spiritual stuff

IGB – my opinion

April 10, 2008 by Amy 1 Comment

I’ve been chewing on the whole IGB Shout to the Lord thing throughout the day. I don’t know why it matters so much but I’ve felt a need to have an opinion on the whole thing for some reason. And I think Travis Cottrell (worship leader for Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministries) said what I’ve been thinking…

Anyway, I am not a theologian. And I certainly want to respect everyone’s opinions and feelings. But personally I was so glad and excited to see the name of the Lord spoken and revered on that show. I mean, really. Why in the world would they choose that song, unless the Holy Spirit was doing a work? Of all the inspirational songs in the world…they choose “Shout to the Lord.” Wow. And – yes – they left out the word ‘Jesus.’ I was bummed about that. But these people are LOST. They are lost. They are not found. They don’t get it. I am not going to hold them responsible for knowing what to do with a moment like that.

It’s an observation I’ve made with us as the body of Christ: we tend to want to expect lost people to know how to act saved. It’s sort of like being mad at a blind person for running into a chair in a room when he is all by himself.

Do I wish they would have said ‘Jesus?’ Yes. Am I glad that by the providential hand of the Lord they sang “Shout to the Lord?” Heck yes!

And I pray in Jesus’ name that the Holy Spirit will do a mighty work in our nation…that those words that were sung – “Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name! I sing for joy at the work of Your hands! Forever I’ll love You! Forever I’ll stand! Nothing compares to the promise I have in You!” – will permeate every heart that’s longing for something more in this life…aching for a love that will not let them go. Do a mighty work, MIGHTY LORD.

Our lesson at youth group last night was about expectations and disappointments and he pointed out the same thing..why do we expect people that are lost act like they’re saved? I believe I’ll count it as a miracle that they sang the song at all. And if you ask me, when you watch the video, I believe many of the contestants ARE Christians and were singing it as a praise song as it was meant to be.

The venture – scratch that.

April 1, 2008 by Amy 6 Comments

This is going to sound very weird and probably way too serious after the previous post but I’ve backed out of the show on streamocracy. To make a long story short, I just feel like God is not giving me His blessing on it. Not that there is a thang wrong with it in the least it’s just I think He’s got something different coming down the line.

Now here’s the long story of it…

I always say God is in the little things and a few things have been brought to my attention that leads me to believe this is the right decision for now.

One, Beth Moore talked about on her LPM blog that we should quit trying to explain away when God does things as coincidences. I think this post prepared me for two more incidences.

On Sunday we had a very Spirit filled service mostly about our church being so dead and how we wanted to see revival and us young couples are the future. I know we all have a burden to be active for God and do what needs to be done for Him. I felt an impression then that I didn’t need to do the streamocracy show so I would have time to do whatever He had planned for the future of our church. But of course I tried to explain that away. Of course I had time.

The second was on Sunday afternoon. I picked up a devotional at Mom’s house and I wish I could recall the entire thing but I believe it was about Eli and Samuel and the minute we know when God asks us to do something and we go to someone else for advice, that’s the minute we are siding with Satan and agreeing with what he wants instead of what God wants.

Yesterday I had even made the call to say I wasn’t going to do it but then I got really excited about it again and explained away the time and even shared another audition of the show that we got really excited about and I was just excited so I said I’d do it even with the compromised schedule.

But then last night I couldn’t sleep. I’ve felt no peace about this at all. And then today I even was bargaining with God on the way home from taking the girls. Let me just forget about this and I’ll turn the music on and praise you this morning! Wrong! All He wanted me to do was OBEY Him. But of course He used this as an opportunity too. No music was on and the host told a story of her son asking to spend the night with a friend and she didn’t have a good feeling about it. Her son said, Mom just think about it and let me know. Well, she still didn’t feel good about it and called him back to tell him and he told her That’s fine, Mom, I know you’re always right about these things and I’m fine with not going. She said how great it was that her son trusted her instinct (and surely the pressing of the Holy Spirit) and how that parallels to what God would like to see.

It brought me to tears and solidified my decision. I have no idea why I can’t do this. It seems so innocent and fun and I simply can not explain why I can’t do it. I just have to be God’s daughter right now and quit bargaining and say OK. I trust you.

I’m praying that God is very clear on the reason why I can’t do this so I can give Him glory on why it’s great to obey but the truth is I may never know until eternity why I can’t do this. And that’s ok. If I learned anything from reading the Bible, all He wants is obedience.

