Tunnel Vision

I've been God-poked again!  I get this churning in my soul and until I release what's in there I don't have peace - so it results in another blog :)  

Tunnel Vision: The tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited goal or point of view.  

If you've been on facebook recently you've probably seen this photo:

It began circulating after a report came out that the Starbuck's CEO, Howard Schultz, made a harsh statement to a shareholder, Tom Strobhar,  about his stand on same-sex marriage. Mr. Schultz basically told the shareholder that if he didn't like his opinions and comments as CEO that he could sell his shares of the company.  I believe as a shareholder this man  had the right to speak up for what he believes. I also believe the CEO had the same right.  Mr. Strobhar is making the choice to hold stock in Starbucks. If he doesn't agree, maybe he should make the choice to sell his shares and get out.  If you don't agree, you have the choice to not support them either. 

But as a Christian I have to ask myself, why was it ok for Mr. Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A to speak up for "one man one woman", Biblical principles, but it's not ok for Mr. Schultz to speak out on his opinion of gay rights?  Were Mr. Cathy's comments ok because I agree with them and Mr. Schultz wrong because I don't agree?   Doesn't that appear to be a double standard? 

And, if people are going to get loud about an issue, then maybe they should take it all the way.  If same-sex marriage is your issue, and because the CEO of a company disagrees with your viewpoint you're going to give up buying Starbucks coffee, then maybe you should consider giving up these things as well:   

Target; JC Penney; Kenneth Cole; Amazon; Levi's; Microsoft; Expedia; Google; Allstate Insurance; Apple; Best Buy; Clorox; The Coca Cola Company; ebay; FORD; Lincoln; Gap;  Banana Republic; Old Navy; General Mills Cereal; General Motor Company; Youtube; Hilton Hotels; Kraft Foods; McDonald's; Nike; Converse; Olive Garden; Oreo;Pepsi Cola Company; Proctor and Gamble; Bounty; Crest; Pampers; Tide;  Red Lobster; Land's End; State Farm Insurance; Rite Aid; UPS; Walgreens; Walt Disney Company; ABC; ESPN.... this is just part of the list! 

I bet some of the stores or brand items on this list you use daily. I use many of these companies' products. So I guess the question is, if you're going to stop using one company who supports gay rights are you going to stop using them all?  Are you really ready to disconnect the Disney Channel and ESPN? No more Kraft cheese or Cheerios.  You do have that choice. 

Now please don't twist my words or thoughts,

I ABSOLUTELY believe in the Biblical definition of marriage:

That is NOT up for discussion.

What is up for discussion is my reaction to what others believe

about this issue and so many others.

I watched a video clip the other day from a James MacDonald message and he said "You need to clean your glasses. You have very narrow minded thinking and it blocks your views. If you want to see God work, you need to clean your glasses a little bit. God says, you want to debate about this guy, I want to minister to him." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdmizDpxmgc) 

We tend to choose one topic and make a stand. We see the outward person and the sin that we find appalling yet, God sees that person's heart and He longs to transform their way of thinking.  And, will that person see Christ in us and come to a personal relationship with Jesus if all the Christians are condemning him? Most of us can quote John 3:16, but what about John 3:17?  

"God sent His Son into the world not to judge

the world, but to save the world

through Him." 

Unfortunately it seems we only become outraged by the sin that we disagree with.  What? All sin is bad! You're right, but are we outraged by the drunk, or the person who uses bad language?  Are we outraged by the friend who constantly gossips or lies?  Do we choose to speak out loudly against them? Of course not - we choose to overlook those sins or to love in spite of their sin because they are friends or family. 

In Luke 6:32-33 says:

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even 'sinners' love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? 

Even 'sinners' do that." 

 Sin has no degree of "badness".  There isn't a Top 10 list of bad sins. ALL SIN IS EQUAL.  God sees the person who gossips and the person living a gay lifestyle as sinners, and He wants both of them to come into the light for forgiveness and transformation.  In the James MacDonald message  he mentions the fact that we get caught up looking at the sin and not the person.  In Acts 15:11 Pauls writes: "We believe that we are ALL saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus."  Understanding this I need to be more like Jesus because of the appreciation and gratitude I have for what He did for me. 

Luke 6:36-37 says: 

"You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Stop judging other, and you will not be judged. 

Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you.

If you forgive others, you will be forgiven." 

 If you really want to back something that needs to change, join the End It Movement to end slavery. There are sins that people choose to bring on themselves, but there is also the sin of enslavement. That is causing someone to be completely obedient to a controlling influence.  

27 MILLION men, women, boys and girls get up everyday and go to work for you. Not because they want to but because they live 24/7 in slavery.  It's NOT their choice.  If you want to jump on a band wagon and bring to light companies that need to make a difference in the lives of others and STOP USING SLAVES to create their products - then you might consider banning these:

Forever 21; Aeropostale; Toys'R'Us; Urban Outfitters; Phillip Morris; Victoria's Secret; & Hershey's and again this list is just the tip of the iceberg. 

