Comfort
It is a word we understand astoundingly well. After all, we have an entire style of cooking dedicated to food that reminds us of home, to comfort us. We've got countless modern amenities that provide us with a life of ease and then some. Somewhere that became the norm. If it wasn't comfortable we just stopped doing it altogether in favor of easier things. For the majority of the Christians in the United States their faith has gone this way as well. It needs to stop. Get uncomfortable! You weren't put here to be comfortable or safe. If you were there would be no impoverished countries in the world or people killed for their faith.
If you want your faith to grow you have to do the things that scare you. Should you happen to be like me that is public speaking or really talking to strangers or people over the age of about sixteen. I'm not a people person, I never have been, probably never will be. I despise crowds and when I do speak in public I need time to be alone so I can reset and let the adrenaline that pumps through my body dissipate. Yesterday I did something far beyond the norm. In fact it was one of the biggest challenges I've faced in some time;I lead devotions at Upward.
Let me preface that with this; This past Summer during VBS I was given the opportunity to lead a missions segment for the Middle School students. We averaged roughly one-hundred students. By the end of the week I went from being so nervous I was not sure that I wasn't going to vomit/hyperventilate to anticipating the few minutes I had on stage. I love missions, I love to talk about missions and will gladly discuss them with you given the chance. However, one-hundred middle school students is nothing compared to fifty or sixty parents when speaking on anything, especially an unplanned something. That was what yesterday was like.
The way things worked out yesterday Eric Dill lead devotions for the first two games and then asked if I would mind leading the next couple so he could rest for awhile and then come back and finish up the last two games (Upward games range from 9-5), so I told him sure. Then I prayed, a lot. There is a large difference in teaching on something you've planned for days or longer and just winging it. I winged the devotions. There was a verse to base it off of and a story but I didn't like the story so I didn't use it. I basically focused on the verse and the topic which was gratitude. The verse itself was 1 Thessalonians 5:18
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
A verse I already knew but will probably be etched forever in my memory because of yesterday.
That means we are to be thankful even when bad things happen. If you think I'm crazy just read that verse again-all circumstances means even bad times. Easier said than done? Certainly, but you have to realize the way you can do that is by knowing where your hope lies. If you don't have Jesus that is impossible. You can't be thankful for a cancer diagnosis if you don't have Jesus. You don't have hope period. Jesus is how you give thanks when your world crashes down around you. How? You realize that no matter how horrible things are you have Jesus so you are just fine no matter the circumstance.
That was essentially what I told all these parents. Eric did as well, only he used more words and said it more eloquently. What he did in 5-6 minutes the first two games I did in a minute and a half to two minutes the four times I did it. (I also talk incredibly fast)
What does all that have to do with being uncomfortable? You are about to find out.
Talking in public scares me. I did it anyway. It made me uncomfortable. I did it anyway, four times in one day. Why? Because your faith isn't grown when you are doing the things that make you feel safe and comfortable. Your faith is grown when you are put in a situation where your only option is to trust God and rely on Him to get you through. I tell the Middle School students this (especially the 7th grade boys) constantly. I practice what I preach. I know this feeling well and I'm sure this won't be the last time I do something that scares me because God is giving me the opportunity to trust Him in something new.
This morning I taught middle school small group and had a blast doing it (the exact opposite of yesterday). It helped that the passage was one I studied last week personally and it is one I know. I was also excited about giving the students the backstory before we jumped into the implications of what we read. If you ever doubt God works in mysterious and crazy ways just read Acts 10.Yesterday I started and finished quickly, this morning I talked about ten minutes longer than I had planned on for a total of about thirty-forty minutes.
I'm not telling you that you will do something uncomfortable and find a new hobby. I'll be honest yesterday freaked me out, it was a neat experience and one I'm grateful to have had, but that doesn't mean I plan on doing that again every Saturday. I'm just telling you that you have to be willing to step outside of what makes you feel safe to grow.
You don't keep training wheels on a bike forever, at some point you slip them off and go. Faith is a lot like that. You have to take the training wheels off and go and trust that God is going to give you what you need;Don't worry because He will.
I tend to view myself like Moses when God tells him to go to Pharaoh and Moses starts complaining about not being eloquent etc etc. God's response is I made your mouth. Well, it is kind of hard to argue with that. I'm a reluctant leader. Reluctant in I'm an introvert and not the type-A personality generally associated with leading, but the past two years or so I've been given more opportunities to step up and lead. Whether that chance came in the form of Small Group, Devotions, Wednesday night, or Bible Study. I'll probably never rally an army but leading is something I'm slowly getting used to doing. It isn't always easy, and certainly not comfortable, but it is worth it because it comes with the reward of spiritual growth.
