Soul Liberty Faith

Why I Believe All Babies Go To Heaven

2011-02-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

photo credit Angie Parrett at Pix-O-Sphere

The topic of where babies go when they die is one of intense debate in some denominations. There are some questions about this topic that I would like to share and ask you to think about.

Many are told that all are born in sin and must make a conscious intelligent decision to not only

1) believe Jesus is the Son of God,
2) trust (faith) in Him alone to save you, and in order to show that you're 'saved' you must
3) obey all the laws in the Bible.

If we follow that pattern, then surely babies don't go to heaven. {cringe} They aren't able to do any of those three things. The alternative, according to much of Christianity, is not an option for my heart and mind to accept, as I have lost 3 babies in the womb. Therefore, I am looking to the scriptures for hope.

There is an argument for this in the theory of "the age of accountability". The "age of accountability'" is the theory that babies are under grace until they are old enough and cognitive enough to make the decisions necessary to save them. The problem with this theory arises when people ask about mentally challenged people and those who don't speak English since it is believed that the majority of theologians are English speaking. So are the mentally challenged under grace as well? If not, then why?

Now we are getting into a vast array of confusion when we begin to really ask these tough questions. If a baby is under grace because of their ignorance and lack of intelligence, then must we allow for everyone else to remain in ignorance so they can be under grace? If not, then babies don't go to heaven.

Most people shriek and gasp at that thought, Surely innocent babies don't miss out on returning to their Creator. Are they truly innocent? The Bible clearly shows us that all are born in sin, or does it?

So the alleged discrepancy is in the question, "are we really born in sin or do we not sin until we act upon a sinful thought?" I looked in an 'exact phrase search' for "born in sin" and it did not yield any results. What I did find however, is the Pharisees accusing a man of being born in sin. It was the man born blind. After he was given his sight and he preached healing, he was accused.

John 9:34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

On the other hand I do find the verse that says all have sinned.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

The question still remains, is it sin within us at birth or sin upon a decision to act in sin, that makes us sinners? For the sake of the souls of babies I won't delve into that question just yet.

Why is it that we sin? Why would a perfect God create us to sin knowing that sinners could not enter the kingdom of heaven?

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Who was that 'one man' that brought sin into the world?

Romans 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

It is taught that Adam brought sin and sin brought death to pass upon all men. Therefore are babies born in sin? If we say yes, we get back to the original dilemma. Listen my friends, people have gone around and around with this line of questioning for years now. This is why there is such a debate about baptizing babies in order to save them. If a sprinkling of water in a religious ritual saves a baby, then why is it not done immediately after the babe is born? Furthermore, where do aborted babies go?

Here is where I find my hope:

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Much of Christianity has already accepted the teaching that because of Adam, all have sinned and will die. Since most theologians in the world today can't give me hope for my 3 babies based on all the circus questions in many churches today, I have had to go directly to the Lord on this one. If all die because of Adam, then what is it about the second part of that verse that caught my eye?

"So in Christ shall all be made alive"

Surely we all come to life as stated in verse 45;

1 Corinthians 15:45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

We all became living beings like Adam did. Yet, there is another 'second part of a verse' that indicates an equal parallel.

"The last Adam became a life giving spirit"

Both of the above verses show clearly that Christ is the second part.

{The hope for humanity}

Now I have to ask, how does one get this? If there is so much argument about the first three statements I gave at the beginning of this article that are not clear, then how, when, and where did humanity get the life that this Spirit gives us?

Ephesians 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So far I have found that we are created in Christ, before the foundation of the world, allowed to suffer death through Adam, and able to receive life through Christ.

In the scientific mind of humanity is the insatiable need to dissect every aspect of the Bible to create a step by step approach to God that no babies nor many mentally challenged persons are able to follow.

The answer for me is clear, to have hope.

Colossians 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ in you. No matter where you put the emphasis the truth is clear on what our hope is.

CHRIST in you

Christ IN you

Christ in YOU

This is my hope for babies. They are created in Christ before the foundation of the world. They were born with death passed upon them due to Adam, but through Christ they shall be made alive.

I just can't bring myself to believe in a deity that would allow babies to be born without hope if they died before they can go to some discipleship class. I don't believe that He would abandon them if they were raised by parents who took them to the 'wrong' denomination for discipleship. I don't think He would forsake them if they were born into a non religious home. He chooses where each baby will be born and He chooses at what time of life they leave this world.

I have all my hope that they return to Him. My hope is in Christ.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

You may believe differently than me and you are certainly free to do so, but I am putting my faith in the hope of Christ our Lord. My Anchor holds firm and I'm choosing to hold firmly to my Anchor, that all babies return to our Creator. This is my faith, because, for me, all other ground is sinking sand.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

All scripture quotations from the ESV

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The Proposal

2011-02-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

When I think of a wedding proposal, my mind goes back to the fairty tale days of the prince sweeping the maiden off her feet and making her into a princess. Much like in Cinderella when she was just a peasant girl slaving for her wicked step family, the prince falls in love with her. He proposes and they get married, living happily ever after.

I have three daughters, so courtship is something I have read a lot about. I remember the days I was searching historical books to find out just how courting was done many years ago. Not much was really written on the topic, at least not from a Christian perspective. Then we saw many courtship type books being written and flying off the shelves and into the hands of many Christian parents.

Courtship is a cultural thing created by the families and each family has a different set of ideals they implement into this idea. Each family is unique but I have a strong feeling that most of us have one important ideal in mind before giving our blessing to our daughters getting married. We want to know that she will be loved unconditionally.

There's a young man who is looking for a bride. He's the potential groom. He keeps his eye out for a young woman to court. Each woman he encounters is his opportunity to share with these ladies what he is looking for in a woman. He finds a damsel and proceeds to tell her his desires.

"Accept my invitation to marriage. I will provide for you, but you must do something for me. You must accept my marriage proposal under these conditions; if you refuse me, I will send you to the basement where you will be in constant pain for the rest of your life. If you choose me, I will save you from that fate. If your family does not accept me as your groom, I will also send them to my basement where they will suffer their whole lives.

They all must accept me as your groom. If they don't, you will never see them again. Every friend you will ever make for the rest of your life, must accept me or I will put them in the basement with the others. They will all suffer. When we have children, if they don't accept me as your groom and as their father, I will also send them to the basement to suffer. It's their choice.

They are free to reject me, but I will send them to the basement if they do. And if you choose to marry me, you MUST tell everyone you know, that they MUST choose me. YOU are responsible for warning them about my basement and tell them I will save them from it, IF they choose me."

I'm not sure about you, but I would NEVER allow my daughters to marry a man who gives this kind of proposal. This is the type of abusive mentality that is inflicted on women and children in abusive families all over the world. The controlling threats to keep people close to them is abuse, plain and simple. The cycle of violence in mental and emotional abuse is a twisted sort of mind control. It puts you in fear, thinking you need to jump through hoops to keep this kind of guy happy, or else. Would you allow your daughter to marry this kind of groom?

This hypothetical groom is in fact a groom that is presented to people every Sunday. He is not of Christ. Everything Christ came to do, love, heal, forgive, reconcile, is not who that groom is. What kind of groom have you accepted as your savior? Is your savior the false savior who threatens all your loved ones? Or have you chosen the groom who sweeps you off your feet in his endless abounding love and devotion?

The false groom wants you to believe in his painful basement so that he can present himself as 'a' savior. He would be 'saving you' from his basement. See how twisted his thinking is? He swoons you with threats, then says he will save you from his own threats.

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

Lets look at how Jesus attracts people.

He offered Living Water to the Samaritan woman.
He healed the Centurion's servant.
He forgave the people who crucified him.
He raised the brother of the two sisters from the dead.
He never lashed out at the people who accosted him in the garden.
He reconciled people to His Father.

All of this was done with unconditional love. He draws us to himself through love. He died for us WHILE we were sinners. I just think it's time to rethink how we are introducing our wonderful Savior to people. Or perhaps some people need to rethink what kind of 'a' savior some people are serving.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

So just how do we view our groom? Which groom have you been following?
Are we spreading threats and hate? Or are we sharing the Gospel (Good News) that Jesus LOVES them?

2 Corinthians 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

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Love Your Enemies

2011-02-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

After being wounded so deeply by people I endeared as mentors in my life, finding forgiveness and the freedom to love was a difficult journey for me. I hosted a rather lengthy conversation about loving your enemies on my Facebook wall a few months ago and out of every thought provoking status I post, this was one of the very few that no one disagreed with. We are to love our enemies. The question remains, just how do we love the people who have been the most vile to us?

Why does Egypt have to go through war, when they can simply love each other? Why must the Democrats and Republicans be at war with one another when they can love each other? Do people even know why they are enemies? What makes them an enemy? Below is the Coca Cola advertisement that was aired during the Superbowl. Please watch it before reading what I share below.

Isn't it amazing what they were able to agree upon when their law had forbidden them to have contact with each other? For the love of Coca Cola. Amazing.

So what can you find in common with your enemies? What do you and your enemies both love? If we apply this thought provoking article to the 'Christians' we view as our enemies, then what will we see?

Wait a second!

Why do we view other Christians as our enemies? Maybe they hurt you. They probably did. Christians are known to be some of the most hurtful people.

Lets not try to sweep that fact under the rug. We all know it's true.

Don't try to compare the ways Christians hurt one another with the way Hitler hurt the Jews. There is no comparison. Pain is pain. Betrayal is betrayal. Sin is sin.

Countries put aside their differences in order to participate in the Olympics. They also put their differences aside to continue commerce. We know that putting aside our differences is possible.

God put aside his differences with humanity and sent His own Son to die and resurrect so that we can become reconciled to our Father. It wasn't for his love for Coca Cola, to play in the Olympics, or to buy gasoline that he put aside his differences. It was for love. He loves His creation!

While we were still sinners, He died for us.

Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing.

Such powerful words, but do we understand the weight those words carry? He died to save his enemies. He loves his enemies. It's no wonder he asks the same of us.

Since we know Christ told us to love our enemies, then surely he loves them too. He asks us to forgive seventy times seven. I have to believe that He does the same. He tells us to turn the other cheek.

Is God a Father who says, "Do as I say, not as I do"?

John 10:37-38, "If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

Jesus is One with our Father. Jesus forgave, because Father forgave. The gospel is GREAT news to ALL people. He forgave everyone before they were even born. Believe that He loves you and you can learn to love your enemies too.

Or does he wait for us to jump through religious hoops in order to receive his forgiveness?

Colossians 1:19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

1 Timothy 2: 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man^a6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. Christ Jesus

Parody for your provoking thought of the day by Joe Perrott

Luke 17:20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

I'm entering this post to Thought Provoking Thursday

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Challenging Our Faith

2011-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Anyone who exercises knows that when you cease from exercising, your muscles diminish and fat begins to grow again. In order to remain healthy we need to continue to move our bodies and eat healthy, but why aren't we applying this concept to our spiritual lives?

If I eat only bread every day what will my belly look like? I also need vegetables, fruit, water, and protein. I feel that when we limit ourselves to only one type of food we limit our overall health and consequences are likely to occur.

I have seen this same scenario among some right wing extremists who only watch one news source, think that news source somehow is always right. Also we see it among left wing liberals who think only MSNBC has it right. I'm not going to get into a media/political debate in this article, but I'm just trying to get a point across, so please bear with me.

We know that when a church only listens to one teacher all the time, they are bound to develop a cult mind. Ephesians 4 shows us that we need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers until we come into the unity of the faith. Jesus didn't come to set up denominations and he certainly didn't come to set up one denomination as the only assembly of believers. His church is an organic Body built up in the spirit by Him in a heavenly realm that we enter into as we believe.

The apostle Paul said that each person needs to be convinced in their own mind. I have heard it said many times before, "Know what you believe and why you believe it". I'd like to emphasize something specific in that statement. "Know what YOU believe and why YOU believe it".

Many churches today want you to know what THEY believe and why THEY believe it. We certainly have the freedom to search all that out. But if we believe what THEY believe, then is it really OUR belief? If you happen to agree with them, they so be it. And if you happen to disagree with them, you have every freedom to keep exploring until YOU have your own mind convinced.

There are many Believers in the world today and I have been challenged by hearing out what other people believe and I feel that my faith has become stronger. My faith in Christ became strong while my faith in idols has diminished. Thankfully so! He wants us to have faith in HIM, not in Christianized idols. Anything can become an idol no matter how 'Christian' that thing may be.

In this journey I have been on, I have found many blogs, websites, and YouTube Channels that have exercised my faith, challenged my thinking, and helped shape me into a more mature Believer. I don't think maturity is something we can attain as an end all utopia. I think we are constantly maturing and we should never plateau. If we plateau we run the risk of becoming stagnant and in stagnancy mold begins to grow.

I say all this because I am going to be introducing some friends who have challenged me. These are brothers and sisters in Christ who are from various denominations, philosophies, and cultures that I have come to discover as mature people who can answer the tough questions I am known to ask. These are friends who have been very patient with me while I prodded with my inquisitive investigation of religion and faith.

While I may or may not agree with everything they believe, I have found that they have insight that is healthy to explore. They won't make you believe what they believe, but they are open to the tough questions. This is not always easy to find among Christians, but for those of you who are wanting to ask the tough questions, these are people that I feel have stood the test of my hardest questions.

I'll be creating a directory as well. This way you can read their blogs, watch their videos, and be convinced in your own mind. I am excited to present these friends to you and hope you can glean some powerful insight that they have to offer, even if you do happen to disagree with some of what they believe. I believe that God is not limited to handing out wisdom to only one denomination. He said ANYONE who asks for wisdom, he gives it liberally. :)

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That We May All Be One

2011-02-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

With so many denominations in Christianity and each one insisting they have it right in more areas than any other denomination, how are we to choose who to believe?

Is Christianity really THAT difficult to understand? It's no wonder so many people reject it. The whole "we're right and they're wrong" angle is absolutely confusing to most people. Except the ones who think they're on the 'right' angle, oh wait..that would be most of you. That's right... you're all right? If you're all correct then why do you all insist everyone else except your denomination, is wrong? Someone once asked me why there were so many variations of Baptist churches and all I could think to tell him was, "They can't agree".

But let's not narrow it down to just the Baptists. There are a variety of Pentecostal denominations, as well as Reformed, that have differences. A friend of my daughter's said that she was going to a church in an office complex. This church was right next door to another one. Their churches were divided by a single wall and during worship, the girl could hear the next church's music. They were singing the same song. So why the wall?

Some church's feel strongly about evangelism by door knocking, while others believe it's by serving the people in the community. A paper tract and invite to church versus loving their neighbor by action. The paper tract church insisting they are the only ones in town who 'win souls the right way', while the other insisting they shouldn't be pushy, but rather be an example to the community.

Then there's the debates about the End Times, judgment, and the afterlife. In all my studies I have come to one conclusion that I know I can stand firmly on. My salvation is not contingent upon my understanding of the English translations per the handing down of our religious forefather's interpretations right after they left the Catholic Church.

Have you ever noticed when a person leaves a church they were in for a great length of time? Ever notice how their theology is a bit mixed with what they are discovering, while they retain some teachings from their former church? If you have ever studied the writings of some historical figures, you can see how their beliefs began to evolve over the years. Even Billy Graham's beliefs have evolved over the years.

Who do we think we are to be so arrogant to think we know it all, the closest to the Bible, and the best interpretations? The answer is simple, arrogance. Arrogance will plant us right smack in the middle of thinking we have finally arrived at some biblical knowledge utopia and create ourselves our own little ownership of interpretations.

The next rite of passage is to write out what we believe as if to create some teachings for others to follow. People will begin to come with intrigue to discover what we believe and why. Some might agree and some might question us. Some may even question with such severe inquisition that you feel persecuted and belittled.

I have had the pleasure of studying for two years with some incredibly intelligent theologians from all over the world. I am fascinated with where they're 'coming from'. In all my studies, I continue to learn and grow and even though there are different interpretations I know WHOM I have believed and that, to me, is far more important than WHAT I believe. Although, I do feel that WHAT we believe shapes how we love one another.

Galatians 5: 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

It has wisely been said, "Know what you believe and why you believe it." But even better is that I know WHOM I believe and that He loves us all.

In all our quests for understanding the bible, may we do so in love for one another and may our discoveries lead us to loving God and others more and more.

John 17:20“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

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The Battle Between Law Givers and Grace Embracers

2011-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

As I sit here and listen to music by David Bruce, my heart and mind is drawn to a place of sadness for those who continually battle with the Law. I always find it so amazing when God speaks to my heart through His musicians. In the Old Testament days of battles, it was the musicians, the worshipers, that went forth ahead of the armies of God. I don't think He is drawing me into a state of sadness within myself, but rather a realization of this battle between Law givers and those who embrace grace.

I think of Mary, as she sat at the feet of our Messiah, worshiping him while Martha wanted Christ to give a command to Mary to help in the kitchen. I noticed something about Mary. Mary didn't argue with Martha. She didn't even respond. She sat silently, admiring the beauty of our Lord. Did Martha not understand grace yet? Why was she so quick to be a 'law giver' to her sister who was adoring the very person of grace?

Then her brother, Lazarus, was laid to rest in his grave. Now, Martha is frantic wondering why Jesus wasn't there. Jesus waits a couple more days before coming to see these sisters. Upon His arrival, Martha questions him. It seems as though she doubts his love for them. Again, showing a demanding spirit towards our Lord. He groans in his spirit and he weeps. He doesn't rebuke her, he lavishes grace upon them all as He raises Lazarus from the dead. They did nothing to deserve that, he simply loved them.

How many times will our own brothers and sisters make the same demands, the same giving of the Law, to those who have experienced grace? Why must those who walk according to the Law demand that those who walk in grace by faith, leave that faith and walk according to the Law? The Law was a schoolmaster, but we have no more need of a schoolmaster.

Galatians 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

We can't force people to stay in school well after their training years are over. That would be bondage. There comes a time in each person's life when they begin to really walk by faith. When we try to force them to walk by the Law after faith has already come, we are stealing their walkabout with God. We are yanking the very faith right out from under their feet. It's time to let them go.

Those who do walk by faith are excited, they are joyful, they are experiencing the 'walking on water' that Peter experienced. The walk of faith. As Peter and John said, "We can't help but to speak those things we have seen and heard" Acts 4:20 The Law givers forbade them from speaking of this grace, this walk of faith, but they continued to speak.

Acts 4: 29And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

If Peter and John had been preaching the Law, the Law givers would not have silenced them. It was because they spoke of faith in Christ, the grace that lavishes mankind. The Law givers don't like grace. Some struggle with grace, secretly they long for it, but perhaps they are afraid of it. They want to jump ship and walk on the water with Jesus, but will they sink like Peter did when he doubted?

There is always the risk that they will sink, but Jesus didn't forsake Peter. He was still there with him. He is with you...do you want to walk in grace by faith?

So what do you do with the Law? We walk in the Spirit and we love. We allow love to be our Law, not the letter. The letter of the law kills, but love is life by His Spirit.

I'm not going to give a point by point 'how to' walk in grace by faith. There isn't one. It's stepping out where there is no visible step, believing there will be a stepping stone, believing by faith.

Just ask Him to be your guide. What is the worst that can happen? Life is going to throw you lemons, and sometimes have them thrown at you. You might fall, you might not. You'll never know, but Christ does and He will always be with you.

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Dangerous Grace

2011-01-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

Grace. That word that frees the soul, yet frightens so many to the core. The very grace of God through Christ that offers us hope, forgiveness, and love tends to be twisted into a 'sin' and rejected by so many. Some believe that grace is our 'ticket' to the afterlife, but certainly not for life while we're still here on earth. So grace is only allowed for eternity and not for the everyday living?

It's grace that frees us from the bondage of the competition to be perfect. Christ is our perfection that He has given us. If we attempt to be perfect, we'll be running around chasing our tails. It's like the carrot dangling in front of a horse. We'll never get that kind of perfection in this life. Then we hear some people say that we shouldn't give up. Give up on trying to be perfect? Give up on being a perfectionist? I've tried being a perfectionist and it almost tore my family apart. That's when I realized...

grace is for the everday life

Such dangerous grace. That grace that allows me the freedom to not get so tied up in my perfectionism that leads me to not being able to rest at night if the baseboards aren't dusted yet. Grace, that dangerous word that shows me that I don't have to worry if I can't get the grease out of my husband's work pants. That utterly wreckless grace that releases me from having to punish my children if they don't get straight A's in their school work. When I realize that grace frees me from perfectionism, then it also releases my children from the bondage of a mother who insists that they be perfectly well behaved, totally compliant, robots. When my children fall short of my expectations it is then that I realize I am holding them to a standard that they can't live up to without fail. We all fail, but we can fail forward. Their failing forward teaches me to be gracious to them.

