I am a new creation. I used to waste hours stressing and worrying and being so scared to take a risk, so worried about what other’s would think of me, that I hid in gallons of chocolate carmel ice cream and back to back episodes of Sex in the City. Not making any decisions or developing relationships or helping to create a better life for myself or anyone else, just eating and dreaming of a life of material desires and great shoes. Pathetic. I’m not saying ice cream is bad. I’m not saying television is evil (however I think it could be totally justified.) A life where I am only concerned with how I am affected by situations or the what about me mentality is not a life worth living and I will be judged harshly if I pretend I am doing a good job even though I am not following His will. I attend church to learn. I connect as best as I can so I can grow. The more contact I have with others the more I get exposed to their point of view. Hanging out with the right kind of people is important. Having the right perspective, this means, I am only concerned with my performance according to God and if I keep in constant contact with Him during quiet time and then practice through serving others, the life I once so desparately tried to escape can be full and alive and useful. In 2nd Corinthians 5:20 it reads, “We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” I am so grateful to be part of a church that respects differences, whose leaders are humbled by the word of God and where I get to serve with the hardest working, most talented and diverse group of people I have ever known. I can’t wait to see what this year brings.
Target Practice
I have the best job in the world! I don’t have to worry about people who have no desire to change their thinking or their ways of the world. My job in Ministry is not to educate people who demographically, economically and racially have the best advantages in America. Unless they are far from God and they want to change. I get to call myself a Christian, I am saved, and now I get to try to save as many people from hell as possible, I don’t need to expect someone else to cater to my taste in style of worship and I get to take responsiblity for my own spiritual growth. Through my work I get be be continually reminded that it is not about me. I get to be reminded it is about the people who are far from God, who are so beat down, broke down and hammered by the material world that if they catch a glimmer of hope by hearing about a changed life because they came to church over a seemingly shameless gimmick, so be it. I have the advantage. I denied God for 25 years of my life. I spit in the face of the bride of Christ every day by murdering the reputations of every form of organized religion with my judgments and slander. I know what it’s like to be far from God. Now, by the Grace of God, I am in the sunlight of the spirit and I get to see the church as the only hope in the entire world. Dang, I’m so lucky.
Engine of Worx
“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.” Roy L. Smith
When we are faced with something new, some change that is happening, there is courage that propels us forward. How we react to the change is a gauge of our emotional and spiritual maturity. As the quality of heart and head resists and challenges the status quo and we accept the responsibility of being a Christian, courage is the fuel of possibility and faith is the oil so our engine won’t seize and freeze.
Courage and faith, even just a tiny spark, is what helps us to act confident even when we, in fact, are not yet so. It is what allows us to open our mouth where we used to isolate, allows us self-control where we used to be undisciplined.
In the book of Daniel chapter 10:19-20 (MSG) it reads, “Don’t be afraid friend. Peace. Everything is going to be all right. Take courage. Be strong. Even as he spoke, courage surged up within me. I said, ‘Go ahead, let my master speak. You’ve given me courage.”
Move boldly toward your goals even when you don’t feel bold. Have faith that your master is also your friend and you do not need to let fear hold you back from your day’s responsibilities.
Golden Ticket Investment
When I first began attending the church I now work for, the people (the church) met me where I was at; which is difficult for a collective body to do as so many of us returning home to Christ come from very different backgrounds. I was a de-churched procrastinator who never took chances and ran so far away from God I left our world and hid in television and books and fantasies trapped in my own diluded head. I didn’t get into much trouble because I didn’t ‘do’ much of anything.
In our everyday lives, do we practice the concept of meeting people where they are at? Or do we force our point of view on them, attempting to control our surroundings because we know best or we are too scared to do something new. As christians we have the golden ticket of salvation in Jesus Christ, how are we being responsible for this golden ticket? Are we waving it around bragging it up ,”I got it and you don’t! Na-na-na-na-na!” Did we hide it in a drawer worried someone would steal it? Or did we cash in this golden ticket- accept the love and blessings and invest by sharing this love and blessings without fear that if we give it all away there will be nothing left for us? Who will you invest in today?
