Unleash!

What holds you back in your relationship with Christ?

Be honest.

Are you stuck in the performance trap where it seems like no matter how many "good things" you do, you and God just don't seem to be there?

Is there something in your past that weighs you down? Something you've done? Something that was done to you? Do you think that God just wouldn't ever be able to use someone like you?

Are you overwhelmed with where you are in life? Has there been something that came up out of nowhere and pretty much knocked you off your feet?

Ever felt like there had to be something more to this life? Something more in your relationship with Christ?

I've answered "yes" to every one of these questions at some point in my life. My relationship with Christ has been a journey. It's never been simply getting from point a to point b.

I recently read Perry Noble's new book "Unleash." (In stores today!) Having attended Newspring several times and being very familiar with Perry's preaching, I was really interested in how this book would stack up.

Let me tell you that you need to add "Unleash" to your reading list right now! This book is comprised of so many of the truths that I have heard Perry Noble preach about in the past. At the same time, it's a simple read. He doesn't use a lot of big "church words" or confuse the truth with lots of extra fluff. This a straight forward book on how you can unleash your life to reach your full potential in Christ.

I love that Perry Noble didn't make this book one big feel good message. He acknowledges that sometimes, life simply sucks! There's a lot of bad things that happen in our lives, but we have a God that is bigger than them all and wants us to live fully and freely.

I can't really do justice to everything that I got from the book. It definitely reminded me of those times in my life where my only option was to rely on God and encouraged me in my walk with Christ now.

An Epiphany about Romans 8:38-39

Romans 8:38-39 is my all time favorite section of scripture:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

I think that's one of the most beautiful declarations in all scripture. That truth should catapult us to boldness! Nothing can separate us from the love of God! Nothing in all creation!

I like an epiphany. It's that moment where something strikes you and you either react like me, with an audible "hmmmmmmm" or maybe it's simply "ah-ha!"

However you know, epiphanies can bring out something that you may have completely overlooked before.

I know this verse by heart. A good friend painted it for me and it's hanging in my office. But last night I had an epiphany about it.

I've always focused on the external things about this scripture. In a way, I have thought about it like my relationship with God is in a bubble and all the things it talks about in this verse are like things trying to break through the bubble and separate us.

I love the declaration that not even death, angels, demons, or any power in all creation can separate us from the love of God. I'm not coming out of that bubble!

Then I thought, "This verse is kind of talking about me."

In other words, nothing I can do will separate me from the love of God!! (hmmmmmm!)

As someone who struggles with performance based affection, this is something I have to remind myself of. Nothing I can do will make God love me more or less than he already does! He can't possibly love me more because when he looks at me, he see's Jesus!

Let that sink in for you.

As a Christian, there's nothing you can do to earn God's love. There is also nothing you can do to make him love you less! 

Let's run with that today!! Not only is there nothing in all of creation that can separate you from his love, there's nothing you can do to change his love! Let's be bold with this! Let this truth fuel every aspect of your life!

I do love a good epiphany

Women in the Church and the Questions I Still Have

The theological implications of women in the Church has long confused me. I've pretty much heard every view you can think of. The problem I have is I'm still not entirely sure what God says about it! I've been studying the scriptures and reading the books and commentaries and have narrowed down my confusion.

Let me first say that I am happy in my calling from God. I know he's put me in a place of support and "behind the scenes" work. That fits me great! I'm not really interested in being ordained because I don't really think I need a title to do what I'm doing, but my own curiosity prompts me to know more. From my experience, if I have an area of doubt in my life, satan exposes it to throw off my focus. I'm trying to solidify my understanding of what God says.

Let me lay out what I know:

1. God Values Women
There is no doubt that God also created women in his image and places immense value on women. It's summed up well by simply saying, "men and women are equal in value and dignity by creation and redemption."

2. Women Have Valuable, Unique Roles in the Kingdom
Starting in Genesis we see this idea play out. There was no suitable helper in all of creation for Adam, so God created Eve to fit that role. That's pretty huge in and of itself. Out of everything God created, there was nothing that could fill that role except for Eve!

Further in the Old Testament, we continue to see women filling unique roles. Some of the big names include Rehab, Ruth and Esther. These women were played pivotal roles.

In the New Testament, we see that there were women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples, caring for them wherever they went. When Jesus was being crucified and the disciples fled in fear, these women remained and watched until the end. (Matthew 27:55-56) Mary Magdalene and the other Mary also carried the news of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples. Again, these women were a vital part of the story.

