Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog, page 37

The Problem with You Christians Is . . .

There were times Jesus drew people to Himself, and times when He drove them away. Truths He told that inspired people to love Him, and truths He told that incited them to kill Him.

While Jesus certainly listened to people and we know by His actions that He loved them, I don’t get the impression He checked in with them frequently to ask how He was doing. He didn’t have the disciples hand out response cards or run polls with certain demographics to see if He should tell more stories this week or hit harder on the love thing, but pull back a bit on hell.

Jesus wasn’t one to check His reflection in every mirror. He was the image of only One – God the Father – and that’s the only mirror that mattered.

To make life interesting for the modern church, the enemy has devised a hall of mirrors, and we need to be both aware of them and on guard against them. Too many individual believers, congregations, even entire denominations have grown weary, drained, and paralyzed simply from too many false reflections.

There’s the media mirror screaming headlines about evangelicals, telling us what we think and how we’re coming across to the masses. There’s the social media mirror full of Christians running into pseudo-Christians or immature believers spouting counterfeit messages and confusing even the church.

There’s the polling mirror where we ask questions of certain demographics to try to get to know them, which is a worthy endeavor, until we ask that mirror to tell us how we should appear to them. Then, things get goofy, because one demographic wants us to be taller, another asks us to be smaller, and we end up drowning in a sea of our own tears like Alice in Wonderland.

It makes sense, if you’re running for office or trying to sell something, that you check frequently with your target audience and tailor your message according to their response meter. The church is doing neither. We’re here to serve others, not market Jesus to them. We need to know them, yes, but there’s a fine line, though, between listening to the people you’re called to love, and pandering to them.

There are modern mirrors that magnify every aspect of the church to global proportions so the challenge seems so large we’re overwhelmed and do nothing. Other cracked mirrors magnify one single flaw of the church, so as to make it seem that the whole church is nothing but a pimple on the face of God.

Distorted mirrors from within the church cry out we’re too fat, spending too much time in consuming and not enough caring, while others decry us as too thin, not consuming enough of the truth that matters but just running around tending to the world with no message.

It’s exhausting and unnecessary.

Of course, the church (and individual Christians) should spend time reflecting, but it matters what mirror we choose.

James says it best in chapter 1:22-27 (ESV) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

The world is a defective mirror, loved ones, and sometimes we find shards within our own ranks. We need to waste less time gazing into it to find out who we are and how we’re doing. Jesus knew this. He pulled away from everyone and spent time alone with His Father every day. It’s His feedback that matters. His direction. His assessment. He holds the only response card that matters.

Pulling away to be with God isn’t a way of avoiding the world – He knows them better than they know themselves. He loves them more than we ever can. To focus on God is to serve those we’re attempting to reach. Jesus’ life demonstrates this.

And those we’re trying to reach with the truth of Jesus? They’re victims of these warped reflections, too. The enemy and our own sin natures, apart from Christ, would have us bouncing from one reflection to another constantly fixing and adjusting in pursuit of the perfect reflection to our utter exhaustion and the waste of our lives.

God’s Word isn’t just the only true mirror, it’s the mirror that leads to the Door – Jesus.

Maybe Alice had it right, after all. It’s our job, as the church, not only to identify the only true mirror, but to step through the looking glass with Jesus to the life that frees us from this hall of warped reflections.

Pay attention, this week. Ask God to show you the defective mirrors you’ve been checking. We’re designed for freedom, loved ones. If we exercise it, others will follow us there.

The Problem with You Christians Is . . . https://t.co/UbvA1hmn8J#evangelicals#Jesus#christians How to process criticism of the church

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 26, 2017

 

You want to be effective in your faith. You want to slay giants. You’ll want this book. Jesus and the Beanstalk (Overcoming Your Giants and Living a Fruitful Life)

Let’s Not Pretend – Not Even for a Moment

Let’s not pretend, even for a minute, that God’s Word isn’t powerful, dangerous, and newsworthy.

Let’s not be shocked at the headlines, the Twitter feeds, or the backlash.

Let’s not, even for a minute, act as though reciting God’s Word in public should be greeted with the same response as quoting famous poetry or prophets or politicians. It won’t be, because it’s not just words. It is the Word of God.

Conventional news and social media is abuzz that Melania Trump opened the president’s Florida rally by reciting the Lord’s Prayer, based on Jesus’ instructions on prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.

Critics pounced on her with complaints ranging from the predictable charge that it violated the separation of church and state to the ridiculous claim that the fact she had to read it rather than recite it from memory indicates she’s not a good Christian.

I know nothing about the state of our First Lady’s soul but, seriously, in front of all those people, any of us might forget our own names, never mind an entire passage of Scripture.

