Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Mercy Seat/Bound4Life

Just for clarification, this was not one of the issues I intended to address in this blog. However, I feel as if could be a worthwhile discussion. To begin, let me give you a brief history of what Bound4Life is. Bound4Life is a self-proclaimed anti-abortion organization. They focus on having prayer in front of governmental buildings all over the United States with a piece of red tape stating "LIFE" over their mouths. Here is a brief excerpt from their website. 
"When LIFE is written on a piece of red tape and placed on our mouths, we are identifying with the silent cries of the unborn and of those who have no voice. Our stand is not a protest, but a silent prayer meeting. We make our appeal to the judge of the earth and ask Him for speedy justice to be released. It is a plea- 'Oh that God would subpoena that conscience of America!" We dream of a day when all 740 abortion clinics in America will have long lines of people, young and old alike, standing strong on sidewalks, praying and fasting with LIFE covering their lips. If 740 churches would rise up and take on one abortion clinic each with sustained fasting and prayer, what would happen?"
The verse this organization clings to is Ezekiel 4:2-3. It states, "Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it... Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it."(NKJV)
Let's examine this phrase in other versions of the Bible. We will begin with the NIV and move to the NASB. We will also examine this text contextually to determine the validity of the statement in accordance with the Silent Siege movement. 
NIV
"Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works to it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.(3) Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face towards it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel."
NASB
"Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel."
Okay, so let's look at this verse contextually. During this passage, Ezekiel was by himself. God tells him to take a brick and write Jerusalem on it, and then siege ti with prayer. Afterwards, he was supposed to set up and iron plate which represented the physical wall in a prayer siege. And so, this is all happening when Ezekiel is shut up in his room. People think he's crazy. The whole point is that he was not going to the actual location and doing it publicly. He was doing it in the place of prayer where God had placed him. So, if you're going to cite the verse, you would think that it would be mimicked in the same way, as a designated prayer place that isn't public. 
Ezekiel at this point, was commanded by God to be praying shut up in the prayer room where God had him. It seems strange to me that though Bound4Life claims not to be a protest, I see no other reason for them to be in front of a building with LIFE tape over their mouths. If not a protest, what is it? This movement is not mimicking the actions of Ezekiel in the closed room of prayer. They are publicly denouncing and judging the actions of those people who have made a choice (whether it be right or wrong). How are we to know the plans that God has for that person. I count myself so lowly as not to know that plans that God has for his people on earth and I have no intention of claiming so.
Not only that, but my question is if there are exceptions to abortion/induced miscarriage. Now, let me dispel any misgivings you may have about my opinion on abortion. I am by no means pro-abortion in cases where the mother has an option to have the baby. However, I am also of the opinion that there are exceptions to this rule. Let me present to you one example that has given me reason to doubt what some Christians claim: Is it acceptable to terminate the life of a fetus if the life of the mother is in danger? Or, would the life of the mother be forfeit because they should choose to continue with the pregnancy despite the complications? Has God given us medical technology to allow mothers to die, to allow those people who haven't planned to have an induced miscarriage or abortion die because we are so convicted that God's heart is for the life of every unborn child who may suffer death from an abortion? 
Maybe I'm confused about the convictions of those people who practice what Bound4Life preaches? Perhaps I am. If so, I wouldn't mind clarification.  

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Worship

Worship: What does it look like to worship an Ever Living God?
The dictionary defines worship as a few different things. However, outside of the dictionary definition, I'd like to share with you what I think of as worshipping the Lord. First, let me give you a little bit of background of myself in order that I may have some sort of credibility with you. I was raised in a home where music was a part of daily life. My Mother was a music teacher, I sang from an early age and learned the basics of piano, although I never learned completely. In church I sang in all the children's choirs, as I was the daughter of the director. In high school I became the Worship team leader for the Ashland District Youth Council. I had been a member of the Greater Richmond Children's Choir and had sung at Carnegie Hall. However, with all of these qualifications to sing, nothing prepared me for the worship team I stepped onto at Virginia Commonwealth University.
I was blessed to be a part of the Intervarsity Worship Team as a freshman and was blessed to have a worship leader who wanted to worship the Lord through his entire being. It was there that for the first time in my life, I really learned to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. As believers we are called to worship in Spirit and in Truth. Now, what does this look like? In John we find Jesus talking a Samaritan woman at the town well. We know from this passage that she was a shameful woman who had previously taken many husbands and now was the lover of another. But when Jesus reached out to her, she recognized Him as a prophet and began to speak of the Jews and the Samaritans and how the Jews claimed it was necessary to worship in a certain place while the Samaritans worshipped on a particular mountain. And Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship what we do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." And the woman replied to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." And Jesus replied, "I who speak to you am he". (John 4)
What a revelation to find out that the Lord looks for those who do not worship in a certain place or a certain time, but in a certain manner. To worship in truth is to worship in the word, and to worship in spirit is to worship in the spirit of Christ.

