Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I did.  Could this be the Messiah?”  They came out and made their way toward him. … Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” – John 4:28-30, 39

For years, when our children were small, my family traveled from Waco to Dallas to attend church.  That may sound a little nutty to most of you since there is a church on every corner here in Waco, but it was (and sometimes still is) very difficult to find a Baptist Church here in Waco that is as concerned about Jesus in the community as it is in Baylor in the community…But that’s a different story for a different day.

Almost every Sunday at our church in Dallas, after the service was over, I felt like the preacher had been following me around all week and prepared his sermons based what he saw during the week while tailing me.  I still feel that way when we go back and visit.  In all reality, Bro. Glenn didn’t have time to be following me around.  He had much better things to do with his time.  But the Holy Spirit was with me and also with him and although I am sure Bro Glenn was not picking on me in particular, God used his sermons to convict me of my sin and to work change in my life.

Conviction of our sin is one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs.  Not condemnation – but conviction.  He wants to bring us to agreement with Him about our sin and He will use many different avenues to bring us to the reality that there is something in our lives that needs confession and correction.

It has been a while since I have felt that level of conviction from a sermon but recently God has used several pastors to speak to me about my life and the sin I am so easily entangled in.  I recently heard a sermon from Luke 6 about Jesus healing the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath.  The preacher pointed out that present for that event were three groups of people – Jesus, who came to the synagogue that day to heal; the man with the shriveled hand who likely came to be healed; and the Pharisees who came to accuse, criticize and trap Jesus.  Most Sundays we all fall into one of those three categories.  We are there to help heal someone one by our words, encouragement, teaching and support; we are there to be healed – maybe not physically but spiritually or emotionally; or we are there to criticize, judge and accuse.  I have been all three at one time or another.  While listening to this sermon, I was greatly convicted about that last one.  I don’t want to be that Christian – not ever again.  I want to heal and be healed – I don’t want to contribute to anyone’s pain and I certainly don’t want to plot against Jesus like the Pharisees did that day.

Forgive me Lord for disappointing you, complaining about your messengers, and stirring up any form of dissension.  Thank you for continuing to use many to refine me and make me more like your Son.  Open my eyes to see my shortcomings – open the eyes of anyone reading this to show them where they fall short.  May we come together in your House to heal and to be healed.  Amen.

SATURDAY - THE DAY BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH - a few thoughts from Carla Thomas

Saturday.  The day between Friday and Sunday.  The day we most look forward to each week of our lives. We all have grand plans for Saturday – to get out and do things we can’t do during the week – to enjoy life without the cares of work. 

But it is also the day between death and life.  The One they had put all their hopes and dreams in was buried in a tomb.  A giant boulder was blocking the entrance – it was sealed with the mark of the Romans.  No one was going in – No one was coming out.  Dreams and plans shattered and dead in a tomb.

Imagine the disappointment.  Imagine the loss.  The eleven and more had spent the last three years dreaming of the day when His kingdom would come.  They had been taught for centuries that when the promised one came, that he would come and bring them back to greatness and save them from their captives like Moses.  That he would be a great warrior like David.  That his very presence would bring them peace and that his reign would be final.  They were banking on being a part of the grand victory and ruling for what they could see as forever.

They had dreamed of that day.  When the Romans would be cast out and they would be in charge and have the power.  But as it turned out, their leader was now in a tomb and they were in fear for their lives.  The dreams they had were shattered.  What they could perceive and see with their human minds and human eyes had come to a screeching halt and their hearts were broken.  Their spirits were broken.  All was lost on that Saturday and they hid in a secret room behind locked doors.  Afraid to move forward.

Isn’t that so much like us.  When what we perceive as humans – when what we see as humans – is broken and shattered by an evil, broken world our hearts and spirits are shattered and we hide in a locked room.  We retreat.  We cut ourselves off from the rest of the world and fear.

We have a great advantage over the eleven.  We know what happens next in the story.  We know that three days after His death, He walked out of that most securely sealed tomb – ALIVE – way more alive that you and I – ALIVE FOREVER.  He conquered DEATH.  FOREVER.

