New Orleans...or should I say Nawlins?

This past week I had the privilege to go on a missions trip with my church to New Orleans. See, even though Hurricane Katrina hit three years ago, the city is still in really bad shape. We stayed at the Desire Street Ministries campus with Crossroads Missions and worked together with CM to help put the finishing touches on four houses they had built. Inside the gym they had painted a line all around the room to represent the water level that covered New Orleans. This line was about 12-15 feet high up. Can you imagine a city being under 12-15 feet of water?
We went to where the levy broke and saw the neighborhoods that once were. Except for those who chose to rebuild, all you saw were plots of land where houses once stood. You could tell a house was there because you saw the foundation and sometimes a driveway. Some plots of land had piles of rubble. And you could tell that the houses in this neighborhood were packed close together just like the neighborhood we were working in all week. And yet it was all swept away by the water the levy could no longer hold.
One day when we were heading back from our work site we took a wrong turn and in finding our way back to where we should be we drove next to an overpass and saw tents underneath the bridge. And I don't mean the large family size tents. I mean the small, one to two person tents that you buy because they're really cheap. These people had everything they own stuffed in these little tents, and most of them were sitting outside their tents. I'd say there were a minimum of 50 tents, each with one to two or more people living out of them.
One of our students came up with the idea to bring cold water to them during the heat of the day, so on Wednesday, we bought 150 water bottles and ice and walked around what we called "Tent City" in groups of 4-5 people handing out water bottles. Most of the people we saw under the bridge were African American. I saw one Caucasian couple sitting outside their tent. The husband looked on as his wife, who was sitting next to him, had her head in her hands. I could only imagine what she was thinking. Is this what my life's come to? Is this it? Are we ever going to get out of this? How did we go from having a house to living in a tent under a bridge? I could sense her despair, and my heart broke for her.
In the houses that we helped finish up, we did all sorts of things from trim, to molding, to installing kitchen cabinets, to wiring electricity, etc.... I, myself, became an expert caulker. For those of you who don't know, caulk is what you use to fill in cracks in doorways, window frames, trim, bathtubs, etc. And caulking was the one job no one wanted to do this week. Whenever I asked what they needed done, a representative from CM would say, "Well, we need some people to do more caulking...." So, except for one or two rare occasions where I got to paint or assist in cutting trim, I caulked ALL WEEK LONG! So much so that I dreamt about it at least two nights in a row!
At first I was a bit frustrated about it because I wanted something else to do, but then I realized that it was probably one of the most important jobs because there was so much of it and the workers at CM were under a time crunch. So, instead of getting fed up with it, I decided to do my job with excellence because I realized it was so important. On the last day, one of the guys from another church told me that I had inspired him to work harder because I just kept on trucking to get the work done. It made me feel really good to hear him say that.
This week was exhausting, but it was well worth the trip! The heat, the humidity, the zero ventilation in our dorm rooms....seriously, it was all worth it. I even found myself wishing that I could stay for a few days longer, but I knew that I had to get back. Hopefully I'll be back soon.
I almost forgot to tell you, on Wednesday evening we went to the French Quarter for a night on the town, and it was a lot of fun! We went to a restaurant that had a road on either side of it, and I had jambalaya for the first time. It was absolutely delicious! And as we were leaving a live jazz band was playing. It was sweet! Then we walked around the streets a little bit and went down Bourbon, the good part, not the riske part...and then we made our way to the original French Quarter, which was by the water, and we saw a church group of junior high and high school students who were doing a stomp, dance, rhythm, and singing routine. We came in on the last two minutes of it, so we begged them to do a number for us, and they ended up doing two songs for us. It was great! I didn't buy any souvenirs, but I have a lot of great pictures and a lot of great memories! If you get the chance to go to New Orleans to help with relief work, take it!

Trusting God with Everything

You may notice that right under the title of this blog is Proverbs 3:5-6, which states, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Well, in my short life, I have discovered the truth of these words. I have not had the easiest life, and I have not had the hardest life either. Various challenges, discouragements, and setbacks have happened in which I've had to rely solely on God to get me and my family through whatever the situation may be. There was a time when my parents were in between jobs and we barely had enough money to pay the bills let alone put food on the table. My mom died of cancer less than five years ago. And people I thought I could trust have let me down.

