As you listen to these Christian leaders discuss the topic of Christianity and Homosexuality, pay particular attention to Shane Claiborne's perspective of the church and who we need to be.
This video in not intended to represent the views of Living Faith Alliance Church, our blog’s host. However, the video does provoke some honest, self-examination regarding our personal perspective and our disposition to engage those experiencing or struggling with same-sex attraction.
-Lois Robinson
Twenty years before the Babylonians captured Judah and led them into captivity, Habakkuk was a prophet in Judah who was very troubled by the sin all around him. The powerful and wealthy oppressed the poor and powerless, and Habakkuk did not understand why God allowed the wicked to prosper.
When God showed him in a vision how He was going to use the cruel and exceedingly wicked Babylonians to correct unrighteous Judah, he was even more troubled, and could not understand. He saw good people suffering at the hands of the powerful, and questioned why God would allow these things to happen.
We often wonder about the same things ourselves. We see bad things happening to good people, and we wonder if God really cares. But God tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. His very magnitude is almost impossible to grasp, and the fact that He is intimately involved in the life of every person on earth is incomprehensible to our limited minds. We cannot know or understand the panorama of God’s plan.
Writer Poh Fang Chia laid it out most clearly:
“In moments when we don’t understand God’s ways, we need to
trust His unchanging character. That’s exactly what Habakkuk did.
He believed that God is a God of justice, mercy and truth. (PS 89:14)
In the process, he learned to look at his circumstances from the
framework of God’s character instead of looking at God’s character
from the context of his own circumstances. He concluded, ‘The
Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of
a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.’”(HAB. 3:19).
We may be distressed by life’s seeming injustices, but we can only find contentment through seeing everything through the lens of God’s goodness. Sometimes only hindsight shows us how God used a painful period in a life to accomplish a wonderful thing. I have written about how the months my son spent in prison, sentenced and eventually justified for an embezzlement he did not commit, was used by God to make powerful changes in his very soul.
Believe me, it only takes one such experience to change forever the lens through which we view our lives. I have a peace, truly, which passes all understanding. I may suffer circumstances which I hate, but my faith in God’s love and goodness will never be shaken. I am so grateful for every example of God’s providence, even through pain, in my life. He has truly taught me to be content.
Being content does not mean not caring. It does not mean not feeling the wounds. It just means knowing without the shadow of a doubt that God is there, He is love, and He is using every circumstance for ultimate good. And having this assurance, this heart-treasure, is worth every pain we could ever suffer.
"I have found the secret of contentment." If someone held a press conference today and made that statement, they would be mocked and ridiculed to no end. Contentment isn't something we actually believe in in 2015. We might believe in what makes us content right now, but those things are always subject to change. It doesn't really matter if we're talking about material possessions or marriage from a cultural standpoint. The fact remains that contentment is always a moving target, which means we are forever doomed to rest dissatisfied.
Or are we? Paul doesn't seem to think so in Philippians 4. At first glance his answer to the "secret" seems awfully churchy and impractical. But blink and you'll miss a truth that took Paul years to earn. (Take a look at 2 Corinthians 11:22-33 sometime to see what I mean by "earn.")
Simply put, Paul says he has learned how to manage any kind of circumstance by relying on Jesus. See what I mean by seeming too churchy? "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" is the type of verse-phrase you see crocheted into kitschy wall decorations at your local Christian bookstore. It is so often quoted as to be rendered impotent upon impact. And when you really think about it, the claim itself seems almost stupid in practice. What is so special about simply "knowing Jesus" that makes everything else tolerable no matter the circumstance? It's not like there's a human comparison that I can make that's similar to this. I can't say that about my wife, or my mom, or my pastor, though I love them all dearly. Is Paul simply being idealistic here? How can this actually be true in practice?
And this is precisely the point worth making here. We can't come up with a good human comparison because there isn't one. This is something else, something we would never have come up with, something we could have never expected. In spite of all the movies we've seen, relationships we've created and products we've purchased in the hopes of finally being content, only to be let down once again when they fail to secure it for us...Jesus actually satisfies! He actually does what so many other things have promised to do for us. And he accomplishes it in a way that once more seems painfully obvious, but at the same time totally unexpected.