Grace, that word that frightens people. They're frightened that they'll fall. That's where faith comes in. The faith we have in Christ to keep us firm as we walk in grace. That's the difference. If we take grace as a reason to 'jump off a cliff' without faith, we'll certainly suffer the consequences. But is Jesus asking us to jump off a cliff? No, of course not. It's not 'jumping off a cliff' to hear rock music in the grocery store or western music when you're buy your husband work boots at the western outlet. If we think we're going to plummet into an abyss of sin when we walk by grace, then we are admitting we lack faith.

Grace, that word that seems hideous to some conservative women when other women work outside the home. That word that sends them into a frazzled fit of rage that emerges when a friend says her husband decided the kids would do better in the public school. Why do we live in such fear when The Victor lives within us? Are we denying the grace of Christ in our everyday lives? If we deny grace for ourselves, we're sure to deny it for everyone else around us. As a matter of fact, I think that when we see people refuse to allow us to speak of grace, walk by grace, or write about grace, they are actually admitting that they don't really believe in it.

It takes faith to walk by grace. If we don't have faith, then grace will continue to look like a hideous sin that you fear will send you into the abyss of utter darkness. But that's not the grace our Christ has brought us. He wouldn't bestow upon us GRACE if He thought it was going to destroy us.

Don't be afraid of grace, and don't let anyone frighten you away from it.

Colossians 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory

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The Pastor's Affair

2011-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

In all my years of ministry, there has been a look down upon ministry wives that don't meet a specific criteria. If your husband isn't a 501c3 'church' with a building and tithing members, he's not REALLY a pastor and you're not REALLY a pastor's wife. Then over years of study and deep questioning among theologians all over the word we discovered that a 501c3, a building, and tithing members isn't what makes a person a minister or minister's wife. Being a minister is a gift in the heart. It's Christ manifesting Himself through His chosen vessels. Then you attend a variety of conferences for Christian women where certain pastor's wives get special treatment. You know the ones. The ones who's husband's have the largest churches. "Your husband's ministry isn't big enough for you to be considered among the highest of pastor's wives." Sounds like high school all over again.

I was once told by a pastor's wife this statement, "If you publish a book, we'll have you in to speak to the women". So now authoring a book is the prerequisite to sharing my story. I don't see where this is in the bible that a woman has to write a book before she can minister to other women.

After the teaching sessions have ended and the pastor's wives are signing their books, autographing the inside cover of bibles, I look around the room. I see a woman sitting alone at a table, in deep thought. I ask if I can sit with her. Her face lights up. The first kindness shown to her that day, she begins to unfold her life story to me in great detail. During the course of her story it dawns on her how something in her life had been a stumbling block to her family and she confesses it through sobs.

She somehow sees herself as a wedge between her husband and his ministry. She's a pastor's wife. She had been judged harshly by the other pastor's wives. This woman is in deep depression and her husband has been trying to send friends to her side to comfort her and lift her up. You see, he's so busy with ministry and his wife's depression is 'hindering' his work. My heart breaks. Her heart is broken as she is under the weight of the condemnation the other minister's wives have placed on her. She is suffering enough as it is. I continue to listen and she continues to speak, pausing every few words so she can catch her breath. She grips her chest and her face winces in pain. Her eyes flowing with tears and her neck tightening with gulps of air.

She tells of her husband's ministry. She describes a seemingly glorious work, a magnificent building of crystal chandeliers, plush carpets and padded pews. After every service, women are lining up to get his autograph in their bibles and they cry their tears of sadness that their husbands don't attend church with them. He pats them on the shoulders, assuring them to stay faithful to church, give their tithes, and bring their kids. She tells about how he gives public praise to these women for coming to church, that their faithfulness to serve in the house of worship is highly commendable.

But he rebukes his wife in the car on the way home. She hadn't reached out to these women. He scolds her for spending too much time at the altar praying alone, when she could have been praying with these women. He tells her that she is selfish and should present a better example to the church...to be a good pastor's wife.

She sobs under muffled words that I can't understand. She catches her breath again, hoping no one notices her talking to me. She whisper's, "He's having an affair with the ministry"

This is a scenario that many minister's wives face every week. They think they are alone in seeing this dilemma. My dear sisters in Christ, you are not the only one who notices.

This is a serious issue that needs to be brought to the light. Many minister's wives are in deep agony over their pain and they need help. They face the fear of speaking up, thinking that ministry could crumble under the weight of the truth being revealed. So they suffer in silence. They sacrifice their own hearts on the altar of the pastor's desire to grow a ministry.

Jesus Christ is the Groom to the Bride, His Church. The minister has his own bride, his wife. But he wants Christ's Bride. Is this not the story of David and Bathsheba all over again? Wanting what isn't his and forsaking his own for his fleshly desires. A minister's marriage is not higher than the others. It is also not to be neglected in order to further some man built building. We are all equal in Christ. Any marriage in a fellowship that is suffering needs help. It's high time Christianity stop trying to protect the image of the pastor and his church at the cost of other people's lives.

Women of the church,... leave the preacher alone. He has a wife.

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One Week Bible Challenge

2011-01-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

This might be the most challenging Bible Challenge you have ever participated in. This challenge is so utterly out of the box that ONLY serious Christians should attempt this. I mean ultra serious. This is a challenge that is NOT for the fearful, doubtful, or hesitant Christians. This is a challenge that will leave you totally exposed and in turn, at the complete mercy of our Savior.

It is time to use those wings He has given you and FLY! Yes, my adrenaline junkie friends, it is time to be BOLD in your FAITH..and leave some religion in the nest as you LEAP in FAITH into the everlasting sky and TRUST that HE will blow his breath beneath your wings and carry you off on a miraculous adventure. Are you ready? Are you sure you are really serious? If you are hesitant at all, don't not attempt this.

If your pastor would disapprove, don't do it..unless you are ready to make Christ your High Pastor. Will you choose what is comfortable, steady, reliable? Will you choose your religion, your pastor, your idols, over Christ himself and the faith he has bestowed upon you? Will you choose the evidence of things planned for? Or the evidence of things UNSEEN?

What are the consequences? There most certainly CAN be consequences. You could fall. You could fall flat on your face. And do you know what that means? It means you have a very weak faith. This is why I am strongly urging you to be sure you are ready for BUILDING your faith by EXERCISING it! You won't know if you can fly until you leave the nest. If you fall, it means Christ will be there to lift you up. Yes, falling hurts..but you get back up and fly again. But there is no work to do on your part, all you need to do is jump and open your wings. (This is NOT meant to be literal, please do NOT jump off a bridge or out your second story window. It's JUST a metaphor)

The Challenge! If you choose to accept it. Will be to replace the voice of your Bible and all other teaching, devotionals, and teaching CD's or DVD's or even cassette tapes (if you still have those lingering around) for the Voice of Christ's Spirit. ONE WEEK only. This means no preaching services either. Go serve in the nursery if you must. But this challenge will be to see if you can recognize and follow the voice of our Great Shepherd.

If you choose to accept this challenge, you must learn to be still, find a real quiet place. Do NOT pray on the "telling end"..be in prayer on the "listening end". Just sit in silence each day and listen. It might be in the middle of quarreling children. You might have to find your silence in the middle of a loud play room. Be attentive to His voice. Listen to HIM. If he tells you to give, give. If he tells you not to give, don't give. If He tells you to hug your children instead of spanking them, hug them. He might not tell you to do what you think. He may not even agree with the voice of your pastor. Even more intense is if He speaks to you in total contradiction to what your pastor taught you in theology class.

You will need to learn to test the voice. Is He telling you to be gracious? Or point fingers? Is he asking you to yield to someone you disagree with? Or insist on your own way? Is he asking you to love lavishly, or hold back in fear? This is a serious challenge. I'll come back next Friday and ask you what took place over the course of your one week.

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High Maintence God

2011-01-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

Do we have a high maintenance God? Is He demanding perfection from us? Is he walking through our lives with a white glove like an uptight germophobic? Carolee Dalton has a different view of God that I find utterly refreshing. I hope you are blessed by this message.

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How Does a Home Fellowship Function

2011-01-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

I have been asked many questions about our home fellowship and will be putting together some articles in Q and A format. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section and I will answer them in upcoming articles. (Other home fellowships function differently and I'll be sharing more about that soon)

When and where do we meet?

We gather in my home on Monday nights. We rent a clubhouse for larger gatherings every so often. Where we live, we have access to a clubhouse with a deposit we get back the next day, so this really has no cost to do. We sometimes gather in other homes too. We each like to take turns hosting the fellowship.

How do you celebrate the Lord's Supper?

We have pot luck every Monday night and at the larger gathering. Some nights we do dessert and coffee only. We dine together at the table, if there are more people, we use TV trays in the living room to accommodate. We believe in the full feast style supper..imagine an Italian family dinner night..that's us. :)

How do you teach?

We have no hierarchy structure, only Christ is the Master of the meeting. He functions through various people through the night. His Spirit flows through each of us in a very spontaneous and loving manner. He edifies and encourages us through one another. If you can imagine a good peaceful ping pong table where no one has a desire to 'win'..just enjoy the game. The conversation style teaching goes back and forth. It's not a one way street here.

Do you believe in apostles, bishops, elders, pastors, and teachers?

Yes, but we do no use titles nor 'authorities' here. We are all equal in Christ. We believe in the function of the Spirit of these gifts, but not as a man made structure. We are in fellowship with people who function in all these gifts. As His Spirit guides, they function. No one person is more of a master teacher than another, Jesus is our master, his Spirit is our Teacher. All these functions are not always here every Monday. Sometimes we gather at one of their homes instead of here.

How do you handle the offering?

We don't mandate an offering. Since we own our home, we have no need to ask our guests to give us money just to host them for an evening in our home. We share in the meal by having it potluck. If someone has a need and they mention it, people will give as the Spirit guides them. No one has ever abused this by asking for handouts. People are generally quite humble and hesitant on even asking for financial help. We rely on the Spirit to speak to us about who needs assistance. We do get donations of nonperishable food so we do offer food boxes to everyone if they need it, all they need to do is ask. All the 'teachers' have their own income, so we have no need to pay them.

Do you have a nursery?

No. We allow the children to play all around the house. The older children play with them. Parents tend to their own children's needs.

Do you have a creed?

No, our gathering has no creed. Mostly it's just love Father and love one another. We believe each person has their own unique walkabout with Father and they are certainly free to hold to their own creed. As long as we each understand that we live in this life with love and mutual respect, then the fellowship is sweet. We welcome people of differing beliefs and encourage theological discussion. If they don't feel comfortable with fellowship with open minded people who question, then they may not like it here. We allow for all questioning. There is no spiritual tyranny here. We live in America where there is freedom of religion. We do not feel it's fair, spiritual healthy, nor Constitutional if we usurp their beliefs and make them believe as we do. You can believe in pre trib, post trib, tongues, healing, or women who teach. But also realize that if someone asks about these things, you'll be in for a long night. If a matter becomes a wall, we'll shelve the discussion until another time.

We are not out to get everyone to believe the same..we gather because of love for Father and one another. Bible study is challenging here. If one is not up for the challenges and study, they are free to depart peacefully after the meal. We still love them.

Do people commit to serving in your fellowship?

We don't see it that way. We believe in living the ministry life every day, not just on the day we gather. As we prepare the meal, people just naturally offer to help. There's plenty to do around here when a potluck meal for more than ten people is being prepared. We encourage people to participate in serving the community in whatever ministry they feel led to. Whether it's the homeless center, recovery homes, or day care centers for the disabled. We hold no 'positions' here. We are a family.

What about baptism?

We believe Jesus baptized us in His death. We believe that water baptism is a work therefore it is between the person and Christ if they want to do this. We are a very non traditional gathering here..and while we mean no disrespect, if someone wants to get wet as a celebration of their revelation of Christ, we'll have a pool party or go to the creek and we'll all canon ball together in celebration. I know this may sound silly, but we happen to think Jesus wants us to enjoy life and not be so stiff necked about rituals. If you want to get wet, we'll all get wet together and have fun doing it. With a huge barbecue of course. Can't leave out the Supper for such a momentous occasion as 'Christ in you'.

More to come. Feel free to ask about anything I have not covered in this post. Please refrain from trying to force me to adopt how your church functions. We are all unique and I hold firm to our soul liberty.

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Spiritual Abuse Awareness

2011-01-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

After two years of rediscovering who I am in Christ, God has crossed my path with several others who suffered from spiritual abuse. We have discussed in depth over these two years, the negative effects of spiritual abuse and the characteristics of it. We found that spiritual abuse is not isolated to any one specific denomination, as a matter of fact, we saw it throughout many world religions.

We have declared January, Spiritual Abuse Awareness Month. Many of us are writings article of our journey to freedom and will be posting them at the blog Spiritual Abuse Awareness.

We do not want to use this blog as a place to be negative or hurtful to others. We want it to be factual and testimonial. We want to raise awareness, offer resources, and encourage others who have felt battered, shunned, and unloved by abusive religion.

If you have been on a journey to freedom and would like to contribute your testimony to the blog to help others heal, contact me at sisterlisa {at} spiritualabuseawareness.com

If you are still suffering, there is hope. There is support. You're not alone.

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Religious Creeds

2011-01-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

Since the time of people breaking from the Roman Catholic Church, they have been creating creeds to distinguish themselves by. Some have said our earliest brethren did so in the face of persecution. To line yourself up with a church that held strong to a creed meant you were 'in' their circle of trust and protection. It was safer to remain in numbers. Should one, at any time, openly disagree with the creed, they were excommunicated, shunned, and sent out to fend for themselves. I would imagine they had disagreements about teachings, but in the face of such danger who would want to risk their families lives by speaking up?

Anne Hutchinson was one such woman. She held bible studies in her home for other women after church on Sundays and the husbands began to come study with them. The counsel of religious leaders in their community forbade home bible studies outside the direct supervision of their elders and pastor. Anne was arrested and tried for blasphemy. Her husband supported his wife and they stood firm in their deep convictions of grace. They were intelligent and spent hours upon hours studying the bible and found their leaders to be in error. After a lengthy stay in prison, during a pregnancy, she miscarried her infant due to neglect in the jail, she was then released and her entire family was banished from their community.

Thankfully, we no longer live in such days. In America, we are protected by the Constitution so religious leaders can't have us arrested for disagreeing with their beliefs. We have military and police whose job is to protect us from our enemies should they try to infringe upon our freedom against our will.

In this modern day of technology, we have the freedom and access to study the bible, ancient historical documents, and have the ability to interpret Hebrew and Greek through various websites. I believe we live in a day where we are urged by the Spirit to double check all that we have been taught from our religious forefathers. For far too long we took their word for it, their interpretations, and their education was not questioned by their congregations. How would their congregations know if they were being taught misunderstandings that were passed down through the ages? How would uneducated people know if there was a conspiracy paving it's way through the ages to bring about a new world order religion? How would they be able to identify it? How would they know if the men who canonized the bible were honest and accurate?

We now have the opportunities to discover if all we have been taught is true or not. I believe that millions of people have struggled with some teachings in churches for many years. But their inward struggle was in disagreement with what their religious leaders were teaching them. Do they settle on the leaders interpretation as truth? Or do they follow that sense within their heart to double check for themselves?

In my walkabout with God in 2010, I was faced with these very same thoughts. What if? I connected with many theologians from all over the world and we began to study together. Over the years, many of them found themselves faced with this same dilemma. Some have left their denominations over their discoveries and they are now sharing with their friends, loved ones, and blog readers, the very things they were taught at their seminaries. The things that they still agree with today and the things they have brought to light, that are mere traditions or false translations. Their discoveries are startling! If only Anne Hutchinson could be here to discover today that we are in agreement with much of what she discovered, and was imprisoned for. She was labeled a blasphemer, a heretic.

Why were her religious leaders so interested in arresting people who disagreed with them? Our very own religious forefathers! They believed in imprisonment, and even death to those who blasphemed their teachings. Anyone who disagreed with them was either excommunicated, put in prison, or killed. Much of this mentality is still practiced in the Middle East and other communistic countries. In America, churches cannot do such things, but they still practice excommunication, disfellowship, shunning, name calling, public shaming, etc. It is in my opinion, that this kind of behavior is that of immature believers who have yet to find their true Anchor in Christ. They remain in their beliefs, but have not yet stepped into the reality of the safe refuge of our Master. No matter what we read about or study, should not bring us into any fear. If we are in fear, we are not in faith. So, just what do people fear when they read things their pastors warn them not to read? Do they fear falling? Or do they fear the treatment they will get if their leaders find out what they have discovered in their personal studies?

My Anchor is in Christ and I know in Him is no fear. Peter was walking on water, by faith. As soon as he lost faith...when fear sank in, he also sank. Walk by faith, not by fear. We were promised God's Spirit would be our Teacher. We have but to listen to Him..recognize his still small voice. Sometimes His voice is in disagreement with the religious leaders. Imagine what it must have been like when the early believers saw Jesus rebuking the Pharisees! The Pharisees were mistreating the people, abusing them, manipulating them, and stoning them to death for not living up to their expectations. All blasphemers were stoned to death. No different than what we see happened in history with the early believers of Anne's time.

Just what is it that religious leaders don't want us to know?

First of all, know the voice of God. He is our Father, Jesus Christ is our High Priest. His Spirit is our Teacher. Learn to hear him. Pray for open ears to hear.

Secondly, use a Hebrew and Greek interlinear Bible and discover what it really says, as opposed to what so many English versions say.

Thirdly, be willing to discover that you may have been wrong, because your religious leaders have been wrong, and their forefathers before them.

Over this last year, I have tossed the thought of the Creeds back and forth in my head, my heart, my soul. Within myself..in that inward part of my heart, I could not reconcile some teachings I was taught. I could not get any settling in my spirit about some of the points in the creeds. Since we live in a time and nation where we no longer need to fear for our lives in order to question religious leaders.

I began with wondering why we need these creeds anymore to begin with. Perhaps so that others who have been discovering the same things can gather together for more studying and fellowship? But will we enforce this creed upon others who may not agree..yet..and then shun them if they sharply disagree? Will we begin that cycle over and over again as our religious forefathers did? Is it not enough to say I believe in Christ and I'm on a journey to discovering what he is showing me on a personal level? Will I want to remain in fellowship with people who reject me if I question a 'creed'? Do you see the dilemma?

Do you follow a creed?

Have you ever really double checked in the Hebrew and Greek to make sure that creed is actually founded in the original scriptures?

Are you willing to?

What you'll find may astonish you, confound you, and quite possible shake you to the core.

Romans 14: 1Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

5One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

10But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

We each must know what we believe and why we believe it. At the same time, we can live in harmony with one another if we respect each other's beliefs. It's a grand adventure He has us each on. As we mature in Christ, may we extend patience and love to one another as they seek to be convinced in his own mind.

If you have questions you have been nervous about asking, you can email me and I can cover the topic in an upcoming blog post. I will keep your name anonymous.

Comments are under moderation. I may or may not publish your comment. If your comment is a knee jerk reaction to my article with any sort of mental, emotional, or spiritual persecution it will not be moderated. It will be deleted. I am open to dialogue on this topic, but not if your comments are disrespectful to those who wish to question what they were told to believe. We all are in freedom to study and question as God guides us.

(lisa422{at}gmail.com)

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Walking by Faith

2011-01-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

This last year God took me from my place of 'comfort in religion' and set me out in the 'wilderness' to teach me many valuable lessons. At the time I didn't understand why he would want to take us out of a church and put us out here without one, but we prayed and fasted for direction and God was clear, walk by faith. Just like when Abraham was told to go...go where? God had a plan for Abraham. Then there was Jonah who was sent to Ninevah. Ninevah? A pagan colony? There's no church there for Jonah to join. Jonah resisted, but God directed his steps to get him to where God wanted him to go. I also thought about Saul, who became Paul. God blinded him, healed his blindness, then asked him to preach, but he asked him to preach, Jesus! The very Messiah of those who Paul had persecuted. I would imagine all these people wondered the same thing we did when God set us out in the wilderness, but God has been faithful.

I thought I knew what faith was, until He showed me that I had a very limited understanding of what faith really is. Did Peter know what real faith was before that day on the sea? When he jumped into the water, he had his lesson on faith.

