Seeking Jesus

This has been a super tough week. 

This has been a super tough school year.

There's parts of me that think, "'this isn't fair'. . . 'why us?' . . . 'why is life like this?'" 

But then there's that part of me that remembers we are not of this world. We are not exempt from the pain of this world, but we are not bound to it. When I begin to focus on God's promises it doesn't fully ease the pain, but it does provide comfort through the pain. I remember that it wasn't promised for life to be easy and this is one of those times where it is far from easy. 

I've prayed almost constantly, but mostly I've searched for answers. I've scrolled through tweets. I've stayed glued to social media. And when all of these don't give me the answers I'm looking for, I open my Bible. See I have this totally backwards. There's no answers on Twitter. There's no answers on Instagram or Facebook. There's no mortal who has the answers to the tough questions that haunt me at night when I should be fast asleep. 

I refuse to let my focus be on the responses of man. I refuse to be of this world. Today my focus is shifting back to God's promises, knowing He is always with me and He is the answer to all life's questions. I will acknowledge Him in all my ways, in all my actions. I will love others as Christ has loved me. I will forgive others as Christ has forgiven me. I will search His holy book for the real answers I'm longing for. I will look to Him for guidance, words, and strength that no person can give. 

I will be intentional with my time. I will seek Him always. I will open my Bible. 

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 

I pray peace over each and every person who is suffering. I love you all. 

Division.

This is something God has put on my heart to write. Well, that actually goes without saying because all of my blogs are written when God convicts me of something, but this one is different. 

I read this book one time called Holy Discontent and in the book the author wrote about pursuing things that break our hearts. Things that keep us up at night. Things that we honestly can't go another day knowing these situations are taking place. He said those are the things we should passionately pursue. 

This is something that does just that for me. It's not a topic like human trafficking, or starving children, or domestic abuse, but it's a topic that keeps us from reaching our full potential. 

Division. 

Division is something that I have seen time in and time out disrupt God's work and ultimately steal HIS glory. We have to stop this my friends. I'm talking about the division of the Christian faith. We can't let division keep us from furthering His kingdom and leading more people to Christ. 

There's church bashing. Denomination bashing. Ministry bashing. Christians bashing other Christians. Homeless bashing. Preacher bashing. Non-profit bashing. 

This division among the church is NOT what God intended when he commanded us to be fishers of men or in Matthew 9:37 when he said, "the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few." We can't get the workers if we keep putting our own selfish desires before the will of God. 

I don't know what God's will is all the time, but I do know it's not for me to create division amongst His children. We are all children of God and He loves us more than we can ever imagine. He pours out grace on us and He wants to see us live a life of fulfillment. He's called us to become more like His Son Jesus who was perfect and blameless on this earth. However, He knows we are human and unlike Christ we will fall to sin in this world. He loves us anyway. He loves us right where we are. 

A study I did a few years ago in my women's group talked about "whose team are you on?" Well we're all on God's team. Let's root each other on. Let's cheer loudly for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are trying to pursue Jesus and pursue things that are God's will in their lives. 

We ARE the team and this is the MOST important team we will ever be on in this lifetime. Teamwork is essential to bringing more people to Christ, but a team can't function when the players are fighting, arguing, blaming, cursing, and hating on one another. This makes me think of a story a friend recently shared with me.

My dear friend, let's call her Kat, was pumping gas a few weeks ago when an older gentleman said he noticed her t-shirt. She was wearing a Prayer Experience tee which is from an event our church hosts each year at all 3 campuses where you can freely come and pray over all the different areas of the church. So back to Kat. She thought to herself this would be a good conversation. . . Well, he told her, "do me a favor and read Leviticus 18 & 19." Pretty well versed in scripture, she already knew exactly what he just said to her and instantly he took her from what could have been a mountain top experience chatting with a gentleman about prayer and the Bible and he plunged her head first into a valley. 

See Kat has 13 tattoos. She's an absolutely beautifully person, inside and out. She's become one of my favorite people because she's an awesome, Godly woman who is real and unafraid of what people think about her. BUT, that evening she was defeated. That gentleman let the devil use him and not The Lord. See I don't believe that Leviticus is talking about the tattoos that Christians get today. As any verse in the Bible you have to read it in context. But anyway, that's a whole different blog. 

