Why Martin Luther King's words are still so utterly relevant.

Or... When My Want of Comfort "Trumps" God's Call for Love and Freedom....

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I just cannot fathom this university's choice in a speaker on this day!? This infuriates me, but then this has been happening for years and years and years and years... (Click HERE to see why this Pastor is choosing to protest his alma mater's choice in a speaker to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.)

This is what breaks my heart over and over again. That our want of a comfortable and discord free life Trumps the call of Christ to stand for freedom, justice for the oppressed, and above all LOVE for ALL people.

Our privilege to choose comfort and peace through willful ignorance is a travesty. The way we continue to tell ourselves that racism is over and gone…

 That is a lie "we" continue to play on repeat because "we" can, but not because it's true.

Friends please today of all days take some time to actually re-examine the facts of racism in today's world.

Even better? Speak with someone who is a different shade or ethnicity than you and humbly ask them to share their personal life experiences with racism and then listen... Please, I beg of you to really listen with your whole heart… With God's heart that cries out for love and justice.

(Seriously my friends, please go do this because you will not understand what I am writing about or why Martin Luther King's words are still poignantly relevant right now, today, until you do. Or at the very least watch the first 6 minutes of this video. Please consider watching the whole thing. Click HERE ) 

You may find it surprising and even shocking to hear the things your friend, neighbor, or co-worker has experienced, but please do not just stop there with your reactions. I beg of you do not choose take the luxury again of stopping there.  Let these feelings of shock and indignation take root. Let them grow in you a compassion for others who are still daily experiencing racism. Let these experiences that your friend shares, develop in you a passion that exceeds your empathy, moves you beyond complacency and emboldens you to say,

"I will not ignore this anymore. I will not choose my plush comfort and want of a discord free life over another's right to equality and a life without fear. I will no longer afford myself the luxury of choosing to shut my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears, and hum a tune of willful ignorance to this evil.”

My friends, will you stand with the greatest of God’s commands and say,

 “Yes, I will love my neighbor as myself. “

Therefore, since I do not want to be judged by the color of my skin, but as Martin Luther King Jr. requested, “By the quality of my character.” I will stand against those who continue to let the color of another’s skin to dominate their reactions and actions.

Every time I hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak it brings me to tears because his words are still so relevant today and that is a very grievous reality for me. It should be a very grave reflection of our land of the free and home of the brave... Well, as long as it doesn't make me uncomfortable that is. One would think by now this dream might be a reality, but it's still a work in progress and it will continue to be because…

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

-Edmund Burke

My friends, if I love God with my whole heart as the beginning of that command asks then I should cry out with Him against this injustice. 

Church… I fear we are too close to this passage in Isaiah 58, where we cry out for God to move and ask Him why He isn’t showing up, but ignore our very own culpability to these travesties.

Please God, let us awake. Let us answer your call.

Will you pray for racism to end? 

Will you take a step forward in understanding what so many are facing in our very own nation right now, today? 

Will you stand? 

Will you step forward? 

Will you be the change you wish to see in the world? 

When You don't know where to start... Start with one.

She was drunk.

 I could see our breath like a mist in the cold winter’s night as we sat outside the church building. People passionately lifting up praises to the Lord echoed out of the churches open windows. My rear end was starting to move from sore to numb as the chill sank into my bones from sitting on the ground outside. She was anxiously glancing back and forth. She told me again she should not be here she was “drrrrunk”. She rolled her “R’s” as they do in the Afrikaans language. My heart went out to her.

We sat together there in the cold damp night, waiting for her to sober up or just gain the confidence to go inside the building. I was silently praying for her and she was feeling nervous about the church people’s reactions to her being drunk. I reassured her of our love for her. She repeated again that she should not be here, yet made no move to leave. 

She had followed me all the way up the winding dark streets from where she and her friends had been partying. All the while we kept chatting lightly as we walked.  She repeatedly told me that she should go back to the party, and yet we continued walking and chatting together as we headed up the hilly road towards the church. God was propelling her. I smiled as I watched her keep pace next to me.

God had placed her on my heart from the first day she arrived at the park where our mission’s team was working.  I spotted her standing towards the back of the ever growing numbers of teenagers and children who were coming out to the site. With her arms crossed, her face cynical and smug, she would stand and observe us. If you got to close, she side stepped you. If you reached out to give her a friendly pat on the arm, she made fists and darted. She smirked when we spoke and made fun of my American accent, but God nudged me and said,

”This one, love and pray especially for this one.”

It’s always amazing how God can place a love inside of us for someone we do not yet know personally. Or when He places a love in our hearts for someone who does what they can to be rude or dodge us like the plague.