And the separation of church and state is intended to protect the church and allow for religious freedom. The state of free speech in this nation is sorely at risk when there’s an outcry against a prayer with centuries of tradition. But none of this is the reason I write this post.

I write to remind us of what we already know. That God’s Word, the Bible, is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12b-13

God’s Word, that book collecting dust on our shelves, those letters we neglect daily – fully intending to read and absorb at some point – God’s Word is an agent of change, a riffler in the hands of the Redeemer, a catalyst for life-altering repentance, a weapon against dark forces, and a declaration of eternal truth in a world where deception has an expiration date.

There are governments in our times that fear God’s Word so much it’s outlawed in their land. And rightly so. God’s Word points to the pathway to freedom – Jesus – and when a man or woman is free, they are no longer subject to manipulation by earthly powers.

Why do we, the church, forget this truth? Why does it take an outcry against it by atheists and secular powers to remind us? Why do godless foreign rulers understand the potency of God’s Word more than His own people?

We have, in our homes and in our hands, a dispatch from glory, a directive from the Almighty, a communique from our Creator containing truth both glorious and dangerous, both poetic and powerful, both risky and redemptive.  

God’s Word can ignite fire in the soul. Bring a proud man to his knees. Embolden a frightened woman under fire. Guide a nation. Redirect a felon. Start a revolution. And defend a fragile human against powers so evil it took the Son of God to defeat them.

So, let’s not be coy when we process the response to the First Lady’s prayer. These words aren’t just something we recite in our churches on Saturdays and Sundays.

These words – these words: “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’” (Matthew 6:9b-13 ESV)

– these words reframe the focus of a soul from our own will to the will of our heavenly Father. They declare our dependence on a Higher Power. They restate our plan to resist evil, not to join it.

These are powerful, dangerous, newsworthy words.

Let us remember that and let’s not just talk about them, let’s live them, today and in the days to come. Amen?

Let’s Not Pretend – Not Even for a Moment https://t.co/WAotIU1dsh a #Christian response to #MELANIATRUMP ‘s recitation of the #lordsprayer

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 19, 2017

Are you facing hard times? Are you gasping for air beside the narrow road? Here’s your help and your invitation back to the adventure. Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus) will meet you where you are and help you regain your strength to endure.

Why Christians Must Be Relentless about This One Thing

There are plenty of debatable issues among Christians. Valid topics on which reasonable believers disagree. The life of a Jesus-follower is marked by freedom from judgment and condemnation because of the work of Jesus on the cross, so we should give one another a wide berth.

There’s one subject, however, on which the Bible is clear: the Jesus-follower’s relationship with hate.

Hatred can find no quarter in the body of Christ and we must be relentless on this front. The Bible warns that there will come a time when the love of many will grow cold and that people will fall away, betray, and hate one another. (Matthew 24:10-13) Jesus is describing a time of spiritual and interpersonal ugliness that permeates even the visible church. Anyone who’s had a taste of it already cringes at the recollection.

Because of this, we need to get comfortable discussing a certain truth. There is a visible church – groups and individuals who publicly identify with Jesus who, in truth, don’t follow Jesus. As hard as it is to be a Christian, our lives are complicated by those who counterfeit our faith and then behave in ways unbecoming a believer. These frauds (some outright deceivers but others simply deceived) are not a threat to our relationship with Jesus but they do impede the work of furthering God’s kingdom and create stress for anyone trying to be an ambassador of the truth.

Still, it’s not our job to sort it out. Jesus spoke of this in His parable in Matthew 13. “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.” (Matt. 13:24-26)

Jesus instructs His followers not to try to tear out the weeds lest they root out some of the wheat as well. This doesn’t, however, mean we pretend this isn’t a problem. This situation demands self-control, on the one hand, and steadfast truth-telling on the other.

When an individual or person purporting to represent Jesus expresses hatred for others or promotes hatred, it’s not our job to assess the condition of their souls. Way above our pay grade. Immature believers, Christians who come under poor teaching, and sometimes traumatized Jesus-followers can certainly wrestle with the temptation to hate or operate under faulty doctrine for a time.

But, we don’t capitulate on this message. There’s no room for hatred of others in the heart of a Christian. The apostle John is plain about this.

“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. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” 1 John 3:14-16 ESV

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:19-21 ESV

While we should exercise caution in speculating on a soul’s status with Christ, we can be bold in representing the truth that hatred has no place in a believer’s life. Christians have the capacity for hatred but a person whose character is marked by hate should take stock of his or her hold on the truth of Christ. Anyone who loves that person should be faithful to confront them with the words of scripture in regards to hate. If they refuse to repent, there’s a pathway described in Matthew 18:15-17.

