What’s Missing (203)

I had an “hmm…that’s interesting…” moment today. I was thinking about all of the churches that we’ ve been visiting recently. I see babies, little kids, some teenagers, people in their 30’s, middle aged people, and senior citizens. In every church that I have visited there is one age group missing:

Older teenagers and college students.

In our church in Arkansas I didn’t really think much about it because there isn’t a college near very close by, and there were a few older teens and college students. Everywhere else that I have visited there have been absolutely no college aged students. Where I’m living now, there are several colleges around in the area so it’s not like there aren’t people that age nearby, but yet a very small percentage of them are going to church. That makes me so incredibly sad. As soon as the teenagers are allowed to make their own choice about church, they decide that a few extra hours of sleep are more important than spending time listening to what God has for you and fellowshipping with other believers. As a college aged student myself, I get the whole needing sleep thing. I get that getting up on Sunday to go to church might not be the first thing that you want to do, but it is the most important choice you will make all week long. “But I have to work.” If you’re working instead of going to church, can God bless your work? Even after God created, He rested!

More than anything, not seeing college aged students in church makes me very sad. My generation is not making God a priority. What is going to happen when my generation grows older and begins to raise families? Then there will no longer be children and middle aged people. If it continues to progress churches will be smaller and smaller.
The choice to stop the progression can start with you! Make the tough choice and get up and go to church. It might be awkward the first couple of times. No, I take that back, it probably will be awkward at first, but you’ll get through it. Find a nice family to sit with, or look for someone else that looks awkward too!
God will honor your choice to follow Him. Don’t let your insecurities or fears stop you from obeying God.

Today’s Blessings:

1.This verse that has been on my mind all day: “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

2.Parents that have raised me to value church going and have passed on a godly heritage.

Reunion (184)

Good evening! I don’t believe I mentioned it, but this weekend we visited the church we used to attend in Arkansas. It was SO SO good to see all of the people there. They all have such smiley faces and great hugs! More importantly they are some of the most genuine Christians I have ever met.

Since we’ve been visiting churches I’ve gotten to see into a lot of different ministries and the people the people that make them up. Probably over 90% of the churches I’ve visited are filled with zombies…Okay, not brain eating zombies, but their faces are solemn and expressionless. They mill around nodding the presence of others, fill into their seats, and then sit there blankly while God’s Word is being presented. When we visit a church I like to look around at the people and see how many of them are actively listening to God’s Word. Unfortunately most of the time I see the zombie faces. Well, today when I looked around at the faces of the people in Arkansas, and I saw people that were engaged in the message. I saw people whose lives weren’t easy, but people who were wanting to become more like Christ! The struggles that these people go through are indescribable, but yet they still love the Lord and don’t let their circumstances control their joy.

Speaking of joy, the message that Pastor spoke on was about joy! I plan on listening to rest of the message on the church website. As we all know consistent joy is something that I wish to actively pursue!! It’s something that I see in the lives of the people at church and in Rich and it’s something that I want too!
Speaking of Rich, going back to my church in Arkansas meant seeing him again. He is doing well and is maturing in amazing ways! We got to talk some and it was so good to connect with him. He also is actively pursuing God and it is so great to see the way the Lord is changing Rich to be more like Jesus.

Blessings are overflowing. It’s really what this blog is all about. God doesn’t take us through the valley and leave us void of His presence. He walks along-side us and gives us the blessing of sweet fellowship with Him. He is so good to us!

Today’s Blessings:

Love, hugs and smiles from my Arkansas church family!

The genuine Christianity they display despite the hard things that come their way. (If you ever doubt that Christianity is alive today, just spend a week with them. You’ll see!)

Getting to see Rich again and seeing how well he is doing!

-Christy

Sometimes God Reveals-Sometimes He Doesnt (153)

Have you ever been reading something in the Bible and as you are reading, it’s like a lightbulb is coming on, but at the same time you still aren’t grasping the whole concept? I don’t think that this feeling is unique to scripture reading, as I’ve also had this feeling while doing math homework. The difference is, that I do eventually grasp the mathematical concepts. (Most of the time.) As Christians when we read God’s Word we aren’t reading it like any other book, we are reading it with help from the Holy Spirit who allows us to see new things each and every time we read.
There are somethings about God’s Word that we cannot grasp on this side of Glory. So when we read those passages here on earth, there will always be a part of it that we cant understand. I was reading Isaiah 55 this morning. I’ve probably read that chapter many times, but while I was reading it this time, new things were sticking out to me, It was like I was barely hanging on to each and every new idea that was being presented.