 We shared some of the horror stories from our lives on that chilly evening. She allowed me to share with her how God brought love and healing into mine. We prayed together and still keep in touch. She still has an abundance of hardships to deal with in life, but I am confident of this.

God loves her. That she is beautiful and valued in God’s eyes whether or not she feels valued in her family. I pray for her protection and for God to guide her each week. I pray for healing for her heart and the strength to stand for what is true. I also pray that one day I can see her and give her a big hug again, I even long to hear her giggling as I try once again to pronounce her name correctly.

There are many of us who are in need of God’s love, forgiveness, grace and freedom, whether here in the States or halfway across the world. They are hiding behind tough exteriors, towering walls built from years of broken trust and open wounds, yet dying inside for someone who will care and be patient enough to love them out of from behind their walls.  

I have heard from quite a few people how they feel overwhelmed by the needs in our world. A friend of mine shared she did not know where to start and if she could truly make a difference. 

This brings me to this week’s challenge. Consider this phrase,

“Do for one what you wish you could do for all.”  

Friends, if you relate to this then, could you please pray and ask for the Lord to help you to see the “one” in your life? 

Couldn’t we all start there with just one person?

Ask the lord to help you to see the ways you can encourage and bless them and then do it. Don't think too long about it. Do not put it off till next week. Just do it.

Maybe it is someone in your neighborhood, a co-worker, or a person you have met where you volunteer. Perhaps God is leading you to support a child through Compassion International or World Vision. I encourage you to take the first step today and ask the Lord, “Who is your one?”

Then remember the words Bob Goff so aptly coined, 

“Love Does”. 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The "F" Word... from the Archives.

Yesterday, a wonderful friend of mine and I were sharing about our concerns and frustrations in life with each other over the phone. What we were sharing seems to be the general theme I have heard shared from many lately. It has to do with the “F” word, but not the one you might be thinking of.

Failure.  

Whether our failure is only perceived, or an actual gory mess that we have blundered our way into, we are all trying desperately to dodge this seemingly tenacious beast. There are times in our lives when it seems that no matter how hard we try, whether in our marriages, our families, our jobs, or even friendships we just fail.

There can be a crippling sense of shame that follows this slithering beast named failure. Paralyzing us as it wraps it tentacles around our hearts and minds, digging deep into the areas where our doubt and self worth intermingle. Like a haze of fog it clouds our views of the reality of who we are and who our God is.

The further we descend and entertain this beast the more he takes liberties with other areas of our lives and hearts. He infects us with his lies about our true nature... About whether God could really still love us. He bleeds images of our Heavenly Father shaking his head in disgust and disdain at yet another failed attempt in our life.  

Confidence can begin to crumble away like the land when it is in a drought.  Instead of running to someone for help as we begin this fall, often times the shame folds over our mouths like duct tape. We turn from the ones who love us and wander quietly away. Secretly hoping someone will notice the shadows of hopelessness overtaking the light in our eyes, but too scared to speak up.

Whatever the cause for your sense of failure; whether it’s a temptation you continually fall into; a ministry or business that has never really gotten off the ground; or you are caught in the contagious trappings of comparing yourself, your looks, your success to others… Please know this.

Stop. 

Stop looking down at your problems, your imperfections, and shortfalls. Stop looking down and look up.

Like a little child being bathed by their mother. She coaches her child to keep looking up as she washes the shampoo from his hair.

“Look up at me. Keep your eyes on me.”

She whispers gently to her beloved child trying to keep his head tilted upward so that the stinging soap can be safely washed away from his precious eyes. When her child is overtaken by doubt or fear and looks down, that’s when the soap pours down over his little face, stinging and burning his eyes.  What was it our mother’s told us?

“Look up.”

It works the same with our Heavenly father. He does not look at us and shake his head in disdain when we try and fail. He looks at us and coaches us in gentle whispers,

“Look up. Keep your eyes on me. The enemy will try and steal your joy, but I sent my son for you to follow so that my joy could be complete in you. Keep your eyes on me. It is in your weaknesses and perceived short comings where I can shine through you and do the impossible. I love you and want only the best for you. You are my child. “  

If our eyes are on Him we will see how He truly is. A father overjoyed in our open hands that may be unskilled, but when placed in His capable hands can do the amazing. When we fall, He is there whispering, “Look up my child." He offers his shoulder to lean on and His truth as our solid rock to stand on. When we repent he washes the shame away in the warm healing waters of forgiveness. He offers His shield during the attacks of the enemy and He whispers constantly, “Keep your eyes on me. This battle is mine.”

