My New Year's Resolution Suggestion to Christian Fundamentalists

Today New Year's Eve finds my entire life up in the air and rather than panicking, I am choosing to do something I have some control over- the blog. At least there are blogs to give us some sense of control over something!

I have a new story from the coffee shop and I was wanting to write about it anyway. I was running an errand to the post office for my friend 2 days ago, and so I decided to stop in the coffee shop to grab a bite. This is the coffee shop in Quaint Small Town that stays open really late- so instead of closing at 5pm it closes at like 6:30. And once I went there because I was early to the movie theater- a whole 30 mins early and the guy wasn't even at the ticket booth!- and it was already closed before 6:30.

But it was open this time because it was only 4:30. I got myself some soup and sat down. In walked a guy that looked about as old as me, but was actually still a college student home for the break. He was as chatty as I am- a nice surprise to find in the world! Quite quickly I learned that he had traveled all over Asia and he was studying political science at JMU. He said he was agnostic. He somehow volunteered that he was in an international relations class at JMU and that the Tea Party kid always said dumb stuff. I think we got on that point because he was talking about the difference in quality of health care everywhere else in the world.

He also volunteered that the Tea Party kid and the Christian fundamentalist had a hard time in the international relations class when they had to argue views different than their own in class debates. I was intrigued by this so I asked the guy, we'll call him College World Traveler, what his opinion was of the Christians at his school. He said that he mostly associates them with the people who come from Lynchburg to protest things at the beginning of the month. I asked him what they protest. He said social issues, but he said they mostly upset the minorities. When I said what he meant he clarified, "You know, like the views of Falwell."

'Wonderful,' I thought to myself. College World Traveler said that he had encountered too many different religious views to believe one. He had an imam friend, a pastor friend, and a Buddhist monk friend. His grandfather was a Baptist pastor.

We didn't discuss religion specifically really. I was too busy soaking up information from his travels, such as why Singapore has such strict laws about cleanliness. I always thought it was uptight of them to make chewing gum illegal, but he informed me that Singapore used to be filthy and completely infested with rats- who knew?!

I needed to get going, so I just said that I knew he had a good head on his shoulders and that he'd go far in life. But I was just left thinking about what a sad Christian witness there was on the campus of JMU. It reminded me of the pro-life protesters at my Christian college that would set up their 30 foot tall graphic images of aborted fetuses and string signs along the sidewalk saying, "Warning, images of genocide ahead."

There is SO much wrong with that- the main thing being, "hello, what would Jesus say to someone considering abortion?" Would he say, "Be warned murderer!" or would he say, "Come to me troubled daughter"? But also, what about the fact that some people are on the campus to, I don't know... get an education... and probably had tests to go take. What sort of unsettling purpose does that serve? What impression are these protesters trying to leave?

From College World Traveler's report, the idea of Christians was that they were closed-minded, incapable of embracing a perspective outside of the limited understanding they had of the world- being AMERICA- and that they were out to offend people whose beliefs differed from theirs.

Where in that perception do we see the character of Christ?

I remember that I used to have the same view of Christians as College World Traveler. I saw them as anti-abortion Disney boycotters. That is, until a friend invited me to church. At church people loved and accepted me. Was it not Gandhi who said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"?

So people- fundamentalists, Tea Party people, "church people" please stop misrepresenting Christ. Take all that energy from your protests and go home and read your Bible. Please read where Jesus talked about LOVE. And please sit in your house and think about what that looks like and don't come out until you can live what that looks like in public. Or if you REALLY want to be so political, please stop slapping the name of Christ on it.

That is all. And for New Year's please resolve to be more Christ-like!

War on Christmas over?

So all, it is after Christmas. We have baked and eaten our cookies. Our presents have been bought and opened. Now we are reading our books, wearing our new sweaters, and playing our new Wii games. I am sitting in my self-made coffee shop- a mug of tea, a book, and iTunes on shuffle. Or Pandora.

Now that we are removed from all the bustle and trying to find a seat in the pew at Christmas Eve service or mass, and we have some time to think, I'd like to share something I'm thinking about. (I think a lot- sorry!)

I happened upon this article about the Lincoln Tunnel's billboard "War on Christmas."

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/11/131988679/War-On-Christmas-Spreads-To-Lincoln-Tunnel?ps=cprs

The American Atheists put up a billboard with the nativity scene that said "You KNOW it's a myth. This season, celebrate REASON!" The Catholic League responded in turn with their own billboard featuring their own nativity background and stating, "You Know it's Real. This Season Celebrate Jesus."

The Atheists spent $20,000 for their billboard and the Catholics spent $18,500.

Why did the Catholic League spend $18,500 on a billboard? Jeff Field of the Catholic League said, "This is the time of year that the secularists, these atheists, choose to assault our Christianity and our religion. We decided that we're not going to let that happen."

People, I ask you- is it worth $18,500 to defend Christianity with a billboard? Did that prove that Jesus is the Savior of the world?

This brings me to reflect upon what appears to be more of a war on culture than actual Christianity. Come on, what is Christianity about if it can be debunked with a billboard? Or defended by one for that matter. What are we really trying to defend? The NAME of CHRIST? Does Jesus need us to defend his good name against the atheist billboards?

If the birth of Christ and the basis for our entire faith can be assaulted by claims that it's a myth, then what is a good way to fight back? Hello, prove that Jesus lives! We're not defending religion, or doctrine, or even the Scriptures. We're loving and serving a living Savior. So let's show them the resurrected Lord in our love, in the fact that Christ still does miracles today, and the fact that we don't have to sink down to the same vacant debating.

If atheism is all about reason, we need to present them a God who defies reason. We don't win in the intellectual arena with atheists, I'm sorry. We are ill-equipped in our evangelical apologetic training that only serves to arm us with enough to make us dangerous. Like seriously in danger of looking ridiculous to the atheists. I work with an atheist. She's great. She knits hedgehogs. But for fun one day she brought in some Jews for Jesus tracts and we all laughed at how ridiculous they were.

