The following is a blog post I wrote for our church’s website last year. We attend ONEchapel, a fairly recent church plant, lead by Ross Parsley. It is a love-filled, truth-speaking, wonderful congregation made up of over 1,000 imperfect people. If you live in Austin, you should join us! Unless, of course, you’re perfect.

I wouldn’t say the honeymoon is over, oh who am I kidding, yes I would.

I have this bad habit, and maybe you do too, of putting most people I’ve just met on a pedestal. I tend to believe that the first impression is a complete picture of a person. I see all of the good attributes they have chosen to display and think, “Wow, she is so perfect!”

Never mind that I have been proven wrong, time and time again. Never mind that no one perfect has ever walked this earth except for Jesus, who being fully God and fully man, begotten of the Holy Spirit, was born without a sin nature.

So when I say that the honeymoon is over all I’m really saying is that I have seen some flaws in our community of believers. I am sure you’ve figured out a few of my faults by now too. What’s followed is – and please refrain from tomato throwing – I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged. My first fleshly response to the discouragement was to isolate myself. We all know that this is the wrong response. I know it too but at first it felt right. Then after a while I began to feel left out even though my situation was of my own making. So while I sit here writing this, I know God is speaking to me more than any of you through the words that will follow.

If the honeymoon period is over, what’s next? Do we all tuck tail and run? Do we stick with the few people whose idiosyncrasies are bearable and ignore the rest? Maybe we just choose to ignore each others’ weaknesses and imperfections and keep smiling? Should we air our grievances with those we feel closest to in hopes we’ll feel better? Or do we decide to love each other regardless of all the faults, just like a real family?

Loving each other isn’t always easy but we all know it’s the right thing to do. The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is what is expected of us. Love that is patient and forgiving, kind while truthful. Love that doesn’t boast so no one has to envy. Love that is not proud, rude, or self-seeking. This love we should all have for each other, and really the entire world, should stop us from being easily angered and keeping track of how many times people fail us.

It’s a love that only the Spirit can accomplish through us. I don’t believe we can love like this on our own.

I’ve found that when I easily take offense to someone’s words or deeds it’s only when I haven’t been spending enough time in the presence of God. I need His Word daily. I need to be in conversation with Him constantly. I need Him, His Spirit, overflowing in me in order to not attach a motive to another’s careless words.

In the famous words of Ross Parsley, are you tracking with me? Have any of you had a similar experience? And if so, how can we help each of us grow, closer to each other and to Jesus, on this (sometimes difficult) journey?

Here are a few of my ideas:

• Let’s pray daily for our wonderful, God-given fellowship.
• Let’s not expect perfection from each other. God is the only one who will never let us down. He alone is perfect. We’re just a family of wanna-be’s.
• Let’s choose to give people the benefit of the doubt in all circumstances.
• If God has allowed us to see another’s flaws, let’s decide that it’s because He is calling us into a time of intercession for the person. We should consider it our responsibility and rejoice that we have been counted worthy.
• When someone begins to gossip or simply complain, stop them. Then ask them if you can pray for God to fill them with His wisdom regarding the situation since He already knows all about it.
• Let’s protect each other at all costs, just like we would our own children or siblings, showing no favoritism.
• Let’s make this a place of safety where everyone who joins us feels welcomed, loved, and free to be vulnerable. Vulnerable enough to confess sin, so God can shine His light into the darkness enslaving us and bring freedom to every area of captivity in our lives. Vulnerable enough to let the Spirit of God change us.

All of us.

After all, nobody is perfect.

When the Lord gave me my One Word at the beginning of the year, I have to admit, I thought I may have heard Him wrong. At least I hoped I did. When I asked the Lord for my word I was anticipating He would give me one that was daring, exciting and maybe even adventurous. Instead, He said “TRUST.”

It seemed so common, so obvious. I’ve known the Lord for over seventeen years, hasn’t this relationship always been based on trust? Don’t I already trust you, Lord? I’ve walked through some really difficult things in the past. Could I have made it to the other side of those things without trusting Him?

I reasoned that this whole “trust” thing must be God’s way of telling me that my habit of worrying was not glorifying Him. I decided to stop worrying and make this a year of trust. No big deal, right? This shouldn’t be all that hard.

Then, the rug is pulled out from under me and I’m reminded that I’m still supposed to trust.

