There are no words to describe the beauty, the holiness of marriage – the sacredness of knowing I am one with another person, that for the rest of our lives it is us together, living in God’s brilliant plan for this world.
What God has already reminded me of so much just through one week of marriage is that we are DIFFERENT. We are ALL meant to be different.
Just through one week of marriage God has shown me so much more of Himself and His incredibly massive vision for this world. It is grander than anything I could imagine, bigger than my little life. God, by His grace, wants to use Stephen and me to join this glorious adventure, this vision that has been the same since Adam and Moses and Esther – this vision to save the world. And it’s going to look so different - more amazing - than anything I could ever imagine.
The magic of being united with Stephen has helped me see that. I think our human habit is to fall into routine, into what it comfortable. It is to follow prototypes and examples of what is “right” that have been laid out before us by other “good” people. But there is no “prototype” for the unearthly, beautiful dreams of God. The heartbeat He is molding our hearts to feel is to a rhythm unlike any other. We are called to close our eyes and believe something bigger, something greater than we have ever seen before.
I completely believe that we should look to those that have gone before for wisdom and guidance. I believe wholeheartedly that there are some that are called to follow certain paths. But I have seen that taken to the extreme and abused, and have seen passionate, fiery people “calmed down” by the mold they were forced to fit. Get married, have kids, go to church, maybe work in youth ministry….none of these things are wrong, but if they are done simply because it is what is expected – because it is what is “good” and comfortable – and not because it is the calling of God to bring His glory and salvation into the world, then it is wrong. I believe there is more, there is something different and beautiful and fascinating that God has called each of us to that will blow our minds if we would believe that He wants to use us in this amazing huge vision. The girl crying in the brothel, the boy with no food, the parents who don’t talk anymore, the man in your office who gets quieter every day – God wants to change their lives with His love and make this world different and wants us to wake up everyday believing it can happen and believing that just like Moses, God desires us to stand up and declare FREEDOM for His people.
For some reason, God has given me a passion for government and the power it has to bring about real change if used in the right way. I have a deep interest in politics and advocacy and helping God’s people through these avenues. But I also love working with people, discussing theology, counseling others, and helping guide them to know more of God and His purposes. The past few years as I’ve been praying for God to show me His will for my life, I’ve though, because the world has told me, that I had to choose one path or the other, one passion or the other. But through my relationship with Stephen and God opening my eyes to more of His incredible, mind-blowing purpose for us in this world, I am realizing my life is supposed to look different. Just because I like working with kids, being around people, and having deep conversations doesn’t mean I have to have kids at age 23 and work with youth the rest of my life. I believe with my whole heart that God has given me a passion for government, advocacy, and political change for a reason. I believe He wants to use that just as much as He wants to use my love of people to change the world. But that doesn’t mean I can only work on Capitol Hill the rest of my life either – God is bigger than black and white, one or the other. And I believe He led me to a man who perfectly balances out the gifts He has given me with his own passions and talents – a man who perfectly completes the vision God has for us.
It’s scary because that vision is so beyond me. I can’t understand it and I don’t know how it will look. The path Steve and I are called to take is different. I am a political science major with a passion for politics who is working at a summer camp. I am married to a teacher who knows more about how to teach people than anyone I have ever met. We feel led to China, Scotland, the inner-city, the streets of Capitol Hill, the halls of nursing homes, churches, classrooms, seminaries…..
And all of it is for His glory – it is part of a wider, deeper, and more glorious picture than we will ever know. But we are called into it. We are not called to live our lives just for the sake of living them, or to fulfill a certain role or goal for ourselves. I am not called down a certain path because that is what I “should do” or because that is what makes the most sense or makes Stephen and I look the best. We are called to a higher way, a holy perspective. Everyone should look DIFFERENT. All of us should go down a path forged by a fiery passion for the vision of the redeeming love of Christ being brought onto this earth, a vision of His saving glory making this world the way God intended it to be before time began.
It is this vision that should drive us. It that leads us to a pretty normal looking life, then praise God – if the perspective is right then it is RIGHT. But nothing – nothing different or “normal” should be done with the motive of self, of comfort, of normalcy. We are called to empty ourselves, and we are called to this for a reason: the less we think of ourselves and the more we look to the throne room of God and desire His glory on this earth, the more we will pour out His love that is consuming fire, and the faster it will sweep over this pitiful, dying world. The more we desire His Way and keep the vision of Moses, Isaiah, and Paul, the vision that we are created for something more and live for something more – the vision that brings salvation – the more we let this be our perspective, the more we will look DIFFERENT. We can have PEACE in His greater plan, even though we may never see the whole picture ourselves. His love “surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19), but we can LIVE it.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
less than a month...
