Category: Building Christian Character

As Christians, people should be able to look at us and see Christ. People should be able to see who we serve in the way we act.

Let’s Call an Ace an Ace

Posted on by Wendy
Maybe we would all be better off if we called an Ace an Ace.
Maybe we would all be better off if we called an Ace an Ace.

I like to read inspirational blogs. They make me smile and feed my soul. But, one thing I find consistent among them is the fact that they don’t call Satan by name. They call him the enemy of our souls, or something similar. While this is a true description, why not call him out?

I don’t write much about Satan. Quite frankly, I don’t like to give him the press. However, I think that pretending he doesn’t exist is dangerous for us as Christians. We do have an enemy. We are not supposed to fear him. God has given us victory. But, not keeping our eye out for him doesn’t make good sense.

I heard Joyce Meyer say in one of her sermons, that we need to confidently call Satan out when we know he is trying to thwart God’s plans for us. She said we should boldly say out loud, “Get behind me, Satan!” Where have we heard that before?

Jesus said that to Peter shortly before the crucifixion. In Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus is explaining what is coming. Peter, who loved Jesus, deeply, pulled Jesus aside and said (and I paraphrase here), “Surely, there has to be another way. This can’t happen.”

What happens next always bothered me, but upon closer reading, I understand it. Jesus looks Peter in the eye and says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:23

Ouch! Poor Peter, he loved Jesus and didn’t want him to die and Jesus called him Satan. But, upon closer inspection, I don’t think Jesus was calling Peter, Satan. He wasn’t saying that Peter was suddenly possessed. No, I think he knew that Satan had gotten in Peter’s ear and was appealing to his human side. Satan knew Jesus was human as well as God. He took a shot.

Jesus didn’t fall for it and called him out. It appears from the rest of the story that he moved on. He didn’t try to appeal to Jesus through Peter again.

Satan likes to move in secret. Perhaps, one of our best defenses is to call him out. Last week, I went to bed planning to rise early and go for a walk. I have some of my best conversations with God on my morning walks. I am surrounded by nature as the earth wakes up. I pray and I listen as I work my body, soul, and mind. I had been out of my routine and had resolved to get back into it.

Well, at around 6:15, my hubby tapped my shoulder letting me know we were out of dog food, ugh!  I climbed out of bed, brushed my teeth an threw on some clothes and went to Publix, thinking they opened at 6:00. I still had plenty of time.

Upon arrival, Publix was closed. They don’t open until 7:00. Undaunted, I sat in the parking lot and waited for twenty minutes. I got the food and went home. When I opened the bag to pour it into the bin, I missed, dumping dog food on the floor. I was very frustrated at this point.

Joyce Meyer popped into my mind. I said out loud through clenched teeth, while cleaning up the laundry room floor, “Get behind me Satan!”

It worked. I did take that walk and had some wonderful prayer time. Two ideas for posts were born.

When we are called to do something by God, whatever it is, we really should pay attention. That is the prime time when Satan will try to thwart us. It could come in so many seemingly innocent forms, from a friend inviting us to do something more fun to our car not starting. Satan’s plan is to thwart God’s plan; pure and simple. So, if you are on the path God has put you on and hurdles keep falling in your way, say a prayer for strength and patience. Then call Satan out.

God will win and so will you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It is Well With My Soul

Posted on by Wendy
The famous hymn, "It is Well with My Soul," was penned in 1873.
The famous hymn, “It is Well with My Soul,” was penned in 1873.

We had a substitute preacher last Sunday and he did a musical sermon. He would give background on some well-known old hymns and then the choir would sing them and sometimes he would call on the congregation to sing along. It was a moving experience. It kind of reminded me of the old-fashioned revivals from my childhood.

The story behind the hymn, “It is Well with My Soul,” really stuck with me, so much so, that I did a little research on it myself.

It was written by a man named Horatio Spafford in 1873. He was a wealthy man who was a lawyer. By all accounts, he was a great person. He and his wife had five children, one boy and four girls. In 1870 their only son died of Scarlet Fever. In 1871, he was ruined financially by the Great Chicago Fire. He had placed most of his investments in real estate and lost almost everything.

