If you’re looking for a way to present the gospel to your friends and family, point them to Smash the Lies at: godisnotlikeyou.wordpress.com
It’s all there, including an opportunity to engage in the conversation.
We hope you like it!
Holy Spirit
A Better Trade-In
“Selfish ambition should not be part of a Christian’s life,” my pastor said Sunday morning.
Ouch! I’m prepared to pray, serve, read the bible, now I need to watch for this?
I was undone.
“Self-humbling is a privilege,” my pastor said. 
That killed me.
“God didn’t pour his Son’s life into you so you can fill your life with amusements, worldliness, and money,” he said.
Where’s the exit?
“Mourn so you can be happy. Being sad over your sins is part of being a Christian. If Jesus submitted himself to the Father, why can’t you?”
Good question. Why can’t I?
It’s because I’m wired to turn inwards like a pretzel. It’s my comfortable place. I’ve been doing it since birth.
It takes the power of God to untwist me, and that hurts. It feels foreign.
And it’s impossible to do apart from the active work of the Holy Spirit in me.
But he is my only hope. I have no one else in heaven or on earth.
Jesus secured that right by giving himself in life and in death for me. See Galatians 2:20
What’s stopping me from trading my puny ambitions for his all-encompassing vision he has for me?
Faith in the gospel. He died for me so he could live in me.
So what’s more important, my puny desires or embracing his goals for me with gladness?
United You Stand
Have you had days or maybe weeks of yelling at your kids over the littlest things, or experienced intense jealousy over your best friend’s gorgeous new house or wanted to curse God because you just got laid off from your job again?
I have. More than once. 
That’s when you ask yourself, “Am I really saved or is this all make believe?”
If you look at your Christian performance, you’re in big trouble. If you’re honest, you’ll have to admit it’s sketchy at best. Hardly the stuff God is looking for in your life.
So where do you look for reassurance that you belong to God when you are experiencing your worst moments?
No further than the gospel.
Let me explain.
Jesus not only paid the price for your redemption with his perfect life of obedience and then his death on the cross for your sins, but he also secured your perseverance and heavenly inheritance.
You were united to Christ (Romans 6) at the moment of your coming to faith, and once united you cannot be un-united.
You will never, ever, be separated from Him no matter what befalls you.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” – Romans 8:35
What about weakness, failure, deliberate sins, sins of neglect, unbelief, ungratefulness, or a cold heart?
Jesus died for all those, too.
Is it possible for any member of Christ’s body to perish?
Unthinkable!
God guarantees that you will persevere in this life. That’s why he has given you his Holy Spirit to be your guide, teacher, and encourager.
Not one of his children will be lost.
And that includes you.
Another Good Read
Dear Friends,
I invite you to read another blog: http://leapyearluncheon.wordpress.com/
You’ll find stories about what it looks like to witness for Christ as you go about the ordinary things of life. 
As you read, it’s my hope you will be infected with the same virus to do the same.
And if you do try this, keep a journal of the stories. Even the ones that don’t turn out so well.
And then share them with the rest of us!
In the Thick of It
If you’re like me, when I get sick I pray. When there’s an accident in the family, I pray. When someone is discouraged, I pray.
But when I sin badly, I don’t pray.
Why do I do that? I think it’s because my conscience tells me God is angry with me and I better not go near him. Just like Adam and Eve did in the garden when they sinned and then ran into the bushes.
As an aside, if you stop and think about it, that’s pretty funny because God is near to you and me all the time. He sees everything, hears every thought, knows every feeling.
And he doesn’t disengage and retreat! Just like he didn’t flee from Adam and Eve. In fact, the text tells us, he went looking for them. See Genesis 3:8-9.
So why don’t I run to God when I sin badly? Because at that moment I don’t believe the gospel. Instead I believe in the law, and the law tells me I’ve blown it, God is going to punish me, and I better get out of town.
But what does Paul say about the law? It’s meant to drive us to Christ! It takes us by the hand and turns us in the direction of our Savior, who bled and died precisely for those sins I committed. See Romans 7:4.
God hasn’t moved.
Are you ready to come back?
Are You Ready to Take a Risk?
On the subway last week, I noticed a Hispanic woman get on, in her 50’s, sit down and pull out a book in Spanish with a kneeling picture of a praying Jesus on the cover. The title of the book was, “How To Move Away from Depression.” She read it with her lips moving. I began to pray for her. I was two rows behind her. The car was packed. I told the Lord if he wanted me to give her a gospel of John he’d have to clear the decks. We got through the tunnel and at the first stop in the city, everyone in my way got up and got off, leaving an empty seat right by her. I 
chuckled. I got up, sat in the empty seat, pulled out my gospel, leaned over and in Spanish said good morning, I have a gift for you. She looked at me, saw the booklet, took it, and smiled. I explained the booklet, especially the first three pages. I told her to read them and make that prayer of receiving Christ as her Savior. I asked her if the book she was reading was helping her. She said yes, that she had bought it at her church’s bookstore. I said the secret of getting rid of depression is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. She said she thought so, too. Then she got quiet. A few seconds went by. Then she leaned in and said, “My son was murdered three years ago. I have been depressed ever since.” I was stunned. I told her how sorry I was, and that God wanted to carry her burden, that she didn’t have to anymore. She thanked me. At that point I got up to get off at my stop. I’ve been praying for her ever since.