My heart breaks for those who don't have a voice. I find if difficult to look at the eyes of a child who is picking cotton so I can have a soft pair of pj's or a new stylish top. What about the child who picks coffee beans so I can have my morning cup of coffee to start my day. What about the child who chips away at stones in mines so I can have colored make up to wear.  These are things that give me reason to be disgusted and appalled.

I'm so thankful that when God looked at me - He saw what I could be, not what I was. I'm glad there were people that I knew and didn't know who looked past my faults and sins and saw something more.  I'm so thankful that God saved me with undeserved grace and I will do everything I can to share that Good News w/ others.  

They Just Walked Away

Today I was reading from John chapter 6.  Jesus had just fed the 5,000 and he slipped off to be alone with His Father. The next day the people who had been with Him asked, "when did you get here?"  Jesus said to them, you aren't looking for Me, you are looking for more miracles and free food. (msp's paraphrase)

As Jesus continues He tell them what they must do to never hunger or thirst again. He repeats it over and over again (because repetition is how children learn!),  what it takes to have life eternal...

Eugene Peterson says in The Message: "in a nutshell... this is what My Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who He is and what He does and then aligns with Him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time."

After hearing this and much more, in verse 60 the people say, "this is tough teaching, too tough to swallow."  and they left. They walked away not wanting anything to do with Jesus or His teachings. They just didn't get it.

How sad is that?! After everything they had just seen and experienced, they just walked away. What Jesus did for them was not because He had to - He could have seen their hungry eyes and heard their growling stomachs and just ignored them, but because of His love and compassion for them, He took care of their physical needs. And yet... they still didn't get it.

Jesus later asked the twelve if they wanted to leave. He gave them the same opportunity.  They replied, "we've committed ourselves to you and are confident in who you say you are."  And Jesus says, yet one of you will betray Me.

You see Judas just didn't get it. He spent so much time actually with Jesus, in His presence and he still didn't get it. He allowed the "stuff" of the world to distract him. Why? He was there with the other eleven and heard the words of Jesus, saw the miracles He performed, and he even received the same love. Why didn't he get it?

Well, maybe because, "It's easy, but it's hard."

For a long time I didn't get it either.
I was a very good girl.  I rarely got in trouble. I never did anything to embarrass my family. I went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and every extra whatever there was in between. I didn't cuss, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. I didn't do drugs. I didn't hang with the "wrong" people. BUT, I did gossip. I did lie. I did have a bad attitude from time to time. I did have ugly, negative thoughts and sometimes I did things w/ impure motives. I thought I was better that other "Christians" because I wasn't doing the really bad stuff.

What I didn't get was these are ALL equal sins in God's eyes.  It's not like we get FIVE demerits  for cussing and only ONE for  gossip.  GOD HATES SIN, ALL SIN. I just didn't get that "being good isn't good enough".

When I'm not really sure, but one day a light bulb came on and God so clearly said, "Why are you comparing yourself to others? It is My heavenly standard you are to strive for."  A heavenly standard? So, the only one I should ever compare myself to is Jesus. He is to be my one and only example on how to live to please, honor and glorify the Father. He is the only one who ever got that right 100% of the time!
That sounds really easy... yet hard.

What I've figured out is this...
Yes, it was easy to love Jesus, to accept His love and to come to that place when I recognized that I was dying in my sin, and I was lost without a Savior. It was easy to ask Jesus to save me. That was the best day of my life!

But, it's hard... every day I live in this world there is going to be hardships and struggles. I love God and want to please Him with everything in me - but I'm flesh and too often worldly thoughts and attitudes and behaviors get in the way.  It's hard to "daily die to self".

I guess the question was did I have the "want to" to get it!?
My answer was and continues to be, "YES".   As long as I have the want to, I will ever so gently feel God pulling me back. I will hear His sweet whisper in my ear. And, I will come to Him in moments of brokenness and allow Him to heal.

The crowd that day enjoyed the easy of following Jesus. They liked the "free food"! If only it could always be easy! - Well God never promised that did He?  Once they heard "the hard", it was too "tough to swallow",  so they chose to walked away... lost, hopeless, and dead.

I heard Louie Giglio once say, you can read one verse in the Bible over and over again, for the rest of your life and you will never understand everything there is to know.  We won't ever completely "get it", but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. One day I'll be sitting at the feet of Jesus, and I'll get it and it will be so totally worth it!

What about you?
Do you get it? Do you want to? Do you find it easy, yet hard?
Do you ever feel lost, hopeless or dead?  God wants to bring you into a new life in Him!
God never said we had to live this life alone... He will never leave or forsake us.
That is a promise you can count on!

