Blue Like Jazz

Okay, so I’ve heard about this book for several years now, always hearing how awesome it is and after having bought it months ago, I finally set my mind to getting it read. And I’m SO glad I did.

I think every non-believer should read this book, as well as anyone who leads in the Christian community.

Donald Miller is not what most would consider your run-of-the-mill conventional Christian writer. He steps outside of the box. And brings you with him. And in doing so, he humbles himself, steps on your toes and brings you off your judgment seat as well – leaving it open for the only One worthy to hold such a place.

Miller is quick not to defend the term Christianity, as by now the term as lost all absolute definition. By this point, Miller says “Stop ten people on the street and ask them what they think of when they hear the word Christianity, and they will give you ten different answers.” He continues ”I would rather talk about Jesus and how I came to believe that Jesus exists and that he likes me.”

And it really can be just that simple. And should be.

Nobody knows for sure what Jesus wrote in the sand in John 8, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t drawing a line in it.

~

And just so you know it’s also recommended for its entertainment qualities, I’ll just share the beginning of Chapter 11. I hope that in doing so I don’t ruin it for anyone who’s not already read the book and plans to, but considering the fact that this page makes me laugh out loud every time I read it, I think you’ll still enjoy it, too when you get to it.

“When I was in Sunday School as a kid, my teacher put a big poster on the wall that was shaped in a circle like a target. She had us write names of people we knew who weren’t Christians on little pieces of paper, and she pinned the names to the outer circle of the target. She said our goal, by the end of the year, was to move those names from the outer ring of the circle, which represented their distance from knowing Jesus, to the inner ring, which represented them having come into a relationship with Jesus. I thought the strategy was beautiful because it gave us a goal, a visual.

I didn’t know any people who weren’t Christians, but I was a child with a fertile imagination so I made up some names; Thad Thatcher was one and William Wonka was another. My teacher didn’t believe me which I took as an insult, but nonetheless, the class was excited the very next week when both Thad and William had become Christians in a dramatic conversion experience that included the dismantling of a large satanic cult and underground drug ring. There was also levitation involved.

Even though they didn’t exist, Thad and William were the only people to become Christians all year. Nobody else I knew became a Christian for a very long time, mostly because I didn’t tell anybody about Jesus except when I was drunk at a party, and that was only because so many of my reservations were down, and even then nobody understood me because I was either crying or slurring my words.”

~

Go get this book. You won’t be sorry.

Our Claimed Treasure

Great

Aunt Leona

Oh, wow. Where do you start, with such a remarkable lady?

You were given 96 years and lived life to the fullest, but I think we half-way expected you to live about 96 more.

You played a mean game of Rummy and taught me about ‘groovers’. You insisted on ‘cutting the stack’ and took no prisoners. But, we still had a good time playing.

You loved to tell stories, larger than life. Each time with that same hearty laugh like you’d never told it before.We heard the same ones time and again. But, they never got old and we’d laugh just the same.

You were golf’s biggest fan. You both watched it and played it. You didn’t pick up the game until you were 32, but you played ’til the end. (I wonder now, how the Pro’s will ever play without you.)

You’d send us our birthday cards, with money inside. Quarters for every year we would celebrate. It wasn’t a million, but it seemed like it to us.

You ran your own business for most of your life. A ‘beauty operator’ who knew all in town. You swore you’d write a memoir one day, of all that you heard from your chair, but I guess you never did. (Probably just as well.)

You never did marry. Proudly proclaimed yourself as an ‘unclaimed treasure’. But, you never gave up hope on me. You’d pray every day to St. Anthony (aka: ‘Tony’- Patron Saint of Lost and Found) on my behalf to find ‘the one’ for me.

Oh, Leona, you’re lotto tickets and Omaha steaks and 5 o’clock drinks and so much more… you’ll continue to be with us in so many ways.

But, why couldn’t it have just been about 96 more?

~
( http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=385323 )

~

* Grrr.... Player still not working.

Wanted to use "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" on this one. *

Christ in You

“Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.” ~ John Piper

~

The other night, I had the opportunity to check out Louie Giglio’s Passion City Church. Needless to say, it was awesome. I mean, anything that starts off with Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels leading worship and ends with a church-wide prayer to send a sweet empassioned girl off to West Africa to return to the mission field after having just lost her mother suddenly… yeah. Awesome. In the truest sense of the word.

But, Louie was continuing a series on Grace ~ or as he puts it: “the power of God living in me”. He started us off in Colossians 3:5-10:

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Yikes. Talk about a tall order. Basically, just do everything that is against your earthly nature, and you’ll be fine. Yeah… okay. Sure. But, what happens after your feet hit the floor in the morning??

