Jesus in the Real World
Good Morning! I found this link on a blog I follow ChurchRelevance. This powerful opening for a church’s Easter service is a powerful reminder of the Grace we have in Christ. Don’t forget it….and don’t forget to share it.
Easter 2010 Opening from Church on the Move on Vimeo.
Caleb got this huge, wonderfully obnoxious balloon for his birthday. When you hit it, the balloon plays a song. It’s pretty cute, but we’ve had it a couple of weeks now and I’m wondering when the battery will die so I can throw it away.
Anyway, Caleb was playing with it today. He’d slap the balloon, wrestle it to the ground and roll all around the living room making beastly toddler noises. It didn’t take long for the star-shaped weight to get wrapped around both of his legs. He started whining because he couldn’t move his legs from the knees down (and yes it looked hilarious).
I told him to stand still so I could unwrap the balloon he had finagled around himself. But, the longer it took, the more he fussed and floundered, causing it to take even longer.
It immediately struck me that I have the same response when God tells me to wait. Often times I try and get myself out of the mess I made, thinking that I can save myself with no help. The truth is, it just gets me wrapped tighter and more frazzled than I started out.
If we can take the time to sit and wait in stillness, He will restore us. Although we may feel bound by the wreckage of our lives, doing nothing in His presence would leave us freer than ever.
Standing in the ring, you lower your head and scowl. Across from you is your arch rival.
There she is. Smiling at the referee. A scantily clad bean pole. Boasting 86 pounds, with flawless skin, flowing hair and three tiny triangles of fabric covering her as a “swimsuit”, you know you can knock this girl clear across the ring and into the audience.
She has been your enemy for years. She has fought for your husband’s attention every day.
Every time you go to the mall, she stands in the window at Victoria’s Secret, provocatively laying on the bed with lacey lingerie and a seductive smile. Whenever you stand at the grocery store checkout, she’s posing innappropriately on the magazine cover. She is everywhere you turn.
And worse than the thought of what your husband thinks when he sees her, is how you feel when you do.
The voice inside of you whispers, “You’ll never look like that.”
And, “That’s what your husband expects. Why do you even try?”
Or, “If you only had those legs, or those abs, or those breasts, then you would be desirable.”
Despite the fact that the odds favor you in this match up, it looks like her bony butt is kicking yours.
Stop letting her win.
She is not real.
Let that soak in a bit.
She is NOT real.
She has been starved, made up by professionals and photoshopped to perfection.
The truth of the matter is, you should feel sorry for her. She is seeking the attention and approval of EVERY man, but losing every ounce of respect. She’ll never be placed on the pedestal that you have been awarded by your husband or boyfriend.
Each person is created beautiful in God’s eyes, the one to whom we are to seek attention. Why seek the conditional attention of a stranger, when we can seek the adoration of our God who loves us unconditionally?
Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
I know you’ve heard it before. You are beautiful because God created you. It’s time you start believing it though.
There is beauty in confidence. Do you remember Pretty Woman? Here she is a hooker, trying to play the part of a sophisticated woman. She is fidgety and nervous. She knows that everyone will see right through her masquerade.
But, when she starts believing that she is worth more than that of a prostitute, but rather a person of worth and value, she looks more beautiful than ever to Richard Gear. She carries herself differently. She glows. He even comments that, “When you’re not fidgeting, you look very beautiful. And very tall.”
We need to find our confidence in Jesus. His glow is the one most desired by our men. What is desirable about a woman who is constantly worrying and complaining that she doesn’t measure up? After a while, our men will stop arguing the matter and just agree.
Let’s continue our battle. Best way to suit up is to work on ourselves first. I know one good whack at her will leave us feeling really good, but we want the total KO.
Step 1
Rid your mind of the lie that you aren’t perfect the way you are. Every woman was crafted as God saw fit. This isn’t to say we couldn’t all use a healthy diet and exercise to keep our man’s attention, but our beauty is not measured solely on the external. Place your worth in the identity you have in Christ. You are a princess. Act like it. Live like it.
Step 2
Pray! Renew your mind with the confidence only given by the Holy Spirit. Ask God to reveal to you his love for you. Ask Him to show you how valuable you are to him. Ask Him to reveal to you the adoration your man has for you.
Step 3
Pray! This isn’t just one step. It’s every step, of every day. Regardless of if you win the battle today, you’ll have days that place you right back in that ring. Don’t give up. When you see those images that make you feel fat, ugly, and worthless, start praying for the woman you see. Remember the verse in the Bible that talks about praying for your enemies? We need to remember that these are actually women with real issues. Her issues are probably bigger than yours! You will be healed as you pray for her. Funny how God works that way…
You’ll know you’re ready for this battle when you’ve reached the point that you no longer want to fight her. You’ll find a peace and strength that reassures you that your worth is not defined by her. Your beauty and value come from more than your waist and thighs.