Genesis 1:1 – Revelation 22:21 – Done

March 26, 2008 by Amy 11 Comments

(picture taken by Lexi–not bad for a 3 year old)

Three days early and I’m done! I really, really did it! I read the Bible cover to cover! Yesterday I covered a lot of ground while I was stuck in bed all day sick and I was already a day or so ahead and then today I was determined to finish early. The Bible in 85 days just seems so roll off my tongue better than 87 or 88.

Do you see that smile in that picture? I’m ecstatic. I really, really am THAT happy about it. I feel a little like I’m holding a diploma of some sort.

See all those checkmarks? I really did it when I finished that section. Sometimes it was more than one a day and sometimes it was none for a couple days but I kept on trucking through it.

And the ONLY reason I’m making a big deal out of it in front of everyone is I honestly believe YOU CAN DO IT too!! And you should! This should be the first thing a Christian should do. Really. How can we say we’re Christians when we haven’t a clue of what most of His word says? Of course I believe you only have to know 1 verse (or even none probably) and can be a Christian but really, if we’re supposed to be Christ-like and Jesus is God’s Word then it seems to be a no-brainer. I really don’t know why I waited so long to do this.

I started welling up when I got to the end. Revelation was such a great book to end on. He really is coming and we really will reign eternally with Him. He’ll make a new earth and we’ll be brought together again with our families. They’ll be no more tears or hurt or anger and we get to praise Him forever. And in the meantime, He’s given us this wonderful book to read and yes, I’ll say forever that Leviticus is boring to read but that’s the Law..the same Law that He saved us from. Everything is in there for a purpose and I just can’t encourage you enough to read, read, read it!!

Wow, I think I could talk about this for quite some time but as so many of the writer’s ended their books, I will finish by saying

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!

Sunday Scripture

March 9, 2008 by Amy Leave a Comment

Matthew 7:24-28 24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

OK, I have to give God lots of glory tonight. For long-time readers you may remember a girl that started our youth group about the same time I did and she had “issues”. She came from a bad home life, she herself had gotten into drugs and alcohol and she believed that she was gay. It’s been almost two years since I first met her and since then, she has admitted she had a crush on me when she first met me, come to my bible study high on cold medicine, come to my Sunday School class with a hangover and thrown up in the trash can, talked and texted with me endlessly, attended counseling sessions for anger management…gosh where do I stop? Let’s just say it’s been a long two years with her. But let me not forget the good stuff about her…even during this stuff. The girl is smart as a whip. She’s always the one wanting to read and ask questions. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She will do anything anyone asks her to do. She’s respectful and mature and funny and well, she’s just great to be around.

The reason I’m saying all this is we had youth Sunday today and she gave her testimony. She talked about her family issues and growing up with just her dad and brother and how they hurt her and how all that led to her dressing like a boy and hating boys and acting like a boy and just getting confused about who and what she was. How she got messed up with drugs and alcohol with several different family members but then talked about how one day she came to our youth group and kept coming just to get away. How she had gone to church her whole life and she knew she was doing wrong and finally after over a year of attending our youth group, she finally realized how hypocritical it was to go to church week after week and then go home and do what she was doing. She decided to make a permanent change. Her testimony this morning basically ended there but I’ll continue for her….Her aunt and uncle decided to take her in last fall and her “inside” had finally changed at that point but she was still dressing like a boy and they bought her an entire new wardrobe and took her for manicures and pedicures and got her ears pierced and she bought a purse and suddenly her outside matched the beautiful young lady she had become on the inside.

As I listened to her stand up in front of hundreds of adults and tell this story and give God the glory for changing who she was, I couldn’t help but run up there with her. I about had Pentecostal church at the Baptist church this morning. I shook and I cried and I hugged her and told my church how proud I was of her. I told them how she was an outcast in our group because the boys didn’t like a girl that looked and acted like a boy (she literally was mistaken for a boy) and the girls felt uncomfortable around her but our youth leader was wise enough to tell her to keep coming and God got ahold of her and she is a completely different person inside and out .

The key to her story is she decided to stop doing what she was doing and live according to God’s plan. She chose to make Jesus Christ her foundation and now everyone knows how different she is. She’ll tell you, her family will tell you, the youth members will tell you, I will tell you. She is a different person. And God did it all.

And you know what? I am SO glad God chose me to be involved in that. This morning God got the glory for what He’d done in her life and I just want to use this as another vehicle to say that God is real, He’s alive, He can change your life if you just let Him. It’s an awesome thing.

