Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog, page 32

Invasion of the Good Day Heresy (Coming to a Church Near You!)

How can pursuing a good day possibly be evil?

During a prospective employee assessment for a job policing aliens in the movie, Men in Black, Will Smith is handed a gun and presented with a simulation of a dangerous situation.

It’s a dark city street. Late at night. The street swarms with vicious looking aliens and one sweet looking schoolgirl, Tiffany, carrying an armload of textbooks.

Smith passes the test when he shoots Tiffany, proving he knows that the most pernicious evils often disguise themselves as light.

Living in a day of terrorism, global conflict, and racial division, suggesting that consumers “Have a Good Day” may not appear to be dangerous, but I believe the “Good Day” heresy is symptomatic of a systemic darkness that has infiltrated the matrix of our lives.

We’ve become a culture of consumers. This is what we do. We consume. We evaluate. We consume more.

We’ve elevated the “Have a good day” from a clerk’s polite greeting to a cultural value. We worship at the altar of the good day. We idolize making choices that lead to all things good – good days, good marriages, good jobs, good children, good churches, good Christians.

Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.”

When we aim for a good day, we aren’t aiming high enough. The truth is that life is intrinsically a good thing. Our lives are a gift from our Father. They are already good. However, each day will contain positive and negative aspects.

Growing up, I loved the old hymn, Day by Day. I was especially comforted by these lines: “He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what He deems best—Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

That was my expectation. Not all good days.

The false expectations that we’re responsible to have good days is a source of great anxiety for many. That’s become our goal, our idol. To have good days. To experience happiness and pleasure at all times.

If we don’t, we feel let down, a sense of failure, a concern that we’ve been shortchanged somehow or that others have figured something out that we haven’t. This good day thing. Is it any wonder we’re plagued with anxiety and depression?

The religion of consumerism has invaded every aspect of our lives. We consume our days. We consume our relationships. We consume worship. And as consumers, we view everything as a product, a product that must deliver.

Listen to the questions we ask one another on Sundays. “How was worship?” “How was the music?” “Was it a good worship service?” “How was the sermon?”

How would our mindsets change if we asked instead, “What message did you hear from the Lord this morning?” “What encouragement will you carry with you from God’s Word this week from the service?” “What aspects of God’s nature did the music inspire you to consider today?”

Deeper questions. Not questions for people who consume worship – instead, questions for worshipers.

We are a people plagued with anxiety and I believe much of it stems from this Have a Good Day heresy. Am I having a “good” day? Do I have a “good” marriage? Am I a “good” parent? Am I involved in a “good” church? Am I a “good” Christian? These are not evaluations suggested by God’s Word!

God expects there to be trouble in my days. God tells me not to judge anything before its time. He expects me to have an imperfect marriage and be an imperfect parent constantly in need of His mercy, strength, wisdom, and grace. He knows my church, my spouse, my children, my friends, my fellow worshipers will struggle.

I’m not here to consume these relationships. I’m not here to have good days. I’m here to serve Christ, to learn to love, to understand Jesus through struggles and joys. I’m here to experience life to the full.

I’m not here to consume worship and evaluate the performers on the platform. I’m here to meet Him, to offer Him my praise, gratitude, and an open heart. I come empty to be filled, not bored to be entertained.

“Have a good day,” we wish one another. And what if we don’t? What if, in fact, we have a string of days that aren’t good? What if something happens that ensures many of our days will not be good? Is life then still worth living?

Yes. Yes. and Yes. Because Jesus meets us in those days. God is good. God is good but we’re pursuing good days instead of the good God. And I believe we can’t do both at once.

He is a God of redemption. His story is about redeeming the days and the marriages and the children and the churches. Because the truth is, even our good days aren’t good enough, but in Christ we experience forgiveness, grace, mercy, truth, and life in abundance.

Some of you are scoffing, annoyed with me for harping on this “Have a Good Day” heresy. I understand.

But see if you experience some relief tomorrow if you stop trying to have a good day and instead, see where Jesus meets you in all the moments. See if worship changes this week if you release yourself from consuming it and lose yourself in participating in it.

When tomorrow comes, some evil will jump out at you as evil, but some of it will look a lot like Tiffany.

When you encounter her, tell Tiffany to have a good day, won’t you?

