Where You lead me,LORD, I will follow: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Charles

I call on the LORD in my distress and He answers me. Psalm 120:1

Please pray for Charles. He is Jaco and Amber's (Mission of Love orphanage in Zambia) right hand man and dear friend. He has had HIV for over 11 years and has recently been diagnosed with TB, a life-threatening situation when combined with HIV. In the words of Amber:

The same day that Ruth got diagnosed with TB, so did our local foreman Charles. Anyone who has been here to visit us the past few years has met this amazing but humble man with a huge heart to help the orphans. He has been a faithful servant to us, the ministry, and kids at the children’s home. Being n HIV + for 11+ years now, has been a big advocate for HIV education in the village, even among the kids and the house moms here with us. Unfortunately when we returned from South Africa in January we found him suffering with a cough which he said was being treated at the clinic. When the cough didn’t go away we advised him to go for further help and treatment but due to the cost of going to the TB clinic without a referral from the local clinic, he chose to wait. We pray that that decision will not be a fatal one because when we took him to the TB clinic in Zimba on Friday, the doctors said that both of his lungs were badly infected and that his case was quite severe. Knowing that TB claims many victims here in rural Africa (the private hospital in Livingstone tells us that only 30% of the TB patients that come in to them walk out) we are desperately asking for your prayers and intercession on behalf of Charles. God has graciously spared his life up to this point but we are asking for grace, mercy, and God’s healing touch on his life, knowing the good that he can still do in this area, for the ministry and in the lives of the precious children he has put under our care. To many of these kids (especially the older boys) Charles has been like a father to them and they have already lost so much. In addition Charles has a wife Brenda (who helps with the children’s home when needed and watching Jakob), and four children whom he is caring for, (1 is Brenda’s son, 2 are grandchildren,and one an orphan that he has raised since infancy). While we know that God’s ways are always best we appreciate your prayers for this faithful worker and his family, especially that He will remain strong in his faith during this time of hardship and not doubt or revert back to believing that this was caused by witch craft or a curse. We pray for God’s healing power and for God to use this situation to bring HIM glory, praise, and honor once again.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Abundant blessings

This week has been overflowing with abundant blessings. Why you ask? Well...

kiddos. painting. baking. sunshine. Shiffra. KK. downtown Holland. JPs. beach. quality conversation. Captin Sundae. Giving. Veraldo. downtown GR. stories. Tire swing. Gaslight Village. A+ friends. Jersey Junction. climbing trees. BRTS. truth. nephew. the Keegan crew. church. work. Laura. Chinese food. Starbucks. insight. downtime. jounraling. Bible. pictures. Running for Hope. Smelly. paper done. violins. growth.

LORD, thank You for leading me through abundant blessings this week. My cup runneth over. =)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Christianity with a side of shame

An attempt to weed through my thoughts sparked by conversations throughout this week....

My church has been going through a series entitled Weird; the premise is basically how can we choose the narrow path and be God-weird in a world where normal is broken.

In my small group afterward, we got on the topic of the great facade of many church-goers today (ourselves included). We go to church dressed to the nines with our shoes shined to a brightness that can only be matched by the gleaming of our pasted on smiles despite the yelling match that climaxed as we pulled into the church drive but will need to wait until after the service to conclude; after all, good Christians don't yell and fight and throw tantrums. No, no! Good, Christians have it all together; they don't struggle with sins or wrongdoings any more. The Bible even says so in... what was that verse again?

At least, that's the front that we often put on as we walk through those double doors of God's house. And the newcomer, not wanting to standout, not wanting to be the only one struggling, shines up his shoes and smiles a bit and joins in the show.

One woman in my small group called out the members of our church, asking how people who pledged to help her raise her sons could do so while interacting with her family at such a shallow level. A man in the group piped in, "Frankly, I wouldn't want that transparency. The reason that I left my old church was because I was honest there and all that greeted my honesty was judgment. I don't want to be judged!"

"Yeah, but if we were all really honest, they'd be no room for judgment. We're all messed up!"

And it's true. We are all messed up. Why is it that at church of all places we feel the need to pretend? It's that space reserved for us to be honest with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ? I was amazed by a later encounter with friends of a friend who were extremely open about parts of their lives that could be seen as questionable; though worldly, they felt no shame.

I understand the conviction of the Holy Spirit and how non-Christians don't experience that. Still, why has the church often become a place of shame? Why is it that it's often there that people most fear the impression that they're making on others instead of how God sees their true state?

I think satan knows what he's doing here: rid God's love from His truth until the truth becomes a vicious hammer of judgment and fear, knocking down anyone who actually is truthful. It's ironic that in fear of not living up to God's laws perfectly, we further bury ourselves in sin as we take on coats of deception; in seeking to appear truthful, we become more deceptive.

Further, satan knows that there's power in disrupting the community of God's people. God intended us for relationship, real, deep, nitty-gritty relationship, relationship of support and accountability and truth-sharing and building up and love and hope and joy and peace and rest and strength. Yeah this game of pretend has wreaked havoc on the body of Christ; the eye, viewing something it should not, remembers the shame of it's last slip up and thus offers a socially acceptable response to the foot. The foot, venturing where it shouldn't, recalls that being a Christian should equal perfection, and thus hides away his misstep. And instead of working together, the body becomes blind to the reality of the other parts and thus becomes dysfunctional.

Instead of places of accountability, churches have become havens of shame. We've forgotten the grace of God, forgotten our need for Him to perfect us in our finiteness. Somewhere along the line the message of grace and acceptance has become a message of shame. It's no wonder people leave churches in search of acceptance!

And not only is this facade affecting our fellowship with fellow believers, it also hurts our witness to those outside the family of Christ. By appearing perfect, we become untouchable, unrelatable, unobtainable, and often judgmental. As Christians, we ARE called to live a life set apart for God and apart from the world. So how do we pursue holiness while also remaining relatable and genuine to non-Christians? How do we live in the world but not be of the world? How do we repent of a lifestyle of hiding and embark on the honest journey of who we are in Christ, including our need for Christ's grace?