Through the Seasons

Jonathan and I just started a Precept Bible Study on Ephesians.  This is such an answer to prayer!  Monday was our first day and we just focused on getting an overview of the book.  We were assigned a memory verse for this week.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.      ~Ephesians 1:3

No, that wasn’t from memory.  Soon though!  I’ll keep you updated…

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I read this verse this morning.  What a prayer to make as your own!

Psalm 86:11-12

Teach me your way, O LORD,

and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

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Man, a lot happened during yesterday’s race.  Once the 2 best cars, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, were out of the race it was a free for all.  Happy Harvick just beat Mark Martin.  But the BEST finish of all was Clint Bowyer.  He slid across the start/finish line on his roof on fire.

Woo-Hoo!

I couldn’t find a picture of him on his roof but here he is once he got turned back over.  He’s still in that car, by the way!!

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I don’t know when exactly my second woo-hoo of the season will be or what the situation will be but if you’re reading this on Sunday… know that I’m watching the Daytona 500… 

Woo-Hoo!

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I like to read books by Elisabeth Elliot.  She’s the widow of the missionary, Jim Elliot, who got killed in the Amazon jungle by the Indians he was trying to reach.   

The other day I read this line in one of her books:

“God is much more interested in making us holy than He is in getting a job done.”

Well, that’s a revelation to a worker bee like me.    I don’t have too much to say about it except that it’s worth meditating on.

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In my Bible reading this morning I read the story of Martha and Mary.  Jesus says that only one thing is needed, Mary has chosen it, and it won’t be taken from her.  So I went back to see what Mary chose.  She sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him.  Martha on the other hand was worried about many things.

You already know which one I more relate to.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.

So here were my thoughts on this. 

At first I thought, “so all I have to do is sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him, right?”  Which makes no sense because we’re to show our faith by our actions too.  There are, in fact, many things that need to be done from day to day.  Are those to be neglected? 

So maybe my ‘all or nothing’ thinking was checking in.  I thought, “so either I spend all my time working or all my time reading the Bible and praying.”  Where’s the nearest monastery so I can sign up?

But then I realized that Martha wasn’t working as much as worrying.  Ah.  That does make sense.  God’s Word says we are to be anxious for nothing.  That’s when this verse came to mind and cleared it all up for me:

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Oh okay.  So if I enter each day without worrying over all the tasks that need to be done and instead give that to God, then follow Him step by step, seeking Him first, He will raise our support and provide for our needs.

What a wonderful promise!

Now to actually practice it…

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I’ve debated commenting on this at all but it keeps eating at me so here it goes.  I don’t usually even follow these kind of stories and I’m not following this one very closely.  Although it’s very eery…

Anna Nicole Smith’s death

I tend to be very insecure.  I look at some of these celebrities, especially the racier ones, and feel envious.  Yikes.  That’s a sin isn’t it?  One of the top 10, I believe.  Doh!  But you have to admit where you are and move on from there.  So, I confess it.  I envy a sexy, ‘hot’ look – and the adoration (adoration?  or is that lust?) from people everywhere.  But I don’t envy it enough to stop eating chocolate or fast food.  I don’t want it enough to work out either.  So, I guess I don’t want it all that bad.  But I don’t want ‘them’ to have it either.  Ha ha…

Okay, back to the point.

They’re holding her body and don’t know who’s going to bury her and now I think ‘the body’ belongs to the court system.  Ew.  Is this what it comes down to?  She put everything into how she looks.  Her whole life was all about how she looks and gaining the – um, attention – of men – well, of everyone.

And now she’s dead.  It’s all over.  It sounds as if she was pretty miserable when she died too.  That’s pretty sad.  It brings to light the truth of that kind of life.  It’s no ‘dream’, really.  It’s actually quite empty, so it would seem.

So, that’s nothing to envy, is it?  I’ve decided that’s not a legacy I want to leave on earth anyway.  She was beautiful most of the time but if that’s all the pleasure she got out of life, I feel bad for her.  There’s just got to be more to life than that.  Thank God that’s the truth!  His will isn’t restrictive but protective.  We gain life through death.  I hereby die to my old desire to be more like Anna Nicole Smith (or the like) and grab hold of the life God wants for me.  Gratefully.  Joyfully.  Whole-heartedly.

(If I offended you, I’m sorry.  I don’t know for sure she lived an empty life.  I’m just reporting my thoughts from my limited perspective based on the little that I’ve read in the news.  I could be completely wrong about Anna Nicole.  But I’m not wrong that living a life not happy with how I look and/or putting everything into how I look is an empty life indeed.  So I put off wishing for something other than who I am and what I have right now.)

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I read this portion of Deuteronomy this morning:

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.  Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions.  He brought you water out of hard rock.  He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.  You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

~Deuteronomy 8:10-18 NIV

And to think I used to find the Old Testament hard to understand.  That seems pretty clear.  It’s pretty easy to forget God during success isn’t it?  I mean, are we not the ones getting up every day and putting the hours in on the job?  Aren’t we the ones thinking of ideas and making them a reality?  Aren’t we the ones working our hands and minds?  As the Scripture here says, ”Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth”.