If women have valuable, unique roles, then it is to be assumed that men also have valuable, unique roles to play and the they are different from each other. Men and women were created differently. Every person who has ever thought, "I just don't understand him/her," should know this is true. Men and women were created differently to fulfill different roles.

3. Submission is Not a Dirty Word
In our feminist society, the idea of submission (especially by women) is usually looked at as an antiquated concept that puts the church further out of touch. This is sad. So many women become defensive when we start talking about things like male headship.

Submission is defined as "recognizing your place within the God-given order of society, and to act appropriately to that place, by accepting the authority of those whom God has entrusted it."

This definition of submission is applicable to the authority of the Church, God and a husband. For me, this concept is a little difficult to grasp. It's almost difficult to understand authority without thinking of it negatively. During a recent message on authority I was listening too, I was trying to reflect on this concept.

I was raised by a very strong, independent woman. I gladly submitted to her as my mother but also as my best friend. In that way, I generally understand the concept of the submitting to the church and I've never denied the fact that as a follower of Christ, I am to submit to him. But as I was sitting and listening to this message, I had a thought. If you think of your ideal father, someone that loves you and cares for you just like you want to be loved and the submission that would come from that relationship of love and trust, then you're starting to get a good picture of submission to God. God is our perfect heavenly father and we submit to him in the same way. While husbands are people too and generally imperfect (just like wives), the concept still remains. Submission is birthed from love and trust and is really a beautiful thing.

4. God Doesn't Care About Your Resume
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied in Matthew 22:37, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

This commandment was not conditional. Think about the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations." Jesus didn't tell them to go after they completed four years of seminary and and an extensive internship. He said Go!

Loving God with our heart, soul, and mind is an all consuming love. Everything we do is to be done as if it was for God. This means that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you are serving God. You don't have to be ordained, have a title, or even some kind of credential. God doesn't care about how extensive our resume is, He simply commands us to go and make disciples.

So I'm pretty confident about all that. I stand by those four things.

Here's where I'm still confused:

Reading scriptures like 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 2 Timothy 1:5,3:15 and Titus 2:3-5 leave me with more questions about the role of a woman in church.

What about the idea that all Christian teachers are called to teach humbly under the authority of Christ? Can women teach others, including men, under the authority of scripture and with humility? Can she she be a member of a pastoral team whose leader is a man? Could she be involved in ministry and therefore commissioned (ordained) to do so?

What do you know about all this?

Single Girl Church Problems

"Hi! Yes, I am single......................no, I don't need you to guard my heart. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that Proverbs 4:23 says, "guard YOUR heart....."

Ladies, have you found yourself having that conversation (even if it's only in your head)? Somewhere along the way, Church people started to pity the single. They are the lonely, sad group that only has one thing on their mind.....relationships!

If  you find yourself looking over your shoulder thinking, "Who's she talking about? I'm good with being single," you are not alone!

Okay, so this post is supposed be sarcastic (don't start the hate mail yet). However, it can honestly be a little frustrating to be a single girl in church. This is primarily directed towards "the next generation of leaders" in the Church (twentysomethings).

So if a bunch of twentysomethings get together for a bible study or some other function, people start making comments to the effect of, "Alright people, this isn't a single's mixer or anything." REALLY? You had to make that clear? Heaven forbid that Christian people actually meet in church. In fact, if you really want to "care for someone like a brother or sister" (more on that line in a minute) shouldn't you hope that they do in fact find a solid guy/girl in church? I mean it's not like we have a 50% divorce rate in this country or anything....

Are we ostracising single people in the Church? As twentysomethings, do we have a tendency to say dumb things without thinking? I know that can't possibly be true....... let's look at some examples:

1. I'm trying to guard your heart........... Again, somewhere along the way we've forgotten that the same Holy Spirit that resides in the speaker also resides in the person it's being spoken too. Do you really want to help your brother/sister in Christ? Respect their convictions and check your own heart.

2. You're my sister/brother in Christ....... One day, some young twentysomething theologian wannabe really took this phrase too far. This phrase is supposed to illicit respect between two people. This is not saying that you have to begin or end a conversation with phrases like "sis" or "bro." Yeah... I'm not a Catholic nun.....It should be noted that this is most often used to "clarify" one's "feelings" towards another....translated, "I know we had this great conversation, but don't get any ideas."

