Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog, page 19

Why I am Grateful My Website was Hacked

In life, we have choices – more than we often realize.

Unexpected circumstances and situations we don’t create will always factor in – natural disaster, government takeovers, terrorism, death, disease, and all manner of hardship specific to life on this side of glory.

Much of life is beyond our control – including the choices of other people we love – but we still have more choices than we like to admit.

We decide how we will respond to our circumstances. We decide how we will react to the choices and actions of loved ones. We determine if we will set our intellectual and emotional dashboards to focus on God’s truth and unchanging nature or to keep the giants plaguing us ever in view.

These choices make all the difference.

As I speak with individuals and churches about the art of hard conversations, there is universal agreement on two things – the conversations being avoided or delayed are in line with the work of God’s kingdom and engaging in them will be painful and uncomfortable on some level.

Fear of this discomfort and the unpredictability of others’ responses is apparently enough to keep Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, strong-hearted Christians silent when the Holy Spirit is clearly prompting us to speak.

To this I respond, loved ones, we choose our pain.

On this side of glory, there is no escape from discomfort, hardship, or suffering. The Fall took care of that. Oh, sure, some find effective ways to numb or dull the pain but even people in the best of situations will face letdowns and difficulties.

When Jesus-followers choose to remain silent when there are important truths to be spoken, we are choosing the pain and consequences that come with disobedience and inaction.

I know we feel it because so many people hear the title of my message and say, “Oh, we desperately need that.” But we’re familiar with the pain of inaction. We’ve grown accustomed to the discomfort of disobedience. We have a gnawing sense that we would be more effective for Jesus if we made another choice, but still, we’re comfortable with this particular discomfort.

Here’s the problem, we’re not just making a choice about our own suffering. When we withhold truth, avoid truth, and dodge biblically-mandated conversations, we participate in suppressing truth in a world flooded with deception. The collective impact is that those who don’t know Jesus remain blind to eternal truth.

It is a form of suffering to prayerfully prepare for and engage in hard conversations – whether they involve sharing the gospel, confronting sin, talking about spiritual growth, comforting the sick, depressed, or dying, discussing the Bible’s teaching on a controversial topic, or letting someone know how valued they are.

It’s true these conversations can be wildly uncomfortable, lead to further hard conversations, and upset the status quo in relationships and the community. No matter how equipped we are and grounded in love, we don’t ever control the response of the others in our conversations, so there’s a great unpredictability factor, too. Yes, choosing to speak truth that God prompts to be spoken can create a form of suffering.

But, here’s our choice: Choose the potential, unpredictable suffering that comes from speaking truth in love in the name of Christ or choose the certain suffering of forever wondering what freedom and light might be being withheld from individuals and communities because we remain silent.

This week, as many of you know, I learned that my website was hacked. The technician for my website host surveyed the issue and responded, “Wow, you must have an enemy. This hack was sophisticated and time-consuming.” He and my web designer worked together to make the technical response and I painstakingly visited as many of the posts as we could identify and re-edited them (the hackers had rewritten posts to appear as if I was promoting perverse practices of all kinds).

Here’s the thing: the hacker targeted posts in which I discussed the biblical teaching on sex and sexuality.

This topic isn’t a primary theme of my website or teaching but I do speak up about it when the Spirit prompts. So, there was a moment in the midst of surveying the damage and weighing the consequences of speaking truth, that I was tempted to simply trash all those posts and never write on that topic again. I tried justifying it in that other Christians write about it and my following is small, surely, my voice would never be missed.

That’s when God reminded me that I choose my pain. I could live with the pain of knowing I’d chosen cowardice when my Father is the King of all the Universe and He has freed me to live without fear or I could retain the posts and willingly add more (as the Spirit moves), risking the pain of incurring further attention from – not my enemy – but His.

Key to making my choice was remembering who I am in Christ. I am His. Yes, there’s suffering that comes with following in the way He goes, but He supplies grace sufficient for that pain. The posts remain, and in His power, I will not be silent.

This incident cost me embarrassment, time, and money. There are brothers and sisters around the globe whose suffering is on a scale that makes my website hack look like a trip to Disney. The cost of speaking truth in those countries is devastating. Why are we, then, choosing the pain of allowing others to remain in darkness to protect ourselves from the pain of speaking up?

In truth, I owe a debt of gratitude to my hacker (for whom I pray). Thank you for reminding me that God’s truth makes an impact even when written by a Christian blogger of little consequence. You’ve strengthened my heart to carry on and represent God’s love by speaking truth into a world of deception.

What choice will you make today?

Why I'm grateful my website was hacked https://t.co/fShzUTEHem #Hacked #Jesus #leadershipdevelopment #leadership #communication

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 14, 2019

In Rejection’s Wake

You pull away to be alone with God in the sorry state you’re in – half seeking answers (though you know they aren’t on the horizon), but mostly wanting Him.

Uncensored, you pour out your heart. Ask for mercy and the kindness of His assurance. And stamina to endure.

He is the One with the power to effect change. He is the One who knows the truth. He knows how much you can take and how close you are to breaking. And in Him, all things hold together, so that’s where you want to be.

Besides, He’s walked this road.  If anyone knows what it’s like to be completely rejected by those who should claim you as their own, it’s Jesus.

