THE DILEMA OF SALLY’S LONLINESS

The friend paused and replied, “Sally, right now your voice is raised, and you are jabbing your finger at me. If that isn’t anger, I don’t know what is.”

Sally still can’t figure out what is wrong.  She is not in her prime, single, a believer, and feels friendless. People disappear from her bank of friends right and left. They are there for a season and then drop off the map. Sally keeps asking God, “Why don’t my friends stick around?” Seriously, does God have limited resources?

Today she read in her Bible that God gives wisdom to those who ask for it. Sally ardently asked God for wisdom regarding friendship. However, the following events transpired which did not appear as God’s answer to Sally’s prayers.

UNWELCOME ANSWERS TO HER PRAYERS

She encountered an ex-friend at the grocery store. Sally mustered up the courage to ask why they had grown apart. The woman cautiously looked at her and said, “I just couldn’t put up with your anger anymore.”

Sally immediately declared, “What anger? What are you talking about? I may get a little frustrated, but I don’t get angry!!!!”

The friend paused and replied, “Sally, right now your voice is raised, and you are jabbing your finger at me. If that isn’t anger, I don’t know what is.”

Sally looked down at her hands. They were clenched into fists. Looking down the aisle, Sally could see customers eyeing her with alarm. Was her voice that loud? She hustled out of the store and called another ex-friend. As soon as the second woman answered the phone, Sally blurted out, “Tracey, can you believe it. I saw Nancy at the grocery store. She says I’m an angry person.”

After a long awkward pause, Tracey slowly said, “I’m so sorry Sally, but yes, I agree with Nancy. That’s why our visits are few and far between.  I just can’t take it anymore.” Sally hung up.

SHE ASKED FOR WISDOM, NOT FOR THIS

As the day went by, Sally continued to make additional calls. A few women answered the phone, but many went straight to voicemail. The women she talked to often hemmed and hawed. Some gave the same response as Nancy and Tracey. Sally burst into tears. What was wrong with God? She asked for wisdom, not for this.

Later that evening, Sally sat down in her recliner and looked up the topic of “Christians and Anger” via Gotquestions.org. A flood of verses appeared before her:

THE ANGER VERSES

  • “Refrain from anger and forsake wrath!
  • “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
  • “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
  • “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.”
  • “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
  • “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

Was this the reason for the absence of the deep friendships Sally desired? As Sally prayed, she remembered all her angry encounters with clenched fists. She felt a light breeze blow over the pages of her Bible.

FILLED TO THE MEASURE OF ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD

Looking down, Sally read the prayer of the Apostle Paul for the believers at Ephesus: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:17-20) 

At her wits end, Sally knew only by immeasurable power of God could she conquer her anger. She cried as she confessed her sin. God had answered her prayer for wisdom. Can she rely on His resources alone?

SALLY’S POLLUTED “POUR OVER”

People are there for a season and then drop off the map. Sally keeps asking God why she can’t find friends who stick around.

Sally can’t figure out what is wrong.  She is a believer but feels friendless. People are there for a season and then drop off the map. Sally keeps asking God why she can’t find friends who stick around. Seriously, does God have limited resources?

This morning, she read in her Bible, “May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.” (I Thessalonians 3:11-13 The Message)

SALLY’S PAST ENCOUNTERS

Sally began to take stock. She remembered the previous week when she had been pouring over a lot, but not the pouring of goodness that the Bible refers to. There was that heated discussion with her sister about politics. As usual, her sister ended up storming out of the house. That same day, Sally discovered that her family doctor did not believe the Bible. She quickly set him straight and reminded him that he was on the path to hell. Later that night, Sally discovered her brother, of all people, believed in evolution. It is enough to make Sally want to explode. What indeed is the world coming to?

WHY DO PEOPLE AVOID HER?

Last night Sally couldn’t sleep. Her mind kept replaying the interaction with her doctor. She heard her loud voice and saw herself repeatedly jabbing at him with her finger to make a point. Were there similarities between that and her altercation with her sister? Why did her sister keep rolling her eyes at her and then slam the screen door in Sally’s face? Why didn’t all these people see the truth? It hurt that her sister and brother seem to purposely avoid her.

