I'm Too Busy to Do Church: Why Doing Life Should Involve the Church

In the last decade or two families within the Church have slowly digressed in their involvement and dedication to the Church herself and their amount of service within it.  It is now common for families to only step foot within the church for 2-3 hours a week.  In fact, attending church once a month is considered being a “regular” attending member.  People, that is a problem.

Why do you think our grandparents went to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights-and any other time the doors were open?  Because they didn’t have other commitments and weren’t as busy?  No.  They were in Church every time the doors were open because that’s how they did life together.  When did church no longer equate with life?

That is your community. God puts us together in the Church so that we can help one another work toward the same goal.  Friends, the world does not get to determine how important Church is or how we prioritize it.

The problem is that we no longer view the Church as a place to serve, but as a place to receive.  We’ve turned attending church into a spiritual consumerism of sorts in which we go wondering what we can get out of it rather than what we have to offer. 

John Piper put it well when he said No Christian can be a lone ranger.  We won’t make it on our own.  We need each other to cling to Jesus”.  The Church isn’t about us or what we can get out of it, but how we can help carry one another.  God forgive us for thinking otherwise. 

It’s time for us to stop asking what the Church can do for me and instead ask what can I do for the Church.  For they are our tribe, our people, our family.

Being A Proverbs 31 Woman in a Pinterest World

We live in a day and age in which comparison is our kryptonite.  Women are constantly bombarded with the world’s expectations for them; what to wear, how to keep the perfect house, how to raise your children, what to eat, even what books to read!  There’s websites and magazines constantly saying “this is what you should be doing!”.  It’s a dangerous place to be….all of these unnecessary expectations to live up to…

It’s even seeped into the Christian world as well.  In order to be a “Christian” woman you have to do this and that, but not that.  Your child’s education, making everything from scratch, and lets not even talk about your decorating skills! It has left every woman feeling inadequate at times. But have we ever stopped to think that maybe the “perfect” woman and the godly woman do not look alike at all?

We can gather from Scripture that the godly woman is a diligent worker who arises with the dawn to accomplish the tasks at hand.  A godly woman is a servant to all.  A godly woman is not caught up in the latest trends, but walking in obedience with her Savior.

The Bible has much to say about women and how they are to live:

 “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” -1 Peter 3:3-4

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” –Proverbs 31:20

“I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” -1 Timothy 2:9-10

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.  She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” -Proverbs 31:25-27

The Lord is proclaimed by both the godly woman’s words and her deeds. She seeks to serve others and walks in a manner worthy of the Gospel.  Being a wife, a mom, a woman is a weighty position and great responsibility calls for great discipline. Which one are you pursuing? 

May we be women of the Word; not the world.

What Are You Full Of?

A few days ago I bought this GIGANTIC grapefruit and being the nerd I am, I was super excited about it! Well, I finally got around to cutting it open this morning and was majorly disappointed. Not only was the rind super thick (we’re talking a half-inch here), resulting is less “meat”, but the flavor overall was subpar at best.

But what a reminder that what appears may not be what actually is and that it’s what’s on the inside that really matters.  Friends, what are you full of today?

More often than not we live our day to day lives hoping that no one will catch on to the facade that we hope to portray…We’re really good at acting like everything is ok and that we’re rocking this whole “growing disciple” thing. 

In his letter to the Church at Rome, Paul prays for the God of hope to fill them “with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. (Romans 15:14)

It’s clear that Paul already knew what I’m continuing to learn: what you put into your heart and mind will flow out into your life.  What you are full of is a clear depiction of who you really are; not what you choose to look like via your outward appearance. 

From the outside, this gargantuan grapefruit had TONS of promising potential, but once I took a deeper look, I realized this grapefruit was shallow and bitter.  And while it was clearly still a grapefruit, it was definitely not as good as it could have been or was intended to be.

Paul continues in saying “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” (Romans 15:15).  As a believer, you have SO much potential in Christ! Is it super easy to just do enough to get by and uphold appearances?

Sure. But what if we take a deeper look?  Would others-scratch that-would the Lord be pleased by what you’re full of?

My prayer today is that we would all be filled to overflowing; that we wouldn’t be caught up in maintaining a façade because we have the real deal; the best fruit imaginable…not just a pretty appearance.

Next Year People

I’ve recently developed a fascination with the Dust Bowl and all of the events leading up to it. Just to give you a little history recap, the government was selling large chunks of land for cheap and promoted the Great Plains as a thriving Mecca of sorts.  This persuaded families from all walks of life and a variety of cultural backgrounds to uproot, leaving everything they know to head out West. 

The 150,000-square-mile area, encompassing the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, has little rainfall, light soil, and high winds (A potentially destructive combination to say the least!).

Due to the high grain prices during World War I and advances in agricultural mechanization, farmers began to plow up millions of acres of unplowed grass.  This rapid expansion exploited the land in unforeseeable ways.  When drought struck from 1934 to 1937, the soil lacked the strong root system of grass as an anchor, so the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds, called “black blizzards.” Recurrent dust storms wreaked havoc, choking cattle and pasture lands, and driving 60 percent of the population out of the region.