If anyone knows how to minister and speak truth while others envy you, lie about you, watch hoping you’ll fall, and plot behind your back, it’s Jesus.

If anyone knows how to love people who are seeking your harm, it’s Jesus. And now, you worship Him even more, because you have a glimpse at how hard that must have been – how much it cost – in human terms.

Turning to Luke 20, you read His exchanges with the Pharisees. They envied Him and wished He would go away – wanted to make Him go away – but they were afraid of what others thought. They feared the crowds.

He never seems caught off guard. He never appears flustered. And He doesn’t run on their agenda.

He never answers questions that aren’t on His Father’s plan for the day.

In fact, He tells a parable that is clearly judgmental of the religious authorities – without fear. They try to stump Him with questions about Scripture, but He can’t be stumped because He authored the story that they study but hesitate to live. He does not fear the crowd – even though it will be only days before they will cry out for His crucifixion.

And then, at the end of Luke 21, you come upon this gem of a passage: “’But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

(dissipation is like the squandering or frittering away of resources and it’s interesting how squandering resources and the cares of this life are in a trio with drunkenness, as if we can become intoxicated with the worries and distractions of the times and lose sight of eternity)

35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’ 37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.” Luke 21:34-37

He was surrounded by day, but He pulled away from the crowds at night. He separated.

Other gospels say He often took Himself to desolate places to pray. Immerse and withdraw. Immerse and withdraw. Like the rhythm of the tides He designed to remind us that our souls need space or we, too, will live in fear of the crowds.

And without any new answers, you rise from prayer realizing answers weren’t what you needed at all.

What you need is Him, just Jesus. He has walked this path – “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” John 1:11 ESV

Every trial, every hardship, is another opportunity to press into Him and discover that after all, is grace is sufficient for you.

In the wake of rejection https://t.co/9bYL8dZNbr what do you need from God when others shut you out of their lives or plot your destruction? #leadership #Jesus #LeadershipDevelopment

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 2, 2019

When You’re Just a Big Loser

Sometimes you think you’re getting somewhere, you know, with this whole growing up in Jesus business.

You’re hitting your Bible regularly and going deep, not just the quick pass over a verse and a thought but digging in and rocking it.

Your prayer life is consistent and gets more involved than “Help!” and “Please!” (not that those words don’t feature frequently)

They know your face at church and well, you get the point. You’re no soul slouch.

Then, whammo!

You hit what is apparently a giant spiritual pothole of what was that? Instead of choruses of praise songs, your mind floods with whispers from the dark side.

Who do you think you’re fooling? You’re a loser for Jesus. A con for Christ.

Able to pull it together for flashes of time and convince a few people you’re a godly person, but one hiccup and you’re wallowing in really common sinful goop –the sinkhole of self-pity, the jaws of jealousy, or the axis of anger. No matter how many alliterations you throw at it, though, it ain’t pretty.

Other people figure out how to pull it together for Jesus, you know, so what’s wrong with you? After all this time, are you still expecting Jesus to pick up the tab for the gaping holes in your soul? He had such high hopes for you but now, now you’re just a disappointment to Him, well, to everyone, really.

The voices nearly convince you. It feels as though life is an algebra test and you missed the class on variables so you sit back, stunned, baffled, mystified by the entire equation.

But, this is when the regular Bible reading and prayer, the steady diet of truth and strong theology (yeah, that stuff is part of your arsenal because sometimes you need a tank against the enemy) turn out to come in handy because God’s voice is so much better to listen to than the taunts of the darkness.

Verses and passages flood in like redeemed flying monkeys serving a new Master because you know that water took care of the Wicked Witch and Living Water is what will dissolve this assault on you, too. Jesus steps in and reminds you He’s the Master of a new math.

Yes, you still slip in it, sometimes you even belly flop down a slip-and-slide of the old sin nature.

You’re growing in Christ but you’re not home yet, baby. As long as you reside on this outpost of glory, you’re going to step on landmines that detonate unsanctified sectors of your cleansed soul but you’re no loser. You’re eternal, loved one.

There’s time to become His idea of you. You live in the light (all the better to see the pitfalls with, my dear).

You fall back into the arms of grace because this is your home, your hope, your whole plan for salvation. Just Jesus, Jesus, Jesus all the time.

It’s never you making payments on the bill your soul rang up. You were completely bankrupted by sin but He covered every dime. Now, all you owe is love and even that, He’s supplied.

So now you’re pulling out of the soul skid, brushing off your knees and soaking in the healing truth “that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” (Philippians 1:6)

and “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

And you unsheathe your sword so you can dwell in Romans 8, the whole chapter, gulping it down like the coldest water on the hottest day until the light surrounding you, shielding you, has fended off the dark assault.

Whew. That was close. But, He’s done it. Reached down and pulled you out of that spin. Wrapped you in His light like the shield force around the Starship Enterprise, only better because it’s not science fiction; it’s the truth that protects your soul.

You’re no loser for Jesus.

Yeah, you blow it. You get it wrong. You fall.

But even when you’re on the mat, you’re a child of the High King, a redeemed soul, an eternal spirit, one who is Loved by the Almighty God destined for glory, forgiven, saved by grace. He’s got you.

The whisperer doesn’t scare Him. One little word will fell him. Boom. Jesus.