Fun doesn’t last forever

February 18, 2008 by Amy 3 Comments

Last week at youth Bible study we were discussing the first sin committed by Adam and Eve and what sin is in general. One of the discussion questions was “Do you regret your sin?” One of the girls piped up immediately, “No! It makes you who you are.” A typical answer for a 13 year old, who has NO idea who she is and has heard many people say that. I decided to challenge her thinking and said, “You know, if I could take every single sin I have committed away, there’d be no question I would. If I could erase all my sins and live the perfect life God had intended me to live, I’d do it in a heartbeat.” I think I got the attention of the group with that. It’s not a popular opinion I don’t think. People don’t want to regret the good times. Because, hey, they were good and they were fun. And true, they were. No one can dismiss how good it can feel to sin sometimes.

Last Thursday I stood in front of my closet picking out what to wear for the day and I could hear the girls starting to dump out toys from their plastic containers in the playroom. I had just cleaned up and didn’t really want to clean it again. I yelled out in my motherly voice, “You can play now, but you’re going to have to clean it up later.” As soon as I said it, I think I muttered a “Woah” out loud….you can play now, but you’re going to have to clean it up later. Let that one sit with you for a moment. I immediately thought of the conversation from Bible study last week.

When we do something that is against God’s word and will, that is sin. A lot of times we don’t like to use that little word. It sounds so…religious and dirty. And to tell the truth, a lot of times it doesn’t seem like the right word because sometimes sinning is so much fun. Wow, did I really say that? But admit it, in the moment, it feels good. But then I think of that phrase uttered to my children…you can play now, but you’re going to have to clean it up later. Isn’t that so true? That innocent, flirtatious conversation with a friend somehow turns into a divorce and a broken family. That fruity drink turns into another one and then somehow turns into a fatal accident and guilt that can never be healed. That anger and jealousy turns into a hurt teenager that goes down as another school shooting. No, not all sin has such dramatic consequences. But any sin we commit takes us a step further away from a closer relationship with God. But most of the time, our sin is a slippery slope into a mess of consequences that we’re just going to have to clean up later.

Halfway through

February 15, 2008 by Amy 2 Comments

On to less frivolous topics…

Today marks the halfway mark for my reading the Bible in 90 Days journey. And it does feel like a journey. One that started with marveling at God’s creation in Genesis and is currently gaining wisdom from Proverbs.

In some ways, I could simply sum this up by saying I read an average of 12 chapters a night and I’ve been doing that for 44 days now (the plan is actually for 88 days!). It sounds so simple and yet it’s been so much more. And unless you’ve actually done it, it’s difficult to describe the impact but I’ll try to come up with some highlights.

Some random facts about the logistics of this that a couple people had questions about:

I’m reading the NIV
9 times out of 10 I read in bed at night right before I go to sleep
At the advice of our leader, I’ve stayed away from reading any commentary on what I’m reading
I mark anything that I have questions about or stand out to me either with a post-it note or underlining something
It takes 30-45 minutes a day

Some random facts about what I’ve learned

I posted it on it before, but I finally understand the history of Israel.
I didn’t realize there was so much about David. I want to post more on him later but he is much more of a military man than I realized.
I didn’t realize there was so little about Samson. And I lost some respect for the guy after reading the story. Not sure if I can explain it.
Leviticus really is the most boring book ever followed closely by 1 and 2 Chronicles which were a replica of 1 and 2 Kings and weren’t too exciting either. In fact, Deuteronomy wasn’t so fun either since a lot of it was just summary although it would be a good summary book if you hadn’t just read the first four books.
I think I could read Genesis over and over. There is so much packed in that book!
There are a lot of phrases repeated through many chapters that I didn’t realize. Such as “His love endures forever” “He is compassionate and slow to anger, abounding in love”

If I were to summarize each book I’ve read so far:

Genesis: That one about Creation, Noah, Abraham and the Covenant, Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac, Jac0b and Joseph.
Exodus: That one about the Moses and the Israelites
Leviticus: The laws
Numbers: That one where they count everyone and then create the Ark of the Covenant. Isrealites do lots of evil stuff and also fight lots of people
Deuteronomy: That one where Moses rehashes everything you just read.
Joshua: That one where Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan
Judges: That one about all the judges in Israel after Joshua as well as the story of Samson
Ruth: That one about Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.
1 & 2 Samuel: That one about Samuel being the judge of Israel and then Saul being anointed king and then David coming up and Saul chasing him everywhere and finally David being king.
1 & 2 Kings: That one about Solomon, Elisha and Hezekiah and the rest of the kings of Israel
1 & 2 Chronicles: See 1 & 2 Kings
Ezra: That one where Ezra got the people back on track with God
Nehemiah: Nehemiah goes back to rebuild the Temple and tell people to keep the laws.
Esther: That one about Esther saving the Jews. That girls rocks!
Job: That one about all the bad stuff that happened to Job and Job still praised God
Psalms: Yay God!
Proverbs: That one about wisdom

Of course I left out so many details but that gives you an idea.

