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Politics At Jesus’ Table

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At Jesus' Table

Jesus made room at his table for everyone, including those on opposite ends of thought.  At Jesus’ table, everyone has a place and everyone is equal.  I can imagine that the discussions that went on among his disciples were pretty lively at times, especially between two of them — Matthew, the tax collector and Simon, the zealot.

In Jesus’ time and country, a tax collector was a Jewish man who was working for the Roman government.  They were looked upon with disdain by their fellow Jews.  They were not included in the temple, nor were they guests of honor at anyone’s party.  The tax collectors would basically bid for their job.  They would tell Rome they could extract X amount of dollars in taxes.  If the number pleased the Romans they got the job.  However, many of them collected way more than their bid, which they ended up pocketing.  They were extorting their fellow countryman for the sake of their oppressors.

Zealots, on the other end of the spectrum, were revolutionaries.  They were the ones that wanted to take Israel back from Roman domination.  They wanted their country back and they were willing to kill Romans to get it back. They believed in the sovereignty of Israel and were willing to lay down their lives for the cause.  They hated the Romans and wanted them gone.

Jesus invites both of these men to his table and his team.  I wish I could go back in time and see these two men interact with one another.  It would be like putting the most conservative Republican on the same team with the most liberal Democrat.  Jesus had some guts.  And he made it work.

What this shows me is that it’s possible to disagree with someone and still work together, and *gasp* even be friends.  Jesus’ instructed these guys to love one another as their commitment to him.  He taught them to serve one another as he had served them.  He taught them to love one another as he had loved them.

I am sure that it took a while for these two to get it but eventually, they did.  Both had to give up their ideologies for a picture of a much bigger kingdom.  Jesus wasn’t interested in the politics of his day.  He was interested in establishing his kingdom.  I think the same is true today.

Now, back to American politics.  It really grieves me the way that the American Church is acting over politics.  You would think that we were at war with one another split down a political line.  I’ve read so many statements on Facebook about how you cannot be a Christian if you vote for Hilary Clinton.  I’ve read about the same number of people stating there’s no way you can be a Christian and vote for Donald Trump.

My Christianity isn’t based on who I vote for . . . my Christianity is based upon whom I confess as Lord . . . and that is Christ.

You would think that during election time Christians somehow have managed to throw out the teachings of Jesus until after election day.  Even then there will be doomsayers on whichever side loses.  So many people are afraid the country is going to hell in a hand basket if either candidate gets elected.  Folks, I have heard this rhetoric since I started voting.

If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord then stop your bellyaching, name-calling, mud-slinging and judging and start doing what he told us to do…prefer one another and love one another as he loved us, especially towards those that disagree with you.

In the end, our trust has to be in HIM and not a political party.  Neither Trump or Clinton will be the savior of the United States.  Neither one of them are, nor will be, the perfect candidate.

If Jesus can take two opposing men and bring them together, helping them understand there is a larger kingdom that we are to be concerned with, then don’t you think we should do the same?

My fellow Christians, please hear me .  . . you are a Christ-follower first and foremost, an American second, and a member of a political party (or not) third.  Don’t forget that order.  Right now the people outside of the Church think we are a bunch of whiny cry-babies when we don’t get our way.

We are to be known for our love, not our political affiliation.  If you want to immerse yourself in the political arena, then, by all means, go for it.  Just remember who you represent!  You represent Love (for God is love).  Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies and to bless those that persecuted them.  He said this to a group of people living under a hard and repressive regime.

At the end of the day, someone will win, and someone is going to lose.  God will still be God stonesand live will continue on.  Will there be changes? Of course, hopefully for the betterment of everyone. Regardless of who is in the White House, we are called to pray for our leaders, submit to the governing authorities and do all we can to live in peace.

There’s a place for you at the table of Jesus.  There’s also a place for the person who politically believes exactly opposite as you do.

Matthew and Simon learned the lessons of Jesus.

Will we?  I sure hope so!

 

For a very interesting article on a greater kingdom perspective in this election, read Brian Zahnd’s article on How I Am Voting.

 

Why You Can’t Set Your Value

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Why You Can't SetThe value of an item is determined by two people – the buyer and the seller.  The buyer actually has more weight in this equation because they are the ones that are handing over money for the item.  If the buyer feels that the item is worth the asking price, then they will pay for it.  The seller, on the other hand, sets the price and has to determine the lowest value he will take on that item.