Our goal in all cases should be to represent the truth of Christ in love, to encourage and exhort in the hope of repentance, and to submit our own hearts to the examination of the Holy Spirit, lest we fall prey to temptation.

Of course, not everything the world calls hate is hate. Speaking hard truth isn’t hatred. Obedience to the Word of Jesus isn’t hatred. Expecting people who love Jesus to mature, to grow up, to live up to their calling isn’t hatred. Explaining that there is only one way to God, through Jesus Christ, isn’t hatred.

Hatred is hatred.  And, the opposite of hate isn’t tolerance. There are things that are intolerable to Jesus and they should also be intolerable to His followers but we persist in love even as we testify to the truth.

Jesus-followers live lives of love. Love for God, for our neighbors, and for our enemies. Loving the world because God so loved the world. No one escapes the rule of love. We don’t always make it look pretty but we keep practicing love.

When we face the temptation to hate, we must draw on the power of Jesus to escape that snare. We can have faith, however, that the true church, the one visible to Christ and ever in His view, will triumph over hatred, for we are more than conquerors – even of the temptations of our own souls.

Hate groups. Hate mongers. Purveyors of hate. Even if they slap the name of Jesus on their banners or websites, they are not of the One True God if their message is hate. Hatred feels strong, so many seek refuge beneath its roof in stormy times but it’s an illusion.

Hate’s opposition is love. Love is the only safe banner, even in these times. Love is the only secure refuge. Truth spoken in love the native tongue of every Jesus-follower.

Love relentlessly. Speak the truth about hatred with absolute surety. Our God is love.

Why Christians Must be Relentless about this One Thing https://t.co/Agm2LfXRXQ#fighthate#love#Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 16, 2017

 

You’re restless. Trouble has you gasping by the side of the narrow road. This is your invitation back into the adventure! Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus)

The Day I Accidentally Evacuated Starbucks

Once I accidentally evacuated a Starbucks.

Okay, it wasn’t an accident that I did it but it was accidental I had the authority to pull it off. As it happened, I was enjoying some quiet in a window seat at the coffee shop when the fire alarm went off.

Initially, I reacted like everyone else in the place. I continued about my business and assumed momentarily the staff would turn it off. They didn’t.

After about sixty seconds, I realized people were staring at me. When I realized why, I knew I had to act. You see, I was wearing one of my dad’s old winter coats. Boldly emblazoned on it in gold is the symbol of his fire department and the word, “Chief.” To them, I wasn’t just an everyday citizen stupidly ignoring a warning of potential danger, I represented the people who take charge in these kind of circumstances.

I’m normally someone who prefers not to be noticed by strangers, plus I’m assertiveness-challenged (I would apply for sticker for my car but I’m afraid to ask for the application). Suddenly, though, I wasn’t representing just myself but the fire department. They were waiting for me to move.

This emboldened me to act. By now, the baristas were also looking at me! I stood, gathered my things, and in a voice laden with assumed authority I stated, “Everyone, calmly make your way to an exit. I’m sure the trucks will be here shortly.”

And they listened! The alarm continued to scream. It was then I also realized I couldn’t run out first (how would that look?). So, again, not wanting to besmirch the fire department (stinking coat!), I hung back until everyone else exited. By then (thank you, Jesus), the fire department had arrived.

The chief took one look at me, recognized me as Dad’s daughter, and barked, “Lori! Did you evacuate this building?”

I indicated the coat, “Kinda had to.”

He laughed. “Excellent work!”

I dashed to my car and high-tailed it out of there.

Years earlier, I’d also acted against my own nature because of what (who) I represent. I worked at a runaway shelter in Providence and it was a late night shift change from second to third shift staff. I had just reported to the other two adults that one of our residents had returned from a visit with his mentor (a self-identified warlock in a local coven) acting unusually subdued, when suddenly, screams erupted from the main room.

The aforementioned resident’s room-mate, a hulk size young man, normally very calm, was suddenly throwing furniture and yelling murderous threats. We acted quickly to get the other residents together with us in another room and asked the panic-stricken roommate what had set him off.

He started babbling. “Look. I tried one of these hair-brained spells on him but they’re not real!” The blood-curdling howl from outside the door indicated otherwise.

None of us knew what to do with THAT information but we had to do something and now we realized, too late, that we’d separated ourselves from the phone (this was long before cell phones.)

“One of us has to go out there and call the police and rescue.” The other woman on staff stated as we heard more crashes in the main room and the resident crying out in an unintelligible language.

The guy who worked with us took a step back. “Don’t assume it’s going to be me, just because I’m guy. I whole-heartedly support feminism. I like it just fine in here.”