Jesus promises to make us new. Not in heaven, but today. He promises that when we place faith in him as Redeemer, he will actually replace our desires with his own. Over time, we will stop wanting the things we want so badly. Read that sentence again. It's hard to believe, mostly because our desires are so strong. But that's what he promises to do for us. This is what it means when the Bible talks about God giving us a "new heart." We start to want the things the Master wants. Other things lose their luster because we have seen something brighter, higher, and more worthy than what we thought of on our own. And when we have come to see this, the changing of our circumstances becomes increasingly less important. And there we come to it: the secret of contentment.
I would not call myself a content person. I am easily swayed by many of the things I've mentioned above. I get caught up in my own story, simply because I'm a sinful person and that's what sinful people do. But the Master is beckoning us with an offer that has the potential to rearrange our lives for the better, and in this case, the promise is not too good to be true. We can be new. As Augustine so eloquently said, we were made for God alone, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
I recently preached two messages about suffering that I wanted to share with LFAC folks. Though we suffer in daily things and in crisis moments and seasons, these messages focus on the reality of suffering for the Gospel as described in 1 Peter. Part one is entitled "The Theology of Suffering: How God Wills It and How We Identify with It" (9/13/15) and part two is named "The Theology of Suffering: How God Restores and Reshapes our Identity"(9/20/15)
-Thor
It’s politics season, my favorite time of year! Although it only comes around every four years, the Presidential elections, and more importantly, the build-up to them, are like Christmas to me. It’s a magical season full of debates, issues, personalities, TV ads (the fruitcake of this analogy), and memes all over social media. In fact, I’ve been drawn back into using Facebook, after about 8 months away from it, just for the opportunity to comment on people’s political posts. Did I mention that I love politics?
My first exposure to politics was as a child, growing up in a conservative “walled garden” of home, church, and school, where Reagan and Bush had a monopoly and Jerry Falwell was the spokesperson. Faith and politics were indistinguishable. I assumed that if you were a Christian, you were a conservative, and if you were a Satanist, you were a liberal. There was not middle ground, no overlap, no Venn diagram scenario where one could occupy both roles. Then I went to college.
This isn’t your typical “I grew up churchy, and a secular University turned be liberal” story. In fact, I graduated college (a good Christian college) as conservative as ever. But a love for politics was planted, with the Bush v. Gore election, and subsequent legal battle. By this time, I was an uber-conservative registered Libertarian, and I had started to see my faith and my politics as separate entities, where one could be independent of the other.
As both my faith and my politics have grown over the years since then, one question still nags. Which informs which? Does my faith inform and influence my politics? Or do my politics inform my faith?
It sounds like an easy question. Obviously, our faith (some might say our religion) should inform the political stance that we take on a given issue. But the rub is that too often we let our politics inform our faith. If a candidate claims to be a champion of “Christian values,” we want to support him. But what about his or her foreign policy? Does God care more about oil-rich countries than poor developing ones? What about his social or economic plans, are those Christian? Would Jesus have been an advocate of gun rights and lower taxes?
I’m not saying these issues are cut and dry, by any means. I’m saying that there are often political issues that become faith issues. I have actually had my faith questioned because I am not a fiscal conservative. Too often, our political views become our “Christian values,” and that’s a dangerous place to be, because it’s easy to justify.
As my relationship with Jesus grew, I came to realize that many of my political opinions stood in stark contrast to my faith. Views that I thought were informed by my faith were actually quite the opposite. I found that I had shoehorned my faith into a narrow political space, then judged other people who had other opinions. Learning to untangle the web of politics and faith is a daunting task, but one worth undertaking.
I love politics. I love Jesus. I strive to keep my faith first, and let it inform my politics, not the other way around. Sometimes this puts me at odds with the “religious right” and sometimes not, but my politics are not determined by what are labeled “Christian values,” but by the One that those values are supposed to represent.
God has appointed other believers as one of the primary means of our perseverance. In this presentation, John Piper explains how sin wages war against our souls, and how God equips us with weapons for the battle. We will see that this fight is not one we should fight alone. Click here to see Piper's presentation.
Sincerely,
Diego Cuartas
This is a very important question. Perhaps you know someone who at some point or another evidenced a personal walk with God or the fruits of the Christian life in some way and then they fell away from God. Or perhaps that person is you. Either way, I want to encourage you to follow a short series (of two parts) from John Piper. Basing his presentation on Hebrews 3:12-14, he presents his biblical discoveries concerning this key passage. Part 2, coming later, will establish the necessity for believers to exhort one another in the faith. Click here to see this 7 minute presentation.
