.50 a day per adult for food. We modeled our living situation after places my husband had visited in Central America in college. All four of us slept in the same bed, we ate rice and beans each meal, we cooked outside, and we walked anywhere we had to go. We each had two sets of clothes and we didn’t have any toys for the girls besides little sticks and rocks we found outside.
We spent some time blogging about our experiences. Mid-week, we had to come sleep inside one evening because the temperatures dipped into the 30’s. Here’s what happened in our house that evening when we ‘re-entered’ our regular living situation:
“Two nights ago we came inside our (regular) house and out of our garage house for a little while. Of course, our girls practically jumped on all their toys and started playing, playing, playing.
But it wasn't long before Bethany had a little doll in her hand that Ava wanted.
And Ava asked her if she could have the doll. And Bethany said 'No.'
I told Ava to go look for other toys that she could play with instead. Her response to me was: "I don't want any other toy. I don't really like any of the toys in this house except that doll."
Well, you can imagine how I, being tired and cold and deprived of regular middle-class comforts, would respond to such a comment.
I said, "Well, then, Ava, maybe I should just PUT ALL YOUR TOYS AWAY THEN. Maybe you shouldn't have ANY TOYS AT ALL if you don't like them," in a rather rude voice. But I was just so mad that 10 minutes inside our house could SO EASILY make her forget what we had been living outside and cause her to say something so entitled and ungrateful. I was upset.
The moment passed and she found some other toys after asking me to please not put her toys away.
I didn't really feel so good about our encounter, so later on, after I had cooled down, I brought her into my lap and I told her that it was really sad for me to hear her say that she didn't like any of the thousands of toys we have in our house. I told her it made me sad because we had been living outside in the garage with NO toys and SO MANY kids in the world have so much less than we do. We have 5 dollhouses and a Dora dollhouse and a hamper full of stuffed animals and crayons and sparkly markers and SO MUCH. And yet she thinks it's not enough because there is one thing she doesn't have.
Then I told her that Mommy is the same way. I have SO MANY clothes. A closet full. A closet STUFFED full. And I so often decide that I don't like ANY of my clothes and I must have new ones. I think that I have to have MORE because I don't have ENOUGH.
Sarah Howard
And that is really, really sad.
I told her we would work on it together, being happy with all the wonderful things that God has given us. That we would work on accepting that we have ENOUGH.”
Read more about our experiences at www.SoMuchHope.com/sow
if you are like me, and many others in this world, we can often find excuses to not live joyfully or hope-full--much less enter what is known as the joy of God. Yes, God has joys and we are invited to enter those with Him. The Israelite King David put it this way: "You [God] make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Today, I want to point you to a blog Ed Welch composed on this topic. It will be worth your time. I hope that God gives you grace to recognize the possibility of entering into His joys and to live a life motivated by them. To read the blog click here.
Sincerely,
Diego Cuartas
Over the last couple months my husband and I have been listening to Bethel’s new album We will not be shaken. It seemed like that was all we listened to for a few weeks. One of my favorite songs from that album is No Longer Slaves by Jonathan Helser and Brian Johnson. It is sung as a raw declaration of truth and freedom by Helser who has this sort of raspy lumberjack voice. Ah such a good song. Here are some of the lyrics.
You unravel me, with a melody
You surround me with a song
Of deliverance, from my enemies
Till all my fears are gone
Chorus:
I’m no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I love this song because of the truth in it. It speaks of a God who is gentle and sings over us, but strong enough to save us from our enemies. He has released us from our bondage as slaves and made us children in his family.
My heart and mind need to be constantly reminded of this truth. Our God is not weak, small or timid. He is completely gentle but completely strong. I am no longer a slave. I am a child in God’s family. This should make all the difference. I don’t need to “submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). I don’t need to be governed by fear.
