My last entry on this blog was December of 2011. It turns out I'm not much of a blogger. I don't always feel comfortable sharing thoughts to the vast audiences of the internet, but would like a chance to express what has been on my heart with expectations of hearing responses to add to or correct anything that is written. I've debated writing something like this for awhile, but have felt an increase in the need to address an issue that has been affecting not just strangers whose names I see slandered on fb, but friends, and more recently, my own family on a very personal level.
We would probably all like to assume that we are people of grace. We would probably give a hearty amen to Jesus' command, "Do not judge, or you too will be judge." The problem is, we can't help but judge. It's just how our brains are wired. We use the information we receive to make judgments. This is generally a good thing as it allows us to make wise decisions and helps us to use caution before entering into relationships or situations we may not want to be in. But what information are we using to make these judgments? A recent poll suggested that 33% of young adults use facebook and social media as their primary source of news. We learn mostly from each other. Even if we turn to other sources such as television and newspaper, how accurate is the information we are reading? While Daren and I were on the road, he was in around 100 pieces of media. I have yet to read ONE piece that was 100% accurate. It didn't matter how thorough the interview was or how many notes they wrote down, something was always miscommunicated. This surprised me, but I'm realizing now that it shouldn't have. Don't we all remember playing the telephone game in elementary school? We'd receive a message from the person on our left and pass it to the person on our right. By the end, the message which we all earnestly tried to spread with accuracy, was skewed and often humorously incorrect. We also have natural tendencies to read our own assumptions into a message or to slightly exaggerate when retelling stories to increase the impact of the story. On the same note, I'm sure we can all think of an example in our own lives, even if from childhood, when we heard only one side of a story being told that withheld information in order to villinize someone whom we knew to be justified or innocent. When this someone is you or someone close to you, it is extremely painful to see their name smeared in mud without question or investigation into their innocence.
I say all this to remind us of a simple fact that We all know but forget: Don't believe everything you read or are told! THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO SIDES TO A STORY! Read everything with a grain of salt. Take in information, even when coming from a trusted friend, with the knowledge that you may not have all the facts on hand. Be slower to judge, and MOST importantly, do NOT forget who the enemy is. Blinding us to enemy, I believe, is one of Satan's greatest victories. It is easy to take information received and have it fuel within us a quick anger or vendettive toward a person. It's also incredibly easy to respond to that anger (or sometimes what we justify as "righteous anger") with a post on facebook. Why? For starters, it's a form of quick revenge. If we believe a person is guilty of something we disagree with, we feel he or she deserves to be shamed. Secondly, it makes us feel both proactive and powerful. We feel good about ourselves when we feel heard, and nothing provides quicker validation than positive or affirming comments on our facebook posts. We love to be right. We have to be aware, however, of the possible and stark reality that we have done nothing more than destroy the reputation of a person based on SOME information that may be incomplete or false in its entirety. We WANT to stand up for things that are just and right. But if it's ever against a specific person, then friends we have missed the enemy. Paul writes in Ephesians 6, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
I wish we would all seek truth as much as we seek justice. Be careful when you find yourself in a fight. Ask yourself, "Who am I fighting against?" If the answer is a specific man or woman, stop and think. Remember God's love for that person and humble yourself to the point where you can leave room to hear from God and give grace. Admit that you do not know all facts or hearts and take yourself off the Judge seat. If you do come to a conclusion about someone that is negative, because we naturally do, do NOT feel the right to then quickly spread your human decision on a platform in order to persuade others to join your possibly flawed way of thinking.
I feel at a loss of words here. I think I am hurt and disappointed and unsure how to continue. I don't want to point fingers; I want there to be peace. I want the Kingdom of God to come first and I want the church to uphold grace and understanding before pride and judgement. Sometimes I think it's difficult to see this within ourselves, so I ask that we simply take an honest look at our thoughts, our words, and our actions. I pray they'd be edifying and they would build up the church rather than tear down. I pray that our eyes are open to the true enemy and that we would stand against him as United.