Sincerely,
Diego Cuartas
We were in Venice.
And it was enchanting.
Completely enchanting. And magical.
We were off on 'Our One Last Adventure Before We Start Having Kids'...and we chose Europe as our destination.
So there we were, in magical Venice, wandering the moonlit streets together at night.
Let me say it again: it was enchanting.
Well. Enchating to me, I should say.
Because when I looked over at my partner on this romantic stroll, he didn't look so enchanted. At least not by the moon and the narrow passageways and the water and the dreamy gondolas drifting by and the cozy little two-person restaurant tables.
The look on my husband Caleb's face was more in awe. In awe of the balance that the gondoliers were displaying by both paddling and standing...at the same time.
We weren't holding hands. We weren't gazing into each other's eyes. We weren't slow dancing in the middle of the Pizzaza San Marco. Nope. I was standing there, feeling alone in the middle of this ultra-romantic setting, while my husband stood next to me, completely unaware of what I was feeling, while muttering under his breath, "How does he DO that?? I see that he keeps his feet there...and there...and I see that he only paddles on one side...it's like a forward-paddle and then a swirl motion with the paddle. How does he make the boat turn so easily?? I wonder if I could get a gondolier to give me a lesson...maybe I should ask one of them..." and so on and so forth. His eyes were certainly not on me. They were analyzing the wonders of the paddling gondolier-man.
And I was offended.
"How can you be so engrossed in those stupid gondoliers when this is our chance to be in love in Venice together?" I thought.
And just when his attention to the gondolier began to fade, his eyes shifted to the violinist in the middle of the Square. And the analyzing and the muttering began afresh. "He moves his fingers so QUICKLY," I started hearing, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his two hands come up and start imitating the violinist's movements.
At that point, I started to feel angry.
It's no fun at all to be angry about something and have to talk about it. Especially when you're on vacation and you're supposed to be having a wonderful time together. But I wasn't having a wonderful time anymore. I was angry, and disappointed, and even scared that we were falling out of love, because who can walk through the tiny streets of Venice and not look at each other? (Talk about jumping to a HUGE and irrational conclusion.)
So even though it was hard, right in the middle of our European vacation, I told Caleb about my fears and my feelings. It wasn't easy. It felt terrible. I felt like I was ruining our vacation by bringing it up. All my ideals of a romantic and perfect adventure were even farther away. I had to spell out how the combination of the moon and Venice and the canals felt so special and romantic for me, and admitting it made me feel silly and embarrassed. It felt like he should just know what I was feeling, what I was thinking, and how romance works. It felt so contrived to put words to what I would have wanted Caleb to do.
Like I said, It wasn't an easy conversation. It was messy. I was crying and getting angry. Caleb was confused and maybe even a little bit hurt when I mimicked his air-violin-playing. I think I even yelled in frustration at one point.
But in the end, we came to such a good place. An intimate place. A place of knowing each other better.
I found out that just being together, just being side-by-side watching the gondoliers and the violinist together, felt special, and even romantic, for Caleb. Just having me by his side was enough for him. He felt like we were together and sharing the specialness of the place, very much in love. He didn't feel the least bit concerned for us, or our love, or our romance.
But he learned that romance is completely different for me. I need face-to-face, hand-in-hand, talking-together interactions for me to feel like we're together and sharing the specialness of the place, very much in love.
That day, we learned a little bit more about each other: what's significant for each of us and how we interact with romance. And years later in our relationship, I am SO THANKFUL for putting the time and energy and COURAGE into that talk. It has guided and helped us so many times since then. But if I had been unwilling to be vulnerable, unwilling to bare myself and my messy emotions, I probably would have harbored resentment (and not even a right conclusion) for a long time. I would have concluded that my husband is this non-romantic analyzing caveman who doesn't really even care about me at all, and that we're no longer in love anymore. Talk about a devastating conclusion!
But, instead, we grew in our intimacy and love through that difficult conversation.
Based on that conversation and many others like it, messy conversations and arguments where it feels like we'll never make it through, we end up coming out on the other side knowing and loving each other more. I have some suggestions for anyone else embarking on similar experiences in discussions.
