Month: January 2015

A recent Pew Research poll found that 78.4% of Americans claim to be Christians. While that number isn’t great, it’s okay, I suppose. The greater question may be, “What exactly does being a Christian entail?” It seems that the most common answer I hear is, “It means believing Jesus is the Son of God.”

While that may be at the heart of what we believe, a quick read through the Gospel of Mark, demands a little more of our definition.

In the very first chapter, Jesus is in the synagogue, (church), “Just then a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- The Holy One of God!” Mark 1:23-25

A little further in Mark, the text says, “Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” Mark 3:11

It seems that the demons in the Gospel knew exactly who Jesus was and openly proclaimed it. So, as Christians does our faith require more than just believing? Is it enough to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for our sins? Is it enough to believe in the resurrection and ascension?

If we know that those statements are true, doesn’t Satan know it too?

I guess the deeper question I’m trying to get to is, “Is salvation enough for Christians?” It is true that we are saved by our faith not by our works. I’m certainly not suggesting otherwise. But, perhaps we should ask ourselves do we really know Jesus? I’m not talking about in the sense that we know our neighbors in passing and wave at them when we see them, but in the sense that we know our families and sit down regularly and break bread with them.

Is Jesus an acquaintance or a true friend? Do we meet with him in passing at Sunday service or do we intimately seek him everyday over our morning coffee? Have we attained all of our knowledge of him from sitting through sermons or have we really studied the Gospels to see and try to understand his actual words and actions?

I wonder if we can consider ourselves true followers if we refuse to get up off of our pews and actively follow? He called on his followers to be fishers of men. He called on his followers to pray and to forgive. He called on his followers to look to the eternal and not to the earthly.

If 78.4% of Americans were actually doing all that Jesus called us to do, what would our country look like? If 78.4% of Americans were actively reading the Bible daily, what would America look like?

These are some of the questions that the Gospel of Mark has brought to the forefront of my thoughts. We all fall short and that’s okay. We all need rest and that’s okay too. But, I have to wonder, if the 78.4% is doing the best we can to be true followers or more importantly, how can we improve?

The beautiful thing about grace, is that today is a brand new chance to try to get it right. Jesus is always ready. Are we?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

As I was recently reading through the Gospel of Mark, I came upon the story of Jesus healing Peter’s (still called Simon a the time), mother-in-law. It’s only a couple of verses without very many details, but the implications jumped out at me.

“Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.” Mark 1:30-31, NIV

Now I have to admit, as I read it the first time, I thought to myself, “My goodness! This woman has been sick in bed with a fever. A fever really wears you out. Can’t the poor woman take a little break, a little rest from taking care of everyone around her?” I mean, the minute she got well, she was up and waiting on them. I feel like these kind of women make me look bad.

But, at a second, more prayerful reading, subtracting my own cultural bias from the story, some other words took center stage. “He went to her, took her hand and helped her up.” That’s the headline here, so to speak. Jesus took the woman’s hand and helped her up.

Can you imagine, the Son of God, reaching for your hand and helping you up? She was immediately healed of her physical ailment, but I wonder what else changed within her at that moment? Did she know who Jesus was in that moment? Could she feel his enormous power and the inner healing that also came from his touch?

Mark’s Gospel doesn’t give us any further info, or does it? How did Jesus heal her? He took her hand and helped her get up out of the bed. She was cured. How did she respond?

She waited on them. The NLT version says she made them a meal. While the details differ in the translation, the point is the same. She served them. She went from being a victim to serving them. She sets a great example for our society that loves to dwell on being victims.

We will take legal action against our neighbors in matters ranging from simple fender benders to coffee being served too hot. Life is not fair and we believe the world owes us something to even the playing field. If we feel slighted in some way by a friend, or a neighbor, or our spouse, we will “vent,” to anyone who will listen. Even when the matter gets settled, we will often continue to dig it up and complain.

I imagine that Satan delights in that. If we can stay made or hurt, we continue to be victims. Like Peter’s mother-in-law, we just lie in our proverbial bed with a fever, wallowing in our negative emotions. We are completely ineffective for God when we do that. We are sidelined. Who wins then?

We all have the opportunity to be like Peter’s mother-in-law. We can reach for Jesus’ hand and get up. We can embrace forgiveness and healing and then we can go right to the next important step. We can serve. It doesn’t matter how we serve. What matters is that we move on and then God gets the glory. I think that looks like a better plan. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Today is Friday. Most of us jubilantly celebrate Friday. Many of us start looking forward to Friday the minute our alarm clocks sound on Monday, signaling the beginning of our week. We also love Saturdays, often a day of absolutely no expectations on our time, depending of course, on the season of life we are in.