So do me a favor. Actually do yourself a favor, next time God puts an opportunity in front of you to do something that makes you uncomfortable, take it. Stretch yourself. Trust Him. Grow. You won't regret it.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."-John A Shedd
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Choose Life
There is heartbreak today. 43 years ago the world decided murdering children was legal and came with no penalty; that is children who are inside the womb. Place a child in this world outside of their mother and killing him or her comes with a price. There are even penalties to killing a pregnant woman. However, if that child was unplanned and is considered an inconvenience, because of Roe vs Wade, the pregnancy can be 'terminated'. A nice way of saying you can legally murder that tiny human. What is baffling is the difference between legal and illegal, a mere issue of skin and tissue that separates the world from the safety of a womb.
Children are a blessing. They are a gift. They are not an inconvenience.
I write a post every year on this subject. Usually on the anniversary of Roe.VS Wade, but sometimes on Sanctity of Life Sunday. This one is just coming a little early. I've never understood and never will understand how anyone can think abortion is an option. The Pro-choice movement isn't a choice at all. It is instead a movement of murder preying on the innocent in the name of 'body rights'. I often read controversy surrounding the Pro-Life movement, complaints centered on the fact that those who champion life do not put so much effort into taking in the children who are given up rather than killed. There are times when that is a valid point. The number of children that need families is growing, quickly, but that doesn't excuse the fact that abortion is still murder. You cannot kill a child on the basis of the current number of children lacking a family. Personally, such a point is weak and doesn't hold water. Given the chance I'd happily say give me as many as I can take. I write an annual post on adoption every Orphan Sunday. I want to adopt. While it isn't feasible for me to adopt every child that might be aborted otherwise, I'd do it if I could.
I do not anger easily, but abortion is one of the few things that makes me angry. If I could say it was solely righteous anger that would be fantastic. Unfortunately the issue stirs up envy so what I feel is not altogether the kind of anger that is o.k. to feel. It angers me because I see not just the murder of a child who is created in the image of God but a flippant act that ends something that I cannot experience. Children will not come for me through biological means. The act of killing a child because you aren't ready to be a parent or you didn't want to be a parent is a deeply felt waste of a gift as far as I'm concerned. This is something that is incredibly hard for me to guard against. Why God would render me unable to have what I want so badly, and yet allow those who so callously regard the blessing of a child as an inconvenient lump of cells to be done away with is a battle I fight whenever the topic arises.
Speaking as candidly as I can;If you are blessed with biological children do not take that gift lightly. Generally I cringe when I read adoption blogs and the dreaded 'but which are yours' question is broached because if I've adopted them they are mine, they have my last name. However, the journey that comes with biological children is vastly different and is a beautiful thing.
I've seen several posts recently on social media about how we can't cancel arts in school because we won't get the next David Bowie or Alan Rickman. We aren't going to get either of those again if abortion continues, they aren't going to get the chance to live and show the world the talents given to them. The year has just begun and the world has lost several highly talented people. These are people that have lived full lives and yet we mourn so strongly their passing. At the same time 108,141 children have been legally killed today and the number rises as I type, yet there is very little mourning or outcry, there is no social media wave of remembrance, instead there is silence. We need to stop this. We need to step up and speak out. Life matters, these children matter. They are the least of these.
Abortion isn't the answer, Love is. Choose Life.
Children are a blessing. They are a gift. They are not an inconvenience.
I write a post every year on this subject. Usually on the anniversary of Roe.VS Wade, but sometimes on Sanctity of Life Sunday. This one is just coming a little early. I've never understood and never will understand how anyone can think abortion is an option. The Pro-choice movement isn't a choice at all. It is instead a movement of murder preying on the innocent in the name of 'body rights'. I often read controversy surrounding the Pro-Life movement, complaints centered on the fact that those who champion life do not put so much effort into taking in the children who are given up rather than killed. There are times when that is a valid point. The number of children that need families is growing, quickly, but that doesn't excuse the fact that abortion is still murder. You cannot kill a child on the basis of the current number of children lacking a family. Personally, such a point is weak and doesn't hold water. Given the chance I'd happily say give me as many as I can take. I write an annual post on adoption every Orphan Sunday. I want to adopt. While it isn't feasible for me to adopt every child that might be aborted otherwise, I'd do it if I could.
I do not anger easily, but abortion is one of the few things that makes me angry. If I could say it was solely righteous anger that would be fantastic. Unfortunately the issue stirs up envy so what I feel is not altogether the kind of anger that is o.k. to feel. It angers me because I see not just the murder of a child who is created in the image of God but a flippant act that ends something that I cannot experience. Children will not come for me through biological means. The act of killing a child because you aren't ready to be a parent or you didn't want to be a parent is a deeply felt waste of a gift as far as I'm concerned. This is something that is incredibly hard for me to guard against. Why God would render me unable to have what I want so badly, and yet allow those who so callously regard the blessing of a child as an inconvenient lump of cells to be done away with is a battle I fight whenever the topic arises.