Love needs intimacy to grow. And intimacy is all about knowing each other in the raw, real, nitty-gritty places of your emotions. We tend to think that love will grow as we pretend that everything is alright and we're always happy all the time, like if we just pretend something is true, it will be. But marriage doesn't work that way. Some of the best places in marriage can only be reached through the hard road of getting messy feelings out on the table.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I wanted to write this blog as a letter to encourage you. In my coming and going I have enjoyed the cool evenings this past week as they seem to remind me that change is ahead. Fall will be coming soon. Although fall is my favorite season and a welcome change, with its coming are bigger changes and transitions that are not so thrilling to me. In fact, I hate transition. I don’t always mind change itself, but I loathe the getting there.
For example, my husband and I are expecting our second baby the first week of November. Whereas, I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome another child into our family, the getting there, aka this pregnancy, has been very challenging. My body has seemed to boycott any kind of stability every step of the way, making hospital visits more common place this time around than I care for. I know that the end result of a healthy baby will be worth all of the suffering now, but this time of waiting and processing is really difficult. As I have experienced and continue to experience the tumults of transition in my own life, I have thought about all of you, and I wanted to tell you that YOU are seen.
I know that so many of you are going through major changes as well. Mother of school aged children, you are seen. Whether it be your first time or fifth time sending your precious cargo off for another school year while reminding yourself that God is with them even when you aren’t, your transition is important and God sees. Student getting ready to return to school, perhaps nervous/excited about the new possibilities this year, God is with you and He sees. New parents whose child still may not be sleeping through the night, the transition to sleepless nights is tough, but there is grace for you and God sees. To the grieving adjusting to life without a loved one, transition to life minus one may feel raw and unnatural but God is at hand. He knows and He sees. Whether it is transitions at work, in family, stage of life or service to the Lord as you walk on mission with Him, your sacrifices, emotions and thoughts both joyful and difficult are important.
God is at hand. I’m glad that He doesn’t just wait for us to “make it to the other side” but that He really is closer than an arms length away. In Lamentations 3:22-23, I am reminded in times of uncertainty or change that, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new EVERY morning; great is your faithfulness.” I also love that He says in Malachi 3:6 about Himself that, “I the Lord DO NOT change...” In every season of my soul, He remains the same. These past weeks I have been encouraged again by this simple truth. Our God is a steady anchor when everything else is shifting. May you be encouraged knowing that you are seen by your sister who is impacted by your lives and faithfulness, and you are seen by a God who is close and filled with compassion for you. May God’s peace guard your hearts and minds as you continue to walk with Him.
Blessings,
Sophia
In the Old Testament, the first line of warriors that led out in the battle were the musicians and singers. This picture illustrates the huge priority of learning to be a worshiper of God, in whatever circumstance you find yourself- wonderful or desperately hard.
This video clip is one of my favorite worship leaders, Darlene Zschech, teaching about this very topic. Be blessed friends!
Lois
(By Thor Knutstad)
If you ever wanted a thousand reasons why our LORD is completely Supreme over ALL things in heaven and on earth, watch and listen to this animated video as John Piper proclaims this supremacy with sound doctrine, with profound but simple reason, and with uninhibited passionate expression. This Supreme God and LORD IS completely trustworthy with all things, in all things, and in all situations. Watch and listen to this message - these words could impact your heart and actually transform your perception of the Supreme Christ Jesus -- it's 18 minutes in length but you will not be unchanged by it's Relevant, and Timely, and Supreme Message. May this bless you as it has me - and many others.
Last May I turned eighty-four! Wow! But I’m nowhere near matching my Mom. She died just 12 years ago at the lovely age of one hundred two, with a totally clear mind and much annoyance that her body was not keeping up! The things that she could tell about having seen the birth of so much technology were fascinating.
But she was not able to tell us about the most wonderful thing she saw. She loved the Lord, and just as she was actually dying, in her own bed, in her own house, smiling, she kept saying, “Oh my …… Oh my ……. Oh my…..!” And then she was gone. Isn’t that absolutely beautiful? Isn’t that a wonderful thing to expect at the end of our lives? Usually when we are anticipating something nice, we say, “I can’t wait!” Well, scratch that; I can wait! But I certainly have no fear.