But, how many of us count the days til Sunday, til the Sabbath? Quite often, that’s a day where we wrestle ourselves and/or our kids, out of bed and drag ourselves to church, often turning into the parking lot on two wheels. It doesn’t take much to talk ourselves out of going to church either. It’s too cold. It’s raining. I don’t have anything to wear. I’m not feeling well. The kids don’t want to go. Does any of this sound familiar?

In Exodus, where we find the Ten Commandments, God said, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God…” Exodus 20:8-10 NLT

I began to give some thought to ordinary work. What is our ordinary work? Well, if we have a job, that’s ordinary work. I suppose cleaning house and cutting grass is ordinary work. What else would qualify as ordinary work? What about all of the anxieties, fears and stress we  carry around? Is that our ordinary work? Is it Holy?

As I contemplated the idea further, I came across some words that Jesus spoke about he Sabbath. He was once again, defending himself to the “know it all,” Pharisees. These guys always thought they had all the answers. You know the type, right? “Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 NLT

He was specifically talking about all of the cumbersome requirements that Jewish tradition had come to require. But, I think his words are super relevant to today’s Christians as well.

God created the Sabbath for us. It’s a gift, not a burden of things we have to do, but a gift. It’s a gift of rest and while many of us get that part as we rush off to the golf course or lake or choose to sleep in, let’s not miss the second part, which is keeping it holy and dedicating it to God.

That too, is part of the gift. Here’s why, humanity tends to be self-focused. I know that’s a shocker, but it’s true. We spend our days chasing money to buy stuff that many of us don’t need. We spend our days worrying about the future, or about family members, or about our jobs, or about our diagnosis, or about….. You get the picture. We spend our days focusing on our insecurities and shortcomings. We spend our days carrying anger and grudges. We spend our days focusing on all that is wrong in our lives and the world at large.

The Sabbath is meant for rest from all of those things and emotions that weigh us down. We are to put those down for an entire day as we focus on our Creator and His love for us and His plan for us. His plan doesn’t include all of those burdens. His plan includes words like, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 12:28

Do those words sound like they come from someone who wants to make our lives harder?

The Sabbath is meant for rest from ourselves. It’s meant for rest from being human as we focus on being Godly. That rest may lead to brand new insight and instruction. That rest may lead to a brand new peace. It could lead to fulfilling a dream that God planted within us long ago.

But, for any of those things to come to pass, we have to embrace the Sabbath, not as a burden, but as a gift.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus healing people. Most often, they sought him out and asked for healing. Sometimes friends or family would seek him out and ask for healing for a sick family member or friend. Jesus usually told them that their faith had healed them.

Over and over we find that faith produces miracles, but miracles don’t produce faith. You have to believe first.

In the Gospel of John, chapter five, there’s a healing story that’s a little different from the others. There was a pool  where many sick people, blind, lame and paralyzed would lie around. The story went, that when the water was stirred, the first one in would be healed.

Jesus went up to the pool and came across a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. It doesn’t appear that the man had any idea who Jesus was. Jesus simply asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

That’s a powerful question from the Son of God. The man told him he had no one to help him into the water and someone always got there ahead of him.

He gave Jesus an excuse, albeit a good one, if he couldn’t walk, how could he make it to the pool? But, it was still and excuse. Of course he was thinking of the healing power of the water, not of the Messiah standing in front of him.

How often do we make the same mistake? Jesus seeks us out everyday with the same question, “Do you want to get well?” We offer excuses.

Much of the anger and bitterness we carry around comes from old hurts, places deep in our hearts that need to heal. We sometimes carry around pain, guilt or shame for years and years because we aren’t willing to answer Jesus’ question.

“Do you want to get well?” Do we? Do we want to live in joy and abundance? Do we want peace? Do we want to pick up that mat that we have been glued to and walk? If the answer is yes, then we have to say yes to Jesus. We have to give him the anger, hurt, and disappointments of the past. We have to forgive.

It’s not easy. Healing can be grueling work. Think about it. If you are healing from the flu, you have to rest a lot. You have to take medicine. You have to drink lots of fluids. It’s work. But, then you heal and it feels so good to feel good.

Healing the heart is the same. We have to say yes to Jesus. Then we have to give him all of that baggage that we no longer need. We have to pray. We have to trust and listen and obey. We have to read God’s word and wait for His direction.

Too often, we have become comfortable on our mats and we may find it easier to leave well enough alone. But, if we truly want to get well and be well, then we have to answer yes and do the work and then we can throw down our mats and walk or dance and skip, the choice is ours.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My church is beginning a Bible study this week on the Gospel of Mark. I casually asked my pastor how many chapters I needed to have read before the first meeting. I like to be prepared. My mama raised me that way. He told me with a straight face that it would be good if I could go ahead and read the entire book.

