Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog, page 46

Has Anyone Seen My Tailwind?

There are days when it feels as though I can see heaven from my kitchen window. The goal is in sight, my mission is clear, and Jesus’ voice is as real to me as the ringing phone or the morning alarm.

Then, there are days when I feel like a castaway from the shipwreck of the S.S. Salvation, lying listless and spent on a wooden door that used to lead somewhere, watching sharks circle, blinking at a relentless sky,  my ambition as parched as my cracked and sunburned lips.

Perhaps I’m being a tad dramatic.

I just thought at some point, things would be different, you know? I thought that as I grew older, grew up, matured, there would come a day when I could set my faith on cruise control. I thought I’d hit my stride and wake up every day knowing exactly what to do and how to be.

That ain’t happening.

And it’s not about employing spiritual discipline, devotions, fasting, tithing, praying, Bible reading, sacrificial living, or any other spiritual calisthenics all of you solution savvy readers are about to prescribe. I am there. I do that. I pray that. I read that. I study that. I give that. I live that. I’ve been to the mountain, baby, and I’ve seen the dazzling white.

Still, there are days that come when I’m belly up on that raft wondering how I’ll ever make it to shore, trying to remember if that’s even the goal. Have you been there? Have you drifted on that door? I know I’m not all alone.

The disciples sailed in these waters. Luke 9 is an adventure in the ebb and flow of faith. At the start, Jesus arms the twelve with power and authority over all demons and diseases, then sends them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Hoo, doggie. That’s heady stuff. Chosen. Empowered. Sent. Wow.

When they return, they withdraw with Him to Bethsaida and a huge crowd gathers. Jesus suggests they feed the crowd, but they don’t respond like miracle men. The whole loaves and fishes idea is His. The disciples, fresh off their deliverance and faith-healing tour, are checking the budget and worrying about cash flow.

In the next moment, they probably felt frustrated and confused because Jesus starts asking them who they think He is and talking with them about denying themselves and losing their lives. Things feel really serious all of a sudden, ominous, like there’s suffering ahead and they’re nostalgic for yesterday’s signs and wonders.

But suddenly, Peter, John, and James are witness to Jesus miraculously altered, dazzling white, speaking with Moses and Elijah who appear out of nowhere – like real. So real, they want to build shelters for them. The passage said the disciples had been sleeping but suddenly they were fully awake. I’ll bet! As if that wasn’t enough, they hear the voice of God from the clouds announce Jesus as His Son, His Chosen One. No wondering who they’re following now. No doubt. All glory. Glory, glory, Hallelujah, baby! Wow. Wow. Oh, wow. This is so real and so clear and so much about Jesus.

Until the next day.

Coming down the mountain they run into a dissatisfied customer complaining that the disciples can’t cast the demon out of his son and Jesus seems frustrated. They’re not sure why. Then His mood darkens and He starts talking about dying and the disciples don’t understand but they already feel like failures for not delivering that kid from a demon so they’re afraid to mention that what He just said totally confused them.

So, in a shining moment of ultimate spirituality, they start arguing about which of them is the greatest! How fleshly and human can a disciple get? Worse yet, when a village of Samaritans rejects Jesus, the disciples offer to call down fire from heaven to consume the lot of them! And those are only the stories from ONE chapter of ONE gospel.

God is unchanging. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But me, I’m as moody and changeable as the weather in New England. Sometimes I get sick of myself. Sometimes I wonder how God can stand me. Often I imagine I’m really close to being cut from the team. But then I remember the disciples and their long walk with Jesus.

He’s been here. He knows what we’re made of. He knows what we’re up against. He is undeterred from our bad days and not as impressed with our good ones as we are. He knows it’s a long trip from the ground to glory and He has promised not to leave us – ever.

On days when I wake up and find myself on the raft, I’ve learned not to panic. If prayers seem empty and scripture like stale bread, I pray anyway. I flip to the Psalms and remember that every follower has feelings. Sometimes it’s a sign I need a rest or a break or refreshment. Sometimes it’s a sign of illness or a need to confess. Other times, I don’t see a reason for it at all except maybe it’s a test of faith, something to wait out or paddle through.

The truth remains that God has chosen to work with us faulted, fallen humans – so obviously in need of forgiveness and grace – to build His kingdom on earth and I am not rejected. No matter how I feel – I am chosen, called, and sent.

How about you? Do you have days adrift? Do you lose sight of shore? What’s your cure – how do you find your tailwind?

Does your small group or church group care about spiritual growth? My next book, Jesus and the Beanstalk, releasing in September is devoted to that topic and explores 2 Peter 1:1-10. I’d LOVE to come and speak with your group about spiritual maturity and my talk, Jesus and the Beanstalk, is perfect for most groups. Check it out, along with some of my other topics, and contact me to talk about dates.

Has Anyone Seen My Tailwind? https://t.co/JJwNPtnoEh surviving the bad days #amwriting #Badday #NationalTeaDay

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 21, 2016

Calling All Christian Losers

Remember peer pressure?

Yeah, it’s back. And it’s not just for young people any more.