I don’t know how many of you can relate with having a fear that is often misplaced, but I will be the first one to admit it. I waste too much time running through worst case scenarios in my head in an effort to “be prepared,” afraid of what might happen if I’m not. I can get caught up living life reacting to what my fears are and making faulty conclusions because of them. For example: My train of thought can sometimes go, ‘I can’t forget a single thing in the baby’s diaper bag because if I do then our outing/ day will be ruined because we will not have what we need to enjoy it.’ I am afraid of having my plans changed in that moment and so I make every effort not to be caught unprepared. Uhhhh…extreme much? I doubt the day would be ruined. This is a silly example but just imagine if that happens on a bigger scale. Who is God and where is he in those instances?
The enemy seems to be good at blowing things out of proportion in order to get us side tracked. If he can get us to fear insignificant things, then those become big in our minds view, God becomes small, and we end up walking through life as though slaves even though we are already free. So how do I actively fight for truth and combat fear?
Often what I need to remember in fearful situations is who God is and who I am. As I journal and read these days, it has helped me to meditate on certain passages that say just that. I write the truth about God on one side and then what that means for me on the other. For example, Isaiah 42:13- “The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies” (NIV). The truth that I write on the other side would be that He is a mighty warrior and he is capable of defeating my enemies; so I am safe. God becomes big again and my fear is in its place.
When fear says jump, I don’t have to say how high because the TRUTH is that my God is bigger. My God is in control. My God is ferocious and fights with a vengeance against my enemies. In his presence fear must run. AND this great God is my father. I am his and apart of his family. I AM NO LONGER A SLAVE. It is for freedom that Christ has set me free (Gal. 5:1).
Sophia Howard
I want to point you today to an insightful blog Paul Maxwell contributed to the desiringgod.org blog recently. His blog looks at some realities that can characterize the "twenties" of our life as a "dark" period or a season full of opportunities. Maxwell also reflects on what God has to offer to you during this season of life. Not just practically speaking, but how He offers Himself to you to fill your life with meaning and hope and fulfill His purposes through you. To read the blog click here.
May God bless you in your "twenties",
Diego Cuartas
Driving down Brewster today, I was enchanted by all the trees coming into flower. And I marveled again at how beautiful our world is, and how wonderful that God gave us eyes able to see the glorious colors He used in His creation. What fun it must have been for Him, deciding which bird needed a spot of red here, or some feathers of white there! But because most trees were today mostly still bare it was also easy to see where some limbs had been removed to make way for telephone lines and power lines. Those poor trees looked unnatural, crippled while they were still bare and visible. After all, there had been nothing wrong with those limbs; they were just in the way of something new and good and important, so the tree had to give them up.
Often it’s the same way with folks. Like the way a new mom gives up many hours of freedom in order to care for her baby, whom she adores, and a wise student spends time studying when he’d much rather be doing something else, because he wants to get good grades. We all have to make choices every day. Choosing between good and not so good can be pretty easy. But sometimes it’s hard when we need to choose between what we have always seen as good, and another different good thing.
I’ve found that in my spiritual life, which hopefully is always growing, I’ve often had to give up something and take on something new, usually painfully.
One new thing that we are now being asked to do is to take on our share of five thousand gospel conversations, and for me, that whole idea is hard! See, the thing is that my main motivational spiritual gift, the way I approach almost anything, is really directed toward people who are already believers. My gift is Exhortation, so I am an encourager, if necessary a corrector, which has little or nothing to do with evangelizing! So I am now supposed to seek out and witness to strangers? Humph.
Preconceived ideas are the very hardest branches to lop off!
So, I wrote my story. We all know our stories, although the idea of finding people and chaining them to a chair and making them listen is somehow beyond my comprehension! But guess what! It’s not that way at all! Let me tell you about a great point Art Baruffi made at a meeting this week. It is this: that we always have to find a point of connection. Here’s how.
People are usually willing to talk about themselves, and we need to be really good listeners. Make yourself a list of negative things, hard things, that have happened in your life, and listen for them in what he/she is telling you. When you sense a possible connection, ask questions, be interested, and if it clicks you can then work in how God helped you, and whatever part of your story that fits.
