Seeking the Fringe

This path I've been on for the past several months has revealed a lot to me. I have had to deal with folks who have it within their power to help in a good way, but have either chosen otherwise, or just sort of helped but certainly not all that they could have ... all because they don't have "time." They're just too busy ... or ... their definition of ethics and integrity is framed by their "career," which is NOT true integrity as defined by the Word of God. It's the world's ethics or integrity.

Folks, we live in a world with many, many hardened hearts. The only thing that will soften a hardened heart is the love of God found in Christ Jesus ... the ONLY way to our Papa God.

We need to show the love of God to these people whenever we can. More importantly, we need to pray for the salvation of those who are lost and don't know Jesus as their Savior. If we, as the body of Christ CHOOSE not to show the love of Christ and pray for those who are lost, then who will??

Are you a true disciple of Christ who is willing to go to the fringes to seek that one who is lost? Or ... are you a consumer only ... one who attends church, warms a church pew every week, but does very little to reach the lost? Church is not about being entertained.

There is a difference.

One day those of us who are true followers of Christ will live eternally with God. But myself, I don't want to get to Heaven and realize that I missed someone because I didn't want to be disturbed ... or because I chose the easy path. ~ Selah

angie

The Lid Is Off...

Today as I was readying myself for the day, my heart was heavy…heavy for my family, heavy for humanity, heavy for the church, heavy for this nation.

 

I couldn’t form any words, but suddenly, crying and tears broke forth.  I was crying out to the God of all flesh...all flesh…all races.  At first, no words would form.  The heaviness that was on my heart could not be expressed in words, but rather in tears, cries and groanings.  God understood.  Only He could understand.  Finally, I was able to form words…repenting, once again for this nation, for the atrocities that have occurred…unneeded killing, racism…hate…all from the enemy, but allowed by man.

 

We have done this to our selves.  We have allowed racism and hate long enough.  ENOUGH ALREADY!!

 

As I walked through my home today straightening things, I picked up an ice chest that we had used for a recent cookout at our home.  As I picked it up, I began to reason how I was going to deal with the water residue that was in it.  Quickly, I decided that I would simply put the chest in the garage, but I would lift the lid so that the heat in the garage would not cause any germs that might be inside to form and cause mold and mildew.  It was an easy decision.  If I chose to leave the lid closed, chances are, the next time I opened it, it would be disgusting and quite a mess to clean up.  All of these things went through my mind in a matter of moments as I carried this through the house to the garage.

 

It’s then, through this process, that the Lord allowed me to see that this is exactly what has happened here in the US.  You see, instead of doing the right thing here in the US, we have “enjoyed the party,” and “put the ice chest” away without dealing with it properly.  This country has enjoyed the fruits of the blessings of our God, but we have strayed away as prosperity has grown.  And, as immensely as the prosperity has grown, so has the nastiness.  The “lid” has been closed, ignored, and the nastiness took over…long ago.

 

I’m not just speaking about our government.  I’m speaking about the church, as well.

 

Collectively, we have turned a blind eye to the things that have been dealt with improperly…hate, racism, murder, inequality towards women, and even religion, just to name a few.  Now, you might be wondering why I have included religion in this.  Well, I say religion simply because being a follower of Christ has little to nothing to do with religion.  But, religion is much of what is at the root of the issues that we’re dealing with here in the US.  Followers of Christ should be the ones who lead the way, setting the standard for the community, not the other way around…and certainly not those who have Christ on their lips and not in their hearts…religion.  Matthew 15:8, Isaiah 29:13-17

 

We have churches and denominations that have chosen, in the past, to tolerate and even endorse hate and racism, when, indeed, they should have been standing against it in the name of Jesus.  When this is allowed, not for days, months, years, or decades, but centuries…we have a problem.

