When words won’t come

I could apologize for not posting in over two months… but I won’t.

I decided that when I first started this blog, I would only post when I had something worth saying, something that would either encourage, convict, or just be of interest to you guys who read. I’ve had a lot going on these past couple of months, and I’ve learned a lot through it all; However, I’m going to explain why I haven’t had anything important to say.

My ability to create a meaningful blog post, painting, drawing, or photograph, directly correlates with my spiritual life. I never really saw slapping some paint on a canvas, or etching some lines on a paper as a gift, until I realized the power, and stories you could tell through those mediums. I know that sounds super cliché, but it is absolutely true. When I am strong spiritually, my art becomes an effortless overflow, rather than something forced and shallow. Let’s see if I can explain this further…
God is the ultimate creator. If I, as a Christian, am now a child of God, that means I am now a child of the ultimate creator. So, when I am in consistent fellowship with Christ (praying, reading my Bible, etc.), It only makes sense that I would become more creative. You could compare it to one of those many quotes that basically say “You become like who you surround yourself with”. If I have a close relationship with God, then I will become more like Him.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith
Romans 12:6

 

I know I have a really diverse audience that keeps up with my blog, so bear with me. I know some of you are nodding your heads in agreement, and others of you are completely freaked out that I am using all these confusing terms, and some of you are shaking your heads in pity since I am talking about having a relationship with God and Jesus. I know, sometimes it sounds crazy to me too.

Sometimes the idea of God sounds absolutely ridiculous, but He never fails to prove to me his existence. Most of you know that I was planning on going to Carson-Newman, then God gently redirected my path. In this post, I said:

“…right now, I am at peace with the decision to wait a year for school. I’m not anxious, I’m willing to be patient. I’m learning to give God control, because when I try to control all this myself, I end up anxious and confused. I’m trusting that God’s plan is greater than anything I could ever imagine.”

This coming Spring I will be going to the college at Southeastern Seminary. The decision couldn’t have been more obvious, as doors have just completely swung open. God has answered my prayer in such amazing ways, and I am so excited for this new chapter of my life. Just when I start to feel alone, and that God has forgotten about me, He shows up and completely blows me away. This season has taught me a lot about grace, and what that looks like. I am FAR from perfect, but God has blessed me more than I could have ever imagined.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

 

I digress.

These past couple of months  I have been lacking artistically because I was resenting God, so then my work was forced and superficial. Keep in mind, I am only speaking for myself here. This is just a pattern that I have noticed in my own life, and I have no idea if it is representative of other believers. Ultimately, I am thankful for it. It’s just another way that God reveals himself to me.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:25-34

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As always, You can see how far along I am with my book challenge… (*hint* I am SUPER behind) Just click *here* 

Dirty Faith

This was an uncomfortable read. As familiar as I am with human trafficking, its prevalence, and its affect on the victims, I easily forget that these are real people, and this awful thing I have only read and heard about is just a reality in the lives of the children’s stories Nowell shares. Extreme poverty is also very real, and happens literally everywhere.

Dirty Faith  challeneges you to get your priorities in order. Those organizations that you throw your money at so that they can deal with the dirty work, the homeless in your community that you respond to by promptly tossing your head up, and dragging your kids past, overlooking the single mom on your street who struggles to balance her job and caring for her kids, dropping off the occasional bag of clothes at your local Goodwill/Salvation Army after spring cleaning, reading about the kids in Brazil where scrounging the streets for a bite to eat, or selling there bodies for a new shirt is just a reality and responding with a shake of the head and then going on with the rest of your day.
Guilty? Are these bad things, necessarily? No. If you’re comfortable in this passive position, then please, carry on, but if you’re ready, and willing to make a priority change, then I recommend reading this book.
You will soon realize that outside of your suburban bubble, life is hard, and yes it is your problem.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared forthe devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46 (emphasis my own)