He and his wife were said to have worked tirelessly with the homeless after the fire. There were ninety thousand homeless at the time. In 1873, his wife, Anna’s health was failing and it was suggested that she travel to England. He was going to accompany her and their four girls, but at the last minute had to remain in Chicago for business.

During the voyage over the Atlantic, the passenger liner was struck by an iron ship and rapidly sunk. All four daughters were killed. His wife Anna survived and sent him a telegram that simply said, “Saved alone….”

On his voyage to meet his beloved wife, the captain had him summoned to the bridge and told him that this was the spot where the ship went down. It was in those moments that the words to the hymn came to him.

Are your tears flowing yet? Can you imagine the pain this man was enduring, but still had the faith and trust in God to say, “It is well with my soul?” It’s easy to praise God when everything is going well. It’s easy to yell “hallelujah!” when we are on top. But, how do we do when we are at rock bottom.

Horatio hung onto his faith. He was blessed with three more children, one they named Grace, and he and his wife moved to Jerusalem and helped found a group called the American Colony. Its mission was to serve the poor.

Like Job, Horatio refused to curse God. His faith never wavered. He and his wife clung together and continued to serve and we have one of the most beautiful hymns ever written to remember him by. What a beautiful legacy.

Is it well with your soul? If not, say a prayer, seek God. No matter the circumstances, it can be well with your soul. Horatio’s story is proof.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Compelled to Help

Posted on by Wendy
Have you ever felt compelled to help someone?
Have you ever felt compelled to help someone?

I recently saw an amazing video on Facebook. It has apparently been floating around since March, but I just saw it for the first time. I have pasted the link below if you would like to check it out for yourself. I have been unable to get it out of my mind and I felt compelled to share it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kImQFMzJ4w

A young woman gets on a bus in Philadelphia with her one week old baby. The baby was having some type of breathing issue and the young mother was on the way to a hospital get medical attention. A man followed her onto the bus and began harassing her. He wanted to see the baby and then to touch the baby. The young woman, afraid for her child, said no. The man became agitated.

Enter, Tameka Bates, a pastor. She stood between the mother and the assailant. Over and over again, he attempted to get around her and over and over again, she stood in his way. That’s awesome right? We all love Good Samaritan stories. But, here’s the cool part.

The entire time, she kept telling the man, “The blood of Jesus is against you. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” While looking at the young mother and saying, “I’ll protect you. I have you covered.”

The video shows others sitting idly by and doing nothing to help, but Tameka Bates never backed down and in fact, followed the young mother off of the bus as she continued to tell her she was protected. The young woman burst into tears.

The man went on to attack a security officer who worked for the bus.

When Tameka was asked if she would have intervened had she known how violent the man was, she didn’t miss a beat. She said absolutely. She said she knew he “wasn’t right,” but felt compelled to help. She said she didn’t fear him because, (Here’s the headline)…. She knew that the greater being within her could defeat whatever was in him.

She felt compelled to help and was not afraid. As Christians, we are supposed to reach out to a hurting world. That often looks like providing  food or sending aid to somewhere far away. It sometimes is inviting someone to church.

But, how often do we think about physically protecting another human being and calling on the blood of Jesus as our shield? Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”

While some churches have used this verse to engage in snake handling, (definitely not my thing), Jesus is giving his followers authority over evil. He says in red-letter words, that we are covered.

How many of us walk around with that fearless kind of faith? How many of us are that bold in the face of danger? Tameka was compelled by the Holy Spirit and she acted in faith and Jesus had her covered as well as the young mother. I wonder what that young lady’s faith looks like now, after that intervention.

Tameka is an inspiration to all Christians. I want to aspire to be more like her. I want to be compelled to help and to do so fearlessly. What about you? What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Why Settle for 20/40 When You Can Have 20/10?

Posted on by Wendy
There's an awful lot of beauty out there. Why miss any of it?
There’s a whole lot of beauty out there. Why miss any of it?