You are gorgeous because the God of the Universe crafted you. How can a perfect being making something imperfect? It’s not in His character to make something that He doesn’t deem unmarred.
You’ll know you’re ready for this battle when you walk over, place your arm around her and say “You are loved unconditionally by a God that created you special.”
Let me know if you get to that point. I’d love to see if I can do it with you…
Photo by Bobster885
One month ago, 200,000 people lost their lives and millions others lost homes, livelihoods and basic provisions. We have seen many relief efforts extended from the compassion of people around the world.
Until now, I haven’t known which organization to partner with. But my heart is pulled towards http://ahomeinhaiti.org/.
In 14 days, the rain season will start in Haiti. If you are sick of the rain we’ve been getting, just imagine surviving it without a roof over your head. All these people will be without shelter.
For $83, we can get a $195 tent shipped to Haiti, sheltering 8 people. Let’s see if we can help spread the world and care for our hurting brothers and sisters.
Deeper breaths. Clearer thinking. Fuller happiness.
Inspiration gives me all this.
But why can’t I inspire myself?
Why is there always an encounter required to receive the passion, vision or joy that we long to cling to daily?
Each morning I pry my eyes apart to see the dusty ceiling of my room. I pray hard that I’ll have the strength to step off the bed and back into reality. I pray harder that today will mean something – and have purpose.
I hate the empty days.
I only want the exciting, energizing, mobilizing, stimulating, impelling days that glimmer the sheen of an inspired, passionate, empowered Spirit. The days when your fingers guide your poetry and your heart begets the music.
Those few beautiful days of inspiration, it seems I don’t have to pray as hard for purpose. As ironic as it sounds, when I wake up in a spirit of worship, after an evening of seeking the face and glory of God, inspiration is not anything I have to pursue.
Inspiration finds me.
It flows from its Source and into my heart, mind, body and soul. I can’t summon its forces. It summons me. While I can plead with the Higher power for a day of revelation, the appeals aren’t likely to succeed.
When I walk away from the mirror, and stop praying for the things I see and know, and begin the selfless journey to please the Lord with my obedience and heart of service, it is then that my spirit is awakened by Him.
To live a life inspired is to live a life abandoned.
Relinquishing plans to be successful, pretty or perfect, humility is the ignition to a day of self-actualization and attainable dreams.
As I decrease, and fall in love with my Creator a little more each day, I am sure to see the days of inspiration find me more frequently.
So, glory to His name.
The author of inspiration.
Here’s a post from http://MediaOutreach.com that I contribute to at faithHighway:
So if you follow this blog at all, you most likely have a passion to reach the unchurched, whether in person, through your website, marketing or social media. We at faithHighway are huge fans of the folks over at the Center for Church Communication, as they constantly pump out invaluable marketing and branding information for churches through www.ChurchMarketingSucks.com and other channels.
Under a new board of directors, CFCC is pulling out big bloggers, thought-leaders and marketing gurus like Dawn Nicole Baldwin, Phil Cooke, Drew Goodmanson, Scott McClellan, Kem Meyer and Kent Shaffer to push church marketing to a new standard. Their new fearless leader is none other than the technology expert from Digital Sanctuary, Cynthia Ware.
One interesting development I found on the Church Marketing Sucks blog this week was a set of poll results for 2010 Trends. I feel saddened by its results.
The majority of voters feel that “churches stick their head deeper in the sand” in regard to church marketing.
As hard as it is to hear, the more I think about it, the more I wonder about the truth of it. What is it about 2010 that will truly skyrocket the church into the realm of superior marketing?
These are my hopes for the future of church marketing, namely the near future.
1. Churches embrace video at whichever level of sophistication they can. Whether investing in a $150 Flip video camera, or look on Craigslist for a professional grade camera, our culture speaks video too fluently to ignore. Many cameras these days come with basic editing software that can even empower the technically-challenged.
2. Churches will clamp onto social networks even more, strategically starting conversations in the community that would have never occurred with the unchurched otherwise. If people can meet their spouses on Facebook like my college roommate did (from across the US), how much greater are the chances of building friendships within the community?
3. Churches will utilize their websites to rally communities together and help the homeless and provide for orphans. Using our events area on the website to promote community wide events as well as our own will demand that the Church be viewed as an integral part of the community. Free marketing for them means they will turn to you more and more, opening more doors than ever before.
4. Mobile church sites will be viewed more as a necessity than a superfluous item – especially those churches looking to reach the 20 and 30 somethings. I mean, smart phone users increased 45 million last year! And do any of us expect that number to decrease next year? Unlikely, right?
5. Help make clear to unbelievers, whether through billboards, mail outs, websites or church signs, that there is more emphasis on what a church is FOR rather than what it is against.
