“Many Christians never leave the first principles of the gospel.  Still spiritual infants, they must be bottle-fed the same formula.  When confronted at the door by a representative of another sect, they are helpless to give a reason for the hope that is in them.  On the basis of their faith they are speechless; yet on the reasons for their choice of a house or a car they can discourse at length.  This sinful negligence by even one member of the church causes the whole body to suffer [italics in original].“

From Gordon R. Lewis’ Decide for Yourself:  A Theological Workbook, written in 1970

In a recent post, I talked about God’s incredible light and how in Him there is no darkness, not even a shadow.  Ephesians 5 tells us we are supposed to be imitators of this indescribable Light.

“Be imitators of God….among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place…. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.”  Eph 5:1,3-5,9-10

Did you noticed the verse said that “even a hint“ of these ungodly things are out of place and improper for God’s people?  If living as children of light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth, then it’s fair to say that any sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking are all shadows in the midst of God’s holy light in our lives.  In the natural realm, shadows are created by something that is blocking light.  In much the same way, shadows are created the in the spiritual realm.  Sometimes we have objects, people, desires, attitudes, or circumstances in our lives that prevent God’s light from shining in a particular area. 

So, what’s blocking God in your life?

Have you ever had to make a decision that caused you to ‘give up’ something you really loved and enjoyed?  Of course you have; we all have at some point.  Well, I’m coming up on a crossroads where I have to make one of those decisions.  Actually, I’ve been walking around in a circle in the middle of that crossroads for a while now.  Some time ago (I won’t say how long because it’ll make me look really bad), I felt like God was directing me in a different area of ministry.  For reasons too many to list (almost all of which can be found in the “Thinking Fast” devotional Ricsha put together), I chose to put it off.  But there is no escaping this, and I know now is the time to make a move.  Sadly that means that I have to say goobye to Kids Pointe.  As much as I love little people (children), God is redirecting my focus to adults.  I’m not entirely sure of what this will turn out to be (for now it’s a small group) or how it will get there, but I do know that God is going to do incredible things and be glorified in ways that are mind-boggling.

I love 1 John 1:5 which says “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”  I’ve pondered this thought a lot lately.  No darkness.  What does that look like?  I know what noon looks like on a very sunny day in the middle of the desert - BRIGHT - but darkness can still be found.  When I lift my foot to take a step, underneath the nearest Joshua tree, in the deepest clefts of the mountain, shadows can still be found.  Yet in God there is NO darkness at all, not even the faintest of shadows.  Can you imagine that?!  What an incredible sight!

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” ~ Matthew 5:13

A friend of mine uses Accent to cook with; she literally puts it on EVERYTHING.  She keeps the Accent in a ’salt’ shaker shaped like a little jar on her stove. One of the first times I was over for dinner I grabbed this ’salt’ shaker and proceeded to smother whatever food item I thought would need salt (I really like salt).  Since my mom had one of these type of salt shakers next to the stove when I was growing up and I had never heard of Accent, I assumed this white crystal-like substance in the jar was indeed salt.  I remember getting to the table, and as I started eating I realized the item I had salted didn’t really taste like it had any salt on it at all.  So I grabbed the salt shaker (the real one) off the table and salted again.  This time, I tasted the salt….and it was good! 

You see, Accent simply brings out the flavor of the food on which you use it; it really isn’t a ’salt.’  As I’ve been meditating on the Scripture above, God’s been revealing some areas in which I’ve become more like Accent instead of salt.  The world is looking for something to flavor their food.  The church is supposed to be the salt shakers of the world.  Unfortunately, sometimes they grab us and we taste more like Accent than salt.  As Accent, we just bring out the flavor of their lives….which is what they are trying to change.  They may be bold enough to reach out to a second and maybe even a third ’salt shaker’, but chances are they won’t reach out to the church again to meet their needs because we didn’t do it the first time. 

This unsalty state doesn’t just affect the non-believer.  Jesus says in this verse that if we, as the salt of the earth, are not salting the earth, then we are useless to Him, good for nothing; we will be thrown out and trampled.  Do you feel like you’ve been thrown out?  Have you lost your saltiness?  The question is not “are you the salt of the earth?”.  Jesus says here that you are the salt of the earth!  So I ask again, have you been salting the earth?

Do you want to be the salt of the earth again?  Jesus can radically change your life to make you salty again, but one thing is certain - He will not do so in your life if you never seek Him and let Him.

Small Group for women at my house on Thursday nights beginning August 7th at 6:30pm. 

That’s right, I’m finally starting a small group.  This has been a long time coming, and I’m really excited about what God is going to do.  God has done some awesome things in my life through the various small groups I’ve attended, and I don’t expect this one to be any different.  We’ll be doing lots of digging in scripture to uncover the timeless truths of the Word.  There may also be some wrestling involved as we begin applying these truths to our every day lives.  But it will all be well worth it because I know our lives will be transformed as we encounter the Truth and surrender more of ourselves to Him.

To those who plan to attend, I look forward to seeing you on Aug 7th.

I came across a verse this morning that sunk so deep in my spirit, and I just knew I must share it with you all. 

Psalm 9:10 says “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.” 

Our efforts in seeking Him will not be wasted - EVER.  God is not going to leave us hanging in our search to know Him and to know Him more intimately. 