{Hebrews 11: 1} Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

If I know where the stepping stone is, if I can see it, I can step on it...but that wouldn't be faith. Faith is stepping out where there is no place to step, the invisible place. During this year of walking in the wilderness, God revealed many things to us and I will begin to share these things with all of you.

This part of our walkabout with God has been the most amazing adventure I have had in my relationship with God. As with any adventure there have been scary moments of walking on a tightrope and other moments of exhilaration like riding on a roller coaster. Yet, I will be praying about how to be careful with how I share this journey with you. Most likely you will feel some of those same feelings I felt as you read about the things he has taken us through. We have been through our own 'fiery furnace' like Shadrach and his brothers have. We have been in our own 'lion's den' like Daniel. We have been in Esther's position before a king who could 'take our lives'. We have 'walked on water' like Peter, been 'given sight' like he gave to Paul, and had 'revelations' like John. I say all these things as metaphors of course, for we have not literal been in these positions, so please don't misunderstand me and think I'm a lunatic.

The first part of my walkabout that I'm going to introduce to you is the place of being told, STOP! This big red stop sign was staring us in the face for a while as we pondered the direction God was taking us in. It wasn't God putting the stop sign before us, it was fear that did that. Many years of being told what God's will for our lives was, is what put this sign up. A preacher would tell us time and time again that he knew God's will and it was to be in his church. When God began telling us it was time to leave, we didn't understand. But we knew we had to obey and we were so deeply compelled to obey the voice of God over the voice of man who says he is 'the voice of God to the people'. Stop. Stop. Stop. Why? Why say stop, if God is saying go? So who was right to obey? A man or God? We chose to walk by faith and go as God was guiding us.

Part of this journey also involved being told we couldn't read about what other churches believed. We were told by a leader what he thought the churches believed and we were to believe him and not look into it ourselves. God was guiding us to discover what each of the churches believed and as we walked through our studies with God's Spirit as our Teacher, we discovered why so many 'leaders' resist their congregations from learning these things. They disagreed with each other..the leaders of these churches..and that part we knew, but what we didn't know specifically was which things were of such sharp division.

As we furthered our studies we found that many other churches also disagreed with the teaching from where we were at before. So we went to God and asked which teaching was true. He has unraveled us from many man made teachings and false interpretations and it was been quite a journey.

What I would like to share with all of you is what we discovered about various teachings in multiple denominations of the Christian sects. What I will share with you will be what each denomination has to say about many particular topics and set them here so you can see the parallel and comparison of what they believe so you can decide for yourselves. I won't tell you what to believe, but I will share with you a variety of things to ponder and seek the Lord about. The results I share with you will be startling to some and to others it may not be any surprise at all. One thing is for certain, this journey I share with you takes a mature faith in Christ. If your beliefs are based on your religious forefather's interpretations and you have built your faith on those things, then you will discover what I discovered. My faith was not on Christ alone, Sola Christo. My faith was on interpretations and dictations of a religious forefather.

When God showed me how to get truly anchored in Christ, then looking at these various interpretations did not cause me to falter. I had no fear. I knew that my salvation was not contingent upon interpretations or education of theology. My salvation was on Christ alone. He holds us firm in him.

I hope you will join me this year for this exciting adventure. Happy New Year!

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Lifting Up 2010

2010-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I began sharing about the friends God crossed my paths with in 2010 and I have a few more to share with you today. But please go back and read the message from yesterday to see why I am doing this. Today I want to lift up some of my Facebook friends.

Steve McVey who blogs at Grace Walk Ministries. This last year has been such a terrific adventure watching him share his journey on Facebook. He has a series on YouTube and a specific series called 101 Lies Told Every Sunday. He challenges us to take a deeper look at tell tale key phrases that teach lies in the name of God. His journey has inspired me in my own walkabout with God.

Pamela Donnan from RevoAtTheWell. Her expression of being a woman at the well has provoked my thoughts to lean deeper into grace as she walks us through the footsteps and shoes of a modern 'Samaritan'. She pours out her heart for the 'unloveable' and 'rejects' of society and shows us how much Christ loves and embraces those very people. So why aren't more Christians loving and embracing them if Jesus is? Check out her journey.

Elizabeth Kingery at Unravel the Matter. Elizabeth has been one of those friends that has been so courageous to seek out what doctrines are questionable and is a powerful study partner. I have sought out her assistance many times to dissect through the man made religious doctrines that cause most Atheists to reject Christianity altogether. Through her studies I have grown wiser in understanding these hard questions and it has deepened by faith in Christ. The very questions that many Christians might say leads to atheism, has actually built my faith in Christ much stronger. I am thankful for Elizabeth's boldness in researching these matters. Her blog is for those who are mature in their faith.

John Lynch of TrueFaced. John has YouTube videos as well and the first one I watched deeply moved me, Grace. Every fiber of my soul soaks up every word he breathes through his videos. He brings me comfort and healing and is so full of encouragement. I pray his gifts will bless you as well. Go check out his videos.

Bob Greaves The Unconventional Pastor. The title of his blog is precisely the description I would give Bob. He functions as a pastor in an unconventional way. He has a vast amount of knowledge of the early church and historical significance of the epistles written by the apostles. His views challenge mainstream Christianity, but he remains firm on Christ. His studies have challenged me time and time again. At first glance at his blog you might reject him totally since he questions some 'doctrines' held by a lot of Christian sects, but if you are mature in the faith and have Christ as your anchor, you'll be able to read what he has to say and may come to glean from his perspective and appreciate his courage to reveal truth.

More to come soon.

*While I may or may not agree with my friends 100% theologically, I have come to appreciate their maturity in Christ and love them for who they are rather than for being in agreement on 'doctrine'.

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Lifting Up 2010

2010-12-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

I have had such a great pleasure in being able to finally meet many of my friends from the blogosphere at the Relevant Conference this last October. Through them I have been able to get connected with many more once I got home. My blog is a unique one as far as content goes, because I touch on issues not a lot of others like to talk about. I take a look at various Christian sect doctrines and examine them to see if Christ is indeed in them. I crunch through the parts that seem to only bring out Styrofoam fruit coated in plastic sugar then I push it aside to see why some sects hold them with such an embrace. I'm not an authority on God and I don't believe any of us really are. But what I cannot deny is when someone has a relational experience with our Lord and He brings them freedom from strongholds. Those many lies that so many Christians believe, that holds them far from Christ, when in reality none of us are far from Christ, He lives within us.

This last year, God has crossed my bloggy path with many who have been a balance for me as I have deeply investigated modern mainstream doctrines of those various sects of Christianity. Aside from all the doctrinal disagreements, I have found men and women who have profound stories that shoot arrows in the lies we believe and put us face to face with our Living God. I'd like to share these fellow brothers and sisters with you as we close out 2010. You may not agree with their doctrinal statements, but can we be mature in our faith and look beyond those statements and hear their stories? I believe it challenges our walks with God, to hear out what others believe.

These are those who have inspired me and helped me to balance in my 2010 walkabout with God. They are in no particular order of importance, for they are all equally important to me.

Serena Woods at GraceisForSinners.com When I found Serena's blog (special thanks to Sarah Mae) I knew I needed to get subscribed right away, I also got her book. I was coming out of legalism and for me, Serena is a preacher to the legalists. She doesn't pull any punches and I needed quite a few punches to the chin to wake me up out of my foggy stupor. She puts grace in such a Light that we can't ignore it.

Hilary McFarland at Quivering Daughters.com Hilary found me on Facebook and requested to be friends with me. I was intrigued with her book Quivering Daughters and I ordered a copy right away. I sobbed deeply while I read her book and am so thankful to have read it. As a recovering legalist, I needed to hear from a daughter's perspective, how they feel as kids growing up under that kind of pressure. It has helped to change the way I parent my children and my family dynamics has changed substantially.

Leonard Sweet @LenSweet on Twitter and I connected with him on Facebook. The first time I mentioned his name on Facebook, some 'friends' went crazy mad. I was told such awful things about him and I knew right away I wanted to know what the hullabaloo was about. He has been gracious and kind to me as I asked him questions about the criticism he has been receiving. He sent me a few books for me to read and I fell in love with his writing style and his message. He offers a fresh perspective on this Christian life that I had not heard before. I am honored to have connected with him and be introduced to his books. Needless to say, those 'friends' dumped me, but I gained such a valuable friend in Leonard Sweet.

Frank Viola at Reimagining Church. Frank is lifting up some of his friends as well and I am thankful to see he is doing this. He inspired me to make my own list as well. Frank is one of the leading voices of freedom in finding organic church. He has plowed through the pagan teachings of Christianity and reintroduced an organic way of living out this Life in Christ among one another. His books have been valuable to our own ministry as we also wanted to re-examine what 'ministry' really was.

Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience. Ann's writing is poetic and she has such a fantastic gift of revealing her own perfectionism in a gracious way which reveals in me the areas I need to look at. I never feel cut when I read her words, even when her words convict me of the times I fall from grace. She uplifts those who fall into their own perfectionism ditches in such a way that it moves me to tears. She ever so gently washes me over with the oil of gladness as she showers me with words of grace that put me face to face with our Living Messiah.

I hope you'll also introduce us to those who have helped shape your faith in 2010.

Stay tuned for more...

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No Comparison

2010-12-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

Guest: Amy The Free

I was thinking about how diverse a snowflake is... how each one is so incredibly beautiful and different from another.... they are one of those things that you simply cannot compare, you know? I have never heard one person say, "I like this... snowflake better then this one... or let's compare these two and see which one is more beautiful." Not ever! You cannot compare, because each truely holds it's own unique beauty ;) Same goes with the masterpiece of God... you can't compare one person to the next... it's not possible!

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Freedom to Believe and to Speak About It

2010-12-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

Many have followed me on Facebook for the last couple of years, as well as on my blogs and Twitter, and have come to the place where they are being more adamant with asking what specifically I believe. I can understand why they ask, since I post statuses that are thought provoking discussion starters and they have to read the entire dialogue to find out what I believe and yet even at times I don't come right out with my own conclusion and I think that is frustrating some people. I apologize for that, but frustration comes with impatience and I can't control a person's impatience.

I have debated on whether or not to state bluntly, certain things that I believe, because it just seems to cause such a stir. I believe in Soul Liberty. It's my freedom to pursue knowledge of God as Holy Spirit guides me. Then I'm often asked, "Do you have a pastor?" To which, most times, people don't like my answer. "Jesus Christ is my Pastor." Then I'm pressured with, "Have you joined a church?" and again, they aren't quite thrilled with my answer. " We are the Church, the Body of Christ." For many pastors who do know us, they know how we live and worship God and are in support of our freedom, because they know we love people and we can get along with many churches in our area. We have a unique ministry that has been called by God to remain independent, yet we are in fellowship and counsel with wonderful pastors, teachers, and counselors. My husband and I both are certified counselors, have gone through biblical education, have been prayed over and blessed by many other believers who have been ordained. Just so you know, I don't always accept a person's 'ordination' status just because they went to a 'bible college'. Some have and some have not, but we believe they are very well studied and function in their gifting very well. My husband is a Recovery Pastor and we function together as a couple to minister to people in recovery of addictions of various sorts.

I always hesitate in sharing a lot of these things and I'll tell you why. Regardless of whether or not I share these things about us, people still desire to argue and rebuke us for not following their denomination's ways and doctrines. My husband and I study the bible, gather with believers, worship together, etc. We are not just 'winging it' in our home, we are not isolating ourselves from our community or other believers, and we aren't demanding that people give us money. But for some reason, people continually try to find some 'sin' in how we live out our life in Christ. But for those who genuinely love us and ask out of curiosity and based on love, we don't mind sharing the details about what we believe. It's when we are treated harshly with judgmentalism, legalism, and immaturity that we hold back.

We certainly do live in a day when denominationalism has grown to hack away at so many fellowships over how they teach the gospel. In our unique ministry we have had the pleasure of getting to know pastors, bishops, elders, deacons, and a few apostles of various kinds of churches. On my Facebook page, I call certain unhealthy church behaviors and teachings into question and these pastors have been encouraging me to keep asking my questions. They don't always agree with some of the beliefs that people share, but they appreciate the dialogue and they study along with us. We all contribute to the discussions and what we're finding is how unimportant some beliefs are in comparison to how we are loving people.

I have friends who insist that I need to boldly proclaim what I believe and publicly rebuke anyone who disagrees with me. I don't think that's wise.

1 Corinthians 13:5 "Love does not insist on it's own way."

I understand the idea of boldly proclaiming the gospel and yet many find that to be divisive as well, because God has called upon us to preach the gospel to a specific people in a specific way that mainstream Churchianity does not accept. As Peter was sent to those of the circumcision and Paul was sent later to the Gentiles, their letters sometimes seemed to disagree. But as any educated missionary knows, one must learn the culture of where they are going and their current beliefs so they can wisely meet them 'where they are' and go from there.

1 Corinthians 9:22 "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some."

There are areas of scripture interpretation that are not useful in guiding a person to get to know our Messiah, the lover of our souls. Many people have been abused by churches, emotionally abused by people who call themselves Christians, and stolen from by deceitful clergy. This is a delicate area. We are honored that God has chosen us to be a place of fellowship for people to come and grow with. We offer soul liberty to these friends and they, in turn, offer it to us.

I wouldn't say we are planting a 'church' as in the traditional sense, but the Lord is working through us in an organic way as a faith led body that functions as he guides us. We rely upon Him to be our structure when we gather and we still fellowship and gather with other believers in various homes and churches.

We believe that God chooses who He wants, to do certain things in this world, and He chooses how we will function. We heavily rely upon His Spirit to guide us each day of our lives and in how we help others. Since we function among believers from various denominations, we remain as neutral as possible in certain areas to keep in harmony of love. We hold to what a few select early church believers stated about our freedom of conscience. We have studied various reformers, what they believed and why they believed those things. We have studied why they broke from other churches and began their own. We have seen a general commonality that they all sought for, soul liberty.

I think it's perfectly natural for people who believe the same, to gather together for study, fellowship and worship. I think it's also natural that if a person has studied for any length of time with a group and wants to ask questions that they don't want to look into, then that person is free to find a group that does. It is in my opinion, that anyone who insists on the group taking on their beliefs is violating that group's soul liberty. Again, I go back to 1 Corinthians 13:5 "Love does not insist on it's own way"

In my opinion, some clergy and their Christians who continually fight and cause strife between people are behaving the same as childhood school bullies. "If you want to be my friend, you can't be friends with him!" All because of an uneducated, arrogant, fear that someone different from you must some how be of 'the devil'. These people are insistent on causing more divisions among the people, dividing them from one another over issues that disrupt the harmony of love in our communities.

I'm not suggesting all the churches become a part of the 'New World Order' and it's 'One World Religion', but rather a part of a loving community that is open to loving one another no matter what interpretations they believe. If people are loving, kind, and tolerant, then why become divisive with them? No matter how many churches are in your area, you are still a community of Americans, One Nation. But even far more important, we are of a Heavenly Nation of Love. How will people know you are a Christ follower?

John 13: 34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

We are each of different flavors of Christ, so let us not divide the Body asunder, but encourage one another in love. We each have soul liberty and should not forbid one another from expressing what they believe and why they believe it. We may be able to learn from one another if we truly give one another the same freedom the reformers fought for.

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George Barna Survey

2010-12-16T06:56:00.000-08:00

George Barna and his group published an article based on their findings of over 5,000 non-propriety interviews. In this note I would like to point out a few things based on the first point their group findings shared...

"The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
What used to be basic, universally-known truths about Christianity are now unknown mysteries to a large and growing share of Americans--especially young adults. For instance, Barna Group studies in 2010 showed that while most people regard Easter as a religious holiday, only a minority of adults associate Easter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

ME: First of all I'd like to say that I personally feel that a vast majority of this nation is very well aware of the teachings of mainline Christianity, many simply reject it. These so called 'universally known truths' have been 'universally forced interpretations' and with the availability of information we have through technology, we are able to discover what is pagan myth mixed in and what is not. Therefore, people ARE interested in learning on their own and this kind of study is not normally 'allowed' in their churches...and they're turning to blogging and Facebook to get connected with people for their studies. As far as Easter goes, today's modern world of religious students have discovered that Easter is NOT about the resurrection, so it's no wonder they are not associating it together anymore. Easter has become a cutesy little kid festival about coloring eggs and eating chocolate, while Wiccans know very well what Easter is about and they celebrate it as it was originally intended by people from their ancient traditions. For a person in Christ, they celebrate the resurrection everyday as they yield to Christ in them and walk in the Spirit each and every day in the freedom He gave us.

The first point of their study goes on to say:

"Other examples include the finding that few adults believe that their faith is meant to be the focal point of their life or to be integrated into every aspect of their existence."

ME: I believe the thing that is evident by this statement is that adults are finding that their 'faith' and their religious forefather's interpretations (denomination) is not a focal point in their life. I think they are discovering that denominational interpretations have very little affect on their daily living and they are in a quandary to discover what actually living by faith really looks like.

Then their study says:

"Further, a growing majority believe the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God's presence or power, but not a living entity."

ME: I think what people are discovering here is that the term 'trinity' isn't actually in scripture and they have found out who invented this term and why. I believe that most Christians recognize God's Spirit working in their lives, but now deny God has a 3rd entity, but rather Holy Spirit IS God in their hearts. For ex: We know that Proverbs describes wisdom as a 'she' and is from God but we don't say Wisdom is a 4th entity to God in female form. I don't think they refute that this Spirit IS God, but they disagree that God is a 3rd entity.

"As the two younger generations (Busters and Mosaics) ascend to numerical and positional supremacy in churches across the nation, the data suggest that biblical literacy is likely to decline significantly. The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency."

ME: It should concern us to see that numbers and positional supremacy is on the rise, and the people are less theologically educated in those churches. I think we could dedicate an entire forum on that fact alone. Christianity has become churchianity. I think that churches for many years thought they were reproducing disciples, but what they have done is just built up towers of Babel all over again and God is smiting them down with confusion to stop them from what they're doing. You might say "God is not the author of confusion" and while I generally believe that, He DID do this at the Tower of Babel.

So the people found one another and began to learn their individual languages and live among one another. There's a new movement, of sorts, in Christianity and they are rediscovering the Spirit of Christ in applicable ways that the Institutional Church doesn't recognize. Nor can the IC teach it..because it is not for them to teach. It is the Spirit that is our Teacher. If they want to know about this revival that's going on, they'll have to talk to The Teacher about it.

Part 2 tomorrow

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Advice in Hind Sight

2010-12-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

Just a few days ago a friend on Facebook asked about all the 'garbage' that happens in the world today. We are to rest and trust in the sovereignty of God, but our humanity gets confused when tragedy comes. I replied to him with the following thoughts:

I think it's just all a part of a bigger picture that we don't yet understand. We were given a gift..to live..and an even greater gift ..to live abundantly..in freedom. But how we choose to live out that freedom is the real journey. Just as superheroes don't stop all their villains, we won't either. Life happens. Crime happens. But the Light shines best in the darkness and after going through the kind of sophisticated persecution last year I saw amazing things happening in my life. It was incredibly painful, but I saw Christ in ways I didn't expect. I think it's totally normal to get frustrated with it all though and I don't think He minds us kicking a fit about the pain in this world, but I trust that when He reveals everything to us in His timing we will be so in awe that we won't mind it at that point.

When I first began to truly believe I asked my husband this... "When we get to heaven, will we find out what really happened to Marilyn Monroe?" his reply, "When we get there do you think you'll care?" nope! I'll just be happy to be there.

Then just a couple days later, a dear friend loses her little boy in a household accident. An accident that some might say could have been prevented, yet we are to trust that God has allowed this for a purpose. That's always a hard pill to swallow when it happens to someone we love. Humanity steps in and asks, "Why?" Then I sit in silence and instead of asking more questions or trying to imagine the 'what if it happened differently', I instead choose to listen. I wait...hearing nothing but silence. I cry. It's so incredibly difficult to not know why things happen, especially when it happens to lovely people.

I remembered the words I shared with my friend on Facebook and I rush over to go through that 'more' link to find that conversation so I can re-read my advice, hoping to see if it makes sense when you're smack dab in the middle of one of those human moments of confusion and pain. I wanted to smack myself for typing that advice, because now it made no sense to me. My flesh wants an answer! The word 'humanity' seems to stick in my head. I am mortal right now and things don't look the same when you're mortal. But when that day comes when we are freed from this mortality and enter that spiritual realm, things will look different.

Do we still choose to rest in Christ and trust in God's sovereignty when tragedy strikes? Why do we become more angry with God when it happens to lovely people and we thrive on the revenge when it happens to people we dislike?