So I’m getting married in less than a month – crazy! A lot of people have been asking me if I’m getting cold feet yet. If I’m nervous, scared, anxious. But it’s so different than that and it’s so hard to explain why. These last few months have actually been so GOOD. But not good because it’s fun or easy – good because this time is PREPARING me. Preparing me to be a WIFE. The more impatient I get, the more I am reminded of how crucial patience is in a marriage. The more annoyed I get at the little things, the more I am reminded of how essential grace will be in my marriage. The more I see how selflessly Stephen loves me, the more I realize how desperately I want to love him like that – every second of every day. So yes, I’m grateful for this time. Grateful that I have the time to be sanctified, to seek Christ every day and learn more every day how to be like Him. He has already changed me so much – I’m not doing the job or internship I’ve desired to do my whole life, because for the first time I’m beginning to want to serve someone else more than myself. I want to be there for Stephen more than I want to have my own career. Through Stephen, God is showing me how love works: loving someone more than yourself is so much BETTER. For the first time, I am not worried about the future, what exactly I’m going to do with my life and how I’m going to “change the world.” What God requires of me is to love Him with my whole heart, and then love others. And through my relationship with Stephen, He is teaching me to do that. And because I’m actually beginning to love someone more than myself, I’m so much more at PEACE – I know God will use the love, grace, and partnership Stephen and I share to do so much more in this world than my meager little plans could have ever done. It really is loving others that changes the world. And all we have to do is look to the cross, to the life and death of Christ to see what it looks like to truly love. And I’m so excited for God to continue to train my eyes to look to Him, so that in marriage I can be the best example of Christ’s love that Stephen will see on this earth.
Friday, November 6, 2009
"We love because He first loved us"
Let’s be different this Christmas season. (yes, the commercials are already starting…)
As a college student, I am completely aware of how hard it is to do anything that actually feels like we’re making a difference. We don’t have a lot of money, and we’re at college to get a degree, so realistically school work takes up a lot of our time.
But as Christians, it doesn’t matter whether we’re college students, busy, or don’t have a lot of money – we are still called to be holy, or “set apart” for Christ. That means we should look DIFFERENT from the rest of our culture. Not only by our words should His love and salvation be proclaimed, but in our every action and in our very lifestyles His Gospel should be seen. Even in our self-centered, money-driven, materialistic culture, we are called to live a life that is instead focused on Christ and His purposes, on living selflessly for others, in living simply and giving more. We are called to become like Christ and live out the grace we have received from Him. As a college student living in this culture, I have wrestled with how to do that. And God has shown me that it is so much more often about the little things than the big: how I talk to people, what I spend my money on in the day to day, my priorities. And this upcoming Christmas season we have a chance to live differently for Christ in the little things.
We have a chance to make Christmas what it is really about again: not a holiday to celebrate how much money we have and how many presents we can give, but rather a holiday to celebrate Love coming to earth, salvation incarnate, Grace born in human flesh, the embodiment of a merciful God. So this Christmas, please join myself and others in the Advent Conspiracy (watch this awesome video at www.adventconspiracy.org). Give up the money you would spend on just ONE family member or friend (just one, although if you feel led, please do more!) and spend TIME with that person instead. Have a conversation with them, hang out with them, show them LOVE. Then take that money and BE the Church. Give it to a person, a cause, a place that truly needs it this Christmas. Live out the Gospel – sacrifice something in yourself and in your life to give to another. Through this, who knows how many will be able to see Christ through your actions and hear about Him through your words.
Many of us will be donating our money to strengthen the fight against human trafficking, and if you wish to join us in that, facebook me or go to www.ijm.org and donate your money there! But if there is another person or cause that you are passionate about, give your money there. But make sure you’re not just giving away money – change something in YOUR lifestyle this Christmas season! Spend time with that family member you haven’t really talked to in years, or that friend that hurt your feelings a while ago, or that brother that is going through a really hard time right now. Show CHRIST this season.
Then come join us on Wednesday, November 18 at 7 pm in Jepson 100 at the University of Mary Washington and help us spread this revolution! Join the Justice Team of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as we show IJM’s new documentary, “At the End of Slavery,” and work to raise awareness about human trafficking! There will be a guest speaker from IJM who will be talking about the issue after the documentary and leading a discussion time, and then we’ll have the opportunity to write to our senators and ask them to join us in fighting human trafficking. We will also be asking everyone to join us in living more simply this Christmas season and donating some of the money that they would have spent on presents to IJM! We’ll also have a chance to talk about the hope we can have in Christ despite human trafficking and other evils that exist in this world. So come help us be the hands and feet of Christ as we show His love and hope! Let’s live like HIM this season.
And who knows how this may carry on after Christmas? Maybe instead of spending that $10 a week at Starbucks (I am speaking directly to myself here…) we could give it to that human rights group we’ve always wanted to be able to support or a friend going through a really hard time. Maybe when you go buy groceries every week, spend an extra $5 on food that you donate to the homeless shelter every week. It is the little lifestyle changes sometimes that do the most to change our hearts and the world….