If He can do that, He can absolutely conquer our broken pieces.  All we have to do is take our eyes and hearts off what we can perceive and see and put them on Him and what He can see.  For He can see everything – He can see eternity.

Let’s quit locking ourselves in upper rooms when all goes wrong.  He knows the grand ending to the story and has promised that He has great plans for our future.  He is putting everything together for His glory and purposes for those who love Him and call Him LORD.  Trust Him – come out of your upper room and live again.  It’s Saturday – the day between death and life.  Prepare your heart for the grand celebration.  Life is here – Life in available NOW. 

Supporting Scripture:

John 19: 41-42 -- At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Matthew 27:62-66 -- The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’  So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”  “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Daniel 7:27 -- Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.

John 20:19-20 -- On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Ephesians 3:20-21 -- 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Philippians 2:12-13 -- Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 -- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Roman 8:28 -- And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Last Night…

Our youth group has been going through a study on Biblical dating and last night they were given the opportunity to talk to a few couples in our church and hear about and ask questions about their dating and marriage relationships.  Our youth pastor chose to not include me and my husband; he said that our youth already knew our story and many had already sought us out for advice and therefore he chose other couples.  Even though we were not participating in the panel, we both attended.

During the question and answer time, my heart broke because I figured out that the reason we were not asked to participate might have been very different than what we were told; the reality that David and I would have been more the “Don’t” than the “Do” portion of the conversation was probably more likely the reason that we had been left off the panel. The couples chosen were all happily married – They all were perfect examples of positive, healthy dating relationships and marriages - one couple even said they had never gone through any tough times in their 39 years together.  All had met young, had healthy dating relationships, fell in love with each other, chose purity, married, some had children, and are now in the process of growing old together even though they ranged in age from fairly newlyweds to a couple married for 35 years.  

Our story is much different.  When we met, I was still married to another man and David was in a relationship with another woman.  David was not a believer; I was not living my beliefs at all.  David was into all manner of illegal activities and it didn’t take me long to choose my feelings for him over the wise thing to do in that situation – which was to run.  Last night the couples  talked about boundaries – we had none.  We were, I was, lost as a ball in high grass. 

My life was so far off track that I didn’t really even recognize myself when I looked in the mirror and David, in all fairness, had no idea at that point that he was lost.  We lived in this unhealthy state until my divorce was final and we then decided somewhere along the way to get married.  The realization that David and I have done almost everything in the “dating” and “marriage” arena not just poorly but flat out wrong is crushing.  While hearing the stories of the other couples last night, I felt so unworthy; not just compared to these other couples, but unworthy to even be in the position to give advice to these young people because nothing I did was right or good or worthy.   My heart was broken last night for what we weren’t… worthy  to tell our story.

But then this morning...

God spoke quietly to me and reminded me that He has made us worthy – in every way.  And that, like David and me, some of the young people in that room are going to choose the wrong road.  They are going to hear these wonderful stories of love and how it’s supposed to be and still make wrong choices in their own lives.  They are going to grow up in homes where the example of what a great marriage is supposed to look like is set before them like a perfect picture of God’s love, just like I did, and still make unwise, unhealthy choices in their own lives.

At some point, they are going to need to be told of and know the power of God’s love, forgiveness, and redemption.   I know that power.  I know of God’s forgiveness and redemption in a real and deep way.  I know the depth of despair that bad choices can land you in and I know the power of God’s love and restoration to make all things clean and white and pure again.  I know this because it is exactly what He has done in my life, my marriage and in my family.  He has redeemed what once was a horrible mess.   I know that when you lay your sin down at the cross, He (only He), can give life to what is dead.  I know that no matter my bad choices, because of the work He has done in my life – I am worthy – because He made me worthy. 

I am so in love with my Jesus.  I am so grateful that He didn’t leave me in the state He found me.  I am forever forgiven, forever loved, forever purified, forever worthy.

Just Wondering...

"With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!" James 3:10


My daughter used to (may still) ask her cursing friends, "Praise Jesus with that mouth?" when she heard foul language come out of their mouths. 