3. I'm not being a good brother/sister in Christ to you...... Well, thank you for informing me of something completely random about yourself. Why is this so frustrating? This phrase is primarily used as an excuse to stop talking to someone. Unfortunately, I have seen this used when a guy and a girl get close and then one of them decides they really weren't serious about the whole thing in the first place, so they bring out the brother/sister line. I know twentysomethings are supposed to be "free-spirits" and all, but let's all try to come up with a different line or something that resembles the truth.

Well we've certainly come up with some really great phrases to make sure all the single Christians know exactly what's what.

I had to stop myself from going into all the physical things we do to try to make sure that Christian singles don't get the wrong idea about anything. This includes personal policies against being alone with people of the opposite sex (even if you were in the middle of downtown New York or standing in the middle of the street).

Okay.... so that was interesting. Too harsh? There's a really cheesy thing I heard once that goes, "I dream of a world where a chicken can cross the road without it's intentions being questioned." Chances are, if you're single in the Church, you just "amened" that.

The truth is, my fear is that by continuing these dumb practices, we are alienating an entire group of the Church.

Let's be clear. Singles are people too. God created them with a purpose too. It's true that 98% of people will be married one day, but a mature Christian will not want to waste their years of singleness (and 2% of people will never be married). As future leaders in the Church, we have to stop treating singles with pity and worse, caution. Singleness is not a disease. It is not contagious. Let's get over our egos and our pride that says that every person we meet is "interested" in being with us.

Yes, I understand that somewhere some guy in the church ran off with his secretary and the church fell to pieces and that's why we all need to be cautious with each other. There's actually a simple solution to that....DON'T BE THAT GUY! (see studies on guarding your own heart, purity, and self-control)

Let's start examining our own lives and start treating men and women in the Church with respect without regards to their desire to wear skirts. There's no need for all the extra fluff, simple respect will do just fine.

The Fear of Ineffectiveness

Being ineffective is probably one of my biggest fears. That's probably why I was drawn to a field of study (accounting) that people told me would always be needed.

I never want to feel like I'm being ineffective with my job, with people, in my relationship with Christ.

As much I as I always try to work hard, feeling ineffective has a way of creeping in every now and then.

When that familiar feeling started to come back again, I tried to really reflect on what made me feel that way. What was I doing or not doing that contributed to that? I asked God for some direction in resolving that feeling.

Bring in 2 Peter 1:5-8:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, hello there God! That's quite the answer!

As I began studying this passage and what each of the characteristics meant, God really convicted me that when I begin to feel ineffective, I need to examine myself. He has already equipped me to do everything he created me to do. What am I neglecting?

The ESV version uses the word virtue in the place of goodness and it simply means the quality of life that makes someone stand out as excellent. Am I living a life of virtue? Is there some sin in my life that is keeping from living a life worthy of being called a follower of Christ?

The word knowledge here means understanding, correct insight, truth properly comprehended and applied. This kind of knowledge comes from a continual study of God's word and pursuit of him. Am I being diligent in spending time with God? Do I have a desire to know him more by spending time with him?

Self-control seems pretty obvious. It literally means "holding oneself in." It relates to control of the flesh, the passions and bodily desires. Am I practicing self-control? Is there an area of my life where self-control is lacking?

Godliness simply means to live reverently, loyally and obediently towards God. Am I putting into practice what I'm studying? Is there a part of my life where I'm being disobedient to God? Am I listening to and responding to his commands?

The ESV uses brotherly affection in the place of mutual affection. Both mean a type of kindness and mutual respect for brothers and sisters in Christ. Am I really loving people? Am I taking time to pour into other people?

Love is always a big one. Mentioned a lot in 1 Corinthians, love here is a self-giving love that is more concerned with giving than receiving. Am I loving people without any expectation of reciprocation or action in return?

I love how Peter sums all of this up by saying, "If you possess these in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

This tells me that I need to be continually reflecting on these things to prevent myself from becoming ineffective and unproductive.

Cultivate Faithfulness

C.S. Lewis once said, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

Psalm 37 says:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers 

   be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass 




 and wither like the green herb. 

Trust in the Lord, and do good;    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,  and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Christine Caine tweeted, "The goal is to run YOUR race and finish YOUR course. Stay in YOUR lane; stop looking over YOUR shoulder. Fix YOUR eyes on Jesus!

I have been reflecting on all three of things for a couple of months.

In my experience, nothing will derail you quicker from the course God has set out for you than looking around at other people and comparing your path to theirs.