Regardless of the verse, Kat was angered because she thought what if she wasn't secure in her faith, or what if she was a new believer and now this gentleman has made her feel ashamed. IF, and that's a BIG IF, tattoos are sinful, what makes a tattoo any worse than a lie? Or any worse than judging? Or any worse than stealing? Or any worse than murder? See these are all the same in God's eyes and God doesn't put a weight or value on sin like humans do. 

In a short 2 minute encounter this gentleman created division. When Kat shared this story my heart continued to break for the Christian church. 

My fellow Christians, we are not perfect. We all make mistakes. Jesus was perfect so we don't have to be. That's the beauty of following Christ. This is not to say we defend poor judgement or bad behavior, but it's a total freeing experience to know and understand we don't have to be perfect. 

Stop expecting others and other's churches to be perfect. We are all humans and humans are messy. 

Stop creating the division for the sake of souls. People's salvation is depending on us. Let's band together. Really band together. Let's pledge to be of Christ and not of this world. This world is a cruel and ugly place. I am not of this world and neither are you. I love you. I really do. I love you with all your faults and hang ups because my faults and hang ups are the worst. I am writing this from an honest, real, and good place in my heart. I am pleading with you to stop bashing your fellow Christians, fellow churches, and fellow ministries. We are all here to know Christ and make Him known. We are not here to put on a facade and try to convince people that we're perfect or that we are any better than the murderer, adulterer, or prostitute. 

Stop letting fear rule your life. . .

Question #7 of last week's study read: "Pastor Tim said you are blessed when 'you give God control.' What are some obstacles in your life that keep you from giving God control? What do you need to do to remove them? What can your CARE group, family, or friends do to help hold you accountable in doing this?" 

This question instantly plunged me back to the week before when I was driving down highway 6 jamming out to "Here I Am" our #girlsonamission theme song! As I sat at a red light belting out 

"Here I am . . . Lord send me . . . All of my life I make an offering. . . " I wanted desperately to live everyday of my life as if I was on a mission trip: unafraid to pray for any and every person who came into my path, to live fearlessly following Christ and His calling for my life. Why, if I am a Christ-follower, is the thought of doing crazy things for Christ every-single-day so scary? 

Immediately the fear of the world's perception of me thrust me back into my reality of just doing what I need to do to get by each day and silently praying for people and just being the mainstream Christian I've become use to. 

As Emily read this question in Bible study, I realized the biggest obstacle I face is fear. The fear of what others will think of me if I don't just blend in. The fear of what others will think if I actually listen to God's calling on my life and do things that other people don't. Why is this fear so real and inhibiting? I am not of this world. I am not just someone who "blends in." I want to live a life that's marked by selfless service to others in the name of Jesus. 

So my personal obstacle is fear. The fear of being judged, ridiculed, laughed at, made fun of, misunderstood, disliked, questioned, doubted. These are things that weren't even on my radar in LA. We prayed with people on the streets, at our hotel, and wherever else we came into contact with people. I woke up each morning ready to give my entire day to Christ and do whatever He wanted of me. 

Verse: Isaiah 41:10

As I pursue God and ignore people's worldly view of me, I will focus on this verse: "so do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." 

Prayer: 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your unconditional love for me. Thank you for loving me right where I am in my life and loving me regardless of my faults. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to you; with a burning passion to serve people in Your son's name just like I did when I was on my mission trip. Give me the courage to ignore the world's view of me and focus on your view of me. Help me to cast all my cares and fears to You, so that You may give me strength. In Christ's name, Amen. 

God is Never Absent

In the still of the night, God is there. In the chaos of the morning commute, dropping off kiddos, and speeding to work, God is there. In the streets of our impoverished neighborhoods, God is there. Regardless of the politics surrounding religion in schools, God is there. There's no place on this earth where God ceases to exist. He's all around us and He will never give up on every last one of His children. 

We might forget this simple truth when our plan isn't God's plan. If everything were easy, and our plans always worked out, we wouldn't need God. We wouldn't need teachers, parents, counselors, or law enforcement officers for that matter, either.  The most challenging times of my life proved to be the times that grew my character, integrity, and confidence the most. From my personal experience, when times are "easy" my good qualities become more likely to unravel. With anything, the challenge brings growth. 

