Children’s Bible Brings Tears June 5, 2008

I have two young daughters, one toddler and one preschool-aged, and my husband and I were looking for a good children’s bible to read to them from. I read about this one at Colossians Three-Sixteen and thought the reviews and concept sounded awesome, so we went to the store and picked it up. The title is The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name.

     Although it is written for 4-8 year olds in mind, it is something that a preschooler could appreciate if read to by a parent, not to mention the illustrations are among the coolest I’ve ever seen in any children’s book. The language is not ultra dumbed-down and cutesy, but it is written in an easy to grasp way. The sad parts and the tough parts are not watered down, and although it is not a verse-by-verse translation, it is a paraphrase that uniquely captures the message of the kingdom of God and of God’s love for people in a way that is very moving.

     So why does it bring me tears? Well, there are two stories from this book that I have in mind while writing this: the story of Adam and Eve having to leave the garden because of their sin and the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gesthemane. All the religious, Christianese wording often used in the telling of these stories is gone and the heart of God comes through. As we were reading these stories to our daughters, tears came to our eyes as we read about how much God loves us and the implications of such a great, and yet so tender, love and about the pain caused by our sin and about the great rescue plan the Father and Son had in mind since the beginning.

     Even if you do not have children, this is a great bible storybook to read through. Sometimes, I pick it up to read a story in there just for me. My oldest daughter, who’s three, loves to hear the stories about Jesus. And my most favorite part of this book is that every story really does have whispers of His name. Every story, even way back in the beginning, points to Jesus and God’s great Rescue Plan that is fulfilled in Jesus. Reading this bible storybook makes me grasp more clearly God’s sweet love for me and all people.

Don’t Forget Burma [Myanmar] June 5, 2008

Often when great disasters take place, the media is all over it for a few days or even weeks. It’s all you can hear on the radio, see on the news, or read in the paper. But slowly, everyone forgets…except those affected by the disasters.

     For instance, remember the tsunami disaster in SE Asia around Christmas time 2004? Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. And then there was Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005. From all reports, it sounds like there are still hundreds and hundreds of houses that were flooded by the rising waters that still have not even been looked into. And what about the towns and the people who lost homes and jobs and children?

     When we hear about a great disaster, I hope we as Christians will pray for the victims who are left alive, for those who are helping, and for the leaders. But do we stop praying when everyone else has turned away to the next juicy piece of news? I hope not.

     Remember Burma and the cyclone that devastated that nation, which is under the control of a very repressive and restrictive military junta? I just read this article about a Christian missionary who was allowed in the country to bring aid who says the death toll is more like a million or more, as opposed to the hundreds of thousands reported by the government.

     We need to keep praying for more and more aid to those people there. And we need to pray for their leaders who aren’t too keen on allowing much aid to come in. Click here to read the article I mentioned above.