In fact, even when I am on my knees praying for wisdom, begging for peace, crying out for provision, still all I hear is “TRUST!” And I want to, I really do. But life isn’t easy. Things never seem to go as planned, as I planned anyway.

But nothing surprises the Lord my God and when He gave me my word He knew full well what was coming. He knew that the only way through it was for me to trust Him and keep walking in obedience on this path He put before me. He reminds me to fix my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and when I do, the trial actually looks smaller as I glance at it in my peripheral vision.

What I’m learning through this trial is that trusting God is hard. Much harder than I had anticipated. It’s hard on my flesh that likes to be in control. It’s harder still on the part of me that prefers self-controlled chaos over God-controlled order. And I won’t even get into the fact that I have always felt my timetable was much wiser than His.

Trusting God, when our plans go awry – when the doctor says just what we prayed we wouldn’t hear, when the job we desperately need slips through our hands, when someone we love breaks our heart, when hope continues to be deferred and no one seems to see or understand our pain – is when trust is real. When trusting Him feels impossible it’s then that it is utterly essential.

Everything we go through in life has already been sifted through the loving hand of our Father in heaven and no matter how much it hurts or confuses us, He can be trusted. He will come through for us. He won’t necessarily do what we want Him to do or even when we want Him to do it. He will however do what is best for us in the long run. See, God is all about the long run. His perspective is different from ours. He has a grasp on what eternity looks like; He actually understands infinity.

He knows that our time on earth is but a breath and our eternal Christ-likeness is far more important than our momentary comfort. He knows that a man who has been broken is far more valuable and useful to His kingdom than a man who has never faced heartache.

He loves us perfectly, for our best and for His glory. God is good and His ways and His heart for us can be trusted. Those who trust in the Lord will never be put to shame! (Romans 10:11) Even better, He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, more for us than we could ever hope or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)

I say these things as much to myself as you who are reading this because I am in the midst of a struggle and I need these reminders. I need others around me praying and speaking life into these dry and weary bones. We all need this! Hiding out in our own little world, away from the body of Christ, until the storm has passed is not the type of trust He wants from us. We need to hear that God is for us so who could be against us. (Romans 8:31) We need to be reminded that we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) and that we can do all things, even the unbearable things, through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We need to rely on the truth that with God ALL things are possible! (Matthew 19:26)

We need to learn that it isn’t real trust if it’s only in the good times.

And I guess I also needed to learn that trust God’s way IS daring, exciting, and yes, even adventurous!

“I used to own my own business,” was what I would say every time someone asked what I did for a living. In fact, it took years for me to stop using that as my pat answer. I had fallen for the lie that I was what I did. You know what I mean, don’t you? He’s an accountant, she’s a doctor, he’s a waiter, and so on.

This belief wasn’t a problem for me until I wasn’t working outside of the home any longer. When my business closed and I was at home it was as if I had lost my identity. I was no longer a business owner, I was just Lauren who felt an awful lot like a nobody.

I had recently become a follower of Christ but my identity in Christ was not something I understood yet so it played no part in my understanding of who I was.

Later, when I began to understand and while my children were still young I would tell them, “Figure out who you are and live it or others will decide for you.” It was my way of trying to save them from the cruel world of adolescent bullies. They probably didn’t know what I meant at first because they were young, 3rd or 4th grade at the most. But when your family moves out-of-state every couple of years it affords you the opportunity to correct previous social errors. Eventually they learned what that statement meant and they were able to take control of their own identity. They realized who they were in Jesus and they walked it out, ignoring who others may have tried to convince them they were.

So often we fail to understand who we are and we let our career, degree, income, actions, other people or our past define who we are. We are not what we do. Our current situation does not define who we are. Our past does not define who we are. It is not what we do that determines who we are. On the contrary, it is who we are that determines what we do.

If you are a Christian you are alive in Christ right now. As author Neil T. Anderson wrote, “To be alive in Christ means that your soul is in union with God.” It is in this life, His life, that we find our identity.

If you are in Christ you are a saint, a child born of God, a divine masterpiece, a new creation, a citizen of heaven, complete and accepted. Oh I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t feel like a divine masterpiece.” Let me tell you something though. It doesn’t matter how you feel. Our feelings lie! God speaks only the truth.

You ARE God’s masterpiece because He says so in Ephesians 2:10. That means it’s settled. Believe it!

The more we agree with God about our identity in Christ, the more our behavior will reflect our God given identity. We need to simply choose to believe what God says about us.

