THINKING OUT LOUD

How Do You Kill 11 Million People .. Or More?

2012-01-25T08:43:00.001-05:00

"I am a Mormon. Catholics come home." Have you seen the TV commercials for the Mormons and the Catholics? Have you seen the billboards proclaiming these religions? What is required of one who wishes to become a Mormon or a Catholic? What would I have to do if I decided I wanted to be one? What would I have to believe? What would I have to do differently? How about a Muslim or Evangelical? What would I have to do to be given the name of Muslim or Evangelical? And, how would I know what is the truth about these religions and what are the lies? Don't we all think our faith is the right one?

"So why, for month after month and year after year, did millions of intelligent human beings ~ guarded by a relatively few Nazi soldiers ~ willingly load their families into tens of thousands of cattle cars to be transported by rail to one of the many death camps scattered across Europe? How can a condemned group of people headed for a gas chamber be compelled to act in a docile manner? The answer is breathtakingly simple. And it is a method still being used by some elected leaders to achieve various goals today. How do you kill eleven million people? LIE TO THEM." (Andy Andrews, author of How Do You Kill 11 Million People)

Look at us. Look at those of us who say we believe in God, in His Son Jesus Christ and in His Holy Spirit. Listen to us. Do you hear it? I am a Catholic. I am a Mormon. I am a Baptist. I am a Protestant. I am an Evangelical. What is it we have been told that made us choose that title for ourselves? How many of us never chose that title but were simply brought into it at birth or at marriage or because someone introduced us to it?

Few people in my life have said to me, "Shirley, you really need to know why you believe what you believe. You really need to go directly to Jesus Christ and ask HIM every single thing about every single belief you have. You cannot simply sit back and be spoon fed your beliefs." Oh, wait! NO ONE EXCEPT JESUS HIMSELF has ever told me that! I cannot recall any earthly person who has ever directly told me that. Indirectly, Oswald Chambers has told me in his book, My Utmost for His Highest. And David Platt in his book, Radical. And now, Andy Andrews in his book, How Do You Kill 11 Million People?

In the STATS window of my blog, I am able to see words or questions googled by people who are searching for answers. Here are a few: Does God get angry when we divorce? Does God get angry when we sin? What is absolute truth? While I can still remember a time when I would have had to do the same thing, I sit here and am amazed not only at the truth that we prefer someone else's answers over Jesus' own words, but at the sad, sad truth that believers don't share His truth with each other ... because they do not know and follow His truth. Generally speaking.

Oh, the silence in the Church is DEAFENING! Sure, let's say, "I'm a Catholic. I'm a Mormon. I'm an evangelical." And let's throw out a great Bible Scripture (or even just some great positive feel-good talk) on Facebook once in awhile in hopes that someone will read it and want "what we have," and we can call it witnessing as disciples of Jesus Christ!

As I read in Luke 4 this morning, I read how Jesus went to the synagogue and read from the scroll. When He was done reading the words of the prophet Isaiah, "All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips."

It was when Jesus started speaking the hard truth about how hard it will be for you to be a prophet in your own hometown (among people who KNOW you well), that, "All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove Him out of town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him down the cliff."

We don't have to run Jesus out of our churches today, all we need to do is ignore Him and ignore His truth. We don't have to do anything really, but show up in church, listen to a really great message, sing some songs that will charge up our emotions enough to make us feel that we were in His presence ... and go out the door feeling satisfied that we did our parts as Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Evangelicals, etc., etc. Then throughout the week, if we just have our "daily quiet time," do enough good deeds, treat people kindly with positive and uplifting words and hope people see Jesus in us ... then we can go back to church the next Sunday and repeat our routine.

What I know for sure today is that unless the truth I know came directly from Jesus Christ, it isn't the truth at all. It is a lie. And if I am sharing my beliefs with anyone else that I learned from anyone other than Jesus Christ, I am lying to others. Does God get angry when I sin? Does He get angry if I divorce? Does He get angry if I say His Word is too difficult to understand? Does He get angry when I have time for everything BUT being His disciple; when I refuse to let go of everything that consumes my thoughts and time in order to obey Him? Do people who know me, KNOW that I KNOW Him because the truth I share about Him is a truth that is free yet will cost all you have? (Have you read John 15???)

Those who did not want to look deep down within themselves were the ones who wanted to rid themselves of Jesus. Those who did want the truth and who did want to see in themselves what Jesus saw in them are the ones who could not stay away from Him. How do you kill 11 million people ... or more? Lie to them. Tell them things that make them feel good about themselves instead of what they need to know. Tell them how wonderful Heaven will be for all those who believe in God ... but leave out the part about how they must leave the popular route and take the less traveled one. Tell them how God rocks, and just wants to bless their socks off ... but leave out the part about how it will cost them everything. Oh, and what about Him getting angry when we sin? When we decide divorce is easier than marriage, etc.? Just tell them all about His grace and how it has us covered. Another thing, let's just let people ... especially little children ... think everyone is "in a better place" when they die because God would never send anyone to hell ... right???

Am I killing ... or saving? Am I aware that silence is lying by omission? Do the words "kill 'em with kindness" mean anything? The hardest part is walking the walk because others can see in us what we can't even see ourselves, and I close with these words of warning from Jesus: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." (Lk. 6:26)

What Is God's Will?

2012-01-21T09:50:00.002-05:00

God's will. I hear a lot of believers say they just want to know God's will for their lives. I hear a lot of believers say they are praying and asking God to show them His will for their lives. So, what IS God's will? What exactly does that mean? How do you explain God's will to someone who wants to know what it is? How do you explain God's will to a child? And, have you ever explained what God's will means to anyone? Ever?

I had coffee recently with a friend I will call "Jeri," because she reminds me of my youngest brother Jerry. Like Jerry did, and like many other people in the world do, Jeri struggles with life. She suffers from depression and also from not "fitting in", and believing she is a "nobody". If only she was married and had children, maybe she would be happier. If only she could lose weight, then she might not be so depressed. She tries so hard to read the Bible, she tries so hard to be in God's will, she tries so hard ... at everything, but nothing works ... if only ...

So, we sat across from each other and I listened, just as I have listened to her for years. But I've changed in the last few years. I've learned that encouraging, inspiring, building up, accepting and even saying to people, "I'll pray for you," is a waste of time without sharing the truth of Jesus Christ. (Don't get huffy here, I'll come back to this.)

When it was my turn to talk, I heard myself asking her, "What is God's will? How would you explain God's will to someone who asked you?" She began stammering around and said nervously, "uh, He wants us to go to Heaven with Him ... uh, He wants us to, uh ..."

I cut in and gently said, "Obey Him." She kept struggling to find words, and again I gently said, "Obey Him."

"Obey Him?" she asked.

"Yes, obey Him," I said. "That's it. Just obey His Word to us. His will for us is to obey exactly what He said to us. When He says to stop being angry ... stop being angry. When He says to stop envying ... stop envying. When He says to stop lying ... stop lying. When He says, forgive ... forgive. It goes on and on." She completely relaxed and smiled as though she had just finished a race. I went on. "We've complicated the Gospel, Jeri. We have bought into lies we don't even know are lies. We have taken His Word and we've gone out and sought interpretations and meanings from people other than Him. We have bought into the lie that His Word is too complicated for us to understand and we spend our whole lives searching for answers when it is all right there for us to read. You are upset with yourself that you can't lose weight and what does God tell you to do about it?"

"Umm ... obey Him?" she hesitantly asked.

"Yes, obey Him," I said. "He says if He is in you, you are His temple, so treat your body, soul and mind as though it is His temple, because it is; you are where He resides. You can't be overweight if you don't overeat and don't eat junk food. We don't see obesity in poverty stricken countries. That is the simple truth, but people don't believe it because they've bought into lies about why we are overweight. IF you don't want to be overweight and you are unhappy about it, then care about His temple because that is where He is, Jeri."

I then talked to her about a health issue I'd been dealing with for over a month. I shared with her how I am very hesitant to ask people to pray for things like that, because I believe we have bought into lies about prayer. Her eyebrows went up, and I went on. "Think about this, Jeri," I said. "For the last month, I haven't been able to leave the house much; not even to go to church. But, I have had more time than I've had in a long time to spend with God and His Word, and so I have. And this wasn't just time spent reading, it was time spent asking Him to teach me, to reveal Himself to me and to reveal His Word and truth to me. And He did! My mind is bursting with things He opened up to me! Now, why in the world would I ask people to pray that I will get better soon? Why in the world would I have wanted to miss that huge opportunity to spend that kind of time with Him only! What do we really want Him to do? Heal us physically or heal us spiritually?"

"Don't get me wrong," I told her. "I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for people, I'm saying we need to learn to pray the way God wants us to pray. Look at the Israelites and all they went through. Look at all the obstacles they encountered ... for the sole purpose of being able to see God at work teaching them AND so they would have accounts to pass down to their children and their grandchildren forever. We need to learn to pray for strength and courage to go THROUGH the painful trial or situation or health issue, AND for the truth He is going to teach us about ourselves instead of praying it away, but listen to us in the church! We are busy, busy, busy praying away all these situations that God intends for us to grow from so that HE will be honored by our obedience!"

Jeri asked me why we aren't taught this. I told her it isn't the responsibility of anyone but ourselves to know what Jesus says about everything. Jesus doesn't tell us to go to our church or pastors for our teaching, He tells us in John 6, if we want eternal life we are to go directly to Him and be taught by Him. The church then; the pastor, is to reinforce that. He told us if we are going to follow Him, we need to let go of ... everything ... even our long-held beliefs ... and do what HE says we must do. But once we know, we are called to pass that truth on to others who don't know, "just as I'm sharing with you now," I said.

"One more thing before I go," I asked, "when you walk into church and into your class at church, do you feel like you don't fit in? Do you feel like you are not part of 'the group or crowd?' Do you feel like you don't measure up because the pastor is closer to God than you are? And do you feel like other people there are closer to God than you are?" Her eyes were moist with tears as she slowly nodded her head. "That's exactly how I feel," she said.

"So, you have God residing in you; you have God in your heart, right?" I asked. She nodded. "And the pastor has God in his heart, right?" I asked. She nodded. "And there are others there who have God in their hearts, right?" She nodded. "So then, how can anyone be closer to God than anyone else?" I asked. "While some may have more knowledge of His word, if He is in our hearts, how can anyone be closer to God than anyone else? If I have more understanding of His Word than anyone else, it is because of my obedience, not because I am more intelligent."

"I've been in 'the group,' Jeri. I've fit in with 'the crowd' and I found out that being with the crowd, doing all that the crowd is doing, no matter how good it is, if I am not doing this ... if I am too busy doing good stuff to care about you and share His truth with you and others like you who are struggling, then I am only religious and Jesus detests the religious. That's why I'm no longer part of the church crowd. I don't go to church to fit in or to be accepted, because Jesus didn't call me to do that. He called me to do what He did even though He was seen as crazy ... and yes, I am seen as crazy!"

Her smile was huge. "Just obey Him," she said. "His will is just to obey Him!" I nodded and said, "Yes, it's just that simple ... but you have to let go of everything you are trying to hold onto."

What I know for sure today is that when He asks, "Are your hearts still hardened?" He is trying to get us to understand that until we allow Him to teach us, our hearts are hardened against His Word; His Truth. We can continue to seek out pastors, teachers, Bible study leaders, great authors, etc., to help us understand His Truth, but the longer we avoid seeking His Truth only, which will result in making a choice to obey or disobey, the more our hearts continue to harden as we accept a Gospel that isn't His.

So, how is your heart? Have you left "the group" yet to follow Him only ... or are you still asking Him to show you "His will?" Oh, and when He says, "Come, follow Me only," well, you either obey, or you keep following the crowd.

What is Your Faith Costing You?

2012-01-18T08:56:00.001-05:00

What is your faith costing you? What have you been telling your children and your grandchildren about God? Listen to this: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharoah, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.'" (Ex. 10:1-2)

(No children or grandchildren? Read Isaiah 54:1-5)

Did you hear that? "I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren."

Couple of things here on my mind: First, why did God harden Pharoah's heart in the first place, and second, does He still harden hearts today? If you go back to Exodus 4:21, you read that God told Moses He would harden Pharoah's heart. Three verses later, you read that God met Moses and was about to kill him. So, I'm thinking here, is this just one example of why we don't talk about this with our children, grandchildren, friends, family etc.? Is this all just too much and too difficult for them too handle? Is it maybe better for us simply to share the love of God with others and skip the hard parts, in hopes that they may come to know Him?

Is this why we (believers of Jesus Christ), say (whine) "the Bible is too difficult to understand?" Is this why we (believers of Jesus Christ), generally speaking, spend our life studying the Bible and going to Bible studies because we need someone other than Jesus Christ to explain it to us? Is this why I almost never, ever hear believers talking about such things as this, yet, I am almost always hearing believers sharing and quoting how good God is? (Oh, I am SO NOT opposed to studying the Bible or Bible studies, but when do we start obeying Him by letting Him be the One to teach us? When do WE begin teaching others how to go to Him?)

Jump with me to Mark 4:10-12 & 4:34: "When He was alone, the Twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the parables. He told them, 'The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.'" And, "But when He was alone with His own disciples, He explained everything."

Moses was not a man who was feeling called to be a leader for God; in fact, it sounds like he was a man just like most of us; he was scared out of his wits to do what God wanted him to do and God's anger burned against him because of his timidity. God took an unqualified and almost unwilling man to use in His mission involving an ungodly, heathen Pharoah, for the sole purpose of showing His power and that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth. In fact, these are the very words God told Moses to say to the ungodly Pharoah: "But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Now I ask, if God raised up a heathen man such as Pharoah so that His power and His name might be proclaimed in all the earth, what do you think He raised YOU up for?

In my Bible reading this morning, I was reminded that the family of Jesus thought He was out of His mind and they attempted to take charge of Him. To His disciples only, He explained that only the forgiven are the ones who will truly understand Him and His truth (Mk. 4:11-12). Even His own birth mother and his birth brothers would not understand Him unless they chose to believe what He said and then chose to obey (which comes only through true repentance) ... and in so doing, would receive the forgiveness Jesus offers; forgiveness that offers peace and freedom.

So, what have you been telling your children, grandchildren, friends and family about God? Only that He will bless them, that He will prosper them, that He will care for them, that He will help them, that He will love them just the way they are, etc.? Or are you telling them what God said to tell them, along with the hard truth of His Son, Jesus Christ? If we don't do what He says we are to do, will He harden our hearts?

What I know for sure today is that if Jesus' own birth family, along with religious people, thought He was out of His mind, and if I choose to take Him at His Word, and believe Him, obey Him and follow Him only ... then I must believe that the same will be thought about me. So, how is this thing of faith working for me? Do people think I'm out of my mind?

There are days when I think momentarily, I wish more people understood me, instead of thinking I've lost my mind in my passion for Him. But it's only momentarily and then I remember that to follow Jesus instead of following the multitude comes with a cost. He told us what that cost is. He didn't sugarcoat it at all. You don't have to look too closely at me to see where I still fall short and where I fall flat on my face at times. I'm no different than Moses, but I can and will say out loud, "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I count it an honor to be thought of as 'out of my mind.'" Remember, there is a cost and, (there is no such thing as secret disciples).

What is your faith costing you? Jesus explains everything only to His disciples, and He reminds us in John 8 that, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

What Has God Said to You?

2012-01-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

Caution: If this is TOO DEEP for believers, we are more ignorant of His Word and steeped more in religion than we ever imagined.

In my Bible reading the past few days, several verses caught my attention and left me with these questions:

"Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me ... " (Genesis 48:3)

~When was the last time God SAID something to me and what was it? Did I pass it down to my children, grandchildren ... or anyone else?

"Then all the disciples deserted him and fled." (Matthew 26:56)

~Is it possible I am deserting Him now and don't even realize it? How would I know?

"But Peter followed him at a distance ... " (Matthew 26:58)

~Am I following Him so closely that I can barely see or hear the multitude behind us or am I one of the multitude who is too fearful to leave the "group"?

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)

~Am I teaching the Scriptures, or am I teaching what He said to teach?

Sharing what He has said to me? It was just over a year ago when God spoke to me and let me know I was so busy with good church stuff that I had no time to train my grandkids in the Word ... just as I had had no time to train my children in the Word. Now, I am not one to flippantly go around saying, "God told me this and God told me that," so for me to write here and say, "God spoke to me," my heart had to have been pierced so deeply by Him that I know without a doubt it was He who spoke and not just my emotions. (As I've shared here numerous times, I was a good mom who had mealtime prayer, and a bedtime prayer after a quick-read devotion with my kids, but other than that, it was the job of the church and Sunday School to train them, not me).

I have spent the past year sharing this message God gave me with so many people I could not possibly begin to count them. I've shared it on Facebook, at the grocery check-out, in the produce section, in the post office, on the sidewalk, in the coffee shop, in my kitchen, in the doctor's office, on the phone, on vacation, in McDonalds, in Burger King, in friends' homes ... as well as in the church where it was often unwelcome.

Deserting Him? Yes, I had been deserting Him. Disobedience to obeying the Scriptures, is the same as deserting Him and His Word. Deuteronomy 6 is not a passage of Scripture to be read once a year, it is the very foundation of our relationship with Him. We either obey it or we desert Him in our disobedience (complacency).

Following Him at a distance? If I am with the church crowd, doing what the church crowd is doing, performing as the church crowd is performing and saying what the church crowd is saying, I cannot possibly be following Him closely; I am following at a distance. If I blend in so well with the church crowd that there is no significant difference between myself and one who has chosen to leave all to follow Him, then I am in the crowd which is diligently united in trying to get closer to Him.

Teaching the Scriptures or teaching others to obey His commands? Is it possible that all these years, the Church has overlooked these words of Jesus? " ... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Are we, am I ... teaching others to obey what He commanded us, which means, am I teaching others what He said or am I teaching others the need to go to Him directly to seek His own Words to see exactly what He said?

What I know for sure today is that if the Church is ever going to obey the Great Commission exactly as Jesus says we are to obey the Great Commission, the Church is going to have to let go of a whole lot of beliefs that did not come from Jesus Christ ... just as I have had to let go of a whole lot of beliefs that came from the church and NOT Jesus Christ. There is no way on earth we can read the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continue to live as we do. There is no way on earth we can read the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continue to do church as we do.

Doubtful? Look around. Listen. Look at the church. Listen to the church. Look and listen at YOUR church. Look and listen at MY church. Look at the multitude of believers and then look at those who have pulled away to be as close to Jesus as they possibly can. How many can you count who have chosen to stand out and stand alone ... as Tim Tebow has? (While I love sharing Tebow's name, how ironic is it there aren't more to choose from?) How is it that we have so few believers willing to be mocked, criticized and persecuted for their faith like this young man has? Why aren't there more of us willing to leave the "religious church crowd" in order to be one with Jesus Christ? Could it be because we do not want to be seen as a religious nutcase, a religious zealot, a radical or extremist? Could it be because it is safer in numbers?

What was the last thing God said to you and what have you done about it? Are you deserting Him because the truth is too hard to follow? Are you following Him at a distance or are you so close you can hear every word He is saying to you? And are you teaching the Scriptures or are you teaching people how to go to Jesus Christ directly to be taught by Him?

What Does It Mean to be FREE?

2012-01-12T10:59:00.000-05:00

Got some rambling to do here .. and have a question for you: If asking Jesus Christ into your heart brings with it the promise of freedom, what does freedom really mean? Here is what Jesus told us: "If you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

So I ask again, what does "the truth will set you free" really mean? Has the truth set YOU "free" and how would you explain this to someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ and ... how would you explain this to a child? How many believers (not counting Tim Tebow!) do you know who have learned the truth and the truth has set them free, because they live as though they are free!

Had lunch and a conversation with a friend recently where I said if I had it to do over again, I probably would not have sent my children to Sunday School; I would have taken them with us to church and we would have gone home. My friend asked why, and we talked briefly about the things I would have missed out on, like getting to know her and so many more people in my life because of Sunday School.

I came home and thought long and hard of all the friendships I've gained over the last 30+ years through Sunday School. I thought about all the years of class parties, retreats, potlucks, etc., and wondered: Is that what God had in mind for the Church when He wrote the Ten Commandments in stone for us?

I thought about entering church for the first time as an adult, a wife, and a mom. I remember being swooped up and encircled by friendly, outgoing people who were so glad we were there. It wasn't long until we were very busy with new friends going out to eat, going on various vacations together, sitting around playing cards and games together, etc., etc. It was a lot of fun ... and I was so relieved to know my children were learning the TRUTH of Jesus Christ in their Sunday School classes!

It was years later when I realized there wasn't a single Christian in my life who wanted to talk about the hard truth of Jesus Christ. No, not one. Why did we need to? Wasn't it enough to go to church, listen to a sermon, go to an adult Sunday School class and learn about all the trials, tribulations, aches and pains that were going on in each others' lives so we could pray, encourage and support each other? Wasn't it enough to plan projects that would bring more people into the church ... and projects that would enable us to serve others? Wasn't it enough to attend all the Bible studies and classes offered so we could be more knowledgeable of the truth? Did we really need to discuss it outside of church?

So here I am, more than three decades later and I wonder, is church the way we are doing it, what God had in mind for us when He gave us His Ten Commandments? Is all the socializing we do and our kids/grandkids do ... is that what He had in mind when He sent His Son to us to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life? When we look at each other in the Body of Christ, what do we see? Do we see each other as true disciples of Jesus Christ because we know the truth and we have been set free? Or do we see more bondage, more brokenness, more despair, more distractions ... more dependancy on people to meet our needs than on God to meet our needs?

Before you get in a spiritual huff here, just think with me. Where did you learn the "truth" that, "God loves you just the way you are," without, "but He will NOT allow you to stay that way?"

Where did you learn the "truth" that, "God just wants to bless you," and, "He just wants to give you the desires of your heart," without, "when your desires are His desires for you?"

Where did you learn the "truth" that, "If Satan comes a-knocking at your door, you can just tell God to take care of it?" I call these "truths" and others, Christianisms; things we learned from fellow believers that they learned from fellow believers and we are passing onto fellow believers.

Back to Jesus' words. When you take a good hard look at the Church and yourself, has the truth set you free? Do you consider yourself "free"? Have you decided how you define "free?"

Here is how I have learned to define it: I am free when I have learned His truth from Him; not the church, nor great books, nor great speakers, and this freedom will produce in me a passionate desire to share what HE taught me. When I am free, the evidence will be the same as it was for the sinful Samaritan woman at the well. This woman listened to Jesus, left her old life and immediately shared what He told her to all who would listen. It was in receiving the truth directly from Jesus Christ that she was able to leave her past, her guilt, her shame, her dependence on men/people and whatever else kept her trapped in her prison of pain ... to be free to live a life of a true disciple ... a disciple of the truth ... and she passionately SHARED the truth.

So, why do we need the church? As I've written numerous times here, we need the church; we need pastors to teach us what John 5:39-40 means. We need pastors to teach us that we are not to rely on the church but we are to go directly to Jesus Christ for our teaching. We need pastors to teach us that it is not in studying the Scriptures that we find freedom, it is in going to Him directly, listening to Him telling us specifically what and how we are to live and then do it.