This is an example of what I am praying to do every day. We see and meet many people with wounds so deep that only God can heal them. So I ask God to make me alert to the needs of others, to give me the faith to engage them even if it’s risky, and to use me as his ambassador of hope and encouragement to them.
What about you? Would you join me this year? I hope to write my adventures here when I have them.
We Really See You
My husband and I celebrated a milestone anniversary this past week. Our children had a lot to say about it.
“Thank you for being imperfect parents. You have shown us God sticks around as He promised,” our daughter said.
At first I didn’t know how to respond, but then I laughed out loud.
That was the best compliment she could have given us.
“Your marriage is an amazing testimony of God’s faithfulness, love and perseverance in bringing you together and keeping you together all these years for His glory and your continued sanctification,” our son wrote in a text message.
When did he become the theologian? Oh wait. We pounded it into his head while he was growing up.
We told them the credit was all God’s. That we had done our share of sinning and fighting and getting angry, but God had always been there to dust us off, forgive us, and keep us going.
It humbled us to hear how God had shown his grace and mercy to us and to our children who have been watching all these years. 
Perfect we’re not. Having it together – no way. Failing frequently, you bet. That’s really all we’re capable of doing. That’s why we cling to the gospel, knowing our righteousness is a borrowed righteousness from Another.
Thanks be to God!
No Place But Christ
“How shall I look up to God? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I have any communion with a holy God in this world? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I find acceptance with God? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I die? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. How shall I stand before the judgment seat? The answer is—In the righteousness of Christ. 
“Your sure and only way under all temptations, fears, conflicts, doubts, and disputes, is by faith to remember Christ, and the sufferings of Christ, as your mediator and surety, and say, ‘O Christ! you are my sin—in being made sin for me; and you are my curse—in being made a curse for me. Or rather, I am your sin—and you are my righteousness; I am your curse—and you are my blessing; I am your death—and you are my life; I am the wrath of God to you—and you are the love of God to me; I am your hell—and you are my heaven.’”
– Thomas Brooks
Look Up and Around
I spent the week in Oregon gawking at the trees wearing their fall fashion colors.
One was more beautiful than the other.
The palette went from reds, pinks and beige to oranges, yellows and sage greens.
I enjoy walking under the trees and looking up. The experience is so beautiful it hurts. I’m enveloped in color, but it’s more than that. It’s as if the tree itself is apprehending me and all my senses are being acted upon, whispering its message.
I call it a porthole to heaven, a sample of what’s to come. And it creates a longing for more.
The experience lasts and gains strength, even as I reflect back later on. I am gripped by it. It wrenches me away from myself. It forces me to pay attention to the clues all around me that point to another place, just beyond my reach.
What clues can you see all around you today?
How To Thrive After Being Crushed by the Church – Part 2
Do you feel the church has used you up and thrown you away?
That it was a bait and switch experience? You got in, and then they threw the rule book at you?
You were promised a life of happiness, victory over temptations, and a new power and control.
Instead you were more miserable, your vices got worse, you failed more often, and you felt stuck and helpless.
And if you dared to speak of these things, instead of receiving support you were told it was your fault. You weren’t doing enough of the things (rules) sincere Christians were supposed to do.
Like more bible study, deeper prayer, being more committed to church and community group.
So you put your whole heart and soul into being more disciplined in the disciplines.
Only to crash and burn even more.
You eventually concluded that this Christian thing didn’t deliver. And you felt betrayed and angry.
You know what? You’re right to be angry!
You have a right to expect to hear the gospel preached every Sunday.
You have a right to be reminded that your sins are forgiven, that you are accepted in Christ, that you are a new creation in Jesus, that it’s not about your performance, but Christ’s that has merited heaven and God’s affection for you.
So go ahead and be angry at the church because it prefers to dole out rules for living instead of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pray and ask God to change your pastor or find another church.
What you need to see though, is that your anger is directed at the church, not at Jesus. He’s your life and freedom and joy. He has kept his promises.
You are justified. All your sins are forgiven.
You are sanctified. You are wrapped in the righteousness of Christ.
You are loved. God chose you in love from before the foundation of the world.
You do belong to God. He loves you as much as he loves Jesus.
He’s not the one who has betrayed you!
Go ahead. Smile!
Messy Christians 