Invasion of the Good Day Heresy (Coming to a Church Near You) https://t.co/gopLzWs9JA #amwriting #Jesus #haveagoodday

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 26, 2017

The Underestimated Risk of Rudeness in Our Ranks

I used to think there was one useless verse in the Bible.

It comes in the middle of this well-loved passage:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

This passage says such big things about love, why does it worry itself with small issues like rudeness and irritability, I thought. Surely, these are petty things. Why would the Almighty God stoop to concern Himself with rudeness?

I used to think those portions of the passage were useless, but that’s because there was a time when people treated one another with civility and manners. When manners were employed wholesale, I didn’t appreciate them. Now that they’re passé, I understand God’s interest in highlighting the destructive nature of rudeness.

A person expects hard times, sickness, wars, and economic stresses. A person expects disappointments, loss, and failures. Something inside pushes one to rise to these occasions.

But when we’re eyeball-to-eyeball with another human and receive unwarranted rudeness or unearned irritability, something about that grinds down a person’s soul, erodes the heart like a steady faucet drip, and breaks the spirit like the silent treatment, or the unanswered call.

I’ve seen men who survived prison snap because a receptionist was rude.

I’ve endured sucker punching betrayals with grace, only to plunge into depression at a loved one’s irritable response to an innocent question.

God knows us.

He knows that some of us are wounded by the big guns, while others are done in by the stumble off the curb.

We can be heroic on the high seas, only to slip and fall in the bathtub.

That’s why love (godly love) is not rude or irritable. That’s why it matters that we check our tongues, our expressions, and our rolling eyes, in the small moments, as well the large.

That’s why we do not truly love until our love is civil, respectful, and good-natured. These are not niceties of a by-gone day, these are the hallmarks of all who respond to the call to love like Christ.

Be careful not to gloss over the passages on love, thinking this is a lesson you passed in an earlier grade. Love is a subject we revisit until we graduate into His arms.

The Underestimated Risk of Rudeness in Our Ranks https://t.co/UC28IDWyqc #Jesus #rudepeople #whatislove

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 24, 2017

Plain Speak about Racism, Hatred, and Followers of Jesus Christ

These are times when it is best for men and women of faith to speak plainly, yes? We must be wise, because the days are evil.

I read an article this week in which scientists were asked to explain how it can be that racism persists in 2017. It contained a lot of theories and quoted studies about lack of education, social constructs, media influence, and cultural norms.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Racism exists, loved ones, because humanity is sinful. We cannot save ourselves. We can’t educate, counsel, or peace march sin out of our souls. We need to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Period.

And when we have come into relationship with Jesus, we can’t just coast from the ground to glory. We must press into Jesus, obey His Word, and yield to whatever process He enlists to transform us into truly loving, fully human beings.

We are at war and the front line is with our own souls.

It is wholly inconsistent with following Jesus to engage in racist thoughts, attitudes or actions. It is wholly inconsistent with following Jesus to hate. It is wholly inconsistent with following Jesus to harbor murderous thoughts, attitudes, or plans against another human being.

BUT, we cannot free ourselves from racism, murder, or hate without Jesus.

Those who try to combat these evils by conjuring up their own answers or salvations will find themselves engaging in just another flavor of evil.

Skeptics and even some believers, make much of there being controversies about what the Bible teaches. There are fewer places of disagreement than agreement, and fewer places that are hard to understand than those that are clear.

Some famous person once said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” This is what should concern all of us.

God is less concerned with the theology we haven’t mastered, than He is with our disobedience to the simple, straightforward Biblical commands that are as clear as day.

The following verses from the book of 1 John make it clear that no one can follow Jesus AND be a white supremacist or Nazi or racist:

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.  We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.  Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:11-18

This is clear. True. Undebatable. Understandable to little children. Unequivocal. BUT, only through Jesus Christ are we freed from our sin to live it when the days are evil.

John continues to clarify in case anyone is still confused:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7-12

If you harbor hatred, murderous thoughts, racism, or have committed any manner of evil, you can find forgiveness and freedom in Jesus Christ. If you oppose racism and all forms of hatred, but are seeking to combat them in your own strength, you can find forgiveness and freedom in Jesus Christ.