Through each hardship, or challenge, I have learned to trust God with everything. All my fears, all my doubts, discouragements, resentments, failures, successes, insecurities, what ifs, anger, pain, searching--I have learned to give all this and more up to God when I'm at my wit's end, and even before that. As soon as I know something is going to be too big for me to take care of on my own, I go to God immediately and ask Him for whatever it is that I need.

The cool thing is that throughout my life, I have seen God provide for every single need of mine. He has not failed me yet, and I don't expect Him to fail ever. Every time that I have come to God in prayer with a need of mine, He has taken care of it and then some. Recently money has been tight due to unexpected surprises with taxes, car repairs, and whatnot. With all of this I went to God straight away to ask that He would take care of me. Sometimes not knowing what to say I would say, "God, help me! Help me! I don't even know what to say, just help me!" And God, knowing my situation, worries, and needs, took care of me and caused someone to pay for a car repair, caused someone else to give me their patio furniture, caused some friends to take me on a "date" so that I could enjoy myself, caused a certain home repair store to give me fencing for free, and caused one of my volunteers to decide to stay put while in a shortage of volunteers.

It is amazing how things have seemed to just "work out" in various aspects of my life. I don't believe it's coincidence. In fact, I don't believe in coincidence. I believe God purposely made these things happen to show me that He is taking care of me and that I have nothing to worry about. I have never trusted God more in my life than I do right now!

I invite you to take a step of faith and trust God with something in your life. Maybe it's your marriage. Maybe it's a friend or family member. Maybe it's a bad habit or addiction you just can't seem to kick. Maybe it's money problems or health problems. Whatever it is that you're trying to take care of on your own, hand it over to God. Sometimes when it's difficult for me to give something up, I raise my hands in the air and ask God to take it from me. Sometimes it's hard to let go, but when we finally let go and trust God, things work out the way they should. They may not always work out the way we want or expect, but they sometimes turn out better than we expected. The Psalmist was right when he wrote, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

The Gap

Okay, before you start thinking about the clothing store, I'd like to share something with you on a completely different spectrum. I am a children's minister at a church in southwest Ohio, and I have a special way that I talk to the kids about communion each week. I thought I would share it with you.

When we do wrong things...aka: things we know we should not do...or even simpler, anything that the Bible does not okay...we sin. When we sin, that puts a HUGE gap between us and God. And we may try to get across that gap by doing good works, being kind to people, or following all the "right" traditions. But the thing is, we cannot get across this gap on our own. No matter how much we try, we will always fail. The only way to get across this gap is to accept the fact that we cannot get across it on our own and realize that only Jesus Christ is able to close up that gap because He died for our sins. Here's the deal, Jesus doesn't automatically close up that gap. We have to ask Him to close up that gap for us. Once we believe, accept, and understand this, the gap is closed and we are reunited with God.

I know that is a severely simplified version of everything, but once again, I talk to young kids each Sunday! If you would like to talk about it in more grown up terms and on a deeper level, you can e-mail me at heater518@yahoo.com.

Can Christians be Possessed by Demons?

About a year ago I was studying angels and demons with my students at church. During our discussion/research, one of the topics was demon possession. I wondered to myself, "Can Christians be possessed by demons?" I found this an important question to answer because I've been a Christian since my youth and if demon-possession in Christians were possible, I'd want to know what I could do to prevent it. So, I checked out the Bible to see what it said, and here's what I found:

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. --1 John 1:2-4

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one [Jesus] who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
--1 John 5:18-20

According to these verses in First John, God is greater than Satan, and those who are "in [God] Him" or "saved" are protected by Christ. Satan cannot touch those who will inherit salvation. Therefore, if Satan cannot touch practicing Christians, he cannot possess them himself. Nor can his demons possess practicing Christians because if Satan has no power against Christ, neither will demons, who are below Satan and submissive to him.