It’s such a good thing that the Spirit doesn’t just show us the same truth once! I feel like I’m such a slow learner. I go through a trial and seem to still struggle with the same things that I struggled with last time I went through a trial. I wish that my spiritual growth could be measured like my physical growth. Often times it’s a two steps forward one step back, but by God’s grace He doesn’t give up on me! This excerpt from today’s reading in “My Utmost for His Highest” really puts it best!

“Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?”

I think that’s where I’m at. God is calling me “Come up higher.” My flesh wants to give up. It says “Im spiritual enough, aren’t I? I’m a good person just how I am!” A friends summed this up in a message she sent me. “Christy, I know you are being stretched beyond what you would want to be…” Exactly!! I hated moving a second time! I hated leaving Rich! I hated the new surroundings.Those things were stretching me; creating character you might say. But just being a good person with some character isn’t enough for God. He wants me to be completely sold out for Him- More than just a pew warmer on Sundays, but a completed devoted follower.

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing….. God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.”

Many times Im stuck in the place where God cant reveal to me what He is doing. Im not at a place spiritually, where He can trust me with such insight.

When I was in 2nd grade there was a lot of construction going on around my school. One day all of the teachers seemed to be in a panic and we weren’t allowed to eat lunch in the cafeteria. We had to stay in our classrooms all afternoon and couldn’t even cross over into the main building to use the restroom. I remember one of my classmates asking the teacher what was going on. The teacher looked at my classmate and didn’t answer. She just told us that we had to listen for instructions and obey. Later we found out that there was the threat of a gas leak and they didn’t want us to be outside or in the part of the building closest to where the leak was. My teacher choose not to share with us what was going because she knew that as little 2nd graders she would have a bunch of scared, crying kids on her hands. Fast forward a few years to 6th grade. We were carrying on like normal in our classroom reading silently to ourselves when my teacher got a phone call. She stepped out in the hallway to take the call and then re-entered the classroom with a look of worry on her face. She told us that an intruder had been reported in the building and we needed to turn off the lights and sit in the dark at the front of the classroom away from the door. We quickly moved into position until we were given the all clear to carry on like normal. The difference between those two instances was that as 2nd graders we couldn’t handle the scary information. As 6th graders we were mature enough to know what was going on and obey anyway.

That’s what God is doing with us. Sometimes He doesn’t reveal why He does things. As a matter of fact, so far in my life, God hasn’t reveal what He’s doing until after He’s done it.

God didn’t tell me why He moved me to Arkansas.

God didn’t share with me why He moved me back.

God didn’t tell me why He allowed Rich and I to get incredibly close.

Basically, God doesn’t owe me an explanation. God knows that if He told me why He does things, then it wouldn’t take faith for me to obey Him. I have to trust Him even when I cant see what He’s doing. I may never get to a place on this earth where He can tell why He does things. But because He has never failed anyone ever! I can trust Him!!

Today’s Blessings:

1.God’s Word coming alive each and every time I read it.

2.The Spirit that reveals new truths to me and helps me obey!

3.A God that has never failed!

-Christy

Live Authentically (127)

I big topic that keeps popping up on my facebook and something I have been hearing a lot about recently is people blaming IFB churches for problems in their emotional and spiritual walk with God. If someone who has ever been a part of an IFB church has a problem of ANY kind they instantly take the blame off of themselves and blame the church. I have gone to a Southern Baptist Church, was educated by an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church/School, and have gone to an evangelical free church too. You know something that all of these churches have in common? They all have sinners behind their doors! *GASP* I know right?! Huge surprise! Ya wanna know something else that all of these churches have in common? Just because they carry a certain name doesn’t mean that their doctrine is right or wrong. There are Southern Baptist churches that I have visited that I would never be a part of. There are Independent Fundamental Baptist churches that I would never be a part of, and there are Evangelical Free Churches that I would never be a part of.

