Tag: God

Pulled Back Into the We: Lamenting Our Sin

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Photo by Jace Miller

Last week we talked about the kind of honesty that refuses shortcuts—the honesty that tells the truth about my sin. The kind that stops minimizing, stops explaining, stops shifting blame, and finally says, “This is what I’ve done, and I need God to heal me.” It opens the door to mercy.

But there’s another kind of lament that may be even harder: lamenting our sin. Not just what I’ve done, but what we, as the people of God, have done together. The places where the Church has drifted. The places where we’ve compromised. The places where we’ve chosen comfort over courage, influence over integrity, or cultural approval over faithfulness to Jesus.

Corporate lament asks us to tell the truth about the Church we belong to—not the Church we wish we were, not the Church we pretend to be, but the Church we actually are. And that kind of truth‑telling is uncomfortable because it removes our ability to stand at a distance. It pulls us into the story. This is not about shame. It’s about honesty. And honesty is the doorway to healing.

When God speaks to His people in Scripture, He rarely speaks to individuals alone. He speaks to communities. He speaks to His people as a whole. And He invites them to return to Him together. “Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right.” (Isaiah 1:16–17) is a call to a whole community that has drifted from God’s heart. And “Come, let us return to the Lord… He will heal us.” (Hosea 6:1) reminds us that repentance is a shared journey. Healing comes when God’s people return together.

Corporate lament is the moment we stop pretending that the Church’s failures have nothing to do with us. It’s the moment we stop distancing ourselves from the parts of the Body we don’t like. It’s the moment we say, “We are the Church. And we want to be healed.”

Every generation of God’s people has had to face the truth about its own drift. Ours is no different. And while the specifics may vary from place to place, the patterns are painfully familiar. We’ve softened Scripture when it felt inconvenient. We’ve followed cultural voices more closely than the voice of Jesus. We’ve chosen comfort over obedience. We’ve defended institutions more fiercely than the vulnerable. These are not accusations. They are confessions. They are the places where the Church has drifted from the heart of Jesus.

And if we’re honest, we’ve all participated in that drift in one way or another—through silence, apathy, fear, convenience, misplaced loyalty, or simple distraction. “For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us… we acknowledge our iniquities.” (Isaiah 59:12–13) This is not about shame—it’s about finally telling the truth together so God can heal us together.

Corporate lament also asks something that feels almost impossible: it asks us to stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in sins we personally didn’t commit, don’t agree with, and may even abhor. It asks us to say, “We did this,” even when our instinct is to say, “They did this.” We don’t want to be associated with harm we didn’t cause. We don’t want to be connected to choices we never would have made. We don’t want to carry responsibility for actions that grieve us.

But here’s the truth we often forget: others have had to do the same for us. There are things we have done—choices we’ve made, harm we’ve caused, blind spots we’ve carried—that other believers have had to stand beside, even though they didn’t commit those sins themselves. They’ve had to say “we” about things we did. They’ve had to carry the weight of our failures as part of the same Body. If we want grace for our own missteps, we must be willing to extend that same grace to the Church’s missteps—even the ones that aren’t ours personally.

Scripture keeps pulling us back into the “we.” Israel confessed as a people. The early Church repented as a people. The prophets spoke to the whole community, not just the guilty individuals. Paul confronted the whole church in Corinth, not just the man at the center of the scandal. Why? Because sin in the Body affects the whole Body. Because silence is participation. Because looking away is its own kind of agreement. Because blaming “those Christians over there” is just another way of avoiding the truth.

Corporate lament asks us to tell the truth about the harm we allowed, the harm we ignored, the harm we explained away, the harm we stayed silent about. It asks us to admit that sometimes we stood by with our arms crossed, pointing fingers, shaking our heads, blaming others—while people were being wounded in Jesus’ name. It asks us to say words we don’t want to say: We failed. We allowed this. We protected the wrong things. We hurt people. We looked away. We chose comfort over courage. We chose reputation over repentance.

This is the posture Ezra and Nehemiah took when they prayed for Israel. They didn’t stand outside the people’s sin; they stepped into it. They confessed as part of the community, saying “we have sinned” even when they personally had not committed the wrong. They understood that belonging means responsibility. Belonging means honesty. Belonging means standing in the truth together so we can be healed together.

Throughout Scripture, whenever God’s people lamented and returned to Him together, He restored them together. After Ezra confessed the sins of the nation, God brought cleansing and renewed worship. When Nehemiah led the people in corporate repentance, God restored their unity, their identity, and their joy. And at Pentecost, when thousands repented as one people, God poured out His Spirit and birthed the Church. This is the pattern of God: when His people tell the truth together, He heals them together.

And this is where your life and mine intersect the story: our personal decisions shape the Body, whether we intend them to or not. When we choose convenience over conviction, the Body absorbs the cost. When we avoid truth, the Body carries the wound. Silence is not kindness—it is a failure of love. It is a refusal to care enough about one another to name what is real.