It can be uncomfortable to try new things. But this is an important one, and it will become more natural every time you do it. And knowing that you are spreading the knowledge of our God and Savior is a wonderful, powerful thing. We can ALL do it, even an unwilling , annoyed eighty-four-year-old woman like me!
When that tree with chopped-off limbs becomes full of leaves, it will be beautiful again, and ably fulfilling its purpose … to fill our air with new clean oxygen and to provide shade and a home for others of God’s creatures, while also doing the new thing, providing a safe pathway for important utilities. When we learn and practice the art of connecting with others, telling them what God has done for us and can do for them, we too will be more perfectly filling our role in the Kingdom of God, doing our one small, essential part in bringing others to Christ.
Norma Stockton
(By Thor Knutstad)
I love Acts chapter 17. This chapter is another detailed account by Luke of one of Paul’s many missionary journeys. The New Testament church at that time was continuing to explode upon the scene of the known world throughout Asia and and in Europe. Chapter 17 in Acts, specifically Acts 17:24-28, is a full presentation of God and the Gospel of Christ. This unique passage of Scripture is filled with God’s heart toward His people (toward all peoples whether Jews or Gentiles) – and His purpose to make Himself known.
While walking through Athens in Greece, Paul sees many idols and altars and inscriptions to false gods. The Greeks had created false centers of worship. These gods to them were “unknown” and “not reachable.” Upon seeing an altar labeled “to an unknown god,” Paul proclaims the God who is knowable, and who demands to be known. Can you just imagine Paul seeing that “unknown god” altar? I imagine him thinking and praying, “Okay Lord, here’s that opportunity that I have been waiting for! Let us preach!” Then while they disputed Paul’s treatise of the Gospel, he then uses their false logic against them for the sake of truth. You see, the Greeks, in their logical and quite philosophical worship of logic had probably thought, “Well, if the other gods aren’t really gods then an altar to an unknown god will suffice.” I wonder if this was more about their seeing those false gods as not reachable or more about their fear of not wanting to get it wrong. It’s probably both. But it is still an absurd claim – no matter how logical they claimed to be.
Yet the apostle Paul proclaims the true God who can be known. In Paul’s dispute of their idols and altars of worship, he makes note of some key points in Acts 17:24-28 (to read the whole account I suggest that you review all of Acts 17:16-34 for the complete context). Paul’s statement includes the following important points:
If you have read the entire passage, then you know that these philosophers disputed with Paul in the early part of the passage and called him a “babbler.” They accused him of advocating false gods because he was preaching the Good News of Jesus and the resurrection (of Christ and eventually of all men). They accused him of bringing in some strange new teaching (history records that they thought that they were the custodians of bringing “new enlightenment” and “new truth teachings” to the people). No wonder they took offense to his Gospel message! They actually sneered at him and only a few actually became followers of Christ. This is sad but true. Even Gospel fluency, loving others well, and living on mission to your neighbors, friends, and community gets rejected because of the message. Their hearts didn’t receive these great truths. What a shame! What fools! What sadness! Even when the message is relevant, practical, pure, and true, many will reject and scoff and slander and not receive.
Yet like Paul, we look for opportunities and well-timed, apt, and fitting replies to others as we live on mission daily in our lives. Paul’s replies to their disputes of his message are the Gospel. May our own lives and message be the same – relevant, practical, pure, fitting, well-timed, and full of Truth in Christ as we walk and live unashamed of our risen Savior and blessed resurrected redeemer – King Jesus! Praise Him.
Copyright, 2015. All Rights Reserved. Thor Knutstad
“All I need” – a song written by Sara Groves describes (in a fun way) how we are never quite satisfied with what we have.
It starts off with:
“All I need is my love for you and a seat for two”
and by the end of the song:
“All I need is a sectional and a satellite tv
And dark-wood cabinets that were custom built for me
And a painting by that guy that paints with his feet...