JESUS POURS LIFE

While contemplating these encounters, Sally turned on the light and opened her Bible. The pages flipped opened up to John 3. Sally knew this story well: Jesus’ encounter with a woman who clearly is of bad character, has skewed theology and is on her way to hell. Yet, what does Jesus do? He calmly engages her in conversation, asking questions along the way. He then extends an invitation.  Jesus pours life in that conversation without raising His voice or jabbing His fingers. The Savior offers life.

GOD’S PLAN: DANCING RATHER THAN PLODDING

Later, she read: “One final word, friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. God wants you to live a pure life.” (I Thessalonians 4:1-3 The Message). Sally pondered the question. Is she just plodding along in her Christian life? Is it possible to find great friends? Can a joyous spirited dance pour out of her soul?

THE ABSENCE OF SHORT CUTS

The long way is often better

My husband and I have 2 divergent styles of driving the car.  He likes to meander off the beaten path and enjoy the scenery. For him, “short-cut” means “long-cut.”  My approach to driving is navigating as efficiently and fast as possible. It is a running joke in our household that the fastest route is always with Mom at the wheel.

THE “LONG-CUTS”

Too bad that my style of navigation isn’t God’s style.  God’s life map often includes the “long-cuts.” He does not consult my plans entailing a delightful marriage to a minister with an adoring congregation. Included in the picture is motherhood to at least four loving children and an eventual abundance of grandchildren. Our real estate is a unique beautiful brick house. Along the way, I was to develop as a well-respected teacher. Yep, that was my life map. Well, I got the first plan right:  marriage to a minister.

OUR DETOURS

The off-road detours were not part of my plan:  losing loved friends to terminal diseases, upending our lives and moving 14 times in our marriage, coping with years of strain of unemployment and financial stress, not having any daughters to go shopping with, and saying goodbye to career dreams.  The detour list goes on and on. God does not often match His GPS with mine.

THOSE WHO POINT TO JESUS

We sometimes feel like lost travelers who long for the route in which everything makes sense. Intermittently we find solace in fellow travelers who have navigated the same backroads; those who have not cursed God in the process. The blessings are the travelers who share the pain and point to Jesus.

THOSE SEASONS OF LIGHT

And yet, there are those seasons of light. The times when I had the privilege of directing children’s performances and realized that without God, none of this astoundingly joyous moment would have been possible. The occasions when I share the bottomless truth of God’s Word with a friend and finally see the “aha!” light blink in their eyes. God rides to the rescue in ways I never imagine. Indeed, God shines His light, but seldom when I claim the sole right to turn on the light.

NOT THE NAVIGATOR

I am not the navigator in the pilot seat, but part of the obedient crew in the back of the plane. I am the adventurer of Hebrews 11 who identifies with Abraham, who “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” God calls us to be explorers who look and long “for a better country – a heavenly one.” 

God may direct my path through the mud, the weeds or choose the well-maintained highway, but point A rarely goes directly and easily to point B. All He asks is that I obediently stay on His path and look at the delightful scenery He places along the way. Lord, help us to trust, even in the “long-cuts.”

Click and listen to the story of Andy & Jamie Stewart

TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE

I had thought that no matter what I could process a way through my greatest challenges

Growing up, my father constantly worked. He was a child of the Great Depression. His repeated mantra for his busyness was, “I have too many irons in the fire.” There is a strong genetic link to his youngest daughter: me.

THE IRONS WERE MULTIPLYING

My week has been a doozy. Currently, I’m in the process of learning the ropes at a new employer. After leaving work Monday I received a message from my doctor’s office to go straight to the ER for tests to determine if I was experiencing a new pulmonary embolism. After 6 hours at the ER, all the testing was negative, but I still had no answers. My mind was thrown off track. The irons were multiplying in the fire of my heart and mind.

MY WORST NIGHTMARE

Three days later, Thursday afternoon, I woke up from a power nap. It was 6 PM. I checked my calendar and realized I was supposed to be leading the Writers Group at 6:30PM at GCC. For years, my recurring nightmare is discovering I’m scheduled for a major commitment, and I am not prepared in the slightest. In the nightmare, I cannot even locate where the event is to be.

I couldn’t think straight as I raced to GCC. My dream became reality, especially when I arrived at church and found out that our scheduled room was occupied by another group. Where were we to meet?

The entirety of the events of the week occupied major space in my heart. I couldn’t think straight. I’m glad I didn’t drive past a metal detector. I had so many “irons in the fire” that the metal alarms would have been shrieking.