This is the part of lament that humbles us the most. It strips away our defenses. It removes our ability to say, “That’s not my problem.” It pulls us into the story and asks us to stand in the light—not as isolated individuals, but as a community that needs God’s mercy. And this is where healing begins.

We can’t heal what we won’t name. And as painful as it is to face the truth about our drift, God meets us in that honesty. He doesn’t turn away from a confessing people—He draws near, He listens, and He responds with mercy. This has always been the pattern of Scripture: “Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right.” (Isaiah 1:16–17). “Come, let us return to the Lord.” (Hosea 6:1). “Humble yourselves.” (James 4:10). And then the promise: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us.” (Hosea 6:2). This is resurrection language. This is God’s heart toward a people who return: revival, restoration, new life.

Corporate lament is not about beating ourselves up. It’s about opening ourselves up. It’s about making space for God to reshape us into a people who look like Jesus again.

At the end of the day, corporate lament is not about what we’ve done wrong. It’s about who we want to become. A Church that tells the truth. A Church that refuses to hide. A Church that loves Scripture enough to obey it. A Church that chooses integrity over influence. A Church that is humble, honest, and ready for resurrection.

This is the Church we long to be. This is the Church Jesus is calling us to become. And lament is how we begin.

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Lament: The Path to Resurrection Hope

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Photo by MART PRODUCTION

Most of us walk into church carrying things we don’t quite know what to do with. We pray, we sing, we greet one another—but underneath, there are losses we haven’t named, hurts we haven’t voiced, questions we don’t know how to ask. We carry grief in our bodies even when we don’t have language for it. Scripture gives us a word for that. It gives us lament.

Loss doesn’t arrive politely. It doesn’t knock first. It doesn’t wait for a convenient moment. Sometimes loss is sudden. Sometimes it’s slow. Sometimes it’s not even the loss of a person—it’s the loss of a future, a dream, a sense of safety, a version of life you thought you’d have. And when loss hits, most of us don’t know what to do with it. We try to be strong. We try to keep moving. We try not to fall apart. But Scripture never asks us to pretend. It gives us a different way. It gives us lament.

Lament is telling God the truth about our pain. It’s the honest prayer we pray when life hurts and we don’t have answers. Lament is not complaining. It’s not losing faith. It’s not getting stuck. Lament is how we bring our real pain to a real God who really listens and never leaves. Lament is faith with dirt under its nails—faith that’s been on the ground, faith that’s cried in the car, faith that’s been awake at 3 a.m., faith that’s holding on to God with one hand while wiping tears with the other. Lament is not the opposite of faith. Lament is an act of faith. If you didn’t believe God was listening, you wouldn’t cry out. If you didn’t believe God cared, you wouldn’t bring Him your pain. If you didn’t believe God could do something with your grief, you wouldn’t bother praying at all. Lament is faith refusing to go silent.

One of the most powerful moments in Scripture happens at a graveside. In John 11, Jesus arrives at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. Mary and Martha are devastated. Confused. Disappointed. Hurt. They had sent for Jesus days earlier, and He didn’t come in time. When Jesus arrives, He doesn’t stand at a distance. He doesn’t offer explanations. He doesn’t tell them to “trust God more.” He steps into their grief. And then comes the shortest, most honest sentence in the Gospels: “Jesus wept.” He knew resurrection was minutes away—but He still cried. Because lament is not about the outcome. It’s about the moment. It’s about love. It’s about presence. It’s about entering someone else’s pain before you try to lift them out of it. Jesus wept because love weeps. This is the God who meets us in lament.

As we move toward Easter, we’re spending intentional time learning how to lament. Not because lament is a detour, but because it’s part of the road. There are no shortcuts through grief. We don’t get to resurrection by skipping the tomb. We can’t celebrate resurrection without first naming what needs resurrecting. Lament matters because you can’t heal what you won’t name. Because God meets us in the places we’d rather hide. Because Jesus Himself lamented—love enters pain before it lifts pain. Because lament forms us into people who walk with God in the real world. Because Easter is for people who know what loss feels like and need God to make things new. Lament is not weakness. Lament is discipleship.

If lament is so important, why do so few of us practice it? Because most of us have been taught—explicitly or implicitly—to rush past our pain. Pressure sounds like: “Be strong.” “Don’t cry.” “You should be over this by now.” Pressure makes grief feel like a problem to solve instead of a wound to tend. But God doesn’t meet us with pressure. God meets us with compassion. He doesn’t rush grief. He doesn’t set a timeline. He doesn’t say, “You should be better by now.” He says, “I’m here.”

Six months after my daughter died, I told a friend I was still struggling—still sad, still waking up in the night, still wrestling with guilt and questions. She said, “I thought you would have gotten over it by now.” She wasn’t trying to be cruel. She was just living in a world that had moved on. Her life was normal again. Mine was still in the wreckage. But while people moved on, God didn’t. God wasn’t waiting for me to “get over it.” He wasn’t disappointed in my tears. He wasn’t frustrated that I wasn’t “stronger.” God sat with me in sackcloth and ashes—holding my hand, wiping my tears, not rushing me out of the pain but choosing to be with me in it. This is the God who meets us in lament.