The point of this is that the item never sets its value.  Because it’s inanimate, it cannot get offended over the seller’s asking price or the buyer’s paying price.  It cannot demand that more money be paid, nor can it argue that the buyer paid too much.

I use this example to show us that God is the one that gets to determine our value, not us.  Yet, we so often times devalue ourselves and feel as if we are nothing.  We look at the mistakes in our lives, what others say about us, how we compare to others and a whole host of other things to determine the value we place on ourselves.

As our Creator, God is the only one that gets to determine the value of a person, His creation.  The highlight of this is that God places unmeasurable worth and value on human beings.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…..(John 3:16)

In Psalm 8, the Psalmist declares that God crowned man with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5)

Jesus died for humanity in order to show them the incredible lengths God would go to in order reconcile them to Himself as their Father.

Before a baby is born parents place great value on their child.  While I realize that this is not true in every single case, it is the way things are supposed to be.  That baby has never accomplished anything great, has never done anything of value for its parents.  That baby will actually cost his parents more than he can give back.  That baby may even grow up and disappoint his parents because of wrong choices and actions.

Yet, the parents would die for that child.  They would do anything for him.  If that child was in trouble, those parents would do anything in their power to help save their child . . . no matter the cost.

Why?  Because the child doesn’t set its value, the parents do.

That child could come to his parents and tell them how bad he is, how rotten, how much he has messed up and how he doesn’t deserve to be called their child.  The parents would tell him to stop talking like that. They would encourage him, build him up and tell him all the good things that he is and has to offer.  They wouldn’t hold his mistakes over his head. They would tell him what he can be, what they see in him.

Why?  Because the child doesn’t set its value, the parents do.

Why, then, do we do the same with God?

We come to God in prayer and tell Him how awful we are, what a rotten sinner we are, and how much we have messed up.  We feel as if we have to beg Him for forgiveness.  We tell him how unworthy we are of his love.  We go to great lengths to remind God of how messed up we are.

Some of it is because we believe that’s how he sees us.  We believe that God sees us in that pitiful state and that as we beg for his mercy and forgiveness he takes pity on us and extends mercy.  I know this is how I saw him for a large part of my life.

Sometimes, we listen to the lies of condemnation from the devil, the accuser of the brethren.  We end up believing what he says more than we believe what God says.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) we see how God is because the parable is really about the father.  In this parable the youngest son asks for his inheritance and then proceeds to go off and blow it.  He ends up losing everything — money, home, friends, and his dignity.  He winds up feeding pigs which would have been the lowest point a good Jewish boy could have ended up at.

When he finally came to his senses he decided to return home.  He didn’t feel like he could be his father’s son anymore but he believed that he could at least be one of his father’s servants.  He had set his value and it was very, very low.

However, the story has a different outcome than he thought it would.  As he is approaching home his father sees him, runs to him and begins to joyfully kiss and hug him.  The boy tries to explain what he has come home for but the Father won’t listen.  The father reestablishes the value of the son by putting on him the best robe, a ring, and sandals on his feet.  For time’s sake, I cannot explain the deepness and richness of this parable.  What we need to understand is that the father set the value of the child and it was high.

The son’s mistakes and rebelliousness did not change his value.  Neither does yours.Human Value

Please, I beg of you, if you tell God how awful you are . . . stop!  Just begin to thank Him that you have great value to him. Thank him that you are loved and worth everything to him.  Thank him for his grace and mercy.  As you do this, you will begin to see yourself as he sees you . . . valued and loved!

Stop devaluing yourself.  Stop listening to the devaluing voices of others.

You don’t get to set your value.  Your Father in Heaven does and he sees you as immensely valuable, worthy of dying for!  He would have rather died for you than to be without you.

That, my friends, is what amazing grace is all about.

Will You Let Love Be Your Primary Response?

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Let LOVE be

I read a book last year, recommended by a friend, entitled Love Does, by Bob Goff.  It made a huge impact on me because the author lives his life with love being his primary response.  Whenever someone is mean to him or treats him poorly he tries to imagine the best scenario as to why they are acting that way.  In this manner of living, love has become his primary response.