GUARD YOUR HEART

The Apostle John speaks to this: Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart]. (I John 5:21 AMP) My paraphrase is: “Dear believers, guard your hearts so that all those ‘irons in the fire’ do not occupy (and explode into shrapnel) your heart and take the place of God.”

THE IDOL OF SELF-DETERMINATION

God humbled me. My computer presentation for the class did not exist, my energy level was depleted, and my mental acuity was zero. I thought I had everything under control until God showed me it was just the idol of self-determination.

Maybe some of you have run into the same idol: thinking that no matter what, you can process a way through the greatest challenges. The Holy Spirit prompted me to throw the idol of self-determination out the car window. The wording of my prayer changed between home and GCC. I had been pleading, “Lord, I am so embarrassed, please don’t have anyone show up for class.” I now prayed “Lord, do whatever You want with whatever You have planned for this evening.”

GOD THREW OUT MY “IRONS”

And that’s exactly what He did. Just one person came, and it was totally God’s event. The conversation I had with one lone writer was an answer to previous prayers regarding growing a friendship with that particular participant. Self-determination certainly did not answer that prayer. It was God. He threw out my “irons”.

So, what are the irons in the fire that are occupying your heart and mind? John says, “Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].” In light of eternity, the schedules, anxieties, and responsibilities of this life are just a flicker. Don’t allow anything to take God’s place in your heart. Let go of the irons.

Click here for more on being too busy for God.

THIRSTY NO MORE

Are you thirsty for change?

It was Sarah’s last leg of her bike trip, on her hottest and thirstiest day. With family she bicycled from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC during a heat wave. At times her “vacation” felt like a trip through hades. Thirsty didn’t even begin to describe how she felt.

THE THIRSTY WOMAN

Have you ever wondered about that other thirsty person? The “woman at the well” described in John 4? We don’t even know her real name. A social outcast, she was not going for the prize of reaching Washington, DC. There was no air-conditioning and comfort for her to look forward to. No, every day this woman at the ostracized by her village; only allowed to obtain her water at the hottest time of the day. Exhausted, tired, and exasperated, she sees a man (Jesus) sitting at the well. He has the temerity to ask for some of her water. Then he has the nerve to bring up religion (remember, He was a Jew, and she was a Samaritan). Jesus even says she is missing something.

WATER THAT LIVES

What is she missing? Living water (not the kind sitting in the pot on top of her head). What is “Living Water”? In John 7, Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John further explains, “by this he meant the Spirit.”

KINGDOM PERSONALITY

Are these rivers flowing from you? Is the Holy Spirit bubbling over in your life? This is not self-generated. How does one obtain what is termed “A Kingdom Personality,” a personality fully powered by the Holy Spirit?

NO EXCUSES

To begin with, we don’t make excuses. Dallas Willard writes in “Renovation of the Heart“: We often say, “Nobody’s perfect.” We don’t say this just when someone fails but also when we run up against the Bible’s description of the kingdom personality of “genuine mutual love” that is free of “all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.” We rush to say it because we feel inadequate compared to such love. But what if we don’t make that description about us—focusing on our shortcomings—but instead linger on the beauty of God and God’s kingdom?

THE RADICAL PERSON

Try picturing this hypothetical moment of dwelling on the beauty of God and the kingdom life: Let’s say I confessed to you my disgust with someone who annoyed me and how hopeless I felt about ever loving this person. What if instead of trying to make me feel better by saying, “Nobody’s perfect,” you said you believed in God’s power to transform me into a radical person who pays loving attention to those who annoy me? Will you pray for me about this? What if later that day you encountered an annoying person and, without thinking, treated that person with kindness and attentiveness—partly because of the transforming effect of our conversation about the kingdom personality?

DEPENDING ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

Do you ask others to pray for you to be transformed into a radical believer, depending totally on the transforming power of the Living Water, the Holy Spirit? How about we begin praying for each other the goldmine prayer of Ephesians: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! (Ephesians 3: 17-21) This is a prayer that can bring immeasurable results. Living Water never runs out.