Rambling May 23, 2008

Tonight I was thinking heavily (why I say “tonight” I don’t know; I spend way too much time thinking about things all the time.) about the Church and how varied and different and complex it is, with regard to theology, views on Scripture, views on how to interpret things, what the importance of prayer is, how to worship, how to celebrate the Sabbath, how to reach those outside of the kingdom of God, etc. And, as most deeply analytical thought processes tend to go in my head, I came around to how do I flow and fit in with all of this.
     If you’re at all like me, you have lots of questions–not spirits of doubt or confusion–but legitimate questions that seek to know the be-all-end-all truth of all things. My mind is always churning, processing, and asking what does God think about this and what does His Word really say about this. I want to really seek it out, like the Bereans, prayerfully and scripturally. Anyway, so like every good human, I like to find patterns and see where I fit into them, even though it is a characteristic of humans that annoys me most sometimes. That aside, I was thinking about different movements in the church today, whether recently started or centuries old, and wondering which seems most right.
     Before I give any of my thoughts behind this loosely held conclusion, I think I decided that each of them have wonderful merits, and I really like some things about all of them and dislike things within each of them. My main question at the end of this all is, how can the different movements collide into a unified church, representing Jesus to the world, carrying out the great rescue plan He began, and still being relevant and meaningful to each individual believer and the many differences that exist among the people that make up the Body of Christ.
     Ok, enough of the introduction, boring stuff that makes me sound more intelligent than I really am because it’s way more coherent written out like this than the way is swirled around in my head initially.
     Here are some of the movements (I choose this word only because I can think of no other…it probably isn’t the correct theological use of the term, but I don’t care.) I thought about in particular: emerging church, the new monastic, those who are all about Israel & Jerusalem (I don’t know the official name–I like the phrase “all about”), charismatic, faith movement, evangelism-focused evangelicals, liturgical churchy kind of stuff, night & day prayer, prophetic/seer/worshipy stuff, holiness, house church, etc. (OK, some of those I added just now as they came to mind.)
     I’ve been reading up on some emerging church stuff lately, mostly to just understand what it’s all about, what they teach, if they are so terrible as more conservative, upper-middle aged Christians seem to say they are. Actually, I like a lot about the emerging church. I won’t try to explain it here, because there are tons of sites & blogs out there already doing just that. But what I like is that they value conversation, discussing issues and spirituality by listening to others and drawing wisdom from others’ lives and experiences and thoughts. Sometimes I tend to be a little black-and-white/stubborn, but it’s a trait in myself that annoys me sometimes. However, I love listening to others and discussing things with them even if I don’t totally agree. It demonstrates humility and willingness to learn from others. The church always talks about how God made us to need others and work with others to achieve His purposes, so why not listen to others and learn from them, even those we may differ with on some things. I also like the idea that this group is willing to at least discuss and think about issues other than simply abortion and homosexuality in politics. Not that these are not important issues, but they cannot be addressed at the cost of ignoring other things like sex slavery, genocide, poverty, hunger, lack of clean water, etc. And I like the ecumenical-ness of it. Back to that idea of conversation…I like it because of the humility factor I mentioned before. It always bothers me when people are not willing to even listen to another person’s viewpoint, or when they will listen but then proceed to point out how dumb and stupid it is and why they are more right. Jesus even sat and ate with the Pharisees, discussed things with them, talked with them in the temple at a young age. He pointed out when they were not asking questions out of pure motives but out of jealousy, trying to trap Him and twist His words to make Him look bad and wrong. But Jesus didn’t tell the Samaritan woman at the well that she was stupid for worshiping God on the mountain rather than in Jerusalem. He seemed to gently point out the truth and supernaturally reveal to her things about her life in order to draw her attention to her need to be changed. Ok, enough rant/rambling.
     Also, I completely and wholeheartedly love the Word and read it every day and believe ever word written in it. I’m not a KJV only girl (I’m a NKJV only), but I do have a passion for the word and basing my life upon its teachings. I believe that what God calls sin is sin and when God says serve to be great, He means it. When He says love your enemies and pray for them, He means it. When He says be holy because He is holy; it’s the truth. OK.
     But I am not a fundamentalist, Word-only person. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and my need to be led by Him. I believe in all the gifts of the Spirit, the power of praying in tongues, the pleasure of knowing God intimately and hearing His voice speak directly to me. I believe in healings and other cool miracles and in prophecy and anointed teaching and worship. I try adamantly not to be legalistic about anything and instead to be led by God’s Spirit, who is a better Teacher than man’s traditions and rules, and certainly has more mercy and grace.
     As for other things (I won’t get into all the ones I listed); I’m all about night & day prayer. Prayer and Intercession is one of my greatest passions, and I’m one of those people who really, truly believe that prayer can work mighty miracles and wonders and release God’s infinite power upon this earth. God gave people authority, not the devil, so we must take that authority back from the devil through fervent prayer and intercession. It’s the answer to our problems as it demonstrates our faith in God to do all things and give us all things for which we ask. And while I’m on prayer, I like all kinds: prophetic intercession, supernatural childbirthing prayer, contemplative, meditative, soaking up God’s presences, singing, praying in tongues, declaring the Word in faith, whatever…as long as it’s to God in Jesus’ name.
     What I don’t really get into is way into end-times/eschatology stuff, jumping around to every conference/prayer meeting to get touched by God and fed by God (if this is one’s sole purpose in doing so…it ignores the call to be light and salt, defending the poor and helpless, visiting those in prison, bringing the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth, etc.), right-wing ultra-conservative stuff, weird interfaith stuff that combines Wicca/Buddhism/Hindu/New Age/whatever stuff with Christianity–it seems like you can’t have both, and anything where you do different or weird-religious stuff just for the sake of doing it. Everything has to have Jesus as the focus, center, end, means, and beginning for me or it’s just religious superstition.
     Now that I’m done, I realize that this probably won’t help or enlighten anyone, but is more for myself to get it out of my head and somewhere else where I can stop analyzing it for now. I tried to make it at least a little humorous for anyone who tried to read it’s joy.