We need pastors to teach us that it is OUR responsibility to take Deuteronomy 6 seriously, and when we do take this seriously, we will probably find it's impossible to obey ... because we have too much going on. We have too many church functions to attend. We have too many friends to socialize with. We have too many cards to send and visits to make. I realize I am sounding like a broken record here as I repeatedly share how the Church has abandoned Deut. 6 in exchange for a gospel that offers great friendships, but the truth is, the Church (generally speaking) doesn't seem at all bothered that when we depart from Deut. 6, we have departed from God's commands.

If this isn't true, then why are so many Christians so discouraged, so broken and so in need of friends, instead of having a passion to reach OUTSIDE of the church? As a Nana who is taking Deut. 6 seriously, NOW, I can tell you that when you teach children the truth, you have no time or desire left for anything but the truth. You can't carry on a conversation without the truth! After all, HE IS THE TRUTH ... and He is supposed to be what comes from you ... right???

What I know for sure today is that God knew when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses to give to us, He knew if we followed them, we would have no time or desire for anything but Him. He knew we would have no time to get all caught up in all the busyness of the world, the distraction of wealth or food or hobbies or anything else. He knew we would never be so fulfilled, so satisfied, so healed, as we would be when we decided to take Him at His Word. I'm so grateful for His promises that give us comfort and hope, but oh, I am even more thankful for His commands that won't permit us to rely on anyone but Him for His all powerful, and life-changing truth!

Whose Approval Do We Seek?

2012-01-10T07:46:00.000-05:00

"Am I now trying to win approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)

I stood in the line at my local grocery store last week with two women between me and the cashier. While waiting, the woman in front of me turned around, pointed at the tabloids, and said loud enough for me and others to hear, "I read about this Tubow fellow."

This woman who I guessed to be in her late 70's then looked directly at me and said, "Do you know about Tubow?"

I raised my eyebrows with a questioning look, and she said, almost accusingly, "Well, do you follow football?"

I responded that I don't follow football, but yes, I do know about Tim Tebow. She then told me how they had discussed this at her church and how unbelievable it is that people are so critical of this young man who is so dedicated to God. "Did you know he was born to missionaries? And do you know he goes to the Philippines every year? And do you know he is building this organization to help people? Now, why would people have to be so critical of him and us Christians?" Her questions came faster than I could answer.

I stood there thinking, okay, I have a choice here. The woman is using this story as a witness to her faith in God. ("It takes one to know one" would apply here; I've been in her shoes where I needed a story or situation to somehow get God's name into the conversation so I would be known as a Christian.) So, what do I do? She's elderly, and I don't wish to make her feel bad or offended so I can just smile sweetly and nod, OR, I can be bold and share the truth of Jesus Christ here. What to do, what to do???

Silence is agreement, I was reminded quickly, and there are other people standing here listening to this conversation. So I asked her (with a gentle, non-accusing voice), "Don't you think the critics have good reason to criticize us?" Her eyebrows shoot up, and I go on.

"Don't you think there's a reason Tebow is the man he is, and that is because his parents were diligent in training him in the Word. Being that they were missionaries, they probably were not handing him over to the church for that training; they took their job as commanded them in Deut. 6 very seriously, wouldn't you think? I can't stand here and tell you that I trained my children as God commanded me to, and I don't think there are many of us who can. Doesn't that explain why we have very few people like Tebow who are willing to take their faith so seriously that people will know without a doubt, they truly know God? Doesn't it make sense that if there were more of us who would not be afraid to publicly share our true faith, Tim Tebow wouldn't be so singled out to be criticized?"

Mouth opens. Mouth closes. Mouth opens. Mouth closes. Then in a more subdued voice I hear, "Well, we're just outnumbered," and she is out of there before the cashier can even hand her her receipt. Cashier looks at me and says she wonders why she took off like that and I say, "I guess she didn't want to hear anymore from me."

While the Church would like to make it look like Jesus always had a soft, kind and gentle answer to all who came to Him with questions, I have spent enough time with Him to know that He almost always gave hard answers that almost always came in the form of hard questions. I have been in this woman's shoes where the only way I knew to share my faith was to share something bad about someone else ... or, share something good about someone else, but never, ever sharing the solid, hard truth of Jesus Christ which always must include the truth about myself He has revealed to me; the sin in my life He has revealed and continues to reveal to me. You know, the plank and speck thing Jesus talks about.

If I can just divert the attention away from the fact that it is ME who needs to listen to the truth of Jesus Christ and it is ME who needs to learn that if I truly believe the truth of Jesus Christ, then I can simply offer a sweet smile, an accepting answer, a nod of approval, or an encouraging word or situation about someone else and I can come off smelling like a sweet rose; not one who dared to tell the truth which would make someone else stop and think about what they just said. I can't use Tim Tebow's story alone to make anyone want Jesus Christ. Nor can I use the story of how bad Obama is destroying our country and how we need people in office who will uphold our family values so they won't be destroyed, as my testimony of faith.

I can tell you a year or two ago, I would never have said what I said to this woman. Not a chance. But I am not the same as I was then. I have been sorely convicted of the the time I spend and the conversations I have, and I've been right up front as I've told more than a few people I've met in the last couple of years that, "I will be the most honest friend you've ever met."

Isn't that who Jesus is? Isn't He the most honest friend we will ever have, and yet how often do we turn to friends for our encouragement and support, instead of to Him for His truth? Are we truly friends if we only take the verses that tell us to accept, love, encourage and build one another up and leave out the ones that tell us to, "Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor?" And, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen?"

What comes out of our mouths needs to be what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen? Am I building others up if I am accepting, approving, inspiring and encouraging without speaking the hard truth of Jesus Christ? Am I benefitting those who are struggling when I offer a smile and the promise to pray for them ... but stop short of telling them hard truth they need to hear, just as Jesus did? Am I being a help or am I simply helping someone to feel better about themselves and their situations?

A friend recently shared something with me worth passing on: "I think I would like myself for a friend." That's something worth thinking about, isn't it? If we aren't someone we would seek out as a friend, isn't there something wrong? Jesus commands honesty. He commands the truth because He is the Truth. So I have to ask myself, "Am I someone I would seek out for friendship? Would I, being one who boldly speaks the truth that almost always hurts, want a friend like myself who would ask me hard questions; am I one who would make me stop and think about my words, action and deeds, or am I one who would simply say sweet things to myself to make me feel better about myself?" If not, why not?

What I know for sure today is that people came to Jesus for quick and easy answers and He gave them answers they either didn't want to hear or didn't want to understand. Only a few chose to leave their friends and family to walk with Him and I'm guessing their friends and family had a hard time understanding their decisions.

In our walk with Jesus Christ, we will either stay in a place where it is safe, where we are liked and maybe even spoken well of, or we will follow Him where it leads us away from even being understood. If we stay where it is safe and easy, we will miss what God has planned for us. Jesus tells us, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."

And Oswald Chambers writes, "If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we obey God it will mean that other people's plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it--'You call this Christianity?' We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid." (My Utmost for His Highest, January 11)

So, we must ask ourselves questions about the answers we are giving such as, are we outnumbered? and if we are, why are we? And while we're having a conversation with ourselves, we should also ask, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? And, am I the kind of friend I would want for myself?"

Who Are You Following in 2012?

2012-01-04T08:48:00.002-05:00

It's a new year, and the Iowa Caucuses tell a greater story than who they've chosen to be the three frontrunners for presidency of the United States. What you won't hear in the news, and you won't hear from the pulpit, and you won't hear in conversations of fellow believers in Jesus Christ is: The Church has lost her way, and she doesn't know who to follow.

These were, generally speaking, conservative Republicans voting last night; largely, born again evangelicals who want to put the right man in the White House, and based on results, they are every bit as divided as the candidates themselves. One Constitution, one Book of God's Word, and one very divided party ... and Church. Why is this?

In the Church as well as in the world, in the Republican party as well as in the Democratic party, in the schools as well as the homes, generally speaking, Christians and non-Christians, conservatives and liberals, and educators and parents have no absolutes. Absolute truth has evolved into a "truth that is right for you and a truth that is right for me" and it is every bit as prevalent in the church as well as outside the church.

I can still hear the pleading, panicky voices of Christians a number of years ago when it was George W. Bush running for re-election. Everywhere you turned you could hear Christians telling each other, "We MUST keep Bush in office; we MUST have someone who will preserve the sanctity of life and of marriage." Really? We were in desperate need of a man who would become president and outlaw abortion and gay marriage? This was another pivotal point in my life when I realized how lost the Church was.

As much as I wanted a man in the White House who would uphold moral values for the family, more than that, I wanted to see "Christian" homes look more like homes where Jesus Christ was the leader than homes resembling chaotic war zones. I wanted to see marriages where there was evidence of Jesus Christ being in the center rather than the facades of marriages I encountered in the church. I wanted to see children in Christian homes grow up and want to honor Jesus Christ with their lives because that is what they saw in their own parents' lives and marriages ... instead of seeing a bunch of religious hypocrisy, and turning their backs on the church as soon as they could leave home ... just as I did.

Here we are in the brand new year of 2012, and what the Body of Jesus Christ seems to want more than anything else is a president who will uphold "our moral and family values," so that life and marriage between one man and woman will be preserved. We also want churches that have worship how we like it, music we like, truth we like, classes, programs, Bible studies; we want a church that will provide everything we need for ourselves and for children to learn all we need to know about God. In essence, we want a church that will meet our wants and needs.

Absolute truth is what Jesus tells us. Absolute truth is everything Jesus tells us. He tells us in one word what we are to do: "Repent." Not once, not twice, not weekly in confession, but, "Repent." The one who came before Him, to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, was John the Baptist who said to us, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

I ask, when you look at the Church, when you look at your Christian friends and when you look at yourself, do you see the Body of Jesus Christ living a repentant life? Do you see the Body of Jesus Christ living a life of bearing fruit ... in KEEPING with repentance? Do you see the typical Christian family living out Deuteronomy 6 as they impress God's commands on their children as they talk about them when they sit at home, and as they talk about them as they walk along the road, and as they talk about them when they lie down and when they get up? Do you see the Church living out the absolute truth of Jesus Christ as she is producing fruit that comes through her repentant life? Or do you see calendars filled with so many things to do that there just isn't time to do what Deuteronomy 6 says to do ... and besides, we have the church to do that for us, don't we?

Who are you following today? Jesus calls those who are serious about following Him to come and repent, because it is in living a life of repentance (not being a weepy martyr nor a regular at confession) that will produce good fruit. It is in living a life of repentance (by intentionally following Jesus) that He shows us the next thing we need to let go. Repentance is a continuous letting go of all that is not of Him, all that is keeping us distracted from Him, all that is not what He called us to carry along the way. Religious beliefs, wrong attitudes, self-pity, hobbies, money, debt, me time, pride, anger, worry ... everything that is not of Him is baggage we were never meant to carry.

And yes, if we follow Him, we will be hated just as He was hated. He tells us: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world. That is why the world hates you."

What I know for sure today is that generally speaking, the church of 2012 wants to be loved, accepted, approved and covered by grace ... instead of living a life that "produces fruit in keeping with repentance."

Do you believe in absolute truth? Do you believe Jesus when He says we must come, follow Him and live a life of repentance that will result in producing fruit? I've learned that repentant people ~ not wrong people but repentant people ~ are people I can learn from and want to learn from. Repentant people are people who have nothing but time and desire to impress these commands as they sit at home and as they walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up. Repentant people are not out to change anyone else; repentant people are just so thankful for their healed hearts that they absolutely, positively cannot keep that good news to themselves. And when the Church becomes the repentant people Christ called us to be, abortion rates will drop, marriages will be strengthened, people will want what we have and it won't be because of laws telling us how we must live; it will be because we want to follow Jesus Himself.

P.S. The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos is a book that helps you see just how exciting it is to teach and share God's Word ... as we are commanded to do. It is a child's Bible for children even in their 90's. I encourage you to find someone to read it to ... or give it to ... or read it yourself if your own Bible is still too difficult for you to understand.

2011: What Was Your Pivotal Point?

2011-12-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

In 2011, what was your pivotal point in your walk with God? What was your turning point where you allowed the Light of Jesus Christ to expose His truth on sin in your life, and you had a marked moment of change that was obvious even to others? I'm talking about Jesus Christ Himself here; not your pastor, not Oswald Chambers, Max Lucado or Beth Moore; not Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer. The question is, what was your turning point in 2011 where you allowed Jesus Christ to expose sin in your life? What did Jesus Christ show you in 2011, that you needed to change, whether intentional, deliberate, habitual sin ... or sin you were completely unaware of in your life?

If you've been reading this blog, you know what my pivotal point was this year. It came to me after a period of time in 2010, where I simply felt uncomfortable "doing" church. What I mean by that is, feeling uncomfortable just doing what everyone else was habitually and ritually doing ... but experiencing no real change; showing up exchanging pleasantries, being inspired by a sermon, maybe being emotionally stirred by a song, signing up for more Bible study, and yet, while I am one who detests being religious, I was finding myself ... being religious. My pivotal point came early this year when I began reading the Bible with intention to hear Jesus Christ speak to me ... and He did.

The first and greatest commandment God gave us is to, "Have no other gods before Me," and Jesus came and magnified this Truth with His powerful Light by saying, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It was this truth that stopped me in my tracks when I got to Deuteronomy 6 and realized I was unintentionally failing miserably; a.k.a. sinning against God. Not only had I NOT "impressed them on my children, talked about them when we sat at home and when we walked along the road, when we laid down and when we got up," I was not impressing them on my grandkids now!

We are NOT getting it, Church! We are NOT getting Deuteronomy 6! And anyone who reads this passage of Scripture thinking it does not apply to his life because he has no children or grandchildren ... is dead wrong! If we have time for our jobs, and our hobbies, and our appointments & commitments, and for all the good church stuff we do ... and we do not have time OR courage OR desire to share God's truths, we are sinning against God!

If we can talk about the mess our country is in and if we can talk about what needs to happen to turn it around ... and yet we cannot see and talk about the mess our church is in and ignore what needs to happen to turn it around ... we are sinning against God! If we can quote the very popular Scripture repeatedly, "If my people will pray," but we refuse to see our need to turn away from all the things that are keeping us distracted from obeying God's Word, we are sinning against God!

As believers, we are either fruitful or unfruitful, and religiously going to church and "doing" church will not make us fruitful. Giving money to help others "be fruitful," is NOT the same as YOU or ME bearing fruit. Joining another Bible study after decades of doing Bible studies will not make me fruitful; it will only make me more knowledgeable of His Word. It is only in sharing and teaching the truth of Jesus Christ that I will be fruitful. AND, I can call this blog my way of sharing His truth, because I DO, but seriously? Will He allow me to simply find something that "works" for me, "using MY gift of writing" instead of following Him and going where HE leads me?

Joel Osteen, pastor of the largest and fastest growing church in America, makes the claim that he is NOT qualified to teach Scripture (click here to read more); there are other people called and qualified to do that but that is NOT his gift; his gift is that of encouragement ... and he has a greater following than most other pastors in America. Can any of us who believe in Jesus Christ make that claim? Can any of us say our gift is anything OTHER than teaching Scripture ... unless we don't know Jesus Christ and therefore don't know any Scripture?

What I know for sure today is that I am anticipating and looking forward to the pruning and discipline (the hard truth) Jesus Christ has for me in 2012. My pivotal point in 2010 as well as 2011 required me to turn away from a lot of good church stuff; to see myself through His eyes, and I expect it to be more of the same in 2012. I have learned if I am going to follow Him, I cannot follow or be part of the religious crowd; I cannot be doing what the rest of the church is doing, and you know what? I used to look at this pruning as being very painful and costly. Well, there is pain and huge cost in following Him, but I have learned it is in being fruitful that I find freedom as I've never known before!

As I shared with my grandkids this week, people want Jesus for themselves when they see people who have Jesus in them, and people who have Jesus in them are not walking around in despair, depression and loneliness; nor are they walking around with a pretentious facade. People who have Jesus in them have something in them other people want, and if we have Jesus in us, we don't have time or desire for all the other distractions in our lives.

So, what was your pivotal point; your turning point in 2011 where Jesus got your attention and you obeyed the truth He was showing you? In my life, there have been years where I never experienced a pivotal point with Him; I know now that if I truly want His truth that will change me, it's impossible to go for a year without His discipline and pruning. The key is in obeying that truth; committing to "working on it" won't cut it, only obedience will. If I'm still "working on" applying Deuteronomy 6 in my life in 2012 instead of intentionally obeying it ... instead of giving me more, He will take away from me: "Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." (His words, not mine.)

Is The Government Really On HIS Shoulder?

2011-12-22T08:24:00.001-05:00

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Is. 9:6)

I read an article this week about the governor of my state; how he wants to prioritize local government reform, a statewide smoking ban, right to work and higher education affordability. I instantly thought how, years ago, I would have been elated to read that smoking would be banned from everyone and forever. I thought back to how it only made sense to me when a law was passed enforcing car seats for babies and children. And helmets for bikers; yes, bikers should be forced to wear helmets to protect them. Years ago, I never stopped to think how things like education laws, work and safety laws, and health laws would bring us into the place we are in today; on the brink of becoming a Communistic country.

"For unto us a child is born ... and the government shall be upon His shoulder." A Saviour, a King is about to be born to a virgin ... and the government shall be upon His shoulder???

The people who are the loudest and most vocal against big government are the Conservatives, the religious right; the Church. WE are also the ones who want laws against drinking, gambling, gay marriage, smoking, etc. WE are also the ones who loudly protest the removal of prayer in schools and the elimination of God from our history books. WE are also the ones who speak out against legalism; legalism such as the Amish mandating to their people how to dress, what to drive, what kind of houses to build and how to believe. Umm ... the Amish seem to like being told how to live but WE call it legalism. And WE say we don't want the government to tell us how to live but WE keep encouraging it by encouraging more laws ... like smoking bans, because we want to protect innocent lives; especially innocent babies.

Merry Christmas, Jesus. Could there have been a more innocent life than Yours as You lay in that lowly manger? Could there have been any baby whose very life was being sought more than Yours? Could there have been any baby whose life needed more protection than Yours? The government was on Your shoulder, right? You had the power to make the government do whatever You wanted it to do, right? And that was Your mission on Earth, right? To manage the government and make sure it was governing as it should, right? And that was what You came to teach us, right? That as citizens on earth, we should make sure the government is doing exactly what it is to do, right?

"Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!' Jesus replied, 'And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

I read to my grandchildren from The Child's Story Bible (Vos) yesterday, about the 'stern' prophet Elijah. "What does 'stern' mean, Nana?" my grandson asked. Stern is very clear, very direct, very harsh, I explained. No soft, sweet and kind words, just the very harsh truth. I explained that Elijah had to go to King Ahab who was the king of the Israelites, God's chosen people, and tell them very sternly, there would be no more water for them until such a time as he decided. This was because they had turned their backs on God and were worshipping other gods and idols. In exchange for the harsh truth of Elijah, Ahab determined to kill him. People, even believers, do not want the truth; they want warm, fuzzy, feel-good talk, I explained to my grandkids, but that is not how the truth of Jesus Christ is. The truth is stern, hard and harsh.

The Church today has become more tolerant than truthful. Most believers do not believe in absolute truth. Most believers do not believe it is their responsibility to share Jesus Christ out loud, because it's too offensive. Most believers don't have time or desire to follow the command of God laid out in Deuteronomy 6, so the church and Sunday School have become the surrogate teachers for not only children but for adults as well. Most pastors don't want to teach the absolute truth about John 5:39-40. Most believers don't want to accept the words of Jesus Christ in John 5:39-40. Most believers want to get their message on Sunday mornings or a good devotional or Bible study, but not from Jesus Himself.

Once again, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and as divided as the Church was on the night He was born, I wonder if the Church has ever been more divided as we are today. The government is on HIS shoulder, but we are trying to do His job instead of doing what He called us to do. We WANT the government to make our world a better place; we want a clean environment, we want air free from poisons, we want good health and good doctors, we want lower taxes and higher paychecks, we want godless public schools to provide quality education for our children, we want enjoyable jobs with benefits, we want terrorism stopped, we want cheaper gas, nice homes and cars, we want good churches with good preachers with good messages, we want good Sunday School teachers to teach our kids and grandkids ... and we want Jesus to bless it all.

"Then a teacher of the law came to Him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.' And Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.' Another disciple said to Him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'"

He also said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."

The government is on HIS shoulder, and He says to us, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his live will find it. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

Where is the stern prophet today, warning the Church of her betrayal of Jesus Christ? Or don't we need one? Are we living our lives in such a way that if Jesus walked into our churches today, He would be pleased that we are not worshipping our idols of pleasure and our gods of traditions? Would He let us know He is pleased with the way we are telling His truth to others?

What I know for sure today is that the very first Christmas was very unlike Christmas today. The mother of the Christ child demanded no rights. The air of the night may have been full of smells from freshly fertilized fields and heavily traveled, also well-fertilized paths leading into the city ... and I imagine the shepherds didn't show up smelling like roses, but no whining came from this mother who had just given birth to the Savior of the world. Away from the manger, in the middle of the town, harsh shouts from Roman soldiers no doubt could be heard as they attempted to keep calm in the midst of incredible chaos, and I can only imagine the fast-beating hearts of the fathers as they wondered if they had enough money to pay the forced taxes due to the government ... and what would happen to them if they didn't.

This Christmas, unlike the first Christmas, the Church can be found looking a whole lot like the world as we are demanding our rights, and praying to Jesus to grant them and bless them ... even though He told us sternly, even harshly, how difficult it would be for us if we choose to follow Him. Is the government on His shoulder as prophesied ... or have we made it our business to take it upon our own? Instead of arguing among ourselves, why don't we ... just ask Him?

Tim Tebow: Shouldn't We Be Doing the Same?

2011-12-14T09:16:00.001-05:00

Unconventional. Taken to an extra level of intensity. When he accepts the fact that we know he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him a little better. He should consider toning down his references to religion. It's not what you say, but what you do that counts. Living your faith will always mean more than speaking your faith, and saying less can be more. These are some of the comments I found when I googled Tim Tebow after hearing his name so much this past week. Everyone has their opinion about him and his outspokenness.

And then Kristi Overton Johnson writes, "For a man filled to the brim with faith, it's impossible for a little of that faith not to spill out onto the field and into the lives of his teammates, coaches and fans. Faith and Tim Tebow go together. You cannot separate the two. His heart is filled with gratitude to the One who has been with his family every step of the way. Out of his gratitude to God, he gives thanks. What a shame this offends so many."

As one who has been becoming more consumed with God than anything else; as one who has been desiring, seeking and striving for one pure and holy passion, one magnificent obsession, one glorious ambition for my life ... I understand the critics in Tim Tebow's life. If I, as a believer in Jesus Christ deliberately and intentionally decide to set myself apart from all that is not of Him which is not easy to do ... it is exactly as Overton Johnson writes, I cannot separate myself from my faith because of my gratitude to God. If I love Him more than anyone and anything, I will always have to talk about Him and I will be heavily criticized. It is impossible for believers who love God with their whole heart, soul and mind to separate themselves from Him. The problem I see here is not so much the offense and criticism from unbelievers, but from fellow believers. Why do believers have an issue with Tim Tebow's public display of faith? And why are even more believers so gaga over the same?