Permission for Reception
Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10
Isn’t it amazing we think we can text and drive at the same time? Or drink and drive? Or eat waffles and drive? All of the things we try to do while driving reminds me of how we can forget there is a God, or we deny there is a God or maybe we just forget that God is around on all the other days outside of Sundays. When we forget to include God in every part of our lives, we try to run the show ourselves; we try to control people, places and things even as innocently in the form of multi-tasking. Our culture has made it not okay to just be quiet and still, we have inundated ourselves with stuff and the result is we forget God.
How do we approach starting, developing or maintaining a relationship with God? Receptivity is crucial to all relationships. To be receptive means we allow ourselves to receive. To receive means permit to enter and accept as truth or authority. To allow ourselves to undergo or experience. In the instance of a spiritual experience we need to ALLOW the experience to happen. This willingness or allowance is the first step. When we can answer the knock, ring or DM from God we are able to hear more clearly and true. Without distractions. What could this look like in your life? A jog with no ipod, a drive with no phone or music, perhaps it’s a Saturday night with no plans and being okay with that. Try it; you may just hear something important.
Braves in the New World
Love, love, love, love, love. We cry for it as babies, we bite over it as toddlers, we crush over it as adolescents and we make many mistakes over it as adults. We learn how to love from the people in our spheres of influence, usually our family and friends and colleagues who all teach us what acceptable behavior when expressing love is. We also get many examples of behaviors from the media through television, movies and books. What I (and perhaps you) tend to forget is to look at all of the various forms of education with discernment. It may not be a good idea to learn how to have a healthy romantic relationship from ‘2 and a half men’ or parental love from ‘family guy.’ It may not be the best idea to look for popularity tips from ‘tmz’ or ‘american idol’ auditions. If I make sure to have positive influences in my life and put time and energy into cultivating healthy relationships with everyone, I have a better chance to know what media to disregard and what lessons I can apply to real life. Learn how to eat the fish and spit out the bones. To be intentional in love takes courage. Here are some tips that can help to develop healthy, loving relationships in any situation…
Look for excuses to be the first to forgive and forget.
Optimize each other’s worth whenever you speak.
Vocalize affirmation through daily compliments.
Express unlimited grace by making mistakes on the side of love, not judgment.
In Ephesians 5:2 (msg) the Bible reads, “Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
If we can collectively make efforts to practice the principle of love the way God intends for us, we can create change and growth in the health of our families, our churches our jobs and our communities. And quite possibly a brave new world without ‘tmz.’
Comparatively Victorious
Compare and Despair. We bring judgment and condemnation to the table when we think of ourselves in comparison to others. My brain and willpower will manipulate any circumstance to benefit my mood. If I am in a pity party and I feel like wallowing I will compare myself to the self-made bajillionaire who is 25, attractive and popular. If I’m feeling extra special, up on my yippety-high horse, I will compare myself to the poor fool who won’t stop the meth habit even at the expense of her children. THIS IS WRONG THINKING. Both extremes of self-commending or self-condemning are toxic because I am looking toward myself and not God. God wants us to know we have identity in him, not in comparing our competency to others. God wants us to study and learn and grow in Christ’s teachings. In John 7:16 “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.”
Our worth is not based on performance or intelligence. We don’t need to be competitive with anyone. We can honor our diversity and learn from the differences. This discipline isn’t always easy, “the way to life-to God-is vigorous and requires total attention.”-Matthew 7:14. This verse describes the narrow road to enlightenment versus the wide road to destruction. In Psalm 3:5-6 the bible also reminds us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” I can find peace on that vigorous narrow path as that is the one God will contract highway workers to go before me to lead me victorious.
Sticks and Stoned
When I give out negativity it inevitable boomerangs back to me, often knocking me on my back and giving me a splitting headache. A boomerang was originally designed as a weapon to kill prey. In the trial and error of creating that perfect weapon, the returning boomerang was developed and transformed into a sport. When I think of this concept in reference to the power of words, I am reminded of our ‘do unto others’ ideal in our relationships with people.
In Luke 6:37 it reminds us, “don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults-unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.”