The problem oftentimes is that all our faith has boiled down to is religion. And doctrine. We've lost the sense of wonder at the miraculous. So doctrine must be defended and it all becomes this great argument over absolute truth and reason. I think it's all an indictment on the Church that we have become the sort of people that Paul warns Timothy to have nothing to do with- people who have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5). I don't even want anything to do with religion. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says: "He has made us competent ministers of a new covenant- not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

So people... Catholic League- lets offer the Atheists something better than debate. Let's offer them LIFE.

PS- If this is something that interests you, I highly recommend going to the link for Joel2Generation and listening to the podcast called "What is the big deal about Christmas?"

Taking Donations for Worthy Cause = Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas everyone! One of my friends said she got worried about me when I hadn't posted for a while, so I'm posting to let her know that I'm alive and having a nice Christmas.

I want to post about how to get to know your neighbors on Christmas... Run out of flour.

My friend's husband suggested making Christmas pizza for Christmas dinner, to which I sort of smirked, but apparently my friend's homemade pizza is special pizza. She made ginger snap cookies yesterday, and I made banana bread with the 5 bananas that had gone downhill before we could eat them, and there were hopes of oatmeal-cranberry-raisin cookies. And homemade pizza dough!

But alas, none of that would be possible without flour! We scoured the cabinets to no avail. My friend was beating herself up for thinking she had more, but I said, "Hey, that's what neighbors are for!" Nobody turns down a door-to-door smiling person with an empty ziplock bag on Christmas! And I even had some extra champagne to use to barter.

I went to the first door and was greeted by a fluffy tailed orange cat and a guy who was a journalism student home from school. He needed some flour for some popovers he was making (I don't even know what those are!), but I got a cup from him. He said they didn't drink alcohol. I said I'm sorry, I also believe that Jesus turned the water into grape juice for that first miracle. ;)

We still needed more flour. I tried another door. No answer. Then I went to another house (thankfully my friend lives in a rowhouse complex). There was "Take These Broken Wings" blaring from inside. A very broad man with a bald head opened the door. He said he was cleaning. I proposed my barter- flour for champagne- and he said he'd love to give me flour and he liked champagne! I got a whole 2 lb bag!

So now I have met my friend's neighbors who she didn't know before. It was really nice for these strangers to open their door and invite me in, especially since I was taking flour handouts. It showed me another side of not being able to be entirely self-sufficient all the time- it creates opportunities to get to know the people around you.

Last year during the big snow storm I had to borrow a snow shovel from the house directly next door to the house I grew up in. I think my family has lived by those people for probably at least 15 years. They didn't know who I was. I said, "I live next door." They said, "Which house?" I said, "Uh, directly next door." That was sad.

How fun would it be to pick a cookie recipe, and intentionally NOT go to the store? You could do something like oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip. You could go around door to door like a scavenger hunt, asking people if they have different ingredients, but without telling them you're really just trying to get to know neighbors. I think it'd be fun. But then again I LOVE strangers!

I guess I don't have any deep new insight for you for Christmas, except for the fact that there are actually people who live in those apartments and houses next to you. And back in the day people used to know their neighbors, and do stuff with them, and even let them watch their kids. So maybe, for a new New Year's resolution or something you could try to meet just one or two!

You Can't Steal Christmas

Today I realized the real meaning of Christmas! It came after my friend got her purse stolen from Kroger.

For weeks we have had it in mind to go to the farmer's market that's only open on Saturdays and Wednesdays until noon. The until noon part was the biggest hindrance, as we mostly we find ourselves transfixed by children's television or talking until about 11:30 on Saturday or Wednesday and by then it is always too late. Or we'd be all ready to leave the house at 10:30 and then remember it was Monday. But today was different. My friend was motivated to leave the house at 11:10 and so I stayed home with the baby. She returned at 12:10 with only one small bag. I was disappointed- we were excited to clean the farmer's market out, so I was confused at the sight of only one bag.

"I went to the market and then to Kroger. My wallet was stolen from my cart when I was at Kroger." my friend said when I asked about the sole bag. My first reaction was, "What?! This is Quaint Small Town... these things don't happen!" Apparently everyone at Kroger was shocked too.

Once my friend came home and called the non-emergency police line we decided to pray for the person who stole the purse. We forgave and blessed them, and asked for them to be so convicted (my friend actually had her Bible IN the purse, along with these Scripture cards in the wallet), that they'd return the purse and everything in it. We prayed that if the person was so desperate before Christmas to steal a purse that they would know the love and freedom of Christ.

This was such a big event in Quaint Small Town that THREE policemen came to the house! But right before they arrived my friend called the store to tell them she'd be coming with the police to file the report and they informed her that the entire purse had been found- and nothing was removed from it! Not even her credit card. She only had $1 in cash and a money order, and not even those were taken!

That was a quick answer to prayer.

So although my friend was never able to purchase the cart full of cookie makings and Christmas dinner makings that she came for in order to prepare for Christmas, as well as much-needed diapers, her beloved Bible was returned, along with everything she needs like her driver's license.

Before we learned that it was all found we also stopped to praise God. For the enemy to take such a cheap shot we figured God must have some pretty amazing things in store. And we both realized, as did the Grinch, that you can't steal Christmas.

And I finally realized what Christmas is about. Only Jesus could enable my friend and I to forgive and bless the person who stole from her. And we really meant it. And we prayed that we wouldn't even need to file a report because it would all be returned- and that's exactly what happened.

So thank you Jesus.

Pondering...

Today I am feeling, as my parents used to call it, "droopy" and so I am able to do even less than usual, which means, not a whole darn lot. I am still thinking about Christmas, and trying to balance what is cultural and what actually has to do with baby Jesus. I feel rather removed from any Christmas cheer going around.

