Without Love Church is Worthless

Some friends and I were relating horror stories of how people in church have treated us. I was dumbfounded by the things other 'Christians' say to others. I am left with the conclusion that if church is not a place of LOVE then we should not have church. We should just seriously do away with it entirely. 


1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.


Now you could say, "You can't throw the baby out with the bath water. People in church aren't perfect." But look, my thinking is this: If you aren't learning to LOVE in church, then why do we go? If we are doing anything other than learning to love, WHAT IS THE POINT? We can have programs galore, massive attendance, great buildings with a coffee shop, but if at the end of the day people walk away being criticized, shamed, judged, or even cast out and rejected, WHY HAVE CHURCH?


Paul says I can give my body to the flames and go to my death and die as a martyr and if I don't have LOVE it is MEANINGLESS.

Perhaps we are worrying about doctrine, tithing, gifts, principles, teaching, singing, etc. etc. when really we should be learning about LOVE and practicing how to LOVE one another.

It is really quite simple.

1 John 4
⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

satan busted for telling same lie to wrong people

We all know that satan is a liar, but recently I found out that he is a consistent liar.

I was talking to a friend and he was quite discouraged about his situation. He had a major relational disappointment and I was trying to console him. At the end of our conversation he started talking about his job situation and then he said that because of his lack of education he felt he had "not accomplished anything" and had "not done anything in life."

I am thinking, "At least he has a job... I am rarely even employed!"

And I realize that I think the EXACT SAME THINGS about myself, yet here I am extremely educated. I am educated, but not employed- he is employed and not educated- but the common denominator is that we both believe the same things about ourselves.

So that's when satan was busted. He has been caught telling the SAME lie to us both.

There was one other lie I had also believed verbatim, but I can't remember what it was now.

My conclusion is that satan is consistent in his accusations against us. Let's learn from this that he tells us ALL that we have not accomplished anything regardless of what our accomplishments actually are. Whatever you have done, it will not feel like enough if satan has anything to do with it!

I am writing this to expose his strategy, so don't let him get away with it in your life! Believe the truth that if you are following Jesus you are accomplishing what HE wants you to accomplish regardless of what it is. If you are a mom, feel accomplished in taking care of your kids. If you have a job, feel the assurance that is where you are supposed to have influence right now. If you are in school- study with passion for God. And whatever you do- don't look to the WORLD to define your sense of accomplishment because that will guarantee that you feel like you don't measure up.

And for good measure I will add that none of us think we have accomplished as much as we should for our age or our station in life. No, you're not alone. Either you should be married by now, or have kids by now, or be farther in your career, or have a newer car- blah, blah, blah.

Just accept yourself for who you are. You're doing a good job. You probably try your best. So rest in God's love and acceptance for yourself- and PLEASE don't look around and compare yourself to others. God doesn't. He loves you right where you are for WHO you are.

Why God Cared About my Cupcake

Ok, while I'm at it I'm going to catch up on things I've been meaning to blog about...

This is my cupcake story.

My friend brought home a yummy cupcake. It was chocolate with white frosting.

As I unwrapped the cupcake and prepared to eat it, I heard God say, "I want you to enjoy every bite of that cupcake."

I thought, "I am shocked that God cares about this cupcake, but I will do what He says." So I enjoyed every bite of the cupcake.

As I finished it God said, "If you don't let yourself desire anything, then how can I give you the desires of your heart?"

This was profound. And then I could see why at that moment the God of the universe took a sudden interest in my chocolate cupcake.

You see, God says that we don't have because we don't ask. I am quite good (probably like most of us) at crucifying the desires of my heart. Whether it is from the pervasively WRONG doctrine in the church that says our hearts are evil and only desire things of the flesh that lead us to sin, or my own practicality that does not like to get my hopes up for things that could lead to disappointment, I do not typically allow myself to dream, or even want at times. I go along with life content in what I can see and I don't hope for much.

Once someone prophesied over me that I sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary, but I don't ask him for anything.