I recently made an appointment for my daughter to see an optometrist. She has headaches fairly often and is going into tenth grade. That was the year I had to get glasses. I come from a long line of visually impaired folks. My mama has worn glasses practically her entire life. My brother and sister had to get glasses in early elementary school. It was just a matter of time, I suppose, until I had to join the glasses wearing world.

I remember the doctor telling me that my vision was 20/40. It wasn’t bad. He suggested that I wear glasses in class to see the board and simply take them off when class was over. I remember vividly my fifteen-year-old reply to that. “I’m not wearing glasses.” He didn’t skip a beat and said, “Okay, we will put you in contact lenses.”

I have worn contact lenses for close to thirty years now and here’s what I’ve learned. When you wear contact lenses, your vision is super crisp. They can correct it to something like 20/10 which is better than perfect vision. Once you can see the world with that super sharp vision, you aren’t willing to settle for less. 20/20 really isn’t good enough anymore.

My daughter has been willing to settle for daily headaches. She has been comfortable with taking ibuprofen daily. But, why settle, when you don’t have to?

I think our faith walk is the same way. We can attend church fairly regularly and read the Bible and pray sporadically. We can know and accept the love of Jesus, but continue to hold him at arm’s length. We can choose to seek him during holidays and when times are tough. We can have that kind of relationship, but why would we settle for that?

God can be like those distant cousins that we see at the yearly family reunion or He can be our daily guide to life. The choice is ours. The story of the Prodigal Son is evidence that He will take us back, but why settle for less than an everyday, crisp faith walk?

Why miss out on the peace that “passeth all understanding,” that comes from close relationship with God? Why miss out on the beauty of grace that come from walking with Jesus, not just from visiting with him sporadically? Why miss out on the love and joy that comes from close relationship?

I think we are better off with the attitude of that fifteen- year- old which meant putting contacts in first thing in the morning and wearing them until bed time and totally appreciating the beauty and wonder that would have been missed without them.

Let’s go for 20/10 and see what happens. I bet we will be wonderfully surprised at the clarity we get, not to mention the fantastic scenery. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Antioxidants for the Soul

Posted on by Wendy
Maybe our souls need antioxidants just like our bodies do.
Maybe our souls need antioxidants just like our bodies do.

I can hardly turn on the television anymore without hearing something about antioxidants and their importance to our health. Fruits, vegetables, tea and wine are all chock-full of magic cells to keep us healthy and new things get added to the list daily like coffee and beer. In the shower this morning, I noticed that my hair conditioner claims to contain antioxidants.

So I began to wonder, what are antioxidants exactly? I Googled it and turned up way more scientific jargon than I needed. The short version is that our bodies produce free radicals which are bad as well as antioxidants which are good. Unfortunately, we produce more bad than good especially as we age. Furthermore, things like pollution, the sun, smoking and x-rays also produce free radicals. That’s why we need to take in antioxidants to counter their effects. It’s like a constant cell war going on inside of our bodies.

So, I began thinking that if we need antioxidants for our bodies, surely we need them for our souls. Isn’t there a constant soul war going on too?  But what would they look like and where would they come from?

The free radicals are everywhere. They would be stress, anger, the media, societal pressures, the need to compete, the inability to ever be satisfied with what we have or where we are or who we are. I think I could come up with a never-ending list of free radicals for our souls.

But, what about the antioxidants? What should we do to soothe and strengthen our hearts and souls against the free radicals? First of all, we could take time to rest. We can never hear God if we don’t listen. In my experience, He’s not a yeller. We can pray as we seek peace and downtime. We can actively seek peace. We will never find it if we don’t rest and get quiet. Peace won’t chase us down and seek us. We have to seek it.

We can have a positive attitude to the people God has placed in our lives. They are here, just like we are here, for a reason. We can adopt an attitude of thankfulness. Whatever the circumstances, there is always something to be thankful for.

We can read the Bible. It’s full of examples of people who lived in trying times. It’s full of people who made mistakes. It’s full of people who turned away from God as well as those who turned towards Him. It’s full of forgiveness and grace. It’s a story that’s so much bigger than we are, yet we are part of it.