For a country founded on free speech, we’ve taken quite a swerve. We’ve become a nation of people afraid to express opinions considered unfashionable by the masses. Many would rather compromise their freedom than be considered intolerant, prejudiced, or discriminating. Three modern “sins” rapidly forming an eighth ring in a twisted upgrade of Dante’s hell.

Intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination are, of course, wrong and unhealthy for a society but the redefinition of these words to describe any application of judgment or discernment whatsoever is sending crowds of young adults, like lemmings, over the cliff of ridiculousness into the sea of the absurd. Consider this video circulating around the web today of a Caucasian man interviewing college students and insisting he’s a 6’5” Chinese woman. Their response will, appropriately, frighten you.

I’m afraid I have some news that will likely not be news to most of you – Christians are going to have to adjust to disappointing large segments of our own social circles. We’re going to have to adapt to making people uncomfortable when we voice our views. We’re going to have to get comfortable, loved ones, with being society’s losers. In the very near future (or is it now?), we will be the Goofus to other’s Gallant. We will experience a level of unpopularity unknown in most of our lifetimes.

Why do I predict this phenomenon? Because Christians are truth-tellers. It’s what we do. But popular society has ended its constraining relationship with the truth and run off with this handsome, charming dude known as “whatever everyone wants to hear.”

This isn’t such a terrible turn of events, though, since Jesus called us to be losers long ago. Most of us, (well, I know I do), tend to gloss over those passages in favor of brighter proclamations such as Romans 8:37 where Paul says we are more than conquerors. That’s a passage I want permanently inked onto my frontal lobe while I try to erase Mathew 16:24-26 from my memory: “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

Losers for Jesus. Not a winning evangelistic slogan. Sounds like the “cooler and warmer” fiasco dreamed up by the New York firm hired to make the other states love Rhode Island.

It was a 2001 movie that finally helped me appreciate this passage. One of my guilty pleasures is a campy Heath Ledger flick called, A Knight’s Tale. In it, William Thatcher, the peasant who dreams of changing his stars, not only impersonates a knight but falls in love with the elusive noblewoman, Jocelyn. When William proclaims his love to Jocelyn, he announces to her that he will win all the next day’s jousts in her honor but Jocelyn is no fool. She calls him out on this gesture saying that if he wins, he wins for himself, not for her. If he is to prove his love to her, he will make a choice against his own interest. In fact, if he wants to prove his love to her, he must lose his jousts in her name.

William does lose his bouts to prove his love but in the end, he wins it all – the girl, the tournament, and a knighthood. He lost a few battles but it was all in the effort to win the war. Likewise, Christians need to be willing to lose what seem like some really important battles, to make choices against our own interest, to love not our own lives (or reputations, or comfort, or certain friendships, or social status) even to death, in our stand against evil.

Revelation 12:11 marries the two ideas “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” We are more than conquerors but sometimes we conquer by losing.

While He hung on the cross and then was sealed inside a tomb, Jesus looked like He had lost. We know the truth – that He had conquered sin and death. To follow Him is to also face looking like losers for a time. Do you love Jesus enough to lose in His name? The answer may become apparent as early as lunch tomorrow at the office or during the discussion in your college classroom or when your friend posts that compromising status and you see all your other friends agreeing with a lie.

There’s nothing romantic about being a loser. Ask William Thatcher. Losing left him battered and bruised but in losing, he conquered his own ego and Jocelyn’s heart in one dramatic swoop. We already have God’s heart and we have another advantage. Jesus promises to give us the strength we need to lose.

How about you? Are you ready to do your part in this great war for souls by losing?

**I’d love to meet as many of you in person as God allows. Have you checked out my speaking pages? I’d love to visit your group (no group is too small – I’m from Rhode Island to I understand small!) Contact me and lets start a conversation about scheduling a visit to your group.

Calling all Christian losers https://t.co/hVU4n1Mbn9 time for us to lose in His name – are you ready? #amwriting #politicallycorrect

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 19, 2016

Power Hungry Christians

I am, admittedly, unashamedly, power hungry. In fact, I’ve been in search of power for months.

During a past blizzard, the problem of powerlessness was brought home to me. We live in such an electricity-dependent age that our lives come screeching to a halt when someone pulls the plug. Our gadgets are worthless without power. They are literally good for nothing if they aren’t connected to a power source.

For a long time, I’ve known this is true of our spiritual lives. If the church is disconnected from its power source, it, too, is as worthless as a laptop, cell phone, or 50″ plasma TV with no charge or place to plug in.

These days, people will pay thousands of dollars for a Mac, PC, or iPad but take electricity out of the equation and sellers won’t be able to give them away. That’s often what the church is trying to do – give away a gospel that has become disconnected from its power source – and we wonder why no one is taking.

As a writer, a communicator, a counselor, I literally spend hours considering how to say things, which precise words to use when blogging, advising, counseling, or praying. But, I’m stopped cold in my tracks by these words of Paul in I Corinthians 4:20. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” Argh! What does that mean? So I head out on a search for this power. This verse, and others like it, make me power hungry.