That has become my prayer ever since I read that book.  My prayer is, “Lord, let love be my primary response.”  I wish I could say that God has totally answered this prayer above and beyond my wildest imagination.  I would be lying if I said it was true.  The reason is that this is a partnership prayer.  What I mean by that is this:  I can pray the prayer, God can do His part in helping me but there is a part that I must play.

I have to want to be loving.

I have to want to change.

I have to let go of every preconceived idea, pre-judgment and critical notion that I have of every person that I come in contact with.

I have to BE loving.

I have to SEE people as being worth the value that God places on them.

I have to BELIEVE that they are worth loving, that they were born to be loved.

I have to HOPE for the best in them.

And that, for me, has not always been easy.  I tend to be a critical person.  Ouch, that hurt just writing that sentence.  But, it’s true and I cannot let love be my primary response if I am not first willing to come face to face with my own critical, judgmental, self-righteous self.

The good news is…..I am willing to come face to face with myself, deal with my junk and allow God to do in me what I cannot do in myself so that love is my primary response.

Jesus gave us a new command as He was preparing to die in our place.  His command was that we were to love others as He loves us.  His primary response to me has always been love.  Therefore, I cannot withhold love from others, as my primary response, because of the grace that has been shown to me.

What would the world look like if we allowed love to be our primary response?

We would not allow road rage to be a part of our lives.we-cant-always-see-peoples-pain-they-can-always-feel-our-love-quote-1

We would not speak unkind words.

We would not abuse or take advantage of anyone.

There would be a harmonious beauty in the world because love is beauty.

There would be unity within the church.

There would not be a needy one among us.

There would be no divorce, no absent parents, no dysfunctional families.

There would be true tolerance as we sought to live together in peace.

I can hear some of your thoughts now.  There’s no way that this could happen because we live in a fallen world.  If this can’t happen then Jesus came for nothing.  If this can’t happen then love fails and sin always wins.

No, my friends, I dare say let’s bring the future into the now.  We know that in the future God is going to restore all things, do away with sin and death, and love will reign supreme.  Many of us are anxiously awaiting that day.  But what about the now?  What about today?

Jesus taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.”  Well, if that is to be our prayer, then I believe God wants to answer it.  His kingdom is love.  So, when I allow love to be my primary response to everyone I meet, then I am bringing His kingdom into the earth.

When you decide to let love be your primary response then you are bringing His kingdom into the earth.

When the Church decides to let love be our primary response then she is bringing His kingdom into the earth.

When God’s children allow love to be their primary response, we will change the world. To borrow Rob Bell’s title, LOVE WINS!  Love is what changes people.  Love is what melts cold hearts and tears down walls.  Why? Because we were born to be loved!

So, will you begin to pray this prayer with me?

“Lord, let love be my PRIMARY response.”  I don’t want hatred, anger, a judgemental attitude, criticalness or bitterness to be my primary response.  Even on the days that I am having my biggest struggles, I want love to be my primary response.

When you allow love to be your primary response, I promise you will see the world, you will see people, and you will see yourself in a whole different light.

Let love be your primary response.

Do people feel valued and respected after communicating with you?

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  • Do people feel valued after communicating with you?
  • Are you more interested in preserving your relationships or being right?
  • Do you know how to effectively communicate your thoughts and feelings in every situation?

People can’t read your mind and they don’t know what’s in your heart. That means you have to communicate what you’re thinking and feeling, especially to those you love and work with and definitely with your family.

Often when we attempt to communicate we do it through frustration, fear and pain from the past. We can learn to put people first and learn to value people. If we seek to preserve relationship first we will express what’s on our our hearts and minds in love and respect.

This series will give you a solid method for communication to leave people feeling valued and loved for the purpose of maintaining healthy relationships.

Grace Filled CommunicationMessage Titles

  1. Overcoming Offenses
  2. Grace Filled Communication
  3. The Critical Eye
  4. Giving Up Judgment
$4.00 – ADD MP3s to CART

The post Do people feel valued and respected after communicating with you? appeared first on Forward Ministries.

You Were Born to be Loved!

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You Were BornDeep on the inside of every human being is the inherent need to be loved, to know that they have value and worth.  No one can escape it nor deny it.  Some people try to act all macho and tough as if they don’t need to be loved, or that they don’t need anybody, but it is not true.  We all have the need to be loved, to know that we matter.