What others say doesn’t matter. Your feelings don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what God says about you and he calls you a saint (Romans 1:7), His friend (John 15:15), and He even rejoices over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

If you are getting the feeling that understanding this is important, you’re right. It’s in understanding and accepting this truth that we find our security. It’s also the lens we see life through, which means it’s the lens we view others through also.

In Colossians 3:11 from The Message Bible we read, “Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ. ”

I’m pretty sure Paul would have added the following if he’d had more parchment: thin and fat, pretty and plain, wealthy and poor, young and old, gifted and useless, educated and ignorant, even hip and goofy. I hope you get the point. In Christ, all the labels have been removed.

God has no favorites in His church. (Galatians 2:6) We are all God’s masterpieces. At church next Sunday morning look around and see all of His masterpieces. Let’s learn to treat each other as precious works of art. Not even Michelangelo or Picasso could have come close to creating masterpieces so wonderful.

Marvel over His masterpieces and remember, you are one of them.

“People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity.”
Thomas Kelly

I’ve noticed something about myself lately that saddens me. I have been failing to look at things with the  all too important eternal perspective.

This often happens in my life when we seem to be going through a time of rest. When the bills have all been paid, the family is healthy, and no immediate crisis looms on the horizon, I tend to forget that this world is not my home. I begin to think that something like picking the perfect color of new paint for the bathroom walls is of the utmost importance.

Even though recently I’ve been absent from my blog for the most part, I’ve managed to make time for Facebook. One of my friends there is going through a very difficult time. While explaining all she has been through and continues to endure concerning her daughter’s health, my friend wrote this:

“I’ve yearned for heaven with mute groans and sighs. I’ve lost the love I used to have for this world. I see heaven now not so much as a place to go after I die, but also as a place of complete respite from the heartache that shadows me daily, a place where my daughter will have no genetic defect, no patched-up heart, no worries or differences.”

At the same time as I read her post, as God would have it, my daily Bible reading had me in the book of Hebrews chapters 10 and 11. Reading the incredible testimonies of the saints who’ve gone before us, one can’t help but notice the number of times heaven is mentioned.

God does not make mistakes and the fact that there are various references in His word to our great reward, eternity in heaven with Him, proves to me that eternity is something we should always keep in mind.

Another thing that I couldn’t help but notice was how many times the word persevere or a variation of the word preceded each reminder of our eternity in heaven. When persevering becomes nearly an impossible task, the hope of heaven may be the only thing that gets us out of bed in the morning.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:36

I know from experience that longing for heaven is something I do when difficulty, suffering, and persecution comes. I also know that more often than not, when I take my eyes off eternity I become obsessed with the temporary and I end up placing far too much emphasis on the things of this world. A new dining room set or planning a vacation become more important to me than the lost souls on my street.

There is a purpose in us knowing the incredible future that is already prepared for every believer; God wants us to keep our eyes on the prize.

He [Moses] regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than
the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Hebrews 11:26

The world will lie, even deceive us into believing that it has something that can satisfy us. It’s then that a job, a new car, or home, or maybe finding a spouse becomes far too important to us. I confess that as of late my feelings have taken too high a priority. How I emotionally feel today matters far less than I’ve allowed it to the last few months. Slowly though, I’m regaining an eternal perspective.

I don’t want it to take trials and tribulation to correct my perspective; it’s my duty at all times, even at times of rest, to keep the proper focus.

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:16

Discussion: Do you find it hard to keep an eternal perspective? Do the things of this world matter to you far more than they should? How does spending time in His word effect your perspective?

If you weren’t aware of this horrifying fact, you are now. The video below documents where some slavery takes place today.

The issue is huge and overwhelming. I think of how badly I want to help and then convince myself that I can’t. I’m no one with no resources. But I know one day I will.

LInk to purchase Lisa Kristine’s book

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Psalm 30:11-12

It brings me so much peace in times of trouble to know that everything that Christians go through in this life has been sifted through the loving hand of God the Father first. When I encounter difficulties whether they be with finances, friends or family I can know that the Lord has given His approval for this situation to occur. His reason is always to draw me nearer to Him and teach me one more thing about becoming Christlike.

When Paul tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”, we know because of verse 29 that the word good here means “that which conforms us to the likeness of his Son.” Now to allow this trial to conform me to His Son’s image I must have the proper response to it.

