Holy Spirit Apps...

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

I had a pretty cool experience with the Lord awhile back and I have shared this story with many people since then so I decided to write it out in my blog.

In January of 2010 we were hanging out at our daughter’s house for “family night”. Every Sunday we would get together and hang out with the grand kids, have dinner together and then play cards or something when the kids went to bed. This particular night I accidentally left my cell phone at their house and, when I got home and realized I didn’t have it, I felt a surge of, well, panic! It was late and they lived about 35 minutes away and I wasn’t going to go back to get it.

The panic came when I realized just how much I relied on that phone!! I use it as my watch, an alarm clock, and it is my life line to the ladies in the ministry, my elderly ladies and my family… pretty much everything I do is in that phone! When those feelings of panic started to come, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that even THIS situation and circumstance was not an accident!! God knew very well what was going on and had a plan to use it for my good and His Glory. “My circumstances do not make me who I am but they reveal who I am” quote by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I believe that God uses our circumstances to show us our own hearts and what is in there… like this panic.

“Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.” Oswald Chambers - December 14th

Then, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Do you rely on ME as much as you rely on that phone?”…. Oh my!  That was a really good question!!  I had to think about that for a while… which was pretty sad in and of itself.  Do I rely on the Lord and the Holy Spirit as much as I rely on my phone?  Well, you know, the more I thought about not having the Holy Spirit, the more I realized that I probably relied on Him more than I am consciously aware of! I think if for some reason He was suddenly gone out of my life (like my phone), I would REALLY notice it and realize how much I relied on Him and needed Him.  But then, this situation also made me realize all the ways I DON’T rely on Him!!  

The following morning, when I was journaling all of this, I was thinking about my cell phone and how, even though I rely on it quite a bit, there are still many features and apps I had never used before. It was my first “smart phone” and I hadn’t really done very much investigating into all that it was capable of. Then I heard the Holy Spirit say, "There are many features and apps in ME that you have never used before either!" I was like, Wow... That was pretty profound!! You are right Lord!" Nothing like getting your eyes opened by the Lord!! Not that these apps are not available to me, but that I just haven’t taken the time to investigate and learn to use them yet. Oh Holy Spirit, I pray that You will help me to learn more about You and all the “features” you offer me that I have not learned to use yet!! I feel like I have available to me amazing things but I ​need ​to press into You more and allow you to flow through me, and teach me, so that You are Glorified! Please take my hand and show me more of You!  

When this first happened in 2010 I was picturing the Holy Spirit “apps” as being huge and powerful miracles but after chewing on this and asking God about it for the last 8 years I recently felt like He was talking about the “Fruits” of the Spirit… Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control… Not necessarily "big", powerful things. Like what it says in the scripture in 1 kings “The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper...” 1 Kings 19:11-12.  He was IN the gentle whisper and NOT in the powerful wind, earthquake or fire.

Isn’t that just like us? Looking for the BIG things when God is all about the things that are quiet, still, small and gentle. As much as the Lord has revealed to me over the years, I absolutely know there are things about Him that I still have NO CLUE about, big and small, and I would really like to go deeper with Him in all areas. I know that he continues to bring this up to me for a reason and I fully expect Him to blow me away, like always, when He does reveal even more deep and wonderful things to me. So I will continue to seek Him and wait for HIS perfect timing! He knows my heart and my desire for Him, so I will trust Him with the rest.

How about you? Are there Holy Spirit “apps” that you have not tapped into??

“The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.” Oswald Chambers – December 14th

The Stepford Christian

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

Over the years that I have been a Christian, and an Inn Keeper, I have met some pretty amazing people! And there are times when I can meet someone for the first time and, right off the bat, I KNOW they are Christian! There is something about their smile, their warmth, their kindness and the look in their eyes. And when I pick up on this, I look forward to the Lord opening a door for a conversation involving HIM. And most of the time it is awesome!! I LOVE to talk about the Lord! I love to share all of the adventures Tom and I have had together and the things He has taught me. And I love to hear about other Christian's journeys too so I can learn and grow from them! It's that whole growing in "community" thing and it is wonderful!

But then, there are times when I meet people who "say" they are Christians and I get excited to talk with them, so I start to talk about the Lord and... while they are smiling at me, the look on their face tells me they have no clue what I am talking about! Recently this happened and I walked away thinking "where is the disconnect? What am I missing?" Then I heard "Stepford Wives"... And then, after thinking about this for a few minutes, I had a strange realization!