“Seriously?” I asked. He just smiled and told me I could find it in my Bible. He’s a funny guy, my pastor, but being the nerd that I am, (just ask any of my former high school teachers), I started reading. I always do my homework.

Mark gets right to business. There’s very little background in his gospel. In chapter one, he talks about the calling of the disciples. One day Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee and he sees Simon and his brother Andrew throwing out a net into the water because they fished for a living. “He called out to them, ‘Come follow me and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.” Mark 1:17

Notice it doesn’t say they were sitting around with nothing to do. They were at work. They were busy working.

The text goes onto say that, “A little farther up the shore, Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father Zebedee, in the boat with hired men.” Mark  1:19-20

Once again, Jesus called men who were busy working. They were repairing nets for their business. They weren’t on a coffee break. They weren’t resting or jobless. They weren’t looking for something to do. They were busy.

Finally, in chapter two, Jesus walked along and saw “Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.” Mark 2:14

I think I see a pattern here. Levi was busy working too. The other guys were doing more honest, blue-collar work, while Levi was engaged in very profitable and likely dishonest, white-collar work, but he was working.

I suppose these five men could have told Jesus that they were busy. They didn’t have time to follow him and be disciples and fishers of men. They had businesses to run and families to feed. They could have told him that maybe later, when the kids were bigger, or the business was running itself, or the teens weren’t so busy playing sports.

They could have told Jesus “no, not now.” But, they didn’t. They somehow knew the importance of the call and were rewarded with a front row seat of the most important story ever told. They got to witness God in flesh and all of His glory. They decided they weren’t too busy for Jesus.

What about us today? While it’s rare for us to feel called to drop everything and follow Jesus. We may be called to teach a Sunday school class, or volunteer at a soup kitchen, or youth group, or attend a new small group, or attend a Bible study, or serve on a church committee. There are so many ways we are called to follow Jesus and to serve. Are we usually willing like Simon, Andrew, James, John and Levi, or are we too busy?

What excuses do we give for not saying, “yes”? These men are huge reminders that we are all busy. They were too. Humanity has always been busy and always will be, but we can choose to say to say, “yes,” when Jesus calls, just like they did and we too, may get to see God do some amazing work.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My hubby and I were sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday morning drinking coffee and chatting. I had been watching out the window at a greedy squirrel raid our bird feeder. He would lose his balance from time to time and then the birds would rush in for a few minutes. But, then something else caught my eye. It was a dove.

I was enchanted. I don’t know what it is about doves, but seeing them always makes me smile. The Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove and they show up quite often in the Bible. When one showed up with an olive branch for Noah, he knew that the flood was at long last over. We often think of them as symbols of peace and love as well.

Imagine my delight, when I spotted the second one sitting on the branch next to its mate. I wondered out loud if I could capture them in a photo. I sincerely doubted it because I find that birds rarely sit still for long and getting a picture of them is usually difficult, (for me anyway). But, something told me to try.

I’ve come to a point in my journey with God, when I obey the gentle nudges. I often find that He has something to communicate with me through them. I find myself taking pictures of everything from rocks to dirty dishes sometimes with absolutely no idea why. Eventually, though, I know. They are meant to tie in with some post that I haven’t even begun to conceive of yet. His ways continually amaze me.

This nudge proved to be no different. I went upstairs and stood in my bathtub and took close to fifty shots. Most were unusable and completely out of focus. I was zoomed in so closely, that I would often lose sight of the birds altogether and I would have to zoom back out and find them in the big picture, in order to focus on them again.

The entire process got me to thinking about how often we get so hyper-focused on a problem or issue in our lives, that it becomes all we can think about, but we just can’t seem to find the right answers. Perhaps, if we zoom out and try to look at the bigger picture, things will become clearer. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves will this issue even matter ten years from now? Sometimes we need to discuss it with a trusted friend.

Often times, we need to pray about it and then give it to God. And that’s often the hardest part isn’t it? We can talk to friends about our troubles. We can even pray about them. But, where we really find ourselves struggling, is with the concept of giving it to God and waiting for His guidance on how or when we should move. We don’t like to give up control of our worries and anxieties. We want to fix it ourselves. We allow ourselves to be consumed with them. This human tendency does not come from God.

God’s way is quite the contrary. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

What do you know? The word peace has appeared again. I think I may be on the right track. I’m going to try to do a better job at zooming out on the problems and conflicts in my life. I can always use a little more peace. Care to join me?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