a letter to the church

Dear Church,

You make me sad.  The desire you have to be right, to be safe, to be prestigious....the desire to uphold your appearance is greater than your desire to serve Him, to worship Him, and to proclaim Him.  It breaks my heart.  This church, this beautiful glorious church which stands as the bride waiting....waiting for her groom, is flustered...is bride-zilla if you will, shouting commands and expecting and demanding fulfillment.  We show up on Sunday mornings as consumers and pew fillers, with opinions and complaints.  Asking "what can the church do for me?"

I get it ya know.  This culture that proclaims "Live for You!"  But we can't put on our Sunday best for the world, for complacency of the church, we can't settle, even though humans are corrupt and will corrupt. Who's approval are you after? Because He is good, He is worthy, His church deserves better.  The best. The best we can give.  Our time, our gifts, our money, our....life.  Isn't that what it means to be a Christian....dead to me, alive for Him.

So, I pray you'll look into His word, seek His presence, wait for Him.  Stop looking in the bible for your answers and start living your life with the Bible as the answer.  Start with the scripture.....let God dwell in You, so He can dwell in the church.  Let's prepare the bride. Let's get it together....the church is not a building, it's not the music, it's not any of those things.  It is the hands and feet of Christ.  It is LOVE.....love for God and for each other.  You worship God all week, everyday, every moment, pray without ceasing, but as a church you gather and fellowship with others in love.   Is that what we are being?  Is that what we are giving?
Are we the hands and feet that are following God desires or or own desires?  

I love church.  I do.  I love that God knew that we couldn't do it alone, that we had to have each other.  So this idea of church is His plan.   Let us use His plan to spread His name and His glory and His love, and not our own.  Because that is where we fail, when we make it about us and not about Him.  Let's show up with our Bible in our hand, Jesus in our heart, and be willing to get our hands dirty for Christ. 

With Love and Grace,

Your Sister in Christ

lovely linkys

pause in october

 Let not your heart be troubled.....

and hold on to October....

Oh... Bittersweet October. 

The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter. 

Pause.

together is

together is .....

prayer

fried chicken

dirty dishes

laughter

thankfulness

together makes you miss when you are apart and lets you look forward to when you are together again

together is ....

working it out

not walking away

listening

forgiving

together gives you hope and sometimes headaches

what is together for you?

lovely linky

5 minute friday w/ Lisa Jo

not a life changing post

 {insert clever, spiritual, life changing post here}

i wish i had one
but i don't
my brain is fried, full, frantic, failing....
the list goes on

but if you would like to know that
- today is my last soccer game....yes i'm coaching girls soccer at my school
- wednesday is our first quarterly reward for our new behavior system....yes i helped develop it and am trying to help make it work for our school even though i haven't yet determined why we need a behavior system in the first place and yes the first quarter is already ending wednesday
- tomorrow i'm taking 8th graders ziplining
- IT IS 65 DAYS till Christmas!!! 
- my house is a disaster zone - enter at your own risk
- i am waiting patiently for my best friend/sister to have a baby ANY day
- the song "if we make through December we'll be fine" plays constantly in my head
- i can't decide if my family keeps me sane or insane

 

how are things your way?  do you have a clever, spiritual, life changing post/thought to share with me?

flee to your mountain?

No.....flee to the Lord...

"In the Lord I put my trust;

How can you say to my soul,

“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?"

Psalm 11:1

lovely linky

still saturday

5 minutes on ordinary

we aren't made to be ordinary
we aren't made to be normal

yet we strive to be

we don't want to be different or unusual
we don't want to stand out
to be the one who swims the wrong way

yet we need to be

we were made to be extraordinary
we were made to be more.....

more than the names we are called
more than the problems we face
more than the way the world looks at us

you can always choose to be more than ordinary

do you?

linking up with 

Lisa Jo @ Five Minute Friday

what i learned in september

September.....flew by....here today....gone tomorrow.

• The blessings of family are abundant.

• Music warms my heart.

• Coaching.....time consuming, distracting, underpaid, overworked...but the relationships and influence are irreplaceable. 

• This verse...."take courage, I have overcome the world!"  John 16:33        Became taped to my laptop, so I will remember that these problems we face are temporary and are better handled by Him and not worried about by me.

•  Pumpkins born in July will live through September.

• Weddings make me remember why I married my husband and how much I loved our wedding.

• My sister in law is really more like my sister.

• I must learn to keep my mouth shut more.  It always gets me in trouble.   

• Busyness will not make you happier.  

Here's to the blessings and lessons of October....

what did you learn in September?