There are Christians who’ve been misled to believe that the pathway for power in the church leads through politics, wealth, connections, numbers, influence, or clout. Vital human energy is misdirected every day into efforts that look like they’ll lead to power and they do, but it’s the wrong kind of power. It works brilliantly for a time until it overloads its human circuit and they experience a blowout that knocks them on their keisters.

None of those things is particularly evil and it’s not wrong for Christians to be involved with politics or have large followings or have wealth but FIRST, they need to be grounded in Christ and pre-powered before they enter these arenas. For believers, these venues work well as outlets for power but they backfire when we see them as the source.

Sometimes, when we are power hungry, we can be fooled to believe a counterfeit source is real, which is why we need to embed our search for power in the Word of God.

So, I scour the Scriptures for this power God says is kingdom power and there are some things I learn.

Like, the gospel is the power of God according to Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Or that the message of the cross is the power of God according to I Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

And that His power is made perfect in weakness. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

This last passage, in particular, gives me hope.

I can be weak. I have weaknesses galore. I have been to the cross. I know that I’m worthy of death and cannot save myself. I have received the gospel. I know that Jesus died for me and rose again, victorious over death. That His victory can be mine if I receive Him and acknowledge Him as my salvation. If I am power hungry, I need to get myself to the cross and to Jesus.

I need to offer up my weaknesses the way the widow offered her mite, the way the boy offered his loaves and fishes, the way the disciples offered their small faith, and watch God use the tinder of my offering and the power of His Spirit to fuel a fire that furthers His kingdom.

So when the power goes out, as you stare at a blank television screen, or flip on a lamp to no avail, or try to draw heat from a furnace with no spark consider a church with no vision, no light, no warmth – no power.

And get power hungry before the lost freeze to death in the dark.

Power Hungry Christians https://t.co/BMPF3kfgjE is it ever okay for Christian to be power-hungry? #evangelicals #presidentialelection2016

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 16, 2016

The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss

Sometimes I’m really a downer, I know.

I felt it myself not long ago when I read a Facebook advertisement by a well-meaning Christian personality. She was advertising workshops to help women discover God’s wonderful, unique plan for each of them.

I get it. I’m not opposed to the concept. If you go to this workshop, I’m confident you’ll be blessed and God will work through it and through you. I want God’s wonderful plan for me. I do believe God wants us freed to be our individual unique selves, the ideas of us He had in His mind at our conception.

But, here’s the downer part: today I tried to imagine Betsie ten Boom signing up for this seminar and I worried that our cultural perspective is skewed, so focused on self-actualization and personal fulfillment that we set ourselves up to miss God’s perspective on what His plan may actually be for our lives this side of glory.

I’ll bet Betsie ten Boom had dreams. I’ll bet she had heart desires, talents, gifts, hidden skills, yearnings of the soul and she clearly sought after God. She was Christ-like, heroic, daring, and brave when she and her sister, Corrie, risked everything to hide Jews from the Nazis. I’m sure she made every dangerous choice prayerfully trusting God all the way.

But as it turns out, God’s plan for Betsie led through Ravensbruck concentration camp in Nazi Germany. In that camp, Betsie testified to others that Jesus was present, even there, and she received visions of the work she and her sister would do once they were freed but Corrie pursued those visions alone because Betsie died in Ravensbruck. She was freed but not to life on earth. This was God’s wonderful plan for Betsie’s life this side of glory.

One day, we will all see the wonder of it but there is no romanticizing a death surrounded by cruelty, mistreatment, and bondage in a lice-infested concentration camp far from comfort and loved ones. If Betsie had been pursuing her “wonderful” life, she might have missed the true object of her life’s pursuit – Jesus Christ. In finding her Savior, she found life that transcended even a miserable death beneath the boot of evil. As that boot descended onto her throat, she cried out her testimony for Jesus Christ. We can still hear her voice today.

So, I think it’s okay to pursue our unique callings but our primary pursuit should always be Jesus. We need to be careful that we aren’t so busy seeking our wonderful life that we forget to serve Him and those around us in the moment. Betsie ten Boom served her fellow prisoners and testified to the presence of Jesus Christ in the bowels of the Nazi killing machine – that’s a wonderful life – the likes of which I pray I’m spared, but it brings me needed perspective in this modern age of personal glory.

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were about to be thrown in the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to false gods, they made this proclamation: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18

Even if I don’t find my wonderful personal calling, even if I die in a concentration camp, even if I’m thrown into a fire, there is only One God and this God IS life. So if we want life – it’s Him we want. THAT’s what you don’t want to miss, loved ones.

The One Thing You Don't Want to Miss https://t.co/dEjNNhaNuU Are you pursuing a what or a Who? #amwriting #Christian #seekinglife

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 14, 2016

The Holy Power of a Party

What God concerns Himself with our joy? What Deity weaves regular celebration into the lives of His people?

A wise, kind Father God who knows that in a world of trouble, we need reminders to access joy. That rejoicing in the midst of trial is a tool that transforms surviving into thriving.

A God who knows His children need hard stops lined with laughter to remember that light isn’t overcome by the dark. Maybe that’s why so many celebrations involve lighting candles or setting off fireworks.