That's all I need
For now”
That is me. I am an “if only” girl to the bone. My whole life, every joy, every sorrow, every change was accompanied by my “if-only.” God has been teaching me so much of the freedom He has for me if I can break free from this thought process. If-only He did it sooner. (Just kidding)
When I was single I remember thinking life would be just perfect if only I got married. I met a super fantastic guy and we married. Life was not perfect. I know what was missing – children! If only I had children, life would be just perfect. So, I had 2 amazing, wonderful daughters. Life was still not perfect. A change of scenery is what I need. That’s it. If only we move closer to our family and our church, life will be just perfect. We moved. That wasn’t it either.
Now, those are big things, but I do this with everyday little things all the time. If only I can watch some TV, take a nap, have a clean house (without actually having to do the work myself), buy something new, have a pretty garden, get a special dessert, get my nails done……then, and only then, will I be happy.
I was always searching for the next thing to make me feel good. I would cry out to God “What is wrong with me? I believe in you. I love you. Why am I never satisfied?” The cool thing about God is that if you really want to know the answer, He will show you. For many years God has been gently and slowly changing my heart. He has made it clear to me that I do not trust him for my happiness. I trust me for my happiness. As you can probably tell, that is not going so well. This line from a recent sermon is a truth that God has been revealing to me for a long time.
“God is good so I don’t have to look elsewhere for fulfillment.”
Getting married and having a family were not bad things to desire and I believe with all my heart that God has blessed me with those gifts. My problem was that I was looking to my family to fulfill the desires that only my Savior could do. I was relying on my husband to make me feel complete. But he couldn’t. Why? Because he is not supposed to. I needed to learn and really understand who I was in God’s eyes. I began to search for how God viewed me. What I learned was I am exactly who I was designed to be – a princess of King Jesus. Set apart. Adopted. Loved. Valued. I began to look to Jesus to help me with my heart issues like being content where I am and feeling loved and valued.
I have come a long way and I still have a long way to go. I know I will never have it all together until that day I meet Jesus face to face. But I am learning that it is ok and I am in process. My life on earth will never be, and is not meant to be, perfect.
Philippians 1:6
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.
Dara Born
(By Diego Cuartas)
In order for the Gospel to set us free we need to work it deeply into our being, by the grace of God, so that it really changes who we are, what we treasure, what we fear and what we live for. Greg Hill, Pastor at Living Faith Alliance Church, preached a message on April 12, 2015, that brought together the 4Gs of God--which are central to what the Gospel in Christ offers to anyone irregardless of who they are. You can access the message online by clicking here. During Greg's message you will also hear a real-life story of how someone who had experienced abuse in her life came to realize the goodness of God. I am posting here a couple of resources, developed by Greg, that may help you internalize these concepts and do some gospel reflection in your own life. I found them to be very helpful in fleshing out and applying the timeless truths that God is great, good, glorious and gracious. I hope that between the audio message and these tools you can allow the gospel truths of God to gain deeper roots in your life, and in your day!
May God bless you,
We have all been there. It's Sunday morning, and despite the sound of your alarm reminding you it's time to start the day, you absentmindedly hit snooze and roll back over, wishing for just a few more precious moments of warmth and sleep before venturing out into the world. Your mind floods with a list of all the things you have to do today, including family responsibilities, shopping trips, sports games on television, and chores that need tending to. But first up on that list is getting yourself (and the kids, if you have them) up, dressed and out the door for church. And this is almost always easier said than done.
Sundays can often feel like a time warp for me. They have the peculiar quality of feeling both incredibly long and incredibly short at the same time. It's easy for me to get lost in this, and more often than not I'm dragging my feet longer than I should. I know what time the services start, but hey, it's the weekend, right? And it's not like I'm missing anything other than a few songs I've heard a hundred times before. I don't think these thoughts consciously, but I'm pretty sure they exist somewhere in the back of my mind as I stand in front of my closet, trying to figure out which pair of pants I'm going to wear.
At this point, I want to speak directly to you, Living Faith. I do this not to pick on us or to ignore anyone else who might be reading this, but I have observed a pattern within our body that I worry is indicative of a larger issue. And since it's my turn to blog this week, I want to come right out and say it:
We've got to start making it a priority to be at church on time.