If you follow Jesus, but are falling prey to temptation to hate or yield to behaviors and attitudes that belong to your old self, step into the freedom provided you by Jesus and remember you are a son or daughter of the Most High God, called to love, not only in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

These are evil days. Speak truth, live love, step into the freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Plain Speak about Racism, Hatred, and Followers of Jesus Christ https://t.co/m4fb9VBqyl #Jesus #Charlottesville #racism

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 16, 2017

A Time to Speak Up and A Time to Refrain from Facebook

The struggle is real, isn’t it, loved ones?

We live in a divisive age and conflict is unavoidable. It’s not as simple as turning off our televisions, or avoiding social media because tempers flare at the dinner table, sides are drawn at the office coffee bar, and cherished church friends sport bumper stickers and t-shirts proclaiming they’re on “the other side.”

It’s disorienting. Disappointing. Disruptive, disturbing, and depressing on good days.

(Yes, Lori, we agree, but what do we DO? How do we respond? Where do we take our frustration, confusion, anger, and our desire to make a difference? How are we to be light when other Christians accuse us of supporting the dark and vice versa?

What about love? What about unity? When we remain silent, others accuse us of being part of the problem – of agreeing by our lack of response. When we stand up for truth, others accuse us of causing conflict and contributing to division. )

“I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” (Psalm 120:7 ESV)

Yes, the struggle is real. Can I get an amen? Navigating these times isn’t easy, loved ones, but our God has not abandoned us and we aren’t the first believers to live in complicated days. His Word continues to supply ample instruction even in the days of Snapchat and Twitter.

First, the ability to withstand conflict, disagreement, and debate is a muscle that can be strengthened. Christians in other countries have been living out and speaking up for their faith in much worse situations for generations. They know, what we need to learn, that Jesus is present and active even in chaos.

Crisis is an opportunity to strengthen our faith, to rely more on our Lord, and to live more boldly what we have only talked of living in times of peace. But we must be wise for the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Wisdom comes from God, so seek Him at every opportunity. (James 1:5) No more talk of “next year” I’ll make a habit of reading my Bible, or “soon” I’ll develop a prayer life. Now, loved ones. Now is the time.

Second, we speak up when God makes it clear we should speak.

We never speak up, like trained circus seals, at the prompting (or provoking) of the media, or of those who hate Christ, or of fools who fill the air for the sake of hearing their own voices. Reread the gospels and watch Jesus interact with his detractors. He never felt compelled to play into their agendas.

They baited Him always, but He resisted the bait. He responded to questions with questions unless the one asking was truly seeking Him. We take our cues from Jesus, not from the circus monkeys that rule the air, because there is a ring-master at work, with whom we are at war.

Read the gospels, pay attention to Jesus, and learn to know His voice. These are not the days to “wing it” or let our changeable emotions wag our tongues or move fingers across keyboards.

Third, we speak truth when we know the truth. Period.

We don’t speculate on rumors or half-truths. We don’t jump at headlines or click-bait. We don’t share stories from unreliable sources, or quote statistics we haven’t confirmed. We represent Jesus and He never ran about like Chicken Little proclaiming the falling of the sky. Neither should we.

And when we speak about what we believe, we know why we believe it. Our mouths are informed by our minds which are instructed by God’s Word and inspired by hearts yielded to Christ. Until we are in this place, we refrain from speaking.

Fourth, we listen out of love and to represent a God who hears. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 We don’t shout one another down. We don’t shut one another out.

We exhibit the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This doesn’t sound to me like people who toss out one-liners meant to stir up trouble, or who traffic in sarcasm and insults. These sound like sober-minded, brave souls willing to step into the fray with listening ears, loving hearts, calm spirits, and wise, loving words. People who use words as tools, not weapons. This is who we are, loved ones, we who walk with Christ.

Fifth, when God tells us to speak, we boldly, bravely, unapologetically represent Jesus and God’s unchangeable Word with our speech backed up by our lives. We do not hesitate, manipulate, or capitulate. By His power, we stand.

Sixth, we lead with grace. We who entered the family of God by admitting our sinful state, by acknowledging that we deserve eternal separation from God, and who confessed we cannot save ourselves, but rely on Jesus Christ for salvation, we freely extend to others the grace we freely received. Even when this grace is thrown back in our faces, trampled beneath unkind feet, or spat upon by souls given over to hate. Grace is our resistance against the cult of hate.