How would your relationship with Jesus change if you knew that every time you opened your Bible and every time you prayed, He would meet you with exactly what you needed?  This verse tells us that as long as we know His name and seek Him, He will be there, for He does not abandon us.  Do you know His name?  If we could just get a grip on the fact that the Lord is I AM, our prayer and Bible study - our entire lives - would be revolutionized.  God doesn’t have to do anything to be trustworthy; He is trustworthy by His very nature.  It’s small in comparison, but it’s like I don’t have to do anything to be Caucasian; I am by nature.  Nothing I do or don’t do can change my ethnicity, and nothing God does or doesn’t do can change who/what He is.  He is trustworthy.  He is peace.  He is justice.  He is redemption.  He is hope.  He is mercy.  He is love - which is so much more than the sort of love we humans understand.  He is - period.  Do you believe it?  Do you know it?  Are you living it?

Yes, I’m alive!  It has been a long time since I’ve posted anything.  Sorry about that.  LOTS have changed - mostly inside of me.  Some tangible changes will occur as a result of these changes, but I’ll have to share all of that a later day.

For now, I want to talk about the sermon series we’re doing at church (along with over 1,000 other churches).  It’s called One Prayer (see oneprayer.com for details).  For our local church, our pastor’s prayer is “Lord, make us courageous!”  What an appropriate prayer, at least for me.  Fear has gripped me in ways I didn’t even realize until these last coupel of weeks, but praise God - He has broken those chains!  A nifty little part of this One Prayer series that our awesome Tech Team put together for all us attenders is a forum where we can post our own one prayers for the Church.  Since everyone reading this page might not check that one out, I wanted to share my one prayer here for all of you.

My one prayer for the Church is Lord, make us effective!  This prayer to be effective is a two part prayer.  One is for the body of Christ to be effective within its own members.  If we can’t unite and share each other’s needs within the different local bodies of the Church, we will not be effective in our outreach to the lost.  Do we really want the lost to see a broken, incomplete picture of who Christ is?  Part two of my prayer is for the Church to be effective throughout all the nations to those outside the body of Christ.  I believe part two will come naturally once we achieve part one.  If we Christ-followers share each others burdens and joys, live our lives dedicated one to another in Christ, the lost and dying of this world will notice.  The love we express toward one another, that Agape love, will draw the lost to their Savior.  Oh Lord, may it be so.

I know it’s a short blog considering it’s the first one in weeks, but this is all I have at this time of the night.  Until next time…

While reading yesterday I came across a verse in Numbers that stopped me in my tracks.  Ch 23 vs 19 says:

 “God is not a man, that he should lie,
       nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
       Does he speak and then not act?
       Does he promise and not fulfill?”

This isn’t a new idea; I know God can’t lie, and I know He is never-changing.  As a matter of fact, I have said both of those statements many, many times before.  However, this verse rested a bit uneasy at first.  As I read it again and again and allowed it to sink further and further into my heart, I realized that although I may have said these very words before, my actions and prayers don’t really line up with these words.  How many times God has spoken a word to my heart or given me clear direction yet I’ve questioned Him again and again.  Not that I have ever thought He lied, but I have doubted my ability to hear correctly.  When will I ever get it through this thick head of mine that God is God, He has a plan, and everything works according to that plan.  He doesn’t waste His words, nor the gifts He disperses among His people.  May we take Him at His word more consistently from this day forward, beginning with me.

I know we’ve all seen in the news about the tragic earthquake that hit China last week.  I just read an article that states the number of dead and missing is 70,000 now.  Seventy thousand people…SEVENTY THOUSAND SOULS!  Seventy thousand – that’s hard for my mind to comprehend.  North Charleston estimated population is 87,000.  That would be like losing almost all of North Charleston.  And it doesn’t even come close to the COUNTLESS others who are displaced without homes or families or the widespread destruction.  When disasters strike, we hear (or may even ask) lots of questions like: Why did God do this?  How can He be such a loving God, yet bring this on His creation?  If God desires for no man to perish, then why would He do this to a region where people predominantly do not know Him?

Good questions I think.  How would you answer them? 

The answers I’ve typically given in the past have been “God’s ways are higher than ours” or “we live in a fallen world where bad things happen” or “Satan is only out to steal, kill, and destroy.  All of which are true!  But what do they say about God?  To those who don’t know Him, these responses may make God appear distant and uninvolved.  In order for any lasting good to come out of tragic disasters like this one is for God’s love and glory to be made known.  The truth is He does desire for no one to perish.  That is precisely why He sent Christ Jesus to the cross, to provide the Way back to a right relationship with Himself, God the Father. 

So how do we explain the reason for disasters?  After the flood (the most widespread destruction this planet has ever seen), God makes a covenant promise with Noah to never again bring destruction like this on the planet or mankind.  I’ve read this story many times, but this time Genesis 8:22 jumped off the page.  God is talking and He says “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”  “As long as the earth endures….”  Natural disasters aren’t God’s fault.  And as much as I hate to admit it, they aren’t Satan’s fault either.  Sometimes we pin things on Satan that make him seem bigger, uglier, and so much worse than what he really is, but I believe it’s much healthier for us to not give credit to him where credit isn’t due.  When sin entered the world with Adam and Eve back in the Garden of Eden, the deterioration of the world began.  Mankind sinned, bringing imperfection into God’s perfect creation.  The world will one day come to the end of its downward spiral of destruction, but that doesn’t leave us without a hope.  Going along with what I said earlier, God did not, has not, and will not abandon His people.  He’s provided the Source of hope, the Source of life that will never end.  Look for Him in the midst of disasters.  Let Him be your comfort, your protection, your understanding, your provision.