That’s when the woman looked straight at me and said, “It really should be you, you know. You’re the Christian. That’s some weird stuff going on out there but you’re supposed to be all protected by Jesus and everything. You’re the one who has to get out there.”

And I realized she was right. I was a twenty-something Baptist and my lifetime of Sunday School classes hadn’t touched on demon possession but, I did know I represented Jesus and Jesus would volunteer to go.

Internally, I prayed. I don’t remember the exact words but it probably sounded something like “Okay, it sure wouldn’t look good to this crowd if I walk out there and die before I reach the phone. Please walk out there with me and keep me safe, Jesus. I have no idea what I’m doing but you do. Amen.”

As I stepped across the threshold, I heard the girl staff say to the guy, “You need to man up and follow her.”

“Why me?” he replied. “I’m no Christian!”

“Yeah, but if Jesus protects her and you’re with her, you’ll be fine, too. But if something happens to her, you need to run back and tell us we’re still trapped.”

She was a very pragmatic girl. Probably went on to win a season of Survivor.

Obviously, I survived. And if you ever worry what you’d do if you found yourself in a strange situation, don’t. I was emboldened by Jesus. I did find words I didn’t know I knew to instruct the wild young man who was sitting calmly by the front door when the police arrived.

In the first story, I assumed authority I didn’t actually have. In the second story, I discovered the authority that is mine (and yours) in Jesus.

We all struggle with our own stuff but we’re capable of setting that “stuff” aside when we remember we represent the Almighty God. The apostle Paul said it this way, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,  with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV

Next time all eyes are on you, remember you’re dressed in your Father’s clothing.  You represent Jesus. Act accordingly.

The day I accidentally evacuated a Starbucks https://t.co/rGqX8jaUKa#amwriting#Jesus#findingcourage

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 11, 2017

 

You want to be effective in your faith. You want to slay giants. You’ll want to read this book! Jesus and the Beanstalk (Overcoming Your Giants and Living a Fruitful Life)

Christian Crank or Life-Giving Messenger from God

Not sure if you’ve noticed but there are a lot of cranks in the church of Christ. That would be splendid, if we ran like the early Model T’s that required cranking to get their engines revving. In my experience, though, church cranks are more likely to kill momentum than to inspire it.

Cranky church people have been memorialized in books, movies, prime time, late night television, and church lore as well. We’re well-versed in the stereotype of the sourpuss hard-wired to take issue with every issue. Until Jesus returns to take us home, cranks will walk and worship among us.

Cranks are popular with the evil one because in many ways, the powers of darkness get a two for one deal with them. First, organic to their own devices, they spin a congregation, committee, or communicator into a resource-wasting frenzy with a few, ill-timed, ill-spoken words. Second, the very specter of church cranks leaves the rest of us en garde, shields up at any hint of righteous criticism.

Dangerous, this, because our loving Father has warned us that we need to confront one another. We all need, at times, to receive correction, redirection, prayerful reflection, introspection or we’re likely to veer far off the narrow way that leads us to our Father’s great heart.

It’s the way of the world.

Our world, this outpost of glory, is an ever-pressing tide moving all things in the direction it’s fallen unless God intervenes. As much as we love Jesus, we’re susceptible, individually and corporately, to caving in, wandering off, compromising, or capitulating. It seems particularly dangerous to either be a lone believer or a believer en masse. Like Jonah alone or the nation of Israel at large, we can be tempted to run, rebel, or even worship a golden cow with breathtaking speed, especially when there’s a crowd around us with the same lame idea.

God had no sooner delivered the Israelites from Egypt (miraculously enough to inspire great Hollywood special effects) than they were looking around for other options for their affection. Moses went up on Sinai to meet with God and He “delayed to come down.” Well, you know how we humans are if we have to wait and wonder when you’re coming home!

The people pressured Aaron, Aaron who had stood elbow to elbow with Moses during all the miracles, they pressured him for a new god and he yielded to their demands, using the gold from their ears (they’d stopped listening to reason anyway) to fashion a cow that inspired a such a worship party God nearly wiped out the entire nation.

I love the way the ESV translates Exodus 32:25 “Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies).” Moses doesn’t capitulate with the rebels. You can read the rest of Exodus 32 on your own time but suffice it to say he engaged in forceful confrontation of their sin.

We can all come up with some pretty strange ideas. We wrestle with fallen natures (though we are now redeemed) in a fallen world with a crafty enemy working overtime to trip us up. At any given moment, any one of us can veer off course so we have to have an understanding within the family of God that’s it’s okay to look one another in the eye and say, “Hey, you might want to check that thought, word, action, blog post, story idea, activity, life choice, worship song, new teaching, or status update with God’s Word and other mature believers. That looks like a step in the direction of breaking loose.”