Working with families in crisis means every day I encounter a new sad story, another emotional rock wall to scale, or an opportunity for disappointment. Still, I’ve learned the value of starting each family meeting with a mini-celebration. “What’s working? What is everyone doing right? Who did one thing worth celebrating?”

When I first introduce this practice, families think I’m crazy. You know, “using psychological mumbo-jumbo.” I’m no Pollyanna. I didn’t come by this practice of celebrating naturally. It’s a byproduct of studying God’s Word through relentless hard times and watching how the big names in our faith survived. They celebrated to survive.

Families beaten down by trouble initially resist my little time of rejoicing but I can be stubborn. I persist. I refuse to discuss the moment’s challenges until someone finds something to celebrate. The third or fourth time we meet, they’re still rolling their eyes but by now they know the drill and someone has something prepared. Before long, a change happens. They look forward to the celebration. They burst out with it before I can ask. Sometimes, an entire meeting becomes a celebration of what’s going right.

Some families are barely hanging on inside huge, complicated, messy circumstances. Still, we search for something they’re doing right. And we always find it, even if it’s small. We build from there. I’ve seen sometimes a foundation can be laid on one small act of kindness, one right choice, one glimmer of humanity in a pile of dung.

When we conclude working together, we enjoy a larger celebration – sometimes there’s pizza. Once, I offered a parent who had worked long and hard a certificate of completion. It was a spur of the moment decision but I wanted to acknowledge the effort this parent had invested in taking giant steps toward family health. I printed a certificate I found online and carefully inscribed the parent’s name, a congratulations of completion, the date, a line about the parent’s efforts, and my signature in black sharpie.

As I presented it, in a darkened living room in a noisy apartment building, I felt silly at first but it was received with awe, with tears, with a straightened spine, and the words, “This is the first certificate of achievement I’ve ever received for anything in my life.” Other family members offered to have it framed. It would become a treasure. We rejoiced together, everyone who had worked with the family, over all they’d achieved. We celebrated them and the room seemed lighter.

I’m not much for parties. You know the type. Introvert. Poor decorating skills. Soft on hospitality. But, God’s been showing me the value of celebration. My mom threw a party once for a friend who had grown up in a hardscrabble country and finally achieved a goal she’d worked toward here in the U.S. When my friend arrived and saw the table laid out with treats and decorations, she was moved to laughter. She told us no one had ever thrown her a party – ever. In all her life, she’d never been celebrated. I’ve never forgotten that party.

Of course, the world has tried to hijack parties, to twist and turn them into forces for evil, opportunities for temptation, avenues for excess but God wove feasts and celebrations into the fabric of life for the Israelites and even after Jesus rose, His apostles preached that we should rejoice with those who rejoice! In the darkest places, it serves us well to remember our God will one day host an endless feast, a joyful celebration that no evil forces will ever spoil.

Yes, of course, Christians have the tough job of speaking hard truths to other Christians and to the world. Believe me, I spend my days having hard conversations with the families in my care. But we’re only following a portion of God’s Word if we don’t also celebrate people, look hard for their strengths, catch them doing something right, using words to acknowledge it. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” I Corinthians 12:26 Don’t neglect the second part of the verse.

Fear of invoking envy or overlooking someone often stops us from celebrating. Foolishness. How do we learn to defeat envy if we don’t have opportunity for it? When do we learn self-control if it’s never someone else’s turn? This isn’t about giving everyone a participation award. It’s about obeying God’s overriding wisdom that there’s value in stopping everything else for an occasional feast.

In the three years leading up to the cross, Jesus attended weddings, celebrations, and feasts. Yes, time was short. Yes, He was about hard work. Yes, He had serious business to complete. Yes, He did nothing without the Father, so clearly, sometimes the Father said – now is the time we feast.

Tomorrow, find a reason to stop and celebrate in some small way and see if you don’t find out that God was right after all. There’s power in a party – especially when He’s present.

The Holy Power of a Party https://t.co/gcFhhN4AkF reasons to celebrate, why God calls us to rejoice #Evangelical #amwriting #party

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 12, 2016

The Ministry of Eye Contact

I’ve been annoying people lately.

I know, I know, I annoy people every day but lately I’ve been doing it on purpose. I have a reason.

I miss eye contact.

In these days where most purchases happen as the customer stares at a little box on her side of the counter and the clerk stares at a computerized scanner and screen on his side of the counter, entire transactions can occur without a single acknowledgement that human beings are involved.

I’m not a fan.

The depersonalizing of simple transactions is one of those erosions of community that leaves us wide open to losing our humanity entirely.

In the name of progress, I can now perform multiple daily tasks that used to require human interaction without ever coming into direct contact with a person. ATM machines. Red box. Self-pay at the pump. Automatic scanners at the grocers. E-portal to make an appointment with my physician. Drive thru at the pharmacy.

I get it. I like convenience. I like saving time. But are we using our saved time for worthwhile pursuits? Are we enjoying deeper relationships with family and friends because we have depersonalized people we used to consider acquaintances?

These are questions I ask myself.

And my small, daily rebellion against the system is to annoy sales clerks until we have established a moment of eye contact.

Sometimes I ask a question, usually a lame one. Other times, I compliment something they’re wearing. Sometimes I just stand silently and refuse to leave the counter until the person finally looks at me. Then I just smile, say “Thank you.” and move on, having reminded another human that we are both human.