Which is why I probably noticed the lady checking out my groceries when I went to the store for my friend yesterday. She looked rather worn down, but she asked, "Ready for Christmas?" as she was scanning. (Apparently political correctness has not traveled south to Quaint Small Town...) I replied, "Eh, I don't know if I'm ever ready. What about you?" She quickly told me- I was in the 15 items or less line- that she didn't much feel like celebrating this year. Her father was in a nursing home, she was having to travel a lot to see him, and she had no other family. I asked her if she went to church. She said she mostly works on Sundays. She also was generally unable to go to the Wednesday night group.

That's when I volunteered my friend. I said, "If you ever want to meet for tea and Bible study, please call my friend. Or call if you just need someone to talk or pray with." The lady ripped off some blank receipt paper and I wrote my friend's phone number. I told her to call any time. I asked her if I could pray for her and her father when I got home, which my friend and I did. And we prayed that if the lady needed encouragement, that she would call.

I now have volunteered my friend for at least 3 people to come over for tea. (If you read the post about the mini-marshmallows btw, the salon ladies couldn't find a time for a Christmas party before they left town, but they are still up for tea and Bible study when they return.)

I share this to show that you don't have to have 3 hour long deep coffee shop discussions with intelligent musicians to connect with someone. I just try to see people as people. My dad taught me that. Everyone has a story. Everyone is trying to get through life with all its trials and joys.

Joseph, Mary, and little baby Jesus had a lot of hardship to deal with too. The only room this world made for them was with the animals. They weren't at the center of the Christmas parties (or the census registering parties in the inn). They were poor, and I can't imagine it was terribly comfortable for young Mary riding all the way to Bethlehem on a donkey, so pregnant she was about to pop. But then Jesus is born, and he is put to bed in a feed trough. Then the shepherds came, and an angel, and there was this star so bright nobody had ever seen anything like it, and then these rulers came with stuff so expensive Mary wondered what they'd do with it.

And she pondered it and stored it up to treasure in her heart.

So I'm doing a lot of pondering. I'm pondering all our traditions and how nice it is to have ornaments that tell stories, like the paper angel made back when you or your child was in kindergarten. I'm thinking about the concept of "the Christmas spirit" or "Christmas cheer" and I'm wondering if it can be separated from a consumerist culture focused on purchasing. What does that mean for the downtrodden, the lonely?

All the pondering eventually leads me back to baby Jesus. The baby who grew up like all children, and learned a trade. Whatever high expectations there were for him, and whatever his fate, he still had to learn what every child has to learn. He had to have someone change his diapers. And no matter how impressive he spoke in the synagogue when his parents lost him at age 12, he wouldn't be doing any miracles for about 30 years. Emmanuel, God with us, just played in the dirt with the other neighborhood kids.

I can't even move beyond my pondering to any solid conclusion to end this post. So perhaps I will conclude by inviting you to spend a little more time pondering in the days leading up to Christmas. To really think about what baby Jesus means to you- and if you're up to it- the world.

The Real Meaning of Christmas?

Well if any of you have been to church, then the answer is... yes- JESUS! But then how do we celebrate the birth of Jesus? We decorate a Christmas tree and buy Christmas presents.

Just like what my atheist friend posted on Facebook that's she's doing with her family. That gave me pause.

I wanted to go to church to 'celebrate Christmas' today. After all, it is my last Sunday of Advent. And the other Sundays I was in church, it was not a liturgical church, so we just sang ordinary praise songs about the cross. (I have to say, I get bored of liturgy rather fast, but I never understood why some denominations waited until Christmas Eve to start singing Christmas songs. There are just too many Christmas songs to fit into one Christmas Eve service!) So my friend and I tried to go to church today. We didn't go to Small Church because we decided to take a break. Enough said about that. Somebody said there was a charismatic church a couple towns over. We looked them up online and were going to check it out. I thought that was where we were headed today. My friend had just looked up churches in the nearby town and found one that said it was "Evangelical." Really what my friend is looking for is a church where people praise God with tambourines.

So we get in the car and I think I'm going to the charismatic church and she thinks she's going to an evangelical church with high hopes of tambourines. Where we ACTUALLY ended up was a Brethren church. My friend did not expect what we encountered. Nice old people. The nicest old people ever. And a choir. And, you guessed it- no tambourines! My friend's hopes were so dashed we left before they sang the first hymn. Yep, walked right out with the poor, kind old people looking at us all confused and saying as we left the building, "Leaving already?"

I didn't even get to go to a church service. No Christmas songs for me.

And that left me wondering, "What is Christmas really about, anyway?" Most people say "Being with family" (sort of like Thanksgiving). Well that sucks for those of us who aren't with family, or would rather not be with family.

Ok, so it's about showing the love of God in the gift of Jesus by giving gifts. We show generosity and the love of God by giving gifts to poor kids and to those we love. Well this year, I feel more like the Angel Tree recipient. If you were on my gift-list this year, sorry you are not getting a present.

Now I am left with no church, no Christmas songs, no gifts, and no family. And baby Jesus in the manger. What do I do with you, baby Jesus?

I was thinking about this when my friend's baby woke up. He's been awful fussy lately and we think he's starting to teethe. My poor, weary looking friend went to the cradle and I asked her if she wanted me to rock him back to sleep. Perhaps that was her Christmas gift, she looked so happy. So I rocked the baby under the vent in the bathroom (it seems to be a soothing sound) and I sang Sweet Little Jesus Boy to him. I also sang Away in a Manger.

And there was this precious little life in my arms, looking at me with drooping eyelids, and it was like he was saying to me "My life is in your hands. Please take good care of me. I need you to do everything for me. I can go to sleep once I know you will keep me safe." And so I sang, and rocked, and patted.

Sometimes when I'm on rocking duty in the rocking chair I try to see myself like I see him, except I try to see God rocking me to sleep. It's really hard to picture, as I am not actually a mom. But I try to think how much we try to give that baby everything he wants and needs. And he still cries and flails like he's desperate to know it's all going to be ok.