Oh that my prayer would be the same as Proverbs 30:7-9,

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’

Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

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Let’s see.  What all do you need to know for me to be able to tell this story?

1.  We do our laundry at the “RV Park Clubhouse”.

2.  It’s raining.  No.  It’s pouring!

3.  We have to pick everything up and confine the dogs when we leave them.

4.  I’m short so most of the pants I wear drag the ground especially when I’m not in heels.

I had to do laundry tonight.  Like I was either going to have to wash my clothes or go buy new ones.  But then I like to wash my new clothes before I wear them so either way laundry was a must for me.  And it had to be done today – rain or shine.

So here’s how this worked.  We took the dogs with us so we wouldn’t have to get everything ready for them to be alone.  That means that I would carry one of the dogs with one hand and hold my pants legs up with the other hand (so they wouldn’t get wet – the dog or my pants) which also caused me to shuffle instead of walk.  

I shuffled to the car, rode to the clubhouse, put the clothes in the washer, shuffled to the car, rode to the RV, waited 30 minutes, shuffled to the car, rode to the clubhouse, put the clothes in the dryer, shuffled to the car, rode to the RV, waited an hour, shuffled to the car, rode to the clubhouse, gathered my clean clothes, shuffled to the car, rode to the RV, shuffled in and put my clothes away.

Laundry has never been so complicated.

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When Jonathan and I moved to Waxhaw we realized that to stay plugged into a church we’d have to find one closer to us than Hickory Grove – North Campus to go to on a regular basis.  Out here in the sticks our choices are limited especially since ’small country church’ isn’t our forte.   

The whole time we were searching, I would hear about a church in South Charlotte called Elevation.  I checked out their website and didn’t like the idea of it.  It seemed to be “seeker-sensitive”.  Honestly, I don’t even know what that means except that I heard those type churches look to entertain and they don’t preach all of God’s Word – they water it down.  Is that true?  I don’t know.  But I was leery enough about it that I wanted to stay away from it.  A couple people who were in training with us go to Elevation and talked a lot about it.  I caught a few details here and there but still wanted no part of it.  But then one Sunday morning we woke up and thought, “I don’t want to drive all the way to Concord.”  So we decided to go to Elevation that day thinking we wouldn’t return.

It’s nerve-racking to go to a church that meets at a school.  (They meet at Providence High School near the intersection of Providence (16) and Pineville-Matthews Rd (51).)  We weren’t sure we’d know exactly where to go.

When we arrived there were signs at the road.  The parking team met us at the road and guided us all the way to a parking space.  Greeters got us from the parking lot to the front door and from there to the auditorium.  An usher then led us to our seats.  I didn’t have to think at all!  It was so easy!  And we felt so warmly welcomed it was incredible!  As we sat down the room was dark, the music was loud, and the screens were counting down to the start of service.  The worship time was great.  Then the preacher came out.  And he brought it.  Watered down the message was not.  We came out of that one service changed.

But I wasn’t sure about going back.  I’ve been led into some bad situations by being “charmed” by people.  So I have a rule.  Charming equals dangerous.  And I couldn’t yet decide if I was just being woo-ed or if this was for real.  We loved it though, there’s no doubt!  (And if I’m being honest I wasn’t sure church should actually be that much fun.  Isn’t there a law or sin or something against having a good time at church??)  That afternoon, Jonathan and I sat down and listened to sermon after sermon.  (these can be found on their website www.elevationchurch.org or itunes.)  Pastor Furtick ALWAYS preaches TRUTH and HARD and REAL.  You can’t help coming away transformed.

The next week we went to the Newcomer’s Lunch, got plugged into volunteering opportunities, and decided this was the place for us.  And we’ve never looked back.  We love Elevation.  We are pouring ourselves into it and getting back much more than we’re putting in.  God is using that church and the Pastor so mightily.  It’s undeniable.  It’s a privilege for us to be a part of something that is changing lives and leading people who are far from God into the abundant life found only in Christ.

I’ve heard before that the church shouldn’t be culturally relevant.  Then I went into missionary training.  Guess what they teach us?  To be culturally relevant.  Not here but in another country.  But what’s the difference?  Why shouldn’t the church stay current with the U.S. culture?  Should they be “worldly” or “ear-ticklers”?  No.  And they’re not.  Adapting to the culture they’re in makes them so much more effective!

We love Elevation Church and serving has taken on a whole new level for us.  We don’t get involved because we “should” or to earn extra credit with God or anything like that.  We do it out of the abundance of what God has poured onto us.  It’s awesome to be a part of His work here and to team up with others who are sacrificially sold out for Christ.

To see what the Pastor of Elevation is all about visit his blog at www.stevenfurtick.com.  To get a better idea of Elevation all together visit one of their two Sunday morning services: 9:30 or 11:15.  But be ready to go away with minds full of truth, ears full of ringing, and hearts full of Christ.

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