We think we are pleasing God by our small aspirations and we label it contentment. We think God approves of our desire to restrict our hearts from dreaming and we call it self-discipline.

Well I now know that this does NOT please God and what pleases Him is our wild abandonment to dream up ludicrous things that only He could pull off. He wants us to have such an intimate place of friendship with Him that we ask for things that actually make us HAPPY and not just for our basic needs to be met.

I mean, what parent would be pleased with a child who says the following in response to the question, "Son/Daughter, what would you like for your birthday?"

"Mommy and Daddy, I would like for you to feed me, and put clothes on me- and maybe if I am really lucky, then I would like you to give me a bath."

They would look at that child horrified that their child does not know they are loved. They would feel like complete failures as parents.

What if the child asks for a monkey, or even further, an entire zoo? They are not going to give the child the monkey or the zoo, but maybe the child gets to go visit the monkeys and the zoo. Maybe the child gets a stuffed monkey or a toy zoo. But for goodness sake, even if the child does not get exactly what she asks for, they are going to be pleased in the grand aspirations of their child and do their best to fulfill her desires!

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Let yourself DESIRE. Ask. Hope. I dare you!

Slouching no longer a problem thanks to the God who heals!

My house is the place to be right now if you have back problems...

Last week for my friend's birthday she asked me to pray for her. She has had chronic back problems requiring her to see a chiropractor and even this did not fully alleviate the pain. She complained that she was in pain when she picked up her kids or sat with them on the floor. God led me to pray for her back. I prayed for her spine, the leg joints going into her hip, and then I felt I should pray for her pelvis to be aligned properly and restored to its original design. When I prayed for the pelvis she said "This reminds me that a doctor said my pelvis was tilted and she did not think I could have kids."

Now a week later the pain is gone! Her back is healed!

I have not had severe back problems, but my mother has always tried to correct my slouching problem. I've also had massage therapists tell me that my spine is not properly aligned. I have known that one hip sits lower than the other, which causes me to always put more weight on my right leg. This makes my right hip, knee, and ankle hurt.

These are things you accept and just live with. Like the stress I've always carried in my left shoulder, shoulder blades, and along my neck. Last week I was at a Wednesday night house church and I felt the Spirit doing something in my left arm. My friend put his hand on the shoulder and instantly the power of God coursed down the arm and I felt all the tension leave my shoulder blade. It has never felt so relaxed. My friend did not even say a prayer for my shoulder, he just put his hand on my arm and the power of God healed my shoulder.

Then this past Monday I went to a prayer group. We were not praying for healing. I was sitting on the floor and all of a sudden I sensed the Spirit concentrate on my right leg. My entire leg started to straighten and then my ankle flexed in ways I never could. The sit and reach was always my worst nightmare in elementary school because even in childhood I was completely inflexible. Like, can't touch my toes inflexible. Yoga helped some, but I could never do the staff pose- the pose where you sit on the floor with your back straight and your legs straight out. (This is supposed to be an EASY pose for people. You just sit with your hands by your hips and your back straight.) Well my legs were too tight, my hips were too tight, and my back could not straighten, so I would be the only poor soul struggling with this supposedly easy pose... But when I am just hanging out on the floor I feel my leg completely straighten and my knee touched the ground. I don't think it has EVER been ever to do that!

Tonight was the best though. I had been watching the Voice of the Prophets conference online. All my friends went to the conference, but I was at home babysitting children. I was about to turn it off because the speaker was finished and it was just ministry time, but I thought I'd keep it on while I got ready for bed. I was just sitting at my desk when the guy on the stage was directing people to available prayer ministers and he just casually says, "Lord send your healing." Right at that moment I feel my spine start to straighten between my shoulder blades. It is just straightening my entire back and instantly it corrected my posture! I have NEVER been able to sit or stand so straight in my ENTIRE LIFE! I mean, my abs, shoulders, spine- everything- are physically in a different place. I have been praying for my body to come into alignment for a while, but tonight I didn't pray for any healing. Actually each time I have been healed in the last week NOBODY prayed for my healing! God just did it!