How in the world did God ever trust us with Himself in the flesh? His parents didn't celebrate his birth with their families. Right after his birth they became refugees in a land that represented slavery to them because the ruler of the day wanted him dead. He was brought into a world of poverty and despair. And he asked us to care for him.

Perhaps if God Himself chose to be dependent on us, I don't feel quite so bad for having to depend on others right now. Maybe I looked in the face of Christmas in my friend's baby. So maybe this year, if I don't put any ornaments on a tree, or drink hot chocolate by the fireplace while we all take turns reading the Christmas story, or if I don't even wrap one present that I went out to purchase, maybe I'll still be ok. Maybe it's enough to know that God is rocking me, His child, to sleep in His arms and that He trusts me to care for His Son.

To Believe is to Begin

Thank you Brooke Fraser for singing that line over and over so I'd pay attention to it...

Sometimes I get some really cool new insight from Scripture and I wish I were a pastor so I'd have someplace to preach about it. I think about what a good sermon my new thought (from God of course) would be, and then I remember that pastors have to preach EVERY Sunday, and then I don't want to be a pastor any more. But I still want to share my thought. So now I have a blog. Wonderful!

Ok, here's my mini-blog sermon on Luke 1. You can read it yourself- I will paraphrase in the Liz American Slang Version. We have Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were married and they really walked with the Lord the way you're supposed to. Unfortunately they had no kids and they were sort of old, so they were running out of hope they'd ever have any- short of a miracle. Zechariah worked at the church and it was his turn to lead the worship service. He had been praying for God to give them a kid. And then an angel shows up and announces to Zechariah that he will have a son, tells him how AWESOME he's going to be, and what his purpose in life is going to be.

And Zechariah responds, "How can I be sure of this?" and then states the physical limitations on them having a child.

I love the angel's response. He says, "Look man, I am GABRIEL. I'm an angel, and I've just come from HEAVEN- hello- where I hang out with GOD, and you are wanting something more certain than what I just TOLD YOU?! And furthermore, because a message straight from God didn't seem good enough for you to believe God will do it, you can be silent until your kid is born and you name him John."

Then there is Mary. She really followed God too. She loved Him and told Him she'd do anything He wanted. No matter what. And she meant it. She was going to marry this great guy Joseph and her family was all excited.

Then she got a visit from Gabriel as well. (He must've been making the rounds.) He tells her, "Mary, God really liked the fact that you love Him so much you said you'd do anything He wants. He has chosen you for this really big task- to be pregnant with God as a human!" And although shocked, Mary asks a clarifying question: "How will this be, since I'm a virgin?" I think that is a good question. Gabriel explains how it will happen in terms that probably seemed quite practical from a heavenly perspective, but still made no sense to poor Mary- because it was impossible.

And Mary says. "Ok I'll do it. Sign me up."

Now there is a lesson here about how we respond to what God tells us. We can doubt the word that was spoken because it doesn't make sense, or we can choose to believe it- even though it doesn't make sense.

Both Zechariah and Mary got a message from the same angel, straight from God, telling them to expect God to do impossible stuff. One responded with doubt and the other responded with faith. I don't think it's difficult to see which was which.

I'd like to say that I'm more like Mary. People who know me know I've been believing impossible stuff for a while. But unfortunately I STILL tend to respond like Zechariah. Humorously enough I had my own Zechariah experience. God told me something was going to happen, and it seemed ridiculous and I was tired of hearing ridiculous sounding things, so I told God, "Eh thanks, but I don't believe it." Then the hearing in my left ear went out at dinner while I had guests over. Then the loss of hearing turned into ringing. After the guests left I decided to pray with a friend about the cause of the mysterious ringing. I got no further than, "God why is my ear ringing?" Then He said, "I will TELL YOU why your ear is ringing. It's because you did not believe what I told you. So now, like Zechariah, your ear will ring until you believe."

You would think this would immediately convince me to believe God. OH NO... it took me 3 WHOLE DAYS to decide to believe Him. I am THAT stubborn. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. And even after I convinced myself to believe my ear continued to ring for 2 more months. It was quiet, not terribly annoying. Sort of like when a mosquito is hovering near your ear. I could go about my day and not have it drive me crazy. But every now and then I'd mute the t.v. to see if it was still there. And is was, quietly reminding me that God was serious about what He told me.

Thankfully after about 2 months it stopped. But now whenever God wants to get my attention my ear rings.

And now I listen.

Lazy Evangelism Tackles Tough Questions

What I like about wandering around talking to random people is that it's like an adventure or a scavenger hunt. You never know when you're going to run into someone truly fascinating. I got lucky today when I mistakenly believed I was on the right street to get me to this bakery. It was after 3 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I stopped into one cute cafe which had just closed and they recommended another shop about a block away. I did not think I was actually going the right way so I jumped into this coffee shop to get out of the biting wind and below freezing temperature. As is custom, I asked the first person I saw about the bakery. Perhaps I confused him, or we were talking about different places- I actually think I got two streets mixed up- either way, it became a much longer interaction than just him pointing me in the right direction. I began to see potential in the conversation. I weighed the possibility of good discussion verses the only visible option of just having a bagel for lunch. I decided to ask if there was more food. If there was more than a bagel, I'd stay and chat. If not, I go in search of the bakery. God must have been smiling on the encounter because there was chicken dumpling soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

I told the man I'd call him Coffee Shop Musician because he teaches music and plays jazz- an instant connection from my trombone playing jazz band days. I noticed he had a bracelet with some weird symbol on it that turned out to be some funky Ohm I've never seen before. I asked him if he believes in New Age or takes yoga. He then showed me that he also wears a cross. That seemed contradictory to me, but he explained he doesn't really believe in one way to God and basically thinks all religion is a myth. He believes in each individual's ability to be a good person and to treat other people well and that will be the basis of judgment at the end of it all- if there is more after we clock out here.