As one of our worship leaders, I have the privilege of "setting the table," so to speak, for our Sunday services. I'm one of the first people in the building Sunday morning and one of the last to leave. I'm there to prepare technical things, make sure the microphones work, make sure the team knows what's expected of them as we run through the set lists. But one of the chief burdens I carry on the Sundays I lead is the burden of leading us into God's presence. Part of what I do is lead us in the songs we sing, but we don't sing songs for the sake of singing. We sing to remind ourselves of what's true. When we sing hymns both ancient and modern, when we recite creeds together, when we lift our voices in prayer and adulation to God, we are including ourselves in a family of faith that goes back centuries. It may seem like "song time" when everyone comes through the main doors, but I promise you it is anything but. We are fighters on a battlefield, shouting back the advances of our enemy with the truth that our God has already won, that Jesus has overcome death and we do not need to be afraid. Those moments of worship shape the very foundation of our lives. Yet we continue to view the beginning of the service as optional, reducing it to "song time" and nothing more.
It's time we took a stand to change that.
If we believe what we profess to believe, we ought to be half an hour early to worship times, not half an hour late. We ought to be preparing our hearts to meet with our King in earnest, eager to catch every word He would graciously give us. We ought to be encouraging our friends and family to join us in prioritizing being on time for the same reasons. No wonder we so often wait to hear from God and walk away dissatisfied; we have given Him as much priority in our day as we have the laundry waiting in the washing machine. We basically tell Him, "I'll get to it when I get to it."
We are all guilty of this, and let me be the first to raise my hand. I am probably even more at fault than you here, and I'm the one writing. I pray we can receive this as an encouragement, a call to action in something that seems insignificant on the surface but really reveals the values of our hearts. Let's be on time this week, not so we can check another box of our list, but so we can encounter God. He's worth being on time for.
Dominick Baruffi
Watch this inspiring story about faith, family and responding to a call God made on her life. It shows how important it is to live by the counsel of God’s voice more than our own.
I had no idea what Lent was until I was a teenager. Even then, I knew it as a strange Catholic tradition that involved eating fish instead of "meat". I only learned any of this because I worked at McDonalds, and the Filet-O-Fish was a big seller this time of year. I grew up in a Protestant Christian home, church, and school, and Lent was never spoken of, much less practiced.
I have since learned that many mainline Protestant denominations have always practiced Lent, and that it has historically been evangelicals and fundamentalists that have not participated. This exclusion has started to change, and I think it highlights a general shift in the church that is worth exploring.
For my circle of influence, Lent, along with many other traditional religious practices, fell cleanly into the category of “vain traditions,” which St. Peter… I mean Peter… warned us about (1 Peter 1:18-19). We purged ourselves of traditional hymns, started calling “sundayschool” by other clever names, and replaced communion wine with grape juice. In essence, we replaced the old traditions with new traditions. But what do we do when these new traditions begin to feel stale, or even “vain”?
The mindset that tradition is a hindrance to authenticity can be a hindrance to authenticity itself, yet that mindset is still firmly entrenched in the modern church. If my efforts and practices revolve around not being traditional, then I am missing out on some fantastic traditions. Indeed, many of these practices became traditions because they led to a deeper, more authentic faith for generations past. And that is worth honoring. There is value in honoring the past.
This seems to be taking hold in the church. Lent is a prime example, not just in LFA, but in other evangelical churches. Some Christians celebrate Hanukkah and Passover, as a way of honoring the past. We are becoming more progressive by becoming more traditional. We are moving forward, growing in our faith, by understanding the faith of our fathers, not trying to hide from it. We are putting aside the "vain tradition" of weeding out tradition. Peter was not telling the early church that tradition is bad, but that we should not ascribe meaning to meaningless practices, be they hundreds of years old, or from the 80’s, or from last week.
As we enter Holy Week and Easter, keep an eye on the past. Progress is made when we have the freedom to live authentic lives, honoring the past when it deepens our faith, and letting go of traditions, new or old, when they hinder our growth.
Jeff Hyson