That inherent desire is hardwired into every single human being by our Creator.  The Bible tells us that God is love.  It also describes that God created man in His image and likeness.  We were created out of love, to love and to be loved.

It’s been proven that babies need human contact.  They need to be loved on.  They need that one-on-one attention.

As children are growing up, they want to be loved by their parents.  They want their parents to notice them.  I cannot count how many times, as a parent, I have heard one of my children say, “hey Dad, watch me. Hey, Dad, did you see me do that?  Hey, Dad, I can do this.” It’s all an attempt for me to pay attention to them, thus letting them know that they matter to me.

Teens, even though they certainly don’t act like it, want their parents’ approval, attention, and affection.  They are testing their boundaries as they begin to spread their wings of independence.  But they subconsciously want the safety of their parents’ boundaries.  They want to know that if they fail, their parents will be there to catch them.  Even the most rebellious teen wants someone to care about them.

That’s one reason why gangs are so attractive to some teens.  The gang offers love, family, acceptance and a place to belong.  Even though the love is misconstrued, the members feel loved.

As we mature, we look for a spouse to love and to love us.  We then want to create children to love.  Why do we have kids?  We know that they are a lot of work, very costly, and there’s a definite possibility that they will rebel, not listen and could reject us.  Yet, we continue to produce children because of the love that we want to give them, and receive from them.

We were born to be loved.

We were born to live in love.

We were born to love.

Love is at the core of our being because we were created in God’s image and He is love.  I wish that we could say that we are love, but we cannot.  Sin has distorted us, handicapped us, and made us inhumane to the point that we can utterly hate someone to the point of murder.  Hate is so ugly.

Hate causes us to devalue someone’s life.

"winter" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by shioshvili

“winter” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by shioshvili, text added, flickr.com

Hate causes us to want to hurt them.

Hate can destroy us.

We were born to love, not to hate.  We were born to be loved, not to be hated.

If we could only learn to receive God’s love, we would be changed.  If we can wake up every day realizing that we were born to be loved by Him, it would make the biggest difference.  I have been practicing that lately.  Each morning as I lay in my bed before I get up, and each night before I go to sleep, I repeat to myself, “I was born to be loved.”

Of course, the thoughts of all that I do wrong come through my head, but I quickly silence them by reminding myself that God doesn’t love me on the basis of what I do.  He loves me because of who He is.

That’s the beauty of loving others.  I don’t have to love people based on what they do or don’t do.  I can love them because I choose to.  It’s hard sometimes because of people’s rejection and attitudes towards me.  However, when I realize, and fully grasp, the fact that I was born to be loved and that I am loved immensely by the Father then I can reflect that love to others.

When I allow myself to be full of God’s love then I can give it away because I have a never ending supply.

As I realize how much He loves me and I look at others and realize that He loves them that much too, then should loving them be an issue for me?  It shouldn’t be.  It’s only when I let my personal judgments and critical thoughts about that person get in the way that I will stop loving them.  When I see them as God sees them, I will love them.  When I look at them through my human, imperfect eyes I may or may not love them. 

My earthly love tends to be conditional, which really isn’t love at all.  See my blog on Unconditional Love is an Oxymoron for a deeper discussion on this.

God’s love is unconditional because it’s based upon who He is rather than our actions.  What if we did the same?  What if we stopped looking at people’s actions as a basis for our love for them?  What if we just looked at them and realized their number one purpose in life is to be loved and our number one purpose in life was to love them?

I think the world would be a better place.

You were born to be loved!

Be Intentional About Loving People

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My family and I had a 20 minute conversation about love yesterday morning. Why did we take the time to have this discussion? Because we want to be a family that is intentional about loving people.

The thing that started us talking is that we’re getting ready to spend the next two weeks at JUMP Camp at our church. Steve and I are volunteering together the first week and the girls and I will be there again the second week.

Of course, JUMP Camp is going to be a blast and we are really looking forward to it, but we wanted to have a conversation beforehand to discuss, as a family, how we could be intentional about walking in love with others and with each other these next two weeks.

What we talked about as a family not only applies to our family or to JUMP Camp week, but to each of us in our everyday lives. This is why I decided to share our conversation about love with you!

As we each opened up and contributed to the conversation, these were the main points we covered.

