I don’t see dead people.
It would have been really awesome to start this blog with the words, “I see dead people.” But, alas, Bruce Willis is not my side kick, and I most definitely do not see dead people. But I do worship with them.
Read More
A Life Of Worship
I was raised in a very conservative circle of Christianity. Worship was very structured and while raising of hands wasn’t forbidden, it wasn’t really encouraged. Traditional hymns were always sung with rarely any modern praise music mixed it.
Read More
A Lover Must Be A Fighter
A thought—“If you are a lover, then you must be a fighter.”
I supposed my thought was original…until I Googled it.
Holiday Perspective
Well another holiday season has snuck up behind us and pounced. We have shiny packages , evergreen garland , sparkling lights and even a Christmas tree decorated with miniature Craftsman tools scattered around our store. Our district and regional sales managers are exhorting us to excel to new heights of salesmanship and make lots of money for Sears…and our customers are scouting out the very best deals they can find for their holiday giving. Boy am I excited!
Read More
Look Both Ways Before You Walk
Years ago I saw a TV commercial that started with someone announcing the inauguration of the 57th president of the USA. A camera zooms in on the president’s proud elderly parents, then it rewinds first to show the president playing as a boy, then to his mom pregnant with him, then to his parents getting married, then to them dating, finally ending with the glorious moment when his father sees his mother for the first time and impulsively switches trains in order to meet her. It’s a great walk backward through time, highlighting the fact that one split-second decision can affect an entire nation 50 years later...
Read More
Let's Get Real
I’ve always had a problem with the psalms where David pleads with God to destroy his enemies in graphic ways, like breaking all their teeth or smashing their babies. But lately I’ve been reflecting on the kind of life that David led. Ancient times were much more barbaric than our 21st century life – at least my 21st century life where I live in a safe nation where people are protected, their rights respected, and where leaders are surrounded by secret service agents with the technological ability to ward off threats to their leadership. But as an ancient king, David showed up on the battlefield, risking his own life instead of pushing a button or making a phone call. His children weren’t away at prep school learning how to become politicians but instead were right in his back yard, plotting rebellion...
Read More
The Lie of Happiness
A thought crossed my mind the other day that I thought was absurd. The thought occurred as I was contemplating a small rift in my happily-ever-after. My husband and I were arguing about something miniscule. And I let the whine, “Why don’t you want me to be happy?!?” fall out of my mouth. Now, you should know that I was being a slight drama queen, as we were arguing over what genre of movie we would watch that night.
We ended up watching no movie.
But this blog was born. So, score.
Now, back to my absurd thought. It was this: “Happiness is a lie.” Read More
A Walk of Faith
I don’t know if anyone else watched, but I was so glued to the television on June 23rd when Nik Wallenda successfully attempted to walk across the Grand Canyon on a wire. It was mesmerizing, for many reasons.
The breathtaking views, granted some of the camera changes made me a little nauseated. The sheer vastness of the attempt, that anyone has ambitions as grand as that amazes me. The absolute fear I had for him while he was walking, the moments when he stopped and knelt while the wind rushed and the wire shook - all of these moments kept my attention.
But more than that were his prayers...Read More
Another 36 Years Still Wouldn't Be Enough!
Thirty-six years ago, the weekend before the 4th of July, I met my beautiful wife Patty. From the time I first saw her, she has occupied my thoughts completely. She has left me unable to concentrate on anything but her, and she has completely filled my life with wonder. In a word she has left me “twitterpated”.
We were married 5 months after we met, that fateful June evening. We made two beautiful daughters, and three exceptional grandchildren. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. I am tempted to tell you folks that the last 36 years have been all “wine and roses” and a walk through the park in the cool of the evening…but that would not be even close to the truth. ...
Read More
Let Your Light Shine
We recently got a rescue dog that is afraid of many things outside. Walking down the street a pile of leaves would spook him! In training there is this wonderful command, ‘watch’ where I teach him to keep his eyes on me. When he gets spooked, I command him to watch me and in time he is able to deal with the stressful situations without fear by keeping his eyes on me rather than the thing he is afraid of. It’s just like that with God and us! ...
Read More
Prisoners of War
Last weekend I attended a conference on the Song of Songs taught as an allegory of the love of Christ for his bride, the church. The theme of the weekend was mindblowingly affirmative - a good antidote to what normally goes on in my head. Years of swallowing legalistic garbage mingled with my own prideful self-criticism has caused me to believe that God feels the same way about me that I do. If I’m a disappointment to myself, then I must be a disappointment to him. If I think I’m constantly failing in my Christian walk, he must think so too. But the fact is that God doesn’t see me the way I see myself. To him I am a ravishing bride for his Son, in the process of becoming absolutely perfect...
Read More
If you don't want to worship...don't.
This past week, via Facebook, I read/heard a comment that I’ve heard [insert cliché phrase to communicate, “way too much” here]. That comment was, “I don’t want to go to church because….”
You can end that phrase however you want. I’ll bet you’ve even used it once or 50 times.
I have too.
I used to react with anxiety at that attitude toward weekend worship. Something along the lines of, “[Gasp!] We must make you WANT to come. How can we serve better lattes, better music, better preaching, less preaching, more candles, less stuffiness, more stuffiness, less sin, more sin, good Jesus, angry Jesus, aghhhhh!”