Lay Siege May 20, 2008

I just received the following in my email inbox this evening. I’ll just paste the whole thing below, because it’s all good. It’s easy to take for granted that we as Christians need to pray for this issue, but it is something for which we need God’s grand intervention, obtained only through prayer and intercession. Regardless of your political party affiliations or non-affiliations, please remember that God instructs us to defend the fatherless and to speak up for those who have no voice.

The sun’s rising earlier and the days are lasting longer. I wanted to encourage you to use your time effectively this summer and intensify your prayer efforts directed at the Supreme Court, the individual Judges and what will pave the way for overturning Roe v. Wade.

God has clearly refocused our mandate for the courts of America once again as we approach the four-year mark of our silent movement. The message of standing in the gap has developed uniquely for all those involved in Bound4LIFE. Yet the original picture is clear–“It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it” (Ez 4:3). The picture of Ezekiel having a forehead harder than flint is vivid in our minds as we continue to press for the fall of the abortion stronghold. The promise to him was that God would make him as unyielding and hardened as the obstinate nation he was sent to. I believe that same promise extends to us today and especially throughout this summer.

A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust. (Pr 21:22)

Beloved, let me remind you that the purpose of a siege is to take the city. Furthermore, the purpose of the Silent Siege is to topple the impenetrable fortress of abortion and splinter the demonic fortifications of death. Who is stronger? Who has greater resources? Who will outlast?

In these next few months, I ask you to renew your commitment to an offensive posture in prayer and fasting. I believe there could be a window of opportunity this summer that God is calling us into with radical devotion to the cause. Already a company of people have been standing nonstop day and night in DC since April 28th after The Mercy Seat. They have a vision to make an outrageous offering before the Lord like Rizpah did in 2 Samuel 21. What would God have you do to intensify your involvement?

However He leads you, pray daily for the nine Judges by name and contend for prevailing influence over their minds–Stevens, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, Breyer, Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts. Call for breakthrough for an empty seat to be opened–one that will be occupied by a judge that will uphold LIFE. Pray that the demonic grip on the Court would be shattered decisively. And finally let the desire and cry of your heart be that Jesus would be glorified in our government and in our nation.

God end abortion and send revival to America,

Matt Lockett
Executive Director
Bound4LIFE, Int’l.

Bound4LIFE, 5023 Weber Court, Fort Mill, SC 29715, USA

Pray away the burdens May 20, 2008

Lately, I’ve had an unprecedented burden for prayer and intercession, presenting requests to God and standing in the gap for people and people groups that God has layed on my heart. I’m going to start doing some posts about those things to encourage others to see that there are so many things for which to pray and that prayer is so necessary. Rather than fretting or worrying or becoming fearful, God wants us to come to Him in prayer intertwined with thanksgiving from a grateful heart. Prayer shows that we trust in God and not in ourselves or in the rulers of this world.