I've noticed lately that people can clean up their language and what they talk about when they are in a professional setting, or around their church friends, or with their parents; but God is listening (and reading what you type) all the time. And it's not just the words we use but what we're talking about that concerns Him. What makes the presence of certain people more important than the God of the Universe? Why would one work so hard to speak fine words around some people and not watch what they say the rest of the time?

Just wondering...

Unconditional Love Does Not Equal Total Agreement

Today I read an article written by Brice Cherry, sports writer for the Waco Tribune Herald, about Brittney Griner and her upcoming book “In My Skin”. A relative posted the article so I read it. In it I found something profound. One of the most down and dirty definitions of unconditional love I have read outside the Bible.

Griner's Estrangement from Baylor not Justified

I am not a women’s basketball fan. I am not a Baylor fan. Therefore I am not a Brittney Griner fan. It has nothing to do with who she is, it has more to do with I don’t know her well enough (personally or from following her career) to be her fan.

However, I do live in the Waco area and I have watched people worship her and treat her like royalty for a number of years now. Based on a few quotes from the book, Griner has apparently forgotten the love poured out on her when she was here. The quotes appear to point to a change of heart about her time as a super-hero here in Waco. When Brittney came out as gay shortly after leaving Baylor I don’t think anyone at Baylor was surprised. I know I wasn’t. Yet I never heard one adoring fan say anything negative – not one – and I know quite a few high verbal Baylor fans.

Basically Brice is questioning Brittney’s new found distain for Baylor and the fans who supported her so overwhelmingly while she was here in Waco. In the article about Baylor’s stance on homosexuality, Mr. Cherry says,

"Now, as it pertains to the university’s official, much-publicized stance on homosexuality, it must be stressed that Baylor is a Christian school founded on biblical principles. So what Griner is really saying is that she doesn’t like what the Bible has to say on the topic. In my view, Baylor should be applauded, not condemned, for sticking to those principles, whether the mainstream culture considers them popular or not.
 
Unconditional love does not equal total agreement. Do you get that? We don’t all have to agree to love one another. We don’t have to all go along to get along. It’s also, believe it or not, possible to disagree without judgment or hatred.
 
Unfortunately, many who promote the gay agenda don’t tolerate that idea."

Now Christians get the bad rap for saying homosexuality is sin, but really the one you are in disagreement with is God. He said it first. Christians just believe what He said first in His Bible. We don’t get to pick and choose which parts we believe to be true and which parts we believe are outdated. Many argue that because times have changed, so has God. If that argument were true, that He changes His mind with the times, what else has He changed His mind about? Sex with animals (he says that’s wrong too, you know)? Or murder? How about lying? Slander or gossip? Stealing? Many of these are practices done by all of us. Can we justify the sin by saying God has changed His mind because times have changed and now it’s ok? How frustrating that would be. To never know where God stands would make it impossible to trust Him. Even He says that He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Brice’s words are profound – simple – yet profound. So many believe that because Christians believe homosexuality to be sin that Christians hate homosexuals. That would be like saying, because my child does something I disagree with, I hate that child. That’s insane.

My children are wonderful people. They are smart, they are funny, they are all of fine character, and they each have made many wise choices in their lives. However, each one of them has made choices that I have thought, “have they lost their mind?” These choices always involved disobedience to God’s word. Never once, even though I disagreed with their choices, never once, not even for a moment did I hate them. My love for them is without condition…especially the condition that in order for me to love them, they must be exactly like me.

My husband is a good man. He loves me. He loves our children and grandchildren. He protects us. He provides for us. He even makes me coffee in the mornings. But we disagree – about several things – that we will never agree on. Never. But it doesn’t make me hate him. My love for my husband is without condition…especially the condition that in order for me to love him, he must be exactly like me.

I have several friends who are homosexual. I do not hate any of them. I loved them before I knew. I continue to love them. My love for them has nothing to do with the fact that they live a lifestyle I disagree with because of my faith in God and my belief that what He says in His word is still valid today, just like it was back when He said it the first time. I figure that they love me too – in spite of my sin – even though I display sin in my every day life, they love me.