You hear that? That’s right. That’s the silence that follows the boom. Rest in that.

Rest in Him. He’s got you.

When You're just a Big Loser https://t.co/l8q6DtyR97 #Jesus #Redemption #leadership #churchlife

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 15, 2019

Violence, Religious Frauds – Love in the Age of Suppression

If you’re looking to the Bible for morality stories, it will quickly leave you frustrated.

Oh, it’s loaded with stories and occasionally there’s a person in that story making a right choice, but three stories later, that same person may be choosing the wrong way. In fact, in many biblical stories, everyone is wrong.

That’s because the Bible is a book of truth, not fables written to teach children to stay out of the woods.

God’s not into heroes. Our faith isn’t built on the notion that there’s a group of us capable of living properly if we just have the right role models, education, conditioning, and information. It’s not designed to promote a fear-based morality, or a moral-of-the-story based method of soul-control.

The Bible is a mirror into the human soul, designed to reveal the truth of our glorious design, the truth of our fallen nature, and the truth of God’s redemptive plan. So, it’s frustrating if you’re hoping for a “clean read.” There are myriad down-right ugly awful stories told within its pages.

Which makes it the perfect the book for our times.

We live in the age of suppression. Romans 1:18 says this: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

When people choose to live exactly the way they feel like living regardless of how that lines up with the plan of their Creator, their actions suppress the truth. When truth is suppressed, deception seeps in over the transom like a toxic gas.

One sign of living in the age of suppression is that we’re often at a loss to determine the good guys from the bad. We listen to all sides of countless arguments and in the end, no one turns out to be completely right. And even those who speak truth, are too often revealed not to be living it.

Welcome to the gospel truth of who we are, how we got here, and the only logical answer to how we find our way home.

Earlier in Romans 1, Paul writes these words, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17.

The gospel of Jesus Christ, which is – that among humans, there is no one righteous – no, not one, and that the only way of salvation is through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross – is life for all who believe it.

The gospel doesn’t make us heroes or good guys or moral kings – it makes us recipients of grace, living by faith in Jesus, until He returns and restores all of creation to its original design.

And living by faith doesn’t mean the biblical stories aren’t historical or that there isn’t evidence of a living God or that our minds are divorced from the process. It means that our salvation doesn’t rely on right living but on the person of Jesus, and only Jesus.

Deep in the Old Testament there is an horrific story involving an angry, riotous mob, a man who supposedly represented God, a frightened city-dweller, and an adulterous, runaway concubine. There is no hero in this story, and no one is right (though the concubine pays the greatest price for everyone’s poor choices.) It begins with shame and disobedience, the middle is full of violence, and the end up is a civil war.

No good guys. No bad guys. As it says earlier in Judges 17:6 (ESV), “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

That’s simply an archaic version of “everyone must live their own truth.”

Which brings me back to the age of suppression in which we live.

Jesus continues to call His followers to love, even in times when truth is suppressed, and deception is the visible king on the iron throne. How can we be expected to rise to this calling? To love when everyone is just doing what they want is impossible.

It is. Without Jesus. Don’t try it without Him. That’s like wandering onto a battlefield without protective armor.

If we try to love with our own resources, they’ll deplete in a heartbeat. And we’ll wind up dead on the doorstep of false religion, cut up into pieces, a signal to other fools to engage in the same kind of violence as the mobs.

Instead, we must follow the way of Jesus.

Lay your life at the cross. Immerse yourself in His story. Educate yourself in biblical truth.

Through His power, empty yourself of hatred and fear. Open yourself to His Holy Spirit who will love others through you with a love that can withstand the times.

There’s nothing easy about loving in the age of suppression. But we were designed and equipped for these times.

Jesus is the only name by which anyone is saved. Believe this. Live this. Proclaim it. Declare it. Preach it always, because “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10 ESV

Stop wasting emotional resources and brain space trying to determine who is right and who is wrong. Everyone. That’s the truth.

Everyone is wrong and the only right way is Jesus.

Violence, Religious Frauds – Love in the Age of Suppression https://t.co/lXqpfgNCjc #amwriting #Jesus #MassShootings

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 9, 2019

The Man Who Hated Me in the Coffee Shop

And do you think they’ll line up to thank us when we turn their world upside down?

When we exclude all the ways they devise to build their own stairways to heaven and point to the solitary stairway that hung on a cross, do you think they’ll applaud in breathless awe?

When our words declare their hearts’ desires are idols, and when the truth we speak splinters those idols into worthless shards, who wants to take odds they dash for super glue before they embrace us in gratitude?

When we demonstrate love that we’ve learned from the One who is Love, so they see all they’ve known is shadow love, will they invite us to share their table or plot our demise?

Imagine if we tell them that our God, who created the hell below us and the Heaven above the skies, was the Intelligent Creative Mind behind John, Paul, George, Ringo and every note ever composed, strummed, sang, or dared imagined, will they laugh and ask us what time our worship meets or hate us for not joining them in concert with the darkness?

The first followers who bore the infant church into all the world were not welcomed any more than their Savior was.

Of course, at the sight of miracles, at the preaching of the gospel, at the testimony of the apostles, many were awed, and repentance followed.

But always in the crowd were more who chose envy, anger, fear, rage, deception, persecution, and murder through torturous means because they loved their own devices more than the Truth that created them.