One true advantage of being older, as anyone of us can tell you, is the development of the reassuring certainty that our God will see us through. Always. Perfectly. Pain is pain, and it hurts, and we hate it, but as we age we can see over and over how God was accomplishing good things through it, and other than drilling a hole in our skull and pouring the knowledge in there was no other way that we could grow, and learn, and most of all develop that perfect trust in God.
But it’s not automatic. Look at what God’s people did while Moses was up on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments. He was talking with GOD, for pity’s sake, but they decided Moses had been gone too long so they built a gold calf, and they actually worshipped it! Before we sneer, we need to remember how many golden calves, how many of our own worldly solutions, we have tried to trust instead of trusting in God’s everlasting, never-failing love for us. Nothing, but nothing comes into our lives unless God allows it. And His purposes are always, always for our good. We have to choose.
Hindsight is our teacher. Only by revisiting episodes in our past can we begin to see how God has refined us, often dragging us kicking and screaming, into a closer image of himself. And hopefully, as we age, and experience more and more, with the help of the Holy Spirit we will develop a deeper understanding of our need for God, and how he is always working for our good, only for our good. ALWAYS.
Norma Stockton
My doctor’s words were the final blow.
“You need to see a psychiatrist. Things have gotten serious. Time for a specialist.”
I knew deep down that’s what he was going to say, but I still flinched to hear it. I nodded a reluctant ok at him, tears streaming down my face, words escaping my frazzled brain yet again.
There was a monster eating my mind. That's how it felt, day by day, losing my memory, my ability to sleep, my enjoyment of…anything. Things I loved--reading, gardening, teaching, cooking, baking--were all impossible to like. I used to devour books, and now I was lucky to read a chapter at a time before staring off into space, lost in churning thoughts and feelings that life was hopeless. I couldn't focus on much but the relentless daily conviction that everything was worthless and would never get any better. I was barely making it, going to work only to come home and go to bed, waiting for the day to pass and hoping that I would be able to survive tomorrow.
I finally by the grace of God saw my doctor and heard the words I needed to hear. I was recommended to a fantastic specialist who has guided me through some pretty intense treatment for clinical depression. The process is ongoing, recovery not an “easy fix” in the least.
I've learned a lot about severe depression and other mental illnesses like anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. I had always been prone to low self-esteem and anxious thoughts, but the last several years of my life have taught me how debilitating these can become as they grow in intensity. My mom’s declining health and subsequent death were the major events that precipitated my illness, but other events in my life at work and home definitely contributed as well.
Here are a few truths I've learned about depression and mental illness during my battle…things I wish I had known before it hit:
· It is a real illness, like diabetes or cancer. It is not a moral or spiritual weakness that requires you to “try harder” to “snap out of it.” It requires professional treatment.
· Having a mental illness does not mean you are weak, selfish, and useless. God can use your pain. This experience has made me more empathetic, less judgmental, and more sensitive to hurting people in a hurting world. I never would have seen the good that could come from this if I had not gone and gotten the care I needed.
· Family and friends suffer, too. They want to help but are often at a loss as to how they can. It isn't that they don't care; they do.
· There is no shame in getting proper care. This may include medication, talk therapy, and other methods. For me, it required three different types of treatment to lift the dark cloud of depression. Many people resist medication, thinking that it's a sign of weakness. It's not.
In conclusion, as a depressed Christian, I have learned that I am still a beloved child of God. In the midst of tremendous pain, He preserved my life and led me to healing places. If you are in a bad place like I was, you are not alone, and there is hope.
Have you ever felt like you are listening to someone and you desire to help them but you are not sure how to begin? Ed Welch offers a simple, sensitive and solid way to do it. It is as simple as retelling a person's story--as you hear it--and observing how you see God shaping his or her life. To read Welch's article click here. Try this approach and learn valuable lessons as you do so.
As I sat down at my keyboard to type up my blog this week, two thoughts persisted in my mind. First, I thought a second bowl of Frosted Flakes was probably a bit overkill, but still an acceptable decision. (Hey, it was the morning. I don't plan these things, they just happen.) Second, I had a hard time thinking of anything that I could write or say better than Oswald Chambers said last week.