Live differently. Love because Christ has loved us and given His life for us. Let’s be moved to ACTION by His GRACE.
“We love because He first loved us.”
-1 John 4:19
As a college student, I am completely aware of how hard it is to do anything that actually feels like we’re making a difference. We don’t have a lot of money, and we’re at college to get a degree, so realistically school work takes up a lot of our time.
But as Christians, it doesn’t matter whether we’re college students, busy, or don’t have a lot of money – we are still called to be holy, or “set apart” for Christ. That means we should look DIFFERENT from the rest of our culture. Not only by our words should His love and salvation be proclaimed, but in our every action and in our very lifestyles His Gospel should be seen. Even in our self-centered, money-driven, materialistic culture, we are called to live a life that is instead focused on Christ and His purposes, on living selflessly for others, in living simply and giving more. We are called to become like Christ and live out the grace we have received from Him. As a college student living in this culture, I have wrestled with how to do that. And God has shown me that it is so much more often about the little things than the big: how I talk to people, what I spend my money on in the day to day, my priorities. And this upcoming Christmas season we have a chance to live differently for Christ in the little things.
We have a chance to make Christmas what it is really about again: not a holiday to celebrate how much money we have and how many presents we can give, but rather a holiday to celebrate Love coming to earth, salvation incarnate, Grace born in human flesh, the embodiment of a merciful God. So this Christmas, please join myself and others in the Advent Conspiracy (watch this awesome video at www.adventconspiracy.org). Give up the money you would spend on just ONE family member or friend (just one, although if you feel led, please do more!) and spend TIME with that person instead. Have a conversation with them, hang out with them, show them LOVE. Then take that money and BE the Church. Give it to a person, a cause, a place that truly needs it this Christmas. Live out the Gospel – sacrifice something in yourself and in your life to give to another. Through this, who knows how many will be able to see Christ through your actions and hear about Him through your words.
Many of us will be donating our money to strengthen the fight against human trafficking, and if you wish to join us in that, facebook me or go to www.ijm.org and donate your money there! But if there is another person or cause that you are passionate about, give your money there. But make sure you’re not just giving away money – change something in YOUR lifestyle this Christmas season! Spend time with that family member you haven’t really talked to in years, or that friend that hurt your feelings a while ago, or that brother that is going through a really hard time right now. Show CHRIST this season.
Then come join us on Wednesday, November 18 at 7 pm in Jepson 100 at the University of Mary Washington and help us spread this revolution! Join the Justice Team of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as we show IJM’s new documentary, “At the End of Slavery,” and work to raise awareness about human trafficking! There will be a guest speaker from IJM who will be talking about the issue after the documentary and leading a discussion time, and then we’ll have the opportunity to write to our senators and ask them to join us in fighting human trafficking. We will also be asking everyone to join us in living more simply this Christmas season and donating some of the money that they would have spent on presents to IJM! We’ll also have a chance to talk about the hope we can have in Christ despite human trafficking and other evils that exist in this world. So come help us be the hands and feet of Christ as we show His love and hope! Let’s live like HIM this season.
And who knows how this may carry on after Christmas? Maybe instead of spending that $10 a week at Starbucks (I am speaking directly to myself here…) we could give it to that human rights group we’ve always wanted to be able to support or a friend going through a really hard time. Maybe when you go buy groceries every week, spend an extra $5 on food that you donate to the homeless shelter every week. It is the little lifestyle changes sometimes that do the most to change our hearts and the world….
Live differently. Love because Christ has loved us and given His life for us. Let’s be moved to ACTION by His GRACE.
“We love because He first loved us.”
-1 John 4:19
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Live It Out
just wanted to share two great examples of people living out the faith God has called us to. The first is a pastor named Genesis from Cameroon who truly lives out the Gospel in every area of his life - beyond the four walls of the church building, he shares the love of Christ through priding clean water for his town, job opportunities, and computer training, among other things. check out his website: http://cfs.hintonline.org/
the second is International Justice Mission, an organization that believes God's heart for justice is a central part of the Gispel and live out this belief by working to redeem this world. it's amazing what the love of Christ can do:
http://www.ijminstitute.org/?utm_source=IJM&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=HomeAds
read these and be encouraged. God is MIGHTY to save and wants to use us to help show that!
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save." - Zephaniah 3:17
the second is International Justice Mission, an organization that believes God's heart for justice is a central part of the Gispel and live out this belief by working to redeem this world. it's amazing what the love of Christ can do:
http://www.ijminstitute.org/?utm_source=IJM&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=HomeAds
read these and be encouraged. God is MIGHTY to save and wants to use us to help show that!
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save." - Zephaniah 3:17
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Interesting thoughts on the abortion issue....a more creative solution....