Humanity

Maybe those moments of realizing how small we are as humans brings us to the place where we look up to He who is not human. Maybe our humanity humbles us. When we question these events in life are we stepping back into the building of the Tower of Babel? Trying to gain access to God on our own human efforts?

Sometimes advice is an easier pill to swallow when we aren't faced with life. Hypothetical dialogue seems easier to deal with when it's not actually needing to be applied in reality.

I don't think I have a good answer for this...some things we learn things in hind sight.

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The Battle and It's Wounded Soldiers

2010-12-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes people are so convinced that if you're not in a church that you are somehow in retreat, but that's not what I am finding among the believers that I know who don't belong to an Institutional Church. Yes, there are many wounded soldiers and sadly most of them have been wounded by those we thought were on the same team. Is there any other religion that shoots it's own soldiers when they're down than Christianity?

There's a battle raging within Christianity today and it is crippling the momentum that should be advancing on the field. Christianity has become Churchianity in many places all over the world and their focus left Christ a long time ago. Now our wounded soldiers are having to deal with how to be strategically wise in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from the very 'brethren' we fought alongside for so many years.

I've never served in the military, but I've read and studied enough to know that not every branch serves in some capacity. Each one specializes in a specific area and if each branch could work together in supporting one another we can become quite powerful to the pulling down of strongholds once again. But somewhere along the way they forgot about pulling down strongholds and they are more concerned with recruiting people into their branches to just increase numbers. I remember meeting with a recruiter for the Air Force when I was 18 years old. I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. The recruiter gave me all the information, but asked me to be sure this was the branch I really wanted to be a part of. There are other branches I could have chosen and I still would have been on the same team, The United States of America. Now that I think about it, you don't have to be in any military branch in order to be on this team, even the civilians are still on the same team and our taxes pay for those soldiers. We all need one another.

So I try to think about this in terms of my faith and the fellowships we all form in our own towns. We each have a function and God will place us where He wants us. There are also wounded soldiers who have been inflicted great harm at the hands of other soldiers and some abusive leaders have misused their positions to punish unjustly. There is corruption all around us and it has been said many times that an outside enemy doesn't have the power to destroy us, the power to destroy comes from within it's own department.

We each have a function and we need to discover what that is through God's Spirit guiding us. Maybe you feel like you are a wounded soldier never able to get back in the battle...but may I remind you of something the apostle Paul said? He said "Love never ends". {1 Corinthians 13} The command to love remains steadfast and there is where we can be of use in this multifaceted ministry of reconciliation. Even the military hospitals have doctors, nurses, and staff to help the wounded to heal...they're still all a part of the progress of defending freedom.

If God reveals to you that you have wounded one of our own, could you seek Him in depth on how you can reconcile? Even if you agree to disagree, can it be done in love and through peace? Lets remain linked arm in arm advancing on the field in the victory that has already been given to us through Christ. The freedom in Him to love one another and help spread the Gospel.. Christ came to set us free.

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Leaving a Church

2010-12-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

If you’ve been in any church for a great length of time and have felt the need to leave, it is never an easy decision. If you have deeply invested your heart in the lives of the people and they have done the same with you, it makes it all the more difficult. I watched a documentary of how the Amish operate their Ordnungs and the reasons why they excommunicate and shun those they feel are in ‘rebellion’ to their bishops. This is not an isolated practice. Many different churches function in similar ways and in varying degrees.

A person may feel they have come to a place in their studies where they feel that they are in such deep disagreement that they can no longer attend that church. Other people leave because of abuse of authority and others may leave because there were deeper issues such as a pastor having an affair or is being dishonest with the government and the people about their finances. People leave churches for various reasons.

Of all the people I have spoken to about why they left church and how they did so, I have yet to find anyone who was able to respectfully part ways in love. Most times they left, because there was wounded hearts that couldn’t mend easily.

I have seen people slip out quietly by missing churches services every now and then and gradually missing more often until they just aren’t there anymore. If the church is a very busy church they may not even notice these families missing for quite a while. Then, when they do finally notice and they decide to go by or call them, the ones who left are hurt that it took so long for them to notice. Then there are those who notice right away and keep calling them, when the ones who left don’t want the contact anymore and feel at odds with how to say how they feel without hurting the church members.

We have also spoken to those who felt that the right decision in leaving was to attempt the Matthew 18 approach by going to the leadership directly with their concerns.

In this attempt they felt the leadership was refusing to assist or perhaps it’s the leadership in the wrong and they refuse to repent. This poses a tremendous problem, because their next option is to find more people to confront this leadership with them. Most church members don’t want to do that and if they do humbly agree to help, if the leadership still refuses then these members are obligated to go before the whole church about the matter. Many times this brings about a church split. This can be a terribly painful experience for the whole church and a split among friendships that took many years to forge. This kind of scenario is like a divorce and it hurts everyone in the process.

Since every church handles departures differently it is difficult to figure out just how to handle situations like these. Every church, its leadership, and how it functions vary so greatly. Many have asked, “How do you leave a church?” To which I ask, “How do you leave a marriage?” It’s difficult and painful no matter how it’s done.

Some feel it’s best to slip away quietly and others feel a firm approach is best for them, but always keep in mind that the whole church will feel the loss. The members who leave aren’t the only ones in pain.

Looking back on our departure from a place we invested our hearts in for over a decade, I have pondered what I wish could have happened.

I wish they could have let us go with a blessing and no hard feelings for our disagreement. I wish they had not tried so hard to limit our contact with those we were closest to. I wish the people would not have condemned us and cursed us for leaving. I wish just one of our closest friends would have listened when we said who hurt us and how they hurt us. We didn’t want people to choose sides. We needed love and support. We wanted help with the situations we were in. We weren’t listened to, we were rebuked for speaking the truth no matter how loving we were. It became a big mess, and we never meant for it to be so. We all got broken hearts over it from the leaders, our friends, ourselves, but mostly…the children. Isn’t that how it always is? The children are always hurt the most.

We deeply love the people and we are reminded of how Paul and Barnabas parted ways.

Acts 15 36And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Sometimes the contention just happens and there isn’t anything we can do to make it different. So here is what I’d like to share that I wish I had known when we left our former church.

It’s ok to disagree with the leadership about doctrine. Paul disagreed with Peter about doctrine and Paul spoke about it openly in front of Peter. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest anyone do this, but there is a time and place for it and it should be bathed in prayer beforehand. Seek the wisdom of others before doing so.

False teachers have been around for ages. You aren’t going to take down an entire denomination by just rebuking the pastor openly. The disciples told Jesus that they saw men casting out demons, but they sent them away since they didn’t know them. Jesus told them not to do so. Sometimes it’s best to just walk away and say nothing. He also said that if a work is of God it will stand and if it is not of God it will fall. We can’t ‘right’ all that we think is ‘wrong’ with churches.

Attempting to be abrupt in disagreeing openly with a pastor will not only hurt the church members, but it will hurt your family as well. Some pastors will beckon for you to come before their elders before you ever get a chance to say something openly. In which case, you’ll probably be rebuked for disagreeing and you could possibly be disfellowshipped, excommunicated, shunned, or asked to leave quietly. It’s going to hurt, but graciously walk away in peace.

Maybe you feel the vision of the leadership is not the vision God has given you. Perhaps your pastor won’t listen to the vision God has given you. Maybe finding out where God would use your vision would be better than staying where His voice through you is not welcome. We’re all human and sometimes we don’t all always understand how God speaks to others.

Maybe the problem is you and you may need to humble yourself and ask for forgiveness.

Sometimes you simply don’t know why you need to leave; you just feel a tug from the Lord to do so.

No matter the reason, it’s not easy to leave a church.

It’s going to be painful.

This too shall pass.

I don’t know if telling people why you leave is important. Sometimes it’s just easier to say it is a preference and leave it at that. Sometimes it’s best to be open about why you’re leaving. Only you know the answer to that dilemma. God will guide you and any step you later feel was the wrong step, God’s grace has it covered. You’re not alone and you’re not the only one who has gone through this.

Just know this, God loves you deeply and you have the freedom to go where you feel God is leading you.

This was shared from not only my personal experience, but from testimonies of others who have left churches. It is not meant to be a cookie cutter approach on how to leave a church, but rather a simple testimonial from the experience of others who have been through this. I pray that even one small portion of this will help you in whatever decision your family needs to make.

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Pardon My Mess

2010-12-05T17:39:00.001-08:00

I am not sure what I did, but I lost my template somehow and this is what I'm stuck with for now. I'm working to remedy this problem. Thank you for being patient with me.

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Your Sacred Calling

2010-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have a difficult time trying to figure out what my sacred calling is, let alone to attempt to tell all of you what your is. Apparently Moses' sacred calling was to murder a man then become the leader of God's divine exodus from Egypt. That kinda blows the whole "you have to live according to this law in order to be 'really' used by God" philosophy. What about Saul? He was a pharisee living by the Law as closely as possible, yet his heart was so distant from God's when he murdered those who believed in Christ. His testimony was still used by God though, in a spectacular way at that!

God looks at the heart. This is an important thing for us to remember when we try to figure out what our sacred calling is. After our own exodus from legalism, my daughter went through a difficult phase of frustration about the amount of 'work' we put into the place we left, not to mention the amount of money we gave that only furthers their legalism in that community. A dear friend encouraged us with these words:

"God knows, that in your heart, you were giving to HIM..and THAT is sacred to Him. Even if the church misuses your offerings, they are sacred to Him and He will deal with them in his way."

I think we get confused at what God's 'calling' is and maybe we tend to look for a calling that is not our own. Priscilla's calling is not our calling. She was called upon to teach Apollos the way of Christ more perfectly. {Acts 18} Lydia's calling was to sell purple linen and lead her household of maidens in worship by the river. {Acts 16} But it's not my calling to sell purple linen. I wouldn't imagine Esther thought her 'calling' would be to submit to a forced arrange marriage to a non-Jewish king either. She was forced to be unequally yoked, but it was indeed God's calling for her.

There have been varying things that God has placed on my heart over the years, that I do believe were His calling for me..at that time. Just because one thing was my calling for a time, doesn't mean it's everyone else's calling as well. We each have a unique path that He takes us on, to deepen our walk with Him. It's such an exciting adventure and completely by faith. Faith is stepping out where you see no place to step.

I used to think God's sacred calling for all women was to stay home, have lots of children, serve in the church, and never work outside the home. If that were true, then why did Lydia have an outside career? I used to think women couldn't teach men, but if that were so then why was Priscilla involved with teaching Apollos the way of Christ more perfectly? My conclusion is this..we aren't all made of the same cookie dough and we weren't all meant to be cut with a cookie cutter, least of all the same cookie cutter.

Only God knows our sacred calling. I believe he reveals it to us in His time and in His way and perhaps we don't understand all the depths and facets of His calling for us while we're still here on this earth. I don't think we were all meant to be wives and/or mothers. I don't think we were all meant to follow the same denomination. I don't think we were all meant to fit into the perfectionism of legalism.

But I do know this:

{Galatians 3:28} There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I believe He calls us for different things in this life and I don't want to presume to know what God's calling is for you. I'm not the Holy Spirit and therefore it is not for me to tell others what God's sacred calling is. Even some of the early church didn't accept Paul's sacred calling.

{1 Corinthians 9:2} If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Not all women will become wives and it's fruitless to attempt to yoke yourself to a school of thought that you are meant to marry. You'll go your whole life feeling like a failure as a single woman without a husband. To our knowledge, Mary Magdalene never got married, but she served the Lord with gladness.

Not all women were meant to be mothers and it's heartbreaking to live a whole life feeling that you aren't blessed by God with children.

Sure, it's a blessing to be married and to have children, but these are not the only ways in which God blesses us. To some women, being single and childless is their blessing so they can do so much more for the Lord in other ways that us married women with children can't do. Even Helen Keller never married nor had children but her contribution to the world will always be known and highly favored by multitudes. Her sacred calling was to be blind and deaf, and God sent Anne Sullivan to be her teacher and companion for many years. She furthered her education and gave so much to so many. Her 'calling' has remained a sacred legacy to the world.

Sure there are wonderful blessings to being at home and having children, but it's not the only calling and blessing God has for us. My desire in writing this is to free you from the yoke of legalism that binds you to someone else's sacred calling.

You're already living out your sacred calling, it's called life.

Related article:
Condemned for my Lacking Quiver

Condemned for a Lacking Quiver

2010-12-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

After the birth of my son in 2002, my body was not the same. We have four children and Timmy's birth was a tremendously difficult one. I experienced some incredible difficulties and at one point we were faced with the possibility of the decision.. "me or baby". A friend who was with us, leaned over my belly and prayed. Our son was stuck and my cervix wasn't allowing him to pass through. As soon as she completed her prayer, my son literally flew out and by God's grace, my husband caught him before he hit the floor. It was a genuine miracle.

My body told me, "I've had enough. No more babies."

For the next year after Timmy's birth, I battled with the decision of making it surgically final for our child bearing years. My health was suffering in other areas and my doctor told me my cervix would never be able to pass another infant. If I were to become pregnant again, I would need a C section.

I was so concerned about my uterus being able to actually hold another ten pound child. When Timmy was stuck, each push brought my uterus further down and I could have lost it all. I was becoming increasingly adamant that I wanted to prevent anymore pregnancies, but the birth control methods available to me were causing sever migraine headaches and cystic acne.

I then began hearing people 'warn' me not to use birth control because they said it was no different than abortion. Others would tell me it was a personal decision and not to worry about what the other camp thought. Then there is the movement of people who think we need to raise our children like soldiers for religion, because so many people keep leaving churches. I felt like I was in a tug of war between all these 'teachings'.

My husband finally went in for his surgery. Here's where it became even more confusing. After his surgery I got pregnant again. He went in for a test and he had a sperm count of 435 million! But then I miscarried. My emotions were so tossed against the rocks of a stormy shore and I couldn't make sense of any of it. The first thought that came to my mind was condemnation. I felt like I was being cursed, condemned, and belittled by the 'words' I had 'heard' in 'teachings'. Teachings that say 'if you do this, that will happen and it will be your fault'.

I became bitter at the camp that said it was a personal decision and I embraced the camp that said we should have a reversal and try again. But my husband was not interested in having his area cut up again and I carried this guilt of our decision with me everywhere I went. I couldn't stand hearing of anyone having more children. Seeing beautiful pregnant bellies made me angry with myself and the various teachings on this subject.

It took me years to realize that I was under grace. Life happens. We make decisions and things happen. We have no control over some things in life.

It's been six years since the surgery and my son is now eight years old. He is such a blessing to us that if it were possible, I'd love ten more Timmy's just like him, but no two children are alike.

We considered adoption, but it's quite expensive and our home is too small. Now that my children all older it is such a blessing to be able to travel without car seats, diaper bags, swings, and playpens. No more poopy diapers, drool on my favorite sweaters, or cupboards filled with bottles and sippy cups.

That 'phase' of our lives is over, but we don't see our 'lives' as over. We no longer live under the condemnation of not being able to have more babies. Oh..yes..we still get ga-ga over cute little chubby cheeks and the coos of a baby is still music to our ears.

But life has happened and it continues to go on, no matter what is in the past. If I keep carrying the baggage of my past with me, it's no different than carrying a casket everywhere I go. My body can't give birth to any more little lives, but the Christ who lives within me can give spiritual life to many more.

It's ok if you can't have anymore children. It' ok if you and your husband decide it's time to stop having children. It's ok if you want to keep having children. The decision you and your husband makes is yours alone. There is no condemnation to those in Christ.

When we make a decision it is OURS to make, not someone else's. People may or may not agree with the decisions we all make, but it is not their decision to make for us. Don't let anyone condemn you if your quiver isn't as full as theirs. For my husband, four is a full quiver. And we're very happy and blessed, because our aim is in Christ, not in how many children we have.

Related article:
Your Sacred Calling

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Which is the Real Shepherd?

2010-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

At first glance of this video, some might think it's humorous, but what went on in my heart was sadness. The sheep represent the people, God's people. God's people, the sheep, are in need of honest, sincere, loving leaders who protect the flock, yet in this video you see their shepherds taking advantage of them for their own personal pleasure. They are using the sheep for their own entertainment. Shepherding them in and out of ridiculous circumstances instead of allowing them to graze and be at peace. These men have taken these sheep and are running them to and fro, for no purpose but their own. String them up with lights, run them ragged, send the dogs to make them obey, then stand back and laugh at what they have created, as if it glorifies some greater purpose. Just what we have in most modern churches today.

Does anyone have a video of a REAL shepherd?

In this next video we see a Border Collie named Bo who helps keep the sheep together and their shepherd is walking in their midst. He is among them and walking with them. My fourteen year old daughter watched with me then quietly said, "The dog is the Holy Spirit keeping them all close together and directing them." A very realistic look at what is and what should be within The Church today.

Steadfast and Quivering at the Feet of my King

2010-11-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days I was thinking about the turmoil I see on 'fair and balanced' news programs, political and religious debates on Facebook, multiple fear factor YouTube videos, and the war between the Law and the Spirit in the blogosphere. Someone on Facebook tried to cast fear upon me in regards to Islam and another person said Rapunzel fleeing her captor was a rebellious act. Sometimes I really struggle with using words of grace, because my flesh wants to say, "Oh brother!"

And yet people want to know where we stand on such issues and I believe we all have the freedom to speak up about how we feel without fear of reprisal. Is it abusive of me to say,"Oh brother!" ? Am I uncaring for thinking some people are crippled by fear mongering and narcissistic behaviors? OOPS! Did I just label a behavior in a way that casts judgment? How in the world do you remain steadfast and still quivering in humility before our Lord?

Then He whispers into my ear, "Naaman's handmaid." I remember this story from when a 3rd grade girl's Sunday School teacher taught about being a peacemaker in difficult circumstances. I was a 21 year old assistant to this teacher and yet I felt like I was one of the 3rd grade girls listening to this story. She was kidnapped from her people and forced to be a servant. I would have to imagine this was not what the girl wanted, but there was nothing she could so about it. Somewhere along the line, her parents must have been compassionate parents who raised her to be obedient to her elders, even if she didn't like what they are doing. For this little girl to speak out against her captors could have meant a whipping, death, or imprisonment. She had to obey.

There must have been times when her parents had taught her the reason why we obey those who have the rule over us, even when we disagree. In addition to this, I would imagine they also taught her when it's good to speak up about what we believe, even if it means death. I see in the story that she had discernment to know when to keep silent and when to speak up. Then I pondered in my heart, "How do we speak up in the face of such serious consequences and remain respectful?"

He then whispered again, "Esther." I also learned about Esther from the same Sunday School teacher. Esther knew that going before the King, her very own husband and head of household, could mean death. She knew that coming to him about a law, that he was deceived into making, would be a challenge of his authority in the land. Doing such a thing would have tremendously difficult consequences for the entire land. It was a sensitive issue to question the king and his highest servants.

Esther and the little handmaid were both steadfastly quivering before their authorities. They both spoke up when it meant destruction if they did. They knew there could be criticism from many for 'challenging' the authority of those over them. As a child of God, a handmaiden for our Lord, a servant of the King, a wife, and a mother, I saw all sides of this dilemma.

The still small, yet powerful voice, encouraged me, "You can be both steadfast and quivering."

I sighed deeply and let that sink in to my soul. We have boldness to come before the throne room of our God and know His scepter of grace will be extended. We can know that even if we have a misunderstanding, hurt feelings, anger or even despair, that he will listen.

He listens when we cry out to him in anguish that we don't understand why we are taken into captivity, or that our families are in danger of Haman's laws to 'kill' our families with his legalism. I think He dislikes it more than we do, yet He allowed it. He allowed the handmaid to be kidnapped and He allowed Esther to be forced to marry. In those circumstances is when His power was revealed in their lives. That didn't mean it was right for the army to steal the little girl. It didn't make it right that Esther was forced to marry the king. But God had a higher purpose that was much grander than they knew at the time.

We don't get angry with the little handmaid's story nor are we angry with Esther. We don't accuse them of disobedience for speaking up about what they had gone through or that they shed light on the corruption that was taking place. We applauded them for their bravery!

And yet we live in a world where we are criticized by our own brethren when we speak up about the government and abusive legalism in the households of faith. So here I am, steadfastly quivering at the feet of my King. I am steadfast that I can boldly enter his throne room in quivering humility beseeching His grace and mercy for the victims and their captors.

Did Namaan realize how much the little girl would miss her family? Did he realize how much pain it would be to have her taken from her loved ones? I don't know, but I know God used her to bring him to the prophet for healing when leprosy plagued his body. In doing so he became a believer in the Living God. Is leprosy somehow an imagery of legalism or spiritual abuse?