Photo by Christophe Leclaire

Romans 12:15 says, “Weep with those who weep.” Job’s friends, before they got it wrong, got it right. They sat with him in silence for seven days. Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is sit down next to someone and stay. Not to fix them. Not to rush them. Just to be with them. There’s a story I love about a man who fell into a deep hole. A psychiatrist walked by, wrote a prescription, and kept walking. A pastor walked by, prayed a prayer, and kept walking. Finally, a friend walked by, saw the man, and jumped in. The man panicked: “Now we’re both stuck!” But the friend said, “It’s okay. I’ve been here before. And I know the way out.” That’s presence. That’s compassion. That’s what makes lament possible.

A few years ago, I got a call from the mother of a young man in my youth group. He was very sick—multiple complications, on life support. She asked if I could come. As I drove to the hospital, something inside me tightened. It was the same hospital, the same ward where my daughter had been when she passed. Grief has a way of collapsing time. I prayed in the car: “Lord, help me. I don’t know if I can do this.” But I walked through the door. I spent the day with the family. And the next day too. I prayed with them. I listened. I cried with them. I held her hand in her hurt and confusion. And here’s the part that still humbles me: I was more blessed by that experience than I can express. God took my pain, my loss, my broken pieces—and He used them. Not because I was strong. Not because I was healed. Not because I had answers. But because God had sat with me in my own ashes long enough to shape compassion in me. And then He let that compassion become a gift for someone else. This is what restoration looks like. Not forgetting the pain. Not pretending it didn’t happen. But letting God redeem it.

So what do we do now? We tell God the truth. Not the polished version. Not the “I’m fine” version. The real version. God can only meet us where we actually are. We let God be close to our broken hearts. We don’t have to pretend. We don’t have to be strong. We don’t have to rush. We let God sit with us in the ashes. And we let lament soften us and send us. We stop asking why this is happening and begin asking what God is forming in us through this loss. Then we let that compassion move us toward others.

Lament doesn’t erase the loss. It doesn’t make the pain tidy. But it keeps us moving toward God instead of away from Him. It keeps us tender instead of numb. It keeps us connected instead of isolated. It keeps us hopeful instead of hopeless. And in all of it, God is close. God is compassionate. God is transforming us. God is restoring us. And God is giving us one another. Lament is how we bring our real pain to a real God who really listens and never leaves. Lament is not a detour. And God meets us right there.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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The God Who Cannot Be Absent

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Photo by cottonbro studio

There are moments in life when the silence feels louder than God’s voice. When the weight of what we’re carrying makes us whisper the same question people have asked for thousands of years: “Where are You, God?”

It’s not a question of doubt. It’s a question of being human. And the Bible doesn’t hide that question. It gives us the words for it. It shows us people who felt the same way we do — even though God had never left them.

Psalm 31 is one of those places. It’s honest and unfiltered. The writer feels abandoned, overwhelmed, forgotten. But underneath all of that emotion is a truth he keeps coming back to: God is present, even when we can’t feel Him. That tension — between what we feel and what is true — is part of the life of faith.

The psalmist says things like, “I am forgotten as though I were dead” (Psalm 31:12). “My strength fails” (Psalm 31:10). “I am in distress” (Psalm 31:9). These aren’t the words of someone who has lost faith. They’re the words of someone trying to hold onto it. And then, right in the middle of all that fear, he says, “But I trust in You, Lord… My times are in Your hands” (Psalm 31:14–15). He’s basically saying, “I don’t feel You, but I know You’re here.” That’s the tension most of us live in.

This morning I woke up because the wave machine I sleep with suddenly shut off. The silence was so loud it startled me awake. I didn’t realize how much I’d gotten used to the steady sound of waves until it disappeared. And as I lay there, it hit me: this is exactly what God’s silence has felt like in some seasons of my life. Not that He left. Not that He stopped caring. Just that the “sound” of His nearness felt harder to sense. The silence was real. But the absence wasn’t. Psalm 31 gives us permission to name that feeling without confusing it for truth.

We use the word “omnipresent” in church, but most people don’t use that word anywhere else. So here’s the simple version: omnipresent means God is always present everywhere. Not sometimes. Not when we feel it. Always. Everywhere. All the time. It’s not something God does. It’s who He is. Which means the idea of God being absent, silent, or checked out isn’t just painful — it’s impossible. If God could step away from us, even for a moment, He would stop being God. His presence isn’t a mood. It isn’t a reward. It isn’t something we earn. It’s His nature.

Photo by molochkomolochko:

The Bible doesn’t just say God is “around.” It says something much deeper. From the very beginning, God breathed

His own life into us (Genesis 2:7). That breath wasn’t a one‑time moment — it’s the breath that keeps us alive. Paul puts it this way: “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We don’t just live near God. We live in the God who holds everything together.