Jim Wallis Supports Common Ground Measures on Abortion Debate
WASHINGTON, DC – July 23, 2009 — Rev. Jim Wallis, progressive evangelical leader, author of The Great Awakening and president of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States, issued the following statement outlining his support for Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan’s “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act.” Wallis also commented on the issue of federal funding of abortion within the current proposed healthcare reform.
Rev. Jim Wallis Statement:
In a nation as prosperous as ours, all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. Reasonable people may differ on how best to accomplish this goal, and I welcome a rigorous policy debate about it, but it should be a moral priority for all of us. We must work together to find common ground that will provide quality, affordable health care to all Americans.
At this point in the debate, abortion should not become a wedge issue that could doom the chances of any legislation passing. For too long, abortion has been a contentious and ultimately divisive debate between simplified and polarizing positions of “life” and “choice.” A far better approach is to advance a common ground dialogue with both sides that results in real solutions.
Federal funding of abortions is prohibited by current law, and that prohibition should be maintained. Any final legislation should make clear that no private insurance company will be mandated to pay for an abortion, nor should they be prohibited from paying for an abortion. These provisions would maintain the current status quo, and demonstrate how sensible common ground can bring people together.
On the issue of abortion itself, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan’s “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act” addresses both how best to prevent unwanted pregnancies and support pregnant women who desire to carry their baby to term. It also makes adoption easier. The bill demonstrates how searching for common ground can lead to higher ground, in ways that both sides of the debate can embrace without compromising their core principles.. It could lead to genuine progress in reducing the number of abortions and improving the quality of life for women and children --all by addressing the real issues that often lead to abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States, and although Americans are divided on its moral status, most feel the tragedy of abortion and believe that we currently have far too many for a healthy society.
Tim Ryan and Rosa DeLauro are wise public servants who are trying to unite us around the new common ground of abortion reduction, one that people on both sides of the debate can agree to. Helping young people to delay sexual activity, preventing the pregnancies that people don't want, economically supporting low-income women to give them a real choice about having a child, and encouraging adoption will all work to reduce abortion in America; and who could be against any of that?
We have a great opportunity to advance our shared values and common goals at a crucial moment in our country’s history. Sojourners and I strongly support this good and wise piece of legislation and applaud the creative solutions it offers for real action.
Jim Wallis Supports Common Ground Measures on Abortion Debate
WASHINGTON, DC – July 23, 2009 — Rev. Jim Wallis, progressive evangelical leader, author of The Great Awakening and president of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States, issued the following statement outlining his support for Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan’s “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act.” Wallis also commented on the issue of federal funding of abortion within the current proposed healthcare reform.
Rev. Jim Wallis Statement:
In a nation as prosperous as ours, all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. Reasonable people may differ on how best to accomplish this goal, and I welcome a rigorous policy debate about it, but it should be a moral priority for all of us. We must work together to find common ground that will provide quality, affordable health care to all Americans.
At this point in the debate, abortion should not become a wedge issue that could doom the chances of any legislation passing. For too long, abortion has been a contentious and ultimately divisive debate between simplified and polarizing positions of “life” and “choice.” A far better approach is to advance a common ground dialogue with both sides that results in real solutions.
Federal funding of abortions is prohibited by current law, and that prohibition should be maintained. Any final legislation should make clear that no private insurance company will be mandated to pay for an abortion, nor should they be prohibited from paying for an abortion. These provisions would maintain the current status quo, and demonstrate how sensible common ground can bring people together.
On the issue of abortion itself, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan’s “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act” addresses both how best to prevent unwanted pregnancies and support pregnant women who desire to carry their baby to term. It also makes adoption easier. The bill demonstrates how searching for common ground can lead to higher ground, in ways that both sides of the debate can embrace without compromising their core principles.. It could lead to genuine progress in reducing the number of abortions and improving the quality of life for women and children --all by addressing the real issues that often lead to abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States, and although Americans are divided on its moral status, most feel the tragedy of abortion and believe that we currently have far too many for a healthy society.
Tim Ryan and Rosa DeLauro are wise public servants who are trying to unite us around the new common ground of abortion reduction, one that people on both sides of the debate can agree to. Helping young people to delay sexual activity, preventing the pregnancies that people don't want, economically supporting low-income women to give them a real choice about having a child, and encouraging adoption will all work to reduce abortion in America; and who could be against any of that?
We have a great opportunity to advance our shared values and common goals at a crucial moment in our country’s history. Sojourners and I strongly support this good and wise piece of legislation and applaud the creative solutions it offers for real action.
The purpose of the Church...