Now, I suppose plenty of people have been to evangelism training and have learned strategies to tackle this common belief in "being a good person." I guess what they teach you is to ask how good is good enough, and then say that only Jesus was perfect and that's why he had to die for a sacrifice for our sins. True enough. But seriously people, if someone doesn't believe the Bible, or in any Scripture for that matter, how far do you get just telling them what you believe about the Bible? Why should they care?

Then people get into apologetics about the historical accuracy of the Bible, and all this other stuff about how old the earth is, and so on and so on. I'm telling you, Coffee Shop Musician had some dang good questions. Like what about natural disasters? Does God not have the power to stop them or does he just not care? Why is there only one way to salvation? How can you trust Scripture when there are contradictions? Why do all the Baptists say God is so judgmental and hates everybody?

Can YOU answer these questions easily? If so you probably haven't taken enough time to really think about hard questions in life, such as what to do with suffering. I hope it's going out of style to just throw pat Bible verses at people.

Really the only way that makes any sense for me to explain why there is suffering is the traditional free will explanation. Natural disasters come from a fallen creation, which suffered from a fallen humanity. God allows choice to enable us to be sons and not slaves. God wants us to be free to love, and by allowing us choice, we can also be free to be violent, and commit genocide, and everything else.

But what we really have to ask ourselves is, what does Jesus offer that no other religion offers? Morality? Nope. Principles of how to be generous and compassionate and loving towards others? Nope. Meaning, fulfillment, purpose? Nope- people find a lot of purpose in jihad. So what is it that separates Christ from Buddha, or Mohammad, or Ganesh? What makes our Bible more truthful and reliable than any other religious text?

I believe it is the hope that there is redemption for suffering. And the empowerment to do more than we can through our own efforts by the Holy Spirit. And especially grace. Every other religion is based on works and human efforts to be righteous in order to earn merit or salvation.

I had this great revelation last night about this. Most people know about John the Baptist. He was the cousin of Jesus who become the forerunner for Jesus' ministry by preaching a baptism of repentance. He is one of my all-time favorites in the Bible because he was a super non-conformist. But did you ever realize what John's name means? I love to know what names mean. Mine means "consecrated to God" or "oath of God." John's name means "God is gracious." So John was taking people from the Old Testament system of law and sacrifice and was ushering in a new era of the forgiveness of sins by grace through faith in Jesus! How cool is that?

So getting back to my new friend the Coffee Shop Musician... I knew I was not going to answer all, or even most, of his questions. We shouldn't try to. I have plenty of questions I can't answer. But what I do know is that questions about natural disasters and such stem from a deeper desire to really answer unsettled issues about the character and trustworthiness of God. Is God loving? Is He kind? Does He just want to punish me and send me to Hell?

If these are the questions, I have a better solution than shoving Scripture down someone's throat. Introduce the person to the love of God. So before we parted, I told him how I love to bless people and asked him if I could pray with him and ask God how I can bless him. I asked him what he would like from God, and suggested perhaps something having to do with a broken relationship. He thought for a second and then said he'd like to be at peace about his fractured relationship with his parents. I prayed for him about it, and threw in some added requests for him to find good shoes. His beloved, but sorely worn pair, had rubber soles which he had recently reattached with shoe glue. As he had gotten them in Europe and could find no replacement anywhere, I thought finding an even better pair would be miraculous enough to start with!

And then I gave him a hug. People need hugs. Unless they're creepy. Oh, and I even got a free jazz cd of his out of the deal! I'm eager to listen to it :)

The Encounter that Inspired my Lazy Evangelism

So I have already shared with you my focus on resting in the Father's love and how I soak up His Presence. This is primarily to sustain me, but it is also handy when trying to share His love with others.

I was having one of those days when I just needed to get out of the house. I was having a pretty bunk Labor Day weekend and decided some dessert from Buzz in Alexandria would be preferable to sitting around in my room in a funk. Although talking to strangers is one of my greatest joys in life (I say that strangers are just friends who don't know they're my friends yet), that day I was in no mood to socialize. I brought along my journal and Leanne Payne's book on healing prayer called "The Healing Presence." I sat down in the sun, and eyed a table outside with an umbrella. I set my internal sunburn clock and read, while stalking the guy at the shade table.

I was reading about how we are to look upward to find our identity in who God says we are. I realized I had not heard much affirmation of who I was and was desperate for God to reaffirm that. I asked God to show me who I am and then spotted that the shade (but not shady) table was free. It was right next to a man with a dog. He was a bit wild looking with camo shorts and an army green tank. He was around 60 and his hair was rather unkempt and thinning. He had, what I evaluated to be, a pit bull and bull dog mix.

You see I have this gift of figuring out dog breeds and people breeds. I have an eye for remembering what someone or something looks like and I can tell when they are similar to others. I am pretty good with accents as well. But I didn't want to talk to the man. I wanted to sit and feel better about myself.

But he was so nice and his dog was right there. He was feeding it part of a croissant and was letting some other people feed it. It was like she was begging me to identify her breed. So I caved and asked the man if she was a pit bull and bulldog mix. He looked shocked and said, "Why yes, she is! Nobody has ever guessed that! How did you know the bulldog?" I told him I walked a friend's bulldog while I was studying for the Bar.

A conversation ensued and the man was very open about his life as a retired New York police officer. He gave me openings to "witness" to him that Evangelicals with any amount of evangelism training would've jumped right on, such as "You know I would consider myself an agnostic, but I feel like something's missing. I tried church before." I had my Bible there with me, but I didn't crack it open, nor did I tell him about Jesus.

(I can hear a gasp from some faithful witnessers now...) I just waited. I told the man a bit about my book on healing prayer when he asked what I was reading and told him how I began the journey of healing in my own life. But no John 3:16. I just waited. Then I asked him, "What would you want from God if He could give you anything?" and the man said, "Peace. I have never really felt at peace."