Louie pointed out that a lot of us get caught in the mindset of: “Christ died for me! The least I can do is not lust or slander or be angry or greedy, lie or use filthy language.” Next thing you know, you’ve broken about 3 or 4 of these and you haven’t even left the house yet!

That’s when we start rededicating, as Louie says. And then rededicating our rededication. And rededicating the rededication of our rededication. And so on and so forth. (Sound familiar? Maybe it’s just me….) Saying “I promise… this time… (will be different).” Only to have the same results and ending up back at square one… defeated and often self-condemned. All the while being very well-intended, but… well, I think we all know where the road of good intentions leads.

As Louie reminded us, it is impossible to live all of this out in the flesh… in our own strength, that is. We must let Christ live it out through us. He is not only our Savior or ‘payment’ but our “life” (Col. 3:4).

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

Paul continues, “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:29).

It’s normal to struggle. Even with all of His energy. We’re still merely humans. But, if we allow Him to live in us, He will be able to do powerful works through us!

I can’t! But, He can!!

Step forward in faith. And see what He wants to do through you.

~

* The illustration of the storage bins tied in, too. But, I could never begin to illustrate that the way Louie did. So, I guess you had to be there. But, when he gets the series online, I’ll post it for you. *

~

(Oh. And, you must know that it is driving me crazy that I can't get my playlist to cooperate. But, if I were able to connect a song with this post, it would be "Everything" by Tim Hughes. Who knows... maybe I'll get it to work before too long.) :)

Grip of Fear

Last week, in our Esther study, Beth Moore spoke to something that just really spoke volumes to me.

She said that a friend of hers had requested prayer for her mother, who’d had breast cancer and thankfully come through it and now lives cancer-free. However, now she finds herself overcome with fear with the least littlest thing.

She followed that up in saying that she has heard this same testimony, over and over, from so many people who say “The thing about it is, while going through it, I felt the strength and power. But, after I came out of it, I got a stronghold of fear about ever going back into it.”

WOW. Now, I don’t know if this speaks to any of you, but it really wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t, because I’m all but convinced that it was spoken just for me.

But, Beth then responded to this thought saying “God’s grace is given according to our NEED ~ not what we have made up out of our FEAR.
“We want God to give us strength for our vain imaginations, but He says ‘You’re making that up! I’m not going to give you strength in that! I want to set you FREE from fear! Not help you think up stuff!’ “

Ouch!! Talk about hitting home! This is where I’ve staked a tent and camped out for WAY too long now. ”Somewhere in the middle.” Knowing all that He’s done, and yet not fully trusting in all He’ll do.

~

Lord, please help me to loosen my grip on all the fears that hold me back from living the life You’d have me to live. Help me not to dwell on all the disappointments and hurts, but rather hold onto all that You’ve done in my life and all the times You’ve proven more than trustworthy, in those times when I’ve turned to You.

~

Mirage

(The following is an excerpt from Max Lucado’s “Come Thirsty”)

“Don’t make the mistake that the associates of Lawrence of Arabia made. He took them to Paris after World War I. They had never seen such sights. The Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon’s tomb, the Champs Élysées. But nothing impressed these men from the Arabian Desert more than the faucet in the bathtub of their hotel room. They turned it on and off, on and off, amazed that with a twist of the wrist they could have all the water they wanted.

When the time came to leave Paris and return to the east, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches, trying to disconnect the spout. ‘We need faucets,’ they explained. ‘If we have them, we will have all the water we want.’

They didn’t understand the role of the faucet. Spouts carry water, not produce it. Spigots are the tool, not the source. The valve might direct fluid, but generate it? No. We know this…

Or do we? Through what faucets has God poured his love into your life? A faithful church? A prayerful spouse? Time-tested traditions? A girlfriend in college or a grandma from childhood? God’s water passes through many faucets. His gift comes in many packages. The treasure, however, is not the plumbing or the box, not the container of the gift. No, the treasure is the Giver Himself.

… God describes Himself as ‘the fountain of living water’ (Jer. 2:13). Thank Him for the faucets, but don’t trust them to nourish you.”

~

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me [not to my prophets or people] and drink” (John 7:37).

~

Why is it that even as a self-professed follower of Christ, I find myself so quickly (and repeatedly) running to all my other ‘resources’ before finally tapping into THEE Resource? The One Who promises “a perpetual spring within (me)” (John 4:14)? Why, so often, is He my last resort? When all other sources run dry? When He’s done nothing other than prove Himself faithful and true to His Word every time I do come to Him thirsty?