Do you think humanity has evolved some different type of unbeliever?

Leif Enger wove the truth into his novel, Peace Like a River, when he penned, “Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It’s true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave – now there’s a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time. When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of the earth.”

A man, over coffee, called me a fool for believing the Bible because it’s “full of contradictions,” then snorted when I agreed.

“It’s those very contradictions that anger you most,” I replied. “It’s that the truth of them contradicts the shell game of lies that is your life.”

He narrowed his eyes and I caught the glint of hatred he tried to cover with civil debate, sitting as we were, acquaintances in a coffee shop in broad daylight where persecution seemed a distant, archaic thing though no doubt it lurked nearby waiting for an unguarded dark heart into which to curl. “You agree it’s full of contradictions?”

“I do.” I nodded and prayed for boldness. “The Bible contradicts all that we can perceive with our natural minds – pushing us, uncomfortably, to peer into the unseen.

It contradicts the fallen nature in each soul still striving to seek only its own selfish desires.

It contradicts what the world calls freedom and names it the captivity it is, testifying that obedience is freedom and the way of the cross is eternal life.

It contradicts the predictable order of disease, distress, darkness, and death because Jesus began the reversal of such things when He ushered in the kingdom of healing, peace, light, and life.

And it contradicts the modern notion that we answer only to ourselves and not to a Higher Being who will one day determine our eternal destination. Oh, yes, the Bible is full of contradictions and I understand they can be very disturbing. I am disturbed by them, as well.”

(It came out rougher in the telling as the writer in me demands I smooth the edges in the retelling.)

“I don’t like you,” he admitted, more refreshing than offensive really. “I suppose you’ve made peace with all the contradictions.”

I shook my head. “Jesus is the peacemaker. I’m just along for the wild ride. But, no, I’m in the process of becoming at peace but the contradictions hit me hard in the soul-ar plexus, too, like love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and speak the truth in love.

These contradictions hurt me where I live, and I’d prefer to find a more comfortable pathway home. But there it is. He’s my ride and that’s the road He took.

He shook his head, stood, swallowed his last cold swig of coffee and left me thinking about my brothers, Peter and Paul, and how often I’ve longed for an Acts of the Apostles life, but this single conversation left me drained and all it cost me was the disapproval of a stranger I’ll never see again.

Easier to order my coffee bold brew than to submit to a courageous delivery of the gospel. And when I read of beatings, imprisonment, rejection, and greater persecutions to come, I know I’m not equipped in myself for such times.

But here, His Word contradicts my fear and self-loathing and tells me I am an overcomer, and am more than a conqueror, and I believe.

I return to my novel and find that while I feel myself alone, I am not, because Leif Enger also wrote, ““We and the world, my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.” ― Leif Enger, Peace Like a River

And I ask God to make me one who advances.

So, He sends me to my other book, and I read, “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” Hebrews 10: 35-39 ESV

Can I get an Amen?

The Man Who Hated Me in the Coffee Shop https://t.co/bTn2x4oKIB one conversation closer to more #Jesus #Persecution #amwriting #LeadershipDevelopment

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 30, 2019

Seasick from Traveling with Jesus

Wow.

I get it now.

Ever have a moment like that?

Just, wow.

 

For years,

more than I care to number,

I encountered wave after wave after relentless wave of trial.

Ironically, writers are advised to do that to our main characters,

“make them suffer,”

“when things are bad, make them worse,”

“increase the conflict”

“ratchet up the tension and the suspense”

“allow them to fail their way to success”

 

Every reader knows this makes for a better story.

Every human knows this makes for an exhausting life –

 

what character opts for a better story

when the riptides of adversity

too often lead to

depression,

exhaustion,

desperation,

despair,

loss of mind

and heart?

 

I cried out

again and again

against the storm.

 

And sometimes I was spiritual

and other times I was not

And sometimes I had faith

and other times, I curled into a fetal position

and planned ways to end it all.

 

I asked, “why.”

Of course, I asked why.

Not in front of people

but alone on my knees.

 

“Is it something I’ve done?”

I repented over things

I didn’t even do,

and repeatedly over things I did,

things I should have done,

could have done better,

which decision was it

that sent me spiraling into this Odyssean wormhole?

 

Is there some special prayer,

an “open sesame” combination of phrases, Bible verses, or liturgies

that reverses the trend,

that releases the blessing,

that opens the door,

that moves your hand to

stop the crazy spinning helm,

the everyday vertigo

of being me?

 

But there are no Christian incantations

and God isn’t an idol to be flattered,

a genie to be conjured,

or a cipher to be

decoded like an Indiana Jones movie

and my spirit knew this because I’ve met Him.

What did I expect following a God who rocks every boat?

 

So my soul flailed on the deck of the ship in the storm

and heaved over the side

and endured the beating sun,

the rolling waves,

the clouds blocking the only source of navigation

and the unknown outcome of trusting the future to God.

 

I watched as others seemed to have a measure of peace

of security

of victory

of calm seas and fair winds

of cruise ships and full sails

of buffets, entertainment, and day trips to the shore

 

while my allotment

was ladled out in splattering scoops

like sips of water

rationed to prisoners on a galley ship

rowing

rowing

and, during this time,

I developed an intense aversion to manna.

 

If someone preached on manna,

I left the room.