I have yet to understand how someone can blame “the church” for their or someone else’s sinful behaviors. What or who exactly are you blaming? In Scripture we see that the church is not the building but the people inside of the church. So when someone blames the church they are blaming every member inside of the church. How is it their fault that you were caught in sin? Did each member of the church tie you down each week before you left and force you to make wrong choices? My second grade teacher used to say “No one can MAKE you do anything.” She is exactly right. Right behavior and attitudes and wrong behavior and attitudes are the choice of the individual. The church has little to nothing to do with the sin that one struggles with.

A major problem I see that teens and young adults in my generation go through is not ever really claiming Christ as their own. They grow up going to church and doing the right things but never actually claiming their own Christianity. It’s always their parents Christianity, or their grandparent’s Jesus. It’s never their own! When they get to a point in their lives when they are faced with the choice of follow Jesus or doing whatever feels right they will more often than not choose the latter because Jesus means little to them.

What is my solution to this problem you ask?

Live Authentically!

That’s it! As parents, live in such a way that you wear Jesus on your sleeve. Let your children see you vulnerable, let your children see you struggle and cling to Christ. Let your children see you rejoice and give glory to God when good things happen. As church members, share what God is doing in your life. Don’t try to hide so that people think that your life is perfect. Love your Jesus first and foremost. The people that have made the most impact on my life are the ones that live an authentic Christianity-the ones that love Jesus and aren’t afraid to show it.

You cant force someone to love Jesus. You cant MAKE someone want to serve Him, but you can live in such a way they will want to love Jesus because they can see what He’s done for you.

Rich and I had a conversation about churches. He, having attended mostly E-Free churches and myself having attending mostly Baptist Churches discussed what we thought to be the most important factors in choosing a church. Here’s what we decided.

  1. Doctrine- We agreed that doctrine is the most important thing! Teaching heresy is never acceptable.
  2. Music- We also agreed that the music should never be about the people performing. Those who are a part of the music ministry must be there because they want to make God bigger and use the talents they have to glorify Him.
  3. The People- Since the body is what the whole idea of church is all about it is important that the people that attend are genuine in their faith and love Jesus and want to serve Him with everything they have.

Did you catch that? Not once in that list did you see anything about what the church was called. As two people that want to have Christ be the most important thing, Rich and I agreed that one of the main reasons that we see God as our number one priority is because we made a choice to always make Him the most important thing in our lives. The two of us have seen many people that are so in love with Jesus that it penetrates their every action- and our parents have made loving Jesus a priority in their own lives.

In conclusion, I would like to challenge you to  live an authentic Christianity. You never know whose life you might be impacting. If you are a young adult at that cross roads of choosing Jesus or choosing your own happiness, choose Jesus! If you delight yourself in Him, He will give you happiness!

Today’s Blessings:

  1. Having a warm place to be while the snow falls.
  2. The many people that have lived out their faith and have challenged me to love Jesus more.
  3. The Jesus that I serve and everything that He has done and continues to do in my life.

-Christy

God is love…? Pt 2 (89)

I had every intention of doing a “cop out” post this evening. I’m tired and got really cold at work today, so I was seriously considering posting a picture of a thought provoking quote and then curling up on the couch with my fuzzy red blanket and coffee do nothing. But I would like to expound on some thoughts from yesterday’s post.

My faithful follower, Roranicuspondicus1123 (has to be a Doctor Who fan :D), brought up a very good point from yesterday’s post. Here’s his comment:

“… God’s wrath and justice is out of love, isn’t it? Like, a parent disciplines their child out of love. So God still is love, just the tough AND sweet kind.”

He is spot on with this truth! I know that many people are not blessed to have two parents that love each other and love their kids. There has never been a day that I have worried that my parents had stopped loving me. It’s so obvious!

Believe it or not, I was one of those children that always had to have the last word. I enjoyed telling people what I thought and gave a running commentary to pretty much everything in life. When I was little my dad pastored a small church. I had a horrible time understanding why my daddy got to stand up and talk to people for 45 minutes and I had to be quiet the whole time. Probably over 75% of the swats I got as a child were for something I said. I would either talk at school when I wasn’t supposed to, or say something to one of my friends and hurt their feelings. I was usually being honest about it, they just didn’t want to hear what I had to say and I typically wasn’t a very tactful 8 year old. My parents had plenty of chances to practice disciplining me. I never remember a time when I was being disciplined that I doubted that they loved me. Every time I got a swat it ended with a hug. My parents made sure that I knew that they were only spanking me for my good and because that’s what God requires.