Seventh, we learn to love under fire. Love is our shibboleth. Love is our banner. Love is our tagline, our logo, the symbol on our shields. Love informs our perspective, our prayers, our words, our actions, and our activity on social media. We do not live informed only by talking heads on TV or bloggers online or despots who hate our Lord, or posers who appropriate our faith for political gain. We live informed by love alone, for we are our Father’s children.

We are not at the mercy of the times in which we live. We are not orphans in this world. We are children of the Almighty God who will hold us accountable for every word we speak or share  – even on Facebook.

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  That hasn’t changed and never will.

 

Jesus knows the way through these times. We will follow Him, and we will not fear.

A Time to Speak and a Time to Refrain from Facebook https://t.co/tMHZmlNDqm guide speaking out during divisive times #Charlottesville #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 13, 2017

The Act of Worship We Must Commit to Impact Charlottesville and Beyond

When the news is full of rumors of war, protests in the streets, senseless deaths on bright summer days, and hatred spewing from every corner, hatemongers sometimes even invoking the name of our Lord to falsely justify their actions, it can be hard to hold on.

But, this is exactly the time not to hide. This is precisely the moment for which we were created and why we were assigned to these times, loved ones. He designed us and chose us to live here and now to represent Him, to inhale His truth and exhale His Words, to stand against the tsunami of deception rising up and threatening to swallow those who deny the existence of a holy and loving God who is coming again.

We concern ourselves too much with the actions and attitudes of others. There is a greater enemy than the despot on the other side of the world or the politician on the other side of the aisle.

We would be wise to secure the borders of our own hearts and minds, lest we fall prey to deception, hatred, greed, and every manner of violence that can arise from within the soul unwilling to bend its knee to our Creator God.

If you have the light of Christ within you, let it shine today, so that the darkness declaring itself in our public squares and the darkness threatening to strike at our loved ones overseas, is diminished and shown for what it is – an enemy with an expiration date, a conquered dragon thrashing its tail as death approaches, a defeated foe firing blindly into its private night.

Jesus reigns. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.

Followers of Jesus are not marked by hatred, fear, or lies, but by faith, truth, love, and light. Light the way, loved ones, it’s getting harder for others to see through the dark.

Our brother James wrote these words as he faced a time of terrible trouble and they stand true for us today:

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:1-4 ESV

When I read these words today, I’m tempted to apply them to others. To those who disagree with me. To those who threaten my freedom. To those who misrepresent my faith. But, God’s Word isn’t like that. It’s a mirror and the soul reflected is my own.

If I am to represent Him in this world, I must lay my own heart open for Him to search. I must accept that the Spirit led James to write these words to me.

“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:5-10

Humility. There has been far too little of this in my life. I sit on my porch and imagine I know what world leaders should do against spoiled despots, how young men trapped in poverty should act when they’ve lost all hope, and how those “other” Christians should repent in order for God’s light to shine. But, God shows me these thoughts are a dip into that tsunami, a compromise of the soul toward Satan’s deceptive siren song. “Resist,” says my Father. “Draw near to Me.”

And isn’t this what worship is all about. Submitting ourselves to God. Resisting the devil. Drawing near to God and He drawing near to us. This is the answer to the headlines, loved ones. It’s not glitzy and no one will make headlines by doing it, but this is the pathway to a changed world.

There is little enough evidence of humility in humanity today that those who exhibit even a spark of it will shine like stars.

Want to have an impact for Christ? Be the light.

Join me in praying for those on all sides in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the citizens of Guam and North Korea, for the leaders of our nation, and for every Jesus-follower to draw near to God this week, to humbly follow Christ, and to shine the light of Jesus where ever we are called to stand. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Act of Worship We Must Commit to Impact Charlottesville and Beyond https://t.co/QKUKsfDzeY #Charlottesville #Jesus #humility

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 12, 2017

Once Upon a Time There was a Cow Stuck in the Ice

We live in a rural area of Rhode Island, and during my father’s decades of firefighting, many of his rescues involved wildlife or domestic animals.

One winter at dusk, he responded to a call for a cow stuck in the ice. It was snowing, and the firefighters racing over slick country roads in my dad’s car vowed never to ride with him again!

He and his firefighters set up at the local pond as darkness descended, and donned gear for an ice rescue. The herd milled around moaning on the banks, fretting over the commotion.