Once, when someone in the checkout line repeatedly prodded me with her carriage when it was obvious I was still processing my order, I turned to her, made eye contact, smiled, and said, “Hi. I’m a human being. I take up space. When I’m no longer taking up this space, you may then push your carriage into it.”

We didn’t become friends or anything but she stopped hitting me with the cart and I remembered that I’m a person and so is she.

I was going to search for a Bible verse that illustrates this point I want to make (not a great practice- that’s using the Bible backwards) when I actually realized that I only care about this whole process of dehumanization because of my observations of Jesus.

God reached out to humans by becoming human. He made eye contact with us through Jesus.

God ate our food, rubbed elbows with the crowd, smelled the aroma of fresh-baked bread and the salty, stench of fisherman returning from their labors. He sweat in the heat and quenched His thirst with water or wine. He laughed at our children’s antics and had conversations with people others went out of their way to avoid.

He noticed when a woman touched the hem of his cloak in a crowd and when He acknowledged her, she was no longer a sick outcast, she was a person.

It’s shocking the number of times someone I work with, someone dealing with a crisis, has thanked me for “treating them like a person.” Many of the people I see are in danger of losing sight of their humanity because of mental illness, poverty, substance abuse, or domestic violence. The stories that surprise me most are when they describe how much hurt they receive when receptionists or front-line office staff treat them with disrespect. For people on the edge of their own personhood, these exchanges can be the tipping point in either direction.

The everyday face-to-face eye-contact moments that we took for granted for years actually matter. We belong in community. We thrive in community. We need one another – both in deep conversations and in small glances.

Join my rebellion, won’t you? Insist on making eye contact with the world.

Refuse to budge until you see the whites of their eyes! Be human. Insist on being human and on acknowledging others as human. Make eye contact with the world.

God did.

The Ministry of Eye Contact https://t.co/cLZRhV7hlz what we’re losing and what we need the most #amwriting #Gospel #faith

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 8, 2016

 

The Only Way to Make Sense of Women

There’s only one way to make sense of women.

I should know. I’m a woman. XX chromosome credentialed. Bona fide by birth. Not a boast, just biology. Been managing estrogen since way back.

Raised a daughter in the new millennium. Came up in the sixties and seventies raised by a Boomer woman. I’ve seen decades of this conversation. Most of my closest friends are women so I get it, we’re complicated. But, some women have learned to capitalize on that. To wield it like a billy club. To promote a cultural agenda with the underlying message that girls rule, boys drool. It sounds more sophisticated when they parade it out to the podium but that’s essentially the poison apple those evil queens are tossing to the crowd.

The truth is, we live in a fallen world and we ALL fell from grace. There’s not a sinful gender and an advanced gender. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’m sure this post won’t win me friends. I’ve been hoping to hear someone else say it but there’s a strange silence out there leaving me to wonder if I’m the only one who puzzles over this situation. I guess I’m up so, here it is. Why does everyone buy this lie that all modern women want is equality? Especially when it only took one presidential candidate treating them exactly the way he treats others who oppose him, giving them precisely the equal treatment they claim they want to expose the deceit.

Women leading the present-day charge, creating headlines, defining the gender standard for the rest of us mere mortals describe themselves with power words. Independent. Educated. Strong. They’re not asking for a place at the table, they’re claiming their chair at the head. They’re savvy, opinionated, smart, skillful, and unapologetic for being themselves. It’s their time to rule.

Then, one guy with weird hair pokes fun at their looks or calls them names, questions their skills, suggests they be held accountable for their reproductive actions. He treats them with complete and utter equality, slamming them the way he slams every man who crosses him. Whoa! Suddenly, it’s not okay to “pick on a lady.” And his suggestion that in the event one breaks a hypothetical law she might face the consequence draws an outcry. Oh, now they’re not empowered equals. Now, it sounds like people want to punish the victim.

When did these powerful world leaders become victims? Victims of what? Pregnancy? Are these the same women who several months back brazenly shouted their abortions on Twitter? This is truly proof that the church has not cornered the market on hypocrisy.

This post isn’t a vote of support for any presidential candidate or his/her behavior. This isn’t about how we vote. It’s about how we live. I stand amazed at the deal some women have bullied the rest of us into buying. Some women want to run the country one minute and boo-hoo the next about the mean man who says unkind things. They take power over their own reproductive choices but they can’t be held accountable if those choices are ever outlawed because they’re victims of the lives their bodies house?

(I’m not talking about true victims of abuse, incest, rape, or pressure. There were mobs of women out there shouting their abortions who admitted they also made all the choices that led to the conception. This is about them. Why would they suddenly choose to cloak themselves in victimhood? Oh, because it’s expedient to their cause.)

Men and women are, in fact, equal but I believe it matters how we reach that conclusion and that we live it with integrity. The Bible says this, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 We have equality but we must all, men and women, claim it in Jesus Christ.

Jesus revolutionized this planet for women – not by treating us with equality and respect (which He did), but by dying on the cross for our sins and rising again, triumphant over sin and death. The fact that I’ve NEVER heard a woman use Galatians 3:28 to defend a man is evidence that we all have a long way to go.