Monday, April 21, 2008

St. Mother Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within. 

May you trust God that you are exactly where you're meant to be. 

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. 

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.

It is there for each and every one of us. 

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Don Coleman's Talk on Genesis- Notes

He began with the story of a freshman from VT who went to be with the Lord and about her testimony. Her name was Rachel. 18 years old and dedicated to the Lord.

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God"
Tip of the year, that every moment of your life would begin with "in the beginning, God". Wow. 

Love will cause a revolution, if we really do that (in reference to the environment that Intervarsity tries to provide)
If you're a passionate follower of Jesus Christ you should be broken now. Our world is looking for a beginning. A world that fills us with life now, not life in Jesus.  No! "In the beginning, God!" Dang.

If you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, at some pt. you have to decide what you believe. Whatever you are doing in your life begins with God. God created the Heavens and the earth. What would it look like to live your life like, "In the beginning, God?" 
-patient all the time
-read the Word
-talk to God everyday

You have to want Jesus, you have to want something real, and it starts with, "In the beginning, God". The original intent of God was that his spirit would come into the earth, that our god reigns, forever His kingdom reigns. Somewhere in between our busy life, we have lost sight of the fact that he wants his kingdom to reign in the entire earth. God wants you to be representing Him in your major, in your life after college. 

At some point, you have to realize that G0d wants to talk to you. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. He wants to give you direction in the beginning in the end of your life. 

All you see and all you don't see, God created. What else is there besides what you see and what you don't see. That's why in the beginning, God. God's got it all, but YOU have to let Him have it. And how much you yield to God is your choice. "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

Genesis 1:26-27 Basically, he made us in his likeness, in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female. What does it look like that my life belongs to God. John talks about spirit and in truth, who we are as spiritual beings who have come into contact with a Living God. A spiritual man eats the Word of God. Are we on a spiritual diet and losing weight spiritually. Are you not in His likeness because you aren't eating. 

People want to create a divine reality other than what they're created to be. But we're going around protesting instead of telling you that. God has a destiny and purpose for you. Human beings were created in the image of God! If God made it, it's probably best to take the broken instrument to God. 

The owner's manual of God tells us to take it back to the dealership, i.e. God to take it back to the owner. Go to the book, go to God. Dang!

Keep reading it even if you don't understand it. If you read it and don't understand it in a class, you can't tell your teacher that and put that on a test. You'll get an F. You don't want an F in life, do you?!
And so we ask Jesus for help. The Bible says to love one another and to live in peace with all people.

All of us serve the same Jesus. Obama's race speech? Race will not be changed by politicians. When we start living the gospel, then things will change.

Genesis 18: 22ish- Abraham will be blessed and his offspring will be blessed, all nations of the earth will be blessed through them. Abraham is the father of all of us who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. We as the people of God, IV is here to bless this campus. 

BE A BLESSING
SEA UNA BENDICION

Keep the way of the Lord so the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised by doing what is right and just. The God of the Bible declares that we have to live according this book, it sets you free, it doesn't put you in bondage, but you have to choose to live it. We got some Sodom and Gomorrah. God saw the outcry and their sin was so grievous, he will see if what they have done is as bad as the people cried out. We need to stop turning and running and cursing people and stand and cry out to our God.

2 Chronicles-  I will hear their prayers and heal their land. Our God is big. The God of the Bible wants relationship with other people. But denominations aren't what God called for, for division. 

It is God's plan that we be a blessing to other people, it's always been God's plan. A blessing to the world. Not only to certain people. 

"Unchristian"- a book he recommends, statistics to validate the top 6 things they think about Christians:

1. hypocritical
2. too focused on getting converts (don't care about the person)
3. anti-homosexuals
4. sheltered old fashioned afraid of getting involved in people's lives
5. too political
6. judgmental 

We are the ones who will have to change it, so that people know John 3:16

Genesis 50:19 Vengeance is the place of God. wow. Worry not for me, I am in the place of God. 
His family sold him into slavery. 
Joseph ended becoming a tremendous leader and saved his entire family. 

Don Coleman believes that we have an opportunity to be a blessing to this campus and those who don't know God. They were all created by God in his likeness and we have to reach out a love him despite what they're doing and acting. 