Dad waded in and stood at the head of the trapped animal, stroking its neck to keep it calm while another firefighter broke the ice around it, moving to take up the rear. They planned to gently prod the frightened animal forward to safety.

When everyone was in place, Dad grasped the animal’s head and instructed his partner to reach under and protect the udder, so it didn’t snag on the ice. Just as his partner reached beneath, Dad felt a surge from the beast.

“Hey, Chief! This cow hasn’t got an udder!” were the last words Dad heard before the bull charged out of the water and up the bank with Dad holding onto its neck for dear life. That night, Dad took a ride he never forgot either.

Things aren’t always what they seem on the surface. Especially, in stories. Sometimes, the truth hides on the soft underbelly of a story, and reveals itself too late for us to save ourselves from a bumpy ride in the dark.

We live surrounded by storytellers.

Everyone from car salesmen to politicians, radio hosts to filmmakers, marketers to the NFL, have learned the trick to capturing our attention is to tell us a compelling story. We love to be moved. We revel in every humorous, intriguing, heart-wrenching, cliffhanging detail of a well-told tale.

Which makes sense, yes? And testifies to the existence of God. We were designed for stories. Our Creator is a Master storyteller, so of course, He hard-wired us with an unrelenting hunger for them.

But, like everything good in this fallen world, not every storyteller serves the same master. Our enemy has appropriated storytelling for his dark ends and so, it’s becoming harder and harder to tell if we’re receiving life-sustaining milk or just getting a lot of bull.

Tell me a story and you have my ear. Make it captivating, and I’m open to your worldview. Make it truly compelling, and I might purchase whatever you’re selling, even if its darkness and lies. In fact, I may crawl deep inside your story and lose my way before I realize I should have left a trail of bread crumbs before I followed your words this far into the forest.

These are the days for remembering a truth we learned as children, that bad stories can be good, and good stories can be very bad. While dark and scary stories full of big bad characters can be enough to send us running for our covers, they may teach us to be wary of dangers that are very real. These are bad stories, stories that make us squirm or shiver, that are good.

Other stories are beguiling, mesmerizing, tantalizing, engaging, and comforting to the point we want to curl up inside them and call them home, but are woven of the most insidious evil lies. Before we see the fallacy in the fable, we grow drowsy-eyed amid the poppies and find our souls have lost their will to rise without support. These are good stories that are very, very bad.

Soldiers in every war prepare to confront other soldiers. They’re alert for a clearly uniformed, well-armed enemy. It’s the grinning old lady from the village with a sword beneath her sweater or the innocent child with a bomb strapped into his basket that are the stuff of soldiers’ nightmares. There are stories, these days, as sharp as daggers, as explosive as IEDs.

Pay attention, loved ones, to the stories you absorb. Track the number of stories you encounter in a single day. Devotionals, Bible, social media, radio, work, school, family, television, news, salesclerk, commercials, sports networks, video games, and more. How many stories swirl around you?

If you’re very brave, reach beneath them, under the surface where the truth lies. Are they filled with nourishment, or are you about to be taken for a ride?

One of the greatest ministries we have as Christians is one of the simplest. God calls us to tell our story. We are our Father’s children. His story is our family business. Even the most tongue-tied among us has access to the Holy Spirit and can tell a five-sentence truth with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Most of us have original stories of God’s work in our lives. Find a thousand ways to tell yours until you discover the way that’s organic to you. Write it. Recite it. Record it. Film it. Paint it. Build it. Act it out. Tell one person or tell a thousand. Every telling counts.

If you aren’t ready to tell your story, learn a Bible story and tell it. As we teach our children the stories of Jesus, have them tell them back to us. Host storytelling nights at your church, in your home, at senior centers, or camps, or schools.

Or learn another Christian’s story – a martyr, hymn-writer, persecuted believer, or person of great faith and tell that.

If you’re a born storyteller, well, we need you now more than ever, loved one. You are on the front lines of this light vs darkness warfare. Tell your story whatever it takes and teach others to tell theirs, too.

Support the storytellers in the Body of Christ. Encourage them, help them develop their gifts, create venues for them to shine. Each story full of light is a flare in the darkness reminding our enemy that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. We’re on to his tricks and we are armed with truth. There’s life-giving milk in our cow.

Once upon a time, there was a God who loved the world . . . and still does. Let me tell you a story about Him, loved ones, a story that feeds your soul.