Speaking as candidly as I can;If you are blessed with biological children do not take that gift lightly. Generally I cringe when I read adoption blogs and the dreaded 'but which are yours' question is broached because if I've adopted them they are mine, they have my last name. However, the journey that comes with biological children is vastly different and is a beautiful thing.
I've seen several posts recently on social media about how we can't cancel arts in school because we won't get the next David Bowie or Alan Rickman. We aren't going to get either of those again if abortion continues, they aren't going to get the chance to live and show the world the talents given to them. The year has just begun and the world has lost several highly talented people. These are people that have lived full lives and yet we mourn so strongly their passing. At the same time 108,141 children have been legally killed today and the number rises as I type, yet there is very little mourning or outcry, there is no social media wave of remembrance, instead there is silence. We need to stop this. We need to step up and speak out. Life matters, these children matter. They are the least of these.
Abortion isn't the answer, Love is. Choose Life.
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”
Psalm 127:3-4
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
A Ripple Not A Wave
“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in
check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small
everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small
acts of kindness and love.”-Gandalf
A few days ago I read Acts 7:58
"Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul."
It might seem strange to open this post with a quote about kindness and then jump into Stephen's stoning which was assuredly not a kind act but there is a point to it. The stoning of Stephen caused a ripple effect. A single act (his stoning) set into motion the scattering of the Christians that fulfilled scripture and allowed the gospel to spread throughout the world. We get our first glimpse of Saul and the very next chapter starts out with "And Saul approved..." the stoning of Stephen started a course of Saul's life that would see him become one of the most well known Biblical figures and a writer of a great deal of the New Testament.
All that to say this, we are a culture obsessed with doing huge things and saving the world. Even realizing that only God can do that, we are so focused on making a single big impact we ignore the fact that such a way isn't always a good thing. Think about it, a wave is a huge force that crashes against the coast and then disappears. But, a tiny touch of the water sends ripples out that just keep going and getting larger as they do.
Small acts are vastly important and we are so bent on only doing huge things that we miss the point. You can't know just how far a simple kind act will go. What you do for one person can spread and keep going and touch countless people. It is as J.R.R. Tolkien put it the small acts that matter. One big thing is strong but a thousand small things are better. We never know how far reaching a simple act can be, not for just the person it is done for, but for others who are reached because we start something.
We need to remove the mindset that says if it isn't big it doesn't matter. The people you walk by every day don't need something big, they just need one small thing. One intentional act that helps them see Christ's love. When Jesus fed the five thousand he didn't feed them from a full fishing net. He took something small and multiplied it. Bigger isn't always better. God's grace and love can be shown just as well through being intentional in small acts as it can through a massive movement.
If you want to make a difference don't wait for a 'once in a lifetime' moment. Just go and do something for a single person. That is how you make a difference, it might not change the world in an instant, but you have no idea just how far that one little act can reach.
Make ripples, not waves. The first starts out small and gets progressively larger with time. The other starts and then just fizzles out in a single impact.
A few days ago I read Acts 7:58
"Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul."
It might seem strange to open this post with a quote about kindness and then jump into Stephen's stoning which was assuredly not a kind act but there is a point to it. The stoning of Stephen caused a ripple effect. A single act (his stoning) set into motion the scattering of the Christians that fulfilled scripture and allowed the gospel to spread throughout the world. We get our first glimpse of Saul and the very next chapter starts out with "And Saul approved..." the stoning of Stephen started a course of Saul's life that would see him become one of the most well known Biblical figures and a writer of a great deal of the New Testament.
All that to say this, we are a culture obsessed with doing huge things and saving the world. Even realizing that only God can do that, we are so focused on making a single big impact we ignore the fact that such a way isn't always a good thing. Think about it, a wave is a huge force that crashes against the coast and then disappears. But, a tiny touch of the water sends ripples out that just keep going and getting larger as they do.
Small acts are vastly important and we are so bent on only doing huge things that we miss the point. You can't know just how far a simple kind act will go. What you do for one person can spread and keep going and touch countless people. It is as J.R.R. Tolkien put it the small acts that matter. One big thing is strong but a thousand small things are better. We never know how far reaching a simple act can be, not for just the person it is done for, but for others who are reached because we start something.
We need to remove the mindset that says if it isn't big it doesn't matter. The people you walk by every day don't need something big, they just need one small thing. One intentional act that helps them see Christ's love. When Jesus fed the five thousand he didn't feed them from a full fishing net. He took something small and multiplied it. Bigger isn't always better. God's grace and love can be shown just as well through being intentional in small acts as it can through a massive movement.
If you want to make a difference don't wait for a 'once in a lifetime' moment. Just go and do something for a single person. That is how you make a difference, it might not change the world in an instant, but you have no idea just how far that one little act can reach.
Make ripples, not waves. The first starts out small and gets progressively larger with time. The other starts and then just fizzles out in a single impact.
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