Did the king know how much a young lady wants to actually fall in love with the man she would choose to marry? Did it matter to him that her heart longed to be with her family instead of isolated in the castle? I don't know, but I do know that her act of obedience and bravery saved the entire Jewish race. Is this an imagery of how we withhold freedom from others?

I don't know why God allows children to be abused, whether physically, sexually, or spiritually. But I do know that as God delivers us, we have the opportunity to speak up about what he has delivered us from. As a believer, it makes me so sad when other believers accuse the testimony of Christ in another. We all make mistakes as children of God, as parents, as friends. Forgiveness for one another frees our own hearts from bitterness so we can be lamps for the Light within us. He wants to shine through our cracks and cast His Light upon the world to show them the way. The Light bleeding through the cracks is naturally going to also show those cracks and we tell where those cracks come from. We tell about the cracks, because if those cracks weren't there, how would the Light shine through?

Why do Christians try to cover the cracks?

"Don't tell anyone how those cracks got there! You'll bring a shame to the ones who caused those cracks."

Then don't tell the story of how the handmaid was kidnapped and forced into slavery. Don't you DARE tell the story of Esther and how her king forced her into marriage. Heaven forbid you tell about Queen Vashti and her mistakes. But through all those details is how the Light shines through to this dark world. You can't hide the Light under a bushel, He's meant to sit on a hill. He's meant to shine in the 'darkness', because it's in the darkness that the Light is needed.

The darkness is all around us and we can't hide darkness. The Light is going to find His way to shine in that darkness. Shall we hide the Light and remain in darkness? Shall we continue to stumble? The greatest darkness of Christianity is that of hiding the Light in the household of faith. Christianity doesn't want it's covers stripped. It doesn't want it's cracks revealed and in doing so it's followers don't want Christ to shine.

Allowing Christ to shine in Christianity would mean we see the clergy who abuse children, who cheat on their wives, on deacons who force hierarchy control over their families, on wives who live in fear of telling her husband that is spanking tactics are out of control, in the world where children are afraid to say they don't believe in hell out of fear of going there. Christianity has become the place where teens are cutting, anorexic, and homosexual without the parents knowing, because they fear rejection and loss of love and relationship. Christians live in just as much dark as the world around it and they have the Answer to their problems living within them. They just don't want to have Him revealed, because it would reveal their cracks.

What are we afraid of? The same thing we all fear, rejection from our loved ones. Because we fear deep down that they won't extend to us the grace our Lord has lavished us with.

Did Haman want Esther to speak up? Of course not, but it was needed to save her people. And here I am, speaking up for my people... I am steadfastly quivering before the feet of our King...

Christianity has cracks and they are there because of the stones hurled at glass houses. Many became transparent and the modern Pharisees saw through the glass walls and hurled stones at what they saw. The walls are cracked and falling apart. And all they need is grace so they can heal. No amount of bandages can heal or cover the cracks or what is inside the households of faith. Only Love covers these multitudes and grace doesn't want to hide, it wants to shine. In doing so, we will know how the cracks got there, but can we offer grace to the modern Pharisees? Can the modern Pharisees stop casting stones and pointing out sin? Jesus covered our sin, why do we want to uncover what He covered?

The Scepter of Grace is such a powerful weapon. It reveals that we are quivering daughters trying to be steadfast in a dark world of legalism. But Mercy embraces each of us as we embark on our individual walkabouts with God. He lavished Grace on all of us and we each have unique testimonies where God's son is revealed and heaven forbid we hide that lamp He has created us to be. Every single crack reveals His Glory.

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Dancing on Water

2010-11-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

"..The key is to open our eyes, sometimes by closing them..breathe deep...and inside I see Him..and we're dancing on water..." ~Sisterlisa

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Precautions for Stormy Friendships

2010-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Part 4

There are counties in the Midwest that have alarm systems built in their towns that warn them of an oncoming storm. This alarm gives them some time to seek shelter. His Holy Spirit is our alarm system and He can warn us in advance that we need to take cover. When a family takes cover they usually go into a basement stocked with canned food and water, a flashlight with batteries, and a battery operated radio. This is a well equipped family. We can take precautions to keep our friendships safe

from storms.

Begin with the right foundation:

Jesus Christ should be the foundation of all our friendships. If we build our friendships based on

what kind of coffee they serve us when we go for a visit not a good foundation.

Keep your focus:

Our focus should always be in Christ. Seeking Him each day and abiding in Him, together, will keep your friendships under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91)

Limit your time together:

I know this may be difficult for some women to understand. They enjoy their friendships and want to spend as much time as possible together. This is not a wise decision.

{Proverbs 25:17}
“Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.”

Too much time together can lead to a shaky structure and is bound to fall when the storms hit.

Don’t own your friendships:

Sometimes friends tend to expect a blind loyalty. They feel that only they have the right to have that friendship. This is a selfish place to be. If we behaved that way with our relationship with Christ how would our loved ones ever experience His love through us? We don’t own our friends, so share your friendships with others. We don’t have exclusive rights to them.

Avoid Gossip:

It becomes far too easy to listen to and spread gossip when we have close friendships. If you’re having a difficulty with a friend, don’t go to your other friends about it, go to our Lord.

We can avoid gossip by:

-Limiting telephone conversations to the basics. By this I mean that

you should use the telephone for making plans to see each other, praying

with each other, or calling in to say hello from time to time.

-Don’t ask your friends to keep secrets. If you're sharing something in confidence be sure to understand that sometimes people break one another's confidences. It 'could' happen and if so how would you feel? Be careful what you share.

-Guard your social media outlets from gossip. It’s far too easy to text, email, or even Tweet things you wouldn’t normally say to someone in person. Think and pray before hitting the ‘send’ button.

These are just a few tips I have learned from experience. That experience, at times, were after making the mistakes of not following these tips. Drink from the Living Water and your friendships will grow.

Stay tuned for part 5

Begin here

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Rest

2010-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Part 3

The winter season is a time of rest. Many animals go into hibernation to rest for the winter, while the storms of life howl past them. The cold wet weather causes us to draw back inside while we strike up a cozy fireplace and sip hot cocoa. There are benefits and drawbacks to this time of rest. We either use this time to focus on the home and enjoy the winter holidays or we isolate ourselves from the world around us. The winter months make it difficult to keep up with our local friends just as
storms in friendships causes us to lose sight of friendly communication. We need to be on guard to protect our friendships during these troublesome times.

The most common strategy a Christian attempts to initiate when a storm pours down is to isolate. Isolation causes bitterness to take root and hibernate in our hearts. The interesting thing is that even during hibernation, growth occurs. A hibernating bear does not cease from growing during the winter months, try to disturb their sleep and you’ll have an angry bear coming after you. We must resist the urge to isolate.

This is where the enemy likes to take his place. The enemy of the heart is like a dragon who wants to creep into your heart while you’re in isolation and dig his talons deep into your hearts and continue to twist that pain deeper into your chest. Keeping yourself in that cold and bitter place can cause ‘frostbite’, which is bitterness. We need to stoke up the fireplace and thaw out. Wrap yourself in the warm embrace of the ‘most comforting blanket’ you have and gather around the ‘glowing fire’. Keep your heart warm by the love of Christ our Lord. The best way to avoid bitterness is to pray for the friend who hurt you.

We are told by our Lord that love covers a multitude of sins. His sacrificial love is what it takes to keep the heart warm while a cold winter storm is raging. We may think that isolating ourselves in the basement and boarding up the windows to avoid the storm will keep us safe, but that’s not entirely true. I do agree that sometimes injured friendships needs some breathing room. Sometimes a little time apart can do some good, but I don’t recommend we stay there. There comes a time when
sharing some ‘hot cocoa’ can help break the ice again.

The warm mixture of sugar, cream, and chocolate, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows can add a sweet delightful taste to a cold heart. In Proverbs we learn that “..a gift in secret pacifieth anger…” This means to offer a gift without bragging to everyone else that you’ve done that. Let it be between you and the friend. The gift may not always be accepted at first, but keep it before our Lord in prayer and commit the friendship to Him.

He will do his work in their heart and keep your heart protected from the cold bitterness that seeks to destroy the love of Christ within you. The frost that builds upon a cold heart will begin to thaw when we allow His love and warmth to embrace us and we need to embrace Him right back.

Stay tuned for Part 4

Begin here

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Change Leads to Rest

2010-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Part 2

Sometimes friends break up, move away, change churches, or experience some other sad departure. All of these changes are normal and to be expected at some point or another. When I was younger I didn’t like change. When a friend moved away, I fought it with all my might. I used up all my strength begging them not to go, or crying through the night after saying goodbye. Ladies, we can’t stop change. We can’t stop the leaves from changing or even falling off the limbs when the Fall winds
arrive.

There are three phases of change that we all need to be prepared for. First of all, when change begins to appear we experience rejection. We reject the change and refuse to allow it to seize our hearts and emotions. It takes time to flow with the movement of the Fall winds. The next step of change in our hearts is tolerance. We admit the change has occurred, we don’t like it, but we know we can’t stop it. So we tolerate it. A little while later, we come to realize we can’t live with tolerance. Tolerance
does not free us from the pain we feel when change takes place. We must take the last step to freedom by accepting the change.

We can help ourselves on the friendship road by realizing that there will be change and we can’t stop it. Enjoy the friendships you make along the way and allow life to move you forward as God’s timing brings those changes. Yes, friends will come and go and that’s a part of life. Enjoy those gifts while you have them and if a departure is necessary, let it be done with grace and love. Send them along with blessings and encouragement. When the Autumn season of friendship makes it final trek, we see a new season appear, the season of rest, Winter. The time of rest.

Stay tuned for Part 3
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Change

2010-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Part 1

Autumn is a season that brings change and each friendship has it’s Autumn. Where there was once a bountiful tree full of vivid green leaves, there now are limbs swaying in the wind with a new variety of vibrant colors. These beautiful colors that God paints on each and every tree throughout the world are what makes life worth gazing at. I love each yellow, gold, red, pink, burgundy and green tree all on their own and in the midst of a gorgeous hillside of splendor. Yet as we travel down the road of life we see different trees and different colors along the way.

Every bend in the road introduces a new breathtaking view. If we lived in a world filled with Evergreen trees, we would never experience the beauty of a Japanese Maple. If every tree was a Japanese Maple, we’d never enjoy the fragrance of the Cherry tree’s blossoms. Each tree on it’s own has a gift that it’s boughs bestow upon us in it’s due season. How dreary this world would be without the Apple tree. Each one is so unique and we can not live with only one, if we could God would

have left out all the many varieties we have today.

Just as He has a purpose for every tree on this gift he gave us called Earth, He also has a purpose for each and every friendship he brings along our path to walk with us. Imagine if we decided to stop on the road of life to enjoy just one tree. We would not be able to come in contact with the many other

beautiful trees God has created. I can’t imagine living my whole life and never seeing a Grand Oak tree or a Vermont Maple tree in Autumn. I certainly don’t want to imagine a life where I never got to taste authentic Maple syrup on my pancakes. Stopping along the way, to never continue down the road, limits our exposure to the other gifts God has waiting for us. Each tree has it’s own unique gift to this world, as does each friend. He’ll cross your path with the friend with large leaves to provide shade in the summer, another with fruit to provide nutrition, and sometimes a tree stump to give us a place to rest on a long journey.

Not one tree is more important than another, each one has it’s time and purpose in our lives. The view along the way is gorgeous. Enjoy the view, but don’t forget there are other beautiful trees waiting to be discovered just around the bend. Keep focused on the road ahead of you, never take your eyes off of Jesus Christ. He is the road we follow and He will give you the trees you

need in this life, at his divine appointed time. Thank Him for each one and yield to Him if or when he decides to move you, or them, along when He so chooses.

Stay tuned for part 2....

Begin here

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Seasons of Friendship Series

2010-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

After many years of friendships coming and going and broken hearts along the way, the lesson of the seasons of friendship is one I wish I had known all along. In this study I will share with you my ups and downs, heartaches, and blessings I have experienced through my friendships.

Friendships are one of God’s blessings to us and are to be treasured and embraced. We know there were many close knit friendships in the Bible such as David and Jonathon, Paul and Silas, Lydia and her maidens, etc.

Although I wish I had known then what I know now, the experiences I have been through has created a testimony of friendships and I am blessed to be able to share it with you. I have lost touch with some friends over the years, and some were broken by this present world. Yet, while God allowed

me to have them in my life, I loved them and enjoyed the times we were together.

I do not intend to speak of the terrible times I had with some (and they had with me) but rather share from my experience how you could avoid some tsunamis and prevent drought along the way. Bless you as you seek Christ as the foundation for all your friendships.

I hope you'll join me for this series here at Soul Liberty Faith. If you'd like to have your friends come join us, would you consider hosting this graphic on your blog above the fold?

Part 1 Change
Part 2 Change leads to Rest

Part 3 Rest
Part 4 Precautions for Stormy Friendships

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$250 Family Holidays Giveaway Series

2010-11-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Pix-O-Sphere is sponsoring a $250 Family Holidays Giveaway hosted by moi over at my other blog The HomeSpun Life. 22 people will win.

Just click on the image below:

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Truth is a Proper Noun

2010-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Many ministries are working overtime to create innovative ways to attract people to Christ...well at least I think they feel as though they are attempting to do such a thing. But are they really attracting them to Christ? Or to their church so they can teach them their interpretation of the Bible?

It feels so unnatural to me. Jesus didn't have a mega church, a hymnal, or a New testament Bible in various English translations. He didn't use exhaustive sound systems, fog machines, strobe lights, or massive televisions screens for his power point presentations.

So just what is it about Him that attracted the crowds in such large numbers when he passed through town? Do we need a new path to God? What happen to the ancient path?

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Just Him.

{Jesus}

Jesus is the Way. The Way is a person.
Jesus is the Truth. The Truth is a person.
Jesus is the Life. Life is a person.

Man's interpretations will always be just that. As fascinating as the Bible is, let us not push the Person out and swap in man's interpretations of the Bible. We will always have error in our limited human understanding of scripture. But there is no err in Christ. Christ is our Truth. Truth is a proper noun.

{John 14:5-7}

5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

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One Size Fits All

2010-11-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

Came to realize that the 'wedding garments' that religion enforces are for the wrong groom. I've ditched those and have taken the gown that God created for me. He is the best gown maker, designer, and it's fits perfectly!

{ONE size fits All.}

We don't choose the best garments for our wedding, He does. Yield in Him and enjoy His garments. His garments are perfect, holy and without wrinkle. He made the gown for you. He hand sewed each stitch in His fabric, added each detail of embroidery, His fabric is designed with an interwoven beauty that only He could design.

Religion tells us that we need to achieve godliness by a list of do's and a list of do not's, but that list weaves a gown that is not perfect. Only His garment will do.

Are you walking down the aisle in His Garment or your own?

Matthew 22:11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless."

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Reflections

2010-11-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

Recently I have given a lot more time to some other passions in my life, like family and photography...so this blog and my Facebook conversations have slowed down a little. In a life as a wife, a mom, a homeschool mom at that, and a CEO of a new online business, shifting of priorities has it's proper place in our lives. Finding balance isn't always easy and having to decide which area should be put on the back burner for a week or so is not as easy as it may seem to others.

But this has been a good thing since my Master has reminded me of a basic life principle that is truth for anyone. We are always in need of teaching, of receiving, of having some quiet still time to reflect. In order for us to give away what flows from our hearts, our hearts need to be refilled again and again.

I know that my Lord is always filled within me, but as a human vessel I need to listen more than speak. There was a time when I thought I had a pretty good amount of knowledge about photography, until I went to a class. Then I walked away challenged. Challenged because I really didn't know as much as I thought I did. Then the desire to learn more came upon me. I think we're the same way when it comes to writing about spiritual matters. Our gracious King has placed other men and women in my life through which He feeds me and gives me drink. I enjoy 'sitting at their feet' (or rather, their blogs and Facebook notes) to glean what King Jesus has given to them and I pick up the morsels from below their feasting tables and savor every flavor and nutrient they provide.

These wonderful portions have been growing within my heart and soul and when they have formed a more full lesson within for myself, then I can come and share them with you. But for now may I share with you some of my recent feasting tables? The reflection I'm seeing in their lives is that of Christ our Messiah. Such brilliant reflections..so close to the original image..the image of Christ. Because Christ is within.

{Colossians 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory.}

When you're called into The Insignificant Significant by Ann Voskamp (A Holy Experience)
Learning to Breathe by Emily Freeman (Chatting at the Sky)
A Broken Hallelujah by Hillary McFarland (Quivering Daughters)
Battlefield of Grace by Serena Woods (Grace is for Sinners)
To Be Like Christ by Bob Greaves (The Unconventional Pastor)

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The Heart Strings of Prayer

2010-11-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Can prayer be different somehow than just reciting scripture to God to tell Him what we need? Is there a different manner in which to pray than just quoting Psalms or man written prayers? Does it ever seem like your prayers float against the ceiling of your room, never penetrating the Kingdom of God?

Some prayers don't seem to make it past the mighty doors of His throne room. Moments like these seem to yoke me to a ball and chain, sometimes it feels like I've been tossed into the sea and my prayers weigh me down and drowning in sadness seem inevitable.

He tells me that His yoke is light, which makes my imagination soar like a helium balloon dancing on the puffy white clouds in the brilliant blue sky. I close my eyes and listen as He sings His joy into my soul. What's that music I hear? His melody is glorious. His notes give me a breath of fresh air. But my heart feels a sadness and a weight that is difficult to bear.

Then He asks me to make my own melody. I sigh long and slow, not meaning to complain, but my heart is so heavy, how can I make a melody in my heart? He lifts my fingers to the strings and simply says, "Strum". I strum. I strum the strings of my heart with a sad chord. I stop and sigh a long slow breath with heaviness and a tear streams down my cheek. He whispers gently, "Strum again and follow your heart."

I begin to pluck at the strings as my emotions pour into the song, the song from my heart, and the tears flow faster, gliding down my nose, and dropping to my knees. He encourages me, "Keep playing the melody of your heart." My pain and my sorrow pulls at those strings, then strum again, back and forth, the melody takes shape and the notes crescendo. My heart throbs with the hard fast music of my pain. Then I decrescendo to a stillness, a calm, a peace in my soul.

The unspoken words of my painful heart find tranquility in the forgiveness of a broken heart and then the miracle comes. As a royal princess descending from the palace staircase, in all her glorious beauty, Grace enters the ballroom of my heart and soul. Compassion walks across the ballroom floor and reaches out to Grace. Grace and Compassion take hold of each other's hands and begin their dance. My music begins again. My fingertips reach out to the heart strings of those I love, those that had broken my heart and I strum. They begin their dance steps across my heart and I sigh that long deep breath into the chords.

Slowly I strum and glide my fingertips across the strings as my heart cries out to my loves. My dear ones who are broken as well. These hearts that have misunderstood, who cry out in anguish over deceptions that plague us and cause rifts in the fellowship. He silences me and says, "Feel their hearts, sense the reverberations of their pain." The tears roll down again.

{Pat, pat, pat, splash.}

The puddles of tears are overflowing. He catches them in His bottle. My tears, their tears, these tears are precious to Him. He lifts my fingers to the strings again and says, "Play our melody."

Grace and Compassion consummate their relationship and conception begins. The majestic beauty of Agape begins to form again, a new heart beats within my soul. My heart crescendos, I feel the reverberation of Agape on the strings of our hearts as the gentle nudge of a baby's foot in the womb does. I strum. I strum their heart strings in prayer.

He lives in them as well as in me. His Spirit within me speaks to His Spirit within them. The heart beats of Agape nudges their heart's womb. They feel something. He says, "Don't stop..keep playing" Agape is nearer than I can imagine, nearer than any of us realize. The pains of birth are coming, they cry...their breathing is heavy..their tears flow.

{It hurts so}

Deep down inside, it hurts...He whispers to them, "Rest, breathe, trust." He embraces them, He holds them closer. My plucking of the strings plays harder with each measure, louder the notes cry out! Their hearts burst, their tears flow, and they drop to their knees before our King.

The music played deep into my prayers has brought them back to life, as Life is birthed in them. Agape appears in all His glory. They weep. They hold that new born life and embrace the miracle. The miracle of reconciliation, the life that was needed by all of us.

Can prayer be like this? Can it make a difference? I cry. The sobs pour out of me and I hear a knock at the door. I rise to my knees and pat my tears from my eyes. I open the door and there they are. We embrace over long tight hugs and streams of tears. The Heart Strings of Prayer.