And Jesus makes it even clearer: “He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). “We will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you” (John 15:4). Jesus isn’t describing a God who pops in and out. He’s describing a God who has made His home in us. A God whose presence is the very thing that keeps us alive. So when we say “God feels far,” we’re talking about our feelings, not His location.

Psalm 31 shows us a God who sees and stays, but Scripture goes even further: God is not just present — He is active. Jesus said, “My Father is always at His work” (John 5:17). Paul reminds us that God is working “in all things” for our good (Romans 8:28), and that He is working in us to shape our desires and actions according to His purpose (Philippians 2:13). And long before that, Isaiah declared that God “works for those who wait for Him” (Isaiah 64:4). God is not a passive observer of our lives. He is moving, shaping, sustaining, redeeming, and working in the very places where we feel most alone.

When Jeremiah was terrified of what God was asking him to do, God didn’t give him a pep talk. He simply said, “Do not be afraid… for I am with you” (Jeremiah 1:8). God’s presence is His answer. His nearness is His reassurance. His character is His promise. And Jesus echoes the same truth: “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). Always.

Psalm 31 gives us the language of fear and trust, of feeling abandoned and choosing to cling to God anyway. But the psalmist’s feelings are not the foundation of our hope. God’s nature is. Our emotions may shout, but they do not define reality. God does.

And Scripture tells us who He is:
The God who breathed life into us (Genesis 2:7).
The God in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
The God who makes His home in us (John 14:23).
The God who works in all things for our good (Romans 8:28).
The God who cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13).

This is the God who holds us.

So here is the truth we stand on: God’s absence is impossible. Not unlikely. Not rare. Not “mostly untrue.” Impossible. Because if God could be absent — even for a moment — He would stop being omnipresent. He would stop being faithful. He would stop being holy love. He would stop being who He is. But He cannot deny Himself.

So even when we feel abandoned, we are held. Even when we feel forgotten, we are seen. Even when we feel alone, we are surrounded. Even when we hear silence, we are not without Him.

This is not wishful thinking. This is not emotional comfort. This is not “God will show up eventually.” This is the unchanging reality of the God who is always present, always active, always sustaining, always working, always God. Anything less would violate His nature.

Psalm 31 begins with trembling hands reaching for help. But the final word does not belong to our trembling. The final word belongs to the God who cannot leave.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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This is Not a Test

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On October 4, 2023, at 11:20 AM PST the United States sounded an alarm. Several federal, regional, and local entities performed a nationwide emergency alert test. All televisions, radios, cell phones, and other cellular devices would receive the loud, alarming, test message. My children came home from school the week before talking about it. How everyone across the whole country was going to be hearing the same thing at the same time. They thought it was very cool and newsworthy. It got their imaginations going; how loud would it be, how long would it last, would their friends who were hiding their cell phones at school get caught? The excitement continued to build until the day, and the moment finally arrived.

I was in a meeting with colleagues on the other side of the country in Massachusetts when the alarms sounded. My cell phone, their phones, the radio, the television, everything started screaming at once. The same sound we get during monsoon season from the national weather service, or when there is an Amber alert, or evacuation instructions from a forest fire, we all heard it, we all took note of it. Then after a few seconds it was over and we went on about our regularly scheduled programming.

My kids came home that day, somewhat disappointed. To be honest, I had to actually ask them about it, it was so anticlimactic that once it was done they forgot about it completely. “I thought it would be louder.” my daughter said. “I thought it would last longer and there would be something like sirens or something.” was my son’s statement. A week’s worth of build up, a few seconds of distraction, then the world moved on.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”” (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)

The world is on a collision course with a true emergency alert. Except, this one is not warning of imminent danger, it is the onset. Once you hear this sound, there will be no time to take refuge, or find shelter. There will be no safe place to hide for those who have chosen to ignore all the warning signs that were sounded beforehand. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:42-44)

I am not an expert in end time theology. I will never claim to be so. I am the preacher declaring that we need to be prepared at all times, not just when we know danger is coming. We are called to live each day, and approach each conversation as if it is our last. Jesus warns us in many parables to be prepared, the Ten Virgins is one of my favorites. “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord.’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”” (Matthew 25:10-13 emphasis added)

We are told by Jesus and throughout scripture that we will not know the day the Lord has chosen to return. We won’t have advanced warning systems, we won’t have a moment to change our hearts or minds. The moment he arrives is THE moment, and if we are not ready, if our hearts are not prepared and turned toward him, the door will be closed.