For the uninitiated, Oswald Chambers was an evangelist who is best known for his daily devotional "My Utmost for His Highest." I try to read it every day if I can. The wording is sometimes a little out of style, but it's still as relevant today as ever in history. It's incredibly readable and worth your time if you've never checked it out.
I came across this entry last week. It reads like a few quick tips on how and why to pray, like a sort of devotional Buzzfeed article. Prayer is one of those subjects that can feel utterly impossible to ever wrap your arms around, but Chambers writes succinctly enough that it makes sense without having to read an entire treatise. A former teacher and evangelist, he's a great coach to study on the practical aspects of the spiritual life.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out.
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August 6th - The Cross in Prayer
"At that day ye shall ask in My name."
-John 16:26.
We are too much given to thinking of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only in order to get into it. The Cross stands for one thing only for us—a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer.
“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get huffed with God. The answers come every time, but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God’s grace.
“I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you.” Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ’s life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has Our Lord’s vicarious life become your vital life? “At that day” you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.
So, according to the founders of the Conversation Project, the facts speaks for themselves about how much help we need help in terms of getting ready to have the difficult conversation about end-of-life wishes. Here are some of those facts:
90% of people say that talking with their loved ones about end-of-life care is important…27% have actually done so.
80% of the people say that if seriously ill they would want to talk to their doctor about end-of-life care…7% report having an end-of-life conversation with their doctor.
The Conversation Project provides tools (in English and Spanish) to help you take steps that prepare you to have the conversation that is essential to express your future wishes. To access these free tools visit http://theconversationproject.org
I recommend it.
Sincerely,
Diego Cuartas
How free do you feel? We live in the good ol' USA, the “land of the free.” We have constitutional freedoms. We talk about being debt free, worry free, free from temptation, free to be me, free to live my life. We like free stuff - a free lunch, a free ride, free samples, free range chicken. Some free stuff we don’t like - freeloaders, free advice, free-form poetry (well, I don’t like it). But how free are we really? Talk to an Anarchist, and they will say we are not free in the least, but we are held down by the restraints of the law. Ask a 13 year old, and they will tell you that they aren’t free because of their repressive parents always telling them what they can’t do. I doubt that anyone wants, REALLY wants, absolute freedom. Freedom from authority, government, society, parents, or God. For example, people complain about taxes - “It’s my money and I should be FREE to do what I want with it!” they might say - but they enjoy the paved roads they drive on, and the protection of the police and fire services, and they benefit, either directly or indirectly, from the hospitals and schools that their taxes pay for. Some people who think they want absolute freedom probably still want some rules for, say, driving (stop signs, traffic signals, everyone driving on the right side of the road).
People often struggle to be free from the very things that keep them safe and happy. Since the beginning of human existence, we see this play out time and time again. My sons, each in their own way, express their desire for freedom. They might have money, but I won’t let them spend it on things that I know they don’t really want (or won't want in 10 minutes). As parents, we balance the giving of freedom with ability to make good decisions, which, in reality, is not true freedom. But do any of us have true freedom? We are bound to earth, we are not free from gravity. We need to eat, we are not free from our need for sustenance. None of us will live forever, we are not free from aging or physical death.
Still, we struggle to be free from God. Free from the rules that we perceive he has bound us with. Free from the obligation to acknowledge him as our provider. But, like a stray dog, freedom from our protector and provider comes at a steep price. This recently found freedom affords us hunger and thirst, fear and vulnerability. We trade the external restraints for internal restraints. Under authority, we have the freedom that the authority provides. God offers us true freedom, but only inside his kingdom. Similarly, my own children, under my authority, have the freedom to be kids, and grow up in a safe environment.
So, how free do you feel? I’ve met some people who are free from authority, but do not experience any freedom. We can kick against reality, but that does not make it any less true. The truth is that the only thing preventing us from experiencing the freedom that Jesus offered - God’s kingdom of love, peace, well-being and contentment - is our misplaced desire for this stray dog freedom. In reality, we choose on a moment-by-moment basis, whether or not to live in peace. It’s not a matter of choosing freedom over authority, it’s a matter of what kind of freedom you desire.
Listen to Darlene Zschech, worship pastor of Hillsong Church, continue to lay a good foundation to understand what worship is and and the power of worship in the second part of this four part series.
My daughter Ava recently had an experience that made me feel so sad for her: she felt left out.