I haven’t walked in their shoes. I don’t understand completely what they deal with on a daily basis. But my love isn’t based on understanding their choices and especially not based on agreeing with their choices. My love is based on the fact that Jesus said LOVE. He didn’t add an addendum to that saying only love those who are just like you. He told me to LOVE.

If one of my grandchildren comes to me someday and tells me they are gay, I can promise this now, it will not cause me to quit loving them. I will definitely share my faith and share what God has taught me and what God has said in His word about homosexuality, but I will continue to love them.

Sadly, most people don’t get that someone can continue to love when they have deep seated differences with someone. In their world disagreement does equal hate.  And even when it's not there, there are those who  will try to convince you that it is.

Even sadder is that many people who tout the name "Christian" hate more than many others. They believe they are right, but they aren't following what Christ said and they're using His name to spread hate. He mentioned taking His name in vain too.

But they don’t get it because they don’t know the love He gave first and without that understanding, you can’t really love – not unconditionally. God loves us so much that He sent His Son from the glories of heaven to put on skin and live this life to perfection and then be beaten and killed on a cross to pay our price for our sin. Something we could never do for ourselves so God, who loves us so much – unconditionally – did the work for us. And if all that were not enough, Jesus rose from the dead to seal the deal. And in His grace, He freely gives us the gift of being saved – the gift of knowing personally the absolute definition of unconditional love.

Deny Yourself...

I have had this verse stuck in my head and heart for the last few weeks – even our Youth Minister used it in his talk tonight. It has revolved around in my head so much that I have actually been trying to figure out how to escape it. Since I can’t get away from my own head, the only option is figure out why God is reminding me of it over and over - what's so important about this verse that He would plant it in my mind for days – weeks. I'm being told something, but what?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." ~~ Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23 this is Christ’s response to Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah.

This verse is in the Bible three times - So many important things in God's world involve the number three - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - Mind, Body, Soul - Holy Holy Holy - The coming of Christ was in 333 prophecies - Jesus had a 3 year ministry - He was 33 when Crucified - in the tomb 3 days - etc. So the fact that this scripture appears three times must mean that it is not only important, it is very important to the Christian walk.

Jesus is telling "whoever" what to do to be his disciple - deny self, take up cross, and follow him. Simple right? I don't think so. God has really been drilling the "Deny yourself" part into me for the last few days. Deny Self - Does this mean to act like I don't exist or deny who I am? What does “denying self” mean? How does one deny them self? I decided to look up the word deny...as you read down, prepare to be blown away by the last listing.

–verb (used with object), -nied, -ny·ing.
1. to state that (something declared or believed to be true) is not true: to deny an accusation.
2. to refuse to agree or accede to: to deny a petition.
3. to withhold the possession, use, or enjoyment of: to deny access to secret information.
4. to withhold something from, or refuse to grant a request of: to deny a beggar.
5. to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disown; disavow; repudiate: to deny one's gods.
6. to withhold (someone) from accessibility to a visitor: The secretary denied his employer to all those without appointments.
7. Obsolete . to refuse to take or accept.
—Idiom
8. deny oneself, to refrain from satisfying one's desires or needs; practice self-denial.

Years of Sunday school have taught me that denying myself means to allow Christ to shine through - that sounds so sweet and pretty. But I think it's harder than that. I think what Jesus is telling us is to deny ourselves the self-satisfying desires of our flesh on this earth. He's telling us to say no to the lie the world feeds us, "if it feels good, do it". Is it sweet? Is it pretty? Does it make us feel good? Does denying ourselves accomplish all of our wants and desires? No - denying ourselves accomplishes His wants and desires. It shows His power and His glory. After all, we're dust - He's God. If we are to make a difference, live a life that is set apart, we need to set ourselves apart. We need to learn how to deny what is flesh and what is worldly and live a life that is completely against our nature - against "how we were born" - because we are all born sinners.