I thought to myself, "Well that is certainly easy enough." and I asked the man if I could pray for him. He said sure and I asked him if I could put my hand on his shoulder. He said sure. So I just prayed for him and asked Father God to show His love for the man. I asked Him to make Himself known to him. I started saying how God had already been working in the man's life based on things he had told me. The man looked up at me and said, "Wow, there was this amazing energy coming from you! I have never felt anything like that before! I felt at peace for the first time."

THAT'S when I said- "That was God you felt. That was the love of God by His Holy Spirit and you come to know it through Jesus." The man was so touched he asked if he could pray for me. Yes, the agnostic man asked to pray for me. He prayed the same way I prayed for him, "Father God, please show Liz how much you love her. Show her how special and beautiful she is..." and he prayed all the beautiful things about myself that I needed to hear. Like who I really am. Like that I matter to people. So God used an agnostic man to speak His love and affirmation over me.

I happened to have some Scripture on a card that I was using for a bookmark so I gave it to the man and told him how he can look up the Bible on BibleGateway. I also told him how to ask God to speak to him and explained how to hear God's voice.

I went away going, "Man that was easy. I barely did anything. I wasn't even having a good day. I just asked God to show up and He did. God did all the work." As I told that story to friends I started saying it was lazy evangelism. Lazy in the sense that I didn't memorize an apologetic strategy or Bible verses to walk him through the steps of repentance and receiving Christ. I just asked God to show up. And He did. What's better than God Himself giving the man what he always wanted?

I can't top that. And I decided that's the way I'm gonna go from then on!

The State of In-Dependence

You know I don't think people fully appreciate the cost of following Christ in Western, and specifically American, society. I think people like to talk about how radical Jesus was and how he came to completely change the societal and cultural structures, and then they go right back to living just like secular and worldly society and culture.

Let's just take the act of completely depending on God like the Bible talks about for example. How many sermons and devotionals laud fully depending on God?

Matthew 6:33 says: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." This is in the context of not worrying about provision for basic necessities like food and clothing. And there's Philippians 4:19: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."

So many times people say they are trusting God, but they still have to do their part. We can't just wait around for God to do everything for us. God gave us a brain for us to use. God helps those who help themselves (which is not in the Bible by the way.) People who love to say how lazy welfare recipients are are especially fond of Paul's statement that those who don't work don't eat. And also that Paul was a tentmaker to earn money to support himself. Of course they don't remember all the numerous other passages where Paul talked about the support and gifts he received from people that enabled him to continue the work. Do you really think Paul earned enough making tents to travel all the places he did? Come on.

Let's look at how Jesus himself did the work of the kingdom. Did he continue his carpenter job and tell Peter to keep the fishing business? No. He told them to leave every means of earning an income to follow. They didn't bring any money and stayed with a worthy person/man of peace (Matthew 10/Luke 10) while they were in that town. They could've been called freeloaders.

What about the early church? Look at Acts 2:

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The believers held everything in common. Here's where they could've been called communists... Did they all have their individual bank accounts? Was it up to everyone to pay their own way? Did they each consider their home their own, for just their family? No- they went so far as to SELL PROPERTY to provide for the people in need in their community.

I am struggling with this right now as my phone bill is overdue. It is the holidays and there is no contract work. I had to admit that I need help. That was hard. And then I realized how ridiculous it was for me to have such a hard time asking for help. And I realized that everyone likes to feel generous by being the one to help someone in need, but nobody actually wants to BE the one in need.

That is just not Biblical. How does God feel about the poor? I got rather concerned about my student loan debt and realized that the only places where it talks about debt in the Bible is where God had to miraculously bail someone out of debt, or Christ paid our debts, and how the guy didn't want to forgive after his debts were paid. There's one verse in Romans about not letting a debt remain outstanding except to love people, but the majority of times there is no negative context for someone needing help getting out of debt. It doesn't even mention asking the people how they got in debt in the first place to see if they were worthy to be helped out or not.

So to bring it back around and to conclude, I go back to our culture. I believe this "Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" and value on self-sufficiency and independence is not Biblical. Unfortunately this is a prevalent attitude even in the church. But whether we are just succumbing to American cultural values or our own desire to be independent, I think what it boils down to is, we don't want to have to depend on anyone but ourselves. We feel uncomfortable and vulnerable having to trust others to take care of us and we do everything in our power to avoid it. Rather than seek first the kingdom we seek first our own ways of staying in control of our lives. My parents didn't even like me selling Girl Scout cookies or raising money for band trip fundraisers. They said, "We don't want you to have to go around begging for money. We'll just pay for the trip ourselves."

Now I am not saying people shouldn't work. Of course God gives us careers and wants us to be able to take care of our families. But He wants us to do it out of dependence on HIM. Unfortunately it is too easy to just seek first our own financial and personal security and ask God to bless our efforts, rather than truly asking Him what we should be doing.

I hope this is something to think about in this season of "giving" and especially "giving to the less fortunate." As you enjoy going to the toy store to purchase Angel Tree gifts for that poor family and think about how good it feels to give, why not try thinking about how it feels to BE in need. If you don't feel like you are in need of anything, than you're probably not actually dependent upon God. And I think that's scarier than being the needy one.

When I Discover I'm Right

Ok, so I got pretty feisty upon the realization today that someone in Small Church had totally used Scripture incorrectly against me. When I came home I discovered that the Scripture they used against me actually supported my argument and proved them completely wrong. After praying about it, God will not let me point this out to the person, so I just have to live with the fact that I am right.

