Faith Journeys

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Time to Get Honest

 Let me be the first to say that I’m the queen of Fine-and-Okay Land. When something’s not fine and okay, the LAST thing I want to do is talk about it. 

So I won’t–if I’m not pushed.

Sharing our stories, our struggles, is not always fun or easy. 

But I honestly believe that the reason most of us never move past the past, especially Christians, is because we never allow ourselves to be fully known, we never share our struggles.

Of course, I’m not advocating running around sharing the most intimate details of our lives with complete strangers. I’m assuming (this might be a big leap) that we all are aware that healthy boundaries are vital. 

And here’s the moment I get really honest…

Most Christians destroy any opportunity to keep a conversation going. 

Let me demonstrate:

Me: How are you doing today?

Hat Lady: I’m blessed and highly favored, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath…

Me: Oh…my day stunk.

The conversation just died right there.

Yes, Christians are all of the things Hat Lady just said. I firmly and fully believe it.

Though, how are we going to encourage an atmosphere of openness in our churches when the conversation dies in less than 5 seconds? 

If the desire of our heart is to have a church overflowing with hurting and broken people, we need to be more honest and become better listeners.

Isn’t this the cry of every church? To be filled with broken hearted people who need Jesus to rock their worlds?

Here’s what I’m not saying: Stay stuck in your past. Always talk about it and never change. 

Jesus Christ can and will redeem and restore you no matter how broken you are.

This doesn’t change the fact that broken hearts take time to heal.

What better place to heal than in a loving family of fellow believers who are committed to listening and helping each other move toward the best God has for us?

 

 

 

 

 

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You never asked me

Asking questions is the greatest way I get permission to step into the life of someone else. 

I am fascinated by real life stories and chats about books, movies, music, etc. 

Other people have shared stories with me that their own families have never heard before. 

“You never told me that!” is their first response, which is quickly answered with, “Well, you never asked me.”

I think “You never asked me” is one of the saddest things anyone can say. 

What it says to me is that a man or woman is willing to share their stories or experiences, but no one’s taken an interest in his or her life. 

How many times in our day do you and I pass up opportunities to connect with others?

As a Christian, here’s an even scarier question that I’m asking myself daily:

How many times, whether through busyness or unwillingness, have I passed up an opportunity to share the gospel?

This is really gnawing at me…

One thing I am asking for is a daily opportunity to: share the gospel, pray for someone, encourage someone, or help someone. 

I want my daily life to be about other people. 

We read about the unity of the early church, how miracles, signs, and wonders followed the preaching of the gospel and say, “That’s what we want!”

It starts by saying hello or asking question. 

It starts by asking for permission to step into someone’s life. 

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Escaping ISIS

I watched a documentary today that cemented my feelings and beliefs about Christianity’s role in helping refugees. 

PBS Frontline did a special last July on women prisoners of ISIS. 

Escaping ISIS documented the fate of the women and children of a particular sect of Islam, the Yazidi, who ISIS views worthy of being decimated because the Yazidi make the Islamic faith impure. 

When ISIS went into their villages, they killed the men and captured the women and children. 

There is a small group of Yazidi men who are working diligently to free their relatives from ISIS, creating an underground network of spies within and without ISIS territories. 

The saddest part of the documentary was watching the story of the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:2-11) with a horrible ending. 

ISIS leaders filmed a woman accused of adultery and sentenced to be stoned to death. The woman’s father was present and she asked him, “Father, can you please forgive me?” 

His response broke my heart: “God will not allow me to forgive you.”

The woman continued to ask for forgiveness, sobbing, as the leaders began to stone her. Her father joined in as well. 

For anyone who believes that God and Allah are one and the same, you’re dead wrong. 

The One True God is a loving and forgiving Father. His heart beats with love for us. 

This woman was killed and there was no forgiveness given to her like Jesus extended in John 8.

I understand that there’s no way the countries of the world can take in all the refugees. 

I understand it is dangerous to allow the refugees into our countries because ISIS infiltrates the refugee camps. 

But we as Christians can NEVER hate Muslim people. We can NEVER give up being involved in creative solutions to reach out to the refugees. 

I saw the tears of the women who recounted their brutal treatment under the ISIS regime. They lived in fear every day of their captivity. 