No one wants to receive correction. I know I don’t enjoy it and in my younger days I feared it, ran from it, mocked it, and too often dismissed it. Having walked with Jesus over fifty years now though, I have to say, I invite it. Especially now as a writer who represents Jesus – I want someone to tell me if they think I’m wandering from truth.

Three Proverbs offer us guidance here, all from Proverbs 15: 31-33 “Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.”

When someone writes me (as many of you do) to ask clarification for something I’ve posted, I’m grateful, even if it feels like they’re maybe being picky. In my heart, I respond with gratitude that they care enough to let me know I may be going off track. Usually, it’s simply that I’ve written badly and need to work harder at being clear, but I’m not immune to falling prey to bad teaching or falling in love with sound of my own voice, at risk of elevating creative speculation over truth. I know I need people who are careful and cautious in their understanding of God’s Word to regularly prod me to the same high standard. Sometimes even the baseless complaints of a crank are the vehicle God uses to keep me in the narrow lane.

Too many preachers, teachers, authors, bloggers, or highly visible Christians these days have broken loose and they’ve been surrounded by Aaron’s who helped them melt their gold into idols instead of Moses’s who set them straight with the hard truth. Worse yet, they take others with them when they run off track and our enemies have a field day at the sight of God’s church derailed. I never want to be that writer so please, I invite you to question or confront me at any hint that I’ve wandered from sound doctrine and truth.

Loving one another sometimes means saying hard things to one another and hearing hard things from one another. But, that’s okay. We’re the church. We’re designed for hard things. We can take it because Jesus makes us able to stand. We lead with grace. We’re emboldened by love. We embrace the freedom hard-won for us on the cross and our lives are sealed for eternity so we can withstand the loving confrontation of another believer if it keeps us from breaking loose to follow the worthless idols that seem to leap from fire in a heartbeat.

Not everyone confronter is a crank. Sometimes a confronter is a rescue ring tossed by Jesus to pull us in from a vicious riptide of heresy. Sometimes an exhorter, even a clumsy, hurtful one, is a messenger from on High.

Crank or lifesaver? God can use either one to instruct us if we receive it all with grace and take it to God in prayer to sort through and process.  So, let me declare today this is a safe blog for you to question or confront. Let’s be unafraid as communicators and as Christians to hear the truth as well as to speak it.

Breaking loose from the bonds of sin is freedom. Breaking loose from the teaching of Jesus Christ is the path of destruction. Let’s be there for one another to make the difference.

Christian Crank or Life-Giving Messenger from God https://t.co/8VJt4XwkAt dealing w/ cranks in the church #Jesus#confrontation#Christian

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 8, 2017

 

Running from a Crazy Man is FREE on KINDLE through Thursday, February 9!! Download it NOW!

Turn the Radio – Off?

Driving home from a breakfast date today, I tuned my radio to the local Christian radio station. (That’s right. It’s Rhode Island so I’m only aware of the one.) Here in the rural area of RI, it’s not uncommon to pick up one or two stations at a time on one dial location and that’s what happened.

For several miles, it was obvious I was driving on the line where the airwaves intersect for several stations, none of them able to dominate. I heard a crossfire of contemporary Christian music, an interview with a noteworthy Christian, and a sermon. I wanted to hear the sermon and kept hoping that station would take over but the three continued to battle it out for several minutes until I finally opted for silence.

That’s a lot like my life these days. I’m not struggling with many evil temptations to distract me but often, I’m facing a barrage of good choices, none of which can take root because they’re competing with one another for my attention. Even though the sermon, the song, and the interview were all worth my time, I couldn’t get my radio to focus on only one so they all lost their value. Trying to take them all in at once diluted the impact any one of them could have on my spiritual life. In the silence, I could hear God.

We all face this, yes? We can hear our own preacher at our local church but can also access a multitude of sermons on TV, radio, and the Internet. The finest in Christian music is only a click of our iPod or cellphone. Christian books abound along with podcasts, blogs, and magazines. It’s all good but when we begin to approach our spiritual development like customers or consumers rather than disciples, it’s time to opt for silence.

God has been able to communicate with His children since He spoke light into being. He can reach us and teach us without the aid of bloggers and name bands. Sink into the silence. Watch the clouds or the stars. Stoke a fire. Ride the waves. Rock a baby. Watch the kids play. Look a friend in the eyes over coffee. Bake a cake.

Lean back onto Jesus. Open your Bible. Listen to the birds.

One of my favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers says it better than I can, “The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.”