It's hard to wrap our brains around God's perspective and it's so easy, perhaps TOO easy, to empathize with the world's perspective. The world's perspective is so harsh, cruel, unforgiving, judgemental, and relentless. Even though it's easier to view people through the world's lense, I much rather attempt to view it from God's gracious perspective. He loves each and every one of us and He wants a personal relationship with each and every one of us. He's willing to walk by our side through life even when we don't acknowledge Him. God will fight for our soul until the last possible breath. NO person is TOO FAR gone to be welcomed into God's kingdom. No person has sinned too much for Him to cut ties with them. God is never absent. He's there in the midst of the struggle pleading with the broken, the hurt, and the sinners. He wants us to turn to him and accept His son. 

The culture of the Dream Center truly embraces this Godly perspective. Probably my favorite part of the DC, other than the food truck, is the Discipleship Program. There are men and women in the program who perhaps society has written off. They weren't good enough, clean enough, smart enough, honest enough, and whatever else society frowned upon them for. In short, these are people society didn't want to give a second chance. However, these are the people God calls us to love each and every day. It's easy to love the people who pretend to live perfect lives, but that's not what God wants.  He doesn't condone shunning of His children regardless of what WE think about them from a worldly perspective. 

Each person I met in the Discipleship Program, both this summer and last, had the best attitude and personality. They were all different in their own ways and they all had their own different stories, but they all were kind. I love the atmosphere the Dream Center has cultivated. In my opinion, this is the exact culture God wants across the world; our churches, schools, and neighborhoods should feel like this. A place where people aren't judged and aren't afraid to be REAL. The walls have come down and people want to shoot straight. They want to share how God has changed them, reformed them, renewed them.

God is very alive in this place. Even though these disciples have gone through hard times, made poor decisions, or done things they are less than proud of, like all of us, God walked by their side through it all whether they acknowledged Him or not. God was never absent. It's through those struggles these men and women realized they couldn't do it on their own. They realized this world is too much and they need God, just as all of us do.  I've made mistakes, done things I'm not proud of, and carried some regrets, but when I allowed God to take ahold of my life, those dark feelings faded away. God was never absent. 

Let's join together and put all our judgements, insecurities, pre-conceived notions aside and vow to love each other the way Christ loves us. Let's let God use us in ways we never ever thought we could do on our own. Let's remember that there's no such thing as one event being a "God thing" because EVERYTHING is a "God thing". Let's not forget that God is always present. He doesn't show up towards the end, he's been here all along. God is never absent. 

There's No such thing as a coincidence part 2

While at the DC last year we learned of the bus ministry on Thursday evenings in which volunteers canvas local areas to get people to church. Because this was such a memorable time for us last year, I asked if we could participate again this year.

Once we were there we split into two teams. An incredible Christian man named Manny led my team. Manny looked just like any ordinary guy, but looks can be deceiving, and Manny is far from ordinary! As we walked the streets of Skid Row, surrounded by feelings of hopelessness, grief, fear, and the ultimate attack by Satan, Manny offered up a glimmer of hope to the hopeless; he shook people's hands, he prayed with people, he rapped for people, and he showed a sincere care for these people who society has given up on.

See, we have allowed this to happen in our cities. We have allowed people to think there's nothing more to life than living hour-by-hour on the drug ridden streets. We've allowed people to think they are no longer welcome in society for their past mistakes. We've allowed Satan to comfortably set up his den in OUR space and claim God's children as his victims. It's people like Manny who go to Skid Row and other gang-ridden and drug-infested neighborhoods day in and day out who offer hope to the hurt and lost souls who reside there. 

As we walked the streets of Skid Row we invited people to church. Most declined but there was one man who said yes! That one yes proved to be the highlight of my day and quite possibly my trip. We were waiting to cross the street when someone walked up behind us and gently asked, "are y'all Christians?" We all turned around and saw a taller gentleman, who honestly didn't look like he belonged on Skid Row, looking at us. We said YES!! He asked us to pray for him and he explained he was a "new" Christian. Once we prayed with him we asked him to church. He hesitated at first, but then he agreed! Our new friend's name was Henry. He was so pleasant and super pumped about being saved and a "new" Christian you couldn't help but smile when talking to him. 