I think Paul says it best:
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all....Therefore each of you must put off your falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil a foothold....Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen....Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ." Ephesians 4
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday, December 12, 2011
Immeasurably More
As I worked my monotonous (and often dreaded) job of book repair this morning, I was deeply challenged as I listened to Joel Thomas’ sermon titled An Immeasurable Life. These are the thoughts that have been since provoked:
Do you remember being a kid and believing that anything was possible? I do. I believed in Santa Claus until I was probably ten years old--always justifying the seemingly impossible and refusing to lose hope in the "magic of Christmas". I also believed that my dad had the super-human strength to accomplish anything in the world, and that I could be a famous singer (or dolphin trainer, or FBI agent, or ...it really changed by the month). We weren't afraid to dream when we were young because nothing seemed out of reach. Growing up somehow has a way of drawing us back--a way of making us believe we have to manage our desire to want more out of life and making us believe that we must learn to be content. Being content, afterall, is scriptural! ...But is it? We (well, atleast I) always have this desire for more. I don't mean to say that I am greedy and am never satisfied with how much money I have or with how good my relationships are..., but I do mean to say that I never feel like I have reached where I am supposed to be. I think this tension is good, and I think Paul felt it too when he wrote, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Maybe we feel like there is more, because there IS more. I will never arrive, and therefore I must never settle for comfortable and mediocrity.
Joel said in his message, "Our capacity to produce has limited our capacity to dream." Often times I believe we settle for what we know is possible. We let life take us in accordance to what we know is within our own capabilities and performance, limiting our faith and God-given mission to live life in its fullest.
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:20
Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...
Joel prayed, "God, help me to look beyond what I can measure, and to believe that, because of you, immeasurably more is possible for me. "
I want to spend my life chasing after more--more of God. I want more faith, more dreams, more surrendering to His power, more life. I never want to be content, because God always has more.
Do you remember being a kid and believing that anything was possible? I do. I believed in Santa Claus until I was probably ten years old--always justifying the seemingly impossible and refusing to lose hope in the "magic of Christmas". I also believed that my dad had the super-human strength to accomplish anything in the world, and that I could be a famous singer (or dolphin trainer, or FBI agent, or ...it really changed by the month). We weren't afraid to dream when we were young because nothing seemed out of reach. Growing up somehow has a way of drawing us back--a way of making us believe we have to manage our desire to want more out of life and making us believe that we must learn to be content. Being content, afterall, is scriptural! ...But is it? We (well, atleast I) always have this desire for more. I don't mean to say that I am greedy and am never satisfied with how much money I have or with how good my relationships are..., but I do mean to say that I never feel like I have reached where I am supposed to be. I think this tension is good, and I think Paul felt it too when he wrote, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Maybe we feel like there is more, because there IS more. I will never arrive, and therefore I must never settle for comfortable and mediocrity.
Joel said in his message, "Our capacity to produce has limited our capacity to dream." Often times I believe we settle for what we know is possible. We let life take us in accordance to what we know is within our own capabilities and performance, limiting our faith and God-given mission to live life in its fullest.
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:20
Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...
Joel prayed, "God, help me to look beyond what I can measure, and to believe that, because of you, immeasurably more is possible for me. "
I want to spend my life chasing after more--more of God. I want more faith, more dreams, more surrendering to His power, more life. I never want to be content, because God always has more.
Monday, April 4, 2011
JUST BEaring
Confession: Growing up, I always hated hearing about how God's love and grace were free. I mean I literally hated it. I didn't want God to love me just because. How was God's love for me special if he loved everyone else the same way? I wanted to earn His love. I wanted to deserve it. I wanted God to love me for what I could produce. (This also made me quite fearful of failure...). And sometimes, I find myself with the same mindset today.
I suppose that's quite prideful, yes? How could I ever deserve the love of God? How could I ever make myself worthy or "produce" enough? How could I ever reach His standard of holiness?
Though it was preached in February, this year's homecoming theme still speaks to me over and over again.
"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5
All I'm called to do is remain...to be attached to the vine. HE produces fruit. We bear it.
However long it took me to admit it, the truth is that my worth is not found in my performance. It's not based on my G.P.A., my efficiency, or my power of persuasion; nor is my worth depleted by my failures and shortcomings. No, my worth is found in being a child of God...and in being a branch. His grace is sufficient.
God's love simply is. I cannot earn it and I cannot lose it. It is unconditional.
Praise God.
I pray that day by day God will teach me to extend the same kind of love and grace to those around me...a love that is not based on performance or on what I receive in return, but a love that is. ...simply because God's love is.
I suppose that's quite prideful, yes? How could I ever deserve the love of God? How could I ever make myself worthy or "produce" enough? How could I ever reach His standard of holiness?
Though it was preached in February, this year's homecoming theme still speaks to me over and over again.
"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5
All I'm called to do is remain...to be attached to the vine. HE produces fruit. We bear it.
However long it took me to admit it, the truth is that my worth is not found in my performance. It's not based on my G.P.A., my efficiency, or my power of persuasion; nor is my worth depleted by my failures and shortcomings. No, my worth is found in being a child of God...and in being a branch. His grace is sufficient.
God's love simply is. I cannot earn it and I cannot lose it. It is unconditional.
