This Ain't the Movies

A movie reviewer, I am not. In fact, the only other time I have ever blogged about something I saw on the big screen was in THIS BLOG, where I was clearly enthralled by the seismic roaring of a majestic Lion.

But I saw a movie trailer the other day that made me do an awful lot of thinking. So much so that I knew I had to blog about it.

It was about a girl who had big dreams for her life. She wanted the same thing any normal teenaged girl would want…a cute boyfriend, some piece of fame, and a few moments to feel beautiful. In the first 20 seconds of the trailer, her daydreaming of all these things was rudely interrupted by the sound of a frying pan hitting the wall after her mother tried to hit her with it and she ducked.

Welcome to reality, young daydreaming girl.

The next 2.5 minutes of the trailer was filled with scenes of violence, pain and raw emotion, as pieces of this young girl’s life was told. Some of her life scenes included physical and mental abuse…illiteracy…and unplanned pregnancies. (take 2) Hers was a life that didn’t stand a chance from the moment she was born, given her set of circumstances.

And all the while, she walked down the street with fashionable beads around her neck matching her outfit, dressing up the outside of a person facing hell on earth everyday she was breathing.

And I was reminded that this is life for many people. Just because we don’t know about it, doesn’t make it any less real.

Thinking about it reminded me of a scene I saw of a different kind, about a month ago. I was driving to the grocery store in a strip mall near my home when I passed by a floor to ceiling, glassed in Chinese restaurant. If there were blinds, they were pulled straight up because I could see straight in. The place was completely deserted except for one person…

A man in the last booth, with his head resting in his hands.

I sized him up to be the owner, if his big white apron was any clue. That and he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. I guess he noticed he didn’t have any customers.

Since his head wasn’t welcoming visitors, I was forced to read his body language. Yeah, maybe he was just tired. It was possible. Or maybe he was thinking…

…What am I going to do?
…How will I make it?

Or even…

I. Need. Help.

I’m sure if a customer passed through his doors he would paste on a smile and sell them a sweet and sour chicken plate. But the demeanor he wore when he thought no one was looking probably told a much more accurate story of hopes, dreams, and goals…met with the reality of financial disappointments, stresses, and worries.

And if true, he wouldn’t be alone…

…because life is hard sometimes. Life is a struggle. Life is a difficult journey to find joy, stay grounded and keep pressing on when the deep end is filled with higher water than one can stand in.

Life is real. And real for some people means being turned away, rejected, left out, or broken down. Real for others means making something out of a life that doesn’t start well -- fighting to find a purpose beyond what their life card deck has dealt them.

Life is not a movie where the scene is shot and the actors go home to count their money and admire themselves in the mirror. Instead it is place where many people we pass by everyday in fashionable beads and big white aprons have burdens the size of Texas that we aren’t privy to.

And so…may I encourage you today to look twice at the people you pass by so automatically in your daily routine? May I encourage you to wonder what is going on behind their eyes? May I ask you to be willing to even care?

May the things that break the very heart of Jesus break our heart in the same way. The first step is simply, noticing.

I promise, you won’t have to look very far. Life scenes are taking place, everyday, all around you.

Choose Courage

Don’t let my girlie sequined jackets and poofed hair fool you. I am a wild child at heart.

I think that’s why I love the Old Testament so much. People in that time were nothing, if they weren’t wild. The passages I love the most document where people were kicking tail and taking names, all for the cause of Jesus Christ. Truthfully, there’s nothing I love more than a true story about someone who is totally jacked up for Jesus.

Someone, like Benaiah.

II Samuel 23 talks about him. He’s not all that famous, really. In fact, he only snagged himself about 3 verses, which is much fewer than some of the other guys with weird names.

In a nutshell, Benaiah was a wild child, warrior type. Among his heroic achievements? Chasing a lion into a snowy pit and killing it.

{There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab’s mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it.” II Samuel 23: 20}

If that isn’t wild, I don’t know what is.

I used to wonder why among all the famous stories of the Bible, a story like that interested me so much. Being a former psych student, I analyzed what kind of a person I must be to be drawn to a story that involved killing, a ferocious animal, and the type of man who would lose his marbles for the time it took him to chase after that ferocious animal instead of running away from it, like any normal person would do. Clearly, either the man had some guts or needed heavy medication.

But after a few reflective moments over the past few days, I think I finally have the answer. {Drumroll, please.} I have determined that the reason I love this short story so much is because to me, what Benaiah did here represents the idea of COURAGE.

My journey these past 6 months has taught me much. The lessons I have learned about what kind of a person I want to be, what kind of a church I want to worship in, and what kind of a collective body of believers God has to work with right now, have colored literally everything in my life. I have learned that I cared more about what people thought than I used to admit. I have learned that I was much more traditional and set in my ways than I would have ever imagined. And I have come to the realization that very few people who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ actually have the courage to stand up for what is right.