So, like I said, This is definitely your problem. Now I’m not saying that you need to get out there and try to fix the world’s problems on your own, that you need to personally feed every single hungry child in the world, and that you need to adopt every homeless child in Brazil, and that you need to volunteer at your local food bank every week. Not quite. I guess what I wish more people took seriously (myself including) is not only throwing our money and our excess belongings at organizations, but instead, recognizing these people in need of help both materially and spiritually. Where is your heart at when you donate to your local charity? Are you doing it to make yourself feel good? So that you can pat yourself on your back and then continue about your day? Or are you donating to a worthy cause because you are genuinely concerned about the welfare of those your donation affects, both materially and spiritually.
Nowell focuses not only on how to fight the symptoms of the problem (poverty, the sexualization of children) in the majority of the world, but he also emphasizes how to fight the cause of the problem. Heres what Nowell says:

“Not every follower of Christ will walk into a children’s prison; not all of us will run programs to give juivenille offenders a chance at life; most will not challenge the system that lock up children in dehumanizing conditions. But it will be on each of our hearts, our minds, and our tongues. We will still care about this, and every one of us will support those who are on the front lines of fighting spiritual battles in this realm of darkness.
And then we will trust God for the outcomes. In every generation, whenever the people of God have collectively gotten serious about faithfulness to his call, he has moved individuals to become the hands of his  ministry. When our hearts are in the right place, he will provide a Luther, a Zwingli, a Knox, a Tyndale. Of this I am certain: God loves those in prison as deeply as he loves you or me. The issue for us is whether our experience of his love is deep enough that such love can flow through us to them–replicating the love of Christ to those the world has condemned.
Dirty faith, defined.”

There it is. Dirty faith, that is what it takes. Take these things personally, Jesus did. The grace you have been shown should, in response, be poured out on “the least of these”.

 

Dirty Faith: Bringing the love of Christ to the Least of These by David Z. Nowell

 

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review. 

 

Book Review: Miracle in a Dry Season

As busy as life has been lately, I still am trying to make time to do some reading, even if it’s just light like Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas.

Knowing that this is Sarah’s debut novel, completely blows me away. The book is not only charming, it’s also a story that you can really learn something from. There is an incredible outpouring of grace from each of the characters, and there is definitely a moral lesson to be learned based on the examples of Caswell and Perla, the main characters. Each individual in the novel has their own distinct personality, and memorable quirks.

Miracle in a Dry Season is set in 1954, West Virginia. Perla Long is a woman without a husband, yet accompanied by a child, trying to get away from her unforgiving hometown. She escapes to Wise, WV in hopes to create a new life for herself, yet ends up learning more about forgiveness, grace, and accepting her past, upon meeting Caswell, a strong pillar in the community.

Although enjoyable, the ending of the novel was incredibly predictable. I would have liked to see more unexpected turn of events to keep the reader interested.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review. 

What the Church could look like.

 

 

You have probably seen, or at least heard about this video. It’s fairly controversial, and it happens to articulate almost everything I try to explain to people when I talk about my faith.

I could honestly write at least 10 posts on this book. It is so full of interesting topics and important issues; however, for this particular post we’re going to look at what the Church could, and should, be.

Let’s think about what the church is. When I  used to think of church I would think about a big building where people sit politely through the pastor’s sermon, maybe go to Sunday school, go out to lunch afterwards, then repeat the following week.

Someone else might define the church as a building of hypocrites (I’ve heard that plenty), and some others may define it as a place where people go to feel better about themselves. Unfortunately, those definitions aren’t usually that far off of today’s standards.

My definition of church has changed radically since my move to Pennsylvania. I used to go to a fairly large church (I’m talkin’ a couple thousand attenders), where there were many Sunday school classes for all ages, three different worship times, and tons of different people to connect with. These are all good things, and I’m so thankful that I was able to experience a large church like that where there were so many people who genuinely loved Jesus.

My church here in Harrisburg is much different than the one I grew up in, and I love it. We meet in the conference room of  a large white house, and we can fit about 60 chairs in it if we squeeze. Apart from Jesus, the people that come have very little reason to hang out together. We have people from all different backgrounds, and it’s beautiful.