Father, I have no clue who will read this blog - if anyone. But I've written what I felt you leading me to say and I believe You have a purpose. Father thank you for loving me and nudging me and whispering in my ear. Thank you for the reminders everyday, multiple times a day, that I am Yours and that You love me exactly as I am. Thank you for bringing me to that place in life where I had to uncover some ugly truths about myself and allow you to clean it up. Please forgive me Father for those times when I fall back into thoughts and behaviors of the world. Thank you for holding on and pulling me back.  Father, for those who You nudge to read this blog - use it however You will to speak to them. Give them insight into their own lives and help them to see the places where they need to admit change needs to be made and allow You to transform them to look more like Jesus. That is my desire as well Father, I don't want to conform to the ways of this world, Father I want to be transformed into Your likeness.  I love You, Father and I ask these things in Your Son's most precious name, Amen. 

Fantastic February

This has been about the best February I can ever remember.  I can say that now because the mad rush is over!  Why the best? Because I had two amazing opportunities that came along! What made them a "mad rush"? Well, the events were back to back weeks and they were both very time consuming.  But, my God is greater! 

My first opportunity was to serve on the Alabama State VBS Team. This was my fifth or sixth time to have this opportunity and I feel so honored.  What is the Alabama State VBS Team? We are a group of people who love and believe in Vacation Bible School and our great leader is Mr. VBS himself, James Blakeney!  We meet for the first time in November, then we travel to Ridgecrest, NC together for training. Once we're trained, we come home and learn our materials, write our teaching models, create our classroom design, learn skits, music and motions and then meet back up, usually the third week of February, to travel to five different locations teaching Associational VBS leaders how to teach church VBS leaders. Whew! I'm tired just typing it!  

This year God stretched me, farther than usual.  When I was asked to serve I gave my top two choices of age groups to teach.  I've always taught babies-twos teachers or occasionally an older preschool age group.  Anyway, when James called me he asked if I'd consider teaching the VBX materials.  VBX??? That is 5th & 6th grade material!!!  I said, "If you think I can handle it, sure. I'll do it."  And so my stretching began.  The best part - was God never left me to do it alone. He walked me through every bit of the journey step by step, moment by moment. 

What did I learn from this experience?  The passion I have for sharing with Preschool teachers the importance of laying a solid Jesus foundation in babies, is the same passion I have for making sure we don't lose our preteens! I have a passion to see them know Jesus, not just know about Him. Statistics show that if a child doesn't accept Christ by 12 the chances of making that decision drop considerably.  It drops even further down if they don't accept Christ by 17.  As a matter of fact, a person's worldview is set by the time they are 9 years old! NINE!!!  That is why it is so important we guard what are children are watching, reading and listening to.  It's important that they surround themselves w/ solid Christian friends and adult role models.  You know, the people who don't just talk the talk, but they walk the walk.  

It was a GREAT week, one where God's presences was felt consistently in every situation and location.  I was so blessed.

Once we were home, I jumped in the car (if you read my last blog you already know this!) and went to have dinner w/ family.  That's always fun!  

Three days later...

I'm at Callaway Gardens setting up for the APCMO retreat.  What is an APCMO?  It is Alabama Preschool Children Minister's Organization. There, a mouth full!  I've been a member of this group since 1999 and I had the honor of being the 2013 APCMO President.  My responsibilities included choosing a speaker and worship leader, creating the schedule and pulling it all together.  I had a GREAT TEAM to help me! But, considering I had VBS tour the week before, I was afraid that one of the two events would get short changed... but nope!
God showed up BIG!!!  He led me to Tollie Megg for our speaker and heavens, she didn't disappoint. She spoke the Word with great passion and enthusiasm, just what I prayed for.  I had the best worship leader around, Ronald Burns. You might know him, he is my husband :) God led Ronald to choose the perfect songs to lead us into worship and then he and Brooke did a beautiful job of presenting them. 

What did I learn at this retreat?
1. that God presents me with opportunities that I can't do alone, but if I choose to join Him in His work - what a blessing it is! 
2. that I can go to training after training and learn all the latest and greatest techniques and products and materials, but until I'm where I need to be in my relationship with Christ - I will still struggle.  It's not enough to study the Word to teach a class or find an answer - that's my job. But as His child it's my love that leads me to spend time with Him. Oh Father forgive me for neglecting You. That is going to change... RIGHT NOW! 
3. that I truly can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. 
4. that sometimes what people see in  me is so much different than what I see in myself. God uses those people to encourage me and motivate me to become that person they see. 
5. that I've got to stop getting so wrapped up in the "stuff" of ministry and get busy spreading the gospel.  I'm not a program director or a hand holder. It's my job to provide opportunities for children/students and adults to serve and experience life in Christ.  One of my favorite verses is 2 Peter 3:18 (NIrV) "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Get to know Him better." 
6. that if you've been called to do something, do it and do it with passion. People may look at you strangely or think you're odd. But that's okay :) If they are a follower of Christ, they'll understand! (they will be doing it too!) 
7. that it's not my job to please people. It's my job to listen to, learn from and follow God. When I do that HE is pleased, and that is all that matters! 


One day we'll all meet Jesus face to face
and I want to hear...
"Well done Patty!"