I say "practicing Christians" because there are many people in this world who claim to be "Christian" but they have nothing more to do with God than the fact that they believe He exists. Being a Christian is not simply belief in a higher being but it includes believing that Jesus came to die for our sins to give us a second chance, and accepting the fact that we cannot get to heaven on our own efforts. God's forgiveness is an act of grace, which is a gift we don't deserve. Once we have accepted this grace, we must then do our best to become like Christ and live a life obedient to God.

Those who believe in God by name only are not Christians, and they do not have God's protection against Satan and his schemes. However, those whose faith shows through in their lifestyle have clearly declared Jesus as Lord, and God protects them from Satan's schemes. It brings me peace to know God's got my back, and I hope you have the same peace.

Blessed Be Your Name

One of my favorite songs of worship is Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. Read through the lyrics below, and then I will share why it is my favorite.

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful,

Where Your streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place;

Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your name.

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise.

When the darkness closes in, Lord, stil I will say:

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name.

Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me,

When the world's "all as it should be," blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering;

Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, stil I will say:

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name.

You give and take away, You give and take away.

My heart will choose to say, "Lord, blessed be Your name."

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name.

Everyone at one time or another faces some sort of difficulty or hardship in their life. Some people get mixed up with drugs. Others lose their house because they cannot afford to make the mortgage payments. Some struggle with alcoholism, while others struggle with thoughts of suicide or depression. And still some others lose a loved one to disease or some unforeseen accident. I truly have not covered every category of hardship that people may face, but you get the idea.

About four years ago my mom passed away from lung cancer. By the time we discovered the cancer, it was in the advanced stages, and we only had a month with her before she passed away. I was twenty years old when this happened, and I am now approaching my twenty-fifth birthday. My mother's death, by far, has been the toughest thing I have ever had to endure.

I remember a conversation I had with her before she died. It was the last heart-to-heart conversation we ever had. She told me that I might get angry with God because of everything going on with the cancer and the fact that she was going to die from it. And she told me it's okay to get angry with God. That's a natural reaction, and it's okay. However, she told me never to turn my back on God because He's the only one who will get me through this. I took my mom's words to heart and decided that no matter how tough things might get through it all that I would not turn my back on God.

I prayed for strength to get through it, and God blessed me with peace, personal strength, and friends, family, and a loving community at school to support me. I got through it okay, and have moved on with my life, just like she would have wanted me to. I still have rough days when I sometimes think about how much I miss her, but overall, I am doing well!

The song "Blessed Be Your Name" is probably one of the best ways to describe my relationship with God since my mom died from cancer. Basically, the message of the whole song is that no matter whether my life is going good or in a slump, I will never turn my back on God. Instead, I will praise Him always, even when I'm hurting. Like the song says, "Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name."

It's not easy to praise God when we're going through a rough time. In fact, we want to yell at God, give Him a piece of our mind, or even ask why such an event has to happen to us. Praising God is probably one of the last things we want to do when we're hurting, but I have learned through the example of my parents and the experiences of my own life that God will always do what's best for me. I may not always enjoy it, but He will always do what's best for me and He will provide for my needs if I just ask Him. He has not let me down yet, and I don't believe He ever will. Because I know God's got my back, I can praise Him, even when the going gets tough.

Some of the most powerful words in the song are toward the end where it says, "You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, 'Lord, blessed be Your name'." We sometimes ask God, even challenge Him on, why certain things happen, and we seem to forget that He has the power to give us good things and also take them away without having to ask our permission! Regardless of what God gives us or takes away, we must make the choice of whether we are still going to follow God or turn our backs on Him because we did not get what we wanted. I have chosen that no matter what happens in my life, no matter what God gives to or takes from me, I will never turn my back on Him. Instead, I will still praise Him, even though it may be painful.

As you have been reading through this article, maybe a certain struggle or hardship of your own has come to mind. Maybe you have become angry at God and have decided to distance yourself from Him. Maybe you've turned your back on God because you just don't understand how a God who is so loving and so good could let something like this happen to you. Maybe you don't even know how to react, you're still in shock. I ask you to tell God what's on your mind. Tell Him how you feel, what you've been thinking, the questions you've been racking around in your brain. Tell Him all of it! And then, give things a second chance. Ask God to help you understand and move through whatever it is that you experienced or are currently experiencing. Because trust me, it's okay to get angry with God, but He's the only one who will be able to get you through this, so don't turn your back on Him.

