Foolish Things

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.
1Corinthians 1:27

This verse says that God uses the foolish. We don’t like to look foolish. I don’t. I like for people to think I am smart and know what I am doing, but sometimes, God tells me to do something that might be embarrassing. When that happens, I am in good company. The Bible is full of examples of people doing foolish things that God told them to do. (The following list is from Christine Cains sharing at Pink Impact.)

Noah built a giant boat in the desert
Moses held a stick up when caught between an army and the Red Sea.
Sarah was shopping for maternity clothes as an old woman. The Israelites surrounded the great city of Jericho and marched around blowing trumpets.
David came against a giant with a slingshot. Caleb was 85 years old and wanted to fight an army of giants. Esther risked her life when she dared to go into the presence of a king when she had not been asked.
The Wise Men followed a star to find a new King. Peter got out of a boat during a storm to walk on the water. The most foolish was Jesus, who was nailed to a cross and died there while a crowd mocked him.

These were all foolish acts, but in every case, God came through. Now, get ready. Read the following list out loud, with as much excitement as you can muster. This is really good stuff!!!!

Noah was saved from the flood that destroyed everything else.
Moses had the sea parted and all the people walked through on dry ground.
Sarah gave birth to her son at 90.
The walls of Jericho fell and the Israelites defeated the city. David killed the giant Goliath. Caleb defeated the army and took the land that he wanted. Esther saved her people the evil plot of destruction. The Wise Men found and worshiped the new king Jesus. Peter actually did walk on the water. And Jesus died to take away our sins, and was raised from the dead to give us life.

So, following those great examples, I am ready to do whatever foolish thing God will ask me to do.

Great Celebrate Recovery Family Dinner

Saturday night, we had our first Celebrate Recovery Family Dinner. The Celebrate Recovery family hosted the dinner and celebration time and invited family and friend and Cottonwood members. Since that time, I can’t stop saying, “Thank You, Lord”, with a smile on my face.

Our volunteer team had prayed much for this time, and worked hard to make it happen. A big “Thank You” to all of them. Everything that we asked, God did.

From beginning to end:
We had plenty of help setting up the tables and chairs, cooking, preparing everything, and plenty of help cleaning up, too.
We had about 80 people show up. Many family members of our C.R. participants and several church members came to show support and to find out what it is all about.
We had more than enough food, and it was very good.
The sound system worked perfectly. The singers and the instruments sounded great. Our worship was exciting, enthusiastic, fun, encouraging, meaningful, and real. We sang songs that spoke of God’s promises, His faithfulness, His love, about the joy and freedom we have in Him, and our response of devotion and love for Him.
I had asked several people to give short testimonies. I was blown away by them. Each person spoke with a simple, sincere eloquence of what Celebrate Recovery meant to them, what God has done in their lives through C.R. Each one was so honest and open, so grateful for their salvation and their recovery from addiction, from depression, from life’s struggles. One woman who has struggled with depression for years said, “I don’t have to fake it anymore, now I have real joy.”

This is my dream, to be involved in a ministry that helps the lost come to Christ, the hurting, and wandering come home and be healed. I am so grateful.

Selling the old home place

My mom and dad sold their house this week, with plans to move into a retirement center. At 93 and 94, I think it is time for them to take this step. The process is funny though.

They put the house on the market in January, thinking that it probably would not sell; the market is bad, and the house is in a declining neighborhood. They were fine with that. Their thinking was that they knew they NEEDED to sell, but they did not WANT to do it. Only a couple of people have even looked at the house, but, Monday, they got a contract. The house was listed for $92,000. The contract was for $89,000. Pretty good offer. Nope, my dad said, “No, we want $92,000. (You can do that when you really don’t want to sell). Ok, a counter offer came in, $93,000, but asked my parents to pay part of the closing cost. My Dad agreed to take $93,000 and pay $500 in closing cost. The buyer accepted the offer. Does anyone see something strange about this? I guess the man decided he better quit negotiating before the price got any higher.

I have noticed something. It seems that when a person gets to a certain age, they just get away with things. You have to understand, my Dad is an absolutely honest man with great integrity. He just has nerve in his old age. A while back he returned a coffee maker to Wal-Mart, telling the clerk that it did not work and he thought it should have lasted longer. He had had it over a year, but he insisted that it should have worked longer than that. The manager told him to get another one. He just can do that kind of thing.

