Archives for October 2013

Purity and Social Media… Not Mutually Exclusive

30 Oct

My husband and I were hanging out in the living room, he watching sports on TV as I scanned my iPhone Instagram App. Wading through pictures of friend’s children and the latest meme, I was jolted by the next photo that flashed on my screen. A former student from our ministry days was posed in her bathing suit bottoms, showing off her hard earned assets… I think you get the picture.

I stammered over my thoughts as I turned to my husband, Ron, and said, “It is really disheartening when I see former students who profess faith in Christ showing off their bodies and bad decisions on social media.” Without showing him the picture, I described the image. Without responding, Ron continued to fiddle with his iPad and watch the game. No reply from him led me to assume he has heard my modesty rant mortification spiel one too many times. However, imagine my surprise when Ron’s Facebook status popped up on my feed, seconds later.

“I am going to go out on a limb here and ask you girls who are working out like fiends and look great to protect us guys who are trying to be faithful to our spouses. Please save those photos for your husband either now or one day. #thinkbeforeyoupost Thanks!”

Read the rest over at iBelieve. (Click here.)

Trading Our Hearts of Stone

29 Oct

As is often my custom, I like to escape from mommy and house duties a few times a month and spend time writing in a coffee shop. A couple of years ago on one such outing, I had the opportunity detailed below.

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. (Ezekiel 36:26, NLT)

As I entered Panera, a couple came in behind me. I noticed them immediately in the parking lot. The bald head, slow gait, and walker for a woman in her 30’s grabbed my eye first. Then her husband helping her and waiting on her patiently subsequently grabbed my attention.

I hurried in ahead and ordered already beginning to be disturbed by this frail woman whose diagnosis quickened one’s thoughts to the eternal. The Holy Spirit began impressing upon my heart to go and talk to her and ask her name so that I could pray for her. Also, He urged in my spirit that I should share the gospel with them if they did not immediately decline my intrusion upon their lunch. I squeamishly asked God to have them sit beside me as if I was the one having to labor to walk! He did not do that, but instead put them within sight. I prayed for my opportunity, ate my lunch, read some commentary, then gathered my writing supplies to travel the 5 yards over to their table.

After short introductions, I asked Nicole if I could pray that she would be healed from her cancer followed by asking her and her husband their thoughts on God and heaven. They responded that they had just been talking about God. However, Wade said they weren’t religious at all so I proceeded to lay out the gospel. In the course of our 15-minute conversation, Wade went from saying, “We are all god,” to saying, “What god would make only one way to him?” to, “It is my right to approach God without an intermediary let alone Jesus.”

Wow. Wade had an obvious beef with Christianity because it proclaims that there is only one way to God and therefore heaven.

Both Nicole and Wade, much like the majority in our day, had a problem with absolute truth. To say that Christianity is the only way is to say that one way is right and others are wrong. That was a stumbling block for both of them. I will spare you all the details of our conversation, but sadly, Nicole and Wade left saying they would pray that my eyes would be opened to the fact that Jesus isn’t the only way to God and for an open mind for me to embrace other faiths. Undoubtedly, this was not how I had hoped it would go, but I was minimally contented in my obedience to Christ and prayerful that He would use my meager obedience to one day bring these lost sheep to Christ Jesus’ saving grace.

Don’t you wish that every lost and dying soul would appear to our spiritual eyes as a frail chemotherapy patient? Wouldn’t that make the sense of urgency in sharing more real for us on an unavoidable level? It would be hard to escape the emaciated bodies on TV, billboards, and restaurants across our land. Sporting events would look much different if the players were barely able to stand much less slam dunk, fast pitch, and tackle.

“Prophecy,” says the Lord in Ezekiel 37:4. In other words, preach. Tell God’s story. How hard is that?

I was almost in tears before I even approached Nicole and Wade. I was praying and hoping that I would be able to hold it together to preach to them. It didn’t take long for my emotions to subside once I was confronted with the hardened hearts of two very lost people. Neither this woman, nor her husband can save Nicole, yet she and her husband refuse to believe in Jehovah-Rapha. Rather, they deny His provision and salvation. These were dry bones indeed; very dry. Only God can breathe The Life into these two lost souls.