In fact, many women kill themselves because they feel utterly hopeless to escape the torture of the ISIS regime. 

There was an 18 year old girl who said, “I don’t know if I will ever be free from my fear, the nightmares that haunt me.”

I screamed at the TV, “Yes, you can be free! Jesus can heal your broken heart!”

This documentary has wrecked me…

The Muslim world is crying out for help, for hope. Don’t let ISIS win by poisoning your heart toward these people. 

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Being Present

Hard to believe school will be finished up in 4 weeks! 

My first 2 terms at Rhema have been awesome. I’m learning a lot and it’s going to be weird to be done until September. 

But there will be plenty to do until then. 

I’ll be working full time and my summer reading list is taking shape. 

Several of my favorite authors have books out, so I plan to read as much as I can. 

For now, I’m buckling down and enjoying the term to the fullest. 

Something I’m learning is how to be as present as possible wherever  I’m at in life. 

I like The Message translation of Matthew 6:34:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Jesus’ advice to be present was to not only safeguard us against worry but also to help us not miss out on what’s right in front of us. 

There’s nothing worse than waking up one day and realizing you’ve wished your whole life away. 

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Change of Address

Letting other people make their own choices is tough. 

Are you sure that’s what you want to do?

I have some great ideas for you! My plan is much more solid than yours.

It’s hard for me to sit back and watch someone self-destruct, especially when I know they could do better. 

They know the truth, but are unwilling to endure the pain of change.  

There have been plenty of times that I knew what I was doing was not the best plan. Thankfully, my friends and family didn’t walk away and throw up their hands saying, “I told you this was a bad idea!”

That came later. 

At first, they helped me up and dusted me off. 

The sting of the consequences wasn’t gone, yet I knew that I would be okay. 

Obviously not everyone gets that kind of support. They fall hard and no one is there. 

No matter the support level, no one is meant to change their address to 1234 Rock Bottom Street. 

I am a firm believer in hope. 

If you are still breathing, there is hope for you because Jesus loves you so much that He will help you move out of Rock Bottom. 

The hope of a change of address is available to us all. 

Jesus wants us to move into His house because His Dad is the best and there’s always room. 

What if we walk with our friends and family–all the way to Rock Bottom if necessary–and tell them about a better future, a better direction to head in?

A course change midway is easier than an upward climb. 

But remember that the choice is not up to you, so wear comfortable shoes just in case (you’ll want to be prepared no matter how short or long the walk).

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Speak up!

In 7th grade, I struck up a conversation with a friend of mine in math class. She wanted to talk about faith and the differences between my faith and her faith. 

She was not Protestant or even Catholic–I’m not going to say what group she’s in because that’s not what’s important to this story.

“Tell me what you believe, Audra.”

So I gave her the gospel in a nutshell: 

Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfectly righteous life that fulfilled every requirement of the Old Testament law, was crucified by the Romans because of the Jewish leaders lies, died, and rose 3 days later. Accepting His free gift of salvation takes away our sins and credits us with His righteousness. There’s nothing at all we can do to earn this gift.

It was the simplest way I knew of to tell her about Jesus. (This summation is much, much better than the bumbling version I presented back then.)

Now it was her turn…

I said, “Okay, friend, tell me what you believe.” 

“Well,” she said, “I can’t tell you.”

By this point, I was confused. 

“You can’t tell me because you don’t know?” I asked.

“No, I can’t tell you because it’s hard to explain, but if you call so-and-so he can explain it to you” she handed me a piece of paper with the name and number of a church leader.

I’m pretty sure my response could’ve been better, but I simply told her the truth.

“I don’t want to call him. I want you tell me. I’m friends with you and not him. Besides, how can you believe in something that’s so complicated you can’t explain it to others?”

Every Christian must be able to share the gospel. 

It’s not enough to bring people to church.

It’s not enough to give people a book.

It’s not enough to show people a video.

YOU must be able to share with your friends and family the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Is there anything wrong with church or books or videos?

Absolutely not! 

But evangelistic tools can never replace our Christ given mandate to OPEN OUR MOUTHS and share the gospel. 

 

 

 

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Helping with Media

I got to run camera for the first time today. The media department didn’t really teach me to swim–they just threw me into the pool! 

And it was awesome!

