Tombs, Shells, or the Real Deal?

Sometimes I sigh at the lack of passion for Christ I see these days, and other times I stumble upon people or events that bless and remind me that the cause of Christ is still very much alive. 

A thought entered my mind recently that has continued to haunt the recesses of my soul for the past few days. I was reading a solid biography of a Christian hero from time past along with a chapter or two from Nehemiah and Ezra and was struck by their authenticity and absolute abandonment to doing God's will. Then I looked at us, namely the church of today, and for a split second (actually call that a minute) I was afraid that we're all shell and no substance. A bit like Pharisees with whitewashed tombs and decaying bones on the inside. 

It is hard to find men today who pray and repent as passionately as Ezra did in Ezra 9:1-10:1. I read his story a couple weeks ago and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to our world today if we had men who loved truth as strongly as he did, were humble enough to repent like him, and courageous enough to call for that kind of restitution. I mean, he was absolutely radical. 

When he found out that some Jewish men had taken wives from heathen nations, he was so sorry he made confession for their nation, wept, and cast himself down before the house of God. (Ezra 10:1) Interestingly, the latter part of the verse says that a very great assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. (ESV) Obviously, his attitude affected those following him. In the end, Ezra spares nothing and commands all the men to put away their heathen wives and the children from those unions. Quite radical indeed. Many people today, get rid of only as much sin as needed to look Christian on the outside and put their troubled conscience to temporary rest. 

Later on, I read the story of Mother Theresa, a Catholic nun from the early 1900s. She was willing to leave her comfortable life of teaching in a convent and enter the slums of India to reach the dying, impoverished, and hopeless. I had to wonder how many of us as Christian women today hold our lives so lightly that we would be willing to leave comfort, family, and home to live in dangerous, impoverished places at the call of God. 

What are we made of is my question. What really at the bottom of our hearts? What do we love the most? What would be willing to die for? Willing to live for? Willing to suffer for? Willing to look stupid for? 

It is my prayer that more and more of us will begin abandoning all to follow a living Christ. To risk everything for the promise of eternity. The world may call us foolish but the cross of Christ is foolishness to them that don't believe. 

Our world, our churches, our families, are begging for the real deal. The kind of Christianity that flames and burns and endures with the grit of true courage, love, loyalty. Only when we get on our knees and beg our Father to instill in us His heart, His truth, and His passion will the world begin to truly see Jesus.

Way of the Cross

Alyssa Horst

The world may forsake and friends may turn against me.

I may not be rich or own the world's best home. 

But in my heart there is happiness, that never once was there. 

'Cause Jesus now is living in my life every day. 

I'll give up all to follow Christ

No back roads gonna lead me home.

There's no short cuts that I have found

Only one way will pull me through.

It's the way of the cross.

Listen to song here on Spotify

When You Don't Measure Up...

If you feel too odd or different perhaps you should think about toads in their weird bumpy bodies or snakes with their odd hissing voices. Yet, I have never heard anyone trying to coax a toad to become smoother or redder or more like an ox.

At our youth campout this past summer, I was reminded that many of us struggle with feeling "less than" at times. 

We are too shy, or too loud, not good enough at volleyball, or simply different and out of place. Some of us go home and tear our hair out worrying about our actions and if they were correct or good enough. 

This morning I invented a new colour. I don't know how it looks yet but I know it's name. ACROMENA. Interestingly, when I went to look it up online, I realized it is actually a female name. It is rare, since I only came across two entries, but one of them titled a twitter account owned by a woman from Libya. I smiled when I read her caption. "My beauty makes me special." Now I realize this may have been focused solely on outward beauty, however, I do believe we would do well to rejoice in and rest in who God made us to be. If He made you with brown hair, He willed it so. If He gave you a quiet personality, He needed it. If He left you with poor volleyball skills in exchange for a gift with words, He had that in mind.

And so, let me introduce to you:

ACROMENA

When everyone else is blue or green and you are acromena,

Tip back your head and talk to God who made you something special.

If you are certain that He's wrong and surely pink is right,

Remember that He knows you best and made you simply right.

He needs a couple, faithful few, who stand and make a difference. 

If you were simply gray or black, you'd blend in with the others.

Perhaps God really got it wrong when He made your odd colour.

You think that yellow, orange, and tan are how folks ought to travel. 

Not odd and weird and strange and less, like you in acromena. 

Surely there's a different way than this bizarre arena. 

So if you still believe that you, are simply so peculiar, 

That you are doomed for pessimistic tendencies forever,

I beg you go and ask the One who made you slightly different 

And you will find He picked your colour specially, acromena. 