Prayer for Our Leaders

Today I was reviewing some Scriptures pertaining to salvation because I am preparing a class for the kids at my church in which they will learn about faith in God, salvation, baptism, and get answers to their questions about faith and God. One of the passages I came across was 1 Timothy 2:1-6. It reads as follows:

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and human beings, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time." (TNIV)

I've been told before by others that we should pray for our leaders, especially the President and Congress. In response, I usually say a quick prayer for them and move on with my day. Today, when I came across these verses in First Timothy, I realized that I should pray regularly for the leaders of our country, rather than making it a one-time or once in a while thing. What is the benefit of praying for our leaders? Paul (the writer of First Timothy) tells us that it is for the purpose of living peaceful lives as well as being a witness for Christ. God wants ALL to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. I know that we all do not have the privilege of rubbing elbows with our nation's leaders everyday; however, prayer is one of the most powerful, effective tools we have for bringing about change in the situations that are out of our control. God is a very good listener!

My challenge to you and myself is to pray for our nation's leaders at least once a week. If they are Christians in leadership positions, we should pray that God will strengthen them in their faith and protect them from personal corruption. If they are not Christians, we should pray that God would work on their hearts and help them "come to a knowledge of the truth" as Paul states in verse four. Our nation does have a lot of issues, but if we pray for the ones who are in power, we have the opportunity to watch God work in great and mysterious ways against these various issues. Please join me in my challenge to pray for our leaders.

"Life on Earth is Preparation for Eternity"

My church is currently going through the 40 Days of Purpose series, and Thursday night we had our first session in small group. In the video, Rick Warren said, "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity." He then included Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Psalm 33:11 as references to support this statement. After checking out these verses, they didn't really seem to fit with what he was saying.

Over the past several days I have had mixed feelings on Rick Warren's statement, but as I've discussed it with several people including chat, small group, my sister, and through discussion board, I think I've been able to figure out my thoughts. Here goes:

For the person who is not a Christian, it is very clear that life on earth is preparation for eternity because their decision of whether or not they accept Christ as Lord will determine where they end up in eternity. We can see this truth in Matthew 6:19-21, which talks about treasures on earth vs. treasures in heaven.

The part I wrestled with originally was the relevance of this statement in the life of a Christian. I thought to myself, what in life would prepare me for eternity if I'm already a Christian? A man in my small group mentioned that the hardships we face in life prepare us for eternity. I thought about that, but I disagreed because the book of Revelation tells us that when we get to heaven, we will forget the pain, heartache, and hardships of our former life (life on earth) and will partake in the joy of heaven. So, how could our hardships prepare us if they will serve no consequence in eternity?

Another person in my small group said that the good things we do in this life will determine how much of a reward we will receive in heaven. I disagreed with her on this statement because I do not know of anywhere in Scripture where this viewpoint is supported. In fact, I learn something very different when I check out what Scripture says.

There is a parable in Matthew 20:1-16 in which Jesus describes a man who buys a plot of land and hires out help to get his work done. He hires people all day long starting in the morning and ending in the evening, and he promised everyone who worked the same sum of money. Let's say $100 for the sake of the story. So, at the end of the day, the workers come to collect their dues, and the ones who have been working since the morning think they're going to get paid really well because they've been working all day and some people only worked for an hour. However, the owner paid each worker $100. The ones who had been working all day were outraged, but the owner told them he gave them what he promised, and he has the right to give his workers whatever he wants.

This parable is comparable to heaven. As Christians, we are continually working toward pleasing God and joining Him in heaven. This is not to say that our salvation is based on works. Rather, the good things we do should be our response to God's love for us. Regardless of whether we accept Christ as savior in our childhood or at the end of life, we have still accepted His grace and will join Him in heaven. Through this parable we can see that God does not choose favorites with those who worked the hardest, but He treats everyone equally.