6. That “business as usual” will be thrown out the window. If we only continue to market in the same ways to the same people, how will we know if we’re missing out on something amazing?! What if the greatest marketing tool for your audience was face-to-face and you missed out on it because it didn’t work for the church 10 years ago and the team wrote it off?
I think that the greatest way to ensure that 2010 isn’t a year of sand diving is to set out a very strategic marketing strategy. And if you simply kept the one you wrote two years ago, that maybe you consider getting some fresh ideas from those around you.
Think outside the box. AND outside the staff. Turn to your congregation and young people to team up and creatively engage your community like never before.
I think 2010 is already looking like a head-out-of-the-sand kind of year. What do you think? We’d love to hear what your church marketing plans are…
My granddad is one of the most gentle, kind men I’ve ever met. I cherished my visits with my grandparents. Every time we’d go over there, my granddad would take my sister and I into his Archway Cookies delivery truck, which looked a lot like a white UPS truck, to pick out a package of cookies.
He always smells like spearmint, wearing sweatsuits that carry the charred seal from too much time at the fireplace.
He is a rock, solid in his faith. But unfortunately, he is a victim to years of Alzheimer’s. He can’t remember words any more and rarely recognizes family members. It is absolutely heart breaking.
I smile though. Every nursing home he has ever been a guest at has gushed over his sweet spirit. My granddad no longer has control over his actions, yet still the love of Christ beams from him. How is this possible?
Years of dedication to the Word, paired with utter humility in front of the Father, have molded an unbreakable, unwavering follower of Christ.
Not even a disease that robs the memory can steal the joy of Christ.
Proverbs 8
32 And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord…
For us to be authentic believers, in both times of trial and of bliss, we should muster our identity and character as that of one who waits. We wait at his gates, watching for a glimpse of His splendor. We wait beside His doors for a touch of His healing. We listen to hear His instructions for the day – and our life. That one moment, when the light of the world shines on our faces, we will change forever.
A glow like that won’t go away. A glow like that marks you permanently. A glow like that means you won’t have to “act” nice. The unfathomable love of Christ will glare from you.
My granddad may not remember who he is anymore. But he knows WHOSE he is.
When all of your control is stripped away, what is left? When your patience has been worn to the bone and your stress level is at an all time high, what do you look like? Whose do you look like?
Photo by Nick
The other day Josh and I took Caleb out to the park to play disc golf. It was perfect outside. Warmed by the glow of the setting sun, a cool breeze whisked away the busy week.
Caleb loves being outside. He loves to ride around in his stroller. But, when it comes to disc golf, he prefers to be out in the action. As he began to fuss, crying “Down! Down!” we unbuckled him and let him run free.
He ran 30 yards straight to the basket. It was precious. He knew what his goal was and nothing would stop him. When he reached the basket he placed the disc ever so carefully into the metal chains.
“Woah!” He exclaimed.
Of course, Josh is beaming, calling out “That’s my boy!”
I’m screaming “GREAT job!” Our boy is a little disc golf prodigy, you know.
We sat and watched him place that disc in the basket over and over. As we started to leave, Caleb started whining. He wanted to stay there. He loved to win the game. He loved the cheering.
Like many toddlers would at his age, he began throwing a fit. Josh and I walked away, knowing that eventually he would follow.
A look of disappointment must have swept across my face. The saddening realization set in that I am no further in my spiritual maturity than Caleb is in his disc golf game.
Completing one task, I bask in my glow far too long. God is spurring me onto the next challenge. He’s excited for what I will learn and accomplish at the next hole.
But here I am, hanging out at one basket, tossing the disc in over and over. I like it here. It’s comfortable. I know it from every angle since I’ve been here so long.
Over there everything is different. That terrain looks rocky. It looks uncharted. I can’t even see the basket for the next hole.
Like a dog chasing its tail, the victory is hollow and sometimes painful when you stay in the same place.
Phillipians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
God has promised us that His promise is for our good. He knows the ground we’ve covered and will cover.
Life may be hard, but persevere. The reward is greater than we know.
And those things in life we don’t get rewarded for here…you know the tough ones…rising above the sin nature every day…will be rewarded in ways we can’t imagine.
So don’t delay. Get passed this place you’ve been hanging out at for far too long. This time we can be sure that the grass is greener on the other side.
Photo by Conor
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Alright ladies. There’s that word again.
Ironic that many guys smile inside at the word…but we tend to roll our eyes or begin making excuses as soon as it enters our mind.
But this article, which I agree with for the record, has an alternative way to view our sexual relationships.
http://jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com/2009/08/sex-prayer.html
Do you think it is the trait of a Godly wife to withhold or postpone sex? Do you think that your relationship with the Lord has anything to do with your sex life?
My answers are ‘no’ and ‘yes’ accordingly. Love to hear your thoughts though. I can expand on my opinion if you’re interested…