I'm on a roll with backs, so if someone needs healing for back pain, hit me up!

And if you need healing for Anything, hit JESUS up because he is still in the healing business!

A Charge to All Who Loved Mary

There is a void in the Kingdom with the loss of Mary Rhoades. There is one less laborer for the harvest.

I was deeply impressed with this thought as I spent an evening reflecting on her life, praying for clarity, and seeking answers on what I really believe. Afterwards I concluded that the Bible is indeed true, and I need to spend the rest of my life living out of this truth.

And then I asked for Mary's harvest. I asked God to give me the harvest she would have reaped had she lived long enough to see the fullness of her work come to maturity. Not that I could speak to all the teen moms she knew or tell all the same people she knows that they are beautiful and that I love them, but I can live my life with the same magnitude of impact. I want MY life to have the impact she has had, and I want to continue her legacy of love.

When Elijah knew he was going to ascend to Heaven he already had his successor, Elisha, in place to carry on his work. Elisha did not want to leave Elijah even though he was aware that it was Elijah's time to go.

In 2 Kings 2 it continues:

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

¹⁰ “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.”

¹¹ As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹² Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.

¹³ He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

¹⁵ The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

The cloak that fell from the sky was Elijah's mantle. A mantle is a symbol of the call and the anointing of the prophet. So with Elijah gone, Elisha received a double portion of his anointing to continue Elijah's call through him. He carried on the mission with double the power. I have heard it said that double the miracles are recorded for EliSha as EliJA.

There is work to be done for the Kingdom, people. Mary is gone and we all miss her. We mourn at the loss. We feel like the world is not as bright and happy without her. We feel it is not as kind or safe of a place to live with her gone. But there is work to be done. We are still here and it US now who must keep on with the legacy that Mary left behind.

What will your legacy be? Start living it now.

Clarity Revealed in the Life of Mary Rhoades

I had a tremendous revelation about the value of my life last night. It came about after I found out that Mary Rhoades had died.

I got to know her when she was the youth ministry assistant at First Baptist Church. She did not have a position that many would consider important, and it was certainly not high paying. She made copies, put together fliers, helped register kids for camp, answered the phone. But her true position was one of listening ear, comforter, counselor- the one who loved everyone unconditionally. She knew who the depressed kids were, the cutters, the ones fighting with their parents. She'd invite them out for coffee or lunch. She paid for them. She paid for me when I was working as a youth intern.

She had pictures of all the kids (and bigger kids like me) she knew on a bulletin board. I gave her one of my cherished photos of me riding an elephant in Sri Lanka. I didn't give out those pictures because I didn't have many, but I gave one to Mary for her board because it made me feel proud. I knew she would see me on that elephant and believe in me. She believed in the adventure I was on with God.

Mary struggled with ongoing health problems, but she never allowed them to keep her from loving. She is the one person I know who would call you randomly and say "I LOVE YOU!" I started telling more people I love them because of her. She did not hold back her love. When she saw you coming she'd say "Hello beautiful!" with such joy and gladness that you truly believed you were beautiful.

After she stopped her work with the youth ministry she began to work with unwed teen moms at the high school. She was passionate about her work with these teens and she spent her own money throwing them baby showers.

Mary died young, but she invested every moment of her short lifetime for the Kingdom.

Yesterday as I reflected on her life I had the revelation that the Bible really is true. I've often doubted if I have pursued the right choices as I have sought to live out the verse "Seek first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." I honestly doubted if my investment in missions, in orphanages, in chickens for poor people in the developing world even, might not have been better spent on paying off my student loans. I have not seen immediate return on these investments and I have felt like in seeking first the Kingdom I have neglected my career and have looked foolish in the eyes of the world.

But when I thought about Mary- faithful, loving Mary- before the throne of Jesus, receiving her reward, her "Well done, my good and faithful servant!", hearing all the stories of the lives she has touched... I affirmed anew my dedication to seek first the Kingdom. How fast, or even if I ever, pay off the student loans does not matter.