If a devotional was about manna,

I skipped ahead.

 

I didn’t want grace for the day

I didn’t want bread enough for now

I didn’t want strength for the moment!

 

I wanted a diversified grace portfolio

that would allow me to retire on grace at any time

of my choosing;

 

a bank account full of provision

so I could live off the interest;

bona fide security that came from earning enough blessing that I was assured

calm seas and shining stars for miles and months and millenniums.

 

I didn’t want to be along for the ride,

I wanted to own this ship,

direct its course

and hire weathermen to dictate the cursed weather,

at least, that’s what I screamed into the wind as I lay drenched on the deck of the rolling barge.

 

And when God whispered to me,

lying ragged and worn on that tossing deck,

to trust His goodness

His love

His plan for me –

 

the hope of that was sometimes like a stale salt cracker

and I felt internal waves competing

with the assault of the sea

 

waves of self-pity,

bitterness,

temptation to doubt,

to fear,

to abandon ship

and hope for a passing whale

and dispassionate strangers willing to toss me over the rail.

 

But then,

the wind blew in the truth

like an albatross

and as I watched it glide through the air

and land beside me on deck

 

I suddenly recognized the blessing

of my training at sea and

the kindness of God

that He never allowed me the illusion

that I could bank grace

and I stood up for a moment on the deck

utilizing muscles that had developed by my

clinging on so hard

and experienced a new confidence;

 

not in the sun or the soundness of the ship or in a hopeful breeze,

but confidence in Him,

the One who is outside me,

and within me,

and around me.

 

The One who is able

because I never am

even when I feel like the Captain of the my Soul.

 

He knew

that a steady diet of manna,

even force-fed,

is the prescription

for self-righteousness

which is no righteousness at all

 

and He knew

that if He removed all other resources

I would hunger and thirst

after the real thing

only available through Him

and only provided in each day, each moment, each breath

but promised for eternity.

Manna.

 

It is a holy word

Sacred now

God provides.

What is it?

Grace.

 

Wow.

The waves still crash over my bow,

I still lie on the sodden boards,

But

the nausea has passed,

I have my sea legs

and hope no longer feels like a weight I cannot bear

 

now it is my anchor, Jesus.

Seasick from traveling with Jesus https://t.co/A4PHnUhUK7 following a God who constantly rocks the boat #Jesus #leadership #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 18, 2019

Yelling “Jesus” in a Crowded Theater

Like so many of you, I read the book of Acts and want my life to look like that of the first followers of Christ.

It doesn’t. But, there’s no reason it can’t. None.

We live in times like that into which the early church was born. Political superpowers. Factions. Arrogant leaders who wish to be unrivaled, worshiped, followed. Rampant idolatry. Civil unrest. Culture wars.

And BAM, the Holy Spirit arrives like fiery wind and men and women who fled in fear, hid from sight, cried, denied Jesus in the hour of His greatest need, these same formerly fishermen unschooled in persuasive speaking – they became unstoppable, spiritual forces who would eventually die rather than deny the truth of Christ’s resurrection.

Certain. They were certain of Jesus Christ.

Humble. They were humble because they knew who they had been without Him.

And this humble certainty rattled the reigning powers who feared the mobs they pretended to control.

Facing beatings, arrests, imprisonment, stoning, exile, death – they who had formerly fled now defied and proclaimed Christ, the crucified, the only name by which anyone can be saved – Jesus.

They spoke truth to power without hesitation and when threatened, beaten, and warned – they prayed for boldness – not deliverance – boldness.

It’s crazy that living in times where everyone is encouraged to “speak their truth” and to “own their story,” there’s small tolerance for talk of God. Almost none if that God is THE GOD, Jesus.

A time will come when it will be illegal to yell “Jesus” in a crowded theater. We’re almost there now. Can you hear that particular horse ride?

I tested it this week – because I’m praying for boldness and asking for opportunities to mention the only name by which anyone will be saved.

A group on Facebook was engaged in a heated discussion because one member had been spamming repeatedly with “inspirational” memes. Some members were annoyed at their religious nature and the conversation was turning decidedly against any mention of religion in the group.

So, I mentioned Jesus and how much I love Him and couldn’t imagine that He wouldn’t, on occasion, insist on showing up in the group, because He loves the people in the group.

The slamdown was immediate.

I was actually awed by the speed and force.

But, you know what? I was fine. And, some piped up in defense of me (and Jesus, by association) and a couple others (not many) but a couple others find courage to “like” my comment and even to add their own. The initial slammer agreed to tolerate me for the time being.

Another time is coming.

And so, I’m praying for boldness now and exercising certainty and cultivating humility by the grace of Jesus.

Because one day, I may need the certainty and boldness and humility to shout “Jesus” in a crowded theater, so I’m learning to follow Jesus as He walks on water now because that looks easier than facing that eventual mob.

The deception increases – it rises like floodwater.

The stakes have never been higher (not for those of us who believe because we know the end of the story – we’re fine) – but for those who don’t yet call out in faith to the Son of God, the risen Jesus.

We must remember the ones who came before us and their warning to the men and women of their times that echoes now to us:

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.” Acts 3:19-23 ESV

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 ESV

The greatest danger of our times is not that there are many unsaved people who don’t believe God, it’s that there are so many Christians who don’t.