But I CAN blog about the encounter that I had in this nice tea shop in Quaint Small Town where an atheist psychiatrist confirmed my long held hypothesis about problems with over-prescribing medicine to deal with mental health issues. It all started as I was perusing tea in this nice tea shop. As I'm realizing is common in Quaint Small Town, EVERYONE talks to you! Finally I am not a freak for talking to strangers! Literally EVERYONE you meet talks to you! Even if you don't want them to talk to you, people talk to you! I feel like I've been transported to some magical place where people are friendly and the only 'traffic' is when I had to legitimately honk at this handicapped driver for pulling out in front of me in the parking lot of Walmart. And the waitresses call you "hon." Like "Ok hon, I'll bring you your check. Have a great day hon." Awesome.

Anyway, so I am browsing teas when I mention something about St. John's Wort. The man explains to me how St. John's Wort is useless. He gets into how the stuff is found by using sheep. He explains the process of how people send sheep off to go find the stuff and apparently the sheep find it and get pollen all over their faces and the people go look where the sheep were eating. I found this fascinating, but if you really want to know if it's true, you'll have to research it on your own. I take Psychiatrist's word.

So I am the personality type that prefers to use people to learn about life and new things so I took that opportunity to ask him about my societal concerns of what I view as a current trend of just prescribing medicine rather than getting to the source of people's problems through real therapy. He informed me that psychiatrists actually really do only prescribe medicine rather than actually spending the time to talk to people. The cause of this is the insurance industry. He said insurance companies only reimburse psychiatrists for prescribing medicine and not for taking the time to talk to patients. I told him that I don't think people today actually want to take responsibility for their issues and just want some diagnosis and he totally agreed!

I have a lot of ideas about why all these kids are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and how growth hormones and all this other crap in our food is affecting our kids and allergies, and also about the over-prescribing of medicine to deal with mental health issues. But I never thought I was totally right about any of it! That was nice to hear.

Thank you for letting me share my tea store account of my personal mental health treatment theory confirmation so I can at least have an outlet for being right in one area!

When Church Gets Dicey

I ended up rather unexpectedly staying with a friend in what I will call, for the sake of anonymity, "Quaint Small Town in Southern VA," or "Quaint Small Town" for short. Perhaps if I feel like it I'll diverge from Kingdom stories to tell you about the people I meet here, such as the waitress with star tattoos in both arm pits that I met in a restaurant today. I kid you not. This is part of why I like strangers so much- you never know where they have tattoos! But I digress...

So I have come to stay in Quaint Small Town due to some rather unfortunate personal reasons. I had hoped to lay low, refocus on life and the ongoing task of inner healing, and just enjoy the lovely scenery and kind people in Quaint Small Town. My friend asked me if I wanted to join her for church, a small church that is rebuilding its membership after things got sort of ugly. This is the downside of church, when we are reminded of the Fall and that even our Christian brothers and sisters are broken people who fall short of the glory of God. Perhaps Small Church saw more than the norm of broken people acting out of their brokenness.

I sat in the service of Small Church expecting to observe and hopefully learn something. I was pleased to feel freedom during the worship service. The congregants were kind and expressed a deep and genuine faith. But the pastor decided to preach out of Matthew 10. Hello people- the kingdom of God- healing... deliverance! But did he mention these things in his sermon? No. He spent what had to be 30 agonizing minutes talking about how different the disciples were. He asked if anyone knew what a Zealot was (as in "Simon the Zealot"). Unfortunately again, I already knew what a Zealot was, and I had just been further educated by my friend's rabbi father-in-law over Thanksgiving. I had to raise my hand and inform the whole church what a Zealot was.

Then the pastor just kept on talking about the disciples. His point was something like we should welcome all members of the Body even if they are different and might make us uncomfortable. I bet he will regret making that point. And then I started shaking. I'm talking Randy Clark Holy Spirit conference shaking. My heart started racing like thumpthumpthumpthump like I was going to have a heart attack. I knew I could not just sit there silently in the pew. I was going to have to draw attention to myself. I had to interrupt the sermon. So I raise my hand. The pastor seems to not want to see my hand. But then this quite charismatic elderly lady behind me is pointing to me and my friend says, "Um pastor, excuse me, I think Liz has something to say."

I say, "I'm sorry, I can't take it any more. Are you going to read the rest of that passage?" He says something like "I'm going to get to it" but it was apparent he did not intend to that day. I say, "Look I'm sorry I'm a visitor so I can just say this and leave, but I sat through your Sunday School where you said we need to deliver what we advertise. In Matthew 10 (I read the rest of the passage) it says we have authority to pray for healing. You said we should welcome different members of the Body. I am here to tell you that the Holy Spirit is here and He wants to heal people. He's ready to heal people. I feel it. I know there are people that need healing here b/c I didn't get past your front door before someone needed healing. You have a choice. You can let God do what He wants or you can not, but if you don't He won't be moving in your church again. I'll pray for people who want healing."

The pastor looked shocked, but I think handled it quite diplomatically. He hemmed and hawed a bit about different people and he was sorry if you were a visitor, but we have to accept everyone. But then he said, "Ok I am going to let you listen to God for yourselves and decide what you want to do next." Then a college-aged girl came up to me and said "I need healing." She asked for prayer and wrapped her arms around me and I told her how beautiful she is and that God loves her so much and prayed for her.

Then the pastor said, "Ok if you want prayer line up here in the front." About 8 people lined up. He told the rest they could stay or leave. Nobody left. The people who weren't receiving prayer continued to worship. I prayed for people who wanted prayer for addiction or illness in their family. I blessed people. After everybody had received prayer some woman was talking and she said, "This guy ran out to the people who were in the nursery and weren't in the sanctuary and said, 'Hey, if you need prayer for healing come in the sanctuary!'"

Since that Sunday I've met with members of the church and they are excited about what God is doing. I have prayed to encourage them in their gifts and have shared how they can allow God to continue to move in their church. But one member of the church has decided she doesn't want to come back.