There are two stories I encourage you to look into this week, both are in Matthew 14: 15-32. Each time there was a key integral moment between human failure and the Lord doing something impossible through someone. In both situations the choices were caught between looking at the persons circumstances, and human inabilities or looking up at our Lord to what He can do with our weak hands, and diminished supplies.

Take courage my friend. 

God loves you more than you could ever imagine.

I am praying Paul's prayer for you today.

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Are you struggling too friend? 

How can I pray for you?

99 Balloons and Unfinished Stories...

If you watch the video, I kid you not tears will fall, and yet it's beautiful. The love that is displayed here is amazing in it's depth and purity. Oh that all the sweet children could know this love. Could experience it's sweetness and acceptance. 



When Dan King of Bibledude.net showed it to us and asked if some of us would be willing to write an, "Unfinished Story" to help support these beautiful parents and their ministry I remember thinking, "Of course!" (And then I ran to get a tissue for my tears.)

And yet, when I sat down to write one of our unfinished stories not one of them seemed quite right. I thought I would share about our different miscarriages, or the times I was in the hospital and doctors offices while they tried to figure out what in the world was wrong with me now. Maybe even about when my  energetic and spunky daughter suddenly developed a debilitating auto-immune illness for 8 months...

Again not one of them seemed quite right.

Then one night sitting in one of our teen girl's small groups, God brought this one back to mind. 

In the Searching I Discover I am Found. 

It's short and to the point. Some of you may not understand it and that is okay my friends, but I have quite a few friends who have experienced this in some degree or another. Some of you reading this may know it all to well. My heart goes out to each and every one of you.

I am grateful, so very grateful that God loves us so intently and deeply that we can be called His son's and daughters.

I pray today you know this my friends, 

1 John 3:1

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

For more information on their story and ministry visit, 
The atypical life blog.



Sharing this week with, Inspire Me Mondays!

And this is Where my heart breaks...Part 2. there is hope.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me…

Oh I used to sing that little ditty, but oh mama... It was not true.

I have scars from words that have lasted far longer than the bruises and scrapes I got into as a child.

I have been sharing about the damage that labels can have in our lives. This stemmed from an over night youth girls only event that we recently had at our church. If you feel a bit lost while reading this, it might help if you read the previous post, "And this is Where my heart breaks..."

I have a confession to make…

Each time I stare at these blasted stones with their crushing words of condemnation my eyes begin to tear up. 

Each one of these stones represents a person who is living under its chains and bondage.

I find myself holding each stone and praying,

 “Dear God let this one know she is loved.

Let her know she is wanted. 

That her past failures do not mean she is destined to fail forever.

Let this precious daughter know she is worth our time, our love, and efforts."

Can you imagine these being the defining labels in your life?

Have you been there? Do you remember when?

I do.

And my heart breaks and my soul cries out,

“Who will advocate for them?

Who will defend their worth?

Who will stand in the gap?”

You?

Me?

I mean we can try, but the the bill to be paid is too big for just you and me my friends.

Except there is someone.

I know Him, and believe me when I say He gets it... In fact He's has been there.

His friends left him. They didn’t stick around when the chips began to fall and the pressure hit. When the people yelled false accusations at him...

 His friends weren't there to defend his honor.

When he was being beaten and whipped, mocked and spit upon...

 While people yelled for his death his friends hid in the shadows and watched in fear. Some claimed they didn’t even know him.

As the skin on his back was ripped away by the glass and metal barbs connected to the end of the Roman Guard's whip, he held firm.

When the crown with piercing thorns more than an inch long was driven into the flesh around his head. He kept each of us in locked in His heart.

When they threw the cross upon his back with wounds gaping open down to the very bones, he soldiered on seeing each of our faces before him.

As the spikes were driven between his wrists, and ankle bones connecting him to the roughly hewn and splintered wooden cross. His blood and love poured out forgiveness for us all.

I still find myself humbled and in awe over Jesus.

Taking on my sin, my most wretched moments, my labels, my own destructive ways, and then He willingly paid their price putting them to death so that I could walk free.

Me...

Little old me.

And you too my friends.

And, here is the hard part...

He also died for the lady who was rude to you in the store the other day. The guy who cut you off in traffic, and even the bully in your class who pushed you into the mud while mocking you...

He died for the one who is in a relationship with someone of the same sex, and the guy who swooped in and broke up your marriage.

He died for the druggie mom who forgot to feed her kids because she was too stoned, and even the one who is sitting in a church pew today thinking they have it all together because they don't look like, “that guy”.

Amazingly, He died for each and everyone of us so that we could be...