Believe Jesus enough to speak His name with humble certainty.

Certainty will come as we spend time with Jesus. Humility will come as we speak up and engage the hostile crowd and present truth to power.

Boldness will come as we inhale the breath of God and exhale holy fire. The name of Jesus is that flame and we dare not try to contain it when it burns for release into these days.

We are equipped and designed to represent Him now. Believe this now, in Jesus’ name.

Yelling "Jesus" in a Crowded Theater https://t.co/C62UFl9maT holy boldness #Jesus #HolySpirit #leadership

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 10, 2019

Aweless

You’re searching for someone to blame for your own anemic experience of faith.

It’s the eroded culture chasing after idols.

It’s the compromising church and the false church and the fearful church and those Christians who refuse to attend church or those who attend but don’t engage.

It’s spiritual warfare. Cowardly leadership. The scoffers. Wolves in our midst.

The political-social-moral-atheistic-vocal majority with the agenda laden with deceit. (Note to self – be on guard against the lies to which so many fall prey in these times – of course, not you.)

And so, you turn to Acts, to huddle with your people – the early church, the apostles, the women, the true believers, the ones who get it, like you do, and to long for the day when Christ returns.

But, doesn’t God just up and use your self-congratulatory search for comfortable assurance to unsettle the secure confidence you’ve placed in your own innocence? To remind you that the mists of deception slither over the transom of self-righteousness and between the cracks of hubris-hardened heart-doors stiffened with under-utilized faith.

The church was birthed into times like these. There it is, plain as the Pentecost on the page.

An idolatry-based economy.

The true faith riddled with posers and compromisers barely a heartbeat after it’s inauguration.

Warfare and persecution that makes social media shaming look like a lollipop at the bank.

Wolves stalking sheep before the apostles were barely out of the gate and no one had the Pharisees and Sadducees and Romans beat for political-social-vocal-viral agendas

– these people invented crucifixion, perfected persecution, and tapped into mass bloodlust just to draw a crowd on a slow Friday night.

The apostles (uneducated fisherman, tax collectors, and one ex-Pharisee latecomer) navigated these treacherous days like veteran kings in a game of thrones. Not by their own savvy but empowered by the truth of Christ they delivered wonders, miracles, and prayers for greater boldness in the face of the most frightening intimidation – a government and religious leaders who still had Jesus’ dried blood on the hems of their tunics.

The truth of it slaps you hard upside your smug complacency, but God’s nature is kind and in the admonition, He opens your eyes to the crux of the thing.

How often you live without awe and so inspire none.

How daily you saunter past God like an ancient relic on the wall you admired once at a summer fair and sought to own but couldn’t imagine might still contain power for these times.

Oh, on occasion, you rub it like a genie’s lamp and ask for things and sometimes they come, but you let the skeptics around you talk about odds and coincidences, peppering your soul with flakes of doubt, so you secretly believe but don’t let anyone catch you discussing it in the lunchroom – creating boundaries around your belief so it remains tame and well-behaved.

But your brothers and sisters of those first days after Jesus ascended and the tongues of fire descended, setting souls and hearts ablaze with holy fire were wild and uncontained,

not seeking to control the expanding kingdom but simply riding the wave of Living Water washing them clean of all deception and delusion and death.

Daily, they worshiped. Daily. And not just once. And the worship never remained in the place where it began but it clung to them and transformed not only their own souls but those they passed.

Worship wasn’t a service they attended; it was a position they assumed in the universe.

They had witnessed the cross. They saw Him die. They laid Him in a tomb and wept, grieving from the pits of their souls.

But then, He arose. He showed Himself to them, ate with them, cooked them fish on the beach, and spoke with them of the Kingdom come. And they embraced a life of awe.

This awe the Holy Spirit set ablaze and then, the power took them and wherever they walked, they spoke the truth – that Jesus who walked among them was God and that He lives forever and will come again.

And they spoke to peasants and powers that repentance was the only pathway to salvation and that pathway led, as it still leads, through the cross of Christ and was and is only found in one name.

The humble certainty with which they proclaimed Him testified that a power beyond them was at work.

We were prepared for lawless times, but if we read closely, we’ll see that being aweless is a sign of the apocalypse.

To eschew wonder.

To scoff.

To subscribe to the creed of skepticism.

To break the bread of doubt and drink the cup of disbelief.

To dissect every miracle and message until it lies lifeless, pinned to your lab table, reeking of the formaldehyde of your unrepentance, sliced by the scalpel of your godless rebellion – this is what it is to be a modern child of this world.

But you, loved one, your life speaks a better testimony. You are a child of the Most High King.

The remedy for your wilting faith is to free your worship from its measured restraints and return to awe.

He was dead. The Author of Life was crucified, but NOW He lives. Jesus lives.

We owe Him everything and we owe others the uncensored truth about Him delivered with humility and certainty verified by transformed lives marked by relentless worship of Jesus,

“for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 ESV.

Aweless https://t.co/mIw2O54WtD why is the church so ineffective in these times? Who gets the blame? #Jesus #LeadershipDevelopment

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 3, 2019

Why Christians Hide Emotional Pain (and Why We Have to Stop)

Imagine these two scenarios:

A soldier on the frontlines faces heavy enemy fire. She’s injured and she watches several in her squadron take direct hits. She radios for support.