‘Nuff said. Time for rest.

Turn the Radio – Off? https://t.co/ssi7dHfetB Seeking God in the silence. Finding Him in the midst of many choices. #Jesus #Sabbath #sunday

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 5, 2017

When God Calls Us to Incompetence

Does God ever call people to incompetence? Does He ever ask us to do things He knows we won’t do as well as someone else could?

Yesterday, I read these verses in Habakkuk during my morning devotions:

“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” Habakkuk 2:18-20 ESV

These are sobering words and it was early morning so in my self-confidence, I prayed and recorded my prayer in a status update on my Facebook page. This is what I wrote: “Today I will ask God to show me the worthless idols of my own making in my life. Today I will keep silence before Him who hears and speaks, the only living God, the One who created me and I’ll pay attention. He is the Truth in a world of deception but He cries out and today I’ll have ears that hear.”

That’s a lovely prayer, isn’t it? I thought so, too.

I brushed my teeth. Walked out of my front door. And God immediately answered that prayer. That sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? And, well, it was, but first – – –

On a frigid morning with the ground covered in snow, I was due to help someone move from one town to another. In fact, I was the person in charge of the move. There were movers involved and coworkers but I head the team so, I was ready to go. My car wasn’t.

I have a wonderfully reliable car but when I turned the key all I heard was “click, click, click.” Now, this wasn’t a hard problem to solve. My husband was upstairs. We have jumper cables. It’s all good – only I wasn’t. Internally, I came unglued! How am I supposed to set an example for others if I’m late to a commitment? Why hadn’t I checked on the car earlier knowing how important it was for me to arrive on time? One person we were moving would be set off all day because I was late and that would complicate the dynamics of the move. How could I let my coworkers down with the lame excuse that my car won’t start?

Then, in my mind, I heard God whisper – One of your idols is your own competence. You’ve made an idol of your abilities and often you rely on that idol more than you rely on Me. Would you like to let it go?

He nailed it perfectly and quickly, I might add. My prayer was answered in under twenty minutes flat. Who says God is always slow to move?

As I waited for my husband to start my car, I thought about why I had such a strong reaction to such a simple problem. I was anticipating an entire day of doing something I’m not particularly good at. When people are in crisis, I’m your woman when it comes to talking, counseling, guiding, assessing, or motivating. When your crisis involves logistics or physical labor, I am not your girl. But, that’s what the situation called for today – physical work, dealing with moving men (ugh), managing logistics, and constant decision-making around nuts and bolts kinds of things. There was no way through it but to do it except now, I heard God asking me to release the idol of trusting in my competence and instead, to rely on Him and keep silent.

What happened was that I grew all day in my deep gratitude for others. I noticed how important other people are and valued what they’re good at – starting with my husband who hadn’t hesitated to leave his warm bed to handle my car and my coworkers who greeted my calls about being late with cheerful assurances. When I arrived, I was transparent with them about how lame I can be with movers or with logistics. Turns out, they both excel at those kinds of things and I relished the joy of being part of a team. My lateness did set off the family member but I accepted that others were better with that person than I am and I let it go.

Throughout the very long day, I did feel incompetent but because I no longer idolized competence I could relax as I leaned into God. He opened my eyes to a world of people who were ready to help this helper – from a former client I encountered at the hardware store who was overjoyed to be able to assist me to one of the family members we were helping who shined like a star the day through. My boss and my family all provided sounding boards for me at different points as I encountered obstacles and needed support.

God, being God, threw in a special twist just to remind me, in a tangible way, of the burden of idols. One family member has a collection, a large collection, of religious statues – dozens and dozens of statues. Most were bubble-wrapped and packed in boxes but a small army or so still needed special care so my car became the warehouse for a baker’s dozen of glass Madonna’s and assorted saints. This isn’t an art collection for this person – these are revered statues prayed to daily and I was barraged with instructions for keeping them safe in transition.

So, on the day God was working with me to release the idol of my own making, He assigned me the task of wrapping, carrying, packing, carting around, and unloading again a car full of idols. As I thought about how much better it would be for this person to rely on the God of the Universe and not these burdensome statues made on a conveyor belt in some factory, I reminded myself that I’d been carting around a reliance on an idol devised in my internal manufacturing company. Taking the log out of my own eye is an ongoing procedure.

We talk a lot these days about working within our talents and our gifting. That’s all good. But sometimes, quite often in Biblical history and in modern life, God calls us to work from the place of our incompetence so we are less full of ourselves and open to be more full of Him.

In the past, I’ve held back from volunteering for things for which I’m not competent even when I saw a need. After yesterday I’m convinced better a bumbler in the act of obedience than a master at the art of holding back.