Praise God.
I pray that day by day God will teach me to extend the same kind of love and grace to those around me...a love that is not based on performance or on what I receive in return, but a love that is. ...simply because God's love is.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Letter to Self
For certain reasons I won't bother to explain, I was missing Egypt today. To remedy (or worsen) the feeling, I opened my box of memories from the Middle East and rediscovered this letter I wrote to myself just days before I left to come home to be read months after being back. I have found myself to be encouraging and convicting...ha. Here is an excerpt.
"Dear Danielle,
Time sure goes fast! It has been months since your huge Middle-Eastern adventure. I hope you've been processing, and I hope you've been able to retain and apply what you've learned. Have you maintained your MESP friendships? If you haven't in a while, you need to give a few calls/e-mails. I also hope you've been keeping up with ME news. I know you're busy, but please give time to reading and staying current. Have you contacted your homestay family? DON'T forget about them...
...
I don't know how you're doing spiritually, but I just hope you haven't stopped asking questions. It might be easier to shrug things off, but don't! Wrestle with God, Danielle. Don't be a coward. And don't wear a mask. Set an example of honesty and transparency. Keep having adventures, and most importantly, remember grace! Give grace, Danielle, because you have received an abundance of it. Don't judge peoples' ignorance, because you don't know much yourself.
Anyway, this is your senior year. Enjoy it! Don't regret it. Trust in God--even if you don't understand Him.
<3,
Yourself"
"Dear Danielle,
Time sure goes fast! It has been months since your huge Middle-Eastern adventure. I hope you've been processing, and I hope you've been able to retain and apply what you've learned. Have you maintained your MESP friendships? If you haven't in a while, you need to give a few calls/e-mails. I also hope you've been keeping up with ME news. I know you're busy, but please give time to reading and staying current. Have you contacted your homestay family? DON'T forget about them...
...
I don't know how you're doing spiritually, but I just hope you haven't stopped asking questions. It might be easier to shrug things off, but don't! Wrestle with God, Danielle. Don't be a coward. And don't wear a mask. Set an example of honesty and transparency. Keep having adventures, and most importantly, remember grace! Give grace, Danielle, because you have received an abundance of it. Don't judge peoples' ignorance, because you don't know much yourself.
Anyway, this is your senior year. Enjoy it! Don't regret it. Trust in God--even if you don't understand Him.
<3,
Yourself"
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Faithful
"I do not ask for success; I ask for faithfulness." -Mother Teresa
I began this semester at a peak of anxious thought about my future. If Never Never Land was not an option, what would I find myself doing after May? Where would I go? Who would I go with? It didn't take long before the "just trust God" rhetoric started to become just that--rhetoric.
These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of ideas, dreams,emotions, spiritual lows and spiritual highs. I prayed consistently for direction, clarity and something more than just "trust." I asked this because the way I see it,no matter how much I trust God, there comes a time for decisions.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, differently than I anticipated and even when I believed I was being ignored, God answered that prayer this week. All the crazy, hyper neurons in my brain spouting anxiety just stopped. and breathed. Grace and peace. Praise God for that grace and peace-- the grace that allows for and forgives my foolishness and impulsiveness and the peace that puts life back into perspective and reveals your location nestled safely in the hands of an all-powerful, sovereign God.
As a counseling major, I've come to realize that it often takes three, four, maybe five sessions before things begin to click for a client, the pieces of information come together, and visible progress is able to be made. The beginning sessions are needed for foundation work and information gathering. The things that seem unimportant are vital. I feel that this is very similar to my life. I want to absorb every moment I have right now because God is preparing and stretching me in every step. .As much as I'd love to run off to Turkey this instant, it's not the right time. I still have things to learn and things to do here. I believe a time is coming when the pieces will be put together. For now, I am trusting my "therapist". He knows where he wants me to go even when I am ignorant of the plan. I just need to be faithful. Erwin McManus said, "I'm convinced more of us would like to be known by faith, but resist the tedious journey of faithfulness." How true.
I began this semester at a peak of anxious thought about my future. If Never Never Land was not an option, what would I find myself doing after May? Where would I go? Who would I go with? It didn't take long before the "just trust God" rhetoric started to become just that--rhetoric.
These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of ideas, dreams,emotions, spiritual lows and spiritual highs. I prayed consistently for direction, clarity and something more than just "trust." I asked this because the way I see it,no matter how much I trust God, there comes a time for decisions.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, differently than I anticipated and even when I believed I was being ignored, God answered that prayer this week. All the crazy, hyper neurons in my brain spouting anxiety just stopped. and breathed. Grace and peace. Praise God for that grace and peace-- the grace that allows for and forgives my foolishness and impulsiveness and the peace that puts life back into perspective and reveals your location nestled safely in the hands of an all-powerful, sovereign God.