“We need reinforcements. We’re under heavy fire.”

“Don’t panic, soldier. It’s just the enemy.”

“I’m not panicked. I’m calling for air support and extra troops in this area.”

“Again, soldier. We’ve identified what’s happening. The enemy is aware of your location. You’ve been doing solid work and advancing in that area. Good job. Be encouraged by that.”

“I’m aware of what’s taking place but many of us are wounded. We aren’t confused about who is sending the attack and we’re aware of why it’s come. Still, we could use added support.”

“We’re with you in spirit, soldier.”

Or this one:

Harry was fixing the roof of his neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus, trying to be a living, loving witness, when he fell and now, both legs are broken. He’s been treated for the fractures. Several church friends have arrived to visit.

“How do you feel, Harry?”

“I’m in a lot of pain.”

“Well, don’t you believe your legs are going to heal? That should lighten the pain.”

“Yeah, Harry. Have faith that God still loves you. Doesn’t that take the pain away?”

“We could read you some passages from the Bible about God rewarding those who do good. You believe He’ll reward your good work, don’t you? That should make you feel better.”

“If you had faith, you’d just get right up and start walking again, wouldn’t you? Let’s help you stand up, Harry. It won’t do you any good to focus on the pain.”

“I’m no good with pain, Harry. I don’t have any answer to fix it so I’m going to go home. Call me when you’re better and we’ll get together.”

We can’t imagine these scenarios taking place. But, conversations like this occur every day in the lives of mature, believing Christians experiencing the effects of attacks by a spiritual enemy or grappling with emotional pain from a life event or a wound incurred while demonstrating love to others.

The modern church has little tolerance for problems that don’t fix, chronic situations for which there seems no remedy, ongoing spiritual attack of those in ministry, or believers struggling with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, anger, resentment, depression, disappointment, or anxiety.

Many of us learn to say the right words, embrace an acceptable mask, and resume normal activities thinking this is God’s plan for us. As if the eleventh commandment was “fake it until you make it, or someone may think less of your testimony.”

Spiritual attack is real. It comes, not because any of us are such spiritual giants, but because if the enemy can’t keep us from a relationship with God, he’s going to switch tactics and attempt to sideline us or sabotage our story.

Identifying the enemy as the probable cause of a situation is only helpful if we then take action.

James, the brother of Jesus, lived in times of great persecution and certainly understood enemy attack. He describes, in James 4:6-10, that we need to humble ourselves during these times – sort of the opposite of putting on masks and acting fine. He tells us to “be wretched and mourn and weep” as we submit ourselves to God and then the devil will flee.

As a community of believers, we can come alongside those who are under attack. Rather than throwing platitudes at them, we pray alongside them. Weep with them. Wrestle with them in fasting and worship. In this way, we provide “air cover” and stand beside them in ministry as reinforcements.

For the lack of this type of community, many fine believers have fallen prey to enemy fire.

And unpleasant emotions arrive in all our lives, even those of us who are mature and of great faith.

We live in a broken world, an outpost of glory, and life is rife with disappointments, sorrows, aggravations, and setbacks. When we open our hearts to love others, they sometimes step on them. We grow weary in the fray.

People annoy us, test us, make demands, and sometimes betray. We lose loved ones to death or face disease, unemployment, children leaving the nest, and other forms of loss or transition. And not one of us was raised by perfect parents so we carry with us generational tendencies that must be worked out, sometimes over time.

When we express emotional pain in Christian community, we’re too often treated Harry with broken legs in the second scenario. Some congregations have a bit longer tolerance than others, but if someone grieves “too long,” or struggles to release anger/resentment/disappointment, wrestles “too long” with depression, or engages in “another” bout of anxiety, we’re quick with quiet, condemning impatience and Scriptural prescriptions really designed to remove us from the feared burden of being long-term supports.

We don’t like feeling ineffective or wrestling with our own questions of why God doesn’t immediately act. It’s easier to blame the sorrowing brother or sister than to engage our own fears.

Trying to operate too quickly on a broken-heart, is just as counter-productive as trying to walk on broken legs. Many of us know God’s Word, we trust healing will come, and we want to be rid of emotions like anger and anxiety. We all experience them, and we face the temptation to reside in them rather than work through them, but hiding is more likely to lead to residing.

When we hide, the enemy seizes the opportunity to whisper that we’re alone. No one in the Body of Christ needs be alone. Those whispers are a lie designed to keep us from walking into the light.

Again, the Bible demonstrates, especially in the Psalms (like 6, 10, or 42) that God isn’t repelled by our strong negative emotions. If they lead us into sin, there’s something to address, but that’s more likely to happen if we huddle in the dark. To acknowledge them, give voice to them, and turn to God for help with them is key.

God designed us with an emotional array and our feelings are being redeemed along with our souls and minds. Sometimes, that isn’t pretty or convenient. Often it means hard spiritual and relational work. But on the other side of that process, we grow and light pathways others can follow when they fall down the same well.

Taking a long view of discipleship and a deeper view of Christian community and fellowship, we can partner with brothers and sisters in healing by welcoming them to express life as it happens, listening with compassion, validating the power of those emotions, and administering appropriate encouragement and exhortation with the same patience we’d offer Harry and his broken bones.