I wasn't expecting her to feel left out when she did; in fact, I was actually expecting her to be having the time of life when it happened. But the circumstances just aligned for her to experience that terrible feeling of not knowing where she fit in and feeling all alone among friends.
And I felt so sad about it. I think I felt more sad than was appropriate because I myself know the pain of feeling left out, feeling like no one is interested in talking to you or being with you. And I would wish that she would never, ever feel that feeling in her entire life. I'd want her to always feel confident and happy with herself, ready to offer the wonder of who she is with anyone she's with. But unfortunately, that obviously can't be the case.
So there she was, feeling left out. Her dad started talking to her, and it felt like the lesson he was giving her was a treasure, something that all women should hear and live out. So I'll share it here.
He said to her, when you feel left out, Ava, you should:
It made both of us think as he talked, how many adults know this? How many of us know to not envy what someone else has, but to be happy for them? How many of us know to talk to Jesus about what we feel? How many of us root ourselves in the Lord's love? And how many of us lift our eyes to what the Holy Spirit wants to do, and follow His creative ways instead of being upset that things aren't working out the way we want them to?
So I wanted to share this little parenting moment in the hopes that you, as well, will be inspired along with our daughter.
Sarah blogs regularly, connect with her at www.somuchhope.com
My 13 month old loves to greet everyone and everything by saying “Hi!” in an escalating tone until they turn and acknowledge her. It usually makes them feel uncomfortable, and I laugh at the awkward exchange. However, on a daily basis, the word “some” comes in a close second for her most used word of the day. Sometimes it means she wants more of whatever she is eating or that she wants to touch something that she probably shouldn’t, but more often than not it means “I want what you have.” She will take turns asking everyone for some of what they are eating, even if she doesn’t really want it or even if she has just demanded to get down from her highchair because she is “all done” with her food.
As we as a church are now 10 days into the fast for the Millville church plant, it has taken me up until yesterday to decide how I wanted to participate. What was I going to fast and why? We were encouraged to identify what we turn to for our sense of satisfaction other than God. I scratched out the traditional, food, because I am on a strict diet with my second pregnancy. I initially decided against any type of media fast, having been convinced that I really spent little time using it; but alas, it turned out to be media anyway, specifically my use of Facebook and Pinterest.
I’m not going to go on a tirade of why I think either of these sites is bad because I don’t think they are. However, I feel like the Lord revealed to me a little of my own heart in how I use them at times. Pinterest, although it can be used to organize ideas and inspire creativity, can also, just like good circulars and magazines, be used to cultivate desire. After surfing through all of the endless possibilities for creativity, I find myself desiring to make, wear or be a part of whatever comes across my page that day. All of a sudden, I NEED to eat sriracha shrimp and wear bohemian pants while making a beautiful summer dessert in my perfect outdoor kitchen. I picture my reaction to the plethora of the ideal and the beautiful displayed in creative recipes and tasteful style to be much like my daughter’s. “Some, Some! I must have some.” A type of hunger has been created.
Now, I feel sort of intimidated after having been drawn into a picture perfect moment all the while knowing that it’s just that. It is PICTURE perfect and maybe not that realistic or practical. So… naturally I next go to Facebook. I try to keep up on the “news” in distant friends’ lives, but the longer I’m on the more I feel drawn into a comparison game where my sense of worth and identity then comes from how I stand in comparison to other people. “Are my pictures of my family editorial enough? No? Well neither are so and so’s. Ok I’m fine.” Therefore, Pinterest worthy moments can tend to become my aspiration and Facebook my affirmation of how close I am to that ideal and therefore how well I am doing. As long as my search ends favorably then I’m “satisfied.” Uh oh! If God is good, then I don’t need to look for my satisfaction elsewhere. Oops! How often do I give the better parts of my day and thinking to things that are far less worthy and unable to ultimately satisfy? Well that’s convicting.
During these 30 days, I am choosing to ask God to realign my hunger. I need Him to increase my appetite for His voice and perspective versus my desire for cheap substitutes. I am choosing to break from my sense of ideal, perfect or even good and asking God to give me more of His perspective as I create more space to be still. May He reveal His heart to me in even greater ways concerning myself and my worth, my family and the city of Millville. 10 days late, but I am jumping in. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to do the same. I am looking forward to what He has to say to me and you.