{Yes, prayer can be different}

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There's No Comparison

2010-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

There's this illness that seems to be plaguing women in Christianity and I wonder sometimes if it affects women of various other faiths too. Your heart starts to beat hard, you might break out in hot flashes, anxiety becomes overwhelming, then under the weight of it all, you either lash out or crash hard.

Comparison

Why do we struggle so much with comparison? It was just a couple of weeks ago that Ann Voskamp spoke so beautifully about how we blog for the audience of One, yet in just a short time later, the comparison bug infects us again and again. But it doesn't just happen in the blogosphere, it's happening in the churches and it causes strife between friends and sometimes relatives too.

It's that pesky tree again. That glamorous looking fruit that seems right in our own eyes. It just takes one bite and we become hypnotized again... by the lie that is laced in it's flesh. We think we can rightly judge right from wrong, good from bad, and then attempt to live up to those decietful expectations that our flesh wants to live up to.

Why aren't we fully satisfied in Christ? Why does this fruit hold so much power over us? It's not even real fruit, it's like styrofoam dipped in poison and coated in sugar. Empty. Meaningless. But for some reason we keep thinking we can find satisfaction in living up to who someone else is. Why do we want to be like those women?

We're unhappy with ourselves.

Maybe we just really don't understand who we are in Christ.

You see, because of Christ, we are new creatures. And it wasn't because we fancied ourselves wise enough to choose Christ. It's because He chose us. He first chose us. Yes, we responded to Him when God revealed His Son in us, as He did with Paul. But let's leave that out of the equation so we can be sure to make this all about Him and not about us.

He chose us before we responded to Him. That's pretty special! We didn't have to get new clothes, a bigger house, clean our closets out, or put on acrylic nails and highlights in our hair. He chose us before all that. If He was willing to choose us first, then that DOES make us special. But it has nothing to do with us, it has everything to do with Him. It has to do with Grace.

Maybe we need a big fat dose of humility to show us where grace is.

Grace is where you wake up in the morning with bad breath, messy bed hair, and wrinkled pajamas.

Grace is when you live in a small apartment with milk crates and plywood for coffee tables and leftover popcorn for breakfast.

Grace is knocking at your door with the glass slipper for YOUR foot.

You see, Grace doesn't care about what we look like, how we dress or what kind of furniture we have. Grace will arrive dressed as you are dressed so you feel at home with Him. Grace will pray over your popcorn breakfast and feast with you in gratefulness. Grace gives you the glass slipper even if you stay in your wrinkled pajamas all day long.

Be cautious about your words and your heart. There is no need to apologize for your milk crate tables or the leftover popcorn. It is He who gave those things to you. He doesn't want you to become like Lady Stepford Wife. He doesn't expect you to have a home like Mrs. Pastor's Wife. He isn't even hoping your blog will be like the one Ms. Barbie Blogger has. He loves you as you are. His beautiful bride.

I was pondering these things lately and realizing how we may be truly missing out on what grace really is and maybe it's because we miss the fact that Grace is a person named Christ. He resides in us. He took up His home within you and me. He lays His head where you lay your head. And He's perfectly happy with your pillow, your blanket, and your milk crate tables. It's you that He enjoys and He enjoys us all so much more than we can even fathom. Just ask Him to reveal that to you.

So when it comes to those other women out there, just remember...

{There is no comparison}

Ephesians 1:4
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

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Where My Walkabout with God Takes Me

2010-11-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Many of my online friends ask me about how we fellowship since we don't belong to a local building most people call 'church'. When God called us out of the 'church' He showed us what 'church' really was and how much freedom we really have in choosing where to fellowship and with whom. It wasn't a denomination that established the church, it was Jesus Christ and He established that within the people. As a matter of fact, the word 'church' wasn't the original context of what He was referring to. Jesus called it the ekklesia, which is the Body of Christ, the people. He is very clear as to where the Temple is..we are the temple of the Holy Ghost.

He gives us the freedom to select where to gather and with who to gather with. For our family, we saw a need within ourselves and it was God who was revealing that to us.

{The need was for simplicity}

Our lives were so wrapped up in full time ministry that we didn't have time for each other, nor for helping those who would call late at night or stop by with a crisis in the middle of the day. We had become too busy to serve and we cringed at having to ask people to make an appointment when they were experiencing tragic turmoil in their lives. When we followed God by faith to leave the church we were in, He revealed to us a group of wounded people that may never go back to a church ever again.

{Christians wounded by other Christians}

We have heard it before... "Well, they need to get over it and go back."

I just can't begin to tell you how extremely hurtful that kind of statement is to a person who has been deeply wounded by a group of believers. A local pastor took notice of this group of people over the last several years and commented to me about the ministry God put into our laps. He shared with me how so many times people would try coming to his church and testify of the pain caused by churches and pastors. It grieves him so much to see them hurting, but because of the past hurt being inflicted by people who call themselves 'pastor', these people were far more reluctant to ever trust the title ever again. He shared with me that he saw the need for our ministry to remain out of the box, away from titles, so that God could reach out through us to help these wounded families. Families looking for the same thing..simplicity.

For many people, church has become so large that they simply can't keep up with the amount of activities and meetings, let alone the financial burden a large church puts on the people. More often than not, the few who do serve became laden with a yoke they were not meant to bear alone. They become exhausted in their service, feel obligated to keep serving, afraid to step down, and eventually they crash. They can't even walk away, because they are so crushed under the weight that all they can do is crawl away. They feel utterly defeated. Serving God should not be like this. These are among some of the people we fellowship with.

Sometimes we gather in our home and sometimes in others. Sometimes it's over dinner at a local restaurant or coffee at a local cafe. It doesn't matter where you gather, the point is to be together to encourage one another in the faith. My walkabout with God takes me wherever His Spirit guides me. He guides my husband, my family, and our friends all over the city and even on the internet to help lift up the fallen, the exhausted, and the wounded.

How shall the Body effectively invite others to believe, if we're too busy crushing our own with such burdens? How can we be an influence in the community when we're leaving our own kicked to the curb and dare tell them to 'just get over it'?

If the Body you gather with has wounded people fleeing from your churches, it's time to stop right there and pay attention to what's going on. How can we possibly be a Light to the unbelieving world when our own are lost and dieing under the rubble? That's where our walkabout with God is taking us. To help dig them out, encourage them, support them, feed them, and see them heal.

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Spiritual Obesity

2010-11-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

In the last few articles in this series 'Shed Religion to fall Deeper in love with Jesus' we looked at a key factor in what I believe one of our biggest hang ups is with religion, self. If we can't get over ourselves, then we will struggle with Jesus. We're either in love with ourselves and our self righteousness or we're in love with Jesus. It's not a healthy relationship if you try to have both.

Maybe it's never dawned on some that we tend to be in love with our self righteousness. What does that look like? Well, it's a form of idolatry. I believe it comes from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When we do so, we think we know things like God does. It blinds us and deceives us into thinking we can be the judge, it puffs up our pride, we feel in control and it gives us a false sense of being an overcomer. The fact of the matter is this...it's a facade.

Attempting to judge between 'good and evil' by that tree is full of leavening and empty calories that causes a sort of spiritual obesity.

We become right in our own eyes and live by the letter of the Law which brings us into a snare. The snare is that 'counterfeit high' of doing what is 'good' and abstaining from what is 'evil'. This is self righteousness and people gobble it up, they become gluttons over it, this is legalistic obesity.

Jesus came that we would have life and to have it abundantly, but there is no genuine substance in that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If there was, God would have given Adam His blessing to feast from it. If we're going to fall deeper in love with Jesus, we need to stop eating from that tree, stop gorging ourselves on the rotten fruit, we need to stop binging at that tree. Yes, we binge. We overeat on that knowledge then get sick in our gluttonous overdose of legalism. But instead of being truly humbled, we vomit it all up, condemn ourselves with that very same Law, then we return to the vomit and lick it all back up again.

The problem with this illness is that it's spawned in the mind. One might think they need this 'knowledge' of 'good and evil' in order to live in this life, but we don't. Then one might think if they quit eating from that tree they will starve. The truth is this...we can keep eating..just feast on the trees God has given us to dine from. He said we could eat of all the trees, including the tree of Life, but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You see He didn't limit us to just the tree of Life. He said we could eat from all of them..just not that specific one. The one that brings death...the one that brings illness to our souls.

As one who has forsaken the forbidden tree, I testify that it was a process to overcome. It was an addiction to retreat from and it has it's withdrawals. But God has been full of grace and mercy as He tenderly unraveled me from myself. Feasting on trees that bear His Fruit has been the best spiritual weight loss I have ever known of. My spiritual metabolism has come to a healthier place in my life.

Sure, there are times when the deceitful fragrance of the forbidden tree wafts over my senses, but Christ is within me to reveal Himself at just the time I need Him. Jesus is the Truth and it is Truth that has set me free, but it is not for me to boast as if it was *me* who quit eating from that tree. It is He who removed me from that path and it is He who put me on the path of Life.

Are we sick of gorging, binging, and vomiting up our self righteousness?
Are we really ready to quit licking it back up and willing to break out of that vicious cycle?

We don't have the power to quit an addiction on our own. But we most certainly know when we're ready for help..it is then that all we need to do is ask. It has to be Him who frees us.

You may wonder..'If I don't judge between good and evil then how will I live?'

{By faith in our Living Messiah}

Each day that we walk by faith, He feeds us, just as His people were fed in the wilderness. But let us not become disgruntled and unsatisfied with His provision for our souls.

He met with the disciples and broke bread with them. They partook in the feast together in fellowship, communion, and love.

He multiplied the lunch of a small boy to feed thousands of families. He prepared fish for the disciples after al ong night of hard work at sea.

He is very well equipped and capable of feeding us by His own hand. All these stories are simply metaphorical of the very fact that our Lord knows how to feed us spiritually. Simply rest in Him and walk by faith.

Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Lord, be our Life, our Bread, our Word.

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Rest

2010-10-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

While traveling on a recent trip to the opposite end of the country, I found myself exhausted from, what seemed like, endless treks through various airport terminals. I wasn't wearing the best walking shoes at all and I was lugging my laptop in it's case and a rather large tote bag filled with other heavy items. If I was carrying these things from my door to my car it would've been a snap, but over several hours and long walks between airlines, it was overwhelming. I found myself stopping several times to put my bags down and just breathe, leaning against the wall, as other travelers were pulling their perfect little wheeled suitcases with ease. I thought to myself, "It's no wonder they have those. I need them too." There was no way I wanted to attempt carrying my bags like that again.

I lifted up my bags and continued on and as I came into the next long walkway between terminals, I saw a small series of chairs sitting against the wall in this very long walkway. I sighed with relief as I scurried over and plopped myself down. I could feel my feet sigh with relief too. He then spoke to me in His still small voice,

"Have you seen me yet today?"

As a matter of fact, I hadn't. I was so busy with trying to carry my load from terminal to terminal that all I could think about was how much pain my feet and back were in and how much I just really want to get on the plane and rest. But in my desire to see Him that day, I stood to my feet and looked around me. People were buzzing past me so quick I thought I'd felt a breeze through my hair. I looked at those chairs again. Thankful that they were there.

Just a little beyond those wonderful chairs was another sight to behold. I giggled within myself as I imagined George Jetson running along one of those with his dog, Astro. I gazed down this long walkway and the 'light at the end of the tunnel' glowed like heaven beckoning my soul. I sighed deeply and thought about how wonderful it will be when we will no longer have feet to get sore. We will no longer have backs that ache. With all the beauty of nerve endings that give us the gift of smell, sight, touch, taste, and hearing..one day we will be relieved to be in spirit only. Such a breath of fresh air that will be. Then I 'saw' Him. He whispered to me this very simple word...

"Rest".

I could continue down this walkway like many others, running along in such a hurry, or I can get on that moving walkway and rest while the walkway got me to the end of the tunnel. I could even walk on the moving walkway and still feel at rest since it would help me get to the end of the tunnel with ease. He reminded me of the famous poem about the footprints in the sand. When there was one set of footprints, it's when He carries us. He put that moving walkway there for me that day. He put it there to help carry me through the long terminal walkway to give my feet and back some rest.

When I got to the end of the tunnel there was yet another lesson waiting for me. There was one last trek to make before getting to the gate so I could board the plane and catch my flight home to California. He gave me the escalator.

He saved my legs from feeling the burning muscles I would have endured had I needed to walk a flight of concrete stairs. He spoke to me again,

{Rest}

To understand rest is difficult for so many. It doesn't mean that we are lazy and do absolutely nothing. I needed to take the step of getting to the moving walkway and the escalator, but once I got there, they helped me along so I could rest.

We live in this earthly life in tangible vessels of flesh, just like our Lord did. We still are required to walk and sometimes run. We are sometimes required to carry heavy loads and busy schedules, but we can rest along the way. Not only do we need to give our bodies physical rest each day, but our souls need rest too. I'm not sure I can accurately describe what it means to rest in Christ while living on this planet. I'm not so sure there is a step by step process on 'how to rest in Christ'. It's a spiritual concept and for me..it had to be Him who 'put' me at rest. It was not something I achieved, it was not religious tradition or ritual that brought me to rest and to understand rest. It was all by Him alone.

Perhaps it's just as simple as asking. But not as if to say 'show me how to rest', or even' Lord, show me a book to teach me what it means to rest'...but rather,

{Lord, would you please put me at rest?}

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

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The Great Church Race

2010-10-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Christians all over the world are concerned about the amount of people leaving their buildings and in response to this they condemn, compete to keep their attention, and manipulate to keep them involved.

{Something's wrong with this picture.}

I'm not suggesting the mass exodus of people from the churches is a problem, it's the tactics that are a problem.

The mega church building or even the tiniest of country churches are traditional places to gather, but not mandatory for worship, discipleship, and fellowship.

Did you get that?

{They can gather wherever they want.}

The hymnals many churches go into debt to purchase are not mandatory for worship. Singing from hymnals is a tradition, not a biblical mandate. We sing from what is within our hearts and we can sing through various uplifting music that praises God.

There's no need for pews or pew chairs. You can use couches, LazyBoy chairs, and futons if you'd like. Sit on whatever you have, whatever is comfortable, even if it's the picnic bench or a blanket on the grass at the park.

Do you know where the homeless believers gather? Maybe it's surprising to some that they don't feel comfortable in churches in their musty wrinkled clothes. Some of them know their presence would make church people uncomfortable, so out of respect... they refrain from going. They don't have a building to gather in or money to give, but they gather under bridges and share the leftover food given to them the night before as they stood on the street corner outside the restaurant. That food is their communion among one another and Christ.

A pastor that completes four years of seminary, who holds a stamp of approval from his denomination doesn't necessarily mean God has qualified him. Several of the disciples who later became apostles didn't go to seminary. They lived life watching Jesus interact with people, He was their teacher, and because of the timing of His death, they only had three and a half years of training. Maybe I missed it somewhere, but did Jesus remember to give them a graduation service and a certificate before they could 'pastor' a church?

Well, by now you probably think I have desecrated the traditional church, but in fact I am getting around to something different. Something out-of-the-box unusual. Something that is so spontaneous and out of the ordinary that most church folk completely miss it.

There are so many books being written by tradition in-the-box preachers of mega churches that has me deeply concerned. They seem to be in a rat race of sorts. The Great Church Race. There's an electric buzz of excitement about how to make church better, how to get to the next level of service, how to engage people into the church life, and how we all need to be doing something bigger and better. What's the hurry? Why such insistence on doing it their way? And why when someone disagrees with their way and chooses not to follow suit, are people being condemned, rebuked, and belittled?

So here we have this Great Church Race to 'do something great' in the world.

Pardon me a moment as I ask a simple question.

What was the one thing Jesus wanted us to do in this world?

{Love others}

It seems to me that is simple enough and while a church thinks it's doing something great by attracting people into their buildings and providing entertainment, activities, classes, etc to keep them interested...without love... it's all clanging cymbals.

So does Love insist that it's church has more to offer?

Does Love use entertainment to attract people to itself?

Does Love demand submission to a man with a four year seminary certificate?

Does Love need to be loud and perform great feats to get your attention?

Love is patient (no need for a race)

Love is kind (no need to abruptly attract people)

Does not boast (no bragging of what it has to offer)

Does not insist on it's own way (it yields to others)

In this life in Christ are these things a 'must have'?

building

hymnals

pews

For there abides these three
faith
hope
love

And yet the greatest of those three is Love.

Love cannot be taught with a cookie cutter model.
Love cannot be forced as if by intravenous medicine made by man.
Love does not race to get your attention.

Love comes naturally.
Love flows naturally.
Love yields naturally.

If we are so worked up about the Great Church Race, then are we really resting in Christ?
Are we truly yielding in Him?
His yoke is light and easy.
Life in Him will not leave you worked up, exhausted, anxiety ridden to perform, or condemned if you don't join the race.

Disneyland can be an exciting place to gather and enjoy with our fellow believers. It's all so exciting! But it sure takes a lot of work and a lot of money to keep it going and as soon as the rides break down, the people feel empty and unsatisfied. Much like a come down from a sugar rush..some tend to crash.

But for those who capture the spirit of Disneyland, all the rides can be permanently shut down and they will still be fully satisfied, because what they grasped was in the heart. To be like a child again. When everything is a wonderland of exploration to them. Those little things we enjoy in child like faith. And to live knowing we are deeply loved and special people because the Creator made us that way.

So when those who insist on being entertained become disgruntled and leave, those who rest in our Lord and take in His heart in the everyday little glimpses of His Majesty, will be the ones who can walk away from the amusement park and walk into the world with something to share with others.

And it's found as we live life each and everyday, in the out-of-the-box way, among one another, in the simplest ways, in the real world, in a better Kingdom, in the Upsidedown Kingdom.

What is this?

{The Spirit of our Living God}

Where is this Kingdom found?

{The Kingdom is found within you}

Scriptures to ponder:

Luke 17:21

1 Peter 2:5

1 Corinthians 13

2 Corinthians 3

John 13:35

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Picturesque Grace

2010-10-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Emily at Chatting at the Sky has a beautiful meme today about finding a photo that speaks grace to you. You can join her and the other bloggers today here.

This photo speaks grace to me. I captured this at a local park and I love the fence that ends... this may sound very different to you..perhaps out-of-the-box different..a different perspective..of an 'upside down kingdom' as Ann so eloquently calls it.

I lived many years in-the-box kingdom of strict boundaries and at the time I needed those boundaries because my life was an absolute mess. But those boundaries became my religion and faith ceased to really thrive in my life. Then God took those boundaries and opened the gate to His Kingdom where I saw the boundaries end..that was scary to say the least.

How can I walk in this world without boundaries and stay out of trouble?

He says patiently back to my doubting heart, "by faith".

I ask again how I could possibly be stable in the world without boundaries and

He mercifully whispers back to my fearful heart, "love will keep you close."

Not grasping what He was trying to teach me I hesitantly ask again, "but what if I fall?"

To which He boldly proclaims, "you will, but I am merciful."

The life in Christ is not one where we never fall. Paul wrestled with his thorn, Peter thrashed in denial, and Thomas shook with doubt, but God is rich in mercy.

The boundaries are not my anchor, Christ is my Anchor and storms will come and toss the waves of the sea all around us. If we live by boundaries alone, we cease to walk by faith..so this is my picturesque grace. The life where boundaries cease to be my religion and freedom is given, in which I recieve, by faith in Christ.

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Freedom from Religious Addiction

2010-10-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I was raised by a mom who has a servant’s heart. Many times while growing up my dad would have friends come over and various holiday celebrations were also in our home. Ours was a home that had people over often. My mom had a knack with preparing large feasts and she would have me assist her in the kitchen. Many times we stood in the kitchen rolling deli meat, arranging lettuce leaves, and setting the feasting table. Preparing a home for visitors became such a part of my life. When I entered into a growing church I was excited to be able to serve others. It all began with the natural spontaneous movement of God to be able to do even the simplest things for others.

I began noticing the incredible amount of praise that was given to others when they served and when I began receiving thanks and praise it seemed to validate me and make me feel appreciated for serving. But that validation and praise became an addiction. Over time the validation and praise shifted towards those who served more than I did and I began striving to serve and that’s the pothole we get ourselves into. I was striving to serve, as opposed to serving out of the abundance of love flowing from my heart.

