Recently, I wrote here and here about why we should try to give a wide berth to the dark arts and the demonic or satanic.
This week, to confuse you, I will tell you that you SHOULD read the Harry Potter series. I didn’t say I would be consistent! Give me a break! Who has time for authenticity nowadays?
He was trained and expected to emerge as a teen rock idol.
Then, he died in a sudden air crash at a young age. Over 40 years later, his music is still popular, resonating deeply with our hearts.1 And he had shaggy hair, a groomed beard and bell bottoms, so we know we can trust him!
I was in Dollarama minding my business when a stranger opened her heart to me.
I was as surprised then as you are now, reading this. We were standing near the Halloween decorations, and as she vented, more of her heart came out. “I’m just not sure I agree with these gross decorations and letting my kids dress up as such violent characters.”
Once, I was mistaken for Ned Flanders (the ultra-Christian), not in person, but in my writing.
Ned and I are pals, actually! Ned and I are in the same group because we aren’t allowed to expel anyone (I.e., those who aren’t cool enough) from the Jesus club. And that’s a good thing, in hindsight, because what if they wouldn’t accept me?
There is a large STOP sign directly in front of her face. She tries to look around the sign and peek behind the large octagon shape at the people standing in a line behind this sign. “Can we speak…?” she asks. The words are not heard. She is met with authority. The sign doesn’t listen. It only speaks.
And what do we do when the church expects us to be Martha? What do we do when we set aside everything of value in our lives and sit at the Teacher’s feet, and He is calling us to walk a new path, not to follow the footprints that tradition carved into the sand from thousands of past traveler’s feet?
What happens when God calls a woman in your church on an adventure outside the boundaries of how you expected her to serve in YOUR programs and initiatives?
What then, women and men in leadership, whom she longs to bow the knee before and to serve with love.
Will you open the door, church leaders, both men and women, who are both officially and unofficially recognized as such in the church? Will you listen to her enthusiasm with an openness to be convicted by Holy Spirit? What if your church programs aren’t ALL perfectly aligned with the heart of God for this season?
If what they say is outside the current scope of your existing programs and activities but you sense the breath of God, too, blowing your congregation in this new direction, then friend . . .
Are you WILLING to open another door, to encourage others to follow her, if your spirit also testifies within as she speaks what Holy Spirit has been whispering, as you (1) listen and (2) have an open mind to the new thing God may be doing in our midst?
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination!
Innocent, simple faith that believes what God says is real and that expects Him to do what He says He will do – that’s the mark of a mature believer, not complicated doctrine and fancy arguments.
Thank you for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
1 Every man and woman inside the church has a tendency toward legalism as defined here. Let’s rid our hearts and our churches of it, friends. What is God whispering to your heart? If you are not currently connected with a church, please rebuke us. We need you, too. Let’s soar together, brothers, sisters, and new friends!
You read this stuff because I am full of interesting, unusual advice! Today will not disappoint as I share my top four tips for eating less sugar! (Two tips today, two tips NEXT TIME.)
1. My top tip is perhaps the most controversial, and I will never admit to having said this if you tell someone else that this was my idea.
Liar!
(Confidentially – Shh… Here’s my top tip for eating less sugar.) Wait – A bit of context first – The only part of your body that LOVES sugar, if we’re honest, is our taste buds, and it turns out that most of our sense of taste is related to smell. So – Here’s the tip: (Try this when no one is looking.) Close your eyes, inhale deeply as you lean over that dessert you MUST have, and PRETEND to chew and enjoy it, but really you are just smelling it and looking like a cow chewing it’s cud to onlookers!
Benefit: You get (almost) all the enjoyment of the experience of eating it without poisoning your body!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
2. Downscale your addictive personality.
Our church has been reaching out to our city’s homeless population, and it is AMAZING how much sugar most of these people who have kicked their drug addictions mainline (Can you mainline sugar?) Whatever.
But let’s face it, mainlining sugar is a LOT healthier than mainlining crystal meth!
Since the reality is that we, too, are just nicely dressed balls of addiction, chasing the wrong desires, let’s learn from them!
Let’s downscale our addictions!
For example, I met a lady last week who stopped smoking and then gained thirty pounds. But stuffing our faces with food is MUCH better than stuffing our faces with cancer sticks! In my case, I am more addicted to sugar than I am to processed chips. So I TRY to eat chips instead of sugar.
Once we’re addicted to chips, it’s easier to wean ourselves off that addiction than a more challenging addiction.
Our addictions have been downscaled!
It’s easier to eat fewer chips than it is to mainline a bit less crystal meth!
Get the pattern? While we’re at it, downscaling our addictions, let’s upscale our Levels of Happiness! Oh, and as we set aside that third ice cream cone, we may find that the ensuing brokenness we experience (Let’s be honest), ushers us closer into the realm of the spiritual as we set aside our addictions and finally ask Him to fill the void.
(And that’s pretty cool, actually.)
. . . we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged.
As the song below sings, “There’s an ache in my heart,” consider offering your emotional brokenness to Jesus instead of numbing the pain with the fruit of addiction again, which will only bite us later. Holy Spirit, would You fill the ache in our hearts with Your presence, Your love, more and more, we pray.
Restoring Life 