Look at Tebow. Listen to Tebow. Now listen to fans and critics of his message. To the fans (who I presume the majority to be believers), he has become an icon. The Church is ecstatic about this public display of faith and wants to put Tebow on a pedestal for his outspokenness ... and yet ... when we walk into our own church, we find the Church is divided over this thing of being vocal or private about her faith. The fact that Tebow's outspoken faith has started this fan frenzy among believers says a whole lot about the condition of the Church, does it not? What message does the Church bring to the world, when the Church is so excited to hear one of her own going public with his faith? Shouldn't there be a whole lot more of us doing the same?

Granted, Tebow has a public platform most of us will never experience, but right where we Christians are at today ... in our own homes ... in our own workplaces ... in our own churches ... in our own interests and passions ... in our own mundane of life ... do the people who know us best, know we are as passionate about our faith as Tim Tebow is ... or do they simply know we are good Christian people doing a lot of good deeds?

I have learned, it is IN the Church, where you will find your biggest critics, IF you are vocal about your faith. IF we choose to live our faith quietly, we will avoid the critics and avoid offending. Christians who can just show up and sweetly do church will be adored and loved. But if we choose to share Jesus Christ whenever the opportunity arises to share Him when we talk, this will be offensive to those believers who really don't want to go to that extreme. IF we put Jesus Christ into the picture of absolutely every issue, subject and situation that comes up where there is opportunity for Him to be acknowledged and shared, we will be considered radical and we will offend deeply.

If you have been reading here for the last year, you know my life has taken on new meaning and purpose. It is almost a year since I found The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos and started reading it to my grandkids. What I thought was merely a second chance to do Deuteronomy 6 the way God called me to do it (since I had no clue what it really meant when I had my own kids), has turned into an avenue of outreach and passion I never could have anticipated.

Not only was God calling me to stop settling for the good and instead strive for the best, He was putting in my heart a passion to point people back to the truth of Deut. 6. I could not have envisioned that as I read this very old Bible to my grandkids, He would stretch me in my faith, and He would call me to become even more vocal about my faith than I already was. I also could not have envisioned that this very Child's Bible would be the avenue to share Him more publicly.

While I haven't shared here the many opportunities God has given me to share Him through this Bible ... (while literally sharing and giving away this Bible this past year) ... I feel strongly that I should share one that just happened yesterday. I was in the post office and ran into a longtime family friend who I knew so little about, that I had no clue if she was a believer or not. We hugged and I headed for the door, but there was that voice I've grown accustomed to hearing, saying, give her a Bible. Knowing she had no young grandchildren to read to, I inwardly balked just as almost every other time this had happened, but I walked back and simply asked her, "Do you read the Bible?"

My friend looked at me blankly and said, "Yes, but I have such a hard time understanding it." I proceeded to tell her about how God has been growing ME this past year through reading to my grandkids this Bible that is called a Child's Bible, but by today's standards, is much more on an adult level (because we required so much more of children decades ago than we do today). We talked as we walked out to my car, and as I gave her a Bible, her eyes glistened with tears as she said she couldn't wait to start reading.

Listen to Tim Tebow's own words: "If you have Jesus Christ in your heart, you are going to spend eternity in Heaven. If you don't, you're going to spend eternity in hell. Some of the things that have given me the most joy in my football career are the different times when I've spoken about my faith. Whether it was wearing Bible verses under my eyes in college, or wearing John 3:16 in the national championship game, because every time I do that, that's humbling for me because I know where my strength comes from. And I want to honor the person that gave them to me. Thank goodness I don't have to live the roller coaster that everyone else lives about my life."

What I know for sure today is that the debate in the Church over private or public faith will grow even more heated as the time gets closer for the return of Jesus Christ. Those who know Jesus Christ and love Him with their whole heart, soul and mind to the point that they know His Word and what He has called them to do; they will be the ones who no longer fret about how people will think about them if they are vocal with their faith. Those who choose to be private about their faith are the ones who have only opened part of their hearts to Him. Like Jesus said, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

We know exactly where Tim Tebow stands ... because he has openly told us. We can either follow Jesus' lead and do the same for others ... or we can stand before Him someday and account for our silence.

What's Your Favorite Word, Nana?

2011-12-08T08:23:00.001-05:00

Last week I read to my grandkids about Solomon, the wisest man ever on earth (click here to read), and I explained to Carson and Chloe that we too, can have wisdom if we truly want it and we ask God for it. I read to them how people traveled far and wide in order to come and see this man who had wisdom (and wealth) like none other. Then, this week, we read about the downfall of Solomon.

"In spite of all Solomon's wisdom, he did some very foolish and bad things. That brought about his downfall. Solomon married many heathen women. He had seven hundred wives, many of whom were the daughters of heathen kings," I read (from The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos). Chloe's eyes were huge as she asked, "Seven hundred wives??? Isn't that bad?"

Yes, it is very bad; seven hundred wives and many of them were ungodly women, I explained. "What does downfall mean, Nana?" Carson asked. Downfall is when someone is at the top of their game and then crashes, I told him. It's when things are going so well for someone and he gets too confident in himself instead of realizing he is only human and he can fall. We need to understand this story of Solomon; we need to understand that if the wisest man on earth can fall this far from the truth of God and fail as miserably as he did, it can happen to any of us.

"God knew he would do this, didn't He?" Carson asked. Yes, He did, I said. Remember when his father David sinned and God told him his family would suffer dearly for his sins? We don't think about that when we sin; we don't stop and think that our sins will be passed down to our children and their children. Remember how I've told you your Nana did not know all this when your dad was born? Remember how I've told you I was sinning against God when I thought it was the job of the church to teach my children the Bible? Even though I did not know I was sinning, I was sinning. Remember how I've told you how I used to believe spanking was the right thing to do because it was what I was taught, but after I got to know Jesus, I realized He would never, ever hit anyone, especially a little child, because children are people just like adults? There are so many things we do, that we don't even stop to think about and we don't ask Jesus Himself if it is right or wrong, I told him. If I am still learning what I am doing wrong in my 50's, can you imagine how much more I will have learned by the time I am in my 60's?

As we continued with the story of Solomon, we learned about Jeroboam and Rehoboam and how hard it was for God-fearing people to live under the rule of these two bad kings. When Jeroboam decided to trick them into worshipping two golden calves he made for them to keep them from going to the temple to worship God, 6 yr. old Chloe said, "Sounds like Aaron," and I could only look at her with amazement. Even when I think this is way over her head, this little girl is taking it all in.

The conversation continued as we learned about how those who feared God the way they were supposed to fear Him decided they must get away from Jeroboam. They knew, because they had been taught the truth, they could not stay under his rule. They had to pack up their families even at the risk of losing their lives and get away from all the ungodliness surrounding them. This is why moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all who believe in God need to pass on these truths, I told them. This is why your Nana is trying so hard to get others to see the need to stop doing all the things that are keeping them too busy to sit and teach children as I'm teaching you. We might be under ungodly leaders even in the church, and we need to know the truth so we will know if they are teaching God's truth or not.

"In Solomon's old age his heathen wives turned away his heart from the true God and made him serve idols," I read to them. Do you think that is true? I asked. Do you think it is true that his wives were responsible for turning him against God? Carson looked at me and shook his head and said. "He didn't have to listen to them. He should have listened to God."

That's true. We are all responsible for our own choices just as Adam and Eve were when offered the forbidden fruit. And this is another reason why it is so important that we not marry anyone who does not believe in God our Father; that's why we need to be so careful when we choose a spouse because if we marry someone who does not want to live in obedience to God, married life will be extremely difficult, I explained.

What I know for sure today is that when God gave us clear instructions about passing His truths down to the next generation, He knew if we obeyed them, our lives would be so enriched, so fulfilled, so purposeful, so contented and so full of consistent peace and joy that our desires would be HIS desires for us and ... because in teaching others His truths, He would bestow upon us more wisdom. What else I know for sure today is that we can pray and beg and plead for wisdom ... and it won't show up until we are giving away what He has already given us. The more of Him I share with others, the less desire I have to do anything else.

After reading about Solomon, and as I was driving Chloe to school, she asked, "Nana, what's your favorite word?" Admittedly, I think way too hard too often, as I did that day. It's not supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, I told her. I kept thinking and finally said, Peace. My favorite word is peace. And from the back seat I hear, "Don't you think it should start with the letter J, Nana? Juh, juh, juh ... J?" So I said, you mean JOY? And she responded firmly, "G or J or H, Nana. Doesn't your favorite word begin with G or J or H?"

Oh, it takes a child to humble us. It takes a child to lead us and teach us. This 6 yr. old little girl understands that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit should be our favorite words in the whole world ... and I am reminded once again how we have such small expectations of children. Instead of teaching them the truth which will save them when they face the evil and corruptness in the world, we shield and protect them from it, thinking we will tell them when they're old enough to handle it ... and by that time, they've lost the interest and eagerness to know the truth because they're too busy with everything else they've got going on ... and they've already been influenced by the other voices in their lives.

What are you doing today that is more important than pouring into lives of children of all ages who desperately need to know the truth of Jesus Christ?

What Are You Asking God to Give You?

2011-12-02T08:56:00.001-05:00

"Ask what you would like to have Me give you."

Yesterday, I read to my grandkids about Solomon. God had appeared to Solomon in a dream and had said to him, "Ask what you would like to have Me give you."

Solomon responded to God that he was only a child and had no clue of what he was doing. He asked for an understanding heart. He said he wanted to be able to understand the people so he would be better able to govern them. "What do you mean, he was only a child?" my grandson asked.

Solomon responded to God as Jesus tells us we must do, I told Carson. Jesus tells us we must come as little children, not as adults who think we know everything. Little children are eager and excited to learn everything they can learn, and adults aren't like that too much of the time. Adults have a hard time with changing because they don't want to admit they're wrong. Solomon knew he did not have the wisdom so he asked God to give him wisdom and understanding and God honored his request.

We went on with the story of Solomon and how God made him the wisest man there would ever be on earth. I read to them about the two women who came to him, one with a dead baby and one with a live baby, but both claiming ownership to the live one. Clearly, one was lying, but how would Solomon decide which was telling the truth? Both grandkids were filled with anticipation about how this story would end, especially when Solomon called for a sword. As soon as the sword was lifted to divide the live baby in half, the true mother begged for his life saying the other woman could have him; just let him live.

It's just like Moses' mother did when she was faced with knowing her baby boy would be killed, I explained. Any mother who truly loves her baby will do anything to protect that life and Moses' mother decided it was better to give Moses to Pharoah's daughter than to keep him herself.

So, what do we want to ask God for? I asked Carson and Chloe. You will learn as you get older that many Christians have this all messed up. You will hear things in the Church that are not true. You will hear how God just wants you to be happy, and that God just wants to give you the desires of your heart. You'll hear that God just wants to bless you and bless you. But listen again to what God says to Solomon: "Because you have asked for this, and have not asked for long life, or riches, or the life of your enemies, but instead for wisdom and understanding, behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart."

The truth is, I told them, God gives us what we want ... when what we want is what HE wants for us. I want to tell you something that a lot of older people don't understand about talking to God. You need alone time with Him. When you go to bed at night and it is only you with no other noises, talk to God. You don't have to close your eyes, and you don't have to talk out loud if you don't want; you can just "think" to Him. Tell Him things like ... 'God, I want to know You better. God, I want what You want for me. God, I want to be wise so I can understand and love people better.' You can tell Him the same thing every night if you want and I promise you, He will be more pleased with your prayers than prayers that are just a long list of requests.

I don't know about you, but this past year, these words have never been as real to me as they are now: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

I've thought more about Mary and Martha than ever before. It is a good thing to be in the kitchen; it is a good thing to serve people. But the ultimate, the very best we can do is sit at the feet of our Father, and let Him tell us exactly what He wants us to do, and when we do this, we hear Him oh, so clearly saying, "Do you truly love Me? Feed My sheep."

We've made the grievous error in thinking "Feed My Sheep" is all about serving in a manner that involves only our hands (and money). Using our hands to serve and feed others is absolutely and critically necessary, but if we never come to the understanding that we are called to feed Jesus Himself to others, we miss out on the greatest gift He has to give us. Can there be any greater gift, any greater joy than to know that our children or any other children are walking in the truth? Do we truly want ALL He has to give us or do we want to settle for second best?

What I know for sure today is that the Church loves to talk about how much she loves to serve. What else I know for sure is that I rarely hear the Church talking about the joy that comes only from hearing the truth and then being so full of that joy, it is impossible to keep to yourself! Remember the woman at the well??? Remember how when Jesus told her the truth, she was so overjoyed at the healing taking place in her own heart that she absolutely, positively could not keep quiet! She had to RUN to town to let everyone know what Jesus had told her! We desire a healed heart, but a healed heart comes only from obedience to sharing Him!

"Ask what you would like to have Me give you." What do you want to ask God to give you? What are you asking God to give you? I can tell you this: When you ask God to give you opportunities to share Him; not just to serve Him in some manner by serving others, but to share HIM, I promise you, your joy will be overflowing. It will be impossible to keep it to yourself, because you cannot keep the news of YOUR heart being healed to yourself ... and ... you also need to know, the only people who will want to hear it will be the few others who have asked God for the same thing. You will learn as I have, to stop wanting to be understood by others, and instead, you will only want an understanding heart so you can understand others.

If you are not reading The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos, to someone, maybe even yourself, strongly consider it, because there really is, no greater joy than to know our children are walking in the truth. As I think of Billy Graham coming to the end of his life, and I realize his wife used this Bible to train up their children, I am at a loss as to why this book has been overshadowed by all the updated, more contemporary and entertaining children's Bibles. I am also at a loss as to how we ever began to believe that an hour in Sunday School each week, along with mealtime prayer, a quick little devotion and prayer at bedtime was an acceptable substitute for Deuteronomy 6. Older and wiser, I now have the time and desire with my grandkids and other people who desire the truth, that I did not have with my own, and the joy is overflowing.

Whose Job is it to Teach/Tell the Truth?

2011-11-29T09:13:00.001-05:00

Jerry Sandusky, assistant coach at Penn State, sexually abused boys for years, while others knew of the situation and kept quiet. Bernie Fine, assistant coach at Syracuse University, sexually abused boys for years while his wife not only knew about it but watched it and even engaged in sex with one of the victims herself once he turned 18 ... and ESPN had this information for nearly 10 years and kept silent. Herman Cain is being accused of having a 13-year affair with a woman who actually sounds like she is telling the truth, and Herman Cain does not sound at all like he is telling the truth. The Euro is on the verge of collapse. Lebanon fired shots on Israel today and Israel fired back.

So, how is this "remember the Sabbath to keep it holy" command working for us?

Last week I wrote about Target Stores/Thanksgiving/Sabbath (click here to read), and today I am realizing even more, just how far removed the Church is from taking the Ten Commandments seriously. I have a question for you: Whose job is it to teach/tell the truth? The church? The pastor/priest/bishop? The parents and grandparents? The Christians? I ask again, whose job is it to teach/tell the truth?

What was that about the Sabbath and keeping it holy?

As I listen to the news and literally want to vomit as details are spilled out about the disgusting actions of not just university coaches, but also of parents, grandparents, priests, pastors, youth pastors, school teachers, etc., as young children's lives are destroyed at the hands of adults who honestly believe they have the right to do whatever they wish to children ... I ask yet again, whose job is it to teach/tell the truth?

So, there is that commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy, huh?

Here is what I see: Generally speaking, the church believes the parents bear the responsibility to teach/tell children the truth. Generally speaking, the parents believe the church bears the responsibility to teach/tell children the truth. And generally speaking, no one is teaching/telling children the truth about all the awful stuff in the world because ... well, because ... why? Why the silence when it comes to sodomy, incest, gay/lesbian lifestyles, adultery, divorce, abortion, wealth, materialism, spiritual arrogance, deceit, war, terrorism, Israel, anti-christ, possible beheading for standing firm in worshipping God only, judgement, and the wrath/anger of God when we deliberately sin? Is it because we don't want to instill fear? Is it because we don't want to seem intolerant of other people's life choices? Why? Why the silence at home and at church?

So, what is the Sabbath all about?

Seriously, what is the purpose of the Sabbath? Why do we go to church? How do we keep it holy, and how does Jesus Christ clarify what it means about working that day? How does the light of Jesus Christ expose the truth for what it is?

As a Christian who believes Jesus calls us to learn from Him only (John 5:39-40), I believe the church exists ... to teach/tell us just that. "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify ABOUT me, yet you refuse to COME TO ME to have life."

Going to church for a sermon/mass/whatever you want to call it, is not what Jesus called us to do. Look at Matthew 21:12-17. Ask HIM to give you wisdom and understanding as you read HIS words. Jesus went in and drove out all who were buying and selling and He said, "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers." And when the blind and lame came to Him at the temple, He healed them ... especially on the Sabbath.

A house of prayer? As a Christian who believes Jesus calls ME to learn from Him only, I have learned that prayer in NOT what the church has made it out to be. Prayer, as Jesus teaches us, is communicating with our Father; having conversation with our Father, and conversation is NOT one-sided and when you get to know Jesus, you know He has hard words for you because He wants you to know the Truth about life. Jesus spoke with His Father about the most painful trial He would ever go through and said, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done."

Jesus told us. He told us we must come to Him for life; He told us diligently studying the Scripture won't do it, but only coming to HIM for all truth is the only way to the Father. Why are we to go to church? What are we to do there? What do we want Him to do there? He was furious at the buying and selling in the temple area. "The blind and the lame came to Him AT the temple, and He healed them," and when He did this, the religious people were indignant. They wanted to do things their way, not Jesus' way. When we go to church are we being healed ... or are we continuously asking/pleading to be healed?

The Church in America is being mocked today by the world because the church has become a den of robbers. With only a smidgen of trepidation here, I ask, how much money does it cost to teach the Gospel? How much more money needs to change hands in order to teach God's Word? When we take the Gospel to other nations, what do we need to tell people about God? Do we need anything but God's Word? Or do we have to take a load of good books that teach us who God is?

If it is possible to take one Bible to Africa and teach a group of people about God and teach them how to take that Bible and let Jesus teach them His Word ... and pass that truth on to others ... why then, here in our American churches where we have unlimited access to God's Word, must we spend so much money on Sunday School material? Why must there be so much money spent on (really great) Bible studies ... if all we need is God's Word? Is it possible we don't have enough people in our own churches who know Jesus so well that they just can't possibly keep that good news to themselves? (Please don't get all riled up here; just read and allow God Himself to reveal what He wants revealed through my many thoughts.)

What I know for sure today is that as long as as it is not MY responsibility to teach/tell the truth of God's Word, then someone else is at fault; not me. And as long as it is NOT the responsibility of the church to teach us how to learn from Jesus Himself, then Christians can continue to choose the lifestyle of their choice and do what they please ... even when it causes little children to grow up and repeat the cycle of abuse handed to them.

As long as the church exists to teach God's Word, but NOT to teach us it is OUR responsibility to learn from Jesus Christ only and to pass that down to our children and grandchildren and other children of all ages ... well then, we can just go along pretending that the things Jesus told us would happen, won't happen, and the people in our life will not be prepared whatsoever to stand strong for their belief in God ... especially when faced with their own life or death ultimatum.

Oh, and if you do not know about the Muslim Brotherhood, you really should. They're not just coming to America, they're already here.

Target Stores & Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

"Happy Thanksgiving! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Are you cooking or going somewhere? Is your turkey thawed? Will your family all be home?"

In the middle of all the classic greetings being shared, there is a heated debate going on about Target stores opening at midnight on Thanksgiving Day. This means many employees must go in earlier in the day which will prevent them from having Thanksgiving dinner with their families. As a mom of a son who manages a Target store, I too, was upset that it would affect him and his family. As I've continued to listen to the conversation about this matter, something was troubling me more than the idea that employees would have to give up their dinner with families and also the fact that Thanksgiving has become less significant than Black Friday, but I couldn't put my finger on it ... until yesterday when I heard this:

Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The 4th Commandment began repeating itself in my mind until it became clear: God never told us to honor Thanksgiving. God never told us to honor Christmas. What He DID tell us was to, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." What He DID tell us was to honor His day. And then He sent His Son Jesus Christ to clarify this; to tell us exactly what He meant by those words, which Jesus does, oh, so clearly in Matthew 15.

At 3:42 this morning, the words of this song began playing in my mind:

In the name of the Father,

In the name of the Son,

In the name of the Spirit,

Lord, we come.

So, how is it going with you and the Sabbath?

It was not God who created or ordained the holidays; it was man. It was man who realized how much money could be made by commercializing the holidays. It was man who romanticized the holidays and turned them into something spiritual, something emotional ... something that would become so essential to the family ... something so important, something so urgent that we would move mountains (a.k.a. spend unlimited money) to make sure it happened. It was man who made specific days into something so big, so important, so urgent, that people would not be able to deal with it if they couldn't make it home for the holidays.

So, how about the Sabbath?

Jesus came to earth and He shared harsh words with us about what we have done with God's Word. While man has also romanticized (and commercialized) Jesus to the point where He has become nothing more than a Saviour who just loves people and rocks their socks off all the way to Heaven, the truth of Jesus Christ shoots down our inherited beliefs and our long held traditions. He says it like it is: "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

So, how's this remembering the Sabbath to keep it holy thing going?

When God said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," did He mean something like this: Go to church every Sunday? Drop your kids at their assigned classes, assemble with other believers, sing and worship together, drop your tithe in the plate, connect in small groups, plan potlucks, plan Bible studies, plan shopping and golf outings, plan coffee dates, plan mission trips ... is this what He meant when He said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy?"

Before I lose you here, my turkey is thawing and the veggies are already sauteed for the stuffing. I've already purchased a few Christmas gifts, and my tree will be going up in a few days. I'm not anti-Thanksgiving, and I'm not anti-Christmas. What I am is sorely convicted about what we've (what I've) done with the 4th Commandment. I'll be perfectly honest here (unusual, huh?): When I walk into church, I don't feel a holy reverence surrounding me. I feel more like I'm at a "meet & greet." I feel more like I'm at a social function not much different than a holiday party where we talk small talk, maybe share how tough our week has been and ask for prayer about that, and are sure to take notice of what people are wearing and how their hair is styled. Sorry if this sounds negative; just being real.

Don't misunderstand: I am very fortunate to have a pastor who dares to preach the truth of Jesus Christ and who delivers messages that have the strong potential of bringing conviction through the Holy Spirit ... if we want it. It's just that when I read about Jesus sometimes having to pull away and even hide from the crowds who only want to hear Him speak, I wonder why the Church doesn't even bear a smidgen of resemblance to that today? I wonder why we don't show up in a reverent eagerness, excited and wanting only to hear Jesus speak His very hard words to us ... that we know will bring us healing when we obey them.

