It's time to get out of the boat

Below is an excerpt from a book I'm currently reading. The book is called "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat" - by John Ortberg.

This book has challenged me. I have learned through its pages that at some point over the last two years I have gone from walking on the water with Jesus, to being buckled into the boat secure in my own world. I used to be one who listened for the voice of Jesus and relished the idea of obeying Him at a moment's notice. I've moved cities, changed schools, birthed ministries and sacrificed at various times in my life based solely on what I felt the Lord was asking me to do.

Now, 21 months after giving birth to my son and 5 months after successfully completing my treatment for Postpartum Depression, I find myself still in survival mode. The dark cave that the depression brought me into left an emotional residue that has been hard to shake. During the most difficult times it was all I could do to simply put one foot in front of the other and survive each day. Forget about hearing instruction from the Lord, He seemed a million miles away. I know in my heart He wasn't, but sometimes it sure felt that way. I believe that during this time there was great grace extended to me, a sustaining grace. He upheld my husband and me with His strong right arm and brought us through quite possibly one of the most challenging times in our marriage. But I am doing well now, I am myself again, and our family is back on track - and with that comes a renewed sense of responsibility....

It's time for me to listen again, to listen for the voice of Jesus calling me to come.

It's time for me to unbuckle my seatbelt, take a a stroll on deck, and look for Him on the horizon. My life on the water with Him was risky some of the time... but it proved to be exhilarating and life-giving ALL of the time.

I don't want to look back and see missed opportunities... and that is what this part of the book made me realize.

"See a middle-aged man who spends his nights sitting in front of a television set watching whatever sport happens to be on cable. He was once all fired up with bright plans for the future and strong yearnings to make his mark on this world. But somewhere along the line all the fire went out, and he settled for comfort. His dreams were sacrificed to a La-Z-Boy and flickering images on a screen. He is the story of unrealized potential.

This is a way that leads to stagnation - unrealized potential, unfilled longings. It leads to a sense that I'm not living my life; the one I was supposed to live. It leads to boredom. To what Gregg Levoy calls the common cold of the soul.

To sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed
Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed...
until weeks become months
and months turn into years,
and one day you're looking back on a life of:

Deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had;
Great bold prayers you never prayed,
Exhilarating risks you never took,
Sacrificial gifts you never offered,
Lives you never touched,

And you're sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul,
And forgotten dreams,
And you realize there was a world of desperate need,
And a great God calling YOU to be a part of something bigger than yourself -

You see the person you could have become but did not;
You never followed your calling.
You never got out of the boat."

Are you listening?

Are you interested in what Jesus would have to say to you? Or have you, like me, become numbed by the circumstances of life?

Let's not let this life pass us by without knowing the amazing rush of following the voice of God in childlike obedience.

In fact, let's not let another minute pass... ask Him now to bid you to COME.

Don't let 50 people define Christianity.

I was saddened, though not surprised, to hear that Fred Phelps and his church are trying to find information on Heath Ledger's funeral so they can protest homosexuality. Not only will they show up, they will hold signs saying things like "God hates fags" and "Fag = Sin". This is because he played the role of a homosexual in a movie a few years back.

This is a quote taken from the Phelps website:

"Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there -- besides which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential"

This is the same group that flew all the way from Kansas to protest a funeral when a transgender teen was murdered in California. Holding up signs of hatred and judgment at a funeral where people are in unthinkable pain? Where is the love of Christ? Where is the grace of God? Where is the compassion?

This church angers me, not only because of how they twist and mangle the heart of God, but because they garner so much media attention while doing it. People who aren't Christians are constantly watching those of us that are. They look to see if we practice what we preach. When they see these stories on the news, it only confirms to them that indeed, all Christians are hypocritical, irrelevant, and full of judgment and hatred.

The fifty members of this church have been given power by the media to define Christianity for anyone watching the news. Let us make sure that we act in ways that demonstrate who a Christian really is. One way to do that is to consistently make choices rooted on our decision to follow Jesus Christ. In the workplace, with our families, out running errands. Christians should look and act in a way that reflects who they profess to follow. They should be kind, compassionate, honest, humble, generous, forgiving, and full of faith in a loving God (a more complete list may be found in your bible).

Do I believe homosexuality is a sin? Yes I do.

Do I love homosexuals?

You better believe it.

But I hate Satan. When I get mad at sin, I have to get mad at him. I have walked alongside friends who struggled with their gender identity - often due to abuse or absence from one or both parents, molestation, or adolescent teasing. I cried with them in their pain. Practicing homosexuality is wrong, but the hatred, the rage, and the judgment that I have seen towards it is equally wrong. I wish the words "queer" and "fag" would be completely removed from the dictionary, because I have heard them from the mouths of Christians far too many times.

Think of ways this week that you can demonstrate the love of Christ to those around you. Be a part of the revolution to redefine what the world thinks of Christians. God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While humanity was caught up in greed, lust, bitterness, perversion, murder,etc. - Jesus died for us. He looked beyond our brokenness and offered Grace.

Let us do the same to those around us.

Matthew 7:3 says "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

We are quick to overlook our own flaws and even quicker to point out someone else's... Jesus calls that hypocrisy.

Scraps

This morning I was making my son a delicious breakfast. I had toasted a bagel, cut off the outside(top and bottom?) crusts and was generously applying the cream cheese (I cut off the "crusts" because I'm convinced he eats more when he doesn't have to try so hard to chew - though I realize I may be causing future issues!)

While I am lovingly preparing this meal, out of the corner of my eye I see movement near the floor... And there is N, picking up little pieces of broken, stale goldfish crackers and eating them like they are his last meal! With his head practically down under the lip of the bottom cupboards, I realize that the little guy is more than happy to settle for yesterday's scraps.

Doesn't he see that I have something so much better?

Doesn't he understand that I have toasted and manicured this feast of a bagel for his nourishment and enjoyment?

No. He doesn't. He simply sees what is easy and right before him, and what fills his hunger RIGHT. NOW.

Are you truly happy with yesterday's scraps? Do you believe that there is a God who loves you and daily prepares amazing things just for you? He wants to satisfy your hunger and fulfill your needs. Sometimes it feels easier to start looking elsewhere for our needs to be met... to the past, to the old, to the scraps. But the alternative is far better. Let Him love you, take care of you, be your dad.

The thought of my son foraging around for food is laughable when I have cupboards and cupboards stocked just for his enjoyment. The thought of us foraging desperately for our needs is heartbreaking to the Father, especially when he has paid such a dear price to show us He loves us.

Ask the Father today to reveal His provision for you. Ask Him to show you where you are accepting far less than His best. Talk to Him, listen for Him, trust in Him.