Be Realistic

To start the conversation we discussed the fact that even though we are going to have a blast at camp, there will also be times when we get tired and there may even be moments when we feel exhausted. I personally think this was a very important part of our conversation that will help us be mentally prepared  to respond to others and to each other in love, when that happens.

I’m not saying we can’t believe God for an increase in energy over these next two weeks. We will believe for this and I believe we will have it, but when the sun is beating down on you and the noise level is continuously loud, the truth of the matter is, it can cause fatigue –  mentally, physically and emotionally.

Our family went to Six Flags several weeks ago. We have season passes this year and have these special bring-a-friend-free coupons that we can use a number of times during the season. We brought some friends of ours and had a really great time.

Six Flags is a place I spent a decent amount of time at growing up; therefore, I got so excited about our day of fun that I kept saying to everyone at the beginning of the day, “let’s stay all day, until the park closes.” (10pm) That sounded great until about 5 or 6pm when exhaustion seemed to hit every one of us at the same time! It wasn’t near as much fun after we got tired!

So…what do we do at JUMP Camp or in our everyday lives when we become physically, mentally or emotionally exhausted? The answers I’ll be sharing with you in this post apply to both.

1.) Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing

In our family discussion yesterday, we were reminding ourselves that we want to be a walking in love type of family. We talked about how we want to be a blessing in other people’s lives. We discussed how we want to be the light that Jesus said we are.

Of the 6000+ kids coming to JUMP Camp, a decent percentage of those kids haven’t ever heard the Gospel, nor do they go to church. You see how this one fact right here could change our whole perspective. This opportunity is much more than a camp – it’s a missions trip and God has given our family the opportunity to be change agents in the lives of these children.

Although Angel and Starr are not volunteering this year because this is their last year of being in camp, they can be all the things we talked about to their own friends over these next two weeks. They can be a blessing. They can walk in love. They can be an example. They can be a light. They can be change agents in the lives of their current friends and in the lives of the new 8th graders they’ll meet over the next two weeks.

2.) Constantly receive God’s love for yourself

Another aspect of our conversation was talking about the fact that we can, at any given moment, receive God’s love in a very personal way. Steve, my husband, suggested to all of us, “If we’re tired, we can close our eyes for a moment (when the time is convenient) and receive God’s love all over again.”

Since we’re there to extend God’s love to others, we talked about how we would only be able to do this if we are first receiving His love for ourselves.

After all…

1 John 4:19 says, 

We love each other because He loved us first. (NLT)

Receiving from God is one of the most important things we can spend our time doing, but I also believe receiving is one of the most overlooked things in the lives of many Christians. If we’re not careful we can spend all of our mental energy thinking about what we need to be doing for God and forget to receive from Him the wisdom, strength and ability we need to fulfill what He’s called us to.

3.) Become more rooted and grounded in knowing who you are in Christ

My husband Steve and I have been talking a lot lately about the amazing results we get from knowing who we are in Christ – from understanding that our true identity comes from being God’s child and also understanding that our worth and value is 100% wrapped up in the person we are in Christ Jesus. You know what I mean, the things the Bible talks about like: we’re new, complete , alive, holy, God’s workmanship, more than conquerors, overcomers, and forgiven in Him. And I’ve just barely gotten started with this short list compared to all the Biblical promises in God’s Word of everything we are in Christ.

Please do yourself a favor and search this phrase on google sometime soon: Who I am in Christ. Biblical promise after Biblical promise after Biblical promise will come up and if you’ll read them and remember them, you’ll see such an increase in your confidence level that this will in turn change your marriage, your relationships with your kids, your business, your personal life, and the list goes on.

I guarantee you that just the one fact alone that I am so much more convinced of who I am in Christ than the old Sandra was will make these two weeks at JUMP Camp and the fact that God has asked me to do everything I do in a spirit of love so much more than a possibility… as long as I keep the truth of God’s Word ever before me!

4.) Take care of yourself by exercising, getting enough sleep, eating healthy and drinking lots of water

Recently I had to take 3 months off from CrossFit in order to allow some physical symptoms I was having to subside. When I returned a month ago I noticed right away that my energy increased from working out again.

My Mom also started a walking program over a year ago. She walks 5 miles or more almost every day and her energy level is off the charts. She actually said she was praying for God to give her more energy and He gave her a desire to walk. She has enjoyed the walking and the results from the walking so much that she never wants to miss her walks!