Once Upon a Time there was a Cow Stuck in the Ice https://t.co/Un4XapJPvg #storytelling #Jesus #tellyourstory

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 3, 2017

This is How We Kill You Now

You and I can be incredibly efficient killing machines.

Right now, you feel comfortable reading further because you’re confident that I’m only speaking in generalities, or about “others,” the ones with murderous hands. Please keep reading, but don’t expect much comfort. Murderous hearts are the greater concern.

Since Cain killed Abel, humans have found ways to extinguish other lives. We don’t know if Cain used a crude weapon or his bare hands. Doesn’t matter. That first murder was face-to-face, personal, and the template for all murders to come.

Murder isn’t as mysterious as we make it out to be.

The apostle John explains the first murder to us this way: “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.” 1 John 3:11-12 ESV

Cain loved himself more than he loved his brother. Abel’s righteousness ate at Cain. Cain knew he looked bad, and Abel made him look worse. Rather than seek righteousness or clean up his own act, Cain snuffed out his brother. Why not? It’s easier, right?

Since Cain’s day, we haven’t improved at seeking righteousness, but we have become more adept at murder.

Daily, we hear of shootings, bombings, gang violence, and terrorist plots. Those murders make headlines, but they aren’t the kind of systemic, stealthy, insidious killings that are far more prevalent in our times.

Most prevalent are murders that occur because one human (like Abel) makes another human (or group of humans) (like Cain) look bad (or feel bad), simply by existing. Totalitarian governments oppress and imprison to control those who don’t toe the party line. When they get out of hand, though, to keep the despot or party from looking bad, lives are quietly disposed of somewhere out of sight.

We know this happens, but it’s far away. Out of our control. Most of us still feel pretty comfy in this reading, but it gets worse. Closer to home.

We’re keenly aware that millions of unborn children around the globe (or down the street) are quietly destroyed, deemed unworthy to take their first breath. This has become so commonplace, it almost annoys polite society to bring it up. Abortion, oh, that again? Are you still harping on that? I try not to be political.

But, it’s not political. It’s personal. It’s personal because there are persons involved –persons die. Persons that might otherwise be celebrated, embraced, wrapped in swaddling blankets, named, loved.

But, now, this depersonalization of certain humans, spreads like gangrene, because that’s what it does, don’t you know? Once we accept the dehumanization of one segment of society, it’s easier to turn our backs on more.

Our enemy knows this. He’s aware that if he can get us to harden our hearts in one direction, they’ll be more likely to harden in others, too. In this way, he can use us to do his work – that of destroying us – God’s creation – humanity.

Are there people who make us sad? Uncomfortable? Feel limited? Lacking in power, sufficient resources, or answers? Maybe, just maybe, it would be better if they stopped being around. You know, for their sakes.

Children identified in utero with severe birth defects. Infants with incapacitating illnesses or handicaps. The very, very old. The mentally ill. The seriously depressed. The incurable. The incorrigible. The unwelcome. Where does it end?

The accuser whispers potential victims to our hardened hearts until more and more people appear to deserve to die.

When a society loses its understanding that there is a greater power to whom we all answer, then life is at the mercy of our arrogance.

We can’t cure you? Heal you? Save you? Straighten you out? Manage you? Afford you? Correct you? House you? Bring you back from that dark place in your mind? Ahh, well, we’re reached the end of our abilities, so maybe it’s time for you to exit stage left. If you hang around, if you linger, if you outstay your quality of life (or compromise ours)– well, it just makes us look bad, doesn’t it?

And when we stop taking our cues from a God who values love over achievement, well, maybe then, caretaking isn’t a priceless act of mercy, sacrifice, or meaning. It’s simply a drain on society’s resources and should be limited – severely limited.

It’s happening more often. I’ve witnessed countless, everyday cruelties in situations of people in authority, or in helping professions, clergy, medical staff, caretakers, who reach their end with someone. “That’s it. I’m done. I’m out. There’s nothing else I can do for this person. I’m sorry. Don’t call me again.”

Leaving one or two of us standing beside another human being at a loss. And all I can think is, “But, this person still exists. This soul is still here. He or she still needs food, shelter, water, care, more – even more.” I stop myself from asking “what would you have us do now?” for fear what they might answer.

But, I know from the looks in everyone else’s eyes, this person has already ceased to exist.