I remembered Matthew 6:

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

How hard it is to keep this eternal, Kingdom perspective when the world is constantly telling us we need to be worried about our mortgage, our car payment, our student loans, saving for our kids' college education, etc. etc. etc....

But truly this lifetime is short and we are not guaranteed another day. I am reminded of the quote from Gladiator, "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

Yes friends, it may be hard to realize when you have diapers to change, dishes to wash, bills to pay, email to check, reports and deadlines and dinner to make... but one day it will all end. We don't know when that day will come.

So this new year, rather than resolving to lose weight or wash the car more often, why not resolve to be the kind of person that will receive their reward from Jesus. Resolve to love people with the love that only comes from Father God. Resolve to honor people, especially the least of these. Resolve to STORE UP YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN.

Thank you Mary, for your life. Thank you for revealing to me the truth of the Scripture, and ultimately for reminding me of the real meaning and purpose for my life. Please enjoy Heaven for me, and party it up with all those angels before the throne of Jesus!

Expectation

"Expectations are our subtle attempts to control God and manipulate mystery. We can get so wrapped up in them that when Jesus breaks into our lives in new and surprising ways, we neither recognize Him nor hear His message."

~ Brennan Manning, "The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus"

I just read something in a book that described faith as "trust in God and expectancy in His provision." I realized that I have been struggling with faith lately, and that definition helped me to understand why. I say I trust God, but then I don't really expect for Him to do what it talks about in the Bible. It's like the part of me that used to expect things is broken.

I realized that actually what I expect is for things to stay the same. I came to this conclusion because of yoga. For a Christian blog, I know I spend a lot of time talking about yoga- haha! Anyway, for a couple weeks the Tuesday/Thursday 4:30 class was usually the same. Too hot and too crowded. So this was my association with Tuesday/Thursday yoga. Beforehand I would mentally prepare myself for it to be uncomfortable.

Then one day I came in the air was working so it was not hot and there was plenty of room. "What changed?" I asked. "Where are all the people that are always here?" People had no answer for me. It was a different week- there were different people. And that is how it was for each week. There would be new teachers. Even if it was the same teacher, she or he would change up the routine. My little world of expecting continuity was crumbling.

And then I realized that I have been going through life expecting things to stay the same. People too. This is really detrimental. I was living in the past and limiting my expectation to what I had already experienced. I can't say this caused me to have a very hopeful outlook on life.

Proverbs 13:12 says: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Romans 8:24-25 says: For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

I think two things caused my hope, or expectancy that God will act, to break. I think I had faith that something would happen, and then placed my expectation of what it would look like on my hope. When it didn't happen the way I thought, I got discouraged. Too long being discouraged, and then I gave up in some areas of my life. Also I think I got tired of waiting. I think somewhere the timer of when I expected God to act expired and I was doubly discouraged.

A little interaction helped bring this to light... After Hurricane Irene the weather was beautiful. I heard someone on the phone say to his son in New York, "You've got beautiful weather coming!" Well in New York it was still storming. But the father was experiencing what would soon make its way to the son.

It occurred to me that this is what God says to me when I am discouraged. All I see in my life is strong winds, rain, and a power failure. God sees what is coming on the other side of the storm and says, "Be encouraged, you've got beautiful things coming!" I have tended to side with Eeyore in those moments and have sulked in my gloom and pessimism. "Whatever God, I don't see it getting better. Go away with your cheeriness!"

You know what though? Things ARE getting better. Despite my own lack of faith or hope. So I am asking Jesus to heal the areas of my life where I have been frustrated. I am trying to refocus on the truth of the promises of God in His word. If He says He will provide, then provision IS coming! It just might not come in the form I'm expecting.

I had a sad moment of dealing with some pain. I got the image of one situation as tattered cloth. I held the cloth up to Jesus. "It is ruined," my heart exclaimed. It was if Jesus said to me, "Give it here and I will make something beautiful of it."

So take heart, beloved. It is time to EXPECT beauty- whatever that will look like- on the other side of your storms!