If you’ve ever been in a church, you’ve probably heard the term “the body of Christ”. Okay, hold up. This sounds absolutely terrifying, and kind of gross. So, let me explain what that means. A body is composed of many different parts, and if it is missing a part, it is more difficult for the body to function as a whole.  Think about it, each member of the church has different gifts,  just like each part of the body has a different function. When each member puts their gifts and abilities together, we make up the body of Christ, or the Church.  Does that make sense? With that being said, I think another common misconception about the church is that it is confined to a building. I can tell you firsthand that that is completely untrue. If we are a part of the body  of Christ, we are still the church in or out of a building.

“The church is a place to be transparent and vulnerable.

The church is a place to take off your mask.

The church is a place you can be yourself.

Is that how you hear many people talking about the church? A place where they can be themselves? I don’t think so. In fact I hear pretty much the exact opposite. Hey, I’ve been there. I used to put on my “good little church girl” mask for Sundays and Wednesdays, but in doing that, I was missing the beauty of what the church could be. I was so busy upholding some kind of good-girl, religious reputation that I completely missed out on Jesus. In fact, Jesus condemned people like me! Jesus is shown numerous times throughout the scriptures calling out the “religious” people.  I think Bethke worded it well:

“… Don’t you find it interesting that some of Jesus’ harshest words were reserved for the most devout religious people of his day? You would think that he would condemn the bad sins of the marginalized people of society such as prostitutes, drug dealers, and tax collectors, right? Instead, speaking to the religious leaders, he said stuff like, “Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John [the Baptist] came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him.”

If that won’t make a religious person nervous, I don’t know what will. -pg.16

The real church is vulnerable. It is transparent. It is loving. It is a reflection of God’s grace.

If you are going through the motions, I’m begging you  to step back and look at your motivation. Are you trying to be your own god? Are you working on trying to become a better person before you surrender to Christ? What is it that binds you, holding you back from the immeasurable freedom that comes from Jesus alone? Moralism will gain you acceptance here on Earth, but what about after? What then? Jesus isn’t shouting down from heaven, yelling at us to be good so that we will be worthy enough to sit up in heaven with him. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Jesus is actively pursuing you. He loves you, and wants to have a relationship with you. Grace, simply defined, means “undeserved mercy”. God’s grace loves you right where you are. You don’t need to fix yourself first, you don’t need to try to drop all the baggage you’ve accumulated throughout your life, you just need to revel in God’s grace. Grace isn’t for everyone else except for you, God is offering it to you personally. It’s free, and it gives you life.

The New Testament church was radical.  All racial, social, economic and political walls were transcended. They were all one in Jesus.

“This is what the church is supposed to look like. I know it’s not perfect, but don’t let a bad experience hold you back from Jesus. Give it another chance. Just because someone wore a cross around his neck or had one at the top of a brick building doesn’t mean you witnessed a church. You’ll know the true church when you see it. They are a peculiar people called out of the world but sent into the world to be agents of reconciliation to the world.” -pg. 195

Everyone has a story. Everyone is broken. Think about a mosaic. It’s shards of glass up close, but pan out and you see something beautiful. The church is that same tapestry of grace and forgiveness.

A broken community of people loving each other from the outpouring of God’s love is beautiful. That is the church.

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Well,  I’m falling behing on my goal. If you want to keep up with my progress, you can see the list of books I have read here.

I’m too young for this, right?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude.

Gratitude: warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or

 benefits received; thankful.

I feel like I have taken so much for granted in my life. Today I was reminiscing about my time in NC. I had an incredible childhood. My two best friends lived across the street and next door, we had woods in our backyard, a cozy cul-de-sac, and a creek right down behind our houses. Every time it would rain, the kids in the neighborhood would go play in it, it’s just what we did! Us girls would dance, talk, lie in the street, and just get drenched by the rain. We would stay outside until the streetlights came on, and then started it all over the following day. Life was easy, I never worried about anything, and each day seemed to last forever. I wish I would have savored, and appreciated, each day.  I wish I would have known that I would one day look back on these times and wonder how they went by so quick.  (Oh geez I sound like a cliché song)