For those of you who are scratching your head right now, let me give you a little back ground. In 1975 a movie called "The Stepford Wives" came out and it was actually pretty creepy and a bit terrifying (a remake came out in 2004)!. I feel the need to say at this point that I had not thought about this movie in decades and actually had to look it up and watched it again on YouTube because it had been so long since I had seen it!! So it was rather strange for this movie title to come to mind. 

It was about this town, called Stepford, where all the women there were the "perfect" house wives! They kept their homes spotless, cooked fabulous meals, were great moms and doted on their husbands like they were kings! Any newcomers to the town were greeted with homemade, “welcome to the neighborhood” meals, and the men were invited to the "Men's Club". But when the women tried to make friends none of the town ladies were available, and actually had NO interest at all in getting together, they had too much house work to do. After about 4 months the new lady turned out to be just like the others… Can you guess what was happening?? They were being replaced by perfect replicas of themselves! It took about four months to get all the details they needed to replicate them. All this was designed, orchestrated and implemented by the MEN in this town! What a perfect setup! Their wives looked beautiful with perfect hair, clothes and makeup, they were wonderful cooks, the kids were taken care of, they had a perfectly clean house, AND access to fabulous sex any time they wanted... what more could a man ask for!!?? 

So, at this point in time you are probably still scratching your head and asking what does all this have to do with Christians? Well, funny you should ask because that is what I was wondering too! But the more I thought about it, the more I started to get this little creepy feeling, realizing that the "organized" church/religious institutions/and doctrines could be doing the very same thing to us! Brainwashing us all into conforming to certain beliefs and doctrines for the sole purpose of doing their bidding!!

Keeping us dependent on them so we will continue to come to church, pay our tithe and volunteer our time... What a brilliant system this is!! No other organization has it so good! Normally you would have to PAY people to work for you, but WE volunteer, giving of our time AND we pay THEM (our tithes) for the privilege to be there… all of this for a system we are TOLD is a good thing!? Okay, okay... I know. Church IS a good thing, right!? I certainly don't want to call ALL churches out, or bad, but... still, there are those Christians that "say" they believe, but then have NO clue what a personal relationship with the Lord even is... after being in Church for decades! I think there is something terribly wrong with that! They check off the "I went to Church" box, are wonderful and kind people with great smiles, but with no spiritual depth. Like the Stepford wives. If you talk beyond their programmed vocabulary they look at you and smile, then very sweetly change the subject because they have no reference point for what you just said.

Please understand that I am not picking on these people. They are doing what they are told to do and truly believe they are doing the "right" thing. And of course we are all responsible for our choices and behaviors so I can’t put this all off on organized religion. But with that said, are we "like sheep, being led astray"? Are we growing in our walk and relationship with God or are we too tired and burned out from all of the volunteering at church to even work on our own relationship with God, pray or question anything? I can personally say I was there. I was so busy "doing" and "volunteering" that my relationship with the Lord ended up at the bottom of my list... or not on my list at all! "I" was a Stepford Christian for many years! Just because you are working in the church, does not mean you are serving the Lord or that you have a relationship with Him... just say'n. 

Anyway, I thought I would ruffle some feathers out there today to see if you were awake... or if you were a "Stepford Christian"...  ha! :)

“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25

Living to Die, Or Dying to Live?

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39

A friend of ours recently died of cancer. When Tom and I visited him in hospice I was blessed to be able to tell him how his life had impacted ours before he passed. He and his wife served the Lord in the homeless ministry for many years and their dedication and obedience touched many lives for the Kingdom. He had many wonderful “God stories” and shared miracles as well as powerful testimonies of God’s amazing intervention in people’s lives. He was also a musician and he introduced us to Derek Webb, a very anointed musician and song writer. One of my favorite songs, by Derek Webb, is called What is not Love; I see things upside down This song has been an inspiration for many of my blogs (the upside down series) and has helped me personally to see and understand God better and seeing His “eternal” perspective. And interestingly enough, I was inspired again by my friend’s death to understand “life”, from God’s eternal perspective a little better instead of from my upside down temporal view.