I wanted to be noticed, appreciated, praised..I wanted to be somebody. There was so much glory given to those who were striving to serve more, sacrifice more, and commit to serving as a full time career. These were the people that were getting all the praise and validation. Then came the messages of full time service. I was told that serving God full time was God’s plan for everyone and I wrestled with some thoughts that just didn’t add up for me. It seemed illogical to me that if everyone served in the church full time then who would actually work in the community to provide or the salary of all the full time servants? Someone has to be the policeman, the doctor, the nurses, and the farmers. Then I was led to believe that the lay people were to remain in the community and we were to raise our children to become full time servants, but that seemed illogical to me as well. I was informed that I shouldn’t think about God through logic.

As a matter of fact, I was told that I shouldn’t think at all. I was told to memorize the responses the pastor felt God would want us to make so we wouldn’t have to think. Well, that seemed easy enough. I would no longer have to really make decisions; I could just memorize and obey. My addiction for striving got worse. I was now responding only as the pastor indicated we should. I was told to keep striving, keep serving, and never give up. And as such a servant we were not to have more than two Sundays away from the church a year and when we did decide to travel for holidays we were instructed to go to church wherever we were vacationing. This meant that if we only had three days to be gone, one of those had to be in church, which really only gave us two days to have family time away from home.

I was ‘assured’ that God was pleased with this kind of commitment to serve Him and that if I were to decide to step down I would most certainly no longer be ‘right’ with God. Now I was not only addicted to serving because I was striving for validation and praise, but I was now obligated to continue or else. It reminded me of a drug addiction. I had such a difficult time understanding what happened to my sincere desire to serve from the heart and how it became this yoke of obligation, fear, and selfishness. I was no longer really serving God, I was serving myself.

In substance abuse recovery the best way to quit, depending on the severity of the addiction, is to go into a recovery facility. In this facility you are taken away from your environment of addiction to detox, given time to rest, and go through counseling. This is exactly what I needed to do in order to detox from religion. Something about detoxing is the withdrawals one goes through. Taking drugs or alcohol away from an addict and taking a religious addict away from the ritual of church life can be so similar as well. And regardless of what anyone tells you, departing from religion does not equate departing from God. Religion is ritual of man’s traditions with a false designer label that man applies God’s name to.

When I left religion God began revealing to me the things He wanted me to decompress from. My detox from religion was an unraveling of what I got bound up in. Decompressing takes time and we need to be gentle with ourselves, as God unravels us with kindness and mercy. This kind of unraveling is commonly known as pulling down strongholds. God was pulling down such powerful strongholds in my life and it wasn’t easy. Imagine a bandaid with the strength of duct tape being ripped from a wound and you will have a good imagery of what it’s like to remove a religious straight jacket from a religious addict.

When God pulls down strongholds He does so by presenting Truth to us and that Truth is a proper noun, His Living Word wrapped in flesh. Truth is the remedy to religious addiction. So how does truth do this? Is it by explaining Martin Luther’s interpretation of scripture? Or John Calvin’s rendition of the epistles? No, man’s interpretation is not the truth and it is not equal to The Truth, Jesus Christ. I’m not talking about the literal fundamental perspective of the Bible, but the very nature and person of Christ in you, in us. The truth about Truth is that He is in us.

{Colossians 1:27} Christ in you, the hope of glory.

That is the key to the freedom He gave me from my addiction to public validation and praise from man. My value and worth was not in striving to religious perfection. No matter how many Sundays I attended, children I taught, how often I placed the hymnals neatly back in the pew pocket, or even how much scripture I read and memorized daily, none of that was making me worthy or valid in the eyes of God. He gave me clearer vision to see that I am already valid and praiseworthy, because Christ is in me. He wants me to rest in Christ and enjoy the very present Living Christ in me each and every moment of every day. But accepting this validation meant giving up man’s validation. This is what it means to repent, to change our minds. But consider this, if mankind was able to repent on their own, then Christ would not have come. It is Truth that changes our minds. What an exhilarating revelation for this striving religious addict! I didn’t even have to strive to repent, it was not up to me, it was up to Him. Father revealed His Truth in me and Truth is who changed me, Truth is who brought me to repentance. It was not I who decided to repent on my own, remember that if we were able to do that He would not have needed to come.

My freedom from my religious straight jacket has been the person named, Truth.

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Overturning the Tables

2010-10-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

There is an old saying that comes to my mind quite often and perhaps it comes to yours as well?

'If you could walk in my shoes'

So what would it be like if you could walk in my shoes? What would it be like if we could walk in the shoes of those we reject, those we call ungodly, heretical, the un-churched, or less than?

After 15 years in what my husband calls a 'Nazi Baptist' church, God began showing us what it was like...to walk in the shoes of those the Churched think is less than. Those people they think they want to reach, but who measure them up to the Law and expect 'righteous' living from..the very people they think are 'heathens'. I began looking at these people differently..it was as if I was outside of myself, looking at my thoughts and looking at how I viewed those 'heathens', from an outside perspective. It grieved me horribly. How could I have become such a narrow minded person when I claimed that Christ is my Savior?

He began tenderly showing me that He didn't view people the same way I did. He began to show me my life as if I was Ebenezer Scrooge. He walked me through my pre-church life, reminding me of the time when he protected me from getting arrested in my immature drinking years, He reminded me of when He was there with me as I prayed over the white porcelain..begging for my life as I felt alcohol poisoning plaguing my body. He reminded me of the day He made Himself so obvious in my life that I could no longer deny the very real presence of Him..in me. He lovingly reminded me that He never looked at me, the way I looked at others.

He brought me through to the present and showed me the love He has for me and those I thought were less than, the un-churched 'heathens', He allowed me to feel..but something I had not felt before..not like this. It was as if He allowed me to feel what He feels..when people are looked at..the way I had looked at them. Deep down in my soul, deeper than what my physical body could feel, there was a pain ...a deep pain and sadness..it was compassion in a way I never imagined.

He then showed me a future. It was two futures...two futures that could be what I would become. If I continued on the path I was on, I would become so full of hate, that my own family would part from me, and those that He has compassion on would not want what I had..He whispered to me..

"They should want what you have..they should want Me...in you..through you..but the road you are on is not where I am. I am with you, but not living through you, as I could. The disconnection you will have on that road will not be the persecution I told you of. When you and I walk together, the persecution you will have does not come from being a Pharisee on the war path to obliterate sin from people. I already took care of sin. But you walk as if I haven't,..as if it's your job to handle sin..it was never your yoke to bear."

He showed me the other future. He walked me through the very lives of those I thought were un-churched, those I thought were less than, those I thought I was to remind them of their sin. He walked me through their darkest days and allowed me to watch Him work through me, as He..through me..kneeled down to offer my(His) hand to a homeless man and walk him into a restaurant and buy him a meal..but more than that..I(He) stayed with the man while he ate and he shared with me his heartaches..and Christ through me offered Living Water..by offering hope, love, mercy, and grace. I could feel that deep compassion again as I watched..as if I was on the outside looking in..in..at the miracle He was performing in that man's life,...through me. The man began to cry..then weep deeply, as Christ through me told him how much Father loves him, just as he was..that he didn't need to change to be loved and accepted, that Christ already loved him and accepted him as is..long before he was ever born.

I then said good bye to the man and as I left the restaurant I looked through the window..and Jesus was there with Him, sitting in the booth, having sweet fellowship with him..and at the same time I saw His reflection in the window, standing with me. As I turned to see His face, He said these words,

"I am the Living Water and I flow through vessels who yield. Will you yield?"

Tears welled up in my eyes and my throat swelled so tight I could barely breathe..I couldn't speak, but my mind asked, "How? How do I yield, Lord?"

He then asked me to walk further with Him. I followed. We came upon an alley way where five college aged guys in black slacks, white shirts, and ties were chasing someone, yelling hateful words about sin and judgment. I looked at Jesus and tears streamed down His face. There in the alley, the five guys caught the person and were kicking and punching while quoting verses about sin and judgment. I watched again, as if from the outside looking in, as I saw myself run to see who it was they were attacking. At first glance I thought it was a woman. I saw a pink skirt, white blouse and stringed pearls around the neckline. Upon closer inspection I saw a feminine face of a man. These five guys were screaming in disgust, spit was flying as they vehemently hollered that this man was a sinner...then they said something that cut me to the core.. "God hates you!"

I screamed out as loudly as I could, "Nooooooo!" and I threw myself down upon his beaten body as they kept kicking him. Blow after blow, I could feel the penetrating kicks wreak havoc on my ribs. My tears streamed down my face and washed the bloody wounds in this man's brow as I whispered to him, "God doesn't hate you, He loves you..and He is here with you now. He knows your pain. He loves you as you are and has deeply loved you since before you were born, knowing full well this day would come."

The men grew tired and eventually stopped, not even realizing I was there. Their hate had consumed them so intensely. It was as if they didn't even see me. They only gazed in anger at this man in the pink skirt, and bloodied white blouse, his stringed pearls now broke and scattered in the alley. The men walked away and left us there together, sitting on the rocky pavement, blood stained clothes and tears streamed faces. He looked at me and asked if it were true..about God..hating him like those men had dictated.

Quietly I whispered, "Oh no my dear, they are wrong. God loves you so deeply. God already knew this day would come. He knew full well the path you would walk and knowing all this, He still loves you so much that He willingly came to earth as the Son, to die and resurrect, so you could have life and life more abundantly." This man sobbed uncontrollably and I held him in my arms and cried with him. He thanked me for coming to his side and we both stood to our feet, smiled and parted ways. As I looked down in to the puddle that was next to me, I saw the face of Christ, not my own. Down the alley where I really stood, watching this whole scenario take place, I looked on as I saw Jesus walking with the man. The man, although filthy with mud and blood stains on his white blouse, he smiled. He was communing with Christ.

That day, that very miraculous day, those men had very real encounters with our Living Christ, through me. Now, in present time again, Jesus spoke to me...."Which road do you want to walk down?" I was hesitant as I struggled with my idea of being 'right'..and He knew my thoughts. He turned my eyes over to see those five men walking away..one of them turned his head and his face...was my own...filled with hate and disgust. I cried so deeply I thought I would die at that very moment. That is the road I am on..to become like them..so filled with my own rightness of what I thought was God's way.

But this other road that takes me down the path of persecution with the man in the skirt and the homeless man, leads to a life that is abundant with love. A life filled with compassion, where others want what I have. It's where others want WHO I have. I will get to share Him with them in such a way that they will be thrilled to know Him. Or I could walk the path that leads me to hate, a life that seems to be controlled, but lacks compassion. It lacks the very spontaneous, authentic, compassionate, abundant life of Christ. So the question is for me to answer.. "Will I yield? and how do I yield?"

My heart took a shift quick turn, towards compassion. What was it that changed in me? How did my hardened self-righteous judgmental heart change? He showed me the depths of darkness and pain in the lives of those men and what I felt whelming up in me was Him..The Living Water..flowing from deep places in my heart. That is what I want...and I know what comes with it..persecution for showing love toward those that the overzealous religions want to condemn. Like when the 'white man' protected the 'black' men and the Indians. When we walk the life filled with compassion for others, we will be persecuted. We will be persecuted, because it is Christ in us that loves these people so immensely and it is Christ in us that is persecuted.

Jesus didn't just turn the tables over in anger about the synagogue becoming a den of thieves for monetary gain, He turned the tables to show them He was here to overturn the mentality of the religious. It wasn't me that changed me..it was nothing I did to have my mind change, to have my heart heal, it was all Him. He did it all..I just get to watch, from the outside looking in, and now on the inside looking out. The world looks much different now. It's not us who can change our own hearts and it's not us who can change others. We're just asked to love God and love others. Let Him do the rest...in you and through you.

Shedding religion, to fall deeper in love with Jesus. When you fall deeper in love with Jesus, you fall deeper in love with people.

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Holidays

2010-10-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

by Sisterlisa

Recycled from last year:

Someone recently asked me if I celebrate Christmas or not. Over the last few years I have become increasingly weary of the materialistic culture that this holiday has been morphing into. It's nothing like it was when I was a child, although that's probably because I didn't brave the stores with my mom on Black Friday.

But even in my adult years it seems to be getting worse.

After digging into the roots of this Americanized holiday, I became more disturbed about the origin of this day and how Christians applied Jesus to it to make it acceptable. Just as many Christians have applied Reformation Day Celebrations to October 31st, they have applied the 'birth' of Christ our Lord to December 25th birthday of a pagan god, and His resurrection to the Easter holiday which is for Astarte, a pagan goddess.

I'm not going to make this article legalistic.

I simply wish to say that I think these holidays are highly over rated and tends to become divisive as Christians use their personal beliefs about it all to judge one another if they don't take one side or the other. Even back before I ventured into historic discovery of the culture of holidays, I already knew they were pagan.

I have nothing against candy, scented candles, gifts, family gatherings, or caroling about our Lord.

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/375728

(I am especially partial to liking turkey and cranberry sauce too. Please don't bash me for eating Tom the turkey. He tastes really good.)

There's a lot about these seasons that draw the family back together and family gathering together is a good thing. How they choose to do so is their business.

Last year I wrote about Christmas in a dogmatic, historic way and although I retain the conviction to abstain from as much materialism and paganism as possible, I'm not going to shake my finger at everyone else if they celebrate differently. That's not my place. And if I'm going to drop Christmas, I better drop every single aspect about it.

For those who think you must stand for Christ our Lord and enforce all Christians to stop all Christmas, Easter, Halloween, or any other holiday for that matter, then be sure to stop drinking soda pop, painting your nails, and overeating. While we all have the same grace to grow closer to Christ in these areas, we must not allow legalism to hurt one another. Shall we abstain from being friends with people because they have a wreath on their front door, scarecrow doll on the porch, or bunny rabbit in the window? Then we'd better not be on the internet or own a television either.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but I promise I'm not doing so with animosity or rebellion. :)

Also keep in mind that celebrating any holiday or special day observances is not mandatory, it is not sacrilegious to avoid them. I'm not saying to NOT stand for what you believe in, but your stand doesn't have to be on your neighbors front porch (or blog). Be kind and allow each other to grow in grace.

Ronald McDonald Religion

2010-10-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

by Guest Contributor Scott Livengood

I stopped for a quick lunch break today around 4… yah I was a little late on that… and headed to the McDonalds up the street and around the corner. It seemed like the best option since I could eat high quality food and play Monopoly at the same time. I sat there devouring my fries, chatting with my wife on the phone and looking out the window into the play area. On the other side of the pane was a bench and sitting on it was a statue of the ever famous clown, Ronald McDonald. His leg was crossed, and one arm was stretched out on the back of the bench. It was an inviting pose. It said, ‘Come have a seat with me’ merely by posture. And then a small girl did just that. I would guess her to have been four years old at the most. It’s hard to judge sometimes, but she was bright eyed and smiley faced as she climbed up into plastic McDonald’s lap and gave him a hug. Then she looked up into his face and patted on his cold empty chest with much affection.

Then it hit me. This is exactly what we do with God. The little girl didn’t climb into the lap of the real Ronald McDonald. No, this was a poor lifeless imitation. It was incapable of returning affection because although it was really there, it was also completely lifeless. God is very much real, and very much alive, but we too often climb into the lap of dead lifeless religion looking for affection from a real living God. We sit there and talk to plastic religion god and wonder why he seems so distant…maybe we aren’t talking loud enough, or maybe he isn’t listening…or maybe he’s not capable of affection because he’s just a plastic system of theology and not the real thing.

Wouldn’t it have been awesome if at that very moment the real Ronald McDonald had come walking in? Not just an actor, but the REAL thing! I’m betting the plastic statue wouldn’t be so attractive to the little girl anymore. I’m betting she would squeal and run wildly to embrace the crazy clown! After looking into the face of the real thing, I’m betting the plastic substitute wouldn’t satisfy anymore. Come to think of it, it would probably be a let down. It would only serve to remind the little girl that at one time she actually met the real Ronald McDonald, but he isn’t here now.

This little girl, and that plastic statue helped me to understand a little more of what God has been doing in me. Plastic doesn’t satisfy anymore… not after seeing a little of the real thing.

Scott Livengood is a dear friend and brother in Christ who participates in discussions with us at Facebook.

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Problems with Ministry Accountability

2010-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

When we began our journey of walking with God outside the institutional church (IC) we read many books about the natural movement of God in a fellowship. There are more books on the topic now and they use the term 'organic' to describe church life. Books that describe the paganism of the traditions in the IC's have been written and blogged about many times over and that movement that was once fresh is becoming stale again. As natural and organic as people try to make church life, they are still wrapped up in the same rituals they just call it something different and meet in homes. You can leave the IC, but it takes a while for the IC to leave you.

I'm not going to come out and say anything negative about those books or the authors who wrote them and have huge blog followings. God used them to help our family and they teach powerful truths that can lead to freedom. However, I have noticed something and I even wrote to one such author about this and he replied in agreement with me. This 'organic' movement has caught the attention of misled pastors and they are trying to use the same lingo and format to keep people in churches. They are monopolizing on this movement just as several other pastors have over the centuries. When God is moving, those who don't understand His natural moving and flowing through people, will try to mimic that movement, use the same lingo, and continue in their authoritarianism in the lives of the people. We are leery of this and have seen time and time again how people are kept in bondage to a system that is flawed and crumbling. So the question is asked and demands an answer..as the system comes down, what will the people do? How will they learn? Who will teach them? Where will they gather? Who will keep them organized? How will you 'survive' without a pastor?

There are plenty of books out there that already answer their questions and if I try to explain it here it would really be a waste of my time. No matter what author's name is on the book, if you haven't read them by now why would you take my word for it? I'm not going to try to convince anyone they need to leave their churches, or to ditch their pastors and church families. People have the freedom to worship where they want, with who they want, and study the Bible within the groups they choose. The problem I am seeing is that many pastors refuse to acknowledge that we truly have this freedom.

Thankfully we live in a country where we have a Constitution that gives us this freedom and protects it. Sadly, I think if that law changed, the pastors would be the first to force church attendance on all the people. Now that's scary. The very thing the reformers fled from, they actually brought with them. They were really no different that Constantine or King James. When they came to America they forced people to go to church, memorize their creeds, and pledge allegiance to their churches and their Bibles. Some protestants even burned women who didn't go to church...by calling them witches and some of them were not witches. It is never a good thing to burn someone for not believing the same as you do, yet people get 'burned' all the time for just that.

Today we see preachers who label non-church attenders as apostate, rebellious, and even heretics. They practice their own style of persecution called excommunication or disfellowship, spread rumors of fear to keep their church members divided from those who go free and some even send spies out to make sure those who have left aren't talking about their churches and if they are, they start up the persecution all over again. I'm not saying that all preachers and churches do this, but a great number of them do. They will deny they do these things so if you want to really to know if they do, talk to someone who was once a long time member who has left and ask them. If the leadership of the church frown upon you doing so, that's your first red flag that they do.

But that's not what I want to talk about today. If we think Christianity doesn't have problems then we have a hole in our heads or buried deep in the sand of blindness. If you just really don't see a problem with Christianity then be on your way because you won't get what I am saying otherwise. Now some might call me a heretic already for talking about such things and that is fine, it wouldn't be the first time. I actually take it as a compliment, so if someone wants to call me names like that then go right ahead, it's your freedom to do so. Whereas they would despise it if I said the same about them and they'd try to cover it up, second red flag!

There is absolutely nothing we can do to keep control of the reputation of Christianity. It is wildly out of control and not thriving as many would like to think it is. So stop trying to protect the church's reputation. You won't be able to and it's not your burden to bear. So the next question comes in,...has Sisterlisa and her family left God? I can't help but to chuckle at that..if you follow my Facebook discussions or read my blogs at all, you'll know that's a silly question. But for the sake of the conversation and a tender ear to those asking, I have come to look at this from a different perspective and figure out why they would ask this question. Here's what I came up with...they equate loving God with church attendance and serving in their churches. And maybe they think that there is no way for me to love God or serve Him outside the IC's system. That is a false mindset, a stronghold, that keeps people slaved to the system. Now if you choose to stay there and are happy, then that's fine, but please know that we don't 'need' the system to love God or serve Him.

I don't like to boast of the ways we serve God in our family, because I feel that is between us and God, but for the sake of the curiosity of my friends who think we need a church to do so I will share. God has given us a ministry that is different, but still just as needed in the world today. The ministry we are a part of is ordained by Christ, led by Christ, and we are accountable to Him. The next thing we're 'cautioned' about is who are we accountable to? If Christ isn't powerful enough to keep us in His plan, then no man will be able to, but I understand the question. I understand the question, because I recognize that we grow in fellowship and among teachers. I fully believe in the need spoken of in Ephesians chapter 4 where Paul was specific that we need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Some pastors will tell you that the only 'position' left is the pastor and the chapter shows us that this teaching is not true. He said specifically that these functions are needed until we are all in unity of the faith. They will claim that we need evangelists, but in today's culture the evangelists are just pastors who travel and help support the pastor's teachings. In addition to that they only approve of a teacher if the pastor controls what is taught. Not only is this belief not found in the Bible, but it leaves the pastors without the kind of 'accountability' they insist my family needs. So who teaches the pastor?