In Ezekiel chapter 47, Ezekiel is prophesying to wayward, exiled Jerusalem:

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken! (Ezekiel 37:14, NLT)

God longs for His glory to be revealed, to be reveled in, and to be made a big deal of. Many times in the Old Testament God says, “Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.” It is for God’s glory and His renown that He saves us spiritually, physically, and undeservedly again and again.

Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21, NLT)

God wants the glory. I hope God breathes His Holy Spirit upon Nicole and Wade. It will indeed take a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to give these people a heart of flesh to replace their heart of stone.

I will be listening and waiting expectantly to hear the rattling of bones, and then see the bones coming together with tendons and flesh and skin. Until that moment, I will keep prophesying and praying and asking God to sanctify and refine me, a wretched sinner turned saint.

So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” ( Zechariah 4:6, ESV)

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Filed Under: Contemplation, Missions Tagged With: Ezekiel, gospel, missions, witnessing

When Plans Fall Through

25 Oct

We have been told reunification was coming for over 6 months now. Little E has had four days of over night visits for the last 7 weeks. It was all set. We would stand before the judge in just a week and a half and wait for him to declare reunification of our foster son of over 1 year with one of his biological parents.

I have mentally made a list of all that I should pack and send “home” with him. How do you pack up a two year old who loves you as a mom and dad, and whom you love as a son, in any way that he will understand you are not another person to walk out of his life? That is a question I have mulled over for 4-6 months.

All the planning, all the crying, all the disciplining and decision making was to culminate and we were to find a new normal in a few short weeks.

That all changed with a phone call yesterday.

In short, one parent’s bad choices caught up with them and thank goodness before reunification had taken place. As these plans fall through we can shake our head at this adult’s repeated poor decision making, or we can say “thank God He revealed this before E was reunified.”

My mom told me earlier this week that her Sunday school class had a special time of prayer for us. Thanks be to God! The prayers of the saints are being heard and God’s will is going forward. We have seen the protective hand of God upon this child even and especially a midst all the pain that life has dealt him.

When plans fall through, when expectations stop short, when what we had anticipated dies, God is there with every twist and bend. He is there in every valley and mountain peak.

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

When plans fall through His arm is outstretched so that we do not fall but have hope, joy, and peace that passes understanding though they may ebb and flow as the ocean tide.

What plans have fallen through for you today dear one? Have you entrusted your requests to God? Have you enlisted the prayer support of even one or two other individuals? God is not silent when your plans fall through. He uses the Body and His Word to speak love over your situation and grace in the presence of pain.

Take heart this weekend friends.

When Cancelled Plans Lead to a Better Path

21 Oct

Often plans don’t go according to our schedule. Disappointments, delays, and roadblocks often test our ability to give thanks in all circumstances. A detour can threaten our peace of mind and unsettle our spirits. No doubt anyone who has lived a very short time can identify with disappointment…even kindergartners cry, “that’s not fair!”

Occasionally overturned plans lead to better paths.

So was the case with our trip to Arizona with Going the Distance Adventure Ministries (GTD). Leader and ministry founder, Doug Garner, joked he feared the government shutdown would lead to a Grand Canyonless trip to Arizona. However, due to Doug’s tenacity, tireless efforts, and the Lord’s blessing, we were able to experience abundantly more than Plan A had allowed for.

Initially, our itinerary included the choice of a day hike to Plateau Point or a ride to the North Rim to conquer the 26 mile Rim to Rim hike in one day. Many of us had trained for months for this chance of a lifetime hike from Rim to Rim. We also planned hours of rest and relaxation in Williams, Flagstaff, and Sedona, Arizona. Conversely, with the government shutdown here is what we were able to experience as Doug’s Plan B:

Hiking (22 miles) and Camping in the Supai Indian portion of the Grand Canyon with the breathtaking views of Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls (which towers 26 feet above Niagara).

Horseshoe Bend

Antelope Canyon

Flagstaff and Williams, Arizona

Bell Rock in Sedona, Arizona

Interspersed between all of these beautiful sights was apologetic teachings on the world wide flood and the subsequent formation of one of the world’s natural wonders, the Grand Canyon by Dr. Aaron Walp. After two years listening to Dr. Walp’s teachings and a year of bits and pieces reading on my own, I can confidently say that the rocks are crying out to the glory of God. It is the glory of man to study and understand the story the rocks are telling.