We’re learning how to kill you while you still live and breathe. We’re learning how to sleep at night while you suffer alone. We’re learning how, like Pilate, to wash our hands of your blood and turn you over to the screaming mob. Boy, are we on the wrong side of that power grid.

I’m uncomfortable now because spots of gangrene appear on my soul. Every time we harden our hearts against another human. Every time we choose our own anger over forgiveness, service, and compassion. Every time we consider another hurting, needing, wanting human outside the scope of our mercy because we don’t have the answers for their problem, we become that much better at murdering them in our hearts.

Which is where death is conceived, you see.

Love is the only remedy for murder in its earliest forms. Seek the cure, loved ones. Seek the cure.

This is How We Kill You Now https://t.co/Uiil3CAFZw what is the cure for an impersonal, murderous society #Jesus #loveistheremedy #life

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 1, 2017

I Am a Sexually-Broken Christian

I am a sexually broken Christian.

This shouldn’t shock anyone reading this blog post. We live in a broken world. Few among us are healthy, whole, and living out our full redemption in the areas of gender, sexuality, and romantic relationships.

Through Christ, I am on a pathway to wholeness, but I, like everyone else, struggle with a measure of brokenness in this world. If I weren’t a Jesus-follower, though, I’d just be sexually broken.

One of the barriers I have in talking with people about LBTGQ concerns is that I don’t understand why our Christian culture insists on categorizing sexual/gender-related sins on a spectrum.

For me, this isn’t an “us vs them” conversation, as in hetero’s vs others. For me, this is an “us as related to Him” conversation as in, how do we humans, wrestling with the brokenness and sin of our most intimate relationships (that with our own gender, our own sexuality, our partners, and our God) find redemption, reconciliation, and healing this side of glory?

When we create a false divide as if some ways of being broken are more desirable than others, we lose a significant pathway to dialog. WE all struggle with lesser attractions than those to which we’re called. WE all are barraged by temptations from without and within to lust, to wander, to withhold, to twist, or to distort this gift of gender and sexuality created by God.

I’ve never wrestled with same-sex attraction, but I have done harm to myself and others by wrestling with same-sex repulsion. Hating, fearing, and hiding from other women has created significant sin issues in my life and the life of the church.

Certainly, there’s a well-documented history of misogyny in society and the church, but it’s no less damaging now to witness man-hating, male-bashing, and gender-centric fear-mongering made the norm in many circles, including some within the Body of Christ.

I do believe the Bible speaks against the practice of homosexuality, but it also speaks against sex-outside of marriage, lustful thoughts, pornography, divorce, abuse, and withholding sex from a spouse without cause.

I Timothy 5:24 (ESV) says this: “The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.” We know that while some sins of gender distortion and sexual perversion are apparent to all, there are others hiding behind closed bedroom doors in relationships that appear as straight and godly as church pews.

This isn’t to say we should be suspecting or condemning everyone, but to say we should engage others with compassion knowing we all bear pain, scars, and private failings because of sin. There are people who weep alone in their bedrooms, who harbor deep shame, who try again and again to overcome a besetting sin made more insidious because they feel they cannot tell another soul.

The brokenness with which they struggle is no better than those who parade theirs for all to see. To hide sin or to embrace sin are coin flips in the world’s ineffective solutions to a problem only God can solve.

It’s a wise practice for us to have conversations around these issues as people mindful that one day, all things hidden will be made known. We would all benefit from practicing greater compassion, humility, and honesty.

Which is not to say, we should accept one another’s sins! If I confessed any sexual/gender brokenness to another Christian, or shared thoughts that were inconsistent with biblical truth, the other Christian would be right to encourage me in the direction of repentance. Why my brothers and sisters who confess to same-sex attraction feel their sin belongs in a separate category than mine is beyond me.

When God introduced us to ourselves in Genesis one, He immediately told us three things. One, we were created in His image. Second, He gave us dominion over the rest of creation. And third, we are created male and female –there is some mystery in that this gender-ness of us still reflects His image. Doesn’t it make sense that the evil one would make a full-on assault in this aspect of our lives?

In Genesis two, He expands our understanding of ourselves. He explains that although Adam was surrounded by all of creation and walked in union with God, it still was not good for him to be alone, so God created Eve, flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone.