As of the writing of this article, Russia is still at war with Ukraine, China and North Korea are apparently teaming up with Russia, and Israel just declared war on Hamas (Palestine). Within our own country there is more infighting and division than I have witnessed…ever. What needs to be happening in the world before people take notice? “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

There are those who will read things and think it’s inflammatory, provocative, extreme, overly dramatic, or just plain wrong. Bad things happen in the world every day, perhaps I’m being an alarmist, taking things too seriously, or too far? Or, perhaps, people think that because they don’t want to believe they need to make a change in their own lives. They like the way living for themselves feels. They want to brush off what’s happening in the world so that they don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Because, if they actually believed that Jesus is coming back, they would need to turn their lives over, give up their wants and desires, and care for others above themselves. That’s just too much to do on a Sunday afternoon.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

This is, hopefully, where you can decide if the things of this world are worth sacrificing your eternity. My dear friends, make no mistake, there will come a day when it will be too late for you to repent and turn to God. People’s disbelief doesn’t affect God. He is not Santa Clause who ceases to exist because fewer and fewer people believe in Him. He is constant, he is not dependent upon us, He is real, He is coming, and the clock is ticking. 

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11, Romans 14, Isaiah 43:23)

Every knee, every tongue, not just those who believe and will praise his coming, but the knees and tongues of those who did not. Realizing their lack of acceptance has cost them their eternity.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Reach Out!

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This morning, while clearing out old drafts, I came across this post that for some reason never got published. While it may seem out of date, I wanted to bring it forward. We may have come through the pandemic, but we are still feeling the effects of a very changed world. Changed for many reasons that I don’t think I need to name. This blog was written on a bad day of work, virtual schooling, endless laundry, and wriggly children, but the basic premise remains the same.

During challenging times, I call upon the Church to reach out to their communities, and for communities to reach out to the Church.

January 21, 2021

Today was a challenging day. It kind of reminded me of the book Alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day. One of the days where it seems that Murphy’s proverbial law was reigning supreme and whatever could go wrong did. The best I could do was to make a late day cup of coffee and step outside for a few deep breaths and to enjoy a stolen moment of quiet and calm.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18

While I was outside watching the clouds roll by on a mostly rainy day, I began to think of how other parents might be handling this world we are living in today. If we’re lucky, we’re still employed, we may have children either completely or partly virtually schooled from home, we are more than likely under some kind of COVID-19 protocol that limits our ability to interact with friends and family.  We are struggling to be a parent, employee, teacher, principal, housekeeper, chef, caregiver, peacemaker, friend, wife, husband, son, daughter, brother, or sister. While some of this is a natural response to who we are, a lot of it is a result of circumstances far out of our control, and certainly never expected or planned.

In the middle of thanking God for his incredible provision to my family during this time, it occurred to me that knowing everyone is in the same boat, doesn’t really make it easier. So many parents are struggling right now to find balance, to be the best they can be, and to try and keep everything under control in an incredibly chaotic time. Families need help in what seems to be a groundhog experience of Alexander’s very bad day.

I want to issue a challenge, more like a suggestion really. I have been reading and hearing stories of churches and church families that have begun outreach ministries to their communities with the sole purpose of providing support, resources, and relief to families who may be on the brink of exhaustion. They are turning their fellowship halls into virtual classrooms staffed by volunteers who want to help. They are providing virtual tutoring services from their homes, counseling services, lunchtime meals on wheels and after school bible studies. The church is uniquely positioned to provide support and resources during this time, “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.“ Philippians 2:1-4

I have continued to believe that God, during this pandemic is capable, and desirous of bringing about revival in His church. While we may feel limited in our ability to evangelize the world, He is not limited by anything. “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2

Parents, I encourage you to reach out to your churches and ask for help. Churches, reach out to the parents in your congregations, find a local school and ask where there is need. We are so much better together than we are divided. We can accomplish so much more when we work together than when we’re fighting one another. Our children need us, our communities need us, we need to stop looking outside for someone or something to fix what’s broken. We have what we need to care for each other.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Christian Begins with Christ

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Being a Christian begins with remembering who God is, and what he has done for you.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9

I have been wrestling with how to share Jesus with those who are struggling in dark times, when they have lost hope and see no way forward. My knee jerk reaction is to tell them that Jesus is the hope they are looking for. Jesus is the answer to the problems of our sin sick world. Jesus brings healing, restoration, joy, and freedom. My words fall flat as blank stares, filled with pain, look back at me. Are these the same faces that Jesus observed as he ministered across Judea?

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38

This week I listened to a message about praying for laborers (Matthew 9:35-38). The need is so great in our world, people are lost and hopeless. The harvest is indeed plentiful, you can see it in the faces of those who come to the church for food, and clothing. You can hear it in their voices as they share their troubles, hopelessness has a tone. It is the dull drumming of a world that has become deaf to the needs of others. It is the endless cries for help we no longer hear. The overwhelming need of people today across the world can easily become a cacophony of noise so overwhelming that we choose to tune it out for fear it will overwhelm us. The world needs a savior.

The world has a savior, Jesus.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

“ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, so that we may have life abundantly, that we may have peace in tribulation because he has overcome the world.