Click for more info on “Living Water”

PRAYERS THAT MOVE THE WORLD

Pastor Mike called out: “North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, & Afghanistan.” He asked the significance of these names. Maybe you know they are the names of the top ten offenders of the 50 countries that make up the World Watch List 2024. Believers in these countries pay the cost of following Jesus. Extremists exploit instability in Africa, foreign influence bolsters autocratic regimes, and there are unprecedented attacks on churches. Over 365 million Christians around the world face discrimination for their faith. My mind boggles with the sheer numbers. Yet, despite this, the Christian Church grows.

THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER

Every morning, I read and pray for one of the countries on the World Watch List. In my Global Prayer Guide I follow an additional different country. My geography skills have proven very inadequate as countries change names and shapes. God knows the locations. My heart breaks as I follow the testimonies of Voice of the Martyrs.

I DON’T PERSONALLY KNOW THESE PEOPLE

I do not personally know these people I pray for. Their situations are unimaginable to me. Yet I pray and then pray some more. Why? Because of this passage: “This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.” (I John 5:13-14)

OUR SAVIOR HEARS

God understands each situation and every individual on this earth. He knows about the believers who spend years in solitary confinement in metal shipping containers in the heat of Eritrea. The Holy Spirit groans for those in Korea, imprisoned in concentration camps because they possessed a Bible. Our Savior hears the cries of refugees from Sudan whose homes are destroyed by militants.

NOT WISHFUL THINKING

It is easy to get discouraged and think that our little prayers do not matter. Did you ever wonder why James 5:17-18 points out that Elijah had “a nature like ours”? Matt Bradson writes that we are to pray for huge movements of the Holy Spirit: “Even Elijah was only human. God can answer our big, rain-stopping, holiness-pleading prayers just like his.” If as a righteous person you pray according to God’s will, expect God to answer the prayer. He will grant what you ask. That is based on God’s promise, not wishful thinking.

WHAT TO PRAY FOR

How can you know exactly what and how to pray? Check out the resources I have already mentioned. Even more, learn to plunder Scripture as you pray, interceding for people using the words of the Apostle Paul or the Psalms. “Plunder” means “take goods violently from a place, especially during a war.” Do you open your Bible with force and realize that this is your sword for global warfare?

SPEAK INTO GOD’S EAR

Notice the Apostle Paul didn’t mess around only tiny requests. He drives right to the heart of what people really need. At the beginning of Philippians, he writes, “It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so 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.” Why not begin today using this as your prayer for believers in North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, & Afghanistan? God has offered His ear. Speak powerfully into it!

Click here for the miraculous testimony entitled “A Die-hard Shia Muslim Becomes a Believer”

HOW TO GET UNSTUCK

Have you ever noticed in the Gospels that Jesus didn’t waste His time going around screaming at the Roman soldiers?

Just how did we drive the car over the parking curb?  The vehicle was wedged in so tightly that we could not clear the barrier. Yes, I confess I was the driver on that little side trip in Florida. We made a wrong turn. I chose to stop at a tiny parking lot next to the shore so we could get our bearings. Concentrating more on the map than parking the car, I pulled in too far and drove right over the curb. Stuck good and tight. Repeatedly, I tried alternately putting the car into drive and reverse, but made no headway. 

THE SEASONS OF NO HEADWAY

There are seasons of my life in which I have become stuck, unable to make headway. The fruits of the Spirit are meant to propel me forward: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. However, my fruit withers on the vine.  Because of my rotten judgment, I become stuck, wedged on a spiritual curb.

TOSS OUT THE TRASH

This is not God’s ideal plan for believers. There is an antidote for getting stuck: tossing in the trash the excess weight of sin.  For example, one can’t be faithful to God (a fruit of the Spirit) and also sexually immoral at the same time. It is impossible to continue in impurity and indecent behavior if self-control and goodness are the filters for our minds.  Idolatry and witchcraft go down the tubes if one first loves God above all else.  Hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, and selfish ambition are not even on the table if love, patience, kindness, and self-control are our first response to pain.  I can’t sustain a fit of rage if the Holy Spirit is controlling the words that come out of my mouth.

WHAT DOES THE SPIRIT LIFE LOOK LIKE

What does a Spirit controlled life look like? Have you ever noticed in the Gospels that Jesus didn’t waste His time going around screaming at the Roman soldiers?  Christ didn’t throw that first stone at the woman caught in adultery. Never did He move away from the dinner table when the tax collectors sat next to Him. He even loved His disciples when they were at odds with each other over who would be first in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus lived in an unlovable world.  The words that come out of His mouth and His behaviors are all fruits of the Spirit. Every single last one…

TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THE WHEEL

Is it possible for believers to live this way? What exactly are the good fruits? Galatians 5:22-23:But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Amplified Version) How do we live such a way? By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Choosing to take our hands off our spiritual steering wheels. 