"The purpose of the church is not to be socially agreeable; it is to speak robustly to the state on behalf of those who cannot speak effectively for themselves."- Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister, http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/a-prime-ministers-conscience-is-pricked/
The Australian Prime Minister states so clearly what I feel many of us today simply just don’t get. As the Church, Christ commands us to "love our neighbors as ourselves." That is His greatest commandment, after loving Him first. It's funny that He considers loving others so connected with loving Him that He says the two in the same breath, yet the Church today seems bent on focusing so much on the first command but not the second. Why is the Church today so concerned with our personal salvation, personal well-being, personal image, when what Christ actually commands throughout Scripture is to be concerned with OTHERS? His Gospel is one of such selfless, saving love that, when truly known, can not help but pour out of us to others. Jesus actually goes so far as to say that if our faith isn’t outward focused, then we don't truly know His Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46). If we know Him, we will plead the cause of the afflicted and needy (Jeremiah 22:15-16). We will feed His sheep (John 21:15-16). We will help our brothers and sisters in need (1 John 3:16-18). We will spread His Gospel to all people (Matthew 28:18). His love brings us salvation and, living in that love, we will bring salvation as well.
His love transforms us to be more like Him, so that we begin to truly be able to love God and then others more than ourselves. As we die to ourselves more and more everyday and grow in Christ, we begin to see more of His vision of selfless faith. As our minds are renewed in His Spirit, the connection between His love for us and our love for others strengthens. When we become more like Him, His love in us increases to naturally love others like He loves them. We realize that our faith is anything but just about us. We are called to be transformed into Christ - which means we are called to hurt like He hurts, to feel compassion like He feels compassion, and to actively love others out of God’s great love in us (Romans 12:2).
Like Christ, we are called to be a voice where no one else will. In Christ, we see how to be this voice: “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). We see how we are to "learn to do right" by seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, and pleading the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:17).
As theologian Carl F.H. Henry said, "If the church preaches only divine forgiveness and does not affirm justice, she implies that God treats immorality and sin lightly. If the church proclaims only justice, we shall all die in unforgiving sin and without the Spirit's empowerment for righteousness. We should be equally troubled that we lag in championing justice and in fulfilling our evangelistic mandate."
Being a follower of Christ means loving Him AND loving others. He has saved us by His amazing grace, and the selfless love that led Him to give up His life for us now fills us and enables us to do the same for our brothers and sisters. When asked why we should care about what the government does, what happens to people in other countries, about the homeless man on the street, etc, we should without hesitation respond "Because God loves me." If we believe in the love of God, then that love should lead us to love others. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Through His Spirit in us, we can love our brothers - it is not the whole Gospel of Christ if we don’t. (1 John 3:17) Christ has given us salvation, and He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we may bring this salvation - His love and justice - to others. THIS is the Gospel. He calls us to be a part of His redemptive work. So let’s BE the Body of Christ and live in this selfless love.
The Australian Prime Minister states so clearly what I feel many of us today simply just don’t get. As the Church, Christ commands us to "love our neighbors as ourselves." That is His greatest commandment, after loving Him first. It's funny that He considers loving others so connected with loving Him that He says the two in the same breath, yet the Church today seems bent on focusing so much on the first command but not the second. Why is the Church today so concerned with our personal salvation, personal well-being, personal image, when what Christ actually commands throughout Scripture is to be concerned with OTHERS? His Gospel is one of such selfless, saving love that, when truly known, can not help but pour out of us to others. Jesus actually goes so far as to say that if our faith isn’t outward focused, then we don't truly know His Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46). If we know Him, we will plead the cause of the afflicted and needy (Jeremiah 22:15-16). We will feed His sheep (John 21:15-16). We will help our brothers and sisters in need (1 John 3:16-18). We will spread His Gospel to all people (Matthew 28:18). His love brings us salvation and, living in that love, we will bring salvation as well.
His love transforms us to be more like Him, so that we begin to truly be able to love God and then others more than ourselves. As we die to ourselves more and more everyday and grow in Christ, we begin to see more of His vision of selfless faith. As our minds are renewed in His Spirit, the connection between His love for us and our love for others strengthens. When we become more like Him, His love in us increases to naturally love others like He loves them. We realize that our faith is anything but just about us. We are called to be transformed into Christ - which means we are called to hurt like He hurts, to feel compassion like He feels compassion, and to actively love others out of God’s great love in us (Romans 12:2).
Like Christ, we are called to be a voice where no one else will. In Christ, we see how to be this voice: “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). We see how we are to "learn to do right" by seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, and pleading the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:17).
As theologian Carl F.H. Henry said, "If the church preaches only divine forgiveness and does not affirm justice, she implies that God treats immorality and sin lightly. If the church proclaims only justice, we shall all die in unforgiving sin and without the Spirit's empowerment for righteousness. We should be equally troubled that we lag in championing justice and in fulfilling our evangelistic mandate."