I later spoke with my sister on the topic of the statement "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity" and asked her what she thought. I felt she shared some good insight, and after sharing this topic with several Christians, I feel I have a good understanding of things. Here's a combination of what they shared. The life we spend on Earth is preparation for eternity because as Christians we are doing our best to tell others about Christ so that we can see them in heaven. We are preparing now for who we hope to see in the future. Also, it is in this present life that we are learning about God's love, joy, and service and how to have/do it more fully. This is preparation for how we will live it out when we are in heaven loving and serving each other.

After wrestling with this statement for a few days and getting feedback from several people, I've come to the conclusion that I do agree with Rick Warren's statement that "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity." I'd never really perceived life on Earth in this way before, and I think that's why these words stuck out like a sore thumb to me when I first heard them.

I guess now the question I need to answer for myself is, now that I realize my present life is preparation for what's to come, what am I going to do about it? What in my life do I need to start/stop doing?

Unexpected Blessings

I'll just start by saying, it's been a rough week. My car broke down, I have had too much work to get done and not enough time to accomplish it, I've had to sit through at least seven hours of meetings, I haven't had a true day off for about two weeks, and personally I've been kind of off the past few days. It's just been rough.

Today, I had two unexpected blessings. First, I forgot my money at home and didn't realize it until I was halfway through ordering lunch at Panera. I told the cashier nevermind since I forgot my money, and I prepared to turn around and walk away when she told me not to worry about it and that I was covered. I asked her if she was sure, and she said yes. I don't know if they had food they wanted to get rid of or if she paid for it herself, but :I got a free meal today! And with the way things have been going, that really brightened my day!

Second, this afternoon I got a call from the auto shop telling me my car was ready to pick up. And then the mechanic made sure to tell me my bill was paid in full. He told me I have a guardian angel and that legally he's not allowed to tell me who paid the bill. It's simply paid in full. At first I tried to figure it out, not to pay them back but to say thank you, but then I decided to quit trying to figure it out and simply be thankful, whoever it was. That right there brightened my entire week! In fact, it turned my entire week around!

My week was rough, but it has suddenly taken a turn for the better! And the only explanation I can think of is that God decided to use other people to bring me His blessings. The other night I asked in all my frustration for God to help me. I couldn't even specify what I needed help for, I just asked Him several times over to help me. Today, I had two very unexpected but very needed blessings. My conclusion is God did it. And I'm grateful.

As a Christian, I am sorry

Okay, first check out the article about Westboro Baptist Church (dated 1/16/08) at this link and then read what I have to say below.

If you have ever been judged, ostrasized, burdened, hated, or turned away by the church, or if you've decided to walk away from the church because you've been burned by apparent hypocrisy, I am sorry. I am sorry that we as a church have failed to live out the very message of grace and mercy that Jesus came to teach us all.

I do not agree with, nor do I support the actions of Westboro Baptist Church. It seems that they have taken upon themselves to "take revenge" in the name of God. But we learn in Scripture that this revenge is not our right, but God's only. Here's what the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:18-20 (in the New Testament):

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

According to these verses, we are not supposed to take revenge on others, even if it's supposedly "in the name of God". Instead, we are supposed to act with mercy and help those who are in need. God can handle His own, and one day every single one of us will have to give Him an answer for the things we have done in this life. Now, I know you read the last line which states, "In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head," and you're probably thinking that we're still taking some sort of revenge because we're throwing burning coals on people's heads. That's not what the sentence means at all. Rather, it means that when we treat others nicely instead of judging them and kicking them to the curb, it will be difficult, maybe even painful for the person on the other end to accept such kindness.

Many times it is a pride issue when someone else does something kind for us, such as buy our groceries, give a loan and not expect us to pay them back, free clothing, etc. It's difficult for us to receive free gifts because we feel like we have to pay for it in some way. We don't want "handouts". It is this pain of wrestling with our pride which is like burning coals on our heads. It is not malicious, it's just difficult for us to accept someone else's kindness.

So, if you have been burned by the church in some way at some point in your life, I apologize on behalf of Christians across the world for the stupid, hateful, ignorant, ridiculous, wrong things we have done "in the name of Jesus". We are human, we do make mistakes, and we ask for your forgiveness.