Very. Few. People.

It is not a wonder to me why people who do not know Jesus Christ would not be drawn to Him by His alleged followers. What is far more curious to me is how in the world we EVER bring anyone to Him, as flawed as we are. Our tarnished selves seem to constantly get in the way of showing lost people what a perfect God can do in their lives. It’s a shame that we are His representatives, really. I’m not sure any earthly CEO would want people like us representing their company, with our fair-weather standards of conduct. Any reasonable believer will admit what we all know is true: most of us turn more people off to Jesus in our lifetime than we ever turn on to Him.

Honestly.

And so, when someone comes along and does something wildly courageous for God, it fascinates us in the same way a guy like Benaiah does.

When someone stands up for another believer being wrongly accused or slandered, even knowing that their courage will likely result in them becoming blacklisted or shunned, themselves…

...Or calls a spiritual issue what it is instead of tagging it with a better sounding, more p.c. term. {Pride, jealousy, anger, fear, manipulation and resentment are among the issues that get the MOST p.c. terms.}

...Or is willing to admit flaws and faults, so long as it will bring more people to Jesus…even at the risk that it will result in being judged, themselves, for their lack of perfection.

...Or gets uncomfortable long enough to tell someone about the life changing love of Jesus Christ…instead of waiting to be served at a church like a person going through a fast-food line, thinking their needs precede a soul that will burn in hell forever if they are never told the Truth.

These are the people who have courage. They are often not the most popular. But they are the ones who stand a chance at changing the world’s mind about who believers of Jesus Christ really represent.

Friends, when we begin to understand that there has only ever been one perfect person to walk this earth and that our loyalty should only ever be to Him…that our popularity is nothing more than a feel-good lie that rests in the hands of people who won’t always give a care…and that the process of becoming spiritually dead is no more than one compromise away...

That is the day we will choose to have courage.

The good news is that you may not have had courage yesterday, but you can choose to have it, today.

After all, I doubt Benaiah went to sleep one night thinking he would wake up, chase a lion into a snowy pit, and kill it.

The important thing was that one day, he chose courage. And his courage caused an inspired girl reading his story, thousands of years later, without a lot of warrior-like skills or experience in hunting...to want what he had.

Hold the ferocious animal…with or without the snowy pit...

I’ll take the courage.

{integrity.}

God is teaching me a lot about integrity these days.

Just recently, in my Bible study, I came across this verse in I Chronicles 29:17…

“…you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there.”

And it hit me all of a sudden.

Integrity is really, everything. And when you lose it, sadly, you lose your spiritual senses. You lose your ability to discern and know what is right in the eyes of God. You lose your ability to feel conviction over the way you treat others and live a life of compromise. And, as evidenced in this verse…

You lose your ability to bring joy to Jesus Christ.

This, my friends, is a truth that has stuck with me since I came across this verse over the weekend.

Because I am a "visualist" (not a word but it should be), I process things better when I picture them in my mind. This is just my take on it, ya’ll. I'm not sure it's the way it actually goes down. But it’s how I see it through my lens…

Jesus, with His beautiful, probing eyes, looks deep into the heart of the person on His examining table. Carefully and purposefully, He peels back the surface layers of flowery talk and fancy achievements and gets down to the core where the true condition can be found. Digging even deeper, He looks at things residing in more shadowy spots, unable to be seen by the human eye. He inspects the corners where things like motive and truth reside. And, as the Ultimate physician, after He has made His findings, He leaves the examining room with the terms of the condition of the heart He just examined fresh on His mind.

Feelings are incited. Joy. Pleasure. Satisfaction. Delight in a pure and cleansed, vibrant heart, beating for Him.

Such are the hearts of those who have decided along the way that the honest, authentic life is the way to go. Such are the hearts of those who live with a holy confidence that they are not missing out on what the world says they need, even when it gives them some sense of emotional relief. Such are the hearts of those who trust the One who makes it possible for us to forgo our natural flesh tendencies of lust, pride, anger, jealousy, fear, and deceit. They are the ones who believe with full faith that vengeance is God’s…fame is fleeting…and purposeful living and personal responsibility is ours to choose or lose. These are the hearts He laughs, cheers and celebrates over because they get it.

But then there are those inspected hearts that bring about another set of His emotions…

Disappointment. Sorrow. Maybe even righteous anger. Pain over knowing that life is theirs to choose, but knowing they were offered the better way of living to begin with.