FREE

Free through Him...

His life. His death. His resurrection.

All because He loved us. This Holy, Perfect, and Righteous God wants to spend eternity with us. We didn't ask him to pay this price. We definitely did not deserve this sacrifice, but He did it so that we could have the choice...

And this turns me into a bleary eyed mess.

How can I not begin to see others with God's eyes filtered through love, grace, and truth.

I find it amazing that if we choose to live our lives for Him, and love like Him then one day, His glorious light of truth will spread through our love.

Out of the crumbling walls, and heaps of rubble and wreckage... Through beautiful tears of repentance there springs forth a beautiful rebellion to combat the misery and lies of this world.

It rises up from the dirt birthed by this undeserved grace and pure enveloping love.

Once again Hope blooms.

There at the foot of the cross a new label is born from this sweet and blessed truth.

“I am LOVED.”

A new cornerstone for our foundation.

“I am Loved”

Do you know this my friends?

Say it out loud with me.

"I am Loved!"

Are you with me friends?

We are loved by an amazing and all powerful God and it is an everlasting and amazing love.

Isn't it beautiful?

So today, will you choose to see past the labels in others and listen to their story?

Love them right where they are at and live out love the way Jesus did?

Can we make this choice friends to do this right now this week, and the next, and the next, to be Jesus to others?

Will you join me?

Linking with these wonderful places, take a moment and visit them...  Inspire Me Mondays, Wednesdays Word, Thought Provoking Thursdays, Telling His Story, Faith Filled Friday, Soli Deo Gloria Party

God Speaks Through Play Dough Hearts

More Lessons Learned from SYMC

For all who are struggling. 

Psalm 13

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise,

    for he has been good to me.

In the darkness, with only the stage lights filtering between the seats, I fumbled for the small container of play dough that the speaker, Jason Ostrander, assured us would be there.

“Where are you at with God? If you were to mold the play dough into a symbol of where you are at in life right now, what would it look like? Take some time and let God speak to you on this...”

So there I sat in the darkness of the conference session. Squishing the soft malleable substance in my hands...

I settled in, quieted my mind, and listened to the speakers...

Before long I had made my first sculpture.

This was how I have felt this last year.

Like Jesus and His cross had broken my heart wide open so that it was spilling out...

It symbolized a year of Jesus turning my world upside down. 

Then, John Stumbo began sharing about a vision God had given him.

After a year of pain and agony due to a debilitating and unexplained illness, God revealed this vision to him...

He saw the clay formed and molded still spinning wet on the potters wheel...

Then He saw the potters hands reach down and crush the pot back down into a lump on the wheel, only to begin to mold it again.

God? Are you starting over with me?

God whispered back,

“This heart cracked open and bleeding? It's not the complete picture. I have a better design.”

So reluctantly, I squished the hot pink play dough I had so carefully constructed back into an ugly lump and waited with one question on my breath...

What is it You want to show me, Father?

Slowly, in the quiet, the Lord prodded me to place this silly misshapen ball of play dough into my left hand and to close my right hand over it.

I waited there with my hands closed around the dough in prayer...

I felt the dough in my hands begin to grow warm, molding into the spaces and crevices of my palms.

His voice came into my thoughts,

“I am Holding you my dear child.

I am holding you.

My veins my finger prints, my wounds are impressed upon you...

Just stay here, while I hold you.”

Warm salty tears began to fall as His words sank in.

“I love you, I am not done with you my child. Open your hands and see.”

I was fascinated by what I saw.

There in my hands was a heart, but not like the one I had molded earlier. The one we have so commercialized on cards, posters, t-shirts...

This looked more like a real heart.

He whispered,

“You see I am not done with you yet.

This represents my heart. A real beating heart for a life that is not over yet.

A life that needs to be lived now.

This is My design. So much more complex and amazing.

The blood flows out, but it also constantly being fed again. It continues to beat and flow, beat and flow,
 bringing LIFE to the rest of the body."

I looked at the play dough heart...the crevices and lines of my palms had created veins that are pathways of life.

"My ways are not yours my daughter...My ways are not yours, but I am not done with recreating you yet.

I took your heart that was broken for Me and have given you Mine instead.”

Are you there friends?

Are you unsure of the path that the Lord has been taking you on?

Have you surrendered your heart to His amazing and capable hands?

My goal is that you may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3

To hear John Stumbo's amazing story you can click here.

John Stumbo: The Deeper Life in Jesus

part 1 ,  part 2 , part 3 , part 4

Need some praise time?

The heartbeat of my life is to worship in Your light...

Thought Provoking Thursday