Has your spiritual life gotten stuck? Maybe you don’t know how you ended up there, but you desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit to lift you out of that pit of deed of the flesh.  What’s the solution? Confess it, turn away from it, and ask the Holy Spirit for directions on how to live.  Since I have a God who got a rental car eventually unstuck from a parking curb in Florida, I know that we have a God Who can steer us safely into living holy lives.

Click here to listen to the life transformation of Cortney Bruketta

SILENCE UNDER THE BROOM TREE

Have you ever concluded that your ministry is fruitless and life just isn’t worth living?

The fireworks are done; the anticipated victory has arrived. The main character is beyond exhaustion. He witnessed at the altar what he envisioned as the big finale to his ministry career. Yet, in a moment, everything turns upside down. He is now a wanted man on the run for his life. The account of this is recorded in I Kings 18:20-46 & I Kings 19:1-18.

Alone, at his wits end, Elijah cries, “I have had enough Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” And with those words, Elijah falls asleep in the wilderness under a broom tree, a desert shrub.

God had not met Elijah’s expectations. Sure, there was the magnificent fire from heaven raining down on Elijah’s water drenched sacrifice. The crowd cheered: “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” And then there was the post-game show of God breaking the drought which had plagued the nation of Israel for years. Surely, it was a win-win! What more could Elijah expect from God?

However, hearts can be rock hard. The warrant is issued by Queen Jezebel for Elijah’s death. Afterall, Elijah ordered the execution of hundreds of her false prophets. Elijah responds to Jezebel’s warrant by running and running and running. That brings him to the solitary broom tree.

Have you ever concluded that your ministry is fruitless and life just isn’t worth living? The NIV notes say that “Elijah lost his confidence in the triumph of the kingdom and was withdrawing from the area of conflict.” I don’t blame him. Did Elijah have any additional space so I might join him under the broom tree?

The magnificent revival Elijah expected from the huge miracles, did not happen. Elijah expected BIG. However, God planned for small…. God finally speaks to Elijah, but God doesn’t shout in the wind. Neither does He scream over the earthquake. There is no roaring over the fire. God chooses to speak to Elijah in a gentle whisper. It isn’t until that point of quiet that Elijah is ready to again hear God.

So how noisy is your life? Lots going on? Have you become so caught up in the results of both your plans and disappointments that you have begun to think that God is not Who He says He is? Have you effectively silenced God because He doesn’t produce the bells and whistles you expect from Him?

How about running to your broom tree. Turn off your phone, radio, TV, and your racing thoughts. STOP!!! Get ready for the whisper of God. Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).He is in the silence and He still is God.

Click here for more information on what it means to be still

MY LIFE AS A PRISONER

God sent us into the wilderness to get to know Him better.

Are you a multi-tasker? I ended up multi-tasking to the extreme. At one point, work included: being a music teacher grades K-12; privately coaching vocal students; directing a 30 voice children’s choir at church; directing a 70-voice regional choir; leading the musical programs at Christian camps; teaching a weekly women’s Sunday School Class. I even ran a class so that women could better manage their health (what a joke!). On the side, I was making and selling jewelry at craft shows and teaching others how to make jewelry. If it could be done, I did it. What a prison I was living in.

OVERWORKED AND UNHAPPY

Did I mention I also loved burning leaves? Maybe burning leaves was significant because I felt my life was going up in smoke. I was overworked and unhappy. When oh when would the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow come into sight?

In the background was my family: husband and two sons. My husband was a pastor; dedicated to his calling. My sons were excellent kids, but did I really know any of them? Had I taken a second to breathe?

THE YEARS OF DISSEMBLING

Then came the years of dissembling. Signs of an approaching storm already appeared on the horizon, but I ignored it. Surely, nothing that bad could ever come about for someone who loved Jesus. Right? Wrong! God ripped all of those commitments and ministries right out of our hands. In a twinkling of an eye, we were without a church home, a regular schedule, and a stable home base. Savings quickly evaporated. I obsessed about finding my husband a new job. He had sunk into deep depression, so I spent hours searching job boards and writing resumes and sending letters to countless churches on his behalf. Nothing worked.