I talked to my mother, who was sad about selling the house they had lived in for 50 years. She said that she knew that God provided the house for them and it was hard to let it go…but, the retirement center would be good; there would be people around, and activities, and they would probably have church services there she could go to. That would be good because she has not been able to go to church in a while. I appreciate that so much about my mother. She chooses to make the best of any situation, and look for the positive.
It will be hard to see this transition, the home I grew up in owned by strangers. My active parents living in a retirement home. Change is part of life, and I am so grateful to have them with us, and still able to be a part of the family in every way.

One in a million

As I continue to consider all that I learned at Pink Impact this weekend, I am thinking a lot about Caleb and Joshua. In Exodus, we see that about 2 million Israelites came out of slavery in Egypt. But, 40 years later, only 2 of the original 2 million were able to go into the land that God had promised. That is 1 in a million. All 2 million were God’s people, believers and followers of Jehovah, but they did not believe Him enough. They saw that there were giants in the land and did not trust God to defeat them. Joshua and Caleb argued that they could take the land because God had promised it to them and He would deliver. God said that they had a different spirit. No one listened, so for forty years, they wandered in the wilderness until all those adults who would not trust God had died, and only Joshua and Caleb were left to lead the new generation into the land. I have been considering Caleb this week.

In Numbers 13:30, after spies gave a report highlighting the fact that the land was inhabited by giants and they did not have a chance against them, Caleb stood up and said "Let's go at once to take the land, we can certainly conquer it!” You gotta love that attitude. He did not deny that the land was inhabited by giants, but he was certain that they could defeat the giants, and he did not want to waste any time getting to it.

God promised that Caleb would eventually enter the land because he had a different spirit: Num 14:24 "But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

After forty years, the new generation comes to enter the Promised Land. This time, Joshua is their leader, and they believe God for victory. As they fight battle after battle to take the land, Caleb makes a special request:
Josh 14:6-12 A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, "Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, 8 but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. 9 So that day Moses solemnly promised me, 'The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 "Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said."

The descendants of Anak were the giants. Caleb is 85 years old and requests the portion of the land that is still occupied by giants, living in great, walled towns. “If the Lord is with me, I will drive them out.” I think it is interesting that there is no description of the battle that Caleb fought. Joshua 15:13 says that Caleb drove them out, no details. It seems almost anticlimactic, as if winning the battle was not the point; the main point was Caleb’s faith and obedience.

I can imagine Caleb as a young man, ready to go into the promised land, ready to fight the giants, ready to see God bring deliverance and victory. I can imagine that for forty years, he relived the day that the people looked at the giants in fright and refused to go in. For forty years, he dreamed of the day that he would again have the chance to enter the land and drive out its inhabitants. Now, at age 85, he is ready. He tells Joshua, “Moses promised me the area with the biggest giants, living behind the strongest walls. I know I’m 85, but I CAN DO THIS. God will give me the strength I need and He will give me the victory.”

I so love that attitude. So many Christians live with excuses, too old, too young, not enough knowledge, not enough energy, not enough experience, not enough talent…
We need to be the one in a million kind of Christian, the ones with “a different spirit” like Caleb and Joshua, who will believe God and follow Him no matter how big the obstacle.

Pink Impact First Impressions

Well, I spent the last three days at the Gateway church women’s conference, Pink Impact; imagine 3000 women in one place, pretty much everyone super excited, ready to hear from God, Kari Jobe and Mariam Webster are ready to lead in worship; Priscilla Shirer and Christine Cain are the main speakers, with a few others in the wings. WOW. I have a lot I could share, and I just might, but, first, I want to just share my main impressions.
Christian women let loose are pretty excitable! The conference theme was “Permission Granted”. On Thursday night, at first I felt like I had sort of missed the boat, that somehow I should have done more with my life, been more radical. My next thought was that that is OK, because I have four daughters who are taking the next steps. I felt like Moses who only went so far, then he died and Joshua took over. I raised four daughters who all love the Lord and are serving Him well. I was OK with that for a while, but, by the end of the night, I had totally changed my mind. No, I am not quitting, and I am not sitting still. I am going on. I know that God has more for me to do, and I am determined to do it. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are saved to do good works that God already has planned for us. I don’t think that I have done everything that God has planned for me to do.