We can attend worship service. A good worship service is always medicine for weary souls.

We can get outside and enjoy this beautiful world that God has created for us. We can watch a sunrise or a sunset or a thunderstorm.

As it turns out, I was able to think of way more antioxidants for the soul than free radicals. Hmmmm, why does that not surprise me?

God is good!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It’s All About Perspective

Posted on by Wendy
This was my Granddaddy's sheriff's badge.
This was my Granddaddy’s sheriff’s badge.

In a recent sermon, my pastor shared a story about him and his wife being in a serious car accident. It was dark and raining. He was barely conscious himself and couldn’t tell whether or not his wife was seriously injured. As he began to panic, he heard sirens in the distance. He said he knew immediately that everything was going to be okay because help was on the way.

I have always had the same feelings towards law enforcement. My Granddaddy was the sheriff of our little Georgia county for much of my childhood. I have ridden in the back of quite a few patrol cars. The fact that the doors had no handles on the inside, never bothered me in the least. It never occurred to me that I couldn’t get out. Why would I want to?

But, for many people, sirens are a frightening sound. They do not symbolize hope or help. The represent fear. Some people have raised their children to fear the police. Some people come from countries where the police are corrupt and can’t be trusted. For some, the fear may be justified.

As I was turning this over in my mind, it came to me that there are people out there who may feel the same way about church. I was raised going to church. I find it to be a place of peace and worship, a place to lay my troubles down, a place of repentance, where I can walk away cleansed and refreshed.

But, there are people out there who see church as a place of condemnation, a place of impossible rules, a place where they will never fit in or be accepted. There are those who feel they could never possibly be good enough to sit in a church pew.

Some people who feel this way have been treated badly by church going folks in the past. Most churches have some Pharisees mixed in with the rest. You know the ones I’m talking about, the people who like to look down on others because of their social status or because they are divorced or because they have had a child out of wedlock. These are simply a few examples. The reasons why we choose to judge one another as unworthy of forgiveness is endless and wrong, whatever our motivation may be.

As Christians, perhaps we need to do a better job at welcoming in those who may be seeking something better for their lives or people who may be searching, period. We can introduce them to Jesus and the freedom that following him gives us, without judging them or hitting them over the head with a Bible.

Obedience comes through faith. When we really know Jesus, we want to read the Bible. We want to pray and follow the commandments, but we have to start somewhere. Maybe that start should be love. Isn’t that what our faith stems from? Maybe we should be more welcoming to those people who may be afraid or even angry at the church. Maybe we should demonstrate what Christian love is all about with our actions first.

Maybe we should make it our goal for others to see church as help, as safety, as a sanctuary. If we do that, perhaps the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

What’s Your Legacy?

Posted on by Wendy
This is all that is left standing of an old plantation house in South Carolina.
This is all that is left standing of an old plantation house in South Carolina.

On a recent trip to Hilton Head, my family and I had the opportunity to tour site of an old cotton plantation. It was originally 1,000 acres. But, this and the slave quarters are all that remain. The house was built in the 1790’s by Captain Jack Stoney and according to legend, was lost in a poker game to William Baynard in1840. It’s referred to as the Stoney-Baynard ruins.

Baynard was a renowned Sea Island cotton grower and he and his wife moved to the mansion and raised four children there. In 1861, Union forces invaded. It was used as Union headquarters until it was burned.

It’s a sad place to visit. To me, it had a negative feel to it. Perhaps it’s because it represents a dark time in American history, a time when we turned on each other. It was a time when many believed it was okay to own another human being. It was a time when those who were slaves believed their situation would never change. They believed they would always be property. Can you imagine that kind of hopelessness?

The Civil War changed all of that. The ruins left standing are not only a reminder of a dark past, but a reminder that nothing ever stays the same. As human beings, we are always trying to make monuments to ourselves and bigger and grander homes and buildings that we believe will last forever. In 1909, not even fifty years after this plantation was burned, we even began building a ship that was dubbed, “unsinkable.” It was called the Titanic. We all know how that turned out.