I share this to show you how the Holy Spirit operates. When He shows up it is on His terms and He is not really concerned about our schedule or formalities. When He comes He comes in power and it doesn't always look like we'd expect. And some people don't like it because they prefer their structure and for things to be kept under their control. We can choose to go with the flow of the mighty river wherever it may take us, or we can decide to sit in our pews resolute on having things stay the way we like it. I prefer the adventure of the unexpected, even if it means I have to be bold sometimes and do things that make me risk looking foolish.

As the charismatic elderly lady said to me, when the Holy Spirit comes it can get messy. But do we truly want to encounter the Living God or just sing comfortable songs and hear intellectual sermons? If we want all of God, then we must let go of all our limitations on Him, including how and when He shows up- in our church services and in our lives.

Disclaimer

Ok, being a lawyer, I decided I need to post a disclaimer before you people get too dedicated to reading this blog...

So here are some things about myself that I want to disclose so that you can make an informed decision about whether you want to read this blog or not. If you disagree with any of these things and that would cause you distress, please don't feel obligated to keep reading. I wish you well on your journey!

Disclaimer:

1. I believe that we actually have the authority that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 10 and Luke 10 to see people healed and set free.

2. I believe that Jesus still does miracles today and I want to see them!

3. I believe in the five-fold ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher (Ephesians 4:11-13) and desire to see them all operating in the current Church.

4. I believe that the Holy Spirit desires to equip every Believer with power to do the work of the kingdom.

5. I find my identity in being a child of Father God, not in my education, or job, or anything else and I am radically dependent upon Him for everything.

Ok, I think that covers the stuff people might get uneasy about. I feel I have adequately prepared you for anything one could find objectionable on the blog :)

Gas Station Prayer Opportunity

This one is from November, but since the blog just started, it'll be a little backlogged with stories at first...

I am out of control with praying for everyone I can literally 'get my hands on!' Tonight when I was refueling the car some gas spilled out of the tank. I was a little freaked out, so I did what I always do and asked the closest person around to help me- tonight he was a middle-aged black man with a long beard who I could tell worked for Giant by his shirt. He helped me clean it up and reassured me that my car wouldn't burst into flames. I felt obliged and (like I always do) asked him if I could pray for him.

He said yes, but moved towards his car like I'd just pray in my own head in my own car or something. I kept going, "No, what do you need prayer for? Let's pray now." He looked shocked but I just put my hand gently on his shoulder and prayed for the stuff he said he needed help with, like finances and having a better life. I said Jesus can help you with that, but he said he knew Jesus, which was good. When I was done I asked him if I could give him a hug (people in DC are hug deprived) and he said yes so I hugged him. He said "I think I'm going to cry" and I said "I bless you!" Haha. This is becoming a common response with me making people cry! :)

Visions of Mini Marshmallows

You know, I may be the only person who thinks the recession has been beneficial. I'll tell you why... because it has forced me, through involuntary unemployment, to search my soul and take time to heal, and to spend lots of time sitting and listening to God. I bring this up because it if you are going to read this blog you will need to know something about me. Resting is my favorite pass time. I rest to survive. When I rest I soak up all the love of the Father through knowing that I am loved and accepted in the simple state of being. This is important because I am a recovering striver. I was addicted to doing, to accomplishing, to having to matter, to needing to make a difference in the world. And I can tell you all that got me was a lot of stress and feeling like I was never good enough. If you live in America I'm sure you can relate. We base our worth of of what we "do" and it's just not the way God intended.

So anyway, I was resting in the love of God when mini marshmallows came to mind. I thought it odd they would pop into my head. I never really think of them. But they kept coming back at dinner and again that evening. Mini Marshmallows. And hot chocolate. Then it occurred to me... "We must have a Christmas party for the ladies at the salon who did our hair and pedicures!"

I went to the salon with a friend who ended up talking to her stylist about life and the stylist said she needed peace. So after my friend got her hair blow dried we prayed with the stylist for God to give her peace. Then the lady doing my pedicure mentioned that she felt like she needed God in her life more and so we asked her if she'd like to come over for tea and Bible study. She is divorced and has little kids and she thought that sounded just like what she needed to encourage her.

So after I started thinking about mini-marshmallows and hot chocolate I realized we should throw a Christmas party for the salon ladies and their kids. One is new to the area and the other hasn't been in church. I drove to downtown and presented this idea to the stylist and she seemed so touched!

This is what the blog is about- sharing stories of how easy it is to touch the lives of people you meet every day. It just takes the extra effort to invest in the lives of people you encounter by talking to them and asking them meaningful questions about their lives.

Why the Lazy Evangelist?

I suppose I could begin this the same way that everyone else does who has a blog- "You know I never thought I'd write a blog, but now I feel like I have something to say, so I hope you enjoy reading about my life, or viewing pictures of my kids, crafts I've made, etc."

Honestly I am a lawyer and have always been quite concerned about privacy issues, and weird stalkers, etc, and have preferred to just email my friends if something interesting was happening. But I keep hearing from people, "Hey Liz, remember those mass email updates you used to send- whatever happened to them?" And now I keep having these interesting run-ins with random people where God keeps showing up, and I have thought to myself others beyond my mass email list might benefit from hearing these stories. Perhaps I'll post old stories and update the blog with new ones as they happen. Hopefully God will be glorified as people see how easy it is to walk out the Kingdom of Jesus in real life and see God show up in every day places.

And this is why I'm about being a Lazy Evangelist. To me, evangelism- or kingdom living- is pretty easy. You get to know the love of God. You let Him love you up by really soaking up His Presence. You rest in His love until it permeates your entire being and you begin to only see yourself as a child of God. You get really good at knowing you are loved as a child, as opposed to walking around like an orphan living like a beggar instead living like you're the heir of a King. Then, when you have soaked up enough of God so that you know who you are, you release that love and value on other people and bless them with it. No tracts. No Roman Road. Just the plain and simple love and Presence of God. Easy.

I'll tell you more about how this is starting to look in my life.