 

The “lid” has been on hate, racism, and religion far too long. Now, hear me loud and clear; not all religious people are this way, but many are.  And, those who truly are Followers of Christ will love others…ALL others…as Christ loves us all.  He loved us while we were still sinners.  Romans 5:8

True followers of Christ need to arise!  We need to be the hands and feet of Christ and show love and be love.  We have shrunk back too long.  We have allowed religious ways, hate, racism, violence, etc. to continue on when it should have been stopped long ago.

 

I am one who was not raised in church.  I came to Christ in my twenties; I’m only months from my 50^th today.  I have seen a lot.  When I began attending church, I had rose colored glasses when I participated with groups and such within the church.  At first, I bought it hook, line and sinker.  But, as I grew in Christ, I began to wonder why things within the church were so different than what was being taught in the pulpit and what is actually in the Bible.  So many churches are inclusive only to themselves.  They are much like social clubs…even though they teach that they shouldn’t be that way.  Many churches will even say that they are not like the “social club” churches in the area, when in fact they actually are.  Myself, for the most part, I don’t “fit” in today’s modern churches.  I have tried and I have come to the realization that it’s okay that I don’t fit in.

 

I love Jesus with all my heart, but I don’t find it necessary to jump through all the hoops that “church people” require to be considered a “good Christian.”  It’s not man who judges the heart, it’s God who does. 1 Samuel 16:7  Jesus doesn’t make us jump through hoops to be His follower, but He doesn’t turn a blind eye to the sin in our lives, either.  When He sees that the time is right, He brings it to our attention and brings conviction through the Holy Spirit to deal with it.  Then He lovingly shows us the way to overcome it.

 

Jesus loves everyone.  However, Jesus hates sin.  He is the Master at loving people even when they are still living in sin.  The church has a lot to learn in this area.

 

I’m very sorry to say it but the church is not doing a good job at loving people and hating sin.  The church is good at saying, “love the person, hate the sin,” but they, for the most part, are far from actually loving the sinner.

 

Church people…at least most of the church people I have been around…do not know how to relate to the lost.  They choose to stay in their comfortable bubble and call it “God’s way.”  I beg to differ.  The church has alienated itself from the real world and in doing so, have, for the most part, stopped being effective at truly winning much of the lost to the Lord.  They have continued to allow terrible things like judging, hate, and racism to not only survive, but grow into the nastiness that we now see on our TV and computer screens almost daily. The average person on the street wants nothing to do with Jesus simply because of many of His “followers.”

 

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” ~ Ghandi

 

There may be many of you who are reading this right now who believe that this article is not about you.  Maybe you are one of the few who do not live this way.  There are many who choose not to live this way, but there are far more who consider themselves followers of Christ who do choose to live this way.

 

Please understand that I’m not attempting to tear apart the Body of Christ, but rather, spurn realization to a sleeping, fence sitting church.  Revelation ch 1-3  Folks, this has happened on our watch!  Repentance is in order.  Examining ourselves, examining our ways and correcting them should be the new mandate.  There is a way out of this.  God is not surprised by this!  Jesus made a way when He said, “It is finished.”  We need to realize, more than ever, it is God’s way that we need to choose and not ours.  Our way is not working.  Look around…you certainly don’t have to look far to see that I speak the truth.

 

If you consider yourself a follower of Christ, I urge you to hit your knees in total submission to God.  I urge you to repent of anything that is between you and God.  I urge you to cry out to Him for repentance of this once great nation.  I urge you to ask Him to show you what you can do to spurn change in your area of the vast nation.  God is not through with this nation and we can once again be great if we humble ourselves before Him.  He alone is what has made us great in the past.

 

If My people who are called by my name will humble yourselves and pray and truly seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

 

The lid is off.  It’s time to clean out the mess.

Looking for a Drive Through Break Through?

In our fast paced world of drive through banking, groceries, alcohol, meals, and even marriages, I fear that few understand the benefits of long suffering.  It's like the commercial (local commercial??) where the guy yells; "It's my money, and I want it now!" It's advertising that if you have long time installment payments coming to you, you don't have to wait, you can get it all now...for a price, though.

