Let's get dirty...

May 8:

Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 1:27-30

Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

In our country we rarely need to be courageous… we rarely get our hands dirty... or suffer for the cause of Christ. We’ve even created an environment within the walls of our churches where we don’t have to be brave in sharing our faith. Instead we bring our friends & family to a church service or event that will ‘minister’ to them. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not knocking the importance of our local church. I’m just wondering… if we truly stood ‘united, singular in vision’ to take the same amount of time we spend inside the church walls to share the gospel of Jesus on the outside… what a different view those on the outside might have of the Church.

Let's get out there! 

& do work! 

 "The tests of the Christian life; though outwardly not so terrible, are even more likely to overcome us than those of the fiery age. We have to bear the sneer of the world-that is little. It's the soft words; its oily speeches & its hypocrisy are far worse. Our danger is that we grown rich & proud; give in to the fashions of this present world & lose our faith. Or if wealth is not the trial, worldly care causes difficulty... the devil cares little witch it is, as long as he destroys our love for & confidence in Christ. We must be awake now, for we walk on dangerous ground. We are most likely to fall asleep to our undoing unless our faith in Jesus is a reality & our love for Him a fervent flame." -Charles Spurgeon

Despite Hardship...

May 7:

Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 1:22-16

As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. 

Today my husband had the privilege to speak at a memorial service for a man that had recently passed away from cancer. It was particularly difficult for him. We often struggle to make sense of why these hard things happen. To be honest there are many days when I myself long for heaven, where there will be no more pain, sickness, sadness & death.

& yet…

God calls us to live each day He gives us in the present, to share His great love for us with others & to edify the body of Christ. 

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

No place for a big head...

May 6:

Living a Life that Matters… 

Philippians 1:15-21

“It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.

So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose."

One of the most discouraging things I’ve seen in ministry is when pastors view each other as competition. There is nothing more disheartening than to hear them bash each other over minor theological differences, preaching styles, modes of worship or battle over personality conflicts. Seriously? We are brothers in arms! We shouldn’t get caught up in these trivial, temporal things. Instead we should focus on what God has called us to do… to preach the Gospel of Jesus & encourage each other in ministry. Everything we do is for the glory of Christ Jesus not for the glory of self.  

“Christianity is at its best when it is peculiar, marginalized, suffering, and it is at its worst when it is popular, credible, triumphal, and powerful.” - Shane Claiborne, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals

Don't stay on the mountain...

May 5: 

Living a Life that Matters... 

Philippians 1:12-14

"I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

I’m always a little bit amazed how thru trial we appear to grow the most. It’s not in the easy, good or peaceful times that we learn to lean on our savior but in the difficult ones.

Recently, my husband Chuck & I were talking about my job, which sometimes feels like prison. I was sharing how I long to make a real difference. How I truly wish I could work at church with him every day, ministering to the people of ACC. He encouraged me with the story of the transfiguration found in Matthew 17. He reminded me that we can’t always stay on our spiritual mountaintops where we feel close to God & are the most comfortable… that the real work to be done is in the valley where we have to rely on Jesus to get us thru.

& so… it’s back to the trenches! 

“It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn’t call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace.” - Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

They grow up...

May 4:

Living a Life that Matters...  

Philippians 1:4-6 
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

Today our oldest son Joshua graduated from college...

As he begins this new chapter of life I am more & more aware of the incredible man he has become & how important it is that we continue to cover him & his beautiful wife-to-be in prayer. We know that God has amazing things planned for them & the life of ministry He has called them to... 

Philippians 1:3-6 is one of my favorite passages to pray for those closest to me... Today I pray it for our Joshua.

What love really is...

May 3:

Living a Life that Matters...

Philippians 1:9-11

'So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.'

When we think about love, our natural inclination is to think about our significant others & the ‘sentimental gush’ that comes with finding our soul mates. It’s all over Facebook. Cute pictures & quotes & links to Youtube songs that mirror how we feel in our hearts. I’m totally guilty of this when it comes to my husband. I love that guy to point of distraction. But Christ’s love for us is so much more than that & if we camp out on the ‘feeling’ it affords us, we may miss out on what it really is.

Authentic love grows out of real knowledge & discernment. As we learn more about Jesus & grow closer to Him, we find ourselves longing to DO something meaningful for Him. Not out of guilt or fear but out of our love for Him.

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." -Mother Teresa

Would anyone miss me?

May 2:

Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 1:7-8

‘It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!’ 

My introspective personality often compels me to wonder about my life & the kind of impact I am having in the world around me. Am I investing my life in such a way that, should something ever happen to me, my life would leave a hole? Would my husband miss my encouragement? Would my children miss my laughter? Would my friends miss my loyalty? Would my church family miss my joy? Would my community miss my compassion? Would my coworkers miss my light?

We must remember that we are not alone one our life's journey... each choice we make impacts the world around us for the cause of Christ. We must focus on the choices set before us... place priority on things eternal... invest in things that matter... & love on people who will carry on the Gospel of Jesus long after we are called Home... 

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’

Hello May! Hello Philippians! Hello Living a Life that Matters!

I've been convicted the past few weeks as I've been reading through Philippians. I love that book. So much so, that I reread it every year in my birthday month of February. For some reason, this year, I can't seem to break free of it. I'm trapped. So for the month of May, I'm going to camp out in Philippians. It is a book of Joy so I'm going to focus on what it means to be joyful in all things & will take it a bit further into what it means to 'live a life that matters'. Maybe I'll even manage to make this blog truly, "A day in a life".

May 1:

Living a life that matters... 

Philippians 1:3-6

'Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.'

This was my pastor husband’s day this past Sunday…
8 am Worship practice
Sunday school
Worship service
1st Step Luncheon immediately following
About a half hour after he got home, he received a call that a dear church member had passed away so he headed out to the family home
He returned to the church for prayer & to teach a membership class
8:30 pm he arrived home for the night

Please don’t misunderstand me… I am not sharing this so that you will feel sorry for him, be concerned about his time management or even give him a pat on the back… sometimes in ministry these kinds of days are inevitable & it’s the hands-on way my husband chooses to live & do ministry. I am sharing this to encourage those that are choosing to give their lives completely to the One who created them… Those that live their lives focusing not on the temporal but on the eternal. I am so blessed to see so many believers, in my day to day life at Avon Community Church, that work joyfully & tirelessly for the sake of the gospel. It’s what we are called to do. Love God & love people. I know it can be hard. I know it can be overwhelming. But it is also the most beautiful & rewarding thing we will ever do… Keep up the good work!

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”-Galatians 6:9