… worthy of the call? [AnnieLaurie Walters]

From My Living Canvass on March 9, 2008:

God has had me in Ephesians alot lately, which is interesting because my Small Group just finished Ephesians and our mission team verse from last year was Ephesians 4:5-6.

For the past two weeks God keeps drawing my attention to Ephesians 4, particularly the first 3 verses.

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

These verses have stopped me dead in my tracks because I take my calling very seriously. I attempt to carry out my calling with excellence. I am a hard worker, devoted, and determined. (Hello Type A!)

Yet, I STRUGGLE with the commands of these verses.

I am not humble nor gentle when I am on deadline, or when someone fails to meet my expectations. My calling requires me to depend heavily on others to carry out my call with excellence yet, when others fail me, or disappoint me, or toss a wrench in my process, I rarely react with “patience, making allowance for their fault because of my love,” and my flesh screams at the thought of being “humble” or “gentle” with people who interfere. My typical reaction is to freak out and get frustrated or take it out on people close to me. Or just shut down and puff up with pride.

Its very difficult for me to say these things, but in the spirit of transparency, I ask if anyone else struggles with these commands? How do you marry the teaching of the WORD with how you interact in the marketplace, particularly as biblical teaching relates to interpersonal communications?

Do you look for the teachable moments, with a gentle tone and humble approach, or do you panic at the inconvenience of life’s interruptions that may, at the end of the day, actually be for your own good?

How would your work life, school life, or home life look different if you you sincerely made EVERY EFFORT to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace?

What does a “life worthy of your calling” look like to you?

Daughters and Sons of a King [Julie Phillips]

Note: Read previous blogs by Julie Phillips.

I saw a headline today. It said, “Afghans Sell Daughters to Repay Loans.” Is someone kidding? Unfortunately not.

When you read the article you realize it is not for lack of love that these fathers are selling their daughters…but for the lack of a choice- at least in their own minds. And in some places in this world, women and children are commodities. Just pieces of silver.

I look at my own precious daughters and I see Todd love them, play with them, giggle and wrestle with them. My heart breaks for those who don’t have a father like that. I think of my own father who used to hold me in front of a mirror and say, “Didn’t God do good?” He hugged me when I didn’t want to be hugged and chased away the monsters from my room.

In so many lives- fathers are the monsters in the room. What do we do with that? How do we reconcile God’s love with the reality of so many broken lives?

The only thing I can hold on to and express to my friends who have past broken bodies and hearts is that in God you have value- not as a commodity but as a reason for sacrifice. Jesus is our hope. But for those you have experienced this type of betrayal- hope can be elusive because it has never been experienced.

As little children we are all taught John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And at first glance it seems rather basic, but do we really understand that God so loved you that He gave His only son?

Young women everywhere need to understand that they are daughters of the King of Kings. That is not something to be taken lightly. His Fatherhood is something God takes very seriously.

John 1:12-13:

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

I love those verses- because God understood the culture he was speaking into and realized that children were at the whims of sinful men. He wanted us to all understand that He claims us! Not because of anything we do but because He loves us. God has a plan for each one of us even in the midst of extreme suffering. He desires the truth laid out in the Bible to surround and comfort you. When I used to be scared in the middle of the night, I used to repeat memory verses I had learned. I encourage my children to do the same. Or sing praise songs- you see, even as loving parents, Todd and I cannot chase away all my children’s fears.

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 9:13-14

We just talked about this passage in our Small Group the other night. The phrase that our leader brought to our attention was that Jesus was indignant! He felt offense that His disciples were trying to keep the children away from Him. He placed value on the children and raised them up in the eyes of those around Him. I can just picture a few children who had no understanding of love or value at home- clinging to Jesus’ robes. I see Him putting His hands gently on their backs, bowing His head over them. He was a refuge. There are just so many verses in the Bible about God being our refuge. I encourage you to do a word study of them if you struggle with shadows in the night.

Remember. You are precious children. Daughters and Sons of a King.