Lord, ‘Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee’!

~

Meaning in the Monotonous

“Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.” ( Anne Frank ~ June 20, 1942 )

~

The alarm goes off. I bury my face deeper into the pillow, wishing I hadn’t stayed up so late again… promising myself ‘I won’t do that tonight’… again. But then as the sun, slowly and steadily, begins to spill into the room, I become aware of the birds beckoning outside my window. I hear a praise song pouring out of the radio next to me. And I begin to feel it. Hope. Promise. A new day. With new beginnings. Like the breath of fresh air this time of year. Change. Difference. A new direction. A new tomorrow where ANYthing is possible!

I read my devotional. Spend some time in prayer, thanking Him for a new day. Another chance at redemption and renewal. And I voice the concerns that have been laid upon my heart.

By this time, doused with the Holy Spirit and completely inundated with worship music, I am ready to face the day. Totally geared up to see what He has in store for me to do!

Next thing I know (and I’m not quite sure why this still surprises me, on some level?) I’m back behind the counter at the Gift Shop where I’ve worked for the past 14 years. Asking myself “Wait… Wasn’t I supposed to do something big and wonderful for You today, Lord? How can I be back here? This certainly can’t be what You had in mind for me to do for Your glory? It’s too simple. Too mundane. Too…. ordinary??”

Then the Lord challenges me “Do you mean to say, that this ’simple, mundane, ordinary’ life of yours is beneath Me? Too insignificant for Me to work in? Au contraire mon Chéri.” (Oh, yeah. My God can speak ALL the languages. And He even knows which ones I’ve retained.) :-}
“I AM the One Who made man from dust… Dust! Took ‘ordinary’ water and turned it into wine! An ‘ordinary’ Jewish girl into the Queen of Persia! And you don’t think I can use your so-called ‘ordinary’ life?”

“A~hem. Yes, Sir. Well… when You put it that way… I suppose YOU might be able to do something with it.
Lord, in that case, please just help me to be obedient to what You’d have me do. Right here. Right now. This day. And every day.”

“Now you’re talking. Let’s just see what we can accomplish together…”

Anne Frank kept a journal.
Mother Theresa wiped the mouths and held the hands of the ‘forgotten’, downtrodden and infirm.
Imagine what God can do with your ‘ordinary’ life to make it extraordinary, if only you place it in His hands!

~

“If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way. Don’t wait for great opportunities. Seize common, everyday ones and make them great.” ~ Napoleon Hill

~

F A I T H

Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See synonyms at belief, trust.

Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one’s supporters.

The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.

The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.

A set of principles or beliefs.

Being a student of human nature and trying to figure out what makes people ‘tick’, I’m always curious as to how one has come to believe what he or she believes. What has led them to this place. The ground they’ve chosen to stand firmly upon. Or perhaps, in some cases, not so firmly.

I’ve been reading a book explaining some fundamental differences in some of the more major religions and to be honest, my brain has just shut down. I can’t comprehend any more of it right now. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam… my brain is just swimming with all the jargon, the stances, the foundations and their leaders.

Some of them quite different from Christianity, some not as different. But, at least they believe something. What I can’t understand or comprehend is the person who avidly believes … nothing. And with such passion and conviction. This doesn’t make sense to me. How can one be SO empassioned over… nothing?

A while back, in a search for the story Paul Harvey would tell on the radio every year at Christmastime, I googled something along the lines of “Paul Harvey Christmas Story” and it returned several suggestions. One of which being a man who had formed ‘ex-Christian.net’ and put the most horrendous spin on the story you will ever hear.

Last time I saw the page, I just quickly, yet sadly, flipped back on to the other sources, hoping to forget all that he said. But today, I forced myself to linger longer. To try to dig deeper. And, to be quite honest, my heart is just absolutely broken. My soul is heavy and my eyes brimmed with tears, not only for this gentleman and others with the same view, but for the Father Who sees and knows all of our hearts. And in them, all our doubts, anger, fear and unbelief.

And I think that’s what so many miss? The heart knowledge. They spend so much time trying to logically figure out all the head knowledge, they don’t open themselves up to the glory of not having to know it all and have it all figured out. The wonder of experiencing what we call FAITH. For it’s only when you open yourself up to something bigger than yourself, that you even begin to understand why one believes such ‘illogical’ ‘lofty’ views. And I, for one, am proud to be a fool for Jesus.