Being a follower of Christ means loving Him AND loving others. He has saved us by His amazing grace, and the selfless love that led Him to give up His life for us now fills us and enables us to do the same for our brothers and sisters. When asked why we should care about what the government does, what happens to people in other countries, about the homeless man on the street, etc, we should without hesitation respond "Because God loves me." If we believe in the love of God, then that love should lead us to love others. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Through His Spirit in us, we can love our brothers - it is not the whole Gospel of Christ if we don’t. (1 John 3:17) Christ has given us salvation, and He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we may bring this salvation - His love and justice - to others. THIS is the Gospel. He calls us to be a part of His redemptive work. So let’s BE the Body of Christ and live in this selfless love.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election Day
So check this out: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3166. Tomorrow is election day and we have such an opportunity to bring CHANGE to the US and to the world. If you have some time before you vote, please read this article and really pray about what our voting priorities should be, and how to vote in a way that reflects those priorities and brings about the change we desperately need.
Also, this is a really short but really good article that speaks to the current economic crisis and how we, as Christians, can view this whole situation. Or how we SHOULD view this whole situation: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=2705.
Throughout the Bible we see those with much turning away from God and the life He intended them to live. And we see God humbling His people, even using economic and social crises to humble them and turn them back to Him. Maybe God is going to use this whole economic crisis to wake up the American Church. Maybe it will remind us where our confidence should lie, and maybe it will remind us of the life God desires us to live and the way He desires us to use the blessings He has given us. Maybe this whole crisis will help change America and the Church for the better. And at this time, with the elections coming up and the chance to actually make our voice be heard and help bring about that change, I pray we step up and DO IT.
“Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord – that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” –Psalm 83:18
Also, this is a really short but really good article that speaks to the current economic crisis and how we, as Christians, can view this whole situation. Or how we SHOULD view this whole situation: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=2705.
Throughout the Bible we see those with much turning away from God and the life He intended them to live. And we see God humbling His people, even using economic and social crises to humble them and turn them back to Him. Maybe God is going to use this whole economic crisis to wake up the American Church. Maybe it will remind us where our confidence should lie, and maybe it will remind us of the life God desires us to live and the way He desires us to use the blessings He has given us. Maybe this whole crisis will help change America and the Church for the better. And at this time, with the elections coming up and the chance to actually make our voice be heard and help bring about that change, I pray we step up and DO IT.
“Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord – that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” –Psalm 83:18
Sunday, October 12, 2008
the election....
So it’s getting closer and closer to the elections, yet I am no closer to knowing who I want to be my next president. In thinking about the whole situation, I’ve realized there are a few root issues that need to be thought about that just aren’t addressed enough. As a Christian and an American, I am in a hard spot right now. My American culture and even some of my churches stereotype me and tell me I have to care about abortion and gay marriage more than any other issue and vote for the candidate that will do the “right” thing on those issues (aka the Republican). But as I look deeper into it and into what it means to truly live for Christ, the “right” thing is really not what my culture, both secular and Christian, is telling me I should do. Rather than call myself a Christian – the definition of which is something I’m not even sure I want to be associated with anymore – I’d rather call myself a disciple of Christ. And as a disciple my principle question in every situation, whether political or not, should be: what will bring the most glory to God and further His Kingdom?
I am an American and I love my country. I recognize what a privilege it is to live here and I believe I am truly blessed. But I am a follower of Christ FIRST before an American citizen, so my first aim should be the furthering of His Kingdom rather than the furthering of the American Kingdom. So when I sit down and think about who to vote for, I am not thinking about who will make America the most rich and prosperous and who will make me the most comfortable and enable me to buy the biggest house, etc. I am thinking about who will do the most to further the Kingdom of God and us to accomplish the purposes He has called us to. Or, in the case of this year’s election, the question we may need to ask is who will bring the least harm to the Kingdom? It may be a “Christian” candidate, it may not.
And going along with these questions, we need to ask ourselves as disciples of Christ what we believe the overall role of government should be. This will also help determine who we vote for. If the Church really did its job, really did what the Bible calls us to do and lived the way Christ exemplified, we would not need the social programs and welfare programs we currently have and the foreign aide the government currently gives. Realistically though, the Church isn’t doing everything it can – it isn’t taking care of all the homeless, the oppressed, the widowed, etc (Is. 1:17) It is doing a lot, but it is not doing all it could. And the American church today especially isn’t doing all it could with the blessings God has given us. We simply can’t use the excuse that we’re doing a lot already – as Christians we are daily supposed to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We should daily be seeking to grow and change, and the overall Body of Christ should reflect this. The American Church needs to grow and change – we can’t be stuck in the American culture. We look way too similar to American society- we are supposed to look different. We are supposed to stand out. If we are no longer standing out and living in a truly Biblical way in our country, then maybe it’s time to change more, to be different more.