It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. (Proverbs 25:2, NLT)

As we have settled back into our “normal routines” I have pondered the lessons learned on our adventure. There are many to share, and many more pictures to help illustrate the lessons. I can’t wait to weave the stories and the spiritual truths together over the next few weeks with you as I share our pictures.

In the face of unexpected changes and revealed truths, God answers our prayers in His own way and time to bring about the most glory for Himself from all the nations.

Praise you Lord Jesus for safe travel and a Plan B that exceeded our expectations!

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! (Psalm 61:1-4, NLT)

*Special thanks to my fellow GTD friends for the use of a few of these photos.

When Plans Don’t Work Out

4 Oct

Last year Ron and I traveled to the Grand Canyon with 5 other people through a ministry called Going the Distance Adventure Ministries. You must know, the trip was an unspoken bucket list item checked off. We hiked the 12 mile round trip Bright Angel Trail out to the Plateau Point. It was a beautiful, slightly challenging hike that thrilled my adventure seeking heart.

But that is only part of the story.

Three men from our team hiked the 25 mile Rim to Rim hike…in one day. I really wanted to attempt this hike, but was slightly discouraged by the sincere questions of people as to whether I was up for the challenge. I decided that I should start with the “easier’ hike first.

The taste of the Rim to Rim hike has been ever on my mind for 11 months now. I began working-out harder almost immediately after our return last October and even started CrossFit Workouts of the Day between 4-6 months ago. Additionally, the StairMaster plus a 15 lb. kettle bell and I have become friends. I use the term friend loosely here.

Imagine my dismay and utter disappointment when the Government Shutdown earlier this week included the shut down of all the national parks. That meant my Rim to Rim hike with GTD would have to be routed to hikes outside of the Grand Canyon.

Don’t get me wrong, the revenue loss alone is a reason to be upset about the closing of all national parks. However, consider the individual stories that are being rewritten as a result of this standoff. Wedding cancellations, war veterans meeting up with their comrades for the first time in decades are left with dashed plans, and costly family vacation plans impacted.

Sometimes our plans don’t work out.

What do we do next? Well, in my case, I consider what my plans have cost me to date. I am in better physical condition than I was this time last year, Ron and I still get a few days away, great flood geology teaching, and Sedona red rocks will be equally exquisite as last year. However, there remains a goal unmet, a dream unrealized.

You would think I would quit training, right?

Wrong! I am continuing to train.I am confident my preparation will be met with opportunity.

It is much like this blog. When I first started my readership was significantly less than the present. The audience size didn’t affect my output in writing quality and desire to do my best job every time.In fact, days before my editor over at iBelieve contacted me about partnering with them, I told Ron, “I post and write the best I can as frequently as I can so that one day if opportunity arises for growth, I will be ready.”

In the spiritual, as in the physical, we can put off training for heaven as our eternal home because we are duped into thinking this life is longer than the breath we have. However, we are to live with an eternal mindset, everyday, so that when the opportunity to step into the heavenly realm signals with the end of our mortal lives we have done the work and finished our race in top shape…with fewer regrets.

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

Wherever it is that I hike in the next two weeks, I am confidant that the Lord ordered the steps that I will take, the path I will follow, and the people that I will walk it with. I am so thankful that the Lord gives us the desires of our hearts and then throws in some twists and turns in our stories as well.

What have you learned from plans that didn’t work out?

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Filed Under: Creation, Discipline, Faith, Fall, Walking in the Spirit Tagged With: Disappointment, Government Shutdown, Grand Canyon, National Parks, New Path

A Lovely Weekend Away

1 Oct

A few weeks ago three friends and I set off camping to a nearby beach location. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship and refreshment, as well as adventure. We all need a chance to step away from the everyday and venture into God’s creation to fellowship with Him void of the usual routines. Wouldn’t you agree?

Pictured below are some highlights from that trip. This week it is Ron’s turn to venture out on his own. Can’t wait to see how his adventure goes! I will be back on Friday with a post. Until then, enjoy a smattering of past posts and the pictures from my travels.