From the moment we are born we are dying. This life here on earth is temporal yet we tend to cling to it like it was the most important thing we have on earth, and I guess it kind of is, in a way. We are created with a self-preservation instinct and a desire to fight for life but I am understanding more and more how we are clinging to and fighting for the wrong “life”! When we don’t understand “God’s” definition of life we can be devastated when a loved one passes away, becoming hurt and angry at God for taking a life that was so important to us. For the young who have passed, we tend to go down the thought processes of “They had so much more life to live!” and we grieve the loss of their impact in our own lives. And that isn’t necessarily ‘wrong’ in our temporal perspective.

But the more I get to know God, the more I understand His ‘eternal’ perspective

and when I shifted from temporal to eternal I had an epiphany… Since we are dying the moment we are born then we are in a body of “death” (Romans 7:24), right? So what I have realized is that God isn’t taking “life” at all, He is actually taking “death” away, our body of death, and GIVING us LIFE! Eternal life! He came to replace our body of death with a new, eternal life! THAT is what we need to cling to! Not this temporal body of death but the LIFE that God is giving us!

When Jesus talks about giving us “life” it is mostly life “eternal” and not the temporal. He knows that this life will quickly pass away, in a blink of an eye, a vapor in the wind, and like grass that is here today and gone tomorrow (Luke 12:28). But, when we talk about life, it is all about the here and now, like this life is all that we have… We are not looking any further than this moment and this life time. And we can so easily think that this is the life that Jesus is talking about too.

I decided to look into the scriptures and see when God talks about temporal life (psuche) and spiritual life (Zoe). And there is a third life that means things that sustain life, resources, wealth and goods, food and clothing (bios) but I won't go there today. So, in the scriptures I find, I will change the word from life to the Greek word for life for more clarity:

Zoe = “God-life”; Spirit (Strong’s definition: …The Lord intimately shares His gift of life with people, creating each in His image which gives all the capacity to know His eternal life.)

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Zoë, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14

“Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's Zoë does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15

“In him was Zoë, and that Zoë was the light of men.” John 1:4

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal Zoë.” John 3:16

“…but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal Zoë." John 4:14

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal Zoë and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to Zoë.” John 5:24 (did you catch that!? Even He referred to this life as “death”)

“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives Zoë to the world." John 6:33

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have Zoë, and have it to the full” (more abundantly) John 10:10

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the Zoë. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the Zoë. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

“Now this is eternal Zoë: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3

In looking at these scriptures, Jesus IS this LIFE that He is offering. He died to give it and it is to be greatly desired and sought after… Here are the scriptures for the other, temporal life:

Psuche = Physical life; soul (Lexicon definition: breath; the breath of life; the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing):

 “For whoever wants to save his Psuche will lose it, but whoever loses his

Psuche for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own Psuche --he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26

“The man who loves his Psuche will lose it, while the man who hates his Psuche in this world will keep it for eternal Zoë.” John 12:25

“…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his Psuche as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

“…just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my Psuche for the sheep” John 10:15

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his Psuche for his friends.” John 15:13

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his Psuche for us. And we ought to lay down our Psuche for our brothers.” 1 John 3:16

In these scriptures we are instructed to lay our temporal life down, to hate it… give it up for others!

So Jesus is clearly focused on and asking us to embrace the “spiritual”, eternal LIFE, and telling us to LET GO of the temporal, physical life of death, trading it in for the other! Even Paul has the same message and focus of Jesus:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24

So… what am I trying to say here? I guess I want to ask myself and you, which life are we embracing and hanging on to? And why are we embracing it? Is it the temporal, desiring physical healing, wealth, riches and creature comforts? Or is it the Life of God in us? Nurturing His eternal life, dying to ourselves, and laying down our lives for Him and others?

Are we clinging to life, living to die? Or are we dying to live?

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

I am the Good Shepherd…

"...Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:15 

I don't often get on my soap box but today I have dusted it off and, with your permission, will take a few moments of your time to share what has been grieving my heart this last week.

Most people have heard of Willow Creek Community Church and the recent news headlines involving Bill Hybels and his fall from grace. If not, you will easily find it if you search for it. Willow Creek was the "model" for so many churches as "the way to be a successful church". So many eyes were/are on Willow Creek and on churches like Willow Creek who are perceived as growing and successful. My heart hurts for Bill Hybels and all the other pastors who have fallen over the years. One after another fall, either sexually or financially (embezzling and so forth), or experience severe depression and even commit suicide. We see it in the news headlines on a regular basis announcing yet another "man of God" has fallen. And for all those who have been "caught" or confessed to sexual misconduct, there are countless more that are still living in secret sin, as well as experiencing emotional pain and or depression. 