Alright, Let the embarrassingly adorable photos commence:

Anyways, the point of this is, I now understand that life does fly by, and with that in mind, I’m making it my goal to express my gratitude for each day I’m given. I think it’s easy for us to live each day like it’s just another day. My days are painfully predictable.  On week days I’ll go to school, see the same people,  complain about the same things as everyone else, go home, do some homework, occupy myself by reading or mindlessly scrolling through various social networks, then end up in bed way too late. Tah-dah. There’s my average weekday in a nutshell.  It’s sounds pretty mundane, but I’m sure many of our lives are equally as predictable. I don’t think predictability is a bad thing, necessarily, I’m just realizing that one day I am going to wish I didn’t take these things for granted.

I think the easiest, and most effective way for me to remind myself  how blessed I am is to literally write everything I’m thankful for. I’ve heard of people doing this, but I always thought it was a bit excessive.  Once you start making your list, I think you’ll be surprised at how many things you hadn’t ever thought of being thankful for.

So, let’s slow down. Let’s enjoy the little things. One day we’ll look back at these times (no matter what stage of life you’re in right now) and we’ll wish that we had appreciated it all.

 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Each day is a gift, so let’s treat it that way. Appreciate the seemingly mundane things, and celebrate the unique life you’ve been given.

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Okay guys, I promise I have been reading! I just haven’t felt compelled to write about any of the books I have written. If you want to keep up with my reading list, you can find it here. Thank you all for your kind words, I love reading all your comments!

Just do Something

Life has been pretty busy lately with things like school… And you know, me being lazy. Just to catch you up to speed I have read five books so far! Woop!

1. The Insanity of God
2. Bill Wallace of China
3. This Side of Paradise
4. The Awakening
And Just do Something
I’m in the process of reading Wuthering Heights and Humility
Oh boy.

Just do Something was interesting to me. The book encourages you to just go out and live life without agonizing over every little detail worrying if it is God’s will or not. I assumed this was the normal approach to life. I didn’t know that there were people who felt the need to consult God on what they should eat for breakfast or if they should wear a blue shirt or a black shirt. I always had the mindset that if God was your focus, everything else you would do would automatically fall under living out His will for you. The thought of me asking God what I should eat for breakfast seems a bit ridiculous to me. It seems like fretting over those little things would make life so much more difficult than it has to be. I’m not saying God doesn’t care about the little things… But you are definitely given freedom to make some decisions on your own.

God’s will is an interesting topic, and pretty controversial. You can get into predestination and all that and we can really warp what “God’s will” means. So let’s walk through what I thought it was, and what I believe it to be now.

When I thought of God’s will, I imagined a giant piece of paper with everything you would ever do in your lifetime written down on it. Who you were going to marry, your college of choice, your career, and how many children you were going to have. I believed that everyone had one story that they were destined to live out, and there was no straying from that particular plan. Now I’m not so sure that’s the case.

“Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”
–1Peter 4:11 NLT

I think this verse pretty much speaks for itself. Everyone is given gifts. Use them, and God will be pleased! Tah-dah that was easy. Too easy? I don’t think so. I think that us Christians are really good at over-complicating things. We make the simple things way too confusing. Take the gospel for example:

Our culture teaches us that in order to get something we must work for it. We must pay for it, earn it somehow. This is the exact opposite of Jesus. Jesus asks us to come as we are, and he will do the rest. No payment from us and no striving to earn it, because we can’t. All Jesus asks is for us to come as we are (that means not trying to clean up ourselves so we can deem ourselves worthy) and to let him do the rest. We are not capable of perfection, but Jesus is. In fact, Jesus is the standard of perfection.

So in a nutshell, if we have put our faith in Jesus, and everyday choose to utilize the gifts he has given us in order to serve Him and others… Then we are absolutely positively living according to God’s will.

Just do Something by Kevin DeYoung is a quick read. If you are struggling and wondering if you are living according to God’s will then this book may give you a bit of direction.

Next: Humility