Theology and Jesus [Justin Pearson]

From Becoming True Followers of Christ on Thursday, February 14, 2008:

I was talking with my wife, Amy, the other day about theology in reference to the blog post I made last week. She mentioned that she had read my blog, but didn’t click on the link to read the longer post about Dispensational and Covenant Theology. I was giving her a hard time about it and then she said, “I like theology, but I like Jesus more.”

That stuck out to me– “I like theology, but I like Jesus more.” I like that.

Now, I would be the first to tell you, as would my wife, that theology is important. Some in the Church today are almost anti-theology claiming that it divides churches, is nitpicky, and ultimately unimportant. I would argue that those that say that are either lazy, or do not understand the beauty of theology. Yes, many have used and continue to use theology as an aluminum baseball bat with which they beat people over the head that disagree with them. That is obviously not good.

However, I think it is important for us to pay attention to theology because it allows us to know God more and understand more of his revelation to us through Jesus Christ. After all, Paul told Timothy to pay attention to his teaching and doctrine and to teach truth in a perverse time (1 Tim 4:16; 2 Tim 4:1-5).

What I like about what Amy said is the priority of theology and Jesus. Theology is important, but Jesus is more important. We cannot get bogged down in non-essential* theological arguments (e.g.- charismatic gifts, eschatology, etc.) if it causes us to neglect Jesus in our life.

If we spend more time arguing about theological issues than we do on seeing and savoring Jesus Christ in our lives we are on a slippery slope.

Paul said that he counts all things as loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus (Phil 3:8), that he preaches the gospel (1 Cor 1:17), and that he knows nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2).

It is all about Jesus for Paul, and should be all about Jesus for us. Jesus is the foundation of our theology. So next time you are arguing about when and how the world will end ask yourself, “Am I more concerned about this, or about knowing Jesus and becoming more like him?” I hope it is the latter.

Theology is good, but Jesus is better.

From the Video Archives (Global Impact Year End Video)

Note: View more blog content from Global Impact.

Sarah Beth Napier [Julia Harper]

From DayBreak Ministries’ Blog on Thursday, March 13, 2008:

Some of you may know Sarah, many of you do not. Sarah is a DayBreak staffer and fellow Frontliner who has been on full time disability for the last year or so due to her three year battle with breast cancer. Diagnosed at age 25, Sarah has gone through countless procedures and treatments to tackle this deadly disease. Over the course of the last three years, it has spread to her liver, lymph nodes and now her brain. Right now, she is undergoing whole brain radiation and chemotherapy to treat the tumors that reappeared in her brain after they attempted to remove them this past November. On Monday, they admitted her to the hospital due to the intense pain that she was experiencing in her head, an extremely low blood pressure, and vomiting. Last night, I talked to her and she was feeling much better. Hopefully she will be able to go home soon, but she said that she really doesn’t mind the hospital stay as they are taking wonderful care of her there.

While it seems like such a tragedy for a young, beautiful woman to be going through this, that is not Sarah’s perspective. She is truly a living example of someone who can say authentically, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” She has learned how to say, “It is well with my soul,” and truly mean it, and she knows that God is “affectionately sovereign.” Her prayer is that her life be used for His glory no matter what the cost.

In Daniel 3, there is the familiar story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three men who refused to bow down to the golden idol that King Nebuchadnezzar commanded all to worship. The king was very upset and said that if they did not worship that idol, they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. He even mockingly said, “Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

They ended up being thrown into the furnace, yet they were not consumed. God was with them, and he delivered them from death. Praise God for His faithfulness.

Yet, would God have been any less faithful if He would have allowed them to die? Notice that the three servants of the one true King, acknowledged that God was able to deliver them, but even if He didn’t, they would not stoop to worship any other god. Their allegiance was to the King of kings, and they saw Him to be faithful, no matter what.

Beth Moore has a Bible study on Daniel and in the study on this portion of scripture, she points out these three possibilities when God’s people go through “fiery trials”:

• God can deliver you from the fire.
• God can deliver you through the fire.
• God can deliver you by the fire right into His arms.