At some point people have to forgive and say that vengeance is the Lord's. Like Joseph. We should treat them with love, we should be the ones standing the gap. I'm not going to judge people, I'm going to love people and demonstrate that God loves them and that he died for them. Amen. 

Bless ALL nations

Our God always intended that His people are to bless ALL nations. Be intentional and aggressive in how you love. 
Song: they should know that we are christians by our love

If someone did a survey of Intervarsity would love be in there? A love that comes out of us living in such a way that it demonstrates how to live a holy life. If we demonstrated that to them, then they'll respond with "hey man, can I get some of that?"

"In the beginning, God"
Every person you meet on this campus was created in the image of God
as followers, we are to live in such a way that they can be blessed by Him through us. 

Future topics

Future topics will include: 

1. Community versus Evangelism: Finding a healthy balance
2. Being members of one body and how we can honor one another in areas of different strengths and weaknesses.
3. Justice and Poverty: Are we called to love the poor and how does this play into our lives as Americans?
4. Humbleness and Pride: Dear Lord help us to be more humble and to boast only in you.
5. Living for the Lord instead of living for the love of the world; perfection of Jesus Christ; His likeness
6. Singleness: Finding contentment in a world that tells you it's wrong to be single and what true love is. 
7. Living in Fear: Do not be afraid
8. Servanthood: What does it mean to be a servant? 
9. Worship: What does it look like to worship an Ever Living God?

I'm looking forward to sharing with you what the Lord has shared with me in these areas throughout the past 4 years as well as how we can grow with each other in these issues.


The Lord is Good

So let me preface this blog by saying that, as cheesy and obvious as this may be, our God is faithful. He is good! So today, I am here to talk about these few things; bitterness, anger, and being content in the Lord and what He has for us. I left off my last blog by quoting Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." And for the first time in a long time, I believe that. I would like to share some of my experiences with all of you in order for you to better understand why this is such an important concept and how the things of this world can hold you back from understanding it. 
Bitterness and anger have ruled over my life for the past 2 years in a number of situations. Sometimes it stemmed from the fact that I didn't understand why the Lord could allow a certain event to happen. Other times it was in conjunction with feeling hurt, abused, or betrayed by people who I thought of as friends. Ephesians 4:25-27 ain't no joke when Paul instructs the church in Ephesus, saying, "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."(NIV, with quote found in Psalm 4:4) A friend of mine recently said something to that stuck in my memory. They said, "instead of saying, 'to be honest' or using the phrase to be 'honest' why don't you let all your words be honest". I promise it was as much a rebuke as it was meant to be. And the Lord used that in my heart and has been healing situations within my heart that anger and bitterness have taken hold over. And I'm here to tell you that the anger and bitterness that you hold in your heart will reflect every action in your daily life and will dictate it until you face the situation and deal with the issues you have against one another in your heart. 
I need to apologize to several people for dealing with issues for so long and letting my attitude towards other people influence their hearts and thoughts. I was wrong. And I need to ask the Lord to reconcile those relationships in Him and through His word. I think that world feeds us so much crap about how we need to be strong and find our strength in ourselves because no one else will do it for us. But I'm here to tell you that it's not true! If we depend on our own strength, we will fail time and time again, and a situation will go from bad to worse. But the good news is that if we find our strength in the Lord, he will sustain us. David speaks to us in Psalm 55:22 (and in many other instances) saying, "Cast your care on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." And likewise in Isaiah, he instructs saying, "The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like on being taught."(Isaiah 50:4 NIV) The Lord will sustain us, but only if we put our hope, faith, and trust in Him and Him alone. I am not saying that he will has not provided for you through those who he's brought into your life, because I don't believe that. The Lord is faithful with those who he brings into our life, whether it be for a season or for the entirety of our lives. 
It is hard being content in what the Lord has for our lives, because as humans we ultimately struggle against it, finding ourselves wanting the things of this world and the plans that we have for ourselves. My struggle right now is to find where the Lord wants me after college and by no means is it an easy thing to try and discern. Discernment itself is another issue. It is important to ground yourself in the Word of the Lord in order to find what He wants for your life. I believe that in order to truly understand what the Lord wants of us, we must first bury ourselves and steep ourselves in His perfect Word. Don't let my words fool you, I am by no means perfect in this, and I know how hard it is to "find" the time in the life of a busy college student. However, it is essential to our walk with the Lord that we both spend time in prayer and meditating in the Word. It's our spiritual soul food and when we don't have it, we starve. I can describe to you more than one occasion when I've fallen away from spending time with the Lord and I've felt empty, hungry, like I needed more. 
In my experience hanging out with the Lord, I find that I'm never satisfied, that I want more and that I can never get enough of Him. He sustains us through the time that we spend with Him and if we don't do that, our hope and faith slowly dwindle away and through this, feelings like anger, despair, and bitterness can take hold and reign over you in place of the King. I've addressed to you the FACT that the Lord wants you. We were created for relationship with the one who made us, our Creator. And the cool thing is, he reigned before any of this world was ever made. Isn't it amazing to think that the Creator of the world made us to be in relationship with Him? Not only that, but he made us in His likeness! His likeness! For me that statement and realization elicits a "wow". My only hope is that we can recognize this on a daily basis and revel in the awesomeness that we were created to live, to love, and ultimately, to be in relationship with one who will sustain us and love us when the world does not. Praise be to that man who allowed me to be in relationship with Him and covered me in the grace that I so desperately need daily. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is no from yourselves, it is the gift of God-"(Ephesians 2:8 NIV) Amen.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Voice