When my parents were disciplining me it was giving me a picture of when God tells me no or to wait. God doesn’t do those things because He’s mean or wants to see me cry myself to sleep at night. God does those things to shape me into the woman He wants me to be. My parents disciplined me so that I could grow up into a respectful, God loving woman. The punishment that God requires is out of love; however we don’t necessarily see the love until we see Jesus coming to earth to die and take away our sins! Whenever I think about this great love of our Father I get “God-bumps”. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I love meditating on the love of our Savior.

Today’s Blessing:

The love of the Father

-Christy

A Tear Transformation! (82)

My posts seem to be coming to you out of order and for that I apologize. I guess it’s just because my brain is running non-stop. Anyway, a couple days ago I mentioned how we tried a new church. Much of my post on this subject was “making fun” of the church visitor system. But really, that was one of the better times I have visited a church. The sermon was just what I needed to hear!

Starting two Sunday’s before I left Arkansas everytime I participated in corporate worship I would breakdown in tears. EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! It got to a point where I didn’t even bother putting on makeup because I knew that before the end of the service that the makeup would be smeared all over my face and I’d look like something out of a 60s horror film. For the first month or so I would just stand there and let the tears fall. They were tears of pain, and sadness, and heartbreak. However, on Sunday they changed completely!!

As we sang of how great our God is and of the victory we can have in Jesus the tears began to flow has they had the months previously. As the first tear ran down my cheek and off my nose I started thinking…. “Why am I sad? Why am I crying?” Then the light bulb came on. I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I’m not sad anymore. My God has healed my heart. I was now crying because of how small I felt in the presence of my Healer. How unworthy I am to even be looked at by my Savior, let alone healed by Him. I felt like the adulterous woman in John 8. I felt hopeless, helpless so very unworthy. But as I was standing there in the filth of my sin, Christ tilts my chin toward Him. As I look to Him, He asks where my accusers are. As I look around, I see my sin and heartache all washed away by Christ’s work on the cross. I see nothing but His grace and my heart is overwhelmed. No longer is it an overwhelming sense of sin and pain and sadness, but an overwhelming sense of HIS LOVE. He replaced my sin with JOY. The sadness, sorrow, sin and inadequacies were all taken by Jesus when He bled on the cross. I don’t know about you, but I say that’s an incredible deal for you and me! No longer are we stained with our sins! We are free to live with joy, because of the grace He gives!

Wow! Isn’t God good!! I think this is going to be another two parter, because I have yet to tell you all about the sermon and the way God continued to use that to speak to my heart.

But for now…

Today’s Blessings:

1.The grace of God!

2.The joy that comes from that grace!

-Christy

Church Visitor (80)

On Sunday my family and I tried a new church! If there is one thing that I absolutely hate doing, it’s visiting churches. Thats probably on the list of most awkward things to do. So imagine this with me: You drive into the parking lot and instantly you see the signs that say visitor parking. I’m convinced that those signs are not there so that the visitors can have a close parking spot. I’m pretty sure that the visitor signs have little cameras in them. You see, the head deacon sits up in a booth watching all of the cameras, and if he happens to see someone park in the spot he radio down to the door greeters so that they know that the person is a visitor, and they can ambush them with stacks of literature on the church. If you ever want to mess with them when visiting a church, don’t park in the visitor parking. If you don’t park in the visitor parking, you will be greeted by people at the front door offering you an “order of service” and a handshake. If you are visitor they will look at you and try to decide if they have seen you before. Then you make your way into the main part of the building for the service. You have no idea what expect. The music could be loud, the people could be loud, they could have a special time when they embarrass all of the visitors….

Okay, I admit, most of that is a little extreme…typically visiting a church isn’t that bad….

I actually really enjoyed the sermon at the church we visited. It seemed to be very fitting to my life and what I am currently going through. The text was from Job 13:15-16.

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him.”

I really don’t have the time right now to tell you all about all that was in the sermon, but you can look for it in my upcoming posts.

Today’s Blessings:

1.The blessing that the sermon was and the way that the Lord used an awkward circumstance to speak to my heart.

-Christy

External or Internal Faith (62)

I had a great talk with my daddy last night before I went to bed. Yes, I am almost an adult and my dad still tucks me in bed at night. Not ashamed! I love spending some special time with dad before I go to sleep. Anyhow, part of what we talked about last night, kinda went along with what was in my devotions this morning.