 

trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding

A Time of Awakening? May 8, 2008

For all those who have a burden on their hearts for the church that she would rise up and become all that God has intended her to be, I encourage you to pray and seek God for revival–in your local church, your community, your state, nation, and the world…and in your own heart. If you’re like me, you read the Word and see all the cool things God thinks about His church, has planned for His church, and desires His church to be, but then you see the church in practice and find yourself heartsick for real revival among the children of God. We can’t conjure up revival of God’s people, but we can pray.

     And whatever your opinions about healing, famous evangelists, prophecy, and the charismatic church, I think it is very worthwhile to check out what’s going on in Lakeland, Florida at Stephen Strader’s church, Ignite and at Morningstar Fellowship in Fort Mill, SC (Rick Joyner’s church). There have been awesome testimonies of healings, deliverances, people choosing to follow Jesus, and people weeping and falling under the power of the Holy God. I have watched some video clips, and I think it’s so cool what God’s doing in those places.

     Now, don’t let your prejudices close you off. The Lakeland Holy Spirit Outpouring meetings are being led by evangelist Todd Bentlely, a burly looking guy with piercings and tatoo covered arms and neck, a guy who looks like a biker dude, who can be seen ministering in jeans and a t-shirt. Many of the youth are rising up at Morningstar Fellowship to lead the sort of awakening type meetings there. So, if you think former drug users or young people cannot be used by God, prepare to be offended and challenged.

     Anyway, visit this site about the Lakeland meetings and this site about Morningstar’s. Watch the videos, read the testimonies, use discernment, and pray that God would bring revival to His church, so that she can go out into the harvest overflowing with the power and the presence of God.

Writing, Running, and Discipline May 7, 2008

I signed onto WordPress today and realized that I have not posted since late April; what a slacker I am! Although, I actually have not been slacking, but trying to be more disciplined in my daily life. One area where I really felt convicted about being undisciplined in was exercise. Yeah, I’d go running or walking with the double stroller off an on, but I had no real plan of action. If there’s one thing I’m learning about myself is that I need to set goals for myself and have a plan for reaching them, or else I tend to be quite hippy-ish and nonchalant about how I go about my days. It’s a tough fight, because I tend to be very forgetful, to the point that I even forget where I put the lists I make of things not to forget.

     Anyway, I chose running as my main form of exercise; it builds my endurance, it doesn’t require a whole lot of agility and balance and all that stuff clumsy people like me don’t have, it works my heart and lungs, and I don’t need a gym membership to do it. However, I tried the whole early morning running thing for a bit, and, being so not a morning person, I failed miserably at that plan. So I slacked for a while and implemented plan B just a couple of weeks ago: running at night. The girls are in bed and my husband likes to do his blog or reading at night, so it’s the perfect time.

     Our town of Oconomowoc (yeah, you just try to pronounce that), has this renowned “lake run.” At least that’s what folks I know call it. We live near a small lake called Fowler Lake and there is a sidewalked path all the way around, through downtown and in some residental areas. It’s very well lit, and people are out walking their dogs on it at all hours of the day and night, so it’s pretty safe. Anyway, I’ve been going pretty much every night around 9:30 and it’s awesome!

     Well, awesome is a relative term. Some nights I get the atrocious side stitch that plagues my whole run, and some nights I’m just plain pooped out. But every time I go, I play worship music insanely loud on my mp3 player and have an amazing 20 minutes of worshiping God every night in my outdoor “prayer closet.” It’s pretty cool, because I get to hang out with God, run around a lake, and pray for the community while building up my physical strength.

     But all this coolness has taken a toll on my blog writing, because I used to do my posts at night around the time I go running. Now that I’ve disciplined myself in this one area, I need to be disciplined in other things of my life: practicing banjo, writing blogs, developing a systematic intercessory prayer plan, sewing, and my freelance work. I’m always in amazment at those people who have no kids or at least no kids living at home that complain about having no time to do anything. I could be a lot more efficient with my 24 hours if we didn’t have two toddlers running around, but what would be the fun of that?? Kids are a joy! Anyway, I’m working on being disciplined with my time, prayer life, and body. Bear with me while I fit in blogging. I should figure this all out soon, just in time to have it all rearranged when I start homeschooling my soon to be pre-schooler this fall!