We cannot overcome all the hopelessness that exists in the world today. We cannot fix everything that is broken, we cannot fill every need, and we cannot be the savior of each hurt person we meet. When we turn our focus on who we are and what we can do, we will drown in a sea of despair. Without Christ we can do nothing.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Apart from Christ we can do nothing. Everything begins and ends with Him. Trying to fix the world, fix my community, fix my family, fix my neighbor out of my own broken jar of clay is like trying to bail out my boat with a bucket full of holes. It may feel like I am helping, and I am working hard, but the boat is going to sink, taking me along with it.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9

God is who he says he is. He is faithful and steadfast in his love for us. We are not called to save the world; we are called to obey him… How do we do that, you ask?

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Being a Christian begins with remembering who God is, and what he had done for you, and loving others as he loves us.

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:19-21

The world doesn’t need another savior. We are loved, redeemed, saved for this life and all eternity. We have been given all we need (2 Peter 1:3) for this life to live how He has called us, to be Christ to those who need us, to love others as He loved us.

I challenge you (and me) to approach each day with the knowledge of who God is and his love for you. Then, from that over abundant fountain of love pour out onto those around you. approach everyone you meet with God’s heart; serve the needs of the people He puts in front of you. It is not our job to save the world, Jesus did that already. It is our job to meet people where they are, love them as they are, and walk with them to the foot of the cross.

I pray that today that the Holy Spirit will give us an opportunity to meet the needs of someone. That he would divinely appoint opportunities for us to share Christ’s love with someone, and that we would respond with the same love that Christ first showed us.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Come back and visit at ListenLearn.Live Ministries

Prayer is a Privilege

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According to Oxford dictionary the definition of prayer is, “a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.” I’ve also read, “In the Bible prayer is worship that includes all the attitudes of the human spirit in its approach to God…This highest activity of which the human spirit is capable may also be thought of as communion with God, so long as due emphasis is laid upon divine initiative. A man prays because God has already touched his spirit.”

A man prays because God has already touched his spirit. When someone asks you to pray for them the Spirit has moved, and is stirring your spirit to respond. A request for prayer is not random, coincidental, lucky (or to some unlucky), it is not an obligation, or chore, it is a divine appointment. Knowing this, why are we hesitant about responding?

We’ll say, “I’ll remember you in my prayers (later)”, “I’ll be praying for you (later)”, “I’ll lift up you and your family, situation, struggle, etc., (later)”. Then we go on about our business, hoping to remember to pray for them the next time we make time, to go before the Lord. The best way to remember what you have to do, is to do it before you have a chance to forget it.  When someone asks us to pray for them, it is the Holy Spirit moving them, and giving us the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to that person, in that moment.

Don’t waste this precious gift of appointed by the Spirit, that is practiced by the Son, and glorifies the Father. Every time someone asks for you to pray for them, they are placing their hearts in your hands. Clasp it tightly, weave your fingers together, and bring them before God in that very moment. Honor the movement of the Spirit in your life and do what Jesus would do.

How many times have you told someone you would pray for them, to later forget. I know, life gets busy, we get distracted, there are a dozen reasons that we can give, it’s happened to most of us. We need to believe that those moments are precious gifts. They are Spirit lead appointments that were (are) orchestrated for us to demonstrate the Father’s love for others.

Recently I have been walking with a family through the worst of times, they were losing a child. This young man was one of the teens from my youth group for years. I had gotten to know this young man and his younger brother, my heart was broken for them. There was nothing I could do to fix, repair, replace, restore their hearts. All I could do was pray.

A couple weeks ago I received a call, “Pastor Betsy, please come!” I went. Walking into the hospital that day I knew what was awaiting me, I knew what was awaiting this family, as I had walked this road myself with our own daughter many years before. I prayed walking toward the building that the Holy Spirit would give me the strength to walk through the doors, the ability to speak life and love into their lives, to check my own emotions at the door and be fully present with them. And He did just that.

The Spirit moved that day, I was able to be there as a friend, pastor, and sister in Christ. This was a divine appointment, and although it was heart breaking, there was no other place I wanted to be. I had the Spirit appointed privilege to be present as this family prepared to say goodbye, and their son joined Jesus in eternity.

Every opportunity to lift up a person, a situation (which is almost always about people), is an opportunity to be Christ to someone, for someone, on behalf of someone. Jesus often went off to pray, (Matt 14:22-23). He demonstrates for us the importance of interceding with and for others, in Romans 8:31-39 we read that Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. Jesus is He who is perfect but also knows fully what it means to be human. So, He is the perfect advocate for us to the Father. He intercedes for us continually (Hebrews 7:23-25).

What does this mean for us? It means that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ we ought to do what he does. Prayer is an opportunity for us to tangibly advocate and intercede on behalf of our brothers and sisters. Prayer is an opportunity for us to be in relationship with our creator (that’s mind blowing in and of itself). God created the very voices we speak with, their tone, their resonance, their tenor, he wants to hear from you! It brings his heart joy when we come before him with our praise, with our fears, with our troubles, and especially on behalf of others.