These are the hearts of those who sell their soul to become popular, liked, noticed, important, pleasured, and superior. While the outer layer they want people to see may bring recognition and respect, the inner core of the heart tells the story and incites the responses from the One who created us. For those of us who buy into what the world says is fulfilling and real, our hearts are examined and found to be dark and dirty, as much as the person on the street we compare ourselves to with the intention to make ourselves feel better or less sinful.

The truth is that when the Examiner looks at our hearts, when integrity is not found, the darkness He sees inside doesn’t look any different or darker than those we judge to be worse than us.

{pause and soak that in for a minute.}

The bottom line is that this life is about living authentically and genuinely for Jesus. It is about being able to be in a quiet room with no distractions and have the peace that comes from a life lived with spiritual integrity. It is not about being the most popular person in the room, or the most understood, as good as that feels. It is not something that needs to be appreciated by another flawed human, as people with their own set of motives don't tend to be very discerning and are only wise in their own eyes. But, praise God, it is something that can never be taken away from you when Jesus truly knows the inner workings of your heart.

I, for one, want to be the one on the examining table that incites cheers from my Lord.

Just the thought that He might cheer over me makes me want to continue to keep my hands and heart squeaky clean before Him.

How about you?

It's Real

{sidenote: please go to www.sheseeks.org to read a powerful post that goes along with my post, this morning}

I am still living in the afterglow of what happened in my heart yesterday.

I was hit in the face by the power of the very Gospel I base my life upon. I was reminded of its unique ability to change lives. I was reminded of its impact. I was reminded of its message of truth, love and selfless service. I didn’t think I needed the reminder. But I did.

Without going into all the details, let it just suffice to say that the past two weeks in my house have been rough, at best. Others in the church have experienced the same thing. We’ve been tested and tried and felt weary and generally discouraged in certain moments. But we’ve pressed on, believing God for the outcome…knowing that His Gospel and the cause of Jesus Christ never comes up void, no matter what trials have to be endured to get there.

So as I sat in worship yesterday and listened to the Gospel preached boldly and unashamedly, it hit me square between the eyes. It was as if God had given me new eyes to see and new ears to hear, as if I were a child in my spiritual infancy hearing about the miracle of who Jesus is for the very first time in my life. It took my breath away. It shattered my complacency and moved me in the deepest places of my soul, agitating calmed waters that longed to be stirred.

The Gospel jumped off the pages of my Bible, jumped into my bones and infected me from the inside-out. Rarely do I remember a personal moment such as this one, in the bazillions of church services I have sat in in my 37 years of life.

After the service ended, in the midst of men in black shirts working their tails off to break down the stage and lights and serve God with their hands, I noticed a tall, young man making a beeline for my husband. He was weeping, almost uncontrollably. I watched as my husband took him to a side room, much more private than the one they were currently in. To respect their conversation, I won’t go into all the details of what was said between them. But what I will tell you is that this young man, who no one remembers inviting to our church, showed up, became infected by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and went from death to life in a matter of 5 minutes behind a make-shift stage in a rented room.

And I was reminded, again, that the Gospel is so very real.

As I reflect on it this morning, I am still shaking inside from being hit between the eyes by the saving power of Jesus Christ. I’ve seen other people come to Jesus – many of them – in my years as a believer. But this one had particular impact on me. Maybe it was because the battle the week prior was strong and heavy. Maybe it was because of the reaction of a strong, healthy-looking young man weeping openly in front of people he didn’t know.

But I suspect it is more.

I believe I needed to be jolted back to the reality of Jesus Christ at this particular moment in my life. I believe I needed to go back to the beginning and remember what it feels like to fall madly in love with Someone who isn’t sitting in front of you but is more real than your own family. I believe I needed to see a tangible reason why all the hard work and effort of a fledgling, start-up church where people serve more than they are served is not only worth it, but gravely needed.

All I can tell you is that I sit at my computer this morning wanting to love God harder, serve God stronger, and share His message in a bold, new way. The Gospel has, once again, infected my being and I cannot write about anything else until I remind you of what I was reminded of yesterday…

It is real.

Romans 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”

Glass-House Living

Confession time.

I just made a mad dash home to update this blog.

In the midst of dropping off my daughter for a playdate and taking the boys to Chick-Fil-A for some grub, I received a text from my girlfriend, Gwen, to let me know that my devotion, Secret Places, was running today on Girlfriends in God {www.girlfriendsingod.com}. Some of you may be stopping by for the first time after reading that devotion. Some of you may be my already-established friends who have come by to see what is new with me. Regardless, I am so glad you arrived here. As you have probably already noticed, I am sorely behind in posting.

My apologies. :)

But I have been spending time this summer being a wife and mom...breaking in my new role as pastor's wife/church planter...launching a new ministry with Proverbs 31 {She Seeks}...and formulating the beginning stages of my latest book. It's been a fun and rich summer. And may I say...B-U-S-Y, busy.