I’m over that.
Now, my reaction to, ‘I don’t want to go to church/worship.’ is … “Okay.”
Read More
Being Prepared
Are you prepared? It’s a question that could have several different responses, especially in light of the usual content of the worship blogs. But today my question and ponderings are, are you prepared in case you encounter a disaster?
I write this less than 24 hours after the devastating tornado hit Moore Oklahoma. A tornado that struck so fast and so vicious that it leveled blocks, leaving thousands homeless, took a toll on families who lost children and a community that has already suffered such loss.
Disasters can strike in an instant and sometimes without warning. They can change the landscape of a community, but they always change the lives of those who have been impacted. Often these disasters are called acts of God, because sometimes it is hard to find any other explanation as to how such devastation can happen.
Read More
Though He Slays Me, Yet Will I Hope In Him
I am watching a friend die, although die is altogether too nice of a word for it. I am watching my friend being eaten alive by cancer. I have seen other people die this way and their deaths were just as ugly. But this one seems to be bothering me more than the others.
I sat behind my friend at church Sunday, and I was really feeling sad. The vibrant, energetic person I knew was sitting there slumped over in their wheelchair looking more dead than alive. So I found myself talking to God about it. “Why are you doing this,” I asked, “it’s not fair, it’s not right, it’s even mean spirited. This person served you their whole adult life. She raised Godly children, she served in this church and at other churches, and every aspect of her life reflected You and Your love for people. So why are you allowing her to be tortured like this? It’s just not right! Is this how you reward your servants?”
Read More
Clueless
...Like Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in which he brought up her marital and moral failures, the Holy Spirit is always at work uncovering the invisible lies in our private worlds and exposing them to the light of God’s revealed word. And God is amazingly faithful to do this – even when we aren’t willing participants and allow these “meta-issues” to go unnoticed and undiagnosed for years. Until we allow Him to shine a light into those dark corners, we stumble around, clueless about what holds us back from spiritual growth...
Read More
Fiction? No way! ...Really?
I’m a travel writer. I like reading non-fiction. In fact, I never read fiction at all. I just can’t waste time on something that didn’t happen; which is why it came as a galloping shock to me when I recently started writing fiction. In fact, everyone who knows me is shocked. My readers have responded with kind words of encouragement and many have enjoyed my fiction more than my travel stuff. A pair of pleasant surprises!
My fiction has a specific feel to it - Southeast Asia, 1800s, Military, Missionary - and after writing each one I feel a sense of accomplishment that goes far beyond the travel writing I’ve done. It’s so different. It’s so fun! I think what has captured my imagination so readily is my absolute rock solid lifelong commitment to a Philippians 4:8 lifestyle. This scripture, more than any other, really captures who I am. I’m a goody-two-shoes and always have been. It’s sort of pathetic. But it’s better than wonderful and more than beautiful. Why make Phil 4:8 your way of life?
Read More
Baby Leaves
I love Spring! But if you ask me at the beginning of any season, I love that one too. One of the reasons I love spring is watching leaves grow. There is something so miraculous about watching a bud turn in to a baby leaf. I don’t think I ever really noticed baby leaves until 5 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child. Perhaps it was the fact that I was growing a person that made me more aware of growth in nature.
Read More
Knock knock knock, God? Knock knock knock, God?? KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, GOD!
Sometimes I just have to stand back and wonder “What are we thinking?” I don’t know how your church worships, but at my church we really like to sing. We like to sing so much that my oldest grandson ask me one Sunday morning as we were heading for the car, if we were going to “the singing church again?” And true to our Charismatic/Pentecostal roots we like to pray as a group, out loud. As you can imagine, things can get pretty “lively” at times, and that’s okay... Most of the time.
I am a “preacher’s kid”. My dad was a United Methodist minister until he retired in the mid 90’s. I spent my youth seated next to my brother and sisters, in the front of the church, with my hands folded in my lap, my eyes forward, and my mouth shut. I was taught that being quiet and sitting still would make my Sunday afternoons much more enjoyable. So when I started going to “non-denominational” churches as an adult I had some issues. Maybe that’s all that is going on here…and maybe not.
Read More
God's Gift to Jesus
While it’s true that behavior counts, what if good behavior is mostly based on fear – fear of disappointing others, disappointing God, disappointing ourselves? What happens when our performance is less than stellar? And what does all this effort say about the way we view our relationship with God?
Read More
8 Things I Learned From Starvation
In my last post, I told you about my journey to tear down the idols in my life. I chose to tackle food first because I thought it would be easy.
Not so much with the “easy.”
Here are the 8 things I learned from 46 days of “starvation.”
1. I should never…ever…claim the word “starvation” again.
“I’m staaaarving.” This phrase became my mantra in the first week of my challenge. When my stomach tinged, or I didn’t want to eat my 4th apple of the day, or my dessert option was once again made of oats, I would complain about my dire circumstances.
But, as if on cue, the image of a small, shirtless, head-shaven child with a distended belly in Africa came across my television screen. And I looked down at my hot lemon water (my replacement for coffee) and said out loud, “Shut up, Kim.” Just shut up.
I was not, nor have I ever been starving.
Read More