 

You see, so many believe that the dreams that God has placed in our hearts don't come to pass overnight, there's something wrong. I've literally had people tell me that there was something wrong because the dreams that I believe are from God haven’t come to pass yet. That is a lie from the devil and is nothing but discouragement that was spoken to me through another Christian. Sure, I could push people around, tweak things in my favor and do what needs to be done to get what I want when I want it, they way I want it. But...would that be God's will for my life? Would it be His plan...or my plan?  Just because we hit what feels like a bump in the road, doesn't necessarily mean we're doing something wrong. There is learning in the journey. There is stretching and growing and testing of our faith in the journey. Don't despise the journey.  Don’t despise the possibility of long suffering. For myself, I come from a family who didn't know God for generations.  God has exposed and broken off so many generational hindrances that I can’t even count them.  I’ll say it again.  There is purpose in the journey.  Don’t despise long suffering through the journey.

 

The problem is that in today’s drive through society, most of us want it now.  We don’t want the journey.  We don’t want to endure long suffering.  We want instant gratification.

 

About 25 years ago, the Lord called me back unto Himself.  I wasn’t raised in a Christian home.  However, I had been fortunate to have attended a church camp where I received Christ as my Savior.  (At that point in my life, nightmares and sleepwalking which had occurred several nights a week came to an immediate end.) But since that relationship was hindered because my family wasn’t a believing family, I was nearly 25 years old before I was drawn into a serious relationship with Jesus.  I was broken…completely disabled by depression.  But, God!!  Two weeks after inviting God back into my life via Benny Hinn ministries, (Those of you who despise his ministry should realize that it takes all kinds of people to do God’s will.  None of us, including myself, have 100% of the answers.) God healed me instantly of the depression that was crippling my life.  God began the process of cleaning me up, preparing me for the purpose that He had created me for.

 

It’s been an interesting 24+ years. I’ve had good times.  I’ve had bad times.  But, one thing I can say is that there has been purpose in every moment of it.  Is there something wrong with me because my dreams didn’t come to pass immediately?  I can honestly say, “No!”

 

You see that depression, although I had been healed instantly from it in the beginning, did return.  It’s been something that I’ve had to deal with for many years.  But now it doesn’t have a hold on me like it did.  God healed me at the time because He saw fit that I should be healed.   But through the years, He has taught me to not only see it coming, but to fight it off with spiritual warfare.  It’s been a process of growing in knowledge, wisdom, and patience…all taught by the Holy Spirit simply because I have allowed Him into my life to do so.

 

I have had my moments where I didn’t understand why things happened the way they did.  I had moments where I’ve even been angry with God.  But, what I’ve learned is to always talk to God about it, whatever the “it” is for that moment.  He is so kind and loving and He cares about what we care about.  When I don’t understand something I ask Him and He shows me, in His timing.  This is why we should never despise the journey, and sometimes the suffering is long.

 

I’ve had many mountain top experiences, but I’ve had many valley experiences, also.  That doesn’t mean that His purpose for my life isn’t going to happen, because it will.  But when it does happen, it will be in His timing, not my own  This is a journey and we must do the walking.  Sometimes I have taken a step of faith only to see that it wasn’t the right direction.  He is ever so faithful the show me the way.

 

When I was getting ready for church this morning, all of these thoughts were rolling around in my head.  At first I thought this was going to be a one or two sentence “status update” for facebook.  But, as I began putting my thoughts down in my notes as David drove us to church, I realized that there was more to it.  Then…one thing I SO love about God is how He confirms things to me through other people.  Much of what I’m talking about here is what my pastor spoke about in his teaching this morning…including the “drive through mentality” that we have here in the western world.

 

Folks, it’s time to examine our hearts.  Do we truly want a meaningful relationship with God or not?  It’s our choice.  Jesus never said that a life of following, believing, trusting, and growing in Him would be easy.  But, I can tell you from my own experiences that it is worth it.  I am so different from the person I used to be and it’s all because of my own personal journey with Jesus.  I long to be more and more like Him.  I long to know and love Him more.  I long to hear His voice daily and throughout the day, not just in a single moment of prayer.  It is a journey, led by the Holy Spirit, and trusting that He knows what is best for me and any given moment.