Since the Church is not doing everything it can then, the responsibility falls on the government. So should we be voting for the Democratic candidate, who wants to take more money from the wealthy and distribute it more evenly, putting it in more programs that will help the poor and needy? Is that the government’s role? Or do we vote for the Republican candidate, who will let citizens keep more control over their personal finances and decide what to do with it? As disciples, do we want to have more control over our finances and trust ourselves and our fellow believers with it, hoping that we’ll do with it what God has called us to? Do we deal with the problem from the inside out? Or should we just let the government have more control and address these issues, since we are just not doing it right now?
Either way, there NEEDS to be a heart change in the American Church. If we were living and giving like we are called to, then I would say definitely vote for the candidate that will give us more control over our personal lives and finances and let us reach out to the world the way we decide. But I honestly don’t know if we will be good stewards of what God has given us. I pray someday we will have a Church that does not need the government to help us with our work. I pray someday the government strives to model itself after the Church and the way we live and govern ourselves because it is so successful at dealing with the world’s issues. And I believe we can get to that point, because Christ left us with the perfect example of how to govern wisely and respond peaceably to conflict and command with authority but not violence, etc. But right now the Church is not at a place where the government is going to look to us as an example.
When I say Church, I am not speaking about individual churches, because clearly there are MANY wonderful churches all over the US that are truly doing the work of God. When I say Church I am talking about the Body of Christ overall, so I am generalizing. Right now I am definitely generalizing about the Church in America, and generally speaking, I don’t believe the Church in America is reflective of the way Christ desired the Church to look. I pray that a change starts to happen from the inside out, that our hearts are changed to see how Christ desires us to live with the blessings He’s given us. And I pray that we truly start to live that way, so that some day soon we have a government that will work alongside us but not do our work for us and a candidate that we feel will actually move us toward doing the work of the Kingdom, and not two that both seem to be moving us away from that work.
But for now, vote for the candidate that will best help us bring about that change in the Church that we so desperately need and that will best help us further the Kingdom of God.
I am an American and I love my country. I recognize what a privilege it is to live here and I believe I am truly blessed. But I am a follower of Christ FIRST before an American citizen, so my first aim should be the furthering of His Kingdom rather than the furthering of the American Kingdom. So when I sit down and think about who to vote for, I am not thinking about who will make America the most rich and prosperous and who will make me the most comfortable and enable me to buy the biggest house, etc. I am thinking about who will do the most to further the Kingdom of God and us to accomplish the purposes He has called us to. Or, in the case of this year’s election, the question we may need to ask is who will bring the least harm to the Kingdom? It may be a “Christian” candidate, it may not.
And going along with these questions, we need to ask ourselves as disciples of Christ what we believe the overall role of government should be. This will also help determine who we vote for. If the Church really did its job, really did what the Bible calls us to do and lived the way Christ exemplified, we would not need the social programs and welfare programs we currently have and the foreign aide the government currently gives. Realistically though, the Church isn’t doing everything it can – it isn’t taking care of all the homeless, the oppressed, the widowed, etc (Is. 1:17) It is doing a lot, but it is not doing all it could. And the American church today especially isn’t doing all it could with the blessings God has given us. We simply can’t use the excuse that we’re doing a lot already – as Christians we are daily supposed to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We should daily be seeking to grow and change, and the overall Body of Christ should reflect this. The American Church needs to grow and change – we can’t be stuck in the American culture. We look way too similar to American society- we are supposed to look different. We are supposed to stand out. If we are no longer standing out and living in a truly Biblical way in our country, then maybe it’s time to change more, to be different more.
Since the Church is not doing everything it can then, the responsibility falls on the government. So should we be voting for the Democratic candidate, who wants to take more money from the wealthy and distribute it more evenly, putting it in more programs that will help the poor and needy? Is that the government’s role? Or do we vote for the Republican candidate, who will let citizens keep more control over their personal finances and decide what to do with it? As disciples, do we want to have more control over our finances and trust ourselves and our fellow believers with it, hoping that we’ll do with it what God has called us to? Do we deal with the problem from the inside out? Or should we just let the government have more control and address these issues, since we are just not doing it right now?
Either way, there NEEDS to be a heart change in the American Church. If we were living and giving like we are called to, then I would say definitely vote for the candidate that will give us more control over our personal lives and finances and let us reach out to the world the way we decide. But I honestly don’t know if we will be good stewards of what God has given us. I pray someday we will have a Church that does not need the government to help us with our work. I pray someday the government strives to model itself after the Church and the way we live and govern ourselves because it is so successful at dealing with the world’s issues. And I believe we can get to that point, because Christ left us with the perfect example of how to govern wisely and respond peaceably to conflict and command with authority but not violence, etc. But right now the Church is not at a place where the government is going to look to us as an example.