In the ministry Tom and I are in, our eyes have certainly been opened to the truth of the condition of the men and women in the church, and not just the parishioners, but especially the pastors who are on the stage and in the spot light. In one of the books we read years ago (Tom thinks it was Pure Desire by Ted Roberts?) it listed a bunch of statistics, one of which was that the Promise Keepers and Pastors conferences have the highest X-rated movie rental in the hotels than any other conferences!! Say, WHAT!? Are you as shocked as I was!? And this statistic was at least 15 years ago. How much more now with smart phones and technology which makes it way too easy to access this information as well as to "hide"?? This statistic makes it clear that not only are the men of the church (Promise Keepers) but also the Pastors are struggling MORE than anyone else!

My point is not to condemn or heap guilt or shame on these men and women, but I would like to propose that "man" (short for human, including women) should NEVER be placed in such a lofty position to begin with. I truly believe we were never created to be there. Why do we have a church system that places "man" in a position, over other men and women, that God never intended him to be? And why are we surprised when a "man" falls into sin? Men fall into sin all the time, the world is FULL of temptation, so why are we surprised when a Pastor, who is still a "man" falls? Do we have different expectations of a Pastor than any other man? If so, why is that? Who said he was different? 

This is what Jesus says:

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:8-12

"It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." John 6:45

And after a couple of the disciples were discussing who would be the greatest in his Kingdom Jesus said:

"...You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-28

Have we embraced the "world’s" ways of "lording over" and "exercising authority over each other"? We are taught in the church that the Pastor is "over" us... somehow? But that is not what Jesus says. He says "Not so with you"! We are all brothers and sisters and we have ONE teacher, the Christ. When we look to "man" to teach us we get "tainted" information. While everyone may be well meaning we still make mistakes, believe and pass on lies, hear things wrong, see things wrong and understand things through our broken filters (I know because I have personally done this!). But, Jesus doesn't make mistakes, ever. Why don't we go to HIM and reinstate HIM as the Head of the body?

I know that most people, when they feel "the call" to be a pastor or to preach have very good intentions and have a pure heart to please and serve the Lord but, after a while, in a position they were never meant to be in, they change. And over time they start to believe they are better than, more spiritual than, more godly than... everyone else and pride changes their hearts and they take chances and risks they would have never taken in the beginning. “…For whoever exalts himself will be humbled…” Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

You may be saying, "But I know people who have wisdom and know the Bible better than I do, why can't they teach me?" Tom has a really good visual for this, he says there are people who are farther down the road on this journey than we are, and can help us with directions, but they are never OVER us. And, while we may share our testimony of what God has done on our personal journey to encourage others, we should always send them back to God to have them ask HIM for the answers for their own journey. Everyone's journey is different so God's plan for them will be different than ours so only HE can help them with the details of their journey. 

In the Trinity we have a "Father" who loves us, cares for us and provides for us, and a "Teacher" in Jesus who makes NO mistakes, and a "Counselor" and Comforter in the Holy Spirit that is full of TRUTH and wisdom and oh, by the way, He is FREE! We have all we need, why would we look to man, who is imperfect, for what God gives perfectly and freely? Why do we elevate a man and then are surprised when he falls or fails us?

The Body of Christ has ONE Head and that is Jesus: "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22-23. The purpose of the members of the body is to support, encourage and to build each other up, not to be over each other. Paul talks about the body of Christ and our gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and his point is that, even if we have different gifts we are all one body. And while there are different parts we are all interconnected and need each other. Yes, there are pastors and people who are good at teaching, exhorters, encouragers and so forth, but we are all brothers, on the same level, using our gifts for the good of the body. The only one who should be over us is Jesus, as the True Head.

Tom brought up another great scripture:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:11-15. These men and women who are put “over us” are "hired hands" who don't care for the sheep like Jesus does! While they may have good intentions in leading the flock they will not lay down their life for the sheep like Jesus did.  

So yes, my heart hurts for these men and women who are deceived and have gotten caught in the lie and believed they were more than they are and have found themselves humbled before God and man. I guess I do need to say that I truly believe that God works through these men and women and lots of good things are done through them, but just think how much MORE He could do if we allowed the TRUE Head to be over us! As always, don't take my word for it, look it up yourself! Go to the gospels and see what Jesus says about this matter.

Ok, I am stepping off my soap box now. This is my two cents worth… whether you agree or not, it is worth thinking about and asking God yourself.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:19-23