 

My prayer is that any and all who reads this will experience a hunger for the God of all Creation no matter where you are in your walk of life…whether you know Him well, or not at all.  If you’re breathing, God has a purpose for your life.  It’s a matter of whether or not you choose to walk out your journey with Him.

 

Choose life.  Choose the journey that may involve long suffering instead of the supposed “drive through break through.”  You won’t be sorry. Your life already has divine purpose, but do you choose to live out that divine purpose?  Reach out to Jesus now.  He is there for each and every one of us, but we must choose him.  Choose Jesus.  Choose life.

Prayer changes things!!

A few days before all the ruckus hit about the Starbucks coffee cups, a friend informed me of it and asked me what I thought.  I told her that it didn’t matter to me.  This is a coffee shop that by no means has ever professed to be a Christian company.  I said what would bother me more is if a Christian company deliberately took Christmas out of advertisement, etc to appease the masses.

 

We’re not dealing with the flesh, we’re dealing with spirits.  There are good spirits, angels… and bad spirits, demons and power and principalities.  When we deal with people, this is what we’re dealing with.  Ephesians 6:12   I wasn’t trying to demonize anyone, but rather trying to make a point.

 

Why should we expect a “non-believing company” to follow Christian teaching?  We shouldn’t.  To expect companies to be “Christian” when they’re not Christian is sort of like legalism.  When Christians…NO… “Christians” attack others for not upholding our traditions of celebrating the birth of our Savior, aren’t they being legalistic?  It’s like telling someone that they need to clean up their life before they approach God.  NONE of us can clean ourselves up.  Isaiah 64:6  Only God can clean us and make us white as snow.  Isaiah 1:18  A non Christian company trying to appeal to the Christian community is no more a Christian company than a person sitting in a garage is a car.  It doesn’t work that way.  And, for the life of me, I wonder just how long it’s going to take the church to understand this?

 

If we want to win the lost to the Lord, we have to make ourselves available for the Lord to work through us.  That…is a sacrifice.  We have to walk along side people, loving them, maybe even while they’re still in sin.  We need to be Jesus to them with the hope of winning them to the Kingdom of God.  Love never fails.  Have we forgotten where we’ve come from?  Have we forgotten that Jesus walked along side us, loving us even while we were sinners?  Aren’t we supposed to be Jesus to others?

 

This supposed lashing out of Christians against Starbucks is ridiculous.  And, I’ve heard a lot of people running their mouths about this.  Some are against the “plain red cup.” And, some are so “spiritually superior” that they say they don’t even know a Christian who is so selfish to speak that way.

 

Prayer!!

 

Prayer changes things!!

 

When are we, as the Church, going to understand that prayer is the answer?

 

I have to tell you that it doesn’t bother me to drink my coffee out of a plain red cup.  I visit Starbucks nearly every day.  I do enjoy the coffee, but anyone who knows me, knows that this is where my ministry is.  I will continue to have my coffee here until the Lord leads me elsewhere.  God sends us to the lost and the broken because it’s His will that all would be saved.  2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4  Are we too good to reach out to the lost and broken?  If we are, I wonder if we’ve truly had a Christian conversion…or perhaps one is just “playing church?”

 

Think about it folks.  Pray about it.  Ask God how He would react to this “red cup,” and then ask yourself how you should really respond.

 

If we want to change the world for the Kingdom of God, it’s not by legalistic ruling.  It will happen by being the hands and feet of Jesus…loving our neighbor as ourselves.   

Coffee and Conversations...

For years now, coffee shops have been my favorite hang outs.  In all honesty, when my son was in elementary school, the Lord was healing me from many different hurts from my childhood.  Life was very challenging, to say the least.  I had literally cut myself off from the outside world…with the exception of the barista at the local coffee shop.  On my way to pick up my son from school, I would stop and get a latte everyday. The small talk between the barista and me would sometimes, most times, be the only conversation I would have outside of my family for quite some time.  Over the next 10+ years, the Lord would not only heal me of most of the hurts from my childhood, but He has turned my coffee visits into a coffee shop ministry of sorts.