Henry had been out of jail almost a week at this point. He was 50 years old with children, but his addiction to meth landed him in jail. He asked me to look at a paper that had different facial expressions on it and choose what I felt at that moment. It was a no-brainer that out of the 40 or so faces on the page, I felt joyful! When I selected joyful Henry wrote J-O-Y in his notebook. He proceed to say J stands for Jesus, O stands for others, and Y stands for yourself. Pretty good for a "new" Christian! Henry ripped that out of his notebook and handed it to me; something I will keep forever! 

Once on the bus I met another gentleman who was very clean cut named Ray. Ray was a quiet 40 year old Philipino man. I moved from my seat and sat behind him so we could chat more easily on the way to the temple. He very willingly shared his testimony Of abandonment, drugs, and alcohol which all landed him on Skid Row. However his 10 year stint of drug and alcohol addiction came to an end 11 months ago when he entered a program at the Union Rescue Mission. He was about to graduate and was looking forward to continuing to work at the URM and then get on his feet. 

His story included parents dying when he was 5 years old, being abused, and being adopted out 3 separate times. His lack of feeling wanted and valued led to drugs, alcohol, and ultimately living on the streets. However, his story didn't bring sadness, rather joy to my heart to literally see, in action, what Jesus can do in someone's life when they are willing and ready to accept Him! The hope and happiness in Ray's eyes confirmed the amazing power of Jesus and His ability to renew and redeem His children. 

After a wonderful sermon, we met back at the bus to tell our friends bye. It was hard saying bye to Henry and Ray not knowing what tomorrow would bring to them, but I have faith God is working wonders in both of their lives. Henry even picked up an application for the Dream Center's Discipleship program. These two men will not be easily forgotten. I loved chatting with them and hearing their stories. 

These are the men who society has given up on and has labeled as "crackheads, felons, losers" and every other name Satan has created to turn society away from sinners. At the end of the day I am NO BETTER than Henry or Ray. I have sinned, you have sinned. It is PEOPLE who place a value on sin, not God. 

These are men who allowed the enemy to launch an assault on their lives and the devil whispered they weren't good enough, strong enough, valuable enough. It is men like Ray and Henry who remind me of the great power of our almighty God and the reason why I CAN'T GIVE UP ON PEOPLE! I can't, for the sake of humanity, stop serving others in the name of Jesus. There's too much hate, fear, and evil in this world for ME to give up on the power of God. 

Our relationship with God and 2nd Chances

Over the past couple of weeks Pastor Tim has talked about second chances. These are the kind of lessons that are so amazing, but the truth hits you like a ton of bricks: this is something you repeatedly, consistently, always fall short on! 

Wow! While during this particular sermon I felt encouraged to know I don't have to be perfect because Jesus was and he will always give me another chance. However, it's a little scary to think that I, myself should also put this into action. 

God calls us to enter into a relationship with Him; to pursue him earnestly and to live our life with Him every single day, through every single triumph and every single shortcoming. 

Well that's where this whole second chance thing gets really real. According to 1 John 2:6, "whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." Here's the reality of that scripture: EVERY day you must walk the walk. Not just Sunday morning when you have your #TeamJesus gear on, but ALL seven days of the week. Yeah, that's not easy, if it was we wouldn't need Him. That means we should extend grace just as he has extended grace to us. This grace comes in the form of second chances in many cases. 

Don't let the enemy sneak in during a moment of weakness and lure you in with lies and deceit. Every person who has been baptized and saved is on the same team. We're on God's team the best possible team to be on. We're all teammates. It's easy to be deceived and believe the lies of Satan, but we can't let him win over our thoughts, our words, or most of all our actions. 

I pray that through every bad circumstance, every poor decision, every fight, every misunderstanding, every careless choice that we Christians can give each other a second chance. We can help our fellow brothers and sisters who may not know Christ yet, reach their full potential by watching us lead by example. This means putting our quoted scripture into action. If we're not going to attempt to live out every command of the Bible then what's the purpose of our life? 