So back to the question of who we are in fellowship with for teaching. God promised us that his Spirit would be our Teacher and He would lead us into all truth, and He does. For anyone to deny that we can be taught and led by the Spirit only, has defied the very power and nature of Christ in us. Although we fully believe His Spirit is our primary teacher, we do glean from others who function in the gift of teaching. We read many of the same books that many of you read and we watch many of the same pastor's YouTube videos that you watch. We have fellowship with local pastors and leadership gatherings just like many other pastors do. Just because we disagree with the IC system doesn't mean that we ditched the functioning of those listed in Ephesians 4.

We do believe it is beneficial to learn from others and there comes a time when you take a transition from being a student only, to becoming a teacher/student. Many pastors feel that anyone who is not a pastor is to always be a student only, but that is not how God designed us. He did not design us all to remain students only. He has a purpose for each of us and as we grow, we grow up in Christ to be what He designed us to be and we aren't meant to be cut-out cookies that look and act like the pastors and their wives. But I'll talk about that another time.

Part 2 (coming soon)
How I serve God outside the IC.

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Which Tree Are You Feasting On?

2010-10-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is such a fantastic story the way God presents it to us. (Genesis 3)There is a lot of spiritual meaning behind it and there are many views of that story that all lead to a closer walk with God through Christ. The one God showed me, which was used by Him to free me from the judge's seat (that is behaving as a judge) was this:

God said do NOT eat of it. Adam and Eve knew it was there, but they didn't know all the details of what would happen, just that they would die. It was there from the beginning. They were aware of it and knew it would bring death if they ate of it.

Eve was deceived by the lie that captivated her. Satan coerced her into wanting to be like God. (His very choice that caused his own fall) Remember when he fell it was his own words that tripped himself. He believed his own words that he would be 'like the most High God'. Now he was using his words to cause the same to happen to Eve. Then Adam ate, but he wasn't deceived. He knew better.

(you can do a search for Adam and Eve's names in the scriptures to find all these facts)

Word=seed

When they ate of the tree, they chose to feast upon a word that was not from God. They did NOT choose "THE" Word, tree of Life, they chose "a" word..a lie. Now they are under the curse of the word/lie. They believed the lie. Now they believe they know good and evil, but now they know it all according to how Satan interprets it. Not how God interprets it. SO now they believe everything Satan says to them. Now they believed him when he showed them they were naked and he condemned them so they made fig leave aprons to cover themselves.

God created them naked and there was NO SIN in the garden. It was Satan's word/lie that told them to be ashamed. He condemned them. They believed him. They ate the lie. And all fruit has seed. (See Gen 1:29-31)

Now Adam and Eve become blind to the garden's location and given sight to the world as Satan sees it. As parents they now pass down that knowledge to Cain. And so the story continues through the ages etc etc.

Adam and Eve became their own judges, gods. It was never to be so. God commanded them NOT to eat of that tree. Now He KNEW it was going to happen and God made a provision. Satan meant the tree for evil, God intended it for good. But it was not to be so from the beginning. We know good and evil exists, it's whose eyes we see it through that is important to us. Jesus sees LOVE. Satan sees HATE. Jesus offers grace,mercy, and all the fruit of His Spirit. Satan offers condemnation, death, fear, the works of the flesh.

Word=seed. God put enmity between her seed and Satan's seed. Enmity is a complete separation. NO MIXING SEEDS. Don't mix Law with Grace. Don't mix truth with lies. Any mixture of truth with a lie cancels out the truth and makes it a bold faced lie. No truth in it at all.

Which tree will we eat from today?
What was the provision of God?
Why did God allow all this? He knew it would happen.

This is the greatest love story ever told. Would you know the complete and utter depth of His love if there was nothing to compare it to? The best romances have a villain. The villian is always destroyed, but used to draw out the true love between the lovers and when the enemy is destroyed the victory is so powerful in their hearts. It strengthens the love. Would Snow White had ever been an adventurous romance had she not eaten of the fruit?

Jesus conquered everything when He died for mankind. God said we were created IN CHRIST *before* the foundation of the world. I believe that was the beginning of His provision for us. He then sent His Son to the earth for so many beautiful reasons. He said 'whosoever believes in me and is baptized shall be saved'. His death was the baptism. God shows us "he baptized us in his death" We were "planted together with him". So believe it. He did everything for us. Now we just need to believe, truly believe. Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory. Col 1:27

If we continue to believe the lies, we don't become aware of Him in us. That is a blind state. He said to the Pharisees, "Because you say you see, it is why you are still blind and your sin remains" That tree is a beam sticking out of our eyes. We need to get out of this judging seat, it doesn't belong to us.

Recommended reading Romans 1:18-32
Revelation of Jesus Christ ..revealed in you.

Hell Cries at Night

2010-10-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Do you ever lay in bed at night in the silence of the darkness and tears stream out of your closed eyelids and trickle down your cheek? Then your nose starts running a little and you sniffle..and your husband asks, "What's wrong?" and you saying quietly.."Nothing" But in your mind and heart you are sobbing..because your mind is racing with 'what ifs'.. the 'what ifs' that would get you totally cut off from the people you love if you were to speak these 'what ifs' out loud.

Do you live in frustration that you can't express how you really feel or what you truly believe or even over the things you question...about your religion. Will my friends shut me off if they knew I questioned a doctrine, or the reality of who the pastor really is when I saw him...do something when no one else saw? What if they don't believe me? What if he denies it and calls me liar?

Since I already believe in Jesus and that He reconciled us to Father, then why does it matter if I question many of these other traditional teachings? (whispering) I know... I know why... people are generally afraid..but I discovered that many of them feel the same way. And we live in fear of being judged and labeled as 'rebellious' but we aren't...we just have questions. Questions that scream out of our heads late at night as we lay there trying to sound like we're sleeping..because what if our spouse is like they are...what if he gets mad that we question things? So the tears flow out of my closed eyelids and stream down my cheeks...and all I can do is ask Him.."God? WHO are you?"

And I quietly sob deep deep down and my throat feels like it's swelling shut as my heart feels like it's being ripped in half as I want to scream out "Do you really hate my daddy and is he REALLY in a torment for ever and ever?" and the tears flow so fast that I feel like Alice drowning in my own tears and in my mind I scream at Him with desperation in my soul..."WHO ARE YOU?!" and my body shakes as I try to keep my sobs muffled in bed..late at night as I think of my daddy...and Father gently asks me.."Who do YOU say that I am?" and I cry out through sobs.."YOU ARE AGAPE!"

And He says.."Then look for Agape" and I sob again... imagining my daddy screaming and crying forever and ever because someone told him lies about God and he rejected the 'God' that was introduced to him. Father caresses my soul and says, "Do you think I failed to reach your daddy?"

I catch my breath and try to breathe slowly as I listen to Him... and I muster up the courage to reply, "no, my Lord.. you never fail." and He says, "Agape never fails". I then cry out, "I love you God..." and I sob uncontrollably as I 'see' my daddy seated in the heavenly places, just like I am. And Father reminds me of His greatness..He is so powerful that He can reach His creation with His love and His love is so amazingly powerful, who can stand up in the face of such love?

And He gently brings to my awareness..that not everyone truly believes in His greatness anymore. He shares with me that so many people who say they believe, actually believe the adversary's power is just about equal to His....that people think God fails to save billions of His own creation. But I know my God is much bigger than humans imagine He is. And tonight I rest my head, knowing who God is to me. And understanding that I will lose many friends when they find out how I feel. I don't have all the answers to the questions, but I know there are enough verses and whole passages in the Bible to give me Hope. I'd rather hope and believe that God is much bigger than humans think He is, than to believe He is less than, God never fails.

{1 Corinthians 15:22} "As in Adam ALL die, so In Christ shall ALL be made alive."

Stumble This!

Christian Terrorists

2010-10-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

It wasn't long ago that two airplanes flew into the Trade Towers, then after that all Muslims were quickly labeled as terrorists, even though not all of them are extremists. I almost cried when I saw a Muslim family being escorted through an airport just to they could get on their plane without harassment from the crowds. I remember thinking to myself...how would I feel if the nation thought all Christians were extremists? How would I feel if I was mistreated because of some extremists who obviously need mental help?

Now we have Westboro Baptists Church exercising what they call their 'free speech' by picketing with hate signs in front of schools and funeral services all in the 'name of God'. The comments on this recent blog post at CNN has me concerned...aren't you? The commentors call Christians, 'terrorists'.

I have heard this claim by people before...they call Christians, terrorists. This has been sticking in my mind for quite some time... the 'world' asks for us to be tolerant. Many Christians reject tolerance as if it violates their faith to tolerate those who don't live up to their 'standard'. So maybe we need to take a look at what tolerance really is.

I looked it up in the dictionary:

Tolerance: a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

Well, ok...so it's being 'fair and objective', but many Christians refuse to have a permissible attitude...probably because they don't want anyone to think their behavior or belief is acceptable to them. Why would this matter? Is it really all about how Christians feel and so everyone needs to live up to what THEY say?

Tolerance has more definitions "interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own" now I can show interest and concern for someone else's ideas, opinions, practices etc that are different from mine..with respect and healthy perspective and still disagree. I can show interest in understanding them and still not be 'interested' in believing the same as they do.

Next I found this definition: "the act or capacity of enduring", which reminds me of love..because love endures all things. (1 Cor 13)

So I decided to study this word out further. I looked it up in the thesaurus to find the synonyms.

"patience, sufferance, forbearance; liberality, impartiality, open-mindedness."

Golly, those words remind me of God. Love is patient, longsuffering, forbearing, liberal(meaning lots of), God is not a respecter of persons, God loves us before we are born knowing full well what we will become.(open minded) {Galatians 5}

More words that the dictionary/thesaurus say mean the SAME as 'tolerance' are;

"grace, charity, compassion, merciful, patient, sympathy, understanding"

Well..what do ya know? These are characteristics of God.

Next, I looked up the antonyms...which means opposite of 'tolerance'.

"bias, disapproval, intolerance, narrow-mindedness, prejudice"

Well! We sure have a lot to re-consider, don't we?

So the question then is...Are Christians really living out the character of God in this word by it's definition? Are Christians tolerant (grace, charity, compassionate, patient, enduring)?

If we are opposite of this...then perhaps Christians are terrorists. Time for a little reflection...

Stumble This!

What Are We Walking In?

2010-10-04T05:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been at the place in your life where God speaks very intently to you in a very individual way? Have you ever really prayed for God to show you what your weakness are so He could cleanse you from walking in unrighteousness(flesh)? God has been showing me things in my own life that I would never have thought of.

My heart was broken for good reasons. God has been breaking my heart open , like a good Gardner does to the hardened soil and showing me areas of my life that need to be tilled. It seems kind of scary to say, "Hey God, can you please show me my weakness."

UGH! Who wants to have their weakness shown to them? It's so humbling.

I can tell you that it's a whole lot easier to deal with than if God shows your weakness to someone else to see first. When that happens, you are humiliated.

Would you rather be humbled or humiliated?

I have received comments from readers as well as through various other sources and ministries where 'sin' seems to be abounding. Some have said they feel "like something is going on", but that can't put their finger on it. Some have said, "I see people increasingly getting worse", "I see more people leaving churches than ever before", "Why are the kids leaving the 'will of God' when they leave home". These are just a few of MANY testimonies that have come to me.

It has been preached since the beginning of time that God's people need to repent. God told Noah to preach repentance (Genesis 6) and they people would not obey. We know what happened to them.

People make choices and they think they have 100% free reign to do so..but I disagree. I believe God allows us to make choices that aren't good for us, like Jonah did. But God knows how to bring us back and He knows how far is too far. And He will not give us more than we can handle. He shepherds our hearts, and any good shepherd will tell you that they don't just let the sheep have 'free will' to go do whatever they want. Would you allow your child to run into the freeway? God is a much better parent than we are.

Lot left the well watered plain to pitch his tent toward Sodom. God rained fire and brimstone upon that land and destroyed it. Then we have lives of the people in the Bible that suffered consequences like Abraham who bore a child with Hagar, his wife's handmaiden. The decision caused great contention between Sarah and Hagar. Jacob was deceived by Laban and this caused many years of strife between Leah and Rachel. Even Dinah, Leah's daughter, rebelled against her parents when she left the tent to see the daughters of the land. In doing so she was defiled and it brought more consequences with those actions.

When you walk by sight(flesh) instead of by faith it infects everyone around us! It attaches itself like a leech and sucks the life right out of you. When you are infected by this walk it grows. When it grows it multiplies, spawning more infection on those around you.

This goes a bit deeper I'm afraid, you see the next thing about that walk is that people try to hide it. In Genesis 37 Jospeh's brothers conspired together to kill their brother over their jealousy. When one brother tried to take a stand about it, the brothers did NOT confess and make it right. Instead they decided to leave Joseph in the pit. They didn't want to deal with their decision, they just simply found another way to accomplish their goal of ridding themselves of their brother. On top of that they covered it up with a lie. God's had of blessing was upon Joseph and their brothers sent him away. Long story short, Joseph's homeland suffered from famine, and God's hand of blessing went with Joseph and the Egyptians became the nation with the abundance of stored food. This lead into the Hebrew children becoming enslaved for hundreds of years. Look at how long it took for them to BEG God for deliverance before He sent Moses. Joseph walked by faith, his brothers walked by sight.

Will we continue to go down this same path? Dear people all these stories came from the book of Genesis! All within ONE book, the FIRST book of the Bible. God shows us MANY more examples of the SAME thing throughout His Word and if we know history, we know that He is STILL showing this to us today. We all make choices, but here is where I differ with popular teachings. Popular teachings will tell you it's all about 'sin', then they try to dissect it, define it, and make it so hard to avoid..much like the Pharisees did. I'm not going to make this about 'sin' and get us caught up in that rabbit's black hole. What I am aiming for is a walk of faith. Unfortunate things happened to many people in the Bible, but those who walked by faith were blessed. Yes, they suffered too, but God turned it all around. But not just for the individual, but for all those they loved.

God spoke to my heart one day as I stood in a place of worship and He said, "I'm going to shake this place up" and He sounded quite serious. He sure did shake it up and many people left because God was showing them things to wake them up, stir their hearts, and refreshed them with His Living Water. He tilled up hard ground, broke it all up, and poured the water in to moisten the soil. He began a transplant.

I will be honest and tell you that I am praying for God to shake us up!

Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, laid down His own life as the sacrifice to reconcile us to Father. "God show me my weakness."

He isn't going to dump your whole life's worth of shortcomings over your head. He wants to show you where you walk by sight, so he can show you how to walk by faith.

Most Christians are aiming at sin, but Jesus already cleansed you and made you whole. So why do you want to dig in the garbage can? He wants you to seek to walk by faith. That is the goal. To walk by faith in Christ. If we keep making sin the problem, it will remain a problem. Jesus already took care of that for you! So put down that thought and seek to KNOW Him. Do we really truly live in the power of His resurrection? I think many don't and I can see it by how they struggle with 'sin'. Drop that ball of 'sin' and just walk by faith now.

If we continue to walk in this so called Christian life by focusing on sin then we are still walking by sight. Your sight is set on sin, instead of in Christ...walking by faith. The walk of faith is not about sin. It's about walking IN Christ.

Reading

{Colossians 1:27}

{Hebrews 11}

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My Works of Religion

2010-10-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

by Sisterlisa

When I came to the church in the residential neighborhood, just a few blocks from our apartment, I was.. well shall I just say I needed to be taught etiquette and manners. I was a 'people' person, but not among 'church people'. I was used to my street friends and my behavior was perfectly acceptable in those circles, but in this tiny church....I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Within about three weeks I realized it was time I make some changes in how I dressed, not so much for myself, but so that I would feel comfortable in that church. I knew that how I dressed was very different than what this place was used to seeing. Wearing a skirt and fancy blouse was not my style at all. I was a down to earth twenty year old who liked to dress comfortable and in accordance with the weather. Needless to say my summer attire was not the norm in this place.

As I sat in their ladies Bible study class, in the last row, the pastor was teaching about modesty. He made it very clear how he felt God viewed ladies who wore pants. I sat there in my shorts and felt extremely uncomfortable. In my mind I felt that God now viewed me as 'less than' because of what I was wearing. This formed a warped and twisted view of God, in my young impressionable mind. It wasn't until three months later that I really made a decision about modesty, but this time it was a decision I made on my own. It was no longer about what man thought of me, but what I thought of me. I decided one day that I really wanted to dress modest. Although I made a decision for myself, from what He spoke to me about, I did not view others who wore pants as 'less than'. I knew it had to be a personal decision, a decision of one who has grown in grace.

I have seen religious leaders preach and teach on a topic, knowing full well that they had someone in particular in mind. When we take God's Word and we purposefully teach in the presence of other believers just for one specific person, most people in the room senses it. Another thing that does is usurp Christ's authority in the life of that child of God. Jesus chose wonderful analogies, parables, that spoke to the hearts of people about their individual situations. This is the beautiful working of His Holy Spirit.

We have a written copy of the letters His apostles and prophets wrote down for us, but what about those in countries where the written word is against the law? What about those who haven't heard a man tell the gospel? How does God reach those who have no one to teach and no written word? Do we really think that God Almighty lacks in being able to get His message across to the humans He placed on this earth? Did not Jesus Christ smite Saul to the ground on the road to Damascus? Did Saul not know it was Christ our Lord speaking to him? Did Jesus Christ speak English to Saul? Jesus knew exactly how to speak to Saul and He knows exactly how to speak to his people without us. So many times we end up just getting in His way and hurting a lost person or young Christian and actually cause a stumbling block for them.

So how does He get to our hearts? How does He teach us if we don't have someone telling us how to live? He promised us that he would write His word upon our hearts.

When I read

Jeremiah 31:31-34, " ³¹Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
³²Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
³³But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
³⁴And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

God knows how to speak to us by the power of His Holy Spirit.
If I were to keep relying only upon others to teach me, then what room does that leave for His Holy Spirit to teach me?

As Believers, I feel we need to ask for Him to give us discernment before opening our mouths to others about sin. Most times I think He had already begun a good work in them and we squash their spirits from learning. Our hypocritical attitudes cause more harm than good.

I met a lady once who was a new believer in Christ and she told me that she had been cleaning out her apartment and getting rid of a lot of symbols she had. I asked her why she thought to get rid of those symbols, I asked her who told her to do that. Her answer was simple, "God told me to".

She didn't need someone to tell her those symbols were not edifying to her spirit, she KNEW it. His Holy Spirit told her and she responded to Him, on her own, without humans belittling her for having those symbols.

When I was a new Believer, I didn't have boundaries in my life. My life was a mess. Not because I wore shorts and mini skirts, but because I didn't have a deep abiding relationship with Christ. Those I sought teaching from gave me a list of to-dos and a list of do-nots. The more they told me to add to my list, the more focused I became on finding my righteousness in those works of religion. I learned how to dress in a socially acceptable way, behave well, my manners became polished, but I became an empty vessel, shiny on the outside and corrupt on the inside.

I knew I was worthless, after all the enemy reminded me of that daily. So just how does that old serpent manage to speak such words of doubt and unacceptance into our minds if we are 'doing' all the 'right' things and avoiding all the 'wrong' things? I realized it was because my sword and shield was not in place. The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is my sword and shield and I needed Him to protect me, not my own righteousness.

When I had previously looked upon another Believer's 'armor' and saw their lives being full of corruption, my mind immediately went to judgment. In my mind I 'knew' their problem was that they didn't avoid sin very well. They weren't separated from the world. (or so I thought)In my eyes, I thought I had it right, but when my own 'armor' wasn't working, He showed me why.

Not only did I have the armor wrong, but I had taught others how to put on the wrong armor too. When they didn't wear their armor the way I thought they needed to wear it, I became the judge. When we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, right living happens. We become less focused on self and others and we become focused on Christ. When we are focused on Christ, He shows us our sin and He shows us His grace. This is one lesson he taught me about how to live in grace, have freedom, and not fall into sin. I focus on Christ.

Stay tuned for more upcoming articles about living in grace without legalism.

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