Humanity has a tendency to believe that we are permanent residents here. We like to believe that bigger is better. Some of us hope that our situations never change, while others pray daily that it will.

Visiting these ruins was a reminder that nothing here on this earth is permanent. We are travelers just passing through and life can turn on a dime. What we leave behind is entirely up to us. Yes, we can make it our life’s work to leave beautiful buildings and monuments to our greatness. Those can easily be toppled by any number of elements from fires to tornadoes and earthquakes.

We also have the choice to leave a legacy of love that requires no money whatsoever. If we were to make it our life’s work to love our families and then our neighbors and co-workers and spread out from there, I don’t think there would be ruins in 150 years. If we were to love God and seek Jesus with our lives and share that with the people around us, what would the earth look like in 150 years?

We won’t personally be here to see it, but I’ll bet there wouldn’t be ruins to visit either. What will your legacy be? How will you be remembered? It’s entirely up to you.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Joy of Seeing the Fruits of Our Labor

Posted on by Wendy
As VBS comes to a close, this one will go down as one of my favorites.
As VBS comes to a close, this one will go down as one of my favorites.

I know I have been talking about Vacation Bible School a lot this past week, but honestly, it has consumed the vast majority of my physical and emotional energy. I’m exhausted, but my heart has been touched in so many ways. If you read this blog very often, then you know how strongly I feel about community and there’s nothing that brings a church community together like VBS.

It takes a village to minister to sixty kids for a week and our church didn’t disappoint. I got to talk to some of my favorite senior church ladies that I rarely get to see. They always feed the children with such enthusiasm. We had a family that hurried back from Germany in order to participate this year. I haven’t seen them in two years. It’s good to have them back. We had grandparents and teenagers all pitching in together like community does.

It’s been a beautiful sight to behold. We have had twenty-one youth helpers this year and they have been amazing. In past years we have had issues with texting or the youth interacting with each other and not the children. We have had youth that simply had no interest in being there.

But this year, well this year was a shining moment for our youth program. It didn’t look like it was going to turn out this way. Up to the week before we started, we only had thirty-five children signed up and very few volunteers. Now, God has always used Vacation Bible School to give me a small taste of His spectacular abilities. It’s always been a fish and loaves story for me. There never looks like we will have enough. Sometimes it’s supplies. Sometimes it’s volunteers. This year it was children and volunteers. He usually waits til the last minute, because that grows faith, but He always delivers in a unique way that changes every year.

This year, He has allowed me to see Him working through our youth. I remember when most of them came through our VBS program, when we hatched the idea of graduating them in fifth grade to the youth group, when we created staff shirts for them. We’ve been working on that idea for over six years now, waiting on God’s timing and praying for results.

This week, we hit pay dirt. We have a young youth minister now and she rolls up her sleeves and jumps right into VBS and our youth have followed her. They have been real leaders this week. They arrive everyday with a smile. They play with the kids. They take pictures with them. They are respectful. They are leaders and mentors. They have made the little ones want to be like them.

The fact that I have had a tiny part in planting the seeds that have produced this awesome fruit humbles me and makes me burst with pride at the same time. A few of us listened to a quiet voice that said, “Let’s build this program” and we tried to comply and this week we have been rewarded with beautiful results.

As I often tell my own children, God is good and Jesus loves Vacation Bible School. Can I get an amen?!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Even When You don’t Understand…

Posted on by Wendy
Two question marks make a perfect heart.
Two question marks make a perfect heart.

My friend asked me a couple of weeks ago if I wanted to hear a Bo story. The answer was of course, yes. Bo is a charming six-year-old who never fails to crack me up. She told me that he asked her recently what God looked like. She told him she didn’t know, but asked him what he thought God looked like. He told her that he thought God had brown hair and brown eyes. She asked him what else. He told her that God was small. She was surprised by this and asked him why he thought God was small. He replied that He had to be small if he was able to fit inside your heart.