The only way to make sense of women (or men) is from within a biblical worldview. According to the Bible, we are equally fallen. Our sin, both genders’, impacts us and those around us. Our only salvation, liberation, freedom, redemption is in Jesus. He will call us all to account for our words and for the lifeblood of other humans – those who survive our wombs and those who don’t. We will stand, equally, before the judgment throne and the only answer that will cover anyone’s sin is Jesus.

No one has any trouble pointing out that many male leaders are deluded or deceived by their own arrogance, blindness to their own failings, and their separation from a the living God. The truth is there are powerful women speaking for us who are equally deceived, blind, and cut off from Him but no one is saying it.

For some reason, no one wants to call them on this matrix they’re weaving like a sticky web where no matter what, powerful women are the new untouchables. They’ve created their version of the “old boys club” and they’ve tried to suck all women into membership. No, thanks. Not a club I’m interested in joining. They’re using their skills to enact their version of a double standard while marketing it as “I may be able to push the nuclear button but I’m still a lady so you’d better watch yourself.”

This blog is about going deeper with Jesus. It’s not a political blog or a rage against powerful women blog. But following Jesus means to allow only Him to define everything about us including what it means to be male and female. It means treating others – women, men, friends, enemies – with love and respect. For me, that means identifying widespread deception when I see it. Raising the question or the alarm in case there are others out there, like me saying, “Wait, that’s not right, is it?”

There’s an old biblical Proverb that says, “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” (Proverbs 14:4) This is what we see played out on a cultural level in our generation but there are revolutionaries in every war. We are those revolutionaries – Christian women and men willing to stand shoulder to shoulder and say, “We won’t engage in gender wars. In serving Jesus we commit to the ministry of reconciliation and truth.”

Women are as in need of redemption as men. We are entirely equal in this regard. We are equally susceptible to being tools in the hands of the enemy but we also have equal access to the Kingdom of God through Jesus. We, too, are warriors.

Evil queens don’t just exist in fairy tales. Some are working overtime to enslave the rest of us in their bid for power. Don’t trust their apples or their poisonous lies.

The only way to make sense of women – https://t.co/zEzPQkK36d how one candidate reveals a widespread lie #PresidentialCandidates #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 5, 2016

God Just Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone

The apostle Paul stretched out, waterlogged, on an unfamiliar beach blinking in the white sun surrounded by pieces of ship and others not fortunate enough to open their eyes again on this shore.

Peter caught by Paul, red-faced and ashamed, facing correction for spurning the Gentile Christians around the Jewish Christians who might judge him, facing something worse now – the truth about his own ugly thoughts.

Elijah, bloated with self-pity, crying out for death beneath a broom tree. Jonah spared a death at sea awakening to a gastric nightmare in the putrid belly of a great fish heading in the very direction he doesn’t want to go. The mighty Samson chained between two pillars, sightless and fallen, the jeers of his victorious enemy humbling him to where he might be of use with one final (finally) selfless act.

Exposed. Peeled back. Weak. Needy. Dependent on a merciful God. Like a newly shorn sheep, small and shivering, missing his woolly glory is dependent on the shepherd. Like a once lush and lavish vine, cut back to an ugly, brown stubble it was sure it had left behind, must now wholly trust the vision of the vinedresser.

God just can’t leave well enough alone.

And when we are the ones, shipwrecked, rebuked, weary, shanghaied, fallen, groomed, and pruned, the humbling can taste like the bitterest brew. And we may remember our illness fondly having now tasted the cure.

But God is a Master craftsman and our lives are His art. Every hammer strike on the chisel, each whitewash of the canvas, every edit, each uprooting, every remix is for His glory. And for our beautification, our completion, our perfection, the creation of ourselves into His vision for us.

And we will be beautiful in our time.

Our fruit will multiply, our glorious wool grow full again, our strength return, our mission complete, our faith restore, our minds renew, and we will at last awaken on a familiar shore that we will know is Home

because He will greet us with a fire and fish on the beach  and the glory of His smile.

Yield to His work and flourish under His hand.  Never settle for the illness when you can have the cure.

God Just Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone https://t.co/BqEgGTTMeg #spiritualwarfare #spiritualgrowth #amwriting #evangelism

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 2, 2016

The Empire’s New Clothes

I’m no prophet but it doesn’t take one to know we’re witnessing a cataclysmic shift in culture.

Terrorists and hostile governments target Christians for regulation, oppression, harassment, arrest, persecution, torture, imprisonment, and death in countries around the world. Anti-Christian rhetoric fuels hateful sentiment here on our own shores. The American church, divinely appointed to love, to serve, to represent Christ stateside wrestles to determine the response that is both loving to our enemies, engaging with the uninformed, and still protective of the most vulnerable of our sheep.

This calls for truth telling both pure and guileless. This is a job for children.

In the famous fairy tale, an emperor rules who loves new clothes. His image is more important to him than his armies, his people, or his lands. What he cares about is what others think of him and how he appears to all.