By the way, if you are interested in good worship music for running, here’s what’s been cranking on my player lately: Aradhna (see previous post) and Enter the Worship Circle: Third Circle. Happy trails!

Why Don’t We Pray? April 28, 2008

     Over the past year or two I have been reading many books on a subject that has been written about many times: prayer. It is a subject that is not taught on in depth very often, or so it seems, and it seems like something that most Christians squeeze in once or twice a day when they need help from God. Now, I’m no expert or judge of people’s lives or character or prayer times, but it’s just a feeling I have. And it seems that it’s nothing new.
     For example, I’m currently about two thirds of the way through E.M. Bounds on Prayer, which was written a long time ago, and the problem of prayerlessness existed during his time as well. I’m guessing it was problem back in Paul’s time, too, because he challenged people to pray always, without ceasing, everywhere, for all people, all the time over and over again throughout his letters to the church. Everyone knows we need to pray, but we don’t do it…like really do it wholeheartedly. Why?
     Just listening to people and reading stuff written by people, it seems like there are many reasons: too little time, no quiet place, don’t care, don’t think it works, need to spend more time doing things for God, don’t know how, only know how to pray prayers from a book that are repeated continuously, too many distractions, don’t feel inspired, don’t need anything, and so forth.
     Funny how all this technology and science we have is supposed to make our lives easier so we have more time to do things we like, yet we’re busier than ever it seems. As one new gadget frees up some time, another thing comes in and quickly steals that time away. Or we’re too busy working to pay off those fancy gadgets. Or we’re too tired from working so we plop down in front of the idol of gadgets, the TV until we crash. We’re so overworked and consumed with work or gadgets or gazillions of social obligations that we’re too tired to feel anything or have anything left to give to God.
     I know for me, I used to hate praying, but now it’s amazing. Sure, whenever I have a set appointment to meet with God, I usually think of fifty other things I think I could or should be doing that seem outwardly more efficient and fruitful, but once I’m with God and in His presence, all that fades away and it’s just me and Him, so long as I separate myself from potential distractions like people or movies or stuff that needs to get done. It is never easy; I’m a full time wife and mama with two young toddlers at home constantly undoing any work I just finish doing (like dishes or laundry or swept floors). There is ALWAYS something I could be doing, because, as they say truly, a woman’s work is never done. I’ve often wished I could survive on two to four hours of sleep a night, but I don’t pray for it, because I believe prayer works and I don’t think I really want God to answer that. I do like sleep a lot.
     Now, though, I love to meet with God. I’ve become more practiced in the art and prayer and am learning to hear God better, which opens up a whole new realm of prayer life for me. I’ve become tuned in to the Spirit better and can sense when my spirit is burdened and in need of prayer time. I have learned how awesome and effective prayer in the Spirit, or prayer in tongues, really is! Wow, if you don’t do this currently, it is something you really should look into. If you have questions please feel free to comment and I can email or post on it. Prayer in the Spirit is so great for those times when you really feel moved to pray but aren’t sure what to say. God knows our hearts and His Spirit knows what needs to be said. Let Him pray through you.
     OK, anyway, all that stuff aside. I’m sure so many people have read so many of the books I’ve read on prayer, and yet they still don’t take the time to actually do it. For me, when I don’t, I get a little neurotic. It’s like I have to pray; I’m built and wired to pray always, without ceasing, offering up thanksgiving and supplications to God. If I don’t, I worry and the Bible teaches us that we should never worry or have anxiety but to go to God with everything. If a person just doesn’t really believe prayer works, there is little that can be done to convince him, except answered prayer, which only comes through praying wholeheartedly. It really is a step, or jump, of faith. We just have to take God at His word that whatever we ask for in prayer, believing we’ll receive it, in Jesus’ name, then He will give it to us. Period. So cool and amazing and awesome and weird. Nobody gives anything for free anymore!! But God is not of this world; His gifts are free for the asking, and they are unlimited.
     Do you need more encouragement? I know prayer works, and I’ve read so much about prayer that really inspires me to pray even more, even when I don’t feel like it. See my list below.