There is pain along the pathway to healing. Just as Harry would benefit from the right medicine, so we can be that medicine for fellow Christians if we drop our fear of discomfort and hard questions long enough to be present in the name of Christ.

Let’s start here. I’m in pain, walking these days with an “emotional limp.” How about you?

Why Christians Hide Emotional Pain (and why we have to stop) https://t.co/mihJymMtWp #amwriting #JesusChrist #church

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) June 25, 2019

Persecution Preparedness Drill

We’re prepared for hurricanes.

We prepare for blizzards, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. When we live in a region where these events can be anticipated, we receive all manner of public service announcements regarding preparedness and we heed them, if we’re wise.

Christians have been warned since the birth of the church that persecution is coming. This week’s annual report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom reminds us that in many parts of the world, persecution of Christians is a current event.

And if the podcasts and news reports I’m hearing are to be believed, Christians in the West should anticipate that our time of pressure is not far from becoming a reality.

Every Jesus follower would be wise to prepare for the coming storm.

Here are ten suggestions I respectfully offer for persecution preparedness:

Learn to pray. It’s on your to-do list. You bring it up at small group or in Bible Study that you want to become more faithful in prayer. God has nudged you often that He’s missing time with you. Do it NOW . Develop a habit of listening to God, praising Him, expressing gratitude, and casting all your cares on Him.
Pay attention but don’t take up residence in fear. Instead, release fear and embrace a lifestyle of love. The Bible warns us that in the end times, many will be tempted to allow their love to grow cold. Fear does that. It hardens hearts. Practice working through your fears with God (see suggestion number 1) and loving others by treating them as God treats you. If you fear a frown of disapproval from a co-worker, imagine the fear that will present itself when persecution arrives! Loving others is hard enough in times of safety – we need to nail that now because one day, we may have to love under fire.
Cultivate Christ-like humility. Arrogance, entitlement, and self-righteousness will weigh down a soul needing every resource to face persecution. Abandon them now and take on the yoke of Jesus’ humility that served Him well in His time of hardship and trial. Better to embrace humility under God’s care than to be humbled by an enemy.
Know what you believe and why. Procrastinating about understanding the basics of our faith? Studying God’s Word? Reading the Bible through? We’re called to love God with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Feast NOW on His Word before the days of famine arrive at our door. Memorize what you can so that God’s Word is embedded in your thoughts – live what you read, so it’s transforming and not just ego-boosting.
Practice calmly, simply, unapologetically speaking truth about your faith. We don’t need to rehearse complicated theological arguments to testify about our experience of Jesus and understanding of our relationship with Him. Simple words expressed in a quiet but certain manner empowered by the Holy Spirit will suffice for these times and those to come.
Make worship a lifestyle. Free worship from the confines of a weekly visit to a specific sanctuary. Yes, meet with others to worship regularly because character is refined in community, but allow that time to transform the life you lead every other day. Worship through serving others in Jesus’ name. Worship by allowing Him to change you from the inside out. Worship alone or spontaneously. Worship so that your life speaks even if one day, your words are outlawed. Worshipful lives are attractive in mysterious and powerful ways.
Listen to those who are persecuted now. Let the voices of brothers and sisters in countries hostile to our faith tutor us in following Jesus into the lion’s den. Intercede for them, provide aid and advocacy where possible, and allow their testimony to lead you to greater humility, stronger faith, increased courage, and a deeper devotion to live like Christ.
Leave it all on the field. There are so many distractions available in the West to take our minds, hearts, resources, and devotion off the narrow path set before us. Let the prophecy of coming persecution motivate you to make the most of these days. Fewer regrets when persecution arrives will free emotional resources for the moment at hand. Work with one hand, fight with the other, and you won’t have a free hand for the remote, the shopping cart, or the video controller.
Love globally, act locally. Keep a global perspective but don’t let that blind you to the needs next door or even in the next pew. Making eye contact with those with whom we’re present is very much like Jesus. He was tuned into the Father and He loved the world, but He was fully available to the person touching the hem of His garment.
Emulate those who have come before us. One of my great faith heroes is medical missionary Helen Roseveare . Hearing her speak at an Urbana conference in the 70’s affected me deeply. Helen suffered intense brutality during civil unrest in the Congo in 1964. She would later say that she had always, until that time, counted the cost and ask herself of each choice, “Was it worth it?” After the humiliation and torture of that time, she answered, “No, it’s not worthy it.” And that’s when God directed her to a better question. “Is He worthy?” “Yes,” she replied, “Jesus is worthy.” Is He worthy? He is.

There will come a time (and that time has arrived for many brothers and sisters) when persecution and suffering for Jesus’ sake will intensify. Let us encourage one another now, while we are free to do so, to love and faith and not to fear.

Will it be worth it for those of us who endure? It won’t feel like it in the moment, but that’s when we will ask a better question. Is Jesus worthy? Yes. Yes, He is and He is with us always, even to the end of the age.

What will you do now to prepare for the coming persecution? Will you work through this list of persecution preparedness suggestions? Amen, loved one. Because, really, this is what we should be doing anyway if we’ve been listening to Christ all along.

Persecution Preparedness Drill Are you ready for the coming storm?https://t.co/tGX06yotrS #Jesus #christianpersecution #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) June 21, 2019