WALLS BEGINNING TO FALL

Workaholic Jacqui was at the end of her rope. The bottom had arrived. Suddenly, there were hours, days and weeks to think….Were the prison walls beginning to fall?

Not until the end has been reached does one realize that maybe they are on the wrong path. Not until I gave up my puny efforts could God rebuild new lives. Only He could make the huge internal change in not only how we see Him, but how we see ourselves and our relationship to ministry.

THE BEST PRISON CHAPLAIN

Instead of viewing God as a job, a commitment, and a career, God became Father and Provider. He pried our hands off of possessions, aspirations for ministry, and plans for the future. God no longer was Someone researched in order to prepare a lesson. He is that Friend Who takes His time for visits that can be quite lengthy. He is the best prison chaplain!

MINISTRY TODAY

What is our relationship to church and ministry today? Church is a community of believers that deeply care about each other. Technically we belong to a large local church, but in our hearts, real church plays out in small pockets: the women’s “Tribe” I am part of, the men Bill mentors, the writing friends God has blessed me with, and the assortment of Christian friends we call family.

TOOLS, NOT “PROJECT MANAGERS”

We no longer consider “ministry” something we possess. Ministry is something God can steer us into for a season and then steer us out of another season. We don’t have a strangle hold on to what is God’s and not ours. He does with ministry and programs what He wants and He prospers what He wants to prosper. We are His tools, not His project managers.

Today, both Bill and I are investors. We invest in the lives of other believers or individuals on the cusp of believing.  We take seriously the prayer, time and effort needed to pour into the lives of God’s children. Sometimes this is well received. Other times, it can be painful. However, this is the passion God has led us to. It just took that long painful journey into the wilderness to get us here.

PRISONERS CAN BE SET FREE

Are you going through a similar long painful journey? From firsthand experience, I can tell you that the pain is worth it if you let God do the rebuilding. God never wants His children to be their own “project managers”. God sent us into the wilderness to get to know Him better. Into the barrens the we went. The prisoners can be set free!

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Click here to hear Jeff Parker’s testimony of being set free

LOVE THAT NEVER RUNS

I would rather have a root canal than knowingly sit next to the brother/sister who has hurt me.

And there we sat side by side at the picnic. It was difficult. My sister in Christ hated my guts at that moment. I just wanted to exit stage left as fast as possible.

BEING A “RUNNER”

I am a “runner”. There, I said it. I am that person who will separate as quickly as possible when there is conflict with another brother or sister in Christ. Give me the person who has deeply wounded me and 100% of the time I emotionally jump out the window when I pass by them again. Frankly, I would rather have a root canal than knowingly sit next to the brother/sister who has hurt me.

WE HAVE ALL BEEN DEEPLY HURT

The sad fact is that no one in this world hasn’t been deeply injured in his/her relationships to others. This is especially true in the church. That’s why I John 4:7-21 is so challenging:  “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one 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, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him.“

THE MERE ABSENCE OF LOVE IS DEADLY

How does a habit of withdrawal effect one’s spiritual life? Dallas Willard comments in “Renovation of the Heart”: Failure to love others as Jesus loves us chokes off the flow of the eternal kind of life that our whole human system cries out for. The old apostle minced no words: “He who does not love abides in death” (verse 14). Notice that he did not say, “He who hates,” but simply, “He who does not love.” The mere absence of love is deadly. It is withdrawal.”

COURAGEOUS LOVE

Is it possible to have this type of courageous love – the type is determined by the grace of God to stick around, rather than flee? Non-courageous love means that I do not extend love toward that difficult brother/sister because of my past issues. I am not letting issues control my feelings. On the contrary, I make a choice to extend love because I allow Jesus to revolutionize my character, my inner being.

JESUS NEVER RAN

This is a change by submission: allowing God to change me from the inside out through my relationship with God. Instead of putting on my running shoes when conflict arises, I allow the character of Christ enter my life. Jesus never ran.

Are you also a “runner”? I remember a congregation where one family was in conflict with another. They always attended the same service, but made sure they sat on opposite sides of the sanctuary. Their spiritual running shoes were always in service. “The mere absence of love is deadly. It is withdrawal.” Jesus love never runs.

Click for more information on how to love well.