And I’m also open to releasing more idols – all the better to know the Living God I love and serve.

When God Calls Us to Incompetence https://t.co/692r8tuEsq are you holding onto a useless idol? #topplinggiants#amwriting#followingJesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 2, 2017

 

 

Have you been sidelined by hardship? Are you gasping for air beside the narrow road? This book meets you where you are and helps you know that God does, too. Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus)

The Church Knows Better . . .

We’re a nation of wrestlers. Daily we contend with the greater issues of our humanity. How do we define gender and sexuality? How do we love our neighbors – those within and those without our borders? How can we protect our loved ones from violence and terrorists? Is it ever moral to take a life?

We hear a great raging river of voices – most are angry and shouting, others are fearful or alarmed, some speak reason but are quickly silenced, others are almost too meek to be heard – almost. And we, the followers of Jesus Christ who comprise the church, stand on the banks of this cultural Nile wondering how we will ever cross safely to the other side.

We know we’re called to engage in this conversation. We know we represent Jesus in this. We know for certain some of the voices are wrong, evil even. Other voices sound almost right but not quite. And some of those quieter voices would make a bigger sound if we just had the courage to add ours.

Still, we stand with both feet on the edge, fighting nostalgia for the time we didn’t know the truth so weren’t responsible to say it. We look at Jesus standing beside us and complain – did you save me from my sin only to have me torn apart by this angry mob? And Jesus says quietly, “Do you want to go back to Egypt or follow me? Because I’m stepping out into the fray.”

And, there’s no clear path in the waters, no straight line but there is Jesus. If we stand too long, wait until a paved road of dry land appears, we’ll lose sight of Him and risk everything for guarantees and assurances. Jesus is greater than Moses so He doesn’t have to part the waters of this great cultural current because He is the Living Water and He knows His way. If we keep His eyes on Him, we will not be swept along by the riptide.

But do keep your eyes on Him because there is great danger in these times. There are voices, like sirens, that try to drown out Jesus. Their song is like His, but it isn’t His.

One of the loudest counterfeit cries is the one for unity. We need to create unity. That’s a beautiful concept – to create a society where everyone is accepted and where everyone lives in agreement and peace. But apart from Christ, it’s a modern-day Tower of Babel.

Sure, just as Dr. Frankenstein can piece together a human being, so can humanity piece together something that resembles unity but only by compromising the soul of the thing. Jesus told us He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword (Matthew 10:34) and He did promise unity but also showed us it can only be found in Him.

He has bestowed on the church the work of reconciliation and peace-making but He is the only One who knows how to do this without compromising truth or God’s design.

The church knows better than to believe that humanity rises simply through the power and will of our own humanity. We can certainly achieve a certain greatness apart from God but it is a fleeting and fallible mud brick tower just as likely to collapse from its own weight or to be gathering dust under the feet of the next generation as it is to save anyone’s soul.

The way of Jesus is the way of the cross. It’s not beautiful. It hurts. It requires us to surrender our claims to self-interest and sinful designs. It’s hard and often divides us from those who decline to take the same road. We can (and should and do) continue to encourage them to join us on our Way but for us to walk on theirs or to try to meet them half-way is for us to leave the only hope any of us has for true unity and peace.

We must keep our eyes on Jesus. Pay attention to His Word – know it, study it, and apply it as never before. Listen for and learn to hear His voice as we walk through these waters because He’s the only One who knows the way. He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Encourage one another along the path with strong loving affirmations and urgent exhortations grounded in truth.

Don’t be taken in by a Frankenstein’s unity cooked up in someone’s experimental social science lab. It may look like peace but it’s just as likely to turn and take any life that frightens or threatens to disturb it. And it’s incapable of reproducing true life on its own.

Hold out for the unity that is ours only in Christ. It is life itself.

Read and heed the word of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:14-26 ESV

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.  Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

The Church Knows Better https://t.co/lwa412wRhx the way to true unity – be on the lookout for counterfeits #unity #Reconciliation #Peace

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 28, 2017

**You want to be effective in your faith. You want to slay giants. You’ll want to read this book. Jesus and the Beanstalk (Overcoming Your Giants and Living a Fruitful Life)

One Important Fact that is Simultaneously True and Insignificant

Absolutely no one is listening.

I know you’ve noticed. Lots of people talking, shouting, tweeting, blogging, debating, declaring, speeching, preaching, sign-toting, status-updating, well . . . you know. We are a nation of assertive, right-knowing, ground-standing, self-empowered individuals and no one, no one, is going to run our lives. We’re all going to do it our way.