When I opened my blog this morning, I had a comment on a post I wrote two years ago about having a reverent fear of God. This was no ordinary comment; it was a comment from someone in another country who could not speak English and who worked hard to not only be able to read what I wrote but then to write her response (click here to read it). Not only was I humbled to tears, I was also taken back to the first chapter in the book Radical by David Platt. If you haven't read this book, you should. If you have read it, you should read it again. If you don't have the book, you should find it online and download the first chapter and maybe you will understand all I've written here today.

What I know for sure today is that we need to get ahold of the 4th Commandment and when we do, we will have a better understanding of Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we do, church will look and sound a whole lot different as we come in seeking Jesus only. When we do this, we will be more upset with ourselves about what we've done with the Sabbath than what Target has done with its stores on holidays. I shudder to think it actually may take us losing our freedom to worship as we please, to realize what we've done with church is not what God had in mind for us when He said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it Holy."

Absolute Truth: Catholics vs. Protestants

2011-11-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

"What is a Catholic, Nana? And what is a Protestant?" In addition to reading The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos) to my 6 and 8 year old grandkids, I'm also reading to them from the A Beka history book my now grown daughter used years ago, and I'd only read one paragraph into the chapter when my grandson stopped me with these questions.

The chapter I was reading was about the persecution in England in the 1600's, and how the rulers there tried to force all the people to believe the same things about God. It explained how, if the king of England was a Catholic, he expected everyone to be Catholic, too. If he was a Protestant, he expected the same. Those who disobeyed were persecuted and punished until they agreed to believe the same as the king. It was at this point the questions began.

Absolute truth, Shirley. It always has to be absolute truth no matter if it is children we are talking to, so tell the absolute truth.

We're Protestant, I explained to Carson. Both Protestants and Catholics believe in the same God, but we have major differences in our beliefs. One of the big differences between Catholics and Protestants, or at least some of the Protestants, is that we believe we must personally ask Jesus to come into us, and then we need to begin living as He called us to live. We believe it is His Holy Spirit who is in us, and He stays in us as long as we continue to walk and live according to the truth of Jesus Christ; as long as we allow Him to keep correcting us and disciplining us in order to become more like Him. We believe all this because Jesus tells us Himself in John 14-16.

Catholics believe they must go to mass each week and receive Jesus into them, I explained. They do this by drinking wine and eating a wafer which has been prayed over by the priest and has become the actual blood and flesh of Jesus. This is called Communion, which we do at our church, too. We don't believe He is coming into us each time we receive Communion, because we believe Him when He tells us He does not leave us unless we continue to live in habitual sin. We believe when we take Communion, we are doing this in remembrance of what happened on the Cross. "Why do Catholics believe it is really Jesus' blood and body?" Carson asked me.

I explained that Jesus told us whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will go to Heaven. Carson's eyes were huge at this point. Jesus told parables, I said. He often used what is called figurative language to make His point. Jesus knew He would be leaving this earth as a physical man. That is why He promised us a counselor, His Holy Spirit, who would come and be in us and with us, always. He told us He is the Bread of Life, and we need to feed on Him ... and He is the Word, which we are to feed on. It was Jesus who served the first Communion, and it was a man somewhere along the way who decided that priests could be empowered by the Holy Spirit to literally change the wine and wafer into His blood and body.

I shared with Carson the story of Haley, a young Catholic girl who was refused Communion because she could not eat anything with wheat in it, and the wafer contained wheat. A wafer without wheat was not an option, according to the rules of the church, because Jesus did not serve wheat-less wafers at The Last Supper. I asked Carson if this sounded like something Jesus would do. (Click here to read about Haley.)

But here is the deal, Carson, I explained. Most Catholics and Protestants are wrong, no matter what they believe, because they don't want to give up all that Jesus wants them to give up, and the first thing He wants us to give up is our religion. It doesn't matter a bit what we believe about Communion if we walk out of church and live according to our own thinking and desires. He wants us to come to Him with everything we believe, and ask Him what He has to say about it, and He has something to say about everything we believe.

Carson then asked if there are religions today that still force people to believe what they believe. I said yes. He wanted to know who they are and I told him Muslims ... and he asked what the Muslims believe. We never got past the first paragraph in our history book.

What I know for sure today is that we are ALL called to be passionate about Deut. 6, and it requires a lot of TIME, which means there is not a lot of time left for anything else. Everyone is a child no matter their age, and if we truly love the Lord our God with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength, then we come to realize we have ONE passion, ONE devotion, ONE ambition for our lives ... and it all starts with obedience to Deut. 6.

We walk on eggshells today, fearing we may offend people or put fear in children's minds about the state of our minds and the state of our country. Didn't Jesus tell us how bad things would be? Didn't He tell us we need to prepare not only ourselves but our families, friends and neighbors for what is to come? Listen to the conversation around you. Listen to the conversation on Facebook. What's everyone talking about? Is Deut. 6 at the forefront of our minds? Do children (of all ages) know what is going on and what is coming? Or do we think we need to shield them and protect them by giving them only the good, but not the bad and the ugly?

Absolute truth. Jesus tells us in John 5, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scripture that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

Absolute truth. Jesus also tells us in Matt. 18, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Absolute truth. How many more Bible studies do we need to sign up for before we are able to start sharing what we already know? Do we cause children (of all ages) to sin because of our spiritual hoarding? Do we become spiritually obese when we keep what we've learned to ourselves? And do we get to pick and choose how and who we will share God with, or do we seize every opportunity that crosses our path? Jesus Christ despises religious people and He has let us know very clearly what will happen to those who are. We really should take Him and His absolute truth seriously and the first thing that needs to go are the religious titles.

Absolute Truth: Biblical to Spank?

2011-11-15T08:13:00.000-05:00

What is truth? What is absolute truth? What is absolute moral truth? For a number of months now, this has been the most searched question that has shown up in my blog stats. This is encouraging to me to see there are still people who really want to know what truth is. While I've written here before about absolute truth (click here to read), I feel I should write more specifically what it is. This is of course, all going to come straight from the only Source of truth, Jesus Christ, so you would need to believe in Him if you really want to know what truth is.

As with any issue of debate in the Church, good Christian people are quick to quote this Scripture and that, depending on the matter being discussed. This is exactly the problem in understanding absolute truth. The Bible is massive and you can find one verse that solidifies your belief, while another believer can find another that solidifies his own. If you read the Gospels of Jesus Christ, you learn this is the very reason He came. He came to expose the absolute truth of God's Word. He tells us that Himself. So, while the entire Bible is there for us to learn from, it is Jesus' own words that clarifies it all. All. Everything. Every question there is, it is Jesus' own words that tell us exactly what the truthful answer is, but there is one requirement to understanding: You must really want to know. You must really want to hear the truth from Him only, because if you do, He will reveal it. If not, there will still only be confusion.

So, a good question to start with especially because it has been so highly publicized lately, specifically with a 10 year old in my area being killed from his father beating him ... is it Biblical to spank children? This is a subject matter believers in Jesus Christ dispute and debate over, instead of simply going to Him; instead of simply asking, "Jesus, would you spank a child in order to discipline him?"

Where and how did you learn spanking or corporal punishment is Biblical? From the "spare the rod" verse? Or others? Was it what was done to you? Was it preached from the pulpit? Or did it come directly from Jesus Christ's own words? If you have read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, can you find any words or verses anywhere where Jesus says this is how to discipline and train a child?

In Matthew 5, Jesus clearly speaks about anger and how anger is judged no differently than one who murders. All sin is sin. Then in Matthew 18, Jesus clearly speaks about the consequences of those who cause any child to sin. Is a husband or wife allowed to hit each other if one sins and is it helpful to the marriage? In Matthew 26, how did Jesus respond when Peter drew his sword and cut off a man's ear? The question is, is slapping, striking, smacking or spanking a child the method Jesus would use if He were training up a child to go in the way he should go? If we are to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you," do we want children slapping us back ... or slapping other children? If Jesus had wanted us to hit children, wouldn't he have hit the woman at the well because she was committing adultery ... which is wrong? Children are little people who are learning how to treat people of all ages.

I spanked because it was what was done to me by my mother who had it done to her. Once I learned that Jesus will clearly tell us every single thing we need to know about everything ... by His Words and by what He did to those who sinned against Him ... I realized I was wrong. It is impossible for you to tell a child he cannot hit another person, if you are the one hitting him. Don't do as I do??? Try this on for size: "Son, this spanking is to teach you not to lie, cheat, steal or sin in any way, but you must understand you can never do the same to anyone who sins against you. If someone sins against you, you must love and forgive them, but you cannot hit them for any reason. I find nothing in the Words of Jesus to confirm my actions towards you because He never hit a single person, but I want you to believe in Jesus Christ and love Him and obey Him with your whole heart, soul and mind."

As I've been reading The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos to my grandkids this past year, I've never understood more than I understand now, just how far the Church has drifted from teaching us how to learn from Jesus Himself. As we sit on the couch with this "child's" Bible that by today's standards would be considered an adult Bible (because we do not require as much from children or ourselves today), I look back and can clearly see how different I would have parented my children.

When you consider Deut. 6 carefully, does this describe your parenting currently or how you parented previously ... or how you were parented as a child? When you stop and seriously consider how much time in a day you spend "impressing these commands upon your children or grandchildren when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up," if you are honest with yourself, how much time do you really spend reading AND discussing God's Word to your children in comparison with all the time spent doing everything else you do?

When my children were young, we spent more time in the mini-van than we did at home. By the time they were in school all day (before I took them out to be taught at home), went to whatever practice was in season, went to all their games, went to birthday parties, friends' homes to play, vacations and all the church activities that were offered for them as well as their parents ... there was no time for me to read Deut. 6, let alone obey it. I was guilty of disobeying Deut. 6 and I understand today, had I understood the urgency of those words, there would not have been the need to spank. We would have been spending so much time in the Word that we would not have had time or desire to do everything the world and church offered us to keep us away from home. Sending them to Sunday School, and praying at the dinner table and after a quick devotion at bedtime does NOT at all even begin to resemble Deut. 6.

What I know for sure today is that sitting with my grandkids and training them in the Word (specifically The Child's Story Bible) leaves very, very little time for games, crafts and making cookies. What is does leave time for is conversation, conversation, conversation ... conversation they cannot get enough of. It is in that conversation where we discuss everything under the sun, even spanking ... as we did last week after my grandson heard about the little boy who died from his beatings and wondered why anyone would do that to a child. I told him when we raise children the way Jesus teaches us to raise them, we never hit anyone for any reason.

Call it a swat, a pinch, a slap, a smack ... call it whatever you want, Jesus didn't do it and He never told us to do it either. He told us we will give a child bread or stones. Bread (which is Him) feeds and nourishes, stones (which is NOT Him) bruise and destroys. I am a product of what happens when spanking destroys and I will never be one to say it was good for me because it wasn't. It only confirmed how inadequate, insecure, incompetent and unworthy I was. It deepened the anger in me and taught me to hate and took decades to deal with. And because I've learned how to learn from Jesus Himself, I've completely forgiven my mother because she only knew what she knew to do at the time.

If you ask people for their opinion on spanking, that is what you'll get. If you ask Jesus Himself, you will get nothing but the truth. Try it: "Jesus, am I honoring You and Your truth when I hit my child? Will he learn who YOU are by my actions?"

What Else Do You Need to Know?

2011-11-08T08:12:00.000-05:00

What don't you know yet about God? How long have you been a believer in Jesus Christ and what do you still not know? What is it you are still trying to learn? Why do you go to church? Why do you go to classes at church? Why do you go to Bible studies? What is it you are seeking? What is it you are wanting?

In class at church Sunday, we were reminded of the words in James: "Do what it says." We were reminded that we don't need new information; we need hearts that desire transformation. This is all stuff we know; we've heard it before. We already know what we are to do.

So, what don't you know yet that is keeping you from doing what the Word says?

Why does Jesus say there will be those who show up to enter Heaven, thinking they belong there because they did a whole lot of good stuff in His name, but will be turned away because He doesn't know them?

I've shared this before but it needs to be shared again: The church has become to the people what the government has become to the people, but there doesn't seem to be the uprising among the Church to oppose it as the Tea Party has opposed the government ... because we (generally speaking) like it the way it is.

Come to church. We will teach you about God. We will guide you into worship with music that will stir up your emotions. We will provide a place for your babies and children so we can be undistracted from all the noise. We will teach your children about God for you so you are free to hear God's Word and also to serve. We will offer resources and classes for every issue you face. We will offer you ample opportunities in which you can serve. We will teach you how to serve.

I am not anti-church. I am not anti-Sunday School. What I am is completely perplexed at the silence in the church when it comes to teaching parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., Deuteronomy 6. The government is failing as it doles out money to those who simply want a handout, instead of requiring personal responsibility from them ... and the church is doing the same ... and I believe it is very unintentional. May I ask, what is your church doing to make people see their own responsibility in teaching their own children ... instead of simply and ONLY offering classes to do it for them? Sunday School is wonderful for those children whose parents do not go to church as well as those who do ... but at what point are these parents being taught it is THEIR own responsibility and not that of the church???

Which is good ... and which is best: Sunday School for children, or parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., taking Deuteronomy 6 seriously and passionately?

If, 30+ years ago, I felt completely ignorant and unqualified to teach my own children as Deuteronomy 6 commands us to do, is it any better today ... 30+ years later? Do we (believers) understand better today that we are shirking our responsibility given us in Deuteronomy 6 than we did decades ago? In all the sermons we have sat under, and all the classes we have attended, and all the Bible studies we have studied for decades ... how have they helped us understand this passage of Scripture ... and impressed us to obey it?

When you teach someone how to do something for themselves, there is a wonderful feeling that comes along with it. When you teach someone how to learn from Jesus Christ Himself instead of teaching him only ABOUT Jesus Christ and what he is to believe ... and he GETS it ... the feeling is indescribable.

I can write here and tell you how wonderful it was for me last week to have the privilege to work four shifts with the Feed My Starving Children organization ... and it was absolutely wonderful; I look forward to doing it again next year. This pales in comparison, however, when I think of how I almost missed the boat with my grandkids. I almost sat back and let the church be my grandchildren's teachers (in addition to the small amount of time I was devoting to their spiritual training at my home).

Finding The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos) at the beginning of this year and reading it to my grandchildren has awakened me as I've never been awakened before. Suddenly I understand what I didn't understand for decades. Finally, in my 50's, I understand that when you teach a child not just about God but how to learn from God ... not only does he learn, but so do you. When you have to answer hundreds of questions, you realize just how much in YOU needs to change. And when you see the excitement in those eyes and you hear the excitement in those voices, you begin to want this for everyone else in your life ... whether they're children or adults and whether they are childless or not.

I thought it was all about teaching my grandkids, and what I learned is that it is so much more. "To whom is given much, much (more) is expected." Jesus never called me to go to church for the rest of my life to be fed and fed and fed. He never called me to go to a class for the rest of my life so I could become completely full and puffed up with His knowledge. He never said I should go to a Bible study for the rest of my life so I could become spiritually obese. What He told me was to ... bear fruit. What He told me was to ... make disciples. What He told me was to give away to others what He has given me.

What I know for sure today is that I do not need anymore information. What I need to do is be busy obeying what I already know. What I need to do is, "Do what it says."

When I am still and quiet enough to see a picture in my mind of Jesus standing in my church ... looking around ... listening ... what I want to see, I don't. What I want to see is a look of satisfaction on His face, but what I actually see is the tables laden with a lot of good stuff on them being overturned. Not being negative or pessimistic, just real. We are all ready and eager to feed children overseas who are starving to death ... and we should and MUST be. But if we are not feeding our own children the Truth of Jesus Christ in our own homes because we are too busy doing so much good stuff, AND because we were never taught it was our own responsibility, maybe the sign out front should read, "Welcome to the Church of Laodicea. Come on in. We'll make you feel as comfortable as you are at home."

What else do you need to know before you are ready to do what He told you to do?

Are You REALLY My Disciples?

2011-10-31T08:10:00.000-04:00

"The call of Jesus Christ for believers is quite simple: Make Disciples! His last words MUST be our first priority. We've never been called to start organizations, build buildings or create institutions. Those are only tools that help us fulfill His urgent call to make disciples. It's not complicated. It's quite simple: Our mission is to make disciples." My pastor Dave Engbrecht clearly reminded us ... warned us ... yesterday, of the call Jesus put on every single one of us.

Pastor Dave became very vulnerable with us when he shared a personal accounting of how he used to share the Gospel with unsaved people. It was the Roman's Road approach he used and it was rewarding and fulfilling to write in his Bible, names of those who heard the Word and became Christians. "Making converts is not wrong," he shared, "it's just incomplete. We're not to make converts but disciples. And we cannot make disciples unless we are disciples. We have to BE a disciple first."

Jesus asks (every one of us), "Are you REALLY my disciples?" Pastor Dave reminded us of Jesus' words to us in John. 8:31: "To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.'"

As I sat glued to my seat, I could not have been more humbled, more grateful and more appreciative for this message of truth. I thought about what I did NOT hear my pastor saying. I did NOT hear him talk about believers who have the gift of teaching or preaching and I did NOT hear him talk about people who are called to preach the Gospel. I heard one message for the entire Body of Christ. I heard, "The call of Jesus Christ is to, 'Go and make disciples.'"

Still very emotional, yet so affirmed and encouraged by this very convicting message, I went to small church (a.k.a. Sunday School). When my small church pastor began to speak, I knew something had happened to him. He shared about his week and his job, which is working with churches that are going through building programs. Normally, he meets resistance with the "60 something and over" crowd, but this past week he met with a church where the resistance came from the "30 something" crowd which is unusual. In sitting down with this group to find out the reason for resistance, he learned they had read Radical by David Platt. (If you have read it, you immediately understand the conflict of the "30 somethings".)

In Radical, Platt takes us completely out of all that is comfy, cushy and easy when it comes to doing church, and he stops us dead in our tracks as we grasp what Jesus actually says to us. Actually, that is not true. There are those who have read this book and were inspired or moved by it, but nothing came of it. How do I know this? Because I read the book, I was stopped dead in my tracks and I grasped another level of what Jesus is actually saying to me. My response to this book was, I need to let go of everything in my life that is not of Jesus Christ and His truth. I cannot keep living, thinking, doing and behaving as before. I refuse to keep living, thinking, doing and behaving as before. There's just one little problem with this: It creates a whole lot of conflict with fellow believers who do not believe they need to change their way of living, thinking, doing and behaving.

As I sit here this morning, processing and writing my thoughts, I think about how I wish for all the people in my life to come along side me in this journey where nothing else matters anymore; nothing but being a disciple of Jesus Christ ... and I think about how this way of thinking is about as popular and desirable as the stomach flu. I think about how "odd" I've become because I'm not the Shirley I used to be. Oh, I haven't lost my sense of fun and humor, and being a people person but all that has taken a back seat to being Jesus to others ... with words. I think about how I don't do what everyone else does anymore because I've learned if I am truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, there simply is not time to do all I used to think was important ... and very, very good.

And I think about the harsh Truth of Jesus when He oh, so clearly tells me, "No, Shirley, the road we are going on will not be full of all your family and friends. This road will be so narrow that it will be the less traveled. It will be a radical transformation and not many others will want the same. No, you will not be able to live life the way others do. When I say you will have to give up everything to be my disciple, I'm very serious. When I say you will be hated because of Me, I mean you will be hated because of Me. If you even think you will be loved, agreed with or even understood, get over it. Go back and read about My own life as often as you need to until you understand: It will be for you just as it was for ME.

When I say your mother and your brothers will be those who choose to do the will of my Father, that is exactly what I mean, and you need to understand it is not your job to convince anyone otherwise. I never forced myself on anyone and neither can you. If you are going to follow Me, you simply must have My thinking and My mind in you. No more excuses for your bad habits; just change them. No more defensiveness or explanation for your choices; just stop making bad ones. No more gimmicks. If you try to do anything or believe anything that did not come from My mouth, you will not be representing Me. If you are accused of being too preachy, or too truthful, first of all, take a good hard look at yourself through My eyes and see if the way you live, think, believe and behave contradicts in any way My teaching, and if it does, deal with it TODAY."

What I know for sure today is that IF I hold to HIS teaching, I am REALLY His disciple, and IF I am REALLY His disciple then I am busy making disciples. If I do not, than I am not, and I am a fraud. What I also know for sure is that while it is lonely on the narrow road because a lot of people you love are not there with you, it is also the most joyous, the most contented, the most peaceful, the most fulfilling, the most rewarding ... and absolutely the most FREEING thing I have ever known ... even and especially in the midst of the constant chaos, pain, conflict, drama ... and the fear of what is yet to come. Are you REALLY His disciple?

His Point of View; Not Mine

2011-10-26T10:37:00.002-04:00

This post today is for the church worker; the believer in Jesus Christ who is struggling under the load of all there is to do ... all the burdens there are to carry ... all the relationships needing to be managed ... all the prayer requests needing to be prayed for ... all the emails needing to be responded to ... all the calls needing to be made ... all the cards needing to be sent ... all the meals needing to be prepared for shut-ins ... all the volunteering in the church ... all the Bible studies needing to be attended ... all the committee meetings to be attended ... all the extra curricular activities needing to be supported ... all the statuses to be written, comments to statuses, birthday wishes to be shared and "likes" to be clicked on Facebook ...

I share from Oswald Chambers: "Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary enterprise the great danger is that God's call is effaced by the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails. We forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary enterprise is not first the elevation of people, nor the education of people, nor their needs; but first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ--'Go ye therefore and teach all nations.'" (My Utmost for His Highest, Oct. 26)

His point of view. That's something worth thinking about, isn't it? These words spoke volumes to me this morning as Chambers talked about the great danger of God's call to us being overshadowed by "the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails," and we forget the first and foremost command of Jesus Christ -- to teach His Word.

What I have not been able to explain to anyone for the past couple of years, and what I just shared with a friend two days ago ... that I hope I will be able to better understand myself as to what has gone on with me ... Chambers puts into words of clarity and understanding for me today. The past few years have been a time of deeper growth as I've felt God calling me to get out from underneath all the stuff that was becoming overwhelmingly, overwhelming. As I've pulled back, pushed away, let go ... dare I call it "downsizing my faith in order to enlarge it?" Whatever I call it, there came a point where I physically, emotionally and spiritually could no longer "manage?" "do?" "have?" all the relationships in my life ... even tho this seems to be what good Christian people are supposed to do.

His point of view? Jesus' point of view? Is the "busy Christian" in line with His point of view? I've prided myself for years how I got out of the "busy Christian" syndrome but didn't realize how much I still had to get out of ... until I sensed something was wrong in my heart, spirit and mind. I don't find it a mere coincidence this "realization" all began to unravel at the same time my younger brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, even though I am only now seeing the connection.

It wasn't like I hadn't already suffered the loss of one brother; I had. This was different. The first brother I lost (my youngest brother), simply died in his sleep without warning. This second brother I lost was handed a fatal warning ... which gave me a stern warning about my own life. Two and a half years is a very long time to suffer from a debilitating and extremely painful disease. It is also a long time to think ... to process ... to ponder ... to choose ... how you, the undiagnosed one, will live the rest of your own life.