There we were, male and female. Individuals and yet, intrinsically linked, necessary to one another, partners in every way. Doesn’t it make sense that the evil one would devise schemes to make us enemies, one to the other? Doesn’t this assault lead to a greater sense of isolation and loneliness than we can bear without God?

God explains that though separate beings, we can become one flesh. And He feels it important enough to mention that Adam and Eve were naked, yet unashamed. Of course, our enemy works to destroy this unhidden one-ness, just as a jealous painter might deface the work of the masters to appease his own inferiority.

This was all before the brokenness. Before the serpent whispered to the woman. Before she responded with a half-truth. Before he tempted her and she fell with Adam falling alongside. Before the sin. Before the impulse to hide from God, to blame, to shame. Before the need for curses, for covering, for exile.

We don’t live in the time before. We live in the legacy of brokenness and we all experience it in some way.

I am a woman who has always identified as female. I have always been attracted to men. I am the wife of one husband. And yet, I have experienced my own share of sexual brokenness, of gender frustration, of temptation and falling short of God’s intended design.

I do not live in the time before, but through Christ, I have stepped into the Kingdom Come and so I have glimpses of that glory that makes me long for more.

Loved ones, our gender, sexuality, and marital relationships are designed by God, gifted from God, and governed by God for His glory and purpose beyond our pleasure, procreation, and politics. We would be wise to lessen the discourse that divides, and with the mind of Christ, bushwhack our way through the rhetoric to words that carry with them the hope of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration.

There is a more excellent way; let us walk in it together. Let us unite against the one who has only our destruction at heart to move toward the One who desires that we would have life to the full.

I am a sexually-broken Christian https://t.co/9rcyJD1Rho a real conversation about gender/sexuality in the church #Jesus #sexuality #gender

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 26, 2017

Theology Made Simple for Summer

Five things that drift –

A vacationer on a tube down a lazy river

A swimmer body-surfing in the sea, inching further down the shore each time

My mid-section

An entire civilization

A soul without a habit of daily realignment with God’s Word, sound doctrine, and mature supports.

Five statements that should not create debate, but do –

The world and humanity are clearly the design and creation of a higher mind.

Human life has value no matter how small, old, diseased, disabled, poor, or far from God.

God cares what we put in our minds, watch with our eyes, do with our money, speak with our mouths, and judge with our hearts.

Our gender, sexuality, and marital relationships are designed by God, gifted from God, and governed by God for His glory and purpose beyond our pleasure, procreation, and politics.

Jesus-followers should be world-renowned virtuosos in the twin arts of love and truth.

Five scriptures that would revolutionize our world if we all practiced them immediately:

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 ESV

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 ESV

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” Philippians 2:14-16 ESV

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13 ESV

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

Five people we are called to love:

God (Matthew 12:30)

Our neighbor (Matthew 12:31)

Our enemy (Matthew 5:44)

Our brothers and sisters in Christ (I John 4:20)

The stranger in our midst (Deuteronomy 10:19)

Five disciplines for remaining open to God:

Read and meditate daily on God’s Word

Pray without ceasing

Confess quickly, forgive readily

Give

Rest from your labors one day a week

Five reasons for hope, even in these times:

The eye of the Lord is on you (Psalm 33:17-19)

Greater is He who is in us, than He who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. (Romans 8:38-39)

In Jesus, all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

One day, death will be no more. (1 Corinthians 15:26)

Five free gifts from our Father:

Stars

Sun

Trees

Birds

Words

Five final thoughts:

We never know when God’s armies are on their seventh march around the wall of someone’s soul.

The miracle of the church is that becoming more like Jesus doesn’t make us identical, but brings out the grain in our individual design.

When our hesitation overrides God’s invitation, we opt out of opportunities to shadow our Father in His work.

Our impulse is to retreat and hide; God’s imperative is to advance and redeem.

Many of us spend decades learning to slow down to the speed of Light.

Theology Made Simple for Summer https://t.co/JX2tMfvnjf how not to be adrift #amwriting #Jesus #summer

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 24, 2017

Traveling with Jesus Sometimes Leaves Me Seasick

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 the 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.

 

So it 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.

 

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 freaking 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.

 

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 felt 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.

Traveling with Jesus Sometimes Makes Me Seasick https://t.co/xnUVQul9Te #Jesus #amwriting #survivingtoughtimes

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 15, 2017