This is a song sung by Celtic Woman, and I really like the lyrics. For those of you who don't know me very well, I tend to live my life through song lyrics. Most of the time, in fact, when I'm mad and I want to be passive-aggressive, I'll use song lyrics to tell you how I feel. This song however, I feel as if it describes that voice that will always be calling out to you. The Lord's voice that will always be filled with the things that have happened, not that they should be forgotten but that we should grow from the wounds we've previously sustained. 
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not someone who enjoys pain, whether it be emotional, physical, or spiritual. However, if there is something that I have learned over these past 3 1/2 years of college, it's that pain is necessary for obtain growth. Pain comes in many different varieties. The verse we should cling to in in James 1:2-4 when the author says,
      "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that          the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may          be mature and complete, not lacking anything."(NIV) 
How amazing that God allows us to take pure joy in by joining in his sufferings. This is the same thing that Paul says his letters to the churches in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus. His voice remains and echoes now through the struggles which we endure as Christians in this world today. However, I would challenge you to live this life which we have been instructed to live (instructions found in Galatians, where Paul states that in chapter 2, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."(Galatians 2:20 NIV) and later in chapter 5, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not  what you want."(Galatians 5:16-17 NIV)
 My prayer for us is as David's in the Seventeenth Psalm, "O Lord, by your hand save me from such [wicked] men of this world whose reward is in this life. You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children. And I- in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."( 14-15 NIV) This is my prayer, to see more and more likeness to the Lord within myself, not gratifying the sinful natures and sinful human desires, but living in full righteousness sharing in the suffering of the Lord. It never has and never will be that Christians are going to live lives blessed beyond belief, beyond suffering, but suffering produces righteousness and perseverance, PRAISE GOD. 
God's voice is always calling you, always calling me, it's just making the choice to respond. And no matter what we do, nothing will quench the longing in God's heart to know us. Us, in our sin and brokenness, he wants to know us, intimately, infinitely. He calls out to you calls you son or daughter. Jesus Christ, son of God, was sent down for us. And when he prayed to His Father, he set a new precedent within the Jewish tradition by using the word Abba. Roughly translated, Abba is Hebrew for Daddy. What an intimate word to call out to a supreme being, this should serve to show us that he wants to know us as intimately as possible, every little aspect. And yes, He knows our thoughts and our movements, but He would much rather we tell Him. If we never talk to someone, how is it that we find ourself in relationship with them? It's not possible. In likeness, to have relationship with the Lord, you must talk to him, and at time, get angry at him. 
There are times when I have been so angry at the Lord for trials and sufferings that I have cried at him, I have shouted at him, I have been so angry at him that I was ready to say no and never look in that direction again. But He draws me nearer when I come back to him. James says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."(James 4:8) Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Soak that in. He never leaves you, good times and bad times. So wash your hands, Praise him, and persevere in your sufferings. For the Lord never leaves you. Hear the voice of the future and the past and listen, choose to respond to Him who loves you more than any mortal man on earth can or will ever be able to. Accept grace given to you, live a life filled with the Spirit given to us by the death of a man on the cross named Jesus Christ. Live your life and know the Lord, intimately, infinitely. 


"Listen my child," you say to me
"I am the voice of your history
Be not afraid, com follow me
Answer my call and I'll set you free"

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice, I will remain

I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone
the dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow
Ne'er do I sleep throughout all the cold winter long
I am the force that in springtime grow

I am the voice of the past that will always be
filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields
I am the voice of the future, bring me your peace
bring me your peace, and my wounds, they will heal." 

-"The Voice" Celtic Woman

My hope is not my own, it is in this God whom I trust. "For I know the plans that I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11 Amen.