What was that Chambers said? The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails ... and we forget the command of Jesus Christ--to teach His Word. As the news of my brother's diagnosis reached my ears, I was stopped in my tracks ... until he died 2 1/2 years later, which was one month ago. All I could do was listen for God's voice ... which meant I had to shut out many other voices and noise in my life ... and in doing so ... I heard His voice; I heard His point of view about all the "good stuff" I was doing that was keeping me so busy. I heard Him reminding me that life is fragile, it's unpredictable and we only get one chance to do it His way.

What I know for sure today is exactly what Oswald Chambers reminded me of this morning: "Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked." The needs in the church are great and unending and overwhelming ... and there is always another new thing to care for and pray for. But if we fail to see Jesus' point of view, we will also fail to carry out His command to teach His Word.

The diagnosis and death of my brother who I dearly love was not in vain. It was a huge wake up call to me ... from my Heavenly Father ... telling me my own house was out of order. My own heart was still in disarray as I was very busy tending to friendships and relationships ... enjoying all the fellowship, fun, and food that comes with the social life of church ... "good stuff" ... yet overlooking what needed to be done (corrected) in my own life. He used this time of my own grief to remind me of His own grief over what we have done with His commands. (If I want my own adult children or other people I want to share Christ with to want to live according to Jesus' own point of view, it isn't going to happen if they don't see me doing the same ... and they too, will find a lot of "good stuff" to do ... that will keep them too busy to realize they're not.)

When I finally came to realize I cannot manage everything and everyone needing to be managed, He was able to alert me to the spiritual needs of my own grandkids. (No, their parents are not neglecting the spiritual training of their children; grandparents are also called for that purpose. Remember Abraham?) And from there, Jesus Christ was able to expand that alert to me, to the spiritual needs of parents and grandparents who are too busy to realize their own failure to recognize their own responsibility to the spiritual training of their children/grandchildren. While He didn't give me an avenue void of conflict to share this newfound passion to share His Word, He did give me a very simple avenue to use to inspire other believers to be awakened and excited about Deuteronomy 6 ... this avenue being (The Child's Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos).

While this post may seem vague or confusing, I pray and trust the Light of Jesus Christ will shine on it and let it be HE and His truth who is seen and heard ... not Shirley. I'm not the same as I was a couple of years ago, because I'm looking at my life, my faith, my actions, my deeds, my attitude and my time from His point of view, not mine ... and it is costly to not only myself but others in my life.

What Have You Done With the Children?

2011-10-21T08:17:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning with a picture I can't get out of my mind. The picture is Jesus walking into your church sanctuary or mine, and asking, "What have you done with the children? Where are they?"

I know all the reasons for families going to church and everyone going in all different directions; I get that. What I don't get is what role Jesus had in deciding/planning all the various activities that should be going on ... in the church. If we look at His own example, if we look at how/where/when He ministered to the people, where do we find Him sending the children away? Where are the children when Jesus is teaching?

If we are to obey Him when He says to us, "Follow me," does that mean we are to do as He did, or does it mean we are to make His example into something that accommodates and makes things a bit easier and more comfortable for everyone?

I wonder when the church decided that children need their own teachers, their own church and their own sermons. I wonder when the Gospel of Jesus Christ became something children could not grasp or understand, and so something else was needed for them. I wonder when church became like school, or vice versa, where everyone is divided up according to age, and taught age appropriate (expensive) material ... as though when children are grown, they will be placed according to age.

I wonder what children will think if they ever find out that Jesus taught children right along with adults. I wonder what children will think if they ever put two and two together and question why they were sent away from their families.

I don't wonder why the Church asks, "What happened?" when she looks at the many children who grow up in the church and then turn away from the truth of Jesus Christ.

I also don't wonder why Christians get agitated when I bring up such topics as this. Thoughts such as these are not at all welcome in the Church because ... well, because how dare anyone question something we have invested so much in? How dare anyone question all we have built and established FOR the children? And worse, how dare anyone even think of bringing the children back into the sanctuary when they don't even know how to sit quietly and behave? How are we adults to learn anything when we are so distracted by uncontrolled children and crying babies?

What I know for sure today is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us about bread and stones and we are giving one or the other ... even when we do NOTHING, we are choosing what we are giving. The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us our responsibility to our children and what will happen if we don't obey His truth.

I've looked and looked and I cannot find anywhere where Jesus tells us it is okay to send the children away ... for any reason. I've also listened and listened and I cannot hear much at all, any joy and excitement coming from parents and grandparents (including any surrogates), as they impress these commands upon their children while talking about them as they sit at home, as they walk along the road, as they lie down and as they get up. Could it be because they're not? Are our children better off today for how we are doing church today?

As I read to my grandkids from The Child's Story Bible (by Catherine Vos) every chance I get, it is impossible for me to not share the joy in seeing them and hearing them ... getting what many adults never get! I can't imagine being involved in something as exciting as this, and then keeping it all to myself!

One last thought, there is one question I've been asked repeatedly since coming across this very old-school Bible, and since this has become such a vital part of my life. Here it is: "How do your kids feel about this?"

How do my kids feel about what??? Their children's Nana being devoted to pouring God's Word into them??? How do my kids FEEL about me being more passionately devoted to teaching God's Word to their children than me being more passionately devoted to my own other self-interests??? Wow!!! We have drifted so far from the example of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they passed on God's Truth to their grandchildren ... that we don't even realize we are COMMANDED; we are ALL CALLED to make sure our children and grandchildren are walking in the Truth. Thankfully, there is gratitude and appreciation from my children because there was trust ... first.

Oh, dear Jesus! Come into our churches and turn over the tables! Do whatever You need to do to shake us out of our slovenly comas! Remove the super-glued scales from our eyes ... no matter how much it hurts as they're ripped off ... until we see YOUR truth and how we have disguised it as something easy to digest! Put whatever boulder we need in our path until we have no choice but to STOP doing everything else and SEE what we are ignoring. Do WHATEVER You need to do Lord Jesus, to show us how complacent we really are, and how our children are paying a high price for our willingness to hand them over to someone else for their teaching. Oh, dear Jesus! Help us see what we have done with YOUR Truth and YOUR example ... and the consequences for our disobedience.

ONE Passion, ONE Obsession, ONE Ambition

2011-10-18T08:11:00.000-04:00

It was a message of truth. It was a message of necessity. It was a message of explanation of the Holy Spirit through the truth of Jesus Christ. "The desperate need in our lives today is not better technology. It's not better education and even better government. The most desperate need is for God's people to experience the fullness of His Holy Spirit. Only when we experience the fullness of His Holy Spirit can we be the people that God has called us to be. There's not a Plan B - there's no other way - it's the fullness of God's Spirit," my pastor Dave Engbrecht shared Sunday.

This was the message I have been sharing here for a number of years; the message of the urgency to know and understand John 14-16, because if we don't get this, we don't get who Jesus even is; we don't learn that we need to learn His truth from HIM. So I was thrilled to hear this message of truth preached. I was silently giving thanks for a pastor who is willing to risk losing people at the cost of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And as full as my heart was at hearing the message, there aren't words to describe how it felt as we sang the closing song ... read the words carefully:

Give me ONE pure and holy passion

Give me ONE magnificent obsession

Give me ONE glorious ambition for my life

To know and follow hard after You

To grow as Your disciple in Your truth

This world is empty, pale and poor

Compared to knowing You, my Lord

Lead me on and I will run after You

We've sung this song many times but it was this past Sunday that it spoke louder to me than ever before. ONE pure and holy passion? ONE magnificent obsession? ONE glorious ambition? REALLY??? Is that what we the Church want? Is that what I, a believer in Jesus Christ want? Do we want just ONE passion? ONE obsession? ONE ambition? Or do we want all life has to offer?

As I have been letting go of a whole lot of good stuff in my life, and I'm talking GOOD stuff here, in order to have room for only God's best, I'm finding myself with less and less in common ... even with other believers; especially with other believers. I have ONE passion. I have ONE obsession. I have ONE ambition. If you talk to me, you know what I want to talk about and DO talk about, and while I force no one to listen to me, I refuse to leave God out of the conversation just because I think you may be offended. I am a devoted, invested grandma with 4 adorable and brilliant grandchildren, but if I'm going to talk to you about them, it's going to be about the conversations we are having as we read God's Word together. He is in me and He is what comes out of me ... and that just doesn't leave a whole lot of room for much small talk.

When I allow myself to even start thinking people (Christians especially) might think I'm nuts, extreme, over the top ... or whatever else, I am encouraged when I remember that Jesus' own family sought to get control of Him because they thought He was out of His mind. I'm also encouraged as I read the words of Paul when he said, "If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you."

What I know for sure today is that Jesus warned us of the cost if we follow Him only. He said we would have to let go of all that distracts, tempts, entices and entraps. He said it would not be easy and He said the road would be narrow with not very many other travelers ... because of the bigger, broader road that offers more comfort and that more people would be attracted to.

It's coming, folks. The end of the age is coming and wars and rumors of wars are swirling all around us. Nations are rising against nations. People are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -- having a form of godliness but denying its power. And in case you haven't noticed, this sadly sounds a whole lot like the Church of 2011.

As things progressively get worse, and people begin to wake up and realize what Jesus said would happen is happening, there will be a wanting to talk to someone, ANYONE, who knows the truth. Will you be sought out because you have been heard as a lone voice in the wilderness up to this point? Will you be known as a prophet who has consistently been sharing the truth of Jesus Christ? Or will you simply blend in as just another believer who only wanted to look, sound and smell like a Christian?

On those days when I even think about letting myself feel like an outcast in the Church because I just don't fit in too well, I immediately think of the truth Jesus speaks to me and all He has told me about how it will cost me ... everything ... to follow Him. And I think of these words He also says to me, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."

ONE pure and holy passion.

ONE magnificent obsession.

ONE glorious ambition.

Yeah, that's what I want ... no matter the cost ... because nothing else really matters.

I CAN Teach: Brace For Impact

2011-10-14T08:17:00.002-04:00

Last night, Glenn Beck shared a passionate plea to "brace for impact." With our president pushing to bypass Congress and push through his plan that will collapse our economy, with Iran sending warships to US waters and much, much evidence that nations are rising against nations, Glenn put himself way out on a limb in order to share what we can do to prepare. While a few things on the list are impossible for most people, the rest makes sense and is what we should have already been doing.

Right before I watched Glenn last night, I had my 8 yr. old grandson here for "our time," which always includes Bible reading, which always leads to more conversation than I ever dreamed you could have with a young child. We read about Saul and how he was anointed king by the prophet Samuel. This led to Carson asking, "What is a prophet?"

I explained that a real prophet is a person who wants all of God; not just part of God. A real prophet is willing to do whatever God says, even if it means he has to go and tell people things they do or do not want to hear. When I got to the part where Samuel told Saul the Holy Spirit would turn him into another man, Carson excitedly said he knew what that meant; he knew it meant God would change his heart! This boy listens and retains!

Then we came to the part where Samuel brought another message to Saul from God. Saul was to go destroy the Amalekites and every living thing they had; they were to leave nothing alive. Saul and his army did kill all the Amalekites and all the animals which were not worth saving, but kept the best. When confronted by Samuel, who had just heard from God about Saul's disobedience, Saul defended himself by saying he had indeed obeyed God, but he had kept the choice animals so he could sacrifice them to God. God specifically told Saul what to do and while Saul's intentions were very good, it wasn't what God wanted him to do, so he was stripped of being the king. "Does the Lord have as great delight in sacrifices as in obedience?" Samuel asked Saul. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."

"What do you mean, better than sacarifice?" Carson asked. I told him it's kind of like a person saying he will go to church and listen to a sermon, but then goes home and lives however he wants to live. "He sacrifices, or gives up a day to go worship God," I said, "but then feels the rest of the week is his to do as he wants."

"This is what most Christians do today because most Christians do not believe in absolute truth," I told Carson. "We think we can read the truth of Jesus Christ, and then obey it our way. Jesus tells us we cannot store up for ourselves treasure on earth that will rot and be stolen, but we don't take Him seriously. Look around here, look at all this stuff I have. Do I need it? No. It is just stuff that can rot and be stolen, but I too, thought for a long time I could do things my way and it would be okay because God doesn't expect me to be perfect. Well, He doesn't expect me to be perfect, He expects me to keep learning His truth every day and keep letting go of all that I'm not supposed to hang onto."

Carson asked, "Do all preachers know this?" I told him no, they don't. Then he asked, "What about Pastor Dave. Does he know this?" I told him yes, Pastor Dave knows this and the reason I know this is because he tells us he is learning along with us. If he thought he knew all the truth, then he would not be walking in the truth.

I shared with him then how most Christians also believe God is a loving God who doesn't get upset with us, because they've been taught that God loves us just the way we are. "Look at Saul," I told him. God loved Saul, but He was not going to allow Saul to be disobedient. God was very upset with him to the point that He stripped him from being king. God will punish us when we are disobedient because He loves us so much but most believers think if they just do the good things like go to church, read the Bible, sing church songs and pray, God will be pleased with their sacrifice ... but He isn't because He wants obedience MORE than sacrifice.

Our talk went from one thing to another, and we talked about the wars going on today; not the wars with guns but the wars between people's beliefs. Socialism is what our country is divided over today, I explained. "What's socialism?" he asked. It's the idea that everyone should be equal; the rich should give money to the poor so everything is "fair & equal." I gave him the picture of him working really hard in school to get an "A" and another kid not even trying and getting a "F." I asked him how he would feel if his teacher said, "Carson, I'm going to take part of your "A" and change it to a "B," so I can give it to this other kid who has an "F" and change it do a "D." That way, he will feel better about himself. Is that okay with you?" Carson's eyes got huge as he shook his head. We talked about how the other kid would never learn anything if he was simply given a passing grade, and he would fail in the end no matter what his report card said.

Okay, back to Glenn who did a wonderful job at trying to move us into a state of awareness about our situation. The one thing I wish he had expounded on was what I just wrote about. The one thing where I believe the Church is failing miserably is in the spiritual training of our children and the silence in the Church is deafening! We offer Sunday School but we don't offer training for parents/grandparents in their responsibility given in Deut. 6. The reason I wrote this detailed message about my conversation with a little 8 yr. old boy is to drive home the point that our kids can handle the truth! Our kids are starved for the truth! They NEED to know the truth nd there is NO way under the sun they will ever be prepared for what is coming if we don't take Deut. 6 seriously.

I couldn't have this conversation with my own little children because I was YOUNG, UNWISE AND TOO BUSY! We talk about wisdom that comes with age ... but I ask, WHERE IS THE WISDOM? WHERE ARE THE OLDER, WISER PEOPLE WHO HAVE LEARNED THE TRUTH? WHERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE WALKED AHEAD AND LEARNED FROM THEIR OWN FAILINGS & IGNORANCE? WHERE ARE THE OLDER WOMEN TRAINING THE YOUNGER WOMEN AND OLDER MEN TRAINING YOUNGER MEN? Where are the prophets; where are the people who are willing to pull away from all the trappings of life and the trappings of the church ... and be the people our children and grandchildren need to see walking in the truth ... and talking in the truth?

What I know for sure today is that when YOU take the time to teach a child the absolute truth of God, YOU learn what God has to say to YOU. And I'm believing that's a huge part of why we have so willingly outsourced the spiritual training of our children to the church; if I teach my grandkids, I have to make sure I'm not living as a hypocrite when it comes to attitude, behavior, money, habits, hobbies, diet, forgiveness, etc. Try it! Try teaching a child about the absolute truth of Christ and see what it does to YOU!

It's coming, whether we believe it or not. Nation IS rising up against nation and we are either preparing for it or pretending it will just go away. I'm not saying The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos is the ONLY Bible you need to be reading to someone, but I am saying it is a Bible that stirs up a whole lot of conversation; conversation most adults don't even wish to enter into.

How are YOU preparing for what's coming? I've got my cabinets and pantry full but I'm not going to stand before God and come up with excuses why I didn't take Deut. 6 seriously; I'm just going to take it seriously even if it means I have to cancel out on things like having coffee with friends ... or taking another Bible study so I can get "closer to God" ... or preserving my photos ... or keeping a spotless home ... or even having people I love being able to understand where I'm at ... you get the picture, but if you don't, read this:

Matthew 18:5 ~ "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Do we cause children to sin when we choose to be silent?)

Occupied Wall Street AND the Church?

2011-10-11T07:33:00.000-04:00

'Useful idiots' is the name I'm hearing a lot these days. I want so badly to write here about the ridiculous protesting going on in NY and in other states all over the country. I want to talk about the stupidity of it all and the ignorance people have today. I want to make it the focus of this post but I can't. Why not? Because when I look at the Church and I see the ridiculous protesting, the stupidity of it and the ignorance Christians have today, how can I speak out against other people who are in the same boat as the Church? Dare I ask this; dare I ask if the world maybe sees believers as 'useful idiots,' as we do just what the church tells us to do and believe ... in the same way these protesters are doing just what the radical liberals are telling them to do and believe ... and then we rant and rave when God and prayer are "removed from schools," and when subjects such as gay marriage pops up?

In 2 Kings 22, Hilkiah the high priest says to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord." My pastor Dave Engbrecht shared from this passage of Scripture this past Sunday, delivering the most powerful message I've heard in a very long time. "The big problem is," he shared, "the Word of the Lord was lost in the House of the Lord. The Word of the Lord is lost in the House of the Lord and it is also lost in the homes of the children of the Lord today."

Just a few years ago there was a George Barna survey of Christians that showed only 9% of "born again" Christians have a biblical worldview which includes believing in absolute truth, that Satan is real and that Christians have a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people. (Click here to read it in its entirety).

Broken down, among mainline Protestants, the figure dropped to 2% and among Catholics, less than one half of 1%. Did you get that? 2% of Protestants and less than one half of 1% of Catholics believe in a biblical worldview that includes believing in absolute truth. Oh, and in that same survey of Protestant pastors, only 51% possess a biblical worldview and of this 51%, only 51% (that is about half of 51%) were nondenominational Protestants. The Word of the Lord is LOST in the House of the Lord.

In case I've lost you, the bottom line is, the MAJORITY of the Church doesn't believe in absolute truth, even though Jesus Christ came AS ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Jesus came to reveal and teach us His absolute truth. He tells us we are to live and walk with Him according to His absolute truth. The majority of the Church, like the world, believes we can live our faith privately, that we should not offend, that we should be tolerant of other people and their lifestyles, and when someone dies whether or not they lived a life for God, "he/she's in a much better place."

The protesters interviewed don't have a clear reason for their protesting; they are not interested in the truth, they are there enjoying free food, drugs, alcohol, free sex and trashing the park. Does the Church have a clear reason for her beliefs and church attendance? If you ask the protesters what they want, what's their answer? If you ask believers why they go to church, what is their answer? Seriously, what is it we all want ... not only when we die, but while we live? Right now, what do YOU want?

What if Jesus were to walk in any of our churches today and what if He were to show up at the occupied park in NY? What would He say to them and what would He say to us? Really, what would He say? It's easy to see what He would tell those who are loudly declaring their rights and entitlements, but what about those of us who dress nice, go to church, follow the worship rituals, listen to His Word being preached ... then go back home to live and justify our lifestyles, habits, attitudes and money as we have adjusted His truth to fit our wants/needs ... all while doing a whole lot of good deeds?

Are we, the Church, zealous to share the truth of Jesus Christ every single time an opportunity arises? Or, are we too fearful of what people might think? Or, do we feel unqualified or inadequate to share? When it comes to sharing who the Holy Spirit is and what He does, what baptism is and what being born again is ... do we feel as though we might just burst with excitement for the opportunity to share, just as the woman at the well did? Or, do we shrink back out of sheer fear of sounding like a religious fruitcake? Do we justify our fear by telling ourselves we need yet another Bible study before we can share what we know ... and that there are those who are qualified, called and gifted for that purpose?

Or, could it be that most of us in the Body of Christ, cannot share Him because we are not walking in His absolute truth and we know it? How can we tell non-believers that walking with Jesus Christ will make them more like Him ... if we don't bear even a smidgen of a resemblance? How can we tell anyone anything if we say He is in us but we don't even know how to learn directly from Him? How can we share Him and His truth when our personal lives and homes are a sham as we battle lifelong habits of pride, selfishness, greed, debt, overeating, addictive behaviors and frivolous time-wasters? How can the Church point a finger at occupied Wall Street, when we are giving ourselves and our children over to the organized church to be taught by the church instead of Jesus Himself? Could it be we are OCCUPYING the church building?

What I know for sure today is that knowing absolute truth is to know the Word of Jesus Christ so well that we know that we KNOW that we KNOW Him. Knowing absolute truth and then taking it literally, not figuratively, is when we are walking so closely with Him that we no longer have the time nor desire to do anything but share Him. Knowing absolute truth is knowing nothing consumes our time and minds more than Him, because there is no room for anything else.

What else I know for sure is that knowing absolute truth takes a lifetime to learn, but we know we are walking in that absolute truth as we see ourselves letting go of all that consumes us ... one thing at a time. And I can tell you this; in the Body of Christ, as we keep letting go of habits, time-wasters, long held beliefs and everything else that did NOT come from Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves moving away from the 91% of the Church who does not believe in absolute truth. As I realize I am in the 2% group of Protestants who believe in absolute truth and understand my responsibility to share Christ at every turn, well, I understand why I don't fit in with the church anymore ... and why I feel more free in Christ and more free to share Christ than ever before in my life.

One more thing; if you are still wondering what absolute truth is, it is all the red words in the Bible. Every question we can ever have about anything is answered by the Word, the Way, the Truth and the Life ... in His own Words.

The Apple: First Eve, Then Steve

2011-10-08T08:04:00.000-04:00

He changed the way we think. He changed the way we communicate. He changed the way we work. He changed the way we live. He knew he was going to die soon, but never lost focus on his mission to change the world. What he had to offer the world was wanted by most, but for too many, the cost was too great. It all started with a piece of fruit and from there, the world was forever changed by the light he shed on that which we cannot live without. No, I'm not talking about Steve Jobs and his Apple; I'm talking about Jesus Christ and His Truth. To listen to people talk about Jobs, it is really uncanny how the tributes sound as though it is Jesus Himself being described.

According to his own words, Steve Jobs thought a lot about death. How could he not, with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer being handed to him? He shared with the world, how he felt about death. Listen: "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life."

Like I often do when someone well-known dies, I googled to learn more about this man Jobs and what he believed, especially since he is being touted as "a man who changed the world." When you read his seemingly profound words on death, saying that 'death is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose,' how ironic is it that this very same man spent the last 33 years of his life creating machines that became more addictive to users than nicotine or alcohol? These machines that people cannot part with; these machines "that have in some ways enslaved a generation of users," according to John Lardas Modern, a professor at Franklin and Marshall College in PA. These devices which have allowed people "to escape and transcend the mundane reality of bodily existence," Modern said.