He doesn’t care about fancy words, or pithy statements. He doesn’t care what language you speak. He doesn’t care where you are; in your car, shower, on your knees, in the middle of a shouting match with your kids. He wants to be an acknowledged presence in your life that you can turn too at any point in time.

I shared with you recently about my monthly dinner with some of my sisters in Christ and the wonderful conversation we had. At the end of that dinner, as the dining room was filling up, we didn’t actually notice we were so engrossed in our conversation, we prayed. Each one of us, praying over the others, about what we shared, to know Jesus more, to grow in his grace and love. We prayed, and we called on his name, and when we were done, we noticed that this little dining room had gone quiet. People who had been waiting for us to leave so they could sit, just stared. We apologized for taking so long as we quickly gathered our things, “no don’t rush on our behalf, really we can wait till you’re done.”

Prayer also changes those around you. When others see you stopping your life to lift up a brother or sister to the hands of the Father, they take notice, they take account, they get convicted, seeds are planted, and they are changed.

Prayer is a privilege, a divine appointment orchestrated by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of many. Don’t miss your opportunities to partake of God’s Sovereign plan for your life and the lives of those around you.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Come back and visit at ListenLearn.Live Ministries

Thoughts From the Car Wash

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I was talking with a group of friends on Monday as we had dinner, and one of them made the comment that they are starving to better know and understand God’s word. In fact, I believe the comment she made was that she is ‘ravenous’ to know more.  Which is ironic in that it was also how we approached our incredible BBQ dinner from Smokey Mo thank you very much!

As I drove home that night I continued to ponder her words and the depth to which her soul was crying out to know Jesus better, to know the living word better, to be filled with the Holy Spirit more completely. Nothing in this world is going to satisfy her, she wants only our Lord. I was convicted by her words, how many of us walk through our day to day lives, hungry for something but we can’t figure out what? Feeling like we’re missing something, longing to be satisfied but nothing in this world can fill us, so we search on in vain for something to fill a hole we can’t quite identify.

This morning, while sitting at the carwash, I pulled out my devotional and took advantage of the fact that no one was going to get their car washed at 7:30 in the morning, so I had the lobby all to myself. As I read through the message, I began thinking about how much I want to want God more than anything else. Truly I want him to the absolute center of my life and being. I want to know him more each day, I want to be all he wants me to be. It reminded me of how we feel (or at least I felt) the very first time we have a real crush, or a first love.

In those beginning days and weeks, we are obsessed with getting to know them, wanting to be near them all the time, talking on the phone, spending every moment together, being whatever they want you to be. We are so consumed (or at least I was) by the person that we lose ourselves in them. Talking for hours, never getting bored, thinking of them all the time. Imagining ways to make them happy and how to please them. A feeling so all consuming and compelling that nothing else matters, not family, or friends, or school, or anything else in all creation is as important as they are, then I thought about what Jesus said is the most important commandment, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38) We all have the capacity and desire to love like that, it’s what or who we chose to love that usually throws us spinning off course.

Unfortunately for most of us, the ‘love’ soon fades, people are flawed, broken, unable to return or maintain that kind of love with one another. We’ll get tired, conflicted, other pastures look greener, we feel neglected, or taken advantage of. Sometimes we’re the ones neglecting because the feeling that was so powerful at first has somehow lost its power.

We wonder where we went wrong, often try too hard for too long to keep the relationship afloat, ultimately it doesn’t. There is only one thing that can fulfill that level of all consuming, relentless, audacious love…God, in the person of Jesus Christ. People will let us down, wander off, get bored, lose interest, and move on. Jesus never will. He returns our imperfect, flawed, broken, misplace, selfish love with his perfect, all fulfilling, all-consuming love. He will never get bored, stray, change, forget, wander off, let down, or disappear. He is obsessed with loving us, we are his joy. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) We are the reason he went to the cross.

I don’t know about you, but I want to love Jesus like that. Like my first crush, completely obsessed with knowing him, showing my love, being who he wants me to be, and living to please him. Only then can I fulfill my purpose in life. That’s why I was created, that’s why you were created, and it is only when we are fulfilling that purpose in our lives that we can be whole.  Not when we are obsessively trying to please creation; man, woman, children, job, school, country, or world, but only when our only concern is HIM and his purpose for our life.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

The Jesus shaped space in our hearts cannot be filled by anything else, nothing! No matter how hard you try to convince yourself…you will never truly be happy unless Jesus is in His rightful place in your life.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Come back and visit at ListenLearn.Live Ministries

Following Christ isn’t Convenient

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It’s Saturday morning, you have a laundry list of ‘need to do’ items, right behind that is your list of ‘want to do’ items, then of course, there is the actual laundry to do…the phone rings. You’re in the middle of sorting dirty laundry and you grab your phone, you recognize the number and you have just a moment to decide if you answer or if you let it go to voice mail. Do I have time today to take the call, do I have time to talk or visit, or fulfill whatever request may come from the other end of the phone. In a split second you can think of 101 different legitimate reasons to swipe down, and just one to swipe up. 

