I saw the church be great.

The church is filled with flawed people. We can be selfish and prideful and sometimes downright mean. We miss the mark a lot, demand our "rights", act like children when we don't get our way. BUT when we get it right, it can be pretty great. When we are surrendered to Christ, motivated and moved by His Spirit and live out our faith with true humility and genuinely love each other, when we devote our hearts to Jesus and follow through with our commitment to Him, something wonderful happens.

Yesterday I saw it.

• I saw a friend willingly interrupt what they were doing to help meet a need.
• I saw kids show love to each and invite friends to church.
• I saw parents joyfully volunteer in the ministry that invests in their kids each week.
• I saw leaders be flexible and positive when technology failed.
• I heard kids pray through tears for others and worship with their whole hearts.
• I heard testimonies from people who had seen themselves as the least likely person to lead and serve, share how God had helped them find their "sweet spot" in ministry.
• I saw people serve with passion and purpose.
• I saw preteens excited about getting into God's Word, about owning and growing in their faith.
• I heard (and received!) words of encouragement and affirmation and true friendship.

Have you seen this beautiful stuff? Have you stopped to look and see God at work around you? You will totally miss it:

• If you're not looking for it.
• If you're focused on the negative. 
• If you're spending all your time looking at yourself. 

God is stirring in the hearts of His people. Amazing things are happening. We can't miss it! We can't let the greatness pass right by us. So let's keep our eyes open. Let's not just LOOK for the great in our church, let's BE a part of making it happen. Let's tune our hearts to hear and sing and SEE His grace. 

I guarantee you, the view will be spectacular.

  

FB and the DTR

Me and social media. We have this love/hate thing going on. It's given me amazing ideas. Made me laugh. Reconnected me with old friends. Helped me stay in touch with family. And showed me photos of babies who belong to people I knew as babies. It's given me a valuable mode of communication with ministry and my church family.

But it also serves up a lot of useless information and ugliness. Sometimes so vile, that it makes me sick to my stomach. It has distracted me from important things and wasted hours and hours of time I can't get back. I have been incredibly guilty of choosing it over my family and that ticks me off because that's my own fault.

I determined a long time ago that I when I was online, I would do my best to be a source of good. That I would be intentional with my words. That I would look for opportunities to build somebody up and point them to Hope. I don't think that means that every post has to be a sermon but what I attach my name to should represent Christ well. 

Now, I'm all about the funny. I mean, who doesn't like to seeing a monkey hug a dog or a baby squirt milk out of his nose when he laughs? But if as believers all we share are selfies, football rants and pictures of what we ate for dinner, aren't we missing it? If we never share from the overflow of our heart; what God is doing in our lives right now, aren't we just adding to the endless babble? 

Shouldn't we WANT to share the goodness of God in our lives? 

Shouldn't we see this as a platform to be light in a world that's so dark?

Words have power. What we post has power. And once it's out there, it's out there FOREVER. We should choose wisely what we share. We don't have to over-analyze every silly picture, but just like we should think before we speak, we need to ask ourselves a few questions before we post:

T - Is it true?

H - Is it helpful?

I - Does it inspire?

N - Is it necessary?

K - Is it kind?

We need to be reminded daily that this online, social media, internet-ing, virtual reality thing may rule the world but it doesn't rule our hearts. And it should be handled with care and used for good. And, we need to remember that we have the power to shut it off. Something that should be done OFTEN.

You know the DTR, right? That awkward, dreaded conversation that often comes out of a guy/girl friendship where one or both involved parties in said friendship feel the need to share their feelings and "Define the Relationship"? Well, I had another one of those with Facebook this morning (I don't tweet and I don't Instagram, thank goodness). Just to make sure "he" knows where I stand ...

"I like you, FB. I really do. You are my friend and I enjoy spending time with you. You make me laugh and you help me a lot. But just to be clear, I don't love you and you aren't the center of my universe. I don't want to hurt your feelings but there are other people, other things in my life that are more important than you and I will shut you down on a regular basis, especially when you start to manipulate my time and my attention." 

Whew. I feel better.

So fellow Jesus followers, I challenge you to use social media for good. Enjoy and laugh and share your stuff but think before you do it. Make sure all you do (all you post) is for the glory of God and the good of others. And remember three little words and do them on a daily basis - TURN. IT. OFF.  I promise it will do your heart good and help you keep your life all in balance. 


Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. - Philippians 4:8, NLT

Open the Gates!

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "Open the gates of the new year with strains of the harp of joy and the high sounding cymbals of gladness; drive away griefs and set up banners of confidence in the name of God."

Joy. Gladness. Confidence. THIS is the way you do it. 


I'm taking Chuck's advice. I'm diving head first into 2017. I'm throwing open the gates and greeting this new year with joy and confidence in the faithfulness of my God. I AM ALL IN. I'm going to surrender more, love more, share myself more. 

So that brings me here. I'm jumping out of my comfort zone to share my heart, to make myself more accountable, to keep learning and keep growing. Just thoughts about my family, my ministry, my life. Discoveries I've made on this journey as a woman, wife, mom, friend:


Lessons learned.
Mistakes made.
Restoration found.
Truth uncovered.
Hope embraced.
Joy lived.

Maybe something I've learned (and all I'm still learning) will encourage another heart, inspire another life. Point someone to Hope.

I hope that heart is yours.


Prepare the way of the Lord's coming! Clear the road for Him! (Luke 3:4, NLT)

OPEN THE GATE!