We, too, are a people obsessed with image. A country of selfie-takers, spin-doctors, makeover channels, image advisors, branding firms, and logo creators all keenly aware of first impressions, photo ops, and curb appeal. Like the emperor, we dwell in an empire whose people have made themselves vulnerable to deceivers through obsessive mirror gazing, self-reflection, and poll taking.

In the story, two tricksters arrive in town and capitalize on the emperor’s vanity. They tell everyone they can weave cloth of amazing colors and patterns but say their clothing is unique because it’s invisible to anyone who is a simpleton or unfit to hold their office. The emperor covets this clothing because he doesn’t trust his own ability to discern his advisor’s capabilities. Self-focus will leave us blind to others that way. He orders the clothing made.

What perfect deception! These faux tailors follow the pattern of every deceiver. They cleverly inventories their target’s vulnerabilities, establish a matrix only they can see, a test that’s rigged from their side, and rely on their mark’s unwillingness to appear out of the loop, unsavvy, or uncool to rope them in to the scheme. They depend on their victim’s insecurity, fear, and desire to hold onto their station or ascend to the next to motivate them to engage in the matrix only the deceivers can see.

No emperor falls victim alone. His chief advisor visits the sewing room but when he fails to see the cloth, he fears what others will think of him so he joins the deception and pretends to see. He falls prey to his unwillingness to be exposed as a fool. The emperor sends more and more ministers of the kingdom and each trusts the matrix more than their own eyes so the deception expands to include the highest ranks in the land until finally, the emperor himself dons a suit of nothing but air.

Isn’t this the way a false kingdom spreads? The deceivers must have victims who cling to their own fears more than the truth. Willing to bury their own perceptions and bow to the matrix of the mob rather than risk shame, embarrassment, exposure, or shunning by simply stating the facts, the truths, before their eyes.

At last, when the emperor parades through the streets in regal garments that don’t exist, a child cries out, “But the emperor has nothing on at all!” And who could say that a child was not fit for his office or was a simpleton? The child had no thought to perceptions, no fear of losing his place in the kingdom, no concern that his own eyes, his own mind was unreliable. Word spreads through the bystanders like a tongues of fire – truth unleashed burned deception to the pavement in a flash.

This is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples ““Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3-4 They had asked Him who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven and in turn, He told them that their question was the problem.

If the church is to face the naked empire parading itself through modern culture, we must stop concerning ourselves with our own greatness. We must face squarely, in the only mirror that matters, that of God’s Word, who we are. We are sinners saved by grace, wholly redeemed through the work of Christ, entirely loved, and securely adopted into the family of God. We are children of the only king who matters and He has appointed us to serve Him here, in this time, in this place, with these people.

We cannot lose our office. It is secured with Christ.

If we’re exposed as fools, shamed, or scoffed at, what does it matter to us? We inherit the kingdom. We have everything we need for life and godliness. What others say of us, think of us, or do to us is of no enduring matter. Christ has the first and last word on our lives.

The ones we’ve been appointed to serve face a perilous destiny – far worse than parading naked through the streets. The evil one has woven a garment for them that is a death shroud disguised as fine array. If we keep our truth to ourselves, we serve no one, least of all the One who sent us.

To humble ourselves is to make a practice of remembering we are part of a larger story and as the Body of Christ, it’s not about us but about Him. Making a habit of humility reduces our vulnerability to the deceiver and increases our child factor so that we are better instruments of truth and grace when discussing the empire’s new clothes.

Some of us may be out of practice with this sort of humble truth telling. I recommend tomorrow, we start small. Consume truth for breakfast by opening God’s Word, glimpsing our own reflection in the mirror of its truth and adjusting our own clothing before we open our mouths to others.

But then, before we speak, let’s ask ourselves this – “Are the words about to leave my mouth designed to enhance my image with this person or to serve the listener in love?” At the very least, asking that question should slow us down, seldom a bad thing, but I suspect it will also be of great assistance in the humility department.

If we’ve learned nothing else from this presidential election it’s that people are starving for straight truth. People are weary of deception and afraid there is no other option. The empire is truly naked, like the church of Laodicea mentioned in Revelation 3:17-20

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Jesus loves the people who live where you live. He died for them. His heart is for them and He has divinely appointed you to represent Him to them. You have nothing to lose because your life is safe with Him so take the journey, accept the adventure, humble yourself, and speak the pure, guileless truth of a child.

To God be the glory, the empire of this world has no clothes and it’s our job to notice.

The Empire’s New Clothes https://t.co/uGox0eDlmS how can the church serve the naked empire #persecutedchurch #amwriting #evangelicals

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 31, 2016

The adventure is upon us . . . have you engaged in your Jesus adventure? Our faith is no fairy tale – it’s more.

Ten Reasons You Kill Christians

In the past several days, reports from Belgium, Nigeria, and Pakistan of suicide bombers targeting Christians have seemingly rolled in like waves. One month ago, four Wycliffe translators were martyred in the Mid-East and a kidnapped Catholic priest was crucified in Yemen over the weekend. I believe, with headlines destined to stir fear, it is upon the Body of Christ to foster courage in the ranks and a focus on the truth that our lives are now, as always, in the hands of the One we trust the most. It is for that reason, I share this post again, so you can share with others the word that neither evil nor ISIS nor any other mechanism of darkness on earth has the final word on this battle. The battle belongs to the Lord.