Christine Cain had some great points on Thursday night, so I will just share a few.

We are called to live a life of faith and risk.

Our purpose is not to arrive at death safely and fall into a coffin.

We spend our time praying for God to show us miracles and signs, then we never put ourselves in a position where God can work a miracle!

Jesus came to make us dangerous to the kingdom of darkness--not NICE little Christian women

The new normal becomes what the Word says, not what society says

So, there you have a little "teaser". Watch for more details.

Coming Out of the Fog

I assume that anyone reading this blog knows me, and probably know that I am usually a happy, joyful person.
The last couple of weeks, I have been a little bit down, struggling with some things, not big things; little things that I allowed to get to me. Today, I felt myself come through the fog. I felt better, happier, more like myself. I began to consider how that happened, and decided to take some notes so that next time I will know what to do and maybe come through it quicker. So here are the things that I think pulled me out of the fog. Maybe someone will get some help the next time you are feeling a little down, at least I hope I can remember these steps to take.

1. Recognize I am in a battle
1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

2. Remember the battle is not against a person
Ephesians 6: 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

3. Remember the battle is mostly in my mind
Romans 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

4. Recruit fighters, a few sisters I trust to pray with me and for me. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.
I have a small prayer group that meets weekly, and I know for certain that what I share with them will not be repeated, and I know that they will pray for me. I also feel totally accepted by them, so that I can share freely.

5. Remember that I can win
Rom 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
We have the power, the resources, the arms, the weapons; everything we need to win the battles.

6. Stay in the word
Psalm 119:14-16 I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. 15 I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. 16 I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.
Ephesians 6:17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

7. Keep up the fight. Be patient, be prepared to gradually come out, one step at a time
James 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.
Ephesians 6:13-14 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore,
1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Sometimes the fight is not easy and the battle is not over quickly. We have to persevere, stay with it.

8. Remember that God is at work, transforming me, dealing with my own insecurities, my pride, my selfishness and my failings.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

My theology of being busy

I hear comments so often that I am busy, I am energetic, I get a lot done, I am always on the go. OK, here are my thoughts on that. There is much to do for the kingdom of God.

2 Thess 3:13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
Gal 6:9-10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
I know, there is a balance to this.

John 15:4 " Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

I believe that as we abide in Christ, He sends us to do His work. Of course, anything that I am trying to do in my own strength, with my own natural resources will not be fruitful, it will amount to nothing. The thing is, I don’t see a lot of excess in doing good works among Christians. I don’t see a lot of Christians preaching the gospel too often, spreading the love of God too far. I don’t want to waste too much time trying to be absolutely sure that what I have on my heart to do is from God. I believe God is saying go, and I want to be spent on the cause of Christ.

The great teaching about being still comes from the story of Mary and Martha. We all know the story. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha scurried about preparing a meal. Martha went to Jesus as recorded in Luke 10:40-42 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Jesus did not tell Martha that she was too busy, He told her she was worried and bothered about so many things, but the one thing necessary was to be near Jesus. I know that for me, being worried and bothered does not necessarily go with being busy. I can sit at home doing nothing and be worried and bothered. On the other hand, I can go from sun up to sun down and never be worried or bothered.

Of course, being still, sitting at the feet of Jesus, spending time in prayer and Bible study are absolutely essential to a healthy Christian life. I would never suggest that we would skip that. It’s just that I so strongly believe that, much of the time we are serving other people in some way, we also are in God’s presence. Jesus did not call to Martha to come in and sit down. Jesus responded to Martha when she complained about the work and about her sister. If I am happy and mentally at rest while I am busy, then I believe that means I have some balance. If I am worried and bothered, that is a signal that I need to stop and find out if I am doing what Jesus has sent me to do, or if I am just doing something that needs to be done.

I believe that I can have a Mary heart in a Martha life. I must have that time “in the garden, alone” where Jesus “walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am His own.” Then I hear Him tell me, now go and help other people know me.