When we decide to put on our Jesus gear, we must remember people are watching. This is an opportunity to either win over souls or turn them away. Don't get people confused with where your faith stands and your willingness (or lack of) to follow Jesus and his commands. Our goal as Christ-followers is to get as many people in Heaven as possible to enjoy an eternal life with Him. 

We KNOW we will fall short. We know there will be tough times and unfortunately there will be times the devil gets ahold of us and we do something we are less than proud of. However, as faithful believers it's what follows those mistakes that's most important. It's how we choose to pick ourselves up and move on. It's how we choose to grant second chances. It's how we choose to grant forgiveness and grace even when someone doesn't deserve it. 

It's NOT about us. It's all about Jesus. It's all about HIM and HIS glory. John 3:30 says, "He must increase, but I must decrease." He deserves the glory! Be an example of what He wants all of us to be! Let your life illustrate what it means to be a Christian! Don't get caught up in the ways of this world! It's very easy if we don't firmly plant ourselves in the Word. 

Put away your pride and put Him first. He deserves it. You deserve it. Your friends who are not yet saved deserve it. #TeamJesus

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

People can't "see" our personal relationship with Jesus. Sure we can talk about it, we can blog about it, we can facebook about it, but truly those words are dead without action. 

Moral of the story: actions speak louder than words. 

I think the culture of a lot of Christians has been the talk, but not the walk. The reason I think this is especially true nowadays is the number of churches with dwindling congregations. Our church's mission is, "To Know Christ and Make Him Known" and at the last Care Group Rally Pastor John talked about reaching out and making disciples.  It is not good enough to for us to sit back and just soak in The Word for ourselves but rather, go out and make disciples. Don't get me wrong, we MUST dive into The Word and study, but we have to maintain a balance between growing ourselves and bringing people to Christ. 

Unfortunately, churches around the country are not successfully bringing new people into their congregations or into a relationship with Christ. Now this is simply an observation, it is not meant to offend, but rather to shed light on what I think is diluting the church culture of the US. 

People read their Bibles, they talk about loving God, they pray, and they even offer prayer to others, but, they are not going out into the world, into public, and trying to recruit people for Jesus' Team.  They are not truly showing Christ's love through their actions. And my friends, our friends are always watching. This is especially true with all the social media floating around in cyber space. We post instantaneously to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, snapchat and all other sites people use these days. But these again are limited to words and words will not always bring people to Know and Love Christ. I'd even go out on a limb and dare to say that words alone absolutely do not bring people to Christ. 

I know firsthand people watch what we do even when we least expect it. I've had the most unexpected people call me, text me, or see me in person and tell me how I've inspired them, how I've impacted their life in some way, or how I encouraged them to take a leap of faith. It's been truly humbling to have people come up to me and praise me for something I've done, said, or started. This encouragement has come from people who I honestly didn't even know I showed up on their radar; not a clue! 

For this reason, we have to be cognizant of our behaviors, our actions, and our words. We are entrusted with the task of filling up Heaven and I don't know about you, but that sometimes makes my knees a little weak thinking that a simple encounter with me might make people accept Jesus Christ or reject Jesus Christ. That's a heavy load on our shoulders, but that's a load God never expected us to carry alone. He wants us to reach out to those who are suffering, those who feel unloved, and those who feel unreachable. He wants us to leave the bubble of our comfort zone and stretch our arms wide open to love on the most unlovable people. He wants us to go out and make Him known through making disciples. 

Okay so back to the church culture. . . Actively engaging and consciously making an effort to not only improve our personal relationships with God but developing personal, meaningful relationships with others is a way to grow the church communities in America and a way to bring more people to Christ. People have developed a distrust of churches that get too large; they discount their Jesus culture as one of greed and business deals. Unfortunately, the big churches fall under the wrath of small churches because of the smaller church's inability to grow their congregations. 

The community of churches should be one of which works together to bring people to Christ. They should not judge, make cutting remarks, or be in competition with one another. They should focus on working together to bring people to Christ while still spiritually growing themselves. We can't just let our words be our guiding force. We have to lead with our actions.