If I were recommend you reading just a few books to understand more, I would read Genesis of course and then Deuteronomy and Joshua. I really never thought I would say that.

And I have to say, I really have a respect for the Jews at that time. I actually like, or at least respect, the reverence they had for God and all the rituals they went through. I think we are so flippant about how we treat God and pray to Him.

My biggest problem right now is meshing the God of the Israelites with Jesus. There was so much jealousy and anger and war and deaths in the Old Testament and that is not at all who Jesus was while on Earth. I realize that God showed a lot of mercy and love as well it’s just Jesus was so different that that. And if Jesus is supposed to be God then what gives? I’m not questioning that Jesus is God, I’m just looking for a lightbulb moment or that piece to the puzzle that makes it make sense.

I feel like I’ve rambled on about nothing but if I could say anything clearly to you, I would say take the time and commit to doing this for 90 days. I can’t believe I’m already halfway through reading the ENTIRE Bible. It seemed like such a daunting task when I first heard about it but it really is no different that sitting down reading a book every night for 30 minutes. Heck, I’m used to reading for hours on end every night when I’m really into a book.

One thing I’m certain I learned is that the Bible is true, God is real and BIG and amazing and most of all, He loves us and all He really wants us to do is listen and obey.

If you want more info, you can check out the Bible in 90 Days site. I have a copy of the reading plan if you’d like me to email one to you.

History of the Israelites – the quick version

February 5, 2008 by Amy Leave a Comment

OK, I keep wanting to share this and I keep putting it off. I have truly been blessed while reading the Bible every single day for the last month as part of my Read the Bible in 90 Days endeavor. I’m currently in 2 Chronicles and I have just been amazed at the history of the Israelites and how much I really didn’t understand before reading it. The one question that I’ve had answered (among many) may lead people to believe I’m an idiot but nonetheless, I didn’t understand…who in the world were the Israelites?

You can read a ton about them on the Internet. It doesn’t take a genius to read up on it but here are the basics. Please, please, please correct me if I’m not saying something right but this is my understanding as of now.

Abraham was in Canaan when God promised him he’d give him lots of people (a great nation) and all that land around him.
Abraham had Isaac.
Isaac had Jac0b.
God renamed Jac0b Israel.
Jac0b/Israel had 12 sons one of which was Joseph.
Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery and ended up in Egypt.
Joseph became a big man in Egypt.
There was a famine.
Joseph’s father, Jac0b, told his brothers to go buy food in Egypt.
Joseph reunited with his family and they all moved to Egypt.
Their family and descendants are all called Israelites.
They become too numerous and Pharaoh gets scared and puts them all into slavery.
From there, you should know that the story picks up with “Let my people go” and eventually leads them back to Canaan, the Promised Land, which God promised Abraham.

But the short of it is the Israelites are Jac0b/Israel’s descendants.

Right, wrong?

Am I the only person on the planet that never really understood who the Israelites where and why they were in Egypt to begin with and what that had to do with Abraham?

Ask the Lord

January 23, 2008 by Amy Leave a Comment

Those are the three words I wrote when I turned my lamp on last night when my brain wouldn’t quite shut down enough to go to sleep at 2am. Is anyone seeing a trend here..I drink caffeine, can’t go to sleep and God gives me a word. Caffeine is from God!! I jest. Sort Of.

So “Ask the Lord”. What does that have to do with anything? You may correctly guess something in the Old Testament since that’s what I’ve been reading every night. Last night we just about finished 1 Samuel and reading about Saul and how he’s chasing poor David everywhere. But what I’ve noticed is every time you turn around, the men of God, including David, are saying “I asked the Lord such and such”. At every turn when they didn’t know what to do, they asked the Lord. And most of the time, God answered and it says something like so David did what the Lord said (up until now anyway).

The part that has me mesmerized though is how much they ask the Lord about what to do or what’s going to happen. And not only how many times they ask, but how many times they obey and then look back and see it turns out exactly as the Lord said it would. Why does that have me mesmerized? The times I have directly asked the Lord what to do, listened for an answer and followed through are few and far between. Of course I keep his commands close and try to obey but in those moments where we don’t know what to do, where it’s not written in the Bible what to do, do we really ask the Lord what to do? Yes, we may in passing ask for an answer in a passing prayer but do we wait on the Holy Spirit in quiet to give us that clarity as the Israelites had so we know when it unfolds that it was the Lord that guided us through it?

God doesn’t only get glory through miracles and wonders or His creations. He also gets glory when we simply “ask the Lord”.