I observed Sunday morning and evening. Someone showed me the basics of how to run the camera before the evening service, but that was it. 

Today the supervisor walked me through step by step–through my headphones–how to set up the different kinds of shots.

What was strange was to look up at the big screens and see that my shot could be seen by everyone…

Whoa! 

Plus, I did a lot of zoom shots (kind of like panoramic action shots) which was seen by everyone on watching online. 

I look forward to learning more and more about running camera because it’s a valuable skill that helps ministries get the gospel message spread around the world.

Remember what I told you a few days ago? 

I’m not against the use of technology in the church.

Just go to church and get involved yourself! 

Then listen to podcasts and watch the sermons again on YouTube.

I listen to teachings all the time at work. And today I paid particular attention to the quality of the video and the kind of shots being used. 

Kinda cool to think that one day a sermon that I helped record will be online for someone else to watch.

No one will know it was me who helped, but I’ll know. God will know, too, which is all that matters anyway. 

 

 

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Tax Day Thoughts

Happy Tax Day!

Or, for all of my accountant friends, Happy I-Get-My-Life-Back-After-Today!

I am truly appreciative for accountants because they help keep everyone in good standing with the government. 

And…I really don’t like dealing with all the paperwork and fine print myself. 

However, tax collectors during biblical times were not treated with much respect and I can understand why. They often cheated the people to make a profit. 

Thankfully, accountants (for the most part) have a better rap today. 

Jesus didn’t villainize taxes either. 

He basically told the people to stop grumbling about taxes and give the money to whom it is due-whether to the government or to God.

I agree with Jesus. 

Just pay your taxes. 

Don’t make a big deal about how the big, dirty, rotten, corrupt government who zaps you dry. (Heard quite a bit of murmuring today.)

What good does whining do?

And our tax law, for the most part, is much more lax than that of biblical times. 

The tax collectors could charge whatever percentage they wanted as long as the government got their cut. 

We’ve got it good! Most of us will get money back! 

On this tax day, keep your perspective positive. Our government may have its flaws, but we have so much to be thankful for. 

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The Power of Showing Up

This Sunday was a Sunday of firsts.

  1. First Sunday to serve as a volunteer in the media department. I get to help run camera for RBTC’s exaltation on Tuesday!
  2. First Sunday to volunteer at the nursing home’s chapel service. I helped lead worship, which was totally a surprise but totally awesome!

Getting plugged in as a volunteer is a great way to get to know and to serve your church family. 

Maybe there are not a lot of opportunities to serve in your most favorite areas, but I encourage you to not be a pew sitter. 

Get involved. 

I think, for me, this is the biggest reason that staying home and watching a live streamed church service is not my thing. 

Of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with live streaming church–hear me out, okay?

I simply question saying you’re a member of such and such church when all you do is tune in online. 

For instance, I know of a couple who are “members” of a church that is at least 2 states away…

You can’t be involved from 2 states away. 

There are 50 trillion churches in Oklahoma (only a slight exaggeration). 

They can’t find one church to connect with?

Once again, I’m not against live streaming church nor am I against posting the video or audio of church services online. 

Not everyone can physically go to church or have a church come to them like Rhema’s nursing home outreach provides to shut ins. 

But what about us who can walk out the door and go to any church we like?

Is online church the best option?

There’s just something about showing up…

In a world that is so disconnected, showing up is powerful. 

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The Benefits of Slowing Down

There’s something magical about an evening at home. I like to putter around the house and put things away just so. 

Knowing that I have no time frame makes everything more enjoyable.  

I don’t even take my coffee to go much (only when absolutely necessary).

Coffee is a leisurely drink, one to be enjoyed slowly and to be savored with every sip. 

If I can’t sit down and eat my meal in peace, I’d rather wait. Eating in a hurry makes me sick. 

Of course, there are times when slowing down is not possible. I’m not delusional or rebellious when things must be hurried along. 

It’s just that life is hard to enjoy at lightening speed…

Why does everything have to move so fast?

As I putter around my little place, it’s nice to stand back and simply thank God for my blessings. 

  • My fridge is full. 
  • My bed is cozy. 
  • I have running water and that includes hot water, too. 

I can’t stop adding my blessings up! (But I will or else this will be a never ending post.)

Slow down. 

Walk around your house and property.

 Thank God for His abundant provision.