As a counseling major, I've come to realize that it often takes three, four, maybe five sessions before things begin to click for a client, the pieces of information come together, and visible progress is able to be made. The beginning sessions are needed for foundation work and information gathering. The things that seem unimportant are vital. I feel that this is very similar to my life. I want to absorb every moment I have right now because God is preparing and stretching me in every step. .As much as I'd love to run off to Turkey this instant, it's not the right time. I still have things to learn and things to do here. I believe a time is coming when the pieces will be put together. For now, I am trusting my "therapist". He knows where he wants me to go even when I am ignorant of the plan. I just need to be faithful. Erwin McManus said, "I'm convinced more of us would like to be known by faith, but resist the tedious journey of faithfulness." How true.
Lord, may I find joy and contentedness in my journey of faithfulness.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
A New Season
Here I am back in East Tennessee with the mountains, the humidity, the crazy drivers and the UT orange. Though it appears that some things never change, I’m beginning to realize that everything does.
A speaker in chapel last week said, “God is a God of progress.” Isn’t that true? Time is always going; it never takes a breather. The earth is always rotating, the seasons are always changing, and I’m finding that I myself seem to be constantly growing. I feel like a book that after trying and failing for too long to write itself into a best-seller, finally gave in to a much more experienced revisionist--God.
I am not who I was a year ago. To give you just one example, I remember sitting in the library with my cousin last Fall and saying that I sometimes seemed to lack the emotion and sympathy I felt I should have—that all too often I felt like my heart didn’t break for what broke God’s. How was it that I could listen to stories of horrible tragedies and not shed a tear? Yesterday I found myself saying, “Why am I always so emotional? How is it that I can’t listen to one story or sing one song without crying?”
I’ve been reading about Mother Teresa lately and have been inspired by her love for people. She loved people with great intensity. She viewed each person in need as though he was Jesus Christ himself. “He is the hungry one. He is the naked one. He is the thirsty one. Each is Jesus in a distressing disguise.” She believed that people hunger for love more than for bread, and that love was the greatest gift we could give to people. It’s not always easy to love, but I believe God is more than willing to transform our hearts and fill us with an unworldly desire to put others above ourselves. If it’s not from God, then our love seems to have selfish motives. We only love with agenda and with hopes of gaining something in return.
Mother Teresa said, “The success of love is in the loving-it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.”
I am no Mother Teresa, but I feel like my heart is undergoing surgery where there are blockages being removed in order that I might love without restraint. It might be a very long, tedious surgery.
Last semester changed me. I am still changing. It will be a life-long process of change. But I suppose that if God is a God of progress, then a stagnant life would be no life for a Christian. So here is to change, growth, and new season.
A speaker in chapel last week said, “God is a God of progress.” Isn’t that true? Time is always going; it never takes a breather. The earth is always rotating, the seasons are always changing, and I’m finding that I myself seem to be constantly growing. I feel like a book that after trying and failing for too long to write itself into a best-seller, finally gave in to a much more experienced revisionist--God.
I am not who I was a year ago. To give you just one example, I remember sitting in the library with my cousin last Fall and saying that I sometimes seemed to lack the emotion and sympathy I felt I should have—that all too often I felt like my heart didn’t break for what broke God’s. How was it that I could listen to stories of horrible tragedies and not shed a tear? Yesterday I found myself saying, “Why am I always so emotional? How is it that I can’t listen to one story or sing one song without crying?”
I’ve been reading about Mother Teresa lately and have been inspired by her love for people. She loved people with great intensity. She viewed each person in need as though he was Jesus Christ himself. “He is the hungry one. He is the naked one. He is the thirsty one. Each is Jesus in a distressing disguise.” She believed that people hunger for love more than for bread, and that love was the greatest gift we could give to people. It’s not always easy to love, but I believe God is more than willing to transform our hearts and fill us with an unworldly desire to put others above ourselves. If it’s not from God, then our love seems to have selfish motives. We only love with agenda and with hopes of gaining something in return.
Mother Teresa said, “The success of love is in the loving-it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.”
I am no Mother Teresa, but I feel like my heart is undergoing surgery where there are blockages being removed in order that I might love without restraint. It might be a very long, tedious surgery.
Last semester changed me. I am still changing. It will be a life-long process of change. But I suppose that if God is a God of progress, then a stagnant life would be no life for a Christian. So here is to change, growth, and new season.
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