Aren’t children awesome? They are so literal. But, Bo was obviously listening to the various people who have tried to teach him about God and he had given it some thought too. As parents, that’s all we ask; right? We want them to listen and think about it.

Our Vacation Bible School is in full swing this week. Today’s Bible Point was, “Even when you don’t understand… Jesus loves you.” The kids were asked to give examples of situations that they didn’t understand and they were written down on a question mark. As expected, the questions ran the gamut. “Why do people die of old age?” “Why do we have vegetables?” “Why do we have feet?” “Why do we have snakes?”

If you have spent any time at all with young children, their questions are endless, but some are very thoughtful; some will make you smile and some will really challenge you. Some of their questions are ones that we all have.

When we had our closing assembly, we read some of their questions aloud. Then we taped another question mark to the first. Any idea what it made? It made a heart. The point for the day was “Even when you don’t understand…Jesus loves you.” Then, they sang “Jesus Loves Me.”

It was a powerful assembly that brought tears to my eyes. We all have questions for God. I know I do. There are times when we simply don’t understand why things happen the way they do. Sometimes, down the road, we get our answers and sometimes we don’t. There are simply some answers we will never get on this side of eternity. Accepting that, is part of growing our faith, just like we are attempting to do with the kids who are attending VBS this week.

But, if we can remember and hold close to our hearts, that “Even when we don’t understand… Jesus loves us,” we have won the battle with doubt. The Bible tells us that he weeps with us. He’s sad when we are sad. He loves us unconditionally, no matter what, even when we have questions and that my friends, is worth celebrating.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Why Do We Bother With the Old Testament?

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes, to help you know where you are going, you really need to know where you have been.
Sometimes, to help you know where you are going, you really need to know where you have been.

I often have people tell me that they don’t like to read the Old Testament. They get bogged down in all of the names and places. “What’s the point?” they argue. “It’s all before Jesus, anyway.” People seem to prefer to focus on grace and that’s understandable. As Christians, Jesus is the center of our faith, but we still need to know where we come from.

There have been times when my children have questioned the point of learning history. It’s all just the past after all. Of course the answer to that argument is that if we don’t learn about the past, how can we learn from it? For example, the importance of learning about the horrors of the Holocaust and what lead to it, is so that humanity never allows it to happen again. We learn from our mistakes.

The Old Testament is full of God’s history with humanity and with His chosen people in particular. I just finished reading the little Book of Nehemiah. In thirteen short chapters, a man answers God’s calling to rebuild a wall. With deep faith, he boldly asks the king who he is in service of, for permission to go, as well as for assistance, in his journey.

Upon arrival in Jerusalem, he meets all kinds of threats and opposition. He soldiers on, knowing that this is God’s plan, not his own. God is with him and he organizes the people and the wall is built in a relatively short amount of time. God’s protection is on him. He talks to the people about repenting and returning to following God and they do. They are sad about their disobedience and they turn their lives around.

This is a success story and Nehemiah returns to the king. After some time, he returns to Jerusalem. What does he find? They are breaking many of the laws once again. They are not keeping the Sabbath. They are intermarrying with foreigners. He is furious. He calls them out and attempts to set them straight.

The book ends with Nehemiah asking God to please remember him with favor. It doesn’t end with a happy ending all nicely tied up with a bow.

What’s the point? Well, let’s see, people turn away from God and their world crumbles and they find themselves in a mess. God sends them a messenger or a leader of some type, to help them get back on the right path. They return to God for awhile. The worship wholeheartedly, for awhile. Everything is going well, for awhile. The messenger leaves or they leave. They stop worshiping and listening to God. They turn away. Their society crumbles.

Does any of this sound at all familiar? The Old Testament is full of these stories. If we focus on God, follow God, worship God as individuals, as a community, as a society, as a nation, God’s hand will remain on us. If we don’t, it doesn’t turn out very well.

The good news is, that it’s never too late. We do have the gift of grace and God always welcomes us back, but we have to take the steps to turn toward Him and not away. The Old Testament reminds us of this and I think it’s probably worth being reminded.

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