Doesn’t that just sound divine and so easy? Let us skip down the yellow brick road of life together and not find fault with anyone. I won’t point out your smoking or drinking or abusive relationships. I won’t talk about your sexual immorality or the simple fact that you are not performing up to God’s standard. Is this how I am to interpret this passage? I don’t think so. In order to honor God I need to live the principles I learn from those put in authority and at the same token, teach others who are in my authority. If I call myself a Christian, my responsibility is to teach others the hope in Jesus, call them to the work and help them take their own responsibility to reach those far from God.
We can challenge each other and throw the boomerang of strength and hope and light out there…guaranteed it will come back and fill us with the sunlight of the spirit just as much as the person we invite to a better life will feel it. Take up the initiative of creating that better life-throw the boomerang and create a concussion of accountability with compassion.
Naptime Renderings
After putting my nephew down for his nap, I decided to dive into my church’s constitution (yes, I’m a total geek and readily admit it!) I was struck by the vision and purpose statement and realized I needed to delve deeper into the spirit of the words and in doing so came to a greater love and understanding for my church.
“The purpose of Evergreen Community Church is to make passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.” My translation is- the purpose of the church is to help people change their lives. Assuming the church teaches them that change is needed and that spiritual growth matters in everyday life, people can have transformed lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. The guiding verses are Isaiah 61:1-3 and Matthew 28:18-20.
Before I was transformed by Evergreen Community Church, and developed a relationship with God, I lived a pretty boring life: hanging with my friends, usually at a club or the local sports bar, going to movies, eatin’, spendin’ and zoning out. No real point to any of it. As much as I like to think I’m special, I don’t think my life was very different than many individuals out there since the average American household has the television on for 6 hours and 47 minutes per day (http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html) and the obesity rate in Minnesota is almost 25% (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html .) Yeah… I think I lived a pretty “normal” life. I still hang with my friends, still go out to eat and hit up a movie but the difference is I don’t do it to zone out, I don’t procrastinate on my responsibilities as a Christian and I don’t fear failure (nearly as much) which allows me a useful and fairly sane life.
“The vision of Evergreen Community Church is to share the story of Jesus with relevance, imagination, compassion and excellence, inviting others to the foot of the cross where we will encounter God in faith, grow together in hope, and learn to live together in love.”
The words which jump out at me are FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. These seem to be the Core Principles of ECC. Just like in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” As Christians, our greatest responsibility is to love others the way God intends us to…the kicker is that God gave us free will and because of this we have a choice whether or not to love. That is why it is so powerful when we enter into a life of meaning and start practicing loving others through relationships, and for me, a lot of trial and error. In 1 Timothy 1:14 it states, “Grace mixed with love and faith poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.” I need to be reminded that as a changed person I cannot judge, that if I call myself a Christian I need to strive toward love. I am thankful and grateful for the patience and grace of my church as I learn to love and grow in faith. To Love and not judge is an easy choice when hanging out with a napping baby.
Ghrrl Izzlies
Women are crazy. Especially mothers. Especially Grizzly mothers. They will defend their young to the death, protecting their environment and mauling anyone who may stand in the way of their safety and the safety of their family. As noted in recent news, even innocent hikers don’t have a chance against a Grizzly mother.
I am proud to say my own mother is a Momma Grizzly. So are the women at my church. Our women don’t mildly sit by or cower away when defending their environment. They stand up, they fight for what they believe in, and they voice their strong opinions. Our Momma Grizzlies take to heart the teachings of Jesus and work hard to apply the principles to their own lives.
They remind me of two verses in Philemon: 6-7 :
“I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers.”
Yet, sometimes…our Momma Grizzlies forget we are all fighting for the same cause, on the same side of the war with Satan and that we ALL fight tooth and nail for our environment, our fellow Christians and fellow Humanity alike. We can also forget that Satan uses friction within the ranks to harbor hate by getting us to fight over coffee or how to usher in a newcomer. Before we know it, we are harboring an unhealthy spirit of resentment and competition over whose ideas get chosen and who is receiving accolades and applause this week. Instead of rallying around our leaders and around each other, we mope and complain and leave over small details. We end up playing right into Satan’s hand when we react negatively to any sort of change, in church or in life.
When we carry a message of faith in unity and understanding under one vision, we not only help others but we also gain a fuller understanding of what our relationship to God means to us. We become strengthened in our own faith. I am continually strengthened and protected by my Momma Grizzlies and I am blessed to have them in my life.
jenrancour 