Not too far into my summer full of all these things, I came to the stark realization that I would need to make sure I was not starving my relationship with God in the process. Otherwise, a padded room and white buckled jacket were not too far off. The truth is, good things can go bad when God is put on the back burner for glorious activity. In all of my roles in life right now, the most important thing I can ever do is make sure He and I are in a constant state of communication so my life doesn't get off track. It's so easy to do, and many of us do it.

Just as I wrote about in my devotion this morning, secret places aren't established overnight. They are habits and sins built up over time that cause us to hide from God, rather than stretch out our lives openly before Him. But addictions to food and sex and spending aren't the only "secret place" addictions that can take over our lives. We can also be addicted to doing...going...performing...pleasing...striving...controlling. These things are a bit more subtle and may not be noticed, but rest assured that they can be just as damaging as those we consider more overt strongholds in our life. That is where we must make sure we are constantly checking in with the Creator of the Universe, who knows us far better than we even know ourselves.

May I encourage you today, friend, to check in with your Creator? May I encourage you to open up your life before Him, with no hidden agendas, nothing to hide and no hint of selfish pride? There is great peace in a safe, authentic relationship with God. On the other hand, there is great anxiety in not being real before Someone who knows the pattern of how your heart beats every second. I know, because I have lived both ways.

So, whether you are taking on new roles in your life like me or trying to break free from old ones that have long needed to be weeded out, join me in pursuing a truth-filled, transparent relationship with the best secret keeper of all time.

Pull your shades up...open up the blinds...and enjoy the view from inside your glass house.

Seeking Him

Welcome, friends, to my blog!

To say I am excited about the launch of the amazing new ministry to 18-29 year old women called She Seeks is quite an understatement. Knowing that Proverbs 31 and the She Seeks team has the opportunity, via the web, to pour into the lives of young women we can't physically reach out and touch is an incredible thought. August 10th could not come fast enough for us, and finally...we are here...and we are launched!

{insert loud applause and a couple of woots here.}

If you are a woman, 18-29, I want you to know that as the coordinator of She Seeks I am committed to relevance, authenticity and truth in everything we do. Our entire team is.

If you are of a different life season but you know of a woman of "seeker" age, please relay to them that message and send them our way. :)

Regardless...if you read my devotion on Proverbs 31 this morning or hopped over to sheseeks.org and read my inspirational entry there, please know that my heart's desire is to speak truth into the life of women. It is among my greatest of joys to get to journey with women to pursue Jesus Christ. I am far from perfect, and I will be the first one to raise my hand to say I need Jesus the most. But I am at the place in my life that I am completely ok with acknowledging that I am completely desperate for Him.

My prayer for you today is that wherever you are physically...emotionally...and spiritually -- in whatever life season or circumstance or place in your journey -- that you will open up your heart to the greatest relationship you will ever have and to the greatest Person you will ever know.

He wants you to seek Him with all your heart, and He stands ready to be there when you do.

Peace.

Well, She Speaks has come and gone for another year, and I find myself back at the computer tonight, working again. Hanging out with my literary agent this weekend was a highlight, but she gave me some serious assignments on her way out of town. So here I sit, re-working a proposal I thought was long ago completed on a book I am jumping out of my skin to write. I totally heart her for pushing me to write better, but...

{whew.}

I am not afraid to admit that it's slightly hard for me to concentrate, because I am thinking about all I have to do to get out of town for a few days with my family. I am thinking about the ministry of She Seeks that is getting ready to launch on August 10th. I am thinking about the 327 emails I need to respond to. I am thinking about what to do with the dog while we are gone and what to pack and what loose ends to tie up before I leave.

And as I'm thinking about all these things, my little girl bounces into the room and stands in front of me. Toothless and tanned, she grins as she says, "I love you, mom." I look her over and take in all of her cuteness. My eyes rest on one of her tiny ears, most of which is covered with a shiny, trendy symbol.

Peace.

I know it's silly, but the meaning behind those $8 earrings spoke to me.

And I was reminded that in the midst of a busy schedule full of commitments and contracts and obligations, peace is still available, accessible and possible.

Just as it is in the midst of trial, misunderstanding and disappointment.

Which should encourage all of us since if we are not currently in one of those places, it will not be long before we find ourselves back there, again.

So to my friends who came to She Speaks and got news they didn't want to hear...and to my friends who have been in one of those places I mentioned or may well be by the time they read this post...and for all the other readers in between who just need to remember that Jesus is in the business of bearing the deep burdens of our heart while carefully carrying our everyday stresses...I say to you tonight, the same word I most need to hear...

Peace.