The first response can be found in James 1:2. I must consider this trial pure joy. Joy? Yes joy, because I must understand that the testing of my faith develops perseverance. Next I thank the Lord for this trial, yes now I’m saying that we should be thankful in tribulation. With a proper response we already know by faith that we will grow through this trial as we go through it. I want nothing more in my life than to be like Christ my Savior and if suffering will do this, then (as I breathe a deep sigh) bring it on. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

And finally for me, my next response is to drop to my knees and ask my God what it is that He would have me do; what is it that He would have me learn? I already know that the trial, no matter what it looks like to the secular world, is a spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” And God has made it clear to us many times over that spiritual battles are not to be fought in our might but the Lord’s. “For the battle is not yours, but God’s”, 2 Chronicles 20:15.

So as I wait on the Lord, I pray. I pray that He would show me any sin, that He would make a clear path for me to follow and that He would guide my thoughts and actions so that only His Will be done.

Lord God, I pray for all that will read this, that You would fill them, as well as me, with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. I pray this in order that we may live lives worthy of You, Lord, and please You in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of You, being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully give thanks to You the Father in all circumstances.
Amen and Amen

I was thinking today about an incident that happened a few years ago. We lived in Wisconsin at the time and our house was in the middle of quite a few very old, very large trees. Maple, Oak, and… oh who am I kidding? Big old trees, I have no idea what kind. I do know that those trees grew a lot of leaves and in the Fall, much to our chagrin, they would drop their leaves. Everywhere. I bet you didn’t think you were going to get such an in-depth science lesson here today, did you?

As I was saying, leaves. Leaves! We were covered in leaves every Fall. So of course we had no choice but to burn those leaves, which is what Kyle and I chose to do one day. My husband Julian, in preparation, had made an impressive pile of leaves, sticks, and twigs in the fire pit in the backyard. Although we still had mounds surrounding the fire pit that were two and three feet high.

Because we could not find the lighter fluid anywhere my sweet son suggested what most fifteen year-olds would suggest, “I’ll use gasoline.”

I couldn’t think of an alternative quickly enough so that is exactly what he used. But no worries because I was standing by to limit the amount. When I said enough, he stopped. Then as he put the gas can down, I thought about its location and told him to put it a little farther away from the fire. Again he obeyed. We’re nothing if not cautious, you see.

I bet you have no idea where I’m going with this little tale.

Within seconds of tossing the lit match into the fire pit, flames had completely engulfed my son. With one foot still in the fire pit, the flames were literally surrounding him to the point that I couldn’t see him for what seemed forever but in reality was probably a second or two. The burn marks on the ground afterwards were three feet past where he had stood at the time. I screamed and could do little else. The explosion rocked the house which made Niko, my oldest son who had been inside filling out college applications, come running outside. He later said he was just sure his family had been killed in the explosion. I managed to turn my eyes toward the back door but that was the extent of my abilities. I could not move one muscle in my body. I just stood there frozen.

A screaming, frozen woman is really not a lot of help when the back yard is on fire.

Kyle was completely unharmed. Thank you, Jesus. Not a hair on his head, not his clothes, nothing was touched by those flames that had completely overtaken him. The mounds of leaves around the fire pit went up in flames quickly though and those flames ran in different directions even quicker.

As I stood frozen, Kyle yelled to get the hose. Niko turned on the water and like the tin man who had finally been oiled I was able to move again in time to get the hose to Kyle. Niko grabbed a bucket and hurriedly filled it inside the house then ran with it to the flames. Back and forth he ran while Kyle sprayed the flames with the hose. And all the while he kept looking back at me with a beautiful smile on his face saying, “I could be a firefighter! I could!”

God is so good!

And composting didn’t sound too bad to me after that little episode either.

The point of this tale, you ask?

Fire showed me its power that day. Raging flames from just a spark and how rapidly it spreads overtaking everything in its path. And so it is with love.

When we come to know the love of God, when we become completely engulfed by it, His love overtakes everything in our path. Everyone we come in contact with is touched by that love.

At least this, I believe, is as He meant it to be. His love as a fire burning in each of us:  lighting our path, filling our lives with warmth, even removing the dry, lifeless brush that hinders the beauty of life.

May His love burn brightly in each of us today just as He meant it to.