And it’s here, in this time, to these people, that we share the gospel. It’s into this fray we send our messages, like stray balloons, of love, grace, truth, mercy, holiness, and eternal life. (Mine keeps getting caught in the power lines, bursting into flames before it ever reaches the crowd.) This is the place and time our loving Father determined for us to represent Him, this throbbing, pulsing, vein-popping outpost of glory. Here is where He’s sent us to deliver. Even when no one is listening.

And why should they? Seriously, this is not the age to be speaking of meekness, perseverance, patience, or sacrifice. This isn’t a generation open to long-suffering, absolute truth, or eternal consequences. We have absolutely the wrong message for these times and we’re hopeless at sharing it, to boot.

You see it, too, don’t you? The best of us flubs it all in the telling or if we get the telling right, we fall short on the living. Where’s the gifting? Where’s the light shining off the mountain? Where is our writhing snake staff?

Look around, most of us are tongue-tied. We miss countless opportunities. We see the opening in the conversation and let it pass. Of every Christ-following generation, we have the most. We’re surrounded by Bibles in a multitude of languages and translations, have countless ways to attend church (actually and virtually), can tune into the best preaching with a single click, and can access entire libraries of sound teaching without leaving our chairs. And it’s the same way with witnessing! We’re not limited to face-to-face, door-to-door evangelism. No, not us, we can write the message from our bedside and see it fly across the globe. No generation before has ever been bestowed the dizzying array of vehicles for communicating Christ to the world.

But, no one is listening.

That is a fact that can be simultaneously true and insignificant.

When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, no one was listening. Pharaoh didn’t listen to the Israelites. The Israelites wouldn’t listen to Moses. Pharaoh closed his ears and hardened his heart to Aaron and Moses. Read Exodus 1 – 12. It will feel so familiar. Like God’s been listening in on every Facebook thread.

Not only didn’t anyone listen to Moses and Aaron but the people they were fighting for complained to them and tried to get them to shut up! The more Moses and Aaron delivered God’s message, the worse things got for God’s people and they didn’t like it. They turned on the message deliverers and tried to silence them. Still, God sent them back to deliver again and again and again.

Because the truth was that there was someone listening throughout this whole story. There was One who listened.

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” Exodus 2:23-25

God hears our cry. He knows how lame we feel. He hears our hearts screaming for deliverance from the impossible task of representing Him in the middle of this madness. He sees the immense power of the Pharaohs of our times and He is unafraid.

He knows we can’t speak well. He doesn’t care. He knows we fall down on the job of our own lives. He forgives. He knows no one is listening to us. He knows the hardness factor of each heart. He knows even our own people plead with us to shut up because we’re making things worse. He knows you can’t make good bricks without straw. He knows.

He knows.

He knows.

Ask Moses. Trust Him. He knows.

He wants us to keep delivering even when it seems no one is listening because someone always is – our Father listens and He is the only Deliverer we need.

Tomorrow, when they won’t listen, remember that there is One who hears. He sent us to these relentless Pharaohs. We are not alone.

One important fact that is simultaneously true and insignificant https://t.co/t5p6CC3SNk You need to know #livingtruth #Gospel #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 25, 2017

If (you can keep your faith when all about you)

If you can keep your faith when all about you

Are losing theirs and demanding you do, too.

If you can trust in God when others deny Him

But not hate them for denying what is true.

If you can be despised and not give in to hatred,

Or being pressured choose not to compromise,

Or faced with fearful times not yield to fretting,

And hold fast to truth when barraged with lies.

 

If you can train your mind to biblical reason

When others chase the trending headlines of the day,

If you can listen first as God commanded,

And keep your anger and self-righteousness at bay.

If you can love when others call you foolish,

Or being talked about still hold your tongue,

And trust God to defend you in His timing,

And keep your zeal whether you are old or young.

 

If kings can rise and fall but you hold steady

And train your heart to press in to Christ alone,

If you can stand amidst the storm of clamor

And hear the Holy Spirit’s quiet tone.

If you can keep your heart and eyes wide open

And don your armor each and every morn,

And struck down, rise again with Jesus’ power,

And find strength in the joy of the Lord again reborn.

 

If you can know that daily you will struggle,

But trust Christ’s redemptive power makes you new,

If being forgiven you lavish out forgiveness,

And grounded on earth still maintain an eternal view,

If you can thrive in this far outpost of His glory,

But be eager to join Him in His Heaven, too,

Yours is effective fruitful life and favor,

God’s grace, love, and truth are made manifest in You.

 

 

(**With deep respect and admiration for Rudyard Kipling)

If (you can keep your faith when all about you) https://t.co/XNbrQYcF92 an If poem for these times. #Transitionofpower #Inauguration

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 20, 2017