Notice that all three possibilities include deliverance, and while we may all wish for the first possibility to be true in our trials, how gracious our God is even when He allows us to “walk through the shadow of death.” He is with us and we get to experience a sweeter intimacy with Christ as a result, even to the point of being literally in His presence if he chooses to take us to heaven. That is certainly not a tragedy!

While Sarah believes that God is able to deliver her from this cancer, she rests in His sovereign hand, knowing that God is in control. Please pray for her, that her faith would continue to be strengthened and that she will have the courage to stand firm through this stormy time. May each of us learn from her response to God, and be able to say, “I will praise you, no matter what!”

In Between [John McGowan]

There is no doubt in my mind that the Saturday of that first Easter weekend must have been one of the darkest times in the human story. I can’t imagine a group of people more crushed than the followers of Jesus would have been on that day.

They must have clung to hope all day on Friday. Surely He would pull through. He would rise up. He would get off the cross. He would burst to new life and show everyone who mocked who He really was. He would overthrow Rome. He would topple the religious leaders. He would do anything but die. Yet at the end of the day, they laid the One they had believed to be God in a tomb. Their King was dead.

Imagine for a minute.

Everything they thought He would do was no more. He must not have been who they hoped He was – God doesn’t die. They had fallen for the greatest lie in the world. They had been sucked in by a fraud. And now He was dead. And now they had to figure out where to go and how to pull their lives back together without Him.

Imagine for a minute.

Hold on to that today, let the bleakness set in. Let it settle on your heart. It’s the only way to be ready for what comes tomorrow.

Crucified King [John McGowan]

About 2,000 years ago, a man just a little older than me hung on the wood of a cross outside of Jerusalem. He hung there between two thieves, writhing in pain; unimaginable agony gripping His body as He fought for breath. He had already been beaten beyond recognition. He had already worn a humiliating crown on thorns. He had already been abandoned by His friends. His own people had led Him to death. And He was so alone. So frighteningly alone.

He hung under a sign that announced to anyone who could read Hebrew, Latin or Greek who this man was, “Jesus The Nazarene, The King Of The Jews.” Hope is tied to embracing the truth of those words. If we see Jesus as just another discredited rebel, then things will stay pretty bleak. But to believe that He was something so much more is to open the door to hope, to life, to eternity, to everything you were created to be and experience and enjoy.

For 2,000 years, the church has carried a simple message – the man on a tree is the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. He is fully man. And He is fully God. He is the perfection of everything we can imagine. He is infinite glory. He is eternal majesty. He is without sin. He is holy in every way.

And He died. Of His own will. For you. For me. For the world.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21

That’s our hope. That’s why today can be called Good Friday. Yes, our King was crucified. But in that death, we find life. Glorious, amazing, unending life.

Remember Me [John McGowan]

This morning was one of those times in life when I had to intentionally slow myself down, take a breath and refocus my thinking. These last couple of days have been so busy for me that I hadn’t really taken the time to reflect on the fact that we’re heading into Easter weekend. I’m guessing there’s a lot of us in the same boat. Life can get so busy that we forget. But in the moment we remember, the business of life doesn’t look so bad.

It was about 2,000 years ago on a Thursday night that the God of Creation celebrated one last meal with His friends. Paul gives us a glimpse of what happened in that upper room:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NASB)

A King foreshadowing His own death. A Savior who knew how the night would end. A Redeemer who carried in Himself the power to change everything. A God who so loved the world that He would embrace death that His followers could be alive forever. And He said, “remember Me.” Please don’t forget.

It’s worth taking some time to do just that today.

Undivided Heart, Final [Julie Phillips]

Note: If you are viewing this blog via email, click here to watch the video.

And finally, “Doesn’t God see that I am hurting?”

Wow! How many times have we all felt that at one time or another? Doesn’t God see we are hurting?