E.M. Bounds on Prayer by E.M. Bounds
Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets
After God’s Own Heart by Mike Bickle
The Change the World School of Prayer by Dick Eastman
THE HOLY BIBLE (I like New King James, but read whatever speaks to you)
They Speak with Other Tongues by John Sherrill
Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Experiencing God through Prayer by Madam Guyon

…and this is just a short list.

Sounds from Other Places April 22, 2008

     Lately, my husband and I have been downloading crazy amounts of mp3s from emusic, with our normal monthly subscription of 30 mp3s, plus an extra 50 free downloads for every person we refer who signs up. We have gotten most of the people that we really like (at least of the ones emusic has), so we’ve been branching out and trying to discover new bands and artists that we might like to hear, and emusic has a lot of stuff I’ve never been introduced to, lots of indie artists you might not have ever heard of.
     I don’t know about the rest of you, but I go through musical moods. What is a musical mood? It’s not that I’m in the mood for music; that’s pretty much always a given. I almost always have music playing at home, and if I don’t, my nearly 3 year old daughter asks me to play some so that she can dance. When I’m working around the house, I really like to have some sort of worship-ish kind of music playing to keep my thoughts from getting carried away by all the cares of life and more centered on Jesus and spiritual things. One thing I’ve found is that all worship music is not created equal.
     Do you ever get tired of the Christian top 40s? I did as soon as I passed out of that initial dumbfounded period of first knowing Jesus. While I’m still in awe of Him, I’m in awe of mainstream Christian music, but not in the good way. More like, wow, this is all we can come up with? No wonder no one takes us seriously. Anyway, I was an indie rock girl before following Jesus, so why should I settle for mainstream/lamestream afterwards? My husband and I have found all sorts of odd-cute-eclectic-catchy-cool indie artists in the past couple of years, and I won’t go into great detail about it all, because you can read all about them on his mp3 blog, The Blah Blah.
     Ok, so back to musical moods. Sometimes I get tired of indie rock-ish sort of stuff, so I’ll immerse myself in folksy music for a while, then migrate to harder stuff, then venture over into un-American styles of music like African/worldbeat/Latin/Reggae/whatever stuff. The last thing I listed there is my current mood. How do you find good, not cheesy, world music that glorifies the Creator? Not lame world music created by Christians who love Jesus? Is it possible? Well, yes, but you have to filter through the not-so-cool stuff and accidentally happen upon something really special. I’ll help make it faster for you and list below a few of the bands/artists I really enjoy that have a more world music flavor to them. Some are reggae, which isn’t all that exotic, but, hey, it’s still got that world music grooviness to it. Check out the websites and myspace pages for the following artists and show them your support by purchasing their music. Expand your worship library and worship in a style outside of everyday American radio music, in styles that celebrate the diversity of believers from all around the globe.
Aradhna: Indian worship (homepage and MySpace)
Solomon Jabby: reggae (homepage and MySpace)
Psalters: crazed middle eastern/folk/blues stuff (homepage and MySpace)

I have others I like, but these are my current favorites.

And, please, leave comments suggesting others you have found to add to my short list!

Update on 2008 Reading List April 18, 2008

Back in January, I created a post with my 2008 Reading List and challenged others to create one also just to encourage people to read and read the books they’ve been wanting to read. So far, I’ve completed 3 of the books on my list. Woohoo!

I wrote a review about Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus here.

I also wrote a review about After God’s Own Heart by Mike Bickle here.

Finally, I just completed UnChristian by David Kinnaman and have been blogging about each chapter as I read it. Check out the 6 posts on that book so far. Awesome book and very challenging…I think about what I’ve read in that book pretty much every day and how it affects me.

Next up is completing the book I started last year by Mark Pendegrast: UnCommon Gronds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World. My church is opening a coffeehouse soon where we give everything away, so I figured I should finish this book on coffee.

What’s everyone else reading that has changed their lives?