Thinking of exercise this way – that it actually increases our energy – can give us a whole new perspective about it. After all, it’s kind of difficult to get the things done in our lives that God has called us to do if we are tired all the time. It’s also difficult to walk in love consistently if we are tired all the time. This is precisely why I’m planning to go to CrossFit after being at camp all day long to continue my workouts this week. I won’t have to go everyday after camp, maybe 2 of the 4 days and I’ve already talked to the coach and told him I probably won’t be able to work as hard as everyone else because I’ll be in the sun a lot during the day, but I can still go and do a good workout. If I do, I bet it will give me more energy for JUMP camp week!

Am I going to feel like going to CrossFit after camp. Probably not. This is exactly why I am making an intentional decision ahead of time. I’ll also use wisdom with it. For instance, I usually workout 4 days a week and I may only be able to do 3 days a week for the next two weeks, but I’m not going to mentally set myself up to not go at all.

My husband Steve also works out very consistently. He frequently reads articles about the benefits of exercise and we talk about them. We encourage each other in this area because we have seen the results, far too often, of people who have neglected exercise their entire life and now they’re totally dependent on others to care for them. We don’t want that to be us so we have decided to be intentional in the area of exercise…whether we feel like it or not!

Now, getting enough sleep is an area I could use a little more intentionality in! I do good for a period of time and then I get off course, but our family has been talking for several weeks now about how we will all be needing 8 hours of sleep these next two weeks for sure because we don’t want to go to JUMP Camp tired. That would not be a good recipe for treating others with love.

These two weeks are going to force me to get in bed at 8pm since I will be getting up at 4am. That sounds crazy to some people, but I love getting up early. My days just go better when I get up early, but I am a morning person. I’m believing these next two weeks of being forced to keep this schedule will help me get back into this habit in my everyday life because I admit, this is an area I need to receive God’s grace in to form a better habit, more consistently.

Now, I do want to say I am a very energetic person. I always have been, but especially the new and improved Sandra who doesn’t get bogged down with guilt and condemnation, but instead spends her time receiving and living by God’s grace. So I may not even need 8 hours of sleep every single night, but I need to give my body the opportunity to get 8 hours of sleep in case it does need it.

In regards to eating healthy, for me that means taking the time to prepare healthy food each week and carrying a cooler with me everywhere I go to keep my blood sugar from dipping too low since I’ve had low blood sugar issues all my life. It’s totally manageable and isn’t even a problem if I eat right and eat often enough, but if I don’t, it can get whacked out for days.

In fact, right now I’m starting to get hungry and one of the times I despise stopping to eat the most is when I’m writing. I’m going to town here, typing away and don’t want to stop and then have to take the time to get refocused and get Back in the flow again when I return; but if I want to feel my best and if I want to be able to react to others in love on a more consistent basis, I don’t have a choice. So I’ll be back in about 15 minutes ok?

I’m back, and stopping to take the time to eat was so worth it. I feel wonderful now that my blood sugar is level again.

Regarding the food at JUMP Camp, part of the fun is the fun food; therefore, we have been talking to our girls for several weeks now about what they’ll be allowed to eat at JUMP Camp. There is actually nothing they can’t eat and they will have snow cones available every day and, in addition, Wednesday is ice cream day. We told them they could have 1 snow cone per day and the ice cream in addition on Wednesday. We are also letting them have certain things in their lunches that we don’t give them often like chips and white bread, BUT we made an agreement with them that they will need to eat healthy the rest of the week at every meal. This way they can enjoy the same things the other kids are getting to enjoy at JUMP Camp and not feel left out, but not end up sick afterwords either.

Finally, speaking of the importance of water consumption, the average adult human body is 50-65% water. Our cells must have water to live and our vital organs contain 65-85% water, depending on the organ. It always inspires me to drink more water when I read facts like this.

I am blessed that I actually really like the taste of water. It’s all I drink, but I know lots of people can’t stand water. That has to be hard, but I will say (as a way of encouragement) that there have been numerous times when I have gotten out of the the habit of drinking enough water and when I got back on track, I found the more I drank it  the more I wanted it.

To help myself drink the amount of water I need each day I recently purchased 3 water bottles and placed them different places in my home – my bedroom, my office and the kitchen!