However, the 40% that fought to remain on their cheaply purchased land were hopeful that things would change.  Continuously holding out for a better crop and a better life the following year, they were known as “next year people”. 

Nearly three months of this "new year" have come and gone and probably a few of your “resolutions” and New Year commitments along with it. What commitments have you made to the Lord this year?  I challenge you to not become “next year” people when it comes to pursuing the Lord and His will and obeying Him.

Life: A Box of Chocolates

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think about Valentine’s Day without the image of these heart-shaped boxes popping into my head.  I always felt like these boxes were the food version of Russian roulette….each candy was an unknown and the only way to find out if you were going to like each piece was to take a little bite out of it. 

In the movie Forrest Gump, one of Forrest’s most infamous lines is “Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get”.  There’s some words of wisdom there….

While I wouldn’t call myself a control freak, I’m definitely a planner. I always want to know what the next step is and where I’m heading in the grand scheme of things. That being said, sometimes it’s hard to trust the Lord in the unknown, but Psalm 23 calls Him our Shepherd.   

I honestly never spent much time studying the 23^rd Psalm until this year.  Until now I really only associated that text with funerals, but we’ve been in Psalms 23 for several weeks in Children’s church and its definitely challenged the control freak or “planner” inside of me.

This Psalm is usually classified as a psalm of confidence in the Lord’s care.  In other words, it’s about trusting that God is in control and will take care of you. Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me, you’d rather have a “guide” telling you all the answers so that you can know what flavor each piece of candy is before you commit or take that step of faith. 

But a Shepherd cares for His sheep; He guides them, and the sheep’s job is simply to follow.  Sheep are always called stupid…I’ve been told that they’ll even get themselves stuck in a corner and are too dumb to realize that all they need to do is back up.  They NEED a Shepherd, but so do we. 

Those first four verses tell us that we can trust Him.  We don’t have to know everything that the future holds, because we have a Shepherd that will guide and protect us; we just have to follow and obey Him. 

Verses 5 & 6 tell us that the Lord cares for His people.   Verse 6 says that God’s goodness and love follow us all the days of our lives.  While we, like sheep are easily distracted from the Shepherd’s direction, His goodness and love never leave us.  We can trust the Shepherd with our hearts even when life is unpredictable and we never know what we’re gonna get.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Build A House That Will Stand

As I’ve observed and worked with families over the last few years, I have developed a great amount of appreciation and reverence for the family unit.  Parents, you have the most important job in the world.  More than just keeping them alive, you are responsible for the shaping and forming of your tiny human’s spiritual development.  

Life gets busy and raising a family is hard. But, if our work is not spirit-led, then it’s just work.  All throughout Scripture, honoring the family and the continuation of a lineage is of extreme importance.  We as Americans have lost the importance of “maintaining the family name”, but in other cultures, representing your family well is tremendously valued.  

In Hispanic cultures, individuals keep both their father’s last name and their mother’s maiden name so that others will know to whom they belong.  Is it evident to whom you and your children belong? 

When leaving their house, my dear friend’s mother would always say to me “remember who you are”.  Mrs. Melody wasn’t saying don’t forget your name, but more importantly, remember who you represent.  

We’re all guilty of getting so caught up in our work; our own little worlds, pursuing what’s good that we forget what is best. We have forgotten to Whom we belong.  Parents, I pray that you never get so busy “changing the world” and doing what’s good that you forget what’s best for your family. 

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. -Matthew 7:26-27

In Matthew 7 Jesus makes it clear that without a solid foundation a house will fall.  The same is true for our children; without a solid foundational upbringing, they will struggle to withstand the storms of life.  Do you remember whose you are?  Are you proclaiming that same truth to your children? 

May we build our houses, our marriages, and our families upon the Rock.

Just Keep Swimming

In Athens, the apostle Paul responded to the people’s worship of “an unknown god” by declaring, “[God] is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:23, 27-28). Do you ever feel like God is far away? 

In the Pixar movie Finding Nemo, a clown fish named Marlin living in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo.  After Nemo ventures into the open sea, despite his father's constant warnings about the many dangers of the ocean, Nemo is abducted by a boat, netted up, and sent to a dentist's office in Sydney.
 So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory, a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss.  Often feeling overwhelmed and alone, Dory chants to herself, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” 

               Dory was onto something in coping with her feelings of aloneness.  Sometimes we lose sight of the Lord and His plans for our lives, but we must press on as He continues to draw us near. 

Diana Butler Bass asked “If the water is invisible to the fish, is God, as the One whom we swim, also invisible?”  When we feel alone and can’t see God, it’s not that he doesn’t exist or can’t be known; rather, he surrounds us so closely that sometimes we miss the fact that God is the Living Water in which we swim.  Sometimes we need to just keep swimming until we become aware of that again.

When things get hard and we lose sight of where we are heading, we just need to keep swimming, keep seeking, and keep serving. For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Just keep swimming