Enslaved. Jobs was a man who diligently spent his adult life creating objects that would ultimately become modern day idols of worship; not necessarily to just those "heathen Egyptians," but to we "Israelites"; we who consider ourselves God's children.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I battle with the temptation to spend way more time than I should on this machine I am using at this moment to relay this message to you. I have learned how much time it will cost me if I sit down and want to simply look up a recipe, because as I do, I will undoubtedly check my email and there I will find things I have been sent to read and watch, along with many messages to respond to. I will find messages from all the companies who are sending me "deals" to help me save on products I may not even be thinking I need to buy.

The Israelites had a very difficult time staying focused on their journey because there were so many temptations thrown in their path that served to distract them. When Moses brought the tablets down the mountain; the tablets engraved by the finger of God telling us exactly what we are to do in order to follow Him, he explained in detail how we are not to forget them. Moses clearly explained how we are to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

First Eve, then Steve. The fruit was forbidden because of how it would change their lives but Eve took it and gave it to her husband because it tasted very good. Steve tasted the Apple, gave it to the world, and when we took a bite, it tasted very good to us and we wanted more.

Jesus warns us that, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."

Jesus goes on to say, "For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

And, "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

What I know for sure today is that our children and grandchildren possess more information than we ever knew at their age ... and yet they are (generally speaking), oblivious to what is coming because we have failed miserably in being obedient to Deuteronomy 6. As the church has become more and more organized and as technology has become more and more powerful ... we, the children of God, have outsourced our faith to the point where many of us don't even know what our faith is. The Gospel truly has become hardly the Gospel at all as we have caved to the belief that telling the Truth is way too offensive ... so we should just pray for those who don't know it ... because it really is the JOB of the pastors/priests and those who have that God-given talent; not ours.

And as we the Church have taken a back seat in order to not be seen as offensive with the Truth of Jesus Christ which ALWAYS OFFENDS ... other people, along with Steve Jobs have come along offering fruit that tastes good, and we, God's children along with Satan's children have taken the bite. We are, as Jesus so clearly said it, "With Him gathering or against Him scattering."

How ironic that immediately following those very strong words, Jesus then talks about the one sin that won't be forgiven ... and sadly, the Church is ignoring it as she focuses more on eating the fruit than bearing it. (Matt. 12)

Does Everyone Go to Heaven?

2011-10-03T08:51:00.001-04:00

"Why have many Christians gone soft on the exclusivity of Christ and the Cross? Why is there a common belief even among some in the Christian community, that all religions are just different paths to the same God?" My pastor Dave Engbrecht taught yesterday how, "We have repackaged the Gospel to where it is no Gospel at all."

Bear with me as I sort out and write very personal thoughts which many people would never think of putting out there for others to read. Four days ago, I went to my younger brother's funeral. While it was a really tough time for me, it became even more tough when I read through the program and the words written about Mark's life. It said, "He was welcomed in heaven by his father and his brother." His brother was our youngest brother Jerry who had accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour as a child, but who chose a life of drugs and alcohol ... which resulted in him coming to live with me ... which resulted in him going to rehab where he recommitted his life to Jesus Christ ... and which then was given back over to drugs and alcohol. (Click here if you want to read more about that.)

When Jerry died, I could not say to anyone, "He's in a better place; He is in Heaven now." I couldn't say that, because I had no assurance of that knowledge. I really wanted to tell his sons he was in Heaven ... but I could not. I want more than anything to believe he is there, and there are people in my life who tell me he IS there because of his choice to receive Jesus Christ into his heart (once saved, always saved theology), but because there was no outward evidence that he walked with Christ, I do not have that assurance and it grieves my heart.

My brother Mark made it very clear Jesus Christ was his Lord and Saviour. While I saw and heard things in his beliefs I disagreed with and he saw and heard things in my beliefs he disagreed with, there was never any doubt in our minds that we both loved and served the same God. I was able to say good-bye to him knowing we will be together in Heaven some day. No matter what anyone tells me, I have read the truth of Jesus Christ and I wasn't able to do that with Jerry. It doesn't mean I don't believe he isn't there because I certainly am not his judge; it only means I have nothing concrete to give me the assurance he is.

So, my pastor asked the question, "Why have many Christians gone soft on the exclusivity of Christ and the Cross," and why is it that even Christians have adopted the thinking that "all religions are just different paths to the same God?" And I ask, "Why not? Why shouldn't the Church believe everyone goes to Heaven when they die if the church isn't going to point them directly to the absolute truth of Jesus Christ which clearly spells out who will go and who will not?" Maybe the church knows if it puts the responsibility back on the people to be self-feeders in going directly to Jesus Christ for ALL truth, attendance will undoubtedly drop???

Pastor Dave referred to Anne Graham Lotz and her brother Franklin Graham as he spoke of how these two people are different than many other believers, especially pastors, when asked direct questions about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They (the Grahams) refuse to hedge; they simply speak the clear, plain truth with no sugarcoating. I thought to myself, of course they do. Why wouldn't they? Their mother taught them the Word as commanded to her in Deut. 6. She used The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos). This Bible is a Bible void of fluffiness and cutesy pictures that keep a child's attention. It is a Bible that does not water down the truth in order to make it more palatable to children; it is a Bible that tells it exactly like it is.

We can come up with any number of reasons why Christians have gone soft on the exclusivity of Christ and the Cross, but I stand firm in my belief that believers went soft when the church stepped up (much like the government did with schools) and offered to do the teaching of the children for the parents. While I am not anti-church or Sunday School or Bible studies, I am appalled that the church does not put much effort if ANY into training parents and grandparents in Duet. 6; I am appalled that the church is not diligent in teaching it is THEIR responsibility to train THEIR children and grandchildren and not that of the church and S.S. Why do children today believe everyone ... even their pets ... go to Heaven??? Could it be because the people in charge of them and influencing them believe the same thing ... because they've never learned how to seek the absolute truth of Jesus Christ???

I don't mean to imply that The Child's Story Bible is the ONLY Bible that should be used to teach children, but I DO mean to imply there is a very good reason Anne and her brother Franklin know what truth is and are not afraid to stand up for it. They were raised by parents who took the Word very seriously and knew they would give an account for how they trained their children. Can you say the same about you? Can you say the same about your children? Can you say the same about your grandchildren? I know I did not train my children in the truth AS I WAS INSTRUCTED TO DO BY GOD ... but I AM taking this very seriously with my grandchildren ... and I AM passionately pointing other people in my life to do the same.

What I know for sure today is that death is ALWAYS a wake up call for the living. It is ALWAYS a time to remind us that we do depart from this life on earth and we do go somewhere. My heart aches for the loss of both my brothers; one who I know where he is and one who I don't. My heart also aches for Christians in my life who do not feel qualified to teach/share the truth of Jesus Christ ... because "it is too difficult to understand and besides, that's the job of the church."

If everyone goes to Heaven, then we certainly do not need a Saviour. And if we do not need a Saviour to be our teacher of ALL truth, then we can simply rely on the church to teach us what we need to know. And if the church is concerned about attendance numbers plummeting, then it should just continue to teach a soft Gospel ... one that is easy to listen to ... one that is no Gospel at all.

I end with a plea. If you feel awkward or uncomfortable in talking about Jesus Christ because you really don't feel like you are qualified, or you don't really feel accepted by Him ... or you don't want to be seen as offensive ... or whatever the reason ... please consider the finality of death. It's real and Jesus offers life ever after to those who will follow in His steps and we will be held accountable for our silence. Yes, it's a coming out and being separate ... even in the church ... especially in the church. According to the truth of Jesus Christ, we do not ALL go to Heaven when we die. Do something. Question your beliefs and find out if they came from your church or directly from Jesus Christ. Talk to someone who will help show you how to go to Jesus on your own. If you have no one, talk to me; email me ... just don't waste another day. Life is precious, fragile and very unpredictable and we do not all go to Heaven when we die ... and all paths do not lead to the One and Only God who sent us His Son as our Saviour.

Does God Get Angry When We Sin?

2011-09-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

"Whatever became of sin? Do I embrace my sin or excuse my sin? Do I confess my sin or do damage control? Does my sin break me or does it harden me? Sin has been minimized, renamed and denied. Until we own and acknowledge our sin, we can never experience the restoration of a relationship with God." Pastor Dave Engbrecht did the unthinkable yesterday when he dared to teach on the subject of sin, even going to the extreme of saying things like this: Let's call sin what it is: SIN. It is not an addiction; it is SIN. It is not an affair or cheating; it is SIN. It is not something to be managed; it is SIN. It is not a mistake; it is SIN. We need to call sin what it is: It is SIN.

Pastor Dave also had the audacity to tell us: "This message is for no one else in this room but YOU. Do not think about who you know that needs to hear this because it is not for them; it is for YOU and YOU alone. Sin wounds the heart of God," he shared. "Sin prevents a face to face relationship with God. When a person's first response is damage control, it announces the deep sin of pride. I must be broken, not over being caught or even the consequences, but broken over wounding the heart of God. I need to embrace the reality of the seriousness of MY OWN SIN."

How did sin become so blurred? How did the truth about sin become so unrecognizable? I'd already been thinking about this a few days before Sunday. I'd read something on Facebook that had set my mind in motion; it was Joni Eareckson Tada being quoted from her book Diamonds in the Dust and it said, "All of our sin caused all of the Father's fury. And all of God's wrath against you for your rebellion was poured out on Jesus. That means God has no more anger left for you. Only kindness, tolerance and patience."

I have the utmost respect for Joni and how she has become a missionary to the world through her tragic accident years ago, but I have to say what I read in that quote didn't sit well in my heart. I responded with a reminder that we don't want to forget Jesus' words to the Church at Laodicea when He said He would spit them out of His mouth for their disobedience of being lukewarm instead of being red hot for Him. The response I received was the response I get from most Christians when I talk about how God rebukes and disciplines us when we are disobedient (a.k.a. sinning). The response, in essence was: Sure, we all sin; we won't be perfect till we reach Heaven, but isn't it comforting to know we have a loving God who disciplines us with love and not what we deserve?

When we become believers in Jesus Christ, does it really mean God has no more anger for us? If He doesn't, could that be why sin doesn't seem all that serious anymore? Is that why we can rename it and let it go at that? Maybe we can call it "my battle?" Or, how about "my lot in life?" How about, "my cross to bear?" I'm thinking here about my tongue that has gotten me in serious trouble more times than I can count SINCE becoming a passionate believer of the truth of Jesus Christ. Is it okay for me to say, thank goodness He knows my heart, and thank goodness He loves me just the way I am, and thank goodness He lovingly forgives me and doesn't get angry with me when I open my mouth and say things I have no business saying? Is it okay for me to have on my tombstone: "She never learned to keep a tight rein on her tongue, but she knew God's grace was sufficient for that which she just could not control."

What about it? Does God get angry at us when we sin? I opened my Bible up to Matthew and started skimming. My eyes fell on the words anger, adultery, divorce, oaths, prayer, fasting, treasures, money, worry, judging, narrow, wide and fruit. I looked at the words of Jesus as He talked to religious people; people who believed in God but who did not want to accept the very hard truth Jesus was teaching:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.'"

"Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teacher others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, but whoever PRACTICES and teaches these commands will be called great in Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven."

"You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

I don't know about you, but when I read the words of Jesus that are hard and even harsh and I hear Him talking to religious people (believers who don't wish to take this hard and harsh truth of Jesus literally), and calling them"evildoers" and "hypocrites," I am not hearing a soft, gentle voice. I'm hearing a strong voice of authority and loud rebuke. Could it possibly be called ... anger? Could Jesus; could God Himself possibly be angry at those of us who profess Him but don't wish to take Him literally at His Word??? Or is it true that once we believe, God only has kindness, tolerance and patience for us?

Can we just gloss over Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-27 as though they are not meant to be taken ... literally? You know, because of God's grace that covers a multitude of sin ... and because our sins are forgotten as far as the east is from the west?

What I know for sure today is that when I teach my grandkids about God, I do not tell them that once they believe in Him, He has no more anger for them. I tell them straight up that, just as their parents get upset and even angry with them when they continue to do the things they know are wrong, so does God when we do the same. I want them to know we need to have a holy, reverent fear of God ... even though having a reverent fear of God is barely discussed anymore.

Yes, we all sin and none will be made perfect until we reach Heaven ... but when we have a face to face conversation with God ... not reading a lovely devotional book and calling it time with God, but sitting down with empty, open hands and talking to God Himself ... asking God Himself about sin ... asking God Himself if He gets angry at us when we repeat the same sin over and over and over again ... call me extreme or radical, but when I go directly to God with the truth His Son clarifies for me in His Word ... and I ask Him about the problem with my sharp tongue ... well, I'm just not hearing Him say to me, "It's okay, Shirley. You're only human and you won't be perfect until you are in Heaven with me, so in the meantime, I'll just be kind, tolerant and patient with you as you continue to mess up ... er, sin, that is ... and I'll just keep giving you more grace as you need it."

So, does God get angry when we sin? Have you ever asked Him? Sin. We need to call it what it is: SIN. And yes, the grace of God will carry us as we repent ... and change ... and stop repeating the same sin ... over and over.

Where Did You Get Your Truth/Faith?

2011-09-13T08:08:00.000-04:00

When he was a radio host, he believed it was his job to point out the problems, to let everyone know the news the media didn't want exposed. Now it's different. Now he knows better so he is going to do better. Now that he understands who God is and what God put us on this earth for ... and because he understands that when you KNOW God, you MUST tell the truth ... he also understands he is putting his life on the line as he knows he has become a target for those who are working hard to remove God from all aspects of our lives. Glenn Beck understands the need to keep telling the news that the media wants silenced, but he also realizes the greater need, which is not to simply talk about all the wrong ... but more importantly, to focus on and DO what is right.

He left FOX because he wasn't able to tell ALL the truth and he started his own program (GBTV) which premiered on 9/12/11. But only a few weeks ago, Glenn Beck went to Israel on a mission to let the people there know they do have friends in the United States even if our own government has chosen to turn its back on them. I was finally able to listen the other day to the speech he gave on 8/24/11, and I was stirred to the core. I thought back to what I wrote on 4/8/11 when I wrote these words: "It sounds to me like Glenn Beck needs to leave his program so he can become the public voice for the Church. The church needs a Moses to stand up and lead ... today." (Click here to read that post.)

I find myself today in the same place as Glenn Beck. Just as he does not wish to be bogged down by all the drama of the church and the world, I too, don't wish to be bogged down by all the drama IN the church as well as OUT of the church. And just as he does not want to focus on DOCTRINE but ONLY on God and His truth, I too, don't want to focus on DOCTRINE; I want to focus only on GOD and His truth. Go ahead and say it: "BUT BECK IS A MORMON!!!" And when you say that, then say to yourself: "And what am I???"

Here is only a portion of what Beck shared in Israel: "Link arms with like-minded people and walk behind the pillar of fire (which is God). Our problems today require more than checkbook courage; it's easy to write a check, but we can't outsource love, we can't outsource truth, we can't outsource courage and honor; we must do it ourselves. We must roll up our sleeves and make a lasting difference. We have to find hope and change in ourselves. We have a right to know truth, but we also have a responsibility to PURSUE the truth. One man with ONE God makes a difference. It will not be easy for me and it will not be easy for you. Others will say to you, 'Come, come this way; come over the horizon,' but I warn you that that horizon is a cliff and when you don't go along, you will stand out, you will be mocked and in some cases your life may be in danger. NO ONE WANTS TO BE THE ONE WHO STICKS OUT."

Did you hear that??? Did you hear Beck say "we can't outsource truth" and "we have a right to know truth, but we also have a responsibility to PURSUE the truth???"

I'm listening to Beck and I'm hearing him say, "If all I'm doing is complaining about the government, then I'm part of the problem instead part of the solution ... and I'm no longer willing to be part of the problem." I'm also hearing him say, "Let us focus on this: Let's just look to God (the ONE and ONLY God) and listen to what He is saying to us instead of spending precious time bickering and moaning and groaning over that which we cannot change or control." No, those are not his specific words; it is only what I'm hearing him saying to the world.

I have a question for you: Where did you get your truth? People? Parents? Church doctrine and church teachings? The very specific things YOU believe to be truth; where did they come from? The very specific things that set YOU apart from other churches; were they taught to you by the church ... or did you learn them as YOU sought the truth of Jesus Christ on YOUR own? Is it DOCTRINE you hold onto for life ... or is it the very simple, clear-cut truth of Jesus Christ that you hold onto for LIFE? When you think about your faith, think about this: Was it outsourced or did it at some point, come directly from God because YOU pursued Him and received it from HIM? When you think about your faith, when, where, how, why and what is it that sets you apart from all the rest of believers who got their faith from somewhere, too? Every church is going to teach its doctrine and every believer or follower of that church is either going to simply accept it as truth, reject it as truth, or they are going to find out the validity of it by seeking the truth of Jesus Christ through HIS own words. Which believer are you?

What I know for sure today is that whatever faith I have today is either directly from God ... because I sought His confirmation and affirmation of all I've been taught to believe ... or my faith has been outsourced through the church. I have been humbled over the years as I have been repeatedly compelled by God (always through conflict), to get rid of one belief after another that did not come from Him. Whether they were "Christianisms" or "feel good/sound good" beliefs I'd picked up from other believers, the more I've sought God and His truth, the more I've learned how much the church loads up on its people that He never called it to do ... and I've come to learn how freeing it is to walk without all those loads.

So Beck still carries the label of "Mormon" just as Moses still carries the label of "murderer," and in my church where we are known as "Evangelicals," I have yet to find just one person who has lost all the labels that defined his/her past. I truly believe when God seeks leaders, He looks for those who aren't willing to think they are qualified or above anyone else; He looks for those who openly acknowledge their ugly past and who have freely received His forgiveness ... which then qualifies them to lead ... and they do.

Say NO to Good; Say YES to God

2011-09-07T09:31:00.000-04:00

"When DO replaces WHO: Say NO to the GOOD things in order to say YES to the GOD things." This was part of the message Pastor Derry Prenkert brought us Sunday morning as he spoke about the Martha/Mary syndrome; the GOOD vs. BEST. There is a danger in DOING, and we need to know where that line is.

I was asked last week to share in class my passion for The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos) and how I am using it with my grandchildren. From the moment I was asked, it was the "Martha/Mary Syndrome" that would not leave my mind. As I thought about what I would say and how nervous I would be to talk, what kept coming to my mind was Good vs. Best. Coming into the morning service and hearing these words repeated to me, along with, "When DO gets you through, when DO becomes you, when DO replaces WHO," my nervousness did not disappear, but I did have an overwhelming affirmation of the task at hand.

I've been humbled more than a few times in my walk with Christ; maybe a better way to say that is, I've been knocked down a few notches more than a few times in my walk with Christ ... and as I blog this morning, I realize once again, there is much more humbling to come. I've had a couple of days now to think about what I shared, what I hoped the response would be, and what the response was ... and once again I'm reminded that just because I am filled to the brim with passion about the one HUGE area where the Church gets a failing grade, not everyone else is that concerned.

If you are passionate about anything (and we are all passionate about something), then you understand how badly you want to be heard and understood by those you are sharing your passion with. This past year I've come to the realization that the ONE thing the Church is failing miserably in, is that of teaching parents and grandparents that training children in the Word is THEIR responsibility and NOT that of the church. It has been painful to learn that the Church has become liberal progressives ... and we don't even know it. It has been even more painful to realize that (generally speaking), most Christians do not want to hear this.

Don't immediately disagree with me here; think with me: When did Sunday School become the spiritual training field for our children? It was for me five decades ago, so it goes back even farther than that ... but how far? How long has it been since the church decided it would be in charge of the spiritual training for children ... and parents willingly accepted it? And how long has it been since parents even knew it was their job ... though it is clearly spelled out in Deuteronomy 5 & 6?

Understand that when I say "spiritual training," I am NOT talking about taking your children to church/Sunday School, praying at meals and bedtime, and having a little nightly devotional. What I AM talking about is, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you SIT at home and when you WALK along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Church, we have a problem! How in the world are our children, their children and their children's children to know God's Holy truth if WE don't even know it ourselves! Our government is corrupt for sure, but if we were to dig down to the core of the Church, what would we find? How can we read the Old Testament and NOT get that if we do not impress these commandments on our children when we sit at home and walk along the road ... meaning, all day long and NOT just at a time we have set aside for a brief little devotional ... WE are setting them up for failure. If children grow up knowing that the church/Sunday School is where they receive their teaching/training of God's Word ... instead of their parents & grandparents ... we parents, grandparents and the Church has failed.

YES! I know if not for Sunday School, there are some children who would never hear the Word of God and I am very thankful for that! And, YES! I know there are those who do not have children or grandchildren to train spiritually, but is there anyone reading this who does NOT know people who DO have children and grandparents ... and who DO need to be taught their responsibility to train these children spiritually???

Question: Does your church, while it may offer women's Bible studies, men's Bible studies, young marrieds classes, young adult classes, youth classes, senior classes, Sunday School for all ages, nursery care for babies, addiction classes, grief classes, discipleship classes, mission field training classes ... the list goes on ... does your church offer a class for parents and grandparents; a class that focuses primarily on the teaching in Deuteronomy? A class that has a goal of pointing parents/grandparents to THEIR responsibility of the spiritual training of their children? Does your church in its doctrine statement include something like, "We believe it is the responsibility of the church to diligently and consistently point parents and grandparents to the teaching in Deut. 5 & 6, to instill in them THEIR responsibility of the spiritual training of their children/grandchildren?" Or, has Sunday School taken that role?

If we were to be gut honest with ourselves, wouldn't we have to admit that there is NO time to "Sit at home and walk along the road?" because we have way too many other things going on in our lives? Who has time to sit and talk (for hours) with their children and grandchildren?

As I shared with my class Sunday, I was asked, "How do your children feel about you teaching their children?" I was able to answer honestly that because we have a mutual trust and respect for each other, they welcome what I am doing. They know it is NOT because I don't think they're doing a good job; they know it is because I know the calling I have as a grandparent.

The saddest thing about that question, "How do your children feel about it?" is that it even needed to be asked. When did this happen; that there would even be an issue with our children if we take our role seriously in teaching our grandchildren ... but there is. I believe it happened when parents began turning their children over to the church for their spiritual training. If we didn't take responsibility for the spiritual training for our own children, then suddenly jump in and decide we're going to be responsible for THEIR children ... well, that's not going to fly well, is it? Because I've apologized to my grown children for my own grievous error, they understand why I am doing what I'm doing and are very welcoming of it. They need to know that we get it; we GET that we did not obey Deut. 5 & 6 as commanded to us.

What I know for sure today is that I SO badly want to get this message out; this message of turning this ship around and going back ... way back to God's message to us about training our children and grandchildren. What I also know for sure today is that while I truly believe this is a passion God called ALL of us to have when He called us to "Love Him with your whole heart, with your whole mind and with all of your strength," I also understand that God will not allow me to make this my DO. While I want to hear people say, "I'm getting it!!!" I also understand that is not how God works. He only calls us to obedience to Him ... and the rest is His.