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps – reading the Bible.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together)

Christianity, being a Christ follower will always be inconvenient. It will be rare for the Lord to bring someone across your path where it will be easy, convenient, comfortable, and timely to serve as Christ to that person.  Christ calls us to step out and step up and be him in a broken and weary world. 

He sent his disciples out into the world to share the gospel under resourced, with little direction, to share the Gospel, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The Kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. ‘Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts – no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep…I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” Matthew 10:7-16

He is going to send us out where we don’t want to go, with little in hand, to places unfriendly. Jesus said a great deal about what it will cost us to be his disciple. He didn’t mince words, and he didn’t sweeten it up, he told us it would be hard and take everything, and yet, we keep making excuses. 

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25-27

You swipe up, answer the call, stop what you are doing to lend a prayerful hand to someone in need. Then something incredible happens – from the depth of your weariness you receive the grace needed – to provide more than requested,  and demonstrate Christs love to someone who desperately needed it. You miraculously had the right words to say, the needed resources to provide, and the time required to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

The laundry is still there, your list of ‘to dos’ still needs to be done, but God allowed you to enter into the midst of the beautiful, the graceful, and the merciful. There will always be more to do in our lives, laundry, dishes, work, school, family obligations, shopping, and cleaning. Once we can accept that the endless list is endless, and there will always be more to do, we can let ourselves off the hook and focus on doing that which will make the most difference in God’s kingdom…spoiler alert…it’s not laundry. 

God cares about people and while Jesus told us that he knows what we need and that our Father in Heaven will provide for those needs, he is calling us to care about people like he does. When we do that, when we love his people the way he loves us, we get to enter into his kingdom, here on earth and our inheritance in heaven.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink: When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for on of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” Matthew 25:34-40

I get it, it’s challenging to weigh the needs of our lives and our family’s needs in this world against what we’re called to do and be as part of Christ’s kingdom. At the beginning of the article, I stated that we’ll have 101 reasons to swipe down and only one to swipe up. Well, I was wrong there are two reasons to swipe up the first is easy, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do), the second, well…if it were you on the other end of the phone, in need, weary, distraught, in need of assistance – wouldn’t you pray that someone answered?

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

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Come back and visit at ListenLearn.Live Ministries

Something WAS burned in the Fire!

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“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” Hebrews 4:12

During Monday Bible study, we read through Daniel Chapter 3. This was the second time that this group of amazing women read through this portion of God’s story. For many of us, we had read through before that as well. It is one of those great biblical stories that encourages us to live fearlessly in the face of opposition, secure in the knowledge of a sovereign God who is always with us.

This week something else stood out, that I had not noticed before. In my understanding of the story, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into the furnace, and miraculously remained unharmed. In fact, the King observed that there were four in the fire not three, and one looked like a son of the gods.

“Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.” Daniel:21-23 (bold added by me)

The King, in his anger, had these three bound from head to toe and thrown into the fire. This wasn’t an ordinary fire, the furnace had been heated seven times hotter than normal, so hot, to get close meant to die. The ‘mighty men’ tasked with throwing them in died from the super-heated flames. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t die, even as those tasked with throwing them in burned, they remained unharmed. There is a lesson here as well for those who try to harm God’s people, but that’s not my point for today.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:24-25 (bold added by me)

As I read this, I was absolutely dumbstruck. So much is made of the fact that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were unharmed, unsinged, and untouched by the fiery furnace, “And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.” Daniel 3:27 It was truly miraculous!

However, is it possible that in our excitement of God’s intervention, we missed something important? These three men were bound from head to toe and unable to walk, they were thrown into the fire. But the King saw them unbound, walking around in the midst of the fire with a fourth who has the appearance like a son of the gods. Not only was Jesus in the fire with them, but he also allowed those flames to burn away what bound them.

Let me say that again, Jesus was there in the fire with them, protecting them from harm, and removing that which bound them. God didn’t just save them from the fiery furnace, he freed them as well. Just as Jesus sacrifice on the Cross saves us from the condemnation we deserve, death; it also frees us from the destructive and oppressive hold that sin has on our lives.

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:13-14 (bold added by me)

This is a wonderful story of salvation, a story of obedience and faith. It is an example of living and ‘even if‘ life, with our eyes firmly focused on Christ. It is also a beautiful example of what God will do for those who, ‘love him and are called according to his purpose.’

God has saved us through Jesus Christ. Part of that saving is for eternity, but it is also so that we can live free from the bondage of sin, in this life. The Apostle Paul says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

Christ didn’t sacrifice himself so that we could return to the lives we lived before, being bound up by the ills of this world. He sacrificed us so that not only will we spend eternity with him as co-heirs, we get to begin to enjoy that freedom, love, grace, peace, patience, kindness right here right now. The bonds of sin have been burned away! Make sure you don’t allow yourself to be bound up again.

Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!

Like, share, comment, and add your email to receive blog posts, podcasts, and more!

Come back and visit at ListenLearn.Live Ministries