 

A little more than a year ago, the Lord led me to a person at Starbucks who was / is a daily customer, but who also seemed to be somewhat lonely.  I gave her a simple Christmas gift and invited her to Christmas dinner.  She happily accepted the gift, but turned me down on the invite for dinner, which I fully expected.

 

Over the next several months, I continued to get to know this person and develop a relationship with her.  From time to time, I would invite her to movies or offer her help, but would continue to get turned down.  Being turned down didn’t bother me.  I knew that, one day, things would change.

 

I continued to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit by inviting more people to have coffee with us.  On a typical Thursday at 3 at my local Starbucks, we now have 6 people in our “little” group and sometimes as many as 8. Where the Lord is honored, He draws people unto Himself. See John 12:32

Anyway, the time has seemed to go by quickly and the trust in our friendship has grown immensely.  Because I value her and her privacy, I won’t share details of how I have been led to help her…or how she’s helped me.  The details are not the point.  The relationship is the point. 


God draws us unto Himself, not because He needs us, but because He wants a relationship with us.  We are to imitate Him in our relationships. See Ephesians 5:1 They should be meaningful relationships, not shallow or superficial relationships where we only have something to do with others because of what they can do for us.  Unfortunately, that’s how many relationships are in today’s quickly paced world.  I have never been accused of that type of relationship.  In fact, I have actually been “accused” of putting “too much” into my friendships.  At the time, I couldn’t fully grasp the gravity of what was said to me.  Years later, I can see that there’s nothing wrong with the effort I put into my relationships.  They are meaningful and sincere.


I have come to care deeply for the “Starbucks lady” and I know she cares for me as well.  It’s all about relationships…true, meaningful relationships.  This lady needed someone to reach out to her and God saw me as someone who was able to fit that bill.  I don’t pat myself on the back for this at all.  But rather, I know that any good that I do in my life is because I am led by the Lord to do so.  The only good in me comes from Him and I choose not to pool up praise for myself, but, to pass the praise, glory and honor on to Him.


So, the point of this story is to be led by the Spirit of the true living God.  Allow Him to work through you.  God draws people unto Himself and He can use willing vessels to do just that.  It doesn’t mean that we go around spouting off scripture telling the world to repent or else they’re going to hell, even though there may be a time when we do need to do that.  We need to be trusted by others, not judgmental of others.  We need to invest our precious time in others.  And yes, from time to time, you may need to quote a scripture or two…or three.  It’s about being Jesus to others, not necessarily inviting them to church, although, He may have you do that, as well.  It’s about being the Church…not necessarily being present in a building.


So often, we are told to “bring others to church.” What I have found with many who don’t attend church regularly, is that so many have been hurt by the church that they’re no longer interested in attending.  #truth  They don’t realize that the hurt that was caused isn’t from God.  The hurt is caused by, usually and hopefully, well meaning people who actually didn’t mean to hurt them, but, more than likely never apologized, either.  God doesn’t forget about one single person on this earth.  He loves us all and wants that none of us should perish.  See 2 Peter 3:9


I urge you to look around yourself as you’re out and about in your everyday life.  Ask God to lead you to someone.  Realize that it may take time and effort on your part to develop a friendship.  Be patient as God is so very patient with us.  Pray for salvation for people.  Prayer is important.  It’s much more important than shoving the gospel down someone’s throat or a tract in their hand and walking away…which has happened to me.  I didn’t like it…and…that’s not how God works.  J  That usually does more harm than good.  Sometimes it’s about planting seeds.  Sometimes it’s about watering seeds that someone else has planted.  God knows the time and the place each person, who is willing, will come to Him.  It’s not us who saves, but God, Himself.  Let Him do the hard work.  He’s much more capable than we are.  J