Church, we've got the DO thing mastered. We excel in DOING. But in all that we DO, if we failed in "impressing these commands on our children as we sit at home and walk along the road," or in confronting our doctrine, or in offering to teach or help teach or help organize a class for young parents as well as old grandparents that will teach the need to obey this ... I believe we will be held responsible. While we like to DO what comes naturally or "feels right," we are ALL called to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ ... and if we really are WHO we say we are in Him, why, oh why, wouldn't we want to?

The Federal Family Is Here

2011-09-02T07:44:00.000-04:00

Federal Family. Have you heard this name? Do you know the government of the United States is now being called the "Federal Family?" The "mother" of this "Federal Family" has been telling us for awhile now, how we are to eat. While she admittedly loves to pig out on french fries, she is on a mission to make it possible for every family to be able to put a piece of lettuce on their child's sandwich and to tell restaurants how much salt they should use.

The "father" of this "Federal Family" showed us all how we are not to question his authoritative power when he influenced the "relatives" to pass through a health care bill that would remain unknown to anyone until it was pronounced law. Most recently, he has informed government officials of how they are to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the horrific attack on America. Honor the memory of those who died, but make sure you remind the world that terrorists have attacked other places in the world; it shouldn't be just about us. In other words, make sure children of tomorrow don't know what really happened, so they will welcome being known as part of the "Federal Family" that is here to feed, protect, house and educate them.

There is a very good reason I am not "fitting in" with the church at this point in my life. If I would just write and talk about how corrupt our government is, and if I would just join in with the bashing and complaining of how we are being sucked right into becoming a communistic nation ... and maybe if I would simply join in with the church to pray, pray, pray about the trouble we are in; pleading with God to intervene on our behalf ... maybe, just maybe I would feel united with the church. But I don't, and I won't. And why?

Have you read Deuteronomy 5 & 6 lately? In all of our spiritual arrogance as we are quick to point out the corruptness of our politicians and government, what have we done with Deuteronomy 5 & 6? Can we take a good, hard look at ourselves (we who call ourselves Christians), and say, "yes, I (we) have been diligent in having no other gods before You?"

As the Church, can we honestly say, "Yes, I (we) have been obedient to loving the Lord my God with ALL my heart, with ALL my soul and with ALL my strength? Yes, we and our children are fearing the Lord our God as we keep ALL His decrees and commands. Yes, we are impressing these commands on our children and talking about them as we sit at home, as we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up. Yes, when my child asks the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded us, I tell him."

Really??? What is the level of passion in the Church body when it comes to impressing these commands on our children when we sit at home and when we walk along the road? Seriously??? How much time is spent reading and explaining the Word to children compared to the time spent at all their ball games, sporting events and anything else that occupies their time? How much time is spent on our OWN hobbies, our OWN interests and our OWN passions ... even when it might be all about serving in the church???

What I know for sure today is that children (generally speaking), are being spiritually trained by the church ... not by their parents or grandparents ... or by people who understand we are ALL called by God to welcome little children in His name and in doing so, are welcoming God (as spelled out in Matt. 18). If those of us who call ourselves Christians, do not have a passion to train up children in the way they should go, there is something very wrong in our relationship with Jesus Christ ... because He was just as passionate about the hearts of little children as He was the hearts of older children (aged all the way up beyond 100).

I hate what our government is doing to us, but God hates complacency and lukewarmness in the body of Christ. Who took the time when you were a child to sit with you and walk with you and talk with you about who God is and His commands for you? Was it your parents or grandparents? Was it the church? Was it no one? Whose responsibility was it, and if that responsibility was shirked, who came along and stepped in the gap for you?

I find it simply amazing that this conversation just isn't there in the Church. There is a blatantly loud silence when it comes to talking about the fact that we have not been obedient in following Deuteronomy 5 & 6. It's time the Church admits its own failings, and when we do that, THEN we can be as vocal as we want to be about our government.

Now that I am reading The Child's Story Bible (Catherine F. Vos) to my grandchildren, and I realize the amount of time required to allow them to ask question after question, and for me to not rush with a quick simple answer ... I realize I don't have time (or desire) for other things in my life that used to seem so important. As I read this Bible that makes it difficult to answer questions with God's truth if I myself am not living up to that truth ... such as having no other gods before me (gods ... things, stuff, interests ... that consume more of my time than I give God) ... I am not able to read it without being changed. The Federal Family may take control, but it is ME who will stand before God and account for what I did or didn't do to train up children for Him in HIS family.

Challenge yourself: If you have already raised your children and your grandchildren are grown, or if you have no children or grandchildren, read this book as though you are reading it to a child. As you read it, think about all the children who are not being trained in the Word of God. (Sunday School is great, but there isn't much extra time to talk and talk and talk). Then go to your neighborhood, or church and offer to have a Bible Story hour(s) ... with YOU reading the Word to children who need to hear the Word. When we are truly loving the Lord our God with ALL our heart and with ALL our soul and with ALL our strength; when we are loving Him so much that we want to do nothing else but share Him with little children ... THEN we can make a whole lot of noise about our corrupt government. (Of course, God's children are all ages, so we also need to be passionate about sharing Him with His older ones, too!)

Wanting A Fresh Word From God Today?

2011-08-29T07:22:00.000-04:00

"Where am I? How did I get here? How can I get back and recapture my first love?" Pastor Dave Engbrecht used the example of marriage yesterday to show us that it is our choices and most of all, our passions, that come not only between us and our spouses, but also between us and God. "You will never get to where you need to be until you acknowledge where you're at," Pastor Dave explained. "God's call throughout the Scriptures is simple: Keep the fire red hot! Your fire is determined by the habits of your heart."

The older I get, and the more I get to know who God is, the more I realize how the Church has taken the simple, uncomplicated Gospel of Jesus Christ and made it into something that requires more time, more money, more programs, more classes and sadly, more gimmicks and more entertainment, in a concerted effort to help us understand this Gospel which has become so well known as, "too difficult to understand."

As my pastor shared this very powerful message about how we drift and grow apart from our spouses in marriage, and most importantly, how we allow our relationship with God to become lukewarm and complacent, there was one word that explained it all. There was one word which was the explicit explanation of the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ. This word my pastor reminded us of was the word Jesus used at the very beginning of His ministry on earth: "Repent."

In the Church, we often want a word from God. We wait for a word from God. We plead for a word from God. We seek confirmation of a word from God. Teach me Your ways, God. Show me Your will, God. Feeling a bit of distance between you and God? Feeling a bit of distance between you and your spouse? Feeling a bit of distance between you and your kids or friends and family? Want a word from God today that will change everything and will bring you into the relationship He desires from you? Here it is: "Repent."

"Your fire is determined by the habits of your heart," my pastor told us, "God will not change that which YOU will not own." And this is exactly what Jesus told us when He said, "Repent." It is an imperative sentence. It isn't for anyone but YOU. It is the habits of your heart that will keep you distanced from God ... and other people. But what about THEIR habits that drive you nuts? Doesn't matter. Jesus Christ tells me, and He tells you, "REPENT. YOU repent. YOU stop being angry. YOU stop lusting after what isn't yours to have. YOU stop divorcing because the marriage isn't working for you anymore. YOU keep the oaths YOU made. YOU love your enemies. YOU stop praying like a hypocrite. YOU stop storing up for yourselves treasures on earth. YOU stop serving two masters. YOU cannot serve both God and Money. YOU stop worrying. YOU stop judging. YOU get off the broad road where you can have life as you want it and get on the narrow road where all you have is ME. YOU must bear good fruit. YOU must follow ME."

So, where are you? And how did you get there? You and I are where we are because of our own choices. It is what it is and it will remain exactly as it is ... or worsen ... if we don't have His fire in us burning out all that needs to be destroyed. If there is no fire in our hearts for God and for lost souls, it is because there is no fire in our hearts for our own repentance. One more thing my pastor reminded us of: "We all have our own passion in life. We are all passionate about something."

What I know for sure today is that I can spend the rest of my life diligently studying the Scripture, and diligently going to church, and diligently listening to my pastor, and diligently looking for yet another book or great devotional that is going to help ignite my fire ... and it won't. It is only as I choose to repent ... DAILY ... as I am reminded in His Word, that I will produce good fruit. "Produce fruit in KEEPING with repentance," as we are told in Matt. 3.

Wanting a fresh word from God today? Here it is: "Repent."

Have You Heard a HARD Word?

2011-08-17T08:10:00.000-04:00

"Are you discouraged in devotion? Have you ever heard the Master say a hard word? If you have not, I question whether you have heard Him say anything. Jesus Christ says a great deal that we listen to, but do not hear; when we do hear, His words are amazingly hard." Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest (Aug. 17)

Chambers goes on to talk about the rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, and how Jesus made no attempt to beg this man to stay with Him. "He simply said--Sell all you have, and come, follow Me. Our Lord never pleaded, He never cajoled, He never entrapped; He simply spoke the sternest words mortal ears ever listened to, and then left it alone."

In the Church, if you listen to the majority of believers who "want to share their faith," what you hear, generally speaking, is what I call Christianisms: "God is just SO good! God is SO faithful! God is such an ON TIME God! God is SO awesome! God just loves to bless us! God has everything under control!" That, along with encouraging, uplifting Bible verses has become the testimony of faith of many believers. Yes, He IS good. He IS faithful. He is an on time God. He is awesome. BUT! Does He have everything under control? Are we under His control, or are we the same as the rich young man who chose to walk away rather than accept the hard truth Jesus was saying to him?

When we hear Jesus Christ talking; when we don't just read His Word, but we HEAR what He is saying to us, we hear Him telling us the next thing that MUST go. To hear the majority of Christians talk, Jesus offers a positive, fluffy, feel-good message of encouragement and inspiration. When was the last time you heard a fellow Christian share a HARD word Jesus spoke to him/her ... about him/her?

As a believer, do you want to produce fruit for God? Do you seriously want to bear fruit or do you merely say you want to bear fruit? Listen to these words of Chambers: "Our Lord knows perfectly that once His word is heard; it will bear fruit sooner or later. The terrible thing is that some of us prevent it from bearing fruit in actual life."

For the last few years, when entering into new friendships, I am up front at the very start. I say clearly, "I will be the most honest friend you'll ever have," and I am. I ask more hard questions now, and when asked for my opinion, I tell the truth instead of worrying about offending. How is it working for me, you might ask? Well, my phone doesn't ring as much as it did before ... and if it does, it isn't someone just wanting to chit-chat. I have heard enough hard words from Jesus now, that I really have no time (or desire) for mindless chatter. I can tell you from experience, a hard word from Jesus will always convict. A hard word from Jesus will always say, "You must stop this thing you are doing that only brings glory to you and dishonors me."

Last Sunday, Pastor Don Rohrer spoke about telling ourselves the truth and the need to stop lying to ourselves. "It's the lies we tell ourselves," he said, "that keep us from moving forward." He shared from Philippians 3, how, "... many live as enemies of the Cross. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things."

Their glory is in their shame? Did you hear that? We are to give all glory and honor to God, but what happens when we only want soft, easy-to-digest words from Him? We become discouraged in devotion because His word does not offer soft, easy-to-digest words. We want to bear fruit, but don't (very often because we don't wish to offend), and then we become discouraged because we don't see anything happening ... and our glory is in our shame. Are you hearing this? When more of our time is spent on being downcast, discouraged and disgruntled about ourselves or what others are doing or not doing, it is OUR feelings and emotions ... our shame ... that is being glorified. Another word to use? Magnified. We are the ones who are glorified as our talk/action is magnified (receives more of our attention) ... more than the One and only One who should be glorified and magnified.

What I know for sure today is that the Church is not only full of discouraged Christians, but also with happy, perky, positive-thinking only Christians who always talk about just how good God is ......... and neither is producing the fruit He called us to produce. The simple truth of Jesus Christ is ... His words are amazingly hard and they produce sorrow in us, not a depressing sorrow but a good sorrow; a good sorrow that comes when we are able to rid ourselves of something inside us that isn't good. Traits and habits in us that are not of Him or like Him cannot remain; they have to go.

These hard words of Jesus, if heard, not only change us and produce in us a good sorrow; they also take our eyes and minds off of everyone else. And the bearing fruit thing??? "Our Lord knows perfectly that once His word is heard; it will bear fruit sooner or later. The terrible thing is that some of us prevent it from bearing fruit in actual life."

What else I know for sure today is that if I hear a hard word, yet share no hard words, I bear no good fruit. So ... have you heard a hard word from the Master recently? If so, what did you do with it? Oh, and one more thing: Jesus gave a hard word, but He put no demands on anyone to accept it. Neither should we.

The Goal: Church, Public Schools, Homeschooling & More

2011-08-12T08:15:00.001-04:00

In my last post, I asked the question, "When should there EVER be a sermon, or a Bible study, or a Sunday School class that doesn't spotlight the need for one to become a self-feeder of God and His Holy Word? When should we EVER show up at church and NOT hear the truth that Jesus calls us to learn from Him ... because HE tells us that in His own words: 'You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to COME TO ME to have life.'"

More than two decades ago, I made the very difficult decision to homeschool my children. Two very important things I learned AFTER we'd been homeschooling a number of years:

1) If God calls you to do something, He will qualify and equip you for the task.

2) The goal of homeschooling is to teach students how to learn on their own.

According to the world, because I went no farther than (barely) graduating from high school, I was "unqualified" to teach my children. According to myself, I agreed. All I had was a desperate feeling that it was wrong for me to turn them over to someone else for their teaching, especially when it was public knowledge God was not welcome in public schools, and that public schools were failing to teach as they should. In my heart and mind, I lacked confidence to teach my children, but I also KNEW I would not let them fail. I also KNEW I had God, who had been teaching me for awhile.

My oldest, who was in 7th grade when we began homeschooling, had received recognition for being the top math student in 6th grade. On our first day of school at home, we learned he had no knowledge of basic measurements, so we went into the kitchen, got out the cup, pint, quart and gallon containers, and not too many days after that, the tape measure and real money. We learned quickly that basic measurements are not taught in public schools. While I had no knowledge of algebra and struggled with fractions & percentages, I DID have a solid understanding of basic measurements including being able to count back change. (Been to a ball game at school lately where students take money for tickets?)

Long story short, within a short time, maybe the most important thing my three children learned from me was that they were responsible for learning how to learn on their own. My job of teaching them was to bring them to a place where they could read and comprehend directions on their own. They still needed me to provide them with guidance, counsel, truth, example, discipline and correction, but the goal was to create students who could learn on their own; self-taught.

In the church, as well as in public, private and home schools, there SHOULD be a common goal: Teaching the responsibility and the critical urgency to learn on your own ... becoming self-feeders. I ask again, when should there EVER be a sermon, or a Bible study or a Sunday School class that doesn't spotlight the need for one to become a self-feeder of God and His Holy Word?

There was a foundation laid for me as a child that included learning to read, learning to write, and learning arithmetic; basic skills needed for life. As my children entered public school, there were new ways to read, new ways to write and new ways to do arithmetic, now known as new math. The way I'd been taught was no longer necessary because "new, simpler, better" ways were discovered.

While there was not a foundation laid for me as a child that included being taught it was my responsibility to go to Jesus on my own and be taught by Him because that is what He commands us to do, I wonder how far back it was, this foundation became so broken and cracked it isn't even recognizable today. Didn't God tell Adam and Eve EXACTLY what He expected of them? Didn't He tell Noah EXACTLY how to build the ark and everything else he needed to know? Didn't He tell Abram EXACTLY where to walk and what to do? Didn't He tell Moses (who had zero confidence in himself) that He would lead and direct Him? Didn't (doesn't) Jesus tell us EXACTLY what we need to believe and how we are to live ... today and every day?

What I know for sure today is that God has called EVERYONE of us to love Him with our whole heart, soul and mind. That means we are to love Him more than anyone or anything; we are to love Him by obeying Him with our whole being. What I also know for sure today is that Jesus in His own words tells us we are to come to Him and LEARN FROM HIM ONLY. How are we doing with that?

The Church is in great trouble, folks. Our young children do not know they are to learn from Jesus directly because most of us do not know that we are to learn from Him directly. The church has bought into the new math; "new ways of reading/studying God's Word, worshipping, and praying." The solid foundation of God's Word and His absolute truth are not enough anymore; we need more books to read, more speakers to listen to, more singers to stir our emotions, more entertainment to keep our interest, more conventions and conferences to keep us on track, more Bible studies by great authors/speakers ... we need more ways to help us understand God and know Him ... more ways that is, because His own Word is not enough for us. His Word is too hard, too harsh, too complicated ... it requires too much of us.

If we were to lose today, our church buildings, our church classes, our church pastors & teachers, our song leaders, our Bible study leaders, our children's & grandchildren's Sunday School teachers, etc., would we be knowledgeable enough ... and prepared enough with the truth of Jesus Christ to teach others how to go to Him and learn from Him? Would we be passionate about it? Would we even have the slightest desire to do so? If not, why not? If so, why aren't we? Not qualified? Others are called and others are qualified, but not me? Others have that "gifting" but not me? When would those of us who say we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, EVER not be passionate about pointing others directly to Him ... to learn directly from Him? What is our goal besides inheriting Heaven?

Jesus Christ has called us ALL to come to Him and learn from Him ... and He has called us ALL to bear that fruit and pass it on. In Matthew 17, He tells us: "Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." (He equips and qualifies us with and for everything we need to do all He calls us to do.)

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, EQUIP you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever." (Heb. 13)

Bible Studies: Is His Word Enough?

2011-08-09T08:44:00.000-04:00

Downgraded. Unless you are a hermit living in a cave, you know the U.S. was downgraded last week due to its inability to stop spending money it does not have to spend. Controversy between Congress and the Administration played a huge part in this decision by Standard & Poor's downgrading America from AAA to AA, and President Obama believes the solution is for the wealthy to ante up and pay the outrageous debt incurred by the government. Oh, and another thing ... the stock market tanked.

Have I mentioned in more than a few blog posts that I am reading The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos to my grandchildren? Have I also mentioned how my eyes are becoming more and more open to the truth that the Church is failing miserably in teaching the first and most important Commandment given by God? When it comes to rating the Church, what rating do we get when we look at God's Word to us when He says: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

I was called this week and asked if I would be a table leader again for our Ladies' Bible Study this fall. I'd already decided I wouldn't, yet when the question was being asked, like always, there was that guilt feeling of, "why would one ever say 'no' to helping out with a Bible study? A Bible study, of all things, would never be a bad thing to do, right? If I say no, it will look like I'm not willing to serve the Lord, won't it?"

How about if I just honestly think out loud here (like I always do), and risk offending anyone who might read this (like I often do)? At what point in a Christian's life, does one come to the vivid realization that signing up for a Bible study and diligently studying it (no matter how good it is) for the rest of your life ... isn't going to bring one closer to God? At what point does a believer come to the vivid realization that God wants to be the One and Only Bible study leader ... and THAT is the ONLY way one will ever get closer to God (if HE is the One teaching us)?

Am I condemning Bible studies? No. I am sharing the simple truth I have shared here countless times: The Church is failing at teaching people the critical need to learn from Jesus Christ Himself. As pastors, priests, rabbis, bishops, teachers, Bible study leaders, mature Christians, etc.; if we who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ never get to the place where we take Him seriously at His Word that He is to be our One and Only teacher ... we are NEVER going to share that truth with anyone else. We will only continue to offer/attend another really great Bible study or a really great series of messages ... and we will continue to say, "I just want to get closer to God."

When should there EVER be a sermon, or a Bible study, or a Sunday School class that doesn't spotlight the need for one to become a self-feeder of God and His Holy Word? When should we EVER show up at church and NOT hear the truth that Jesus calls us to learn from Him ... because HE tells us that in His own words: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you REFUSE TO COME TO ME to have life."

The U.S. has been downgraded to a AA. What would you say the Church has been rated at ... or downgraded to ... by God? And could it be, that the Church has the very same problem the government has; the Church is spending far too much money on (good) programs, gimmicks and entertainment that will entice people into the church? Could it be that the Church has taken the very same role as the government: "Here we are to help you ... come to our church and we will offer you every program or class you need for your entire family ... we will make it non-offensive and non-threatening; it will be a safe environment for you to come and worship and learn about God."

Could it be that, just like the government, the Church has gotten in way too deep? Could it be that, the Church has invested way too much in way too many buildings and programs; so much so, that it's almost impossible to dig its way out? What if the Church begins to teach EVERY time the doors are open that, YOU are responsible for training YOUR children in God's Word? What if the Church begins to teach us that it is our PERSONAL responsibility to learn directly from Jesus Christ ... and what if when we begin learning directly from Him, we are so excited and amazed that, like the woman at the well, we just cannot keep that information to ourselves?

What I know for sure today is that the day may not be too far off when we open our eyes and see just how dependent we are on the government to take care of us. (Does the word Social Security ring a bell? How about Medicare? Or, Investments? Or, Union pensions? Or, Health Care?) Will the government be as trustworthy as the stock market? What will we do if all these things we are relying on for our retirement, disappear before our very eyes?

What I also know for sure today is that the day may not be too far off when we open our eyes and see just how dependent we are on the church for the spiritual needs of not only us, but for everyone else we know. If you and I are believers who consider ourselves "mature" believers, yet we don't see the need to passionately share with others the need to learn from Jesus Christ Himself ... maybe it is because we are just too happy about starting another really great Bible study ... which will offer us a great time of fellowship with other believers ... and may just bring us a bit closer to God.

For myself, if I am going to agree to be a table leader at a Bible study, it will have to be a Bible study that is clearly geared to getting people to become self-feeders on the Word of God ... and self-feeders who are feeding solely on the Truth of Jesus Christ will no longer be content ... to be spoon-fed ... or entertained. There is just something about learning from Jesus Christ that creates a passion to help someone else understand the same. The Church needs to wake up and realize our taken-for-granted freedoms are rapidly slipping away, and one of these days, all we may have is our Bible. Will it be enough? (Please click here; take just a few more moments and read this.)

I CAN Teach: "Oh, My Word!"

2011-08-04T08:48:00.000-04:00

I recently said my trademark exclamation of, "Oh, my word!" When I did, my 7 yr. old grandson said, "Nana, you just said, 'Oh, my word.'" I looked at him questioningly, and he said, "Nana, we're not supposed to say, 'Oh, my God,' but you said, 'Oh, my word!' ... and Jesus is the Word!"

I was brought to tears. To realize how much my grandchildren are learning things about God and His word that most adults claim is "too difficult to understand!" well, it is overwhelming and humbling at the same time. How many kids do you know who can explain God, His Son Jesus, and His Holy Spirit as One, yet three, a.k.a. Trinity? And ... how many adults do you know who can ... AND WILL ... do the same?

As I've been reading The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos) to my grandkids, we've been talking about the descendants from Adam to Jesus; we even made a chart for a visual. At the top it said "God", and under God, "Adam," and at the bottom, "Jesus," in large, bold letters. At first glance, my 6 yr. old granddaughter asked why Jesus' name was not at the top with God. I was about to explain, and she said, "Nana, you told us Jesus was with God before Adam was made." (I made a new chart immediately!)