We can so easily forget the purpose God set before us when we start looking at someone else and their purpose and thinking, “I wish I could do that.”

C.S. Lewis is definitely high up on my list of wise people and he said it so simply. Comparison is the thief of joy. Whether you admit it or not, I bet you’ve experienced this. You’re excited about the possibilities of a new opportunity or the vision God’s given you UNTIL you look over and see your friend doing something completely different and think, “She’s/He’s so much better at that than me….”

God called you for a specific purpose! A SPECIFIC PURPOSE! By the very nature of that statement you can’t compare it to someone else’s purpose. So why do we?

I have Psalm 37 posted in my office, because I need to read it almost every day. The first two verses speak to comparison, but I continually have to remind myself of verse 3, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness”

The word "befriend" here also means "cultivate." What the Psalmist is telling us is to dwell in the land (wherever you are with God) and cultivate faithfulness in whatever he’s called you to do.

Someone pointed out to me once that as Christians, so many time we want the result without the process. For me, this means that we want to reach the pinnacle without laboring in the climb.

What has called you to do right now? Not what do you want to one day be doing. What do you need to cultivate faithfulness in today?

Christine Caine summed it up best for me with her tweet. When I’m frustrated with something in my life, I can usually trace it back to taking my eyes of MY purpose.

We need to stop looking around comparing our journey with Christ with everyone else’s and get to OUR OWN purpose. God created every part of YOU! Your talents, your knowledge, your personality were all created to fulfill your unique purpose! THAT’S AMAZING!!

How much more effective would we all be at spreading the Gospel if we stopped the comparison and started cultivating faithfulness in what God has called us to do?

Even if He Won't.....

Has there ever been a time when God has clearly spoken to your heart and it kind of caught you off guard?

I've been reflecting on what God said and it's still hard.

There are a few times in life where something pops up completely out of the blue and has the power to change your entire life. One conversation, one phone call can alter you life completely in the blink of an eye.

One night after one of these events, I was praying earnestly to God. I knew exactly how this situation HAD to turn out. There was only one option. God had to make this right. "You have to come through, God" I said over and over. You have to come through.

But even if He won't.......

That was all....... WHAT?! What do you mean "even if He won't"???? WHAT?!

After my initial questioning wore off, the next thing I began thinking of was the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3.

Yep. Heard the story in Sunday school about million times. Shane and Shane made a song out of it...... not sure where you're going with this God.

I actually think I did know where he was going with it, but it took some time for me to really confront it.

So King Nebuchadnezzar has a bit of an ego (understatement). He thinks he's pretty much on the same level as the God of the Jews. So he builds this massive statue of himself (vain much?) When the music begins to play, everyone in Babylon is required to worship the statue. Anyone caught not worshiping will be thrown into the fiery furnace.

Sure enough, the music plays and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don't make a move to worship. This kind of makes the king mad. He threatens to throw them into the fire if they don't begin to worship him. Look at their reply:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

-Daniel 3:16-18

Definitely a bold reply. Did you catch that one part? They said God had the ability to save them and he will save them, but even if he did not, they still would not worship King Nebuchadnezzar. 

If you don't know the rest of the story, the three are thrown into the furnace and God does save them. That's pretty much the good Sunday school version. 

Now let's really think about this. It's easy for us to appreciate the boldness of their reply when we know they end up fine! Can you imagine how much faith and trust that really took to say?

These three men are pretty much staring death in the face. The fiery furnace had probably killed many before them. They knew that this could really be the end. Yet, they acknowledged that God had the ability to save them and they really believed he would, but even if He won't, they would still praise only one god. 

I don't know if you've ever experienced one of those life altering moments. I kind of pray you don't. In the middle of one, God chose to remind me of this story. In the middle of the storm, God asked me if I would still praise Him even if He won't.

I wish I could say I answered immediately. I was surprised He would ask me. I sat back not knowing what to say. A few days later, I stood in church. The band played a song about how much God loves us. I knew the words well. It was one of my favorite songs. I grew up in church. I knew God loved me. But in that moment, it took everything in me to sing the words. 

I can start to understand how bold Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's reply was. I know God can make this situation turn out right. I know He can show up and work a miracle, but I also know that even if He won't, He is still good. He is still faithful. He is still sovereign. I will still praise Him.

I wish it was easier for me to say. I cried all the way through writing this! I really believe there comes a point where all I can do is keep telling God that I love Him and I trust Him. You are still good. You are still faithful. You are still Sovereign.