“The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world.”
-Oswald Chambers

Dad and I talked about how so often people try to act spiritual without being spiritual. If your spiritual life is at its deepest when you walk into church and put on your “spirituality” then there is a problem. You can’t fake a real, true walk with God. There shouldn’t be a difference in how you treat your family when the Pastor comes over for dinner then when you have a regular family dinner. Church life and home life should not be two separate identities.

Just like Oswald Chambers said, your battle is won in the secret places, you wrestle with God in the secret places. A battle fought with God solely on the external level is a losing battle before it has even begun. If you have a genuine walk with God on the internal level, then the external level will fall into place and you won’t even realize it. A month or so ago I received the greatest compliment I have ever received. I was talking with a friend and he said, “The way you are handling trials is like Elisabeth Elliot.” My jaw pretty much hit the floor! I am not the type of person to idolize other people, but ever since I read “Through the Gates of Splendor” I have sought to have a life that is like hers. She has an unwavering faith. A real woman of God! I still don’t see myself as anywhere near where she is spiritually, but that is what I want!

I have been in several churches in my lifetime. It wasn’t until we started going to Village Bible that I really saw a church that was based on genuine faith. I saw people that had faced unthinkable hardships in their lives and instead of getting bitter or faking their Christianity they allowed those trials to shape them into people that loved others and loved God. I will forever be impacted by faith lived in the secret places and faith that overflowed into the external.

Today’s Blessing:

The lives of Elisabeth Elliot and the lives of the members at Village Bible Church that have challenged me to live a true genuine walk with God.

Not the LOVE chapter!!! (20)

Wow!! It’s been 20 days since I’ve started this blogging adventure! If I’ve learned anything in the last 20 days, it’s that I sure do love talking about my God! Anyways, on to today’s post! I mentioned yesterday that I was planning on spending some time chewing on Wednesday’s sermon before I shared any thoughts about it. Well, I’m still chewing, but I do have a few thoughts I would like to share!

The text was from 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1-8. Yeah, I know, I saw 1 Corinthians 13, and groaned too… “the love chapter” I thought, “That’s EXACTLY what I want hear preached about after everything with Rich…{insert sarcasm}” But fortunately, I didn’t turn my ears off, cause I would have missed some great stuff. I guess I never realized that the chapter before the love chapter (12) is all about spiritual gifts. The speaker mentioned how every gift is different, and they are all useless unless used with love. Then he said some thoughts I was familiar with, but never had a ‘light bulb’ moment.

“The connection of all gifts is LOVE. Love is active, it’s not a feeling. A spiritual gift without love is worthless.”

Yeah, I knew that love was active, and that it’s not a feeling, but I never thought about connecting the dots between serving others and loving others. What a big piece of the puzzle to be missing!! It seems natural to serve those people that I love. But what about when service means the people that I would rather not go the extra mile for? Every aspect of service in the church whether it is realized or not, should be based on love. Why does a good pastor study all week long, and present a message sometimes 3-4 times a week? Because He loves his people! Why do the nursery workers show up to hold screaming babies every week? Because they love those screaming infants! Why do the maintenance workers vacuum and take out the trash? Because they love their God, and want people to worship free of distraction! The connection of everything that happens in the church and radiates off of the church should be based out of a heart of love!! Even though it is very obvious that that is not always the motive behind why we do what we do, it’s a good thing to think about! If we are supposed to love, what does love look like? I mean after all, society portrays it as something that is fleeting, something that makes us feel good. What does 1 Corinthians say?
Love:
Is patient

Kind

Not envious

Not boastful

Isn’t proud

Is graceful

Doesn’t stick up for itself

Isn’t easily angered

Doesn’t keep a record of wrongs

Doesn’t get pleasure out of evil

Rejoices in truth

Bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all,

This kind of love, NEVER FAILS!!

Unless we practice this kind of love, in our service in the church, in our dealings with those that are easy to love, in our dealings with those that are hard to love, and in every aspect of life, then all of the good things that we do, are worthless. We should be motivated to serve by love! What am I going to do different? How am I going to change? Well, for starters I’m going to start loving people! Not in some kind of weird romantic way, but in a care and concern for their spiritual, physical, and any other problem they may be facing!

Todays Blessings:
1. A God that loved me when I was unlovable!
2. The people that have showed me love!
3. A God that will help me practice 1 Corinthians 13 love!

-Christy