They get it. My grandkids are 6 and 7 years old, and they get what way too many adults don't. I showed them in my Bible, and they are grasping the understanding of Genesis 1:1 where it clearly states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ... AND the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

In the very first book and chapter of the Bible, we see there is God, and there is His Holy Spirit; two, yet One. Then a bit farther in 1:26, we read, "Then God said, 'Let US make man in OUR image, in OUR likeness ... " US, OUR, OUR; do you hear it?

I then showed my grandkids in my Bible, John 1:1, how we know that Jesus was also with God and His Holy Spirit right from the very beginning. "In the beginning was the Word."

I had them look back at Genesis 1:1 again, and read those first three words ... then look back to John 1:1 and see the same three words again: "In the beginning."

We continued, " ... and the Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God. He (the Word) was WITH God in the beginning."

We jumped over to John 1: 14 then where I read to them, "The Word became flesh, and made His dwelling among us."

Two little children, ages 7 & 6, understand that God, His Son Jesus, and His Holy Spirit were ONE before the earth was even created. They understand that Jesus is also known as the WORD (a.k.a. TRUTH), and He became flesh when He came as a baby. These children understand what I did not understand until I had been an adult for a very long time.

Two times this week, I heard from two friends, the same words: "I'll be honest, I don't read the Bible because it is just too difficult; it's too hard." I gave them each a copy of The Child's Story Bible and asked them to try again. (A child's Bible for adults? Yes, a child's Bible that gives more than cute, flowery feel-good Bible stories; it gives the hard truth a child can understand).

There is a very good reason why there are countless things to be passionate about. There is also a very good reason why most Christians I know are not passionate enough about God to want to share Him out loud. The One who created our earth ... and us ... and who promises us life eternal IF we love Him more than anyone or anything ... and we who say we believe in Him are more concerned with the fear of offending than we are the consequences He promises if we don't, and WHY?

WHY? Because it's just a whole lot easier to say, "The Bible is too hard to understand," than to admit that we really do NOT want to know the truth. Once we know the truth, we cannot plead ignorance, AND, once we know His Truth, we KNOW we have a calling to share it. If we can't understand it ourselves, we certainly are not expected to share it ... RIGHT??? And once we understand it, we won't be able to keep on living like we do ... RIGHT???

What I know for sure today is that we understand everything we want to understand. When one of my friends said, "reading the Bible is too difficult," I explained how we make the mistake of picking up the Bible and start reading as an obligation. I explained how we need to first learn how to ask God things like, "How should I treat my spouse? How should I parent? What kind of a house should I buy or build? What kind of a car should I drive? How should I dress? How should I eat? How should I spend (my?) money? How should I spend (my?) time?"

We learn everything we want to learn, about everything we want to learn about ... do we not? What the church has failed to teach us is that we MUST learn how to start first by asking God the questions we really might NOT want answers to. When we want this; ... no, ... when we are DESPERATE to know Truth, and who God, His Son Jesus and His Holy Spirit really are, we will go to His Word with a whole new intention, and this new intention will NOT be to find verses of Scripture that make us feel all warm and fuzzy about ourselves and the way we live.

If you are an adult who finds the Bible way too difficult to read, I am asking you to first just start asking God about your life and your lifestyle; ask Him what HE thinks about YOUR choices and YOUR decisions. And then, please consider reading THIS child's Bible; not just any child's Bible, but The Child's Bible Story Book by Catherine Vos. Too juvenile for your thinking? Read these words of Jesus: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will NEVER enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Oh, my Word! When we come to Him as a child, willing and eager to learn, He teaches us ... everything! And today, where I am at TODAY in my life is, while I still have the freedom and capability to reach as many people as I can ... I am on a mission to get people excited about God's Word ... and then openly sharing His Word! And we ALL know, we share what we are passionate about, don't we? (I could spend (my?) free time on Facebook playing games or telling you what I'm doing all day, but time is flying ... and people are dying without Christ ... and if we don't teach our children and friends the truth, they will learn another truth from someone else!)

I Can Teach: Israel/Palestine Conflict

2011-07-26T09:34:00.000-04:00

Hey, have you heard there is conflict in the Middle East? Have you heard about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Of course, you have! Hasn't everyone? Well, not really. There are some things in this world that are a source of confusion, and if it requires a decent amount of time to read, figure out and understand, well, many people (myself included) often decide it's just too difficult and put it on the back burner. We let other people deal with what we don't understand. The problem with all this? If we don't get it, we can't teach our children about it, and if we don't teach them, someone else will.

Do our children/grandchildren, and children in our churches need to understand the conflict in the Middle East? Do they need to know we might be beheaded for our faith? Or do we believe this is too much information for them to process? Do we believe this is way too much for kids to handle? Are we afraid they may have nightmares, so we shelve this for when they are "old enough" to handle it? As a child, I still remember the drills we practiced; if there is a tornado, line up quickly, go to the hallway, sit down and put your head in your hands, and, if there is a nuclear attack, "get under your desk."

It's interesting, in Israel where they are very aware of their very present danger, children are being trained in what they should do if their country is attacked. They are well aware of how they are surrounded by the enemy and they are diligently training their children to know how to respond. In essence, their children know about the danger and they are being prepared for attack. Can the same be said about our children in America where many of their own parents have little to NO knowledge about what is to come for believers? How are we doing in preparing our children for ... possible death?

As we came to the end of our reading recently in The Child's Story Bible (Catherine F. Vos) about the wicked Pharoah, who was adamant about not letting the Israelites leave Egypt, I explained to my grandson how sad it is, that the Israel/Egypt conflict is still going on today. "Why, Nana?" he asked. It was that very day, I realized I was not prepared to answer him. It was that day I determined to understand this conflict in such a way that I could explain it to my young grandchildren.

First, I googled, "how to explain the Israel/Palestine conflict to children", and I came up with two sites I found extremely helpful. (Click here for the first one,) and (click here for the second). Yes, it takes time to read, but don't we read up on anything else we really want to understand???

It was when I read the second link about Ishmael and Isaac, that I had an "ah-ha" moment. It was a "this is it!" moment. This is where it all began (obviously it began in the Garden), but this is where you can fully see where/why/how the conflict began.

It doesn't matter where you are reading in this Bible or any other Bible; take a time out and discuss this whole matter with your kids/grandkids ... or another adult. Just talk about it. In The Child's Story Bible, look at page 20. Top right; read these words, "... a land called Canaan." Then a few words later, "I will give THIS LAND to your children."

Now read page 21 where God speaks again to Abraham: "All the land which you see, I will give it to you and your children forever." And, "I have given THIS LAND to them, all the way from the great river Euphrates in the east to the River Nile in Egypt in the south."

Then Abraham listens to his wife when she tells him to sleep with her handmaid in order to have this child who is needed to give Abraham more children. You know the story; Ishmael is born, and Sarah's ill-conceived plan backfires and haunts her to the point where she goes back to her husband and tells him to get rid of the boy and his mother. On page 25, God tells Abraham that it is Isaac, not Ishmael, who will inherit the promises. "But," God says, "I will make a great nation out of Ishmael too, because he is your son."

Still with me? Read on to the top of page 26, where God hears the cries of Hagar, and tells her, "I am going to make a great nation out of him (Ishmael)." A few sentences later, read this carefully: "When he was grown up, his mother took a wife for him out of Egypt. God gave him twelve fine sons. They lived in the desert of Arabia, and there the descendants of Ishmael live to this day. They are called ARABS. God kept His promise to Ishmael, for the Arabs are one of the great nations in the world today. There are many Arabs in the world now, and they are proud to count their descent from their first father, Abraham."

(This would be a good time to get out YOUR Bible and read God's response to Hagar about how Ishmael will be a "wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone; and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward ALL his brothers.")

Two sons from same father, Abraham, the man God promised Canaan to ... and Canaan back then, is Israel today. But wait! There is more! (For you who already understand all this, sorry! I'm still in the leaning stage!) Look over to page 28, top left, and read: "The Jews (formerly known as Israelites/Hebrews) are Abraham's children. Many of the races which lived during the time of Abraham have entirely died out. And even though the Jews have often been cruelly persecuted by their enemies, there are still millions of Jews in the world today."

Abraham has a son named Isaac, Isaac has a son named Jacob, Jacob deceives his twin brother Esau ... and even though he sinned grievously before God through his deceit, God saw fit to restore Jacob and even changed his name to ... Israel, because "you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

It is THIS LAND. THIS LAND is the source of conflict; that along with the jealousy over who it really belongs to. It is exactly what God said it would be. Ishmael's descendants would be hostile because of Ishmael's hostility, and Isaac's descendants would be the ones to inherit the promised land, BUT!!! God also taught us through these people that though we may think we are above anyone else ... THINK AGAIN! Abraham (the chosen) tried to do God's work by sleeping with another woman and he also lied about his wife being his sister. Isaac repeated the lying cycle when he also lied about his wife Rebekah being his sister. Jacob lies when he deceives his father into believing he is Esau, and when Jacob's wife Rachel doesn't conceive, she tells him to sleep with her handmaid Leah and Jacob listens ...

Do our children at home and in the church need to understand this? YES, they do. They need to understand that God's Word is true and what He says will happen, will happen. Ishmael's great nation is becoming greater, and it has an agenda to make (to force) their religion into a one world religion. When Muslims behead those who do not believe as they believe, and they believe their religion is the only right one, do we think it is not necessary to prepare our children to know what is ahead?

When Jesus tells us (Matt. 24), "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you will be hated by all nations because of me," and when we read in Rev. 20:4, "And I saw souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God," shouldn't we take this as serious enough to prepare our children for what is to come?

No, I am not saying we need to sit down and tell them we will all have our heads chopped off. My parent's generation took it to the extreme and scared us to death. My generation has taken it to the extreme and has chosen to keep silent about "gloom and doom," because we don't want to scare our children. I AM saying we need to make sure they know just how critical it is that we know God's truth and that life on earth is not all about us being happy ... and being without fear. Maybe the reason kids today do not fear God is that they see adults all around them who love to talk about how good God is ... but who do not fear God.

What I know for sure today is that children today know what is in their parent's and grandparent's hands ... most of the time. And sadly, it is either a cell phone, ipad, remote, mouse, steering wheel, mop, fork, wallet, book, wii control, etc., etc., ... whatever is consuming their minds is usually in their hands. Kids are really smart; they can handle any new technology that comes along ... but we don't trust them enough to be able to handle the truth; truth they really need to know. THIS LAND; this land called Heaven is promised to those who are obedient to the Word and Truth of Jesus Christ. If we are too afraid to share this with our kids, someone will come along with a new truth; a new truth that will fit with a new world order. What are we going to do about it ... today?

Come to Me: Learn From Me

2011-07-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

"By it's very nature, that which is valuable demands care; the higher the value the higher the care. Often how you treat something determines its level of value to you. Because of the incredible value of the soul, it merits special care." My pastor Dave Engbrecht spoke yesterday from Matthew 16, and shared Jesus' words to us, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"

So, how is your soul? How valuable is it? What are you doing to guard it and protect it? Pastor Dave also shared these verses from Matthew 11 with us: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

As my pastor spoke, I couldn't help but think about all the work we do, and all the money we spend in order to bring people into worship and teach them about God. As much as I appreciated all the cool air around me giving me relief from the high temperatures outside, and as much as I appreciated my cushioned pew with a place to support my back, I couldn't shake the feeling that we really, truly don't have a reason to be desperate for Him when we are as comfortable as we are. If we didn't have all the comfort in our churches, would we still show up?

But Jesus Himself says His yoke is easy, doesn't He? He says His burden is light, right? He says if we come to Him, He will give us rest. Sounds like a pretty comfy plan to me. So, how are our souls? Are they weary or at rest? Are they crushed beneath the loads they are carrying? How is your soul today?

It was as my pastor was reading from Matthew 11, three words spoke loudly: "Learn from me." While my core theme in this blog is that we need to learn how to learn directly from Jesus Christ and not a middleman, it was yesterday, these words caused me to see things even more clearly than before. I jotted down on my note sheet: "When we learn from Him, we don't have so much else to take care of."

When we take His yoke upon us, we cannot take everything else upon us. When we come to Him to learn from Him, we understand we simply cannot have all the "stuff" in our life that keeps us preoccupied and distracted and so busy that we concentrate on everything but our own souls.

Last week, Campus Crusade for Christ announced it's new name: CRU. The old name was just too outdated; too offensive to potential believers. It wasn't their intention to drop "Christ" from the name; it just happened. But don't think they are losing sight of their mission to bring people to Christ, they say, their core truth is the same; they are just changing their name to fit in with current thinking.

"Come to me. Learn from me." If CCC had asked Jesus what He would have them do, would Jesus have said, "Change your name so it will be less offensive to those who might want to know me?"

What I know for sure today is that if I take Jesus Christ at His Word; if I deliberately decide to take HIS yoke upon me, I will be unable to keep on doing all I need/want to do. And if I am unable to keep on doing all I need/want to do, well ... I will have found rest for my soul because my burden will be much lighter ... because I will have so much less to take care of. There will be fewer relationships to manage, because when I am yoked with Jesus, I'm going with Him where He goes, not where I feel like going, and I will be doing what He is doing, not what I feel like doing.

My soul really is the most valuable thing I have, so I am choosing to guard it no matter the cost. Before we the Church decide to condemn CCC for dropping the name of Christ, we really need to check our own souls and see how much we are guarding them, not by being a non-offensive Christian, but a Christian who is willing to boldly stand for Christ. Caution: Guarding our souls and boldly standing for Christ means letting go of all that is not of Him, and manipulating others into our way of thinking and believing is not the way He does it. If lost souls see our own souls in turmoil, chaos, distress, unrest and joyless, why in the world would they want what we have?

Having a Form of Godliness

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

I recently wrote a post about Soleil Rousseau, a contestant on America's Got Talent. Something worth noting here is that I am not a person who watches TV because I'm bored or because I need to be entertained. If I ever watch a movie, it is only because my children might bring a movie to watch with my husband and I, or a movie to watch with the grandkids. I'm not into the "fine arts" of life and while I used to have hobbies that took up a lot of my time, I no longer do. To be straight up honest, I drive some of my family and friends nuts because I'm just not interested in the extracurricular of life anymore ... since I've begun striving to love my Father in Heaven MORE than anything or anyone else on this earth ... and strange as it seems, I never have time to be bored.

I DO watch some TV for a couple of reasons. One, I want to be an informed person and know what is going on in the world outside my little (call it boring if you like) circle of life. And two, I want to hear stories of people when they just open up and be real about who they are on the inside. (Maybe there is an inner desire in me to be a journalist; who knows?) This (watching but listening more for a personal story thing) has been going on now with me since I made the decision to let God teach me in every possible avenue; to teach me mostly about me. The first time I remember Him doing this was when I was watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (Yeah, that far back). There was the scene in the police station, where Ferris' sister was sitting with her (wild-looking) boyfriend, and she was whining about how Ferris never gets caught, but she always does. I don't recall the boyfriend's exact words, but it was something like, "What is that to you? So what, if he doesn't get caught, what is that to you?"

Those words from what I saw as a "wild-looking" guy (judgmental on my part), hit home with me as I was reminded of when Jesus said the same thing; (last page of John where Peter is asking Jesus about John). Jesus responded to Peter, "What is that to you?" What is it to you what someone else does or doesn't do? It was a wild-looking, free-spirit type of guy that God used to teach me one of my very first huge learning lessons in my walk with Him.

So, what about Soleil? Why did I write about her? (Click here to read that first post). What is that to me if she wants to take her talent and passion to national TV for millions of people to watch? According to her Christian friends' responses to me, my reason for writing was to harshly judge her and her talent, which they say is bringing honor to God and also an avenue for her to reach others for God. Well, the truth is, while I saw her dance ... I barely remember anything about the dance. She had tearfully bared her heart to the world before she went on stage her final time, and THAT is what I saw; THAT is what I remember.

I saw a young woman with tears rolling down her face as she said, "I want to prove to people that this is okay to do--that pole dancing is not bad; I feel like my parents support me because they are my parents, but I don't feel like I have their full support and that they really like this. I really want to make them proud. I want to do a good job."

My blog, as I clearly note at the top of the page, is NOT a flowery, feel-good blog; it is a blog to challenge the CHURCH to take note that absolute truth is almost invisible ... IN THE CHURCH. As 2 Timothy clearly states, in the last days, "People will be lovers of themselves ... people will become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power," and reality shows are a clear indication that this is happening. There is no denying that fame has become an addiction, and why not, when children are being taught today that, "You can be whatever you want to be," and to, "Follow your heart; follow your dreams, follow your passion."

In that first post (before I even knew Soleil is a believer, worship leader and VBS teacher in her church), I challenged Soleil to understand that we ALL, especially believers, have the choice and freedom to do whatever we want to do in life, but this freedom does not mean those who love us most will approve or accept our choices; nor can we put that burden of responsibility on them to do so.

I was surprised and delighted to receive a very warm, kind response back from Soleil, who shared her heart again with me when she wrote that she believes in her talent and has a strong passion for it, that it is a gift from God and that she puzzles sometimes as to why she has it. She shared how she sometimes teeters on the fence over it, wondering if it is the right time/place/thing to share, and that no one can stop her from continuing her passion for pole dance. I responded to her in a post (click here to read it) and challenged her again to consider her passion; to consider why she "teeters" about it, and that is when I began hearing from her close friends who needed to let me know just how wrong and judgmental I am.

While Soleil's friends are rallying around her and coming to her defense, and encouraging others to support her decision to pole dance, Soleil is hurting inside. While one friend has told Soleil pole dancing is not a sin, which of her friends will encourage her to seek first the counsel of her heavenly Father? No, not as in poring over the Scriptures to find support and justification for her passion, but as in going to Him personally as He has asked her (and all of us) to do?

As I have written here in my blog countless times, the church has failed us. In my parents' and grandparents' generations, church was the religious right. Today the church has become the liberated left. The pendulum has swung from all the way to the right to all the way to the left; going from being a religious, bullying, holier-than-thou hypocritical Church to being a "whatever makes you happy" and "whatever truth works for you" Church, and the generations of today are paying a hefty price for us not meeting Jesus Christ in the middle ... at the Cross ... where He showed us how great the cost will be if we choose to live as He called us to live.

The church has become much like our government; it exists (generally speaking) to teach us how we are to live instead of teaching us how to go to Jesus Christ and learn directly from Him; to be self-feeders. Instead of the government existing to encourage us to become self-feeders and take care of ourselves and our families, it wants to tell us how to eat, think and live. Same goes for the church. And then there is Jesus, in the middle, saying, "Come to me. Follow me. Learn from me." There are these verses in John 5 where Jesus tells us clearly, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

How sad for Soleil and the rest of the world when we who say we believe that Jesus Christ is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life, but then only offer support for everyone's choice of passion instead of gently guiding them to speak out loud to Jesus FIRST. And why don't we? Because if we seek Jesus Himself and His absolute truth, those of us who have read His Word know how hard it is to follow Him ... how costly it is to follow Him in the way He calls us to follow Him. It is a giving up of all we want and desire, instead of a holding onto of all we dream about and live for.

As long as the church continues to teach us about Jesus, and never teaches us our need to go to Jesus personally and learn from Him directly His very clear and very hard teaching, absolute truth will continue to fade away until we no longer know what it even is. When the Church and we who are part of the Church must use entertaining gimmicks in ALL our churches to get people to come to Him, something is dreadfully wrong. If Christian people believe I am judgmental when I encourage a hurting young woman to seek Jesus and His desire for her life, well, it just gives the world a whole lot more reason to despise the Church, doesn't it? How sad that this teaching about us learning from Him only (His teaching), is so foreign (so unknown) ... to the Body of Christ. How sad that there seems to be no longer an obvious holy, reverent fear of God, His Word and His judgment in the Church. In the last days, people will have a form of godliness, but deny its power.

Bread or Stones: Good and Better

2011-07-20T08:05:00.000-04:00

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7)

Bread is good. So are stones. Bread nourishes us; stones are useful in building projects and landscaping. Bread keeps us alive; stones are attractive to look at and also hurt if thrown at us.

Jesus and His disciples were at the home of Mary and Martha. Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made for their guests, and she came to Jesus to complain about her sister, who was just sitting at His feet, listening to all He was saying. Jesus told Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

There is bread. There are stones. There is cooking. There is sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him tell us everything we need to know. Jesus says there are good things to do, but there are better things to do. He tells us we must choose between good and better. He tells us the only way to know the difference is by sitting at His feet and listening to His every word. He asks us if we will give bread or stones to those who are hungry; bread being what nourishes the body and stones being what gives temporary contentment or support.

Bread or stones. I love cinnamon rolls and donuts because they are so good ... but I choose the oatmeal because it is better for my body. I also choose water over any sugary drinks or soda, because I know water is better for me. However, I buy soda for my husband because that is what he prefers to drink. Do I think he is sinning because he drinks soda? No. There was a time when I loved going to restaurants with buffets (especially seafood), because I loved to eat a lot. Then, I ballooned up to a weight that was unhealthy for me, and my cholesterol went sky-high; all setting me up for a stroke or heart attack. The food was nourishment for me and it tasted awfully good, but it was not good for my body ... and it set a poor example for my children. This kind of bread became a stone for me.

In the last 24 hours, I've been reminded once again of just how much the truth of Jesus Christ has been blurred to the point where even believers aren't sure what it is. I've also gained even more understanding of Jesus' words when He tells us, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to COME TO ME to have life."

Reading the Scriptures is good. Asking Jesus to reveal Himself to me through His truth, and to reveal any sin in me as I read His Word is better. There was a time when I read the Word for justification. I sought verses to make sure I was doing and being good enough to make it to Heaven. Going to His Word and simply asking Him to show me everything in me that was not of Him wasn't even in my mind. When we seek Him and ask Him to teach us absolute moral truth about every aspect of our lives, His answers hurt. His answers are hard. His answers make us have to change our thinking.

What I know for sure today is that I am no better than a classy, graceful pole dancer who is a wonderful person ... or a sleezy, half-naked pole dancer who may be trying to make a living to take bread home to her children. What I also know for sure is that I am called to give bread; Bread that is Jesus. "I am the bread of life, " He tells me, "He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe me."

In receiving this Bread, we never thirst again for the approval or acceptance of man. If we are still seeking approval from man, this is a sign that something is wrong in our hearts. In fact, in receiving this Bread, we become divided from those who do not. In His own words, Jesus tells us quite bluntly: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

It really is easier for believers to sit back quietly and mind their own business so as not to get caught up in the crossfire that (always) comes when acknowledging the absolute truth of Jesus Christ. Maybe that is why children no longer know what is truth and what is not ... what is wrong and what is right .. what is good and what is better ... because we believers don't want to offend anyone by our faith. We don't want to receive the harsh criticism that comes when we stand up for the truth of Jesus Christ. If we all can just have a truth that works for us, why in the world would we choose the truth of Jesus Christ that doesn't allow us to live according to the desires and passions of our hearts? Why would we choose a truth that won't allow us to remain silent when Jesus Christ is being made into something He is not? Why would we choose the truth of Jesus that says, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

Oh, and then there are also those words of Jesus that tell us we must stay away from all that entices us to be distracted from Him: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt. 7)

Bread or stones. We are giving one or another.