When I say Church, I am not speaking about individual churches, because clearly there are MANY wonderful churches all over the US that are truly doing the work of God. When I say Church I am talking about the Body of Christ overall, so I am generalizing. Right now I am definitely generalizing about the Church in America, and generally speaking, I don’t believe the Church in America is reflective of the way Christ desired the Church to look. I pray that a change starts to happen from the inside out, that our hearts are changed to see how Christ desires us to live with the blessings He’s given us. And I pray that we truly start to live that way, so that some day soon we have a government that will work alongside us but not do our work for us and a candidate that we feel will actually move us toward doing the work of the Kingdom, and not two that both seem to be moving us away from that work.
But for now, vote for the candidate that will best help us bring about that change in the Church that we so desperately need and that will best help us further the Kingdom of God.
Monday, September 1, 2008
prosperity gospel
This is a clip of John Piper responding to the false doctrine of the prosperity gospel. He shows so clearly how preaching prosperity in the Lord's name is a lie and not the at all the Truth of Christ....it is in fact the opposite of the true Gospel. it is this prosperity gospel that is blinding so many people and turning our american christianity away from true Christianity. Getting rid of this false gospel, this message that tells us God wants us to be rich and content and have all the material things we want, ridding our society of this gospel will help bring about the change we so badly need. The change that will help us live the lives God intended us to live: lives that feed the hungry and clothe the naked and rescue the oppressed. Lives that CARE. Lives that LOVE. We were never created to be content when the world was the way we wanted. We were created to be content when the world was the way God wanted. And clearly it is not there yet. So let's stop believing this false gospel and move toward His world.
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/03/piper-on-prosperity-gospel.html#93
http://theologica.blogspot
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Advise Everyone... Endorse No One (by Shane Claiborne)
As we pass the half-way point of our Jesus for President tour, we remember Jesus' admonition that we be "as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." There is a lot of momentum around our little campaign of political misfits - from some of the mainstream media and from the dozen cities where we've had thousands of folks come together to plot goodness. And with the momentum comes temptation.
We've been courted by candidates who want an endorsement... or who at least would like us to be "advisers." At first I thought advising a candidate was a subtle euphemism for endorsing them, but I have come to think that there is an important distinction to make between "endorsing" and "advising." I want to be an adviser to every politico that asks, and an endorser of no one but Jesus. Chris and I just joked that he could become an official advisor for Obama, and I'd take McCain just to make sure folks know that we are not partisan. We do take seriously the opportunity to dialogue with political candidates, or anyone else for that matter, especially as many people seem to be rethinking politics as usual. As for the presidential candidates, we're not sure how our counsel will go over, since it may begin with advising those seeking office to melt down the weapons of our arsenal and transform them into things that bring life to the suffering masses of this planet--"beating swords into plows" as the prophets say. But we'll see if anyone takes us up on the offer.
Chris and I end the 2-hour JFP presentation with these words:
We will not be endorsing any candidates. Rather, we will invite them to endorse the political manifesto of our Commander-in-Chief and to join the peculiar upside-down Kingdom that blesses the poor and the peacemakers...
Our central allegience is to God's Kingdom, and we invite everything else in the world to align itself with the norms of that upside-down Kingdom. That is what we endorse, and we stand behind everything and everyone that moves us closer to that - the coming of God's Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." And we get in the way of everything that contradicts and works against God's Kingdom - interrupting injustice with grace.
In post-Religious Right America, we want to learn from the mistakes of the generation before us (so we don't repeat them) - one of which was telling Christians who to vote for. Rather than spoon-feeding people answers, we hope to stir up the right questions - and trust that the Spirit will lead us as we "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." One of the places the religious right went wrong was telling people what to do rather than inviting them to think for themselves, with the help of the Spirit of God (in fact, it even seems a real lack of faith to to coerce or convince people to do exactly what we want them to... as if the Spirit is not at work in them). That's where Jesus shines - he stirs up questions and tells stories that unveil truth, rather than drafting a careful declaration or endorsement that's going to solve everything wrong in the world.
Folks come out of our JFP shows with all kinds of ideas churning. Some have shared that they are inspired to start an adoption agency to try and decrease the number of abortions. U.S. soldiers have said they are becoming conscientious objectors or are seeking discharge. Some folks have said they are going to organize for one of the candidates, and others have said they are going to write in "Jesus" on Nov. 4. To all of it we say, "Yes!" Thank God the Spirit is at work, and is renewing minds and imaginations in the Church, so that we might follow the command of Romans: "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Reporters often ask folks leaving our presentations funny questions like: "Young evangelicals are the swing vote in this election... has this evening affected how you are going to vote in November?" I heard one person say beautifully, "That's the wrong question... the real question is how can we become the change we want to see in the world TODAY and not just hope that every four years we can elect politicians to change the world for us." May it be so. May we continue to become the change we want to see in the Church and in the world. Enough donkeys and elephants - Long live the Lamb.
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