 1 Corinthians 13 says, 

Love Is the Greatest

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (NLT)

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

Good Triumphs Over Evil

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Good always triumphs over evil. Even though it doesn’t always appear that good is winning, ultimately, good always triumphs.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Romans 12:21(NASB)

Love triumphs over hate.
see Luke 6:27-28

Forgiveness triumphs over unforgiveness.
see Ephesians 4:31-32

Humility triumphs over pride.
see Proverbs 11:2

Patience triumphs over impatience.
see Colossians 1:11

Gentleness triumphs over harshness.
see Proverbs 15:1

Generosity triumphs over selfishness.
see Acts 20:35

Mercy triumphs over judgement.
see Luke 6:36

Now aren’t you glad your on the side of good! I sure am!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

The Atonement of God: Building Your Theology on a Crucivision of God (book review)

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Why did Jesus really die?  Was it to defeat sin?  Was it to appease atonement of godthe wrath of an angry God?  Was it so that God wouldn’t have to punish us because He punished Jesus?  Was it to ransom us from the devil?  Is God a child abuser? All these questions are answered within various theories as to why Jesus died.  In this book, Jeremy looks at the four most popular theories:  penal substitutionary theory, the moral influence theory, the ransom theory, and the Christus Victor theory.  Utilizing the Christus Victor theory, he shows us how the death of God was a non-violent act from the actions of God, although it was certainly very violent from the actions of men.

Jeremy gives us a good solid understanding of the core teaching of each of them, contrasting the pros and cons of each one.  His book clearly lays out a scenario in which the crucifixion of Jesus was not God pouring out His wrath on Jesus, nor God inflicting great punishment upon His beloved Son so that He wouldn’t have to inflict punishment upon humanity.  His view is that God is a non-violent Father as expressed through the life of Jesus. It’s upon this non-violent view that Jeremy spends most of his time.

Don’t read this book if you are not willing to at least consider what he is saying.  As a pastor, I have found that far too many Christians are close minded when it comes to looking at something that may go against what they have been taught all their lives.  Most American Christians have been taught the Penal Substitutionary Theory and may have a hard time pulling away from that.  As you read this book, keep an open mind and think about what Jeremy is saying, especially if you hold to any view other than the Christus Victor view.

Jeremy even explains his concept of why there is so much violence in the Old Testament.  It is this subject here that I would love to sit down with him and have a conversation as I liked what he said, but I am not sure that I could totally put my views and thoughts in that same basket just yet. The violence of the Old Testament is still a concept that I am grappling with.

Overall, this is a great book.  If you are looking to study the atonement and its differing views, then I would highly recommend this book.  Jeremy is a great teacher and communicator.  He has definitely done his research and is well versed in what he believes and why he believes it.  He is definitely someone that I recommend that you follow.  Through his books, blogs, and podcasts, I have been deeply challenged in my thinking, which, to me, is always a good thing!

You can find out more about Jeremy at his website:  www.redeeminggod.com.  You can purchase his book there or on Amazon.

Would you like to get a free 30 day devotional on Going Deeper in Grace?  Sign up for our email list and it’s yours!

HELP! I Am Trying to Love

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Chained Sad Heart - 900

I've had it with exhortations to love more, or better, or longer. In my youth I sang the song, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love..." I know we should love our neighbors, heck, even our enemies. I can see the damage being done between religious and political rivals. I wish the world would just stop fighting and love one another. Still if I hear another preacher tell me to love more, I'm calling the police to stop the harassment. Surely in today's environment, there must be some regulation that would stop such people from making me feel uncomfortable. Aren't my human rights being violated?

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) For years I interpreted that to mean I could and should show my love by keeping Jesus' commands. In other words, I was focused on "keeping" rather than "loving." I should have noticed that such an interpretation, though consistent with popular religion, was contrary to the teaching of Jesus. He made it very clear that we cannot love until we have been loved. We cannot give what we don't have. We cannot tell what we don't know.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

The kind of love that was revealed in Jesus is of divine origin. It is galaxies beyond the kind of love humans can generate. He had no need to use people for His own acceptance or significance. He didn't need to be vindicated; there was nothing pressuring him to manipulate others to His view. He loved with nothing to gain personally -- nothing but the joy of seeing another person being built up and blessed. And He didn't have the need to make sure others knew how well He was doing at loving.