I have not updated lately and I really don’t have all that much time to do so even now. Yet I just wanted to stop by my blog tonight and wish all of you a very, merry Christmas. May the joy of the season and the life of the Son overwhelm you today and throughout the coming new year. Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:1-20

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

There is a humbleness or humility that pervades our society today that is not biblical. It is a false humility that the enemy deceives us into thinking is exactly what God desires of us. Satan would have us believe that we are to have a low opinion of ourselves and our God-given talents and abilities. He rejoices when we continually try to convince ourselves of our pitiful position in life, no matter what we actually believe.

In this way, the successful businessman may think being humble is considering himself to be inadequate and the talented dancer might believe denying her dancing ability in public is displaying humility.  Not only are they trying to believe what is not true; they are spending valuable time reflecting only on themselves.

One definition of Biblical humility I found stated, “not the making of one’s self small when he is really great, but thinking little of one’s self, because this is in a sense the right estimate for any human being, however great.” So we aren’t supposed to be trying to think little of ourselves when down deep we are really quite impressed with ourselves, that’s false humility. The above definition is a good one, but I believe there is much more to it than that.

True Biblical humbleness is something quite unique. Biblical humbleness is first understanding we are nothing without Christ. He is our next breath, our very life. If there is any good in us it is only because of Christ. Once we recognize this truth, we can finally see ourselves as no more valuable than any other human on this earth. But hang in there a second because now we’re getting to the good stuff, the easily palatable truths. We have established that we are the ones in need of God, not the other way around. But guess what, He wants us. He may not need us, but He loves us and wants us. The Lord God Almighty loves us beyond words and His greatest desire is to walk with us, or I should say that He desires that we walk with Him. He wants this for not only you, but for me and for everyone on this earth. He desires to have a relationship with every single person He created. Having become the humble people that we are, we want this for all who He created also. We rejoice when others are willing. Having no bias one way or the other, we also rejoice when our Creator God uses others in mighty ways. We rejoice when Godly talents are used to glorify the God we so love, whether it be by ourselves, a loved one, or a brother or sister we have not yet come to know. Just let God be glorified!

Biblical humbleness is when God allows us to be completely stripped of all of our disgusting self-love and clothed in His unselfish, unbiased love for all people. It is true humility when one displays it with no thought or effort on his part. Biblical humility brings glory to God.

I marvel at God’s unmerited favor toward us each time I read this by C.S. Lewis, “He [God] really loves [those] He has created and always gives back to them with His right hand what He has taken away with His left.”

Heavenly Father,
Your goodness and love towards us is simply amazing. Your word tells us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what You have prepared for those who love You and I believe this truth more every day. Your ways are so far above our ways. You take from us the self-love what will so hinder our walk with you and restore to us love that is not selfish but kind, patient and selfless. Thank you Lord for your love that not only covers me but also fills me.
In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen

We all go through times of trial, and for my husband and me, God has a habit of getting our attention through financial difficulties. We’ve been through our share of other trials too but the lack of money seems to be the go-to trial for us. Maybe because it so quickly brings me to my knees crying out in prayer.

With a husband who works strictly on commission there are no promises that each month’s income will always be enough. If he has a couple of bad months in a row, just like that, we’re in deep trouble. It’s incredibly humbling to have enough and then to find yourself in need. At least for me it is. I prefer to be on the giving rather than receiving end of a gift. Now I realize you may think there is a pride issue hidden in there somewhere but I believe after all we’ve been through it’s no longer pride that makes me feel that way. We’ve been loved on enough by others to simply want to be the lovers, the givers, the caretakers.

I can’t imagine that trials of this kind would make a person anything less than generous.

You see, I know what it feels like to not be able to afford to buy your child’s class photos from school. I know the heartache of watching your kids go without new clothes at the start of the school year. I know the feeling of failure that comes along with the inability to provide health insurance which keeps your kids from playing sports. I know just what it feels like to have to tell your children that they won’t be getting any presents for Christmas.

Even though I realize that everything I mentioned isn’t really all that important in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn’t wish lack on anyone. Satan has used it to make me doubt my worthiness as a parent. Just like that, a trial God allowed to help conform me to His image, when looked at with the wrong perspective, makes me feel I don’t even know God. Satan is a liar and he will twist every situation and use it to his advantage. He convinces me that we not only deserve difficulties but also, that each season of trial will never end.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1

But eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later, I begin to take every thought captive to Jesus Christ. It dawns on me that the horrible thoughts in my head did not originate with me and are not from God either. I regain an eternal perspective. I see the situation the way God sees it and it doesn’t seem nearly as heartbreaking or difficult. When my perspective changes then I can see that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even if it means going without.