😅 A strange ditty to make a point. You are special and designed just so. Never let Satan, anyone else, or yourself tell you differently. 

"I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14

As a side note, I have thought about this a little and wondered why we expect everyone to fit a certain "code", act a certain way, or live up to a certain status. I believe most places and cultures have this expectation to some degree. There is an understood method of behavior or way of doing life that must be adhered to in order to fit in or for everyone to move along smoothly. 

I believe this can be well and good until those who are different are socially exiled. They act awkwardly, say things at the wrong times and do the opposite of what we think is proper. What do we do with this?

I believe there are a few ways we can respond to these intrusions. One, we can look down our long noses in disgust and chatter ferociously about the person to others. Or, we can ignore them completely and give them a solid cold shoulder so that they realize what an awkward and unruly soul they are. Another option would be to talk with them and try desperately to make them like the norm. Or, the last one could be to actually accept them. Yes, just accept them. Exactly like they are, exactly with their oddities, exactly with the things that make us uncomfortable. 

Let their odd colours add to your rainbow. (It might be missing a colour.) Let their different habits compliment or sometimes even adjust yours. 

Every person on planet earth can teach us something if we are only willing to look beyond ourselves and see "different" as beautiful.

Perhaps we ought to go back to our places and live in the colour God made us. 

Fare well ACROMENA. 

Celebrating Teenagers

The school year has officially begun and in honour of that I will finally publish this post that I wrote a little while ago. 🙂

Once upon a time I was a teenager and shortly thereafter I advanced into my twenties. However, I still spend a lot of time with my teenage acquaintenances and enjoy it immensely. They are some of the loveliest people I know and brimming with potential if it is tapped into. 

We have had many different discussions about life's perplexities and hard truths. 

In school we talk about things like, "Why did God give Adam and Eve the choice to sin?" and "Have you ever wondered if Christianity is simply a hoax?" Well, in reality, I had actually. I wrestled with it myself a time ago, and so we dive into discussion and answers. 

Other times we talk about changes in life, the difficulties of relating to authority correctly, handling our emotions, figuring out what to do in life, and big dreams for the future.  

I really find the brains of teenagers quite fascinating. They shift on any given day, sometimes even by the hour, and come up with all kinds of difficult emotions and dilemmas like, Why did God give me such horrendous looking freckles? What are my friends thinking of me? or, How am I ever going to do that speech in front of the class without looking like a fool? 

Indeed, I have learned buckets of things from my delightful life with teenagers. 

One: Growth takes time. If adolescents were to grow up quickly over night, they wouldn't be half the strong, capable, mature adults they become. A few turbulent years of questioning, failure, and slow progress are needed to create hardy men and women of character.  

Two: Have a sense of wonder. It is my true wish that every adult on the planet would continue to retain at least a part of their innocent sense of wonder, imagining and creativity. Somehow, teenagers (especially young teens) come up with the ideas and creativity that many adults have stuffed in the box with their baby clothes. 

Three: Do things. Young people have energy and like to be active. This means they will accomplish much if set to the right task. God wants us to be busy with good and there is no better time than youth to tackle opportunities with boundless energy. 

Four: Stay young. This is a shout-out to all adults, but in order to stay young it is a good practice to spend a few hours every week doing things with a teenager that you used to do back when you were fifteen. Indeed, heart muscles will be strengthened, bones you never new existed will creak back into working order, and your sense for adventure will grow to new heights. 

Five: Add spice to life. Whether that's clocking the speed of your atv as it takes off, trying a new ice cream flavour, going shopping at the mall simply to spend time with a friend, or skydiving for the bravehearted, spending time with teenagers will teach you to pack each moment with memories. 

Six: Love God and learn from His word. Many of the teenagers in my class come with a healthy desire to know. They want to know the answer to all of life's unanswered questions. They want to know about God and how He applies to their life. In this process many choose to ask people older than them while others search on their own. Of course, God has all the answers and while He uses faithful men, they are fallible. Listening to advice from the older generation while keeping an open Bible in our hands and the Spirit in our hearts is a wise approach to learning truth. 

Seven: I have learned about the heart of Jesus. I have found it expedient to look beyond the current circumstances as I live among teenagers. It is important that we as adults see the potential in them and look beyond the difficulties now. They will grow up, they will succeed, they will develope character. Jesus' love goes far beyond our sins and failures and He sees potential in us that we don't even know exists. All teenagers deserve someone who believes in them and loves them no matter what. 

And so, that is a quick glance into why I think teenagers are wonderful people. They really are our future and a big part of who we are now. Let us champion them and encourage them to be all that God created them to be. ❤️