When we have been touched by the delight of God's love, we can't help but pass it on. In fact, it would be safe to say that if we are not sharing His love, we don't really have it. This love is God's nature. Some think that before creation, He was so thrilled with the love shared between the persons of the Godhead, He wanted to share it with others, and that's why He created a universe that could experience the same joy He had.

Whether that's the reason He created us or not, we know God wants to share His love. And if God meant to share it, wouldn't those loved by Him do the same? Jesus demonstrated it in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. He fixed it so that humans could know God as Father, and in that relationship be fully satisfied. They would have no need to prove themselves. They would have no fear of want. They would not need to put others down in order to rise. They would be able to risk loving because they are safe in his care. In short, they could love -- and love doing it.

Trying to love like Jesus does, without being loved by Him, is like trying to breathe without air. It's much more taxing than living by religious standards of behavior. We could technically keep the outward commands of Jesus behaviorally without loving Him, but we cannot accept His love without responding in obedience to His words.

His love didn't just open the door to heaven when we die. It opened the door to share His life now. We get to be partners with Him, as He loves the world He created. We get to be free from our own agendas because we are captured by His. He is meeting all our needs so that we don't demand others to serve us. Living in His love releases us from the anchor of self-obsession and empowers us to be the display of His love.

If love seems hard to you, check to see whether you are focused on keeping His commands or on loving the one who loves you so much. Loving precedes keeping -- and you will love it.

I’m Almost A Parent Of Teenagers

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Starr (L) and Angel (R) are gonna be 13 this weekend!

Unbelievable!

You know, I used to think that as a parent, I wasn’t suppose to be my kids’ friend, but I was only suppose to be their parent until they became an adult at which time I could then start being their friend. The only problem was, I tried this approach for 9 years and it didn’t work for us.

I was legalistic and, although I never abused my girls, they felt more afraid in my “authoritative presence” than they felt comfortable around me. Not all the time, of course, but far too often.

Really, what was happening was I treating my girls the same way I wrongly thought God was treating me. I was rarely comfortable in God’s presence and was almost constantly afraid of what He was thinking or how He was feeling about me.

But THANK GOD that by His grace, my view of God and my view of parenting changed; therefore, the past 4 years have been very different for my girls and I. The results have proven to me that it’s a very good thing to be both friend and parent to your kids. In fact, it’s worked so well for us that our girls absolutely LOVE spending time with us. It’s certainly not because we’re perfect parents, because, of course we’re not perfect.

We just all do life together. We’re a team. We love each other. We allow each other to be human…to fail. And we forgive…often.

What better time for a child to feel like they not only have a parent, but a really good friend that they can lean on other than while they’re growing up and trying to navigate all the mazes that life brings!

My goodness I love my girls with all my heart. I’m not afraid of having teenagers. I’m looking forward to it.  AND the best news is …we get to spend eternity together!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

Growing in Grace Together – Lucas Miles – Good God

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A while back I had Lucas Miles as a guest on the podcast. Lucas is the President of the Oasis Network for Churches (OasNet), and he has written a soon-to-be-released book called Good God - The One We Want to Believe In but Are Afraid to Embrace.  Lucas is back as a guest on the podcast to talk about the book, and why many people struggle to embrace this God that we claim to be good, but yet He is blamed for so many bad things - even by those in the church.

A common question that people ask is, "Why does God allow bad things to happen?"  Lucas shares some radical thoughts on this, including tackling the premise that God "allows" bad things to happen.  Also, does God put sickness on people, or put them through problems and "trials," so that He can teach them a lesson or so He can then swoop in and "get the glory" for healing and helping? 
It's amazing how many people think that God is like this, and Lucas does a great job at showing how the nature of God is always good, and that He never harms us.

The book has received praise from many people, including Kevin Sorbo (actor, God's Not Dead), James B. Richards (author, The Gospel of Peace), Joanna Beasley (American Idol semifinalist and Christian recording artist), Paul Ellis (author, The Hyper-Grace Gospel) and many more.  I sure hope you enjoy this conversation about our good God, and that you're left with a much better understanding of and appreciation for the love and goodness of God.

To find out more about Lucas Miles, check out LucasMiles.org.



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Good News About God

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The apostle Paul, in recounting his ministry to the Christians of his day, said, “I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19). I believe that on this website and in my books and spoken ministry I have shared more than you need to know to live a successful Christian life and to maximise… Read More

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