Choosing life over death daily

Sometimes, I get distracted and begin to think about things that bring me down. This weekend was one of those times. My life is great. My family is wonderful, ministry, church, everything is really good, but, like everyone else, I sometimes have difficult relationships that I have to deal with. Last week, I spent too much time dwelling on some of those difficult relationships. I finally realized that I was dying inside, because, as Paul said in Romans 8:6, the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. My thinking about the difficult relationship; what was said, why that was done, what was meant…all those thoughts were just the mind set on the flesh. The result of that is always death.
I got up Sunday morning, Easter morning, the day we celebrate the resurrection life. My mind was still distracted, but I remembered this passage: Luke 24:"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 "He is not here, but He has risen.”
That passage really hit me. I want to be living. I realized that I was seeking life in my soul among the deadness of negative thoughts.

Sometimes thoughts are really hard to control. It takes a lot of work. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul said that we can take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. One problem is that those thoughts don’t stay captive. I spent much of yesterday and some of today thinking the same thoughts that brought me down last week. I know the secret; I just have to keep applying it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

There are so many good things to think about. God is GOOD. He is mighty and strong, merciful, full of grace and compassion. He loves me unconditionally. God is at work in my life, and all around me. I have more to celebrate and enjoy than I can even take the room to write about here. I have to decide what I will think about, will I dwell on all the good things, and experience life and peace, or will I dwell on the small negative things, and experience death.

Slavery here, now, in the U.S.

This is the story of a 24 year old girl who told her story recently to a group of Cottonwood young people. I have not included her name or other details because she was rescued from slavery by the FBI and is still in hiding while the traffickers are being investigated.

About a year ago, this girl saw an advertisement for a nanny. She had worked as a nanny before and was interested in working in a new city. The ad seamed legitimate and she applied for the job, went through the interview process, and was hired. She flew to New York City, where she was picked up at the airport by a man and a woman with a child. The woman and child had to be at an event, and were dropped off. She continued alone with the man, who gave her some food laced with drugs. That began her ordeal of enslavement. During the next eight months, the girl was drugged continuously and forced to have sex with up to 20 men per day. She was moved from city to city. She never knew where she was because of the drugs. After 8 months of this terrible abuse, she was finally rescued by the FBI. For some months, she was not able to contact her family for security reasons. She has been cared for by a Christian organization that has helped her to recover from the drug addiction resulting from the drugs her captors kept her on, and to recover her life. She continues to feel violated and fearful. She shared that she does not expect to ever be married because no man would want her now. Although she is no longer enslavedher life has been devastated. She has been able to contact her family and let them know that she is alive and safe, but the FBI is still working on the case, so she lives a secret life.
We are not unware of human trafficking and modern day slavery, but we may tend to see this as a problem far away from us. One woman's story really makes the problem real to us and shows us that any of our daughters could be at risk.

God loves you, Here’s a cookie????

Today Cottonwood women had our second big cookie giveaway. The first one was at Valentines’ day; you can read about it if you want on a post on Feb. 12.
We baked cookies for Easter, put 2 or 3 in a bag, with a note that said,

Happy Easter
Easter is a special time to remember that God loves us. It is a time to celebrate the new life and new beginning that He offers. We want to offer you this small gift as a reminder of God’s love and the hope He gives.
Join us as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, April 4, at Cottonwood Baptist Church…

That is what the cards that I made said, I don’t know what the cards said that some of the other women made, but it would be something similar. A group of us met at Cottonwood this morning and went through Dublin and Stephenville and gave the cookies out. Other women went around DeLeon and Comanche with cookies, and another group went out in Hico.
We just went to people, handed them a bag, and said, “Happy Easter, we would like to give you Easter cookies and tell you that God loves you.” Pretty simple, pretty fun. Effective? I don’t know. One man looked at me coldly and said, “Thanks”. I asked him, “Has anyone told you that God loves you?” He said, “All the time”. I am glad people tell the man that, but I don’t think he gets it. Or maybe he was just having a bad day.
Anyway, the question was, is it effective? I believe in my heart that it is. I believe people need to hear someone say, “God loves you.” We could just go out one day and walk around telling people that God loves them. Somehow that seems a little bit freaky, BUT, when you give them a cookie, it seems to work. Am I crazy? Does anyone else think that way? We talked today about having a cookie giveaway day and go to all the beauty shops one day, all law offices another day, etc, until we cover the town. I figure that eventually, some people are going to begin to believe that God really does love them.
Oh, I would have pictures, but I cannot find the cable to connect my camera to the computer. Sorry.