I talked to Parker. I told him that God does see that he is hurting- but we don’t always understand how and why God works the way he does- but we do know that God has a plan. I shared with him about Paul:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I shared with Parker that we didn’t exactly know the source of Paul’s weakness…and that though he had asked God to remove it- God had a reason for the suffering. I told Parker that we needed to rejoice that it wasn’t a life or death issue. And I told him, that God was there for him in the midst of his pain. That Parker needed to find some way to be content within the circumstances he was experiencing- waiting on God.

I have to admit, this didn’t go very far to assure my eight-year-old son. It was too deep, too hard, and too distant for him to comprehend. He doesn’t care that if he damages his joints now, he might not walk as an old man- he wants to run, play baseball and get those darn plastic feet! But, as a parent, I have to take every opportunity to teach the truth…repeatedly. A second opinion the next day allows him to run unless there is pain- but Parker has a hard time regulating that…so we will see.

His experience, and mine as his parent, reminds me that to be undivided with God- we must find a way through the pain, suffering, hurt, and distress that happens in life- to stay close to our Heavenly Father. Cry out, be honest with God- but seek him through it all. God has the lid of the puzzle box- seeing the whole picture- we can just see the various pieces as he reveals them one by one. His goal is to make us more like him- for HIS glory.

And there is hope in the midst of the suffering. Romans 5:3-5:

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Does this hope mean that everything will be okay and solved like we want? No. It means we already have the hope living inside of us- the hope of Christ is the gift of eternal life and all that a life with him entails- including the suffering. The hope is not that it goes away according to our desires- but that God will work through our suffering, using it for His glory, shaping us according to His plan- so that we are more like Him, serving Him.

I hate that my son is in pain. Any parent hates to see their child suffer. Don’t you think God sees it and hurts with us as well? But, we must trust, and continue to follow the commandments of God.

James 5:10-11:

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

1 Peter 5:10:

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Are we able to say to God- Bring the Rain so that I can be undivided in my pursuit of YOU God!

You tube video of Mercy Me’s song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

Mercy Me’s Song- Bring the Rain:

Undivided Heart, Part 3 [Julie Phillips]

Psalm 86:11:

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

My son ran past me with tears running down his face. The door slammed behind him. I paid the doctor bill, grabbed Raney’s hand and followed Parker out to the car. He was sitting in the back seat kicking the seat in front of him and crying. I put Raney in her booster chair, and went around to my seat. As soon as I got in the car, Parker started screaming out his frustrations. I stopped him, and then he just started crying really hard.

The doctor had just told Parker that he didn’t need to run anymore. We are having trouble with some joint issues and pain in Parker’s legs, hips, and feet. We haven’t discovered why, or how and we are trying to chase down the issue by visiting various doctors. Last November, Parker ended up in the emergency room because his knees were swollen, he couldn’t walk, and he was running fever. It quickly went away with the right medication- but we still haven’t found the cause and have gotten mixed diagnoses. We have ruled out any life threatening issues (praise God!)- It just about finding the source of the pain at this point.

Since then, Parker has had various pain, stiffness but never the swollen joints or fever. In the last few weeks, the pain has progressed to every other day and one day he had trouble walking without crying because of pain in his feet.

You have to understand Parker. He is full of life, energy, and competition. He wants to do what his friends are doing, he wants to play baseball, run, and be a rough and tumble boy. At school, they are doing a mileage contest. For every five miles they run, they receive a plastic foot to put on a chain. You would think these little feet were diamonds the way the want to get them. Parker spends his recess running laps. He has two feet already. But…. his pain has been increasing and he has gone to the nurse at school and had trouble when he got home.

Parker couldn’t wait to play baseball this season. The first practice- he got to be catcher! What fun! That position comes with accessories…and Parker loved it! But…when he got home- his knees were hurting very badly and he had trouble sleeping.

So, my son was crying in the car on the way home from the doctor. I calmed him down. As he was crying, this is what he was saying, “Why is this happening to me? I have to be able to run, this isn’t fair! What about Katherine and Raney- they don’t like to run as much as me.” And finally, “Doesn’t God see that I am hurting?”