This is a message for those who persecute, torture, imprison, and kill Christians. We know why you’re killing us – do you?

Killing Christians is a practice as old as Christianity. Those who practice it do nothing more than imitate their predecessors. Predecessors who attempted but failed to snuff out the life of our faith in its infancy. The practice of persecution is hard for some to fathom but it’s actually an understandable act. In fact, I can think of at least ten reasons to kill a Christian:

Because you can. That’s right. We serve a living God, the God of miracles, the resurrection God, the force of all life but we, His followers, are vulnerable. We die. Easily. When we die beneath your boot or with your hands around our throats, you feel powerful, strong, justified.You’re misinformed. Deluded, even. The only power you have is confined to this life. When we vanish from your sight, we enter the presence of the Living God. We trust Him with vengeance. Read Revelation 7. Our voices reach His throne every moment of every day.
Our refusal to renounce our faith makes you doubt your own. We scare you. We know that. It’s frightening to be unable to force someone to join in your delusion. What scares you more is that others might join us, leaving you – weakening your position. You can’t let that happen. But, I’ll let you in on a secret: your plan to end our faith by killing us off backfires.
One of us offended you. One of us behaved badly or explained plainly the fact that you, too, are a sinner in need of a Savior or that the god you worship is no God. It offended you, challenged your sense of self-righteousness. Since forgiveness isn’t in your wheelhouse, your only recourse is to lash out. But killing us won’t stop the offense of the cross. It will come back at you. This, I know.
To win favor with your god, your government, or your local dictator. Someone told you to kill a Christian and promised if you did, you’d be with the in-crowd, you’d belong, you’d fit in with those in power. They lie. The only One you need to be in with is the One we serve – Jesus Christ. Resist those who hand out orders to kill and destroy. You’re likely next on their list.
To make the voices stop. We know about the voices. They’re persistent and demanding. Nothing makes them stop. You think your only choice is to obey them. I promise you the name of Jesus is more powerful than the voices. Rather than kill a believer, become one. It’s the only way to end your slavery to the voices. Call on the name of Jesus Christ and His will be the only voice you hear.
Because our allegiance to Jesus comes before all others. That messes with your plans for world domination. That messes with your plans for household domination. That messes with your plans to rule your world. If we recognize a higher power, you can be overruled and we can’t be controlled. Destroying us is your only chance at security on the throne. Listen to me – your reign is a sham and your throne rests on shifting sand. Killing us is only a temporary stopgap to your imminent overthrow.
Because we’ll forgive you. That’s right. Oppress us, arrest us, beat us, lock us away, kill us dead and we’ll still forgive you. Why? Because Jesus forgave his executioners – us. Our forgiveness will outlive you and your weapons. Our forgiveness will ring through heaven’s halls eternally and free us from you forever.
To silence the truth. We are truth tellers, all of us. This is what we do. We tell the truth. You are a disciple of deception and when we speak, we are the yes to your no, the love to your hate, the alive to your dead. You think killing us will silence us – it won’t. It will multiply the delivery of our message as if your bullets burst our voices like milkweed pods sending seeds of His truth flying in the Wind.
You love darkness and we bring the light, exposing your deeds. You cling to the shadows. You scurry from light like a cockroach. Every plot you hatch relies on total darkness to develop but Christians bring the light, foiling your schemes. Destroying us is your only hope of success. But ask yourself this, if your success relies on our destruction, what is the source of your power? The power to destroy pales beside the power to build, to construct, to create, to grow. That is the power of light. Life trumps death. Light triumphs over darkness. Haven’t you read the playbook? Light wins in the end.

And the primary reason you kill Christians?

The power behind you uses you like a marionette in his futile attempt to steal us from God’s hand before he is destroyed forever, hoping to take you down with him. That’s right. You’re a puppet, a pawn. This, however, will be no protection when you are called to account by the final judge. The only hope you have is the hope the Christians are trying to get you to see – Jesus. Only He can save you on that day and He will if you turn to Him now and call on the name of Jesus.

Pray for believers persecuted and marked for martyrdom. Pray more for those who participate in their persecution, who orchestrate their deaths, these are truly the walking dead but they, too, can find eternal life through Jesus Christ no matter what offense they’ve committed against His name.

You may find one hundred reasons to kill Christians but here is truth: you don’t take our lives, we lay them down, in the name of Jesus Christ. We know, most assuredly, that He gives us life eternal, life unending, life to the full.

What’s waiting for you on the other side of the veil?

“We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.” Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Ten Reasons You Kill Christians https://t.co/c9ScbWviQ1 a call for courage in the face of fear #persecution#PakistanAttack#ISIS#martyr

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 28, 2016

You, my readers, inspire me every day to continue to go deeper with Jesus, to live the adventure Christ presents, and to cultivate courage and faith. Have you visited my About You page recently? It’s a testimony to who many of you are. I’m still learning more and more about you. Send me a photo. Drop me a line so I learn more and more about your faith, your life, your struggle, your adventure!