Then, if that isn't hard enough, we are told to pick up our cross. What is a cross - it's death. Jesus died on his cross - he expects us to die on ours. Die to our weakness, die to our sin, die to all the idols we put before Him. Again, not pretty and not easy. Not something that makes us feel good - this is work and it's hard and sometimes it's going to hurt.

Lastly he tells those who want to be his disciples to follow him...where was he going? He was headed to his death on that cross. This Christian life is not easy. It goes against our very nature. Christ is telling us that the cost of following him and being a disciple of his is refraining from fulfilling our every physical, fleshly desire, to carry our heavy burden to the point of death while doing our very best to live as he lived.

Do you claim the name of Christ? Do you want to be known as His? Well then that means denying yourself - not giving into every urge or desire. It means not hiding behind the “I was born this way” lie because we were all born the same way – sinners. He requires that we be over-comers because He is an over-comer. Are you carrying your cross? Have you decided to walk the road that leads to the death of selfishness? Have you decided to really follow Jesus? Or do you just like the pretty parts of being a "Christian"?

The really great news is that He doesn’t expect us to do this all alone. Because of His great love for us, he has provided us the power to live in victory every day of our lives. God sent His Son to show us how and to live the life before us. He was the master of denying himself – God Almighty in skin living as a carpenter, rabbi, traveling preacher who was mocked, chased, used, abused, and eventually killed. He was God – at any moment he could have quit denying himself and gone back to glory, but he picked up his cross and carried it all the way to death. His resurrection three days later has given us the power to live this life boldly and without excuse.

Matthew 16:24 is our calling. We are instructed to live a life worthy of that calling…Are you? Harder question…am I?

So it's been a very long time since I wrote anything. I've been so busy with life that I haven't had time to put all the thoughts banging around in my head down on paper. Ha! Like paper is involved... I thought it was time. So many things are going on in my world that it would be a shame to not write about them.

I haven't quit noticing God in the small stuff and although I'd like to see Him come through in a huge, magnificent, glorious way in a few areas of my life and the lives of my family, I think right now, I'm going to have to be satisfied with the little things along the road, keeping each of those in my heart knowing that He's working in the background to His glory and my good. I'd like to share a few of those little things that have caught my attention in the past few weeks.

The other day at work I had been counting money and got up to wash my hands and really noticed the grime and dirt that was rinsing down the drain with the water. After drying off my hands I marveled at how good it felt to have clean hands but it was just a few minutes before my skin started showing the effects of drying out. I quickly needed to put lotion on my hands, provide them with nourishment, or they were going to dry out. That's the way it is with our walk with God. When He cleans us up and scrubs all the dirt and grime out and off of our lives it feels so good to be clean but we need to quickly get His nourishment into our lives or we will spiritually dry up.

My boss was talking about stories and how everyone has one and that even though there may be a number of people involved in the same situation, their stories may be very different because of their perspective. He was relating this to our work environment. See, my story about my job is a very positive one. It's a new, wonderful job that is so much different from my last work experience that my story about where I work is very positive. However there are people who have worked at the same place for many years and have seen all sorts of change; they've experienced situations and events that I haven't and therefore, their stories are different. While we were discussing this, a woman from another department came by to ask a question and she was pulled into our discussion.

When asked about her story, she said that she had some good experiences and had also gone through some very difficult times, but that every time she came to my boss with a problem, he graciously listened and although he didn't always handle the situation the way she would have and although sometimes it appeared that he didn't handle it all that all the troublesome situations were always resolved to her good. She told us that she never knew what had been done about the problems, but that they were always taken care of and her life at work always came back in line.

As my co-worker was telling her story, I thought, “isn't that just how God answers our prayers?” We come to Him with our petitions and problems and pour ourselves out to Him and let Him know what is wrong and hurting us. His word says that He has gone to work answering our prayers even before we ask. It's just that we don't always see what He's doing. We might lose sight of His work because we don't see it but that doesn't change the fact that He's working for our good in all situations. We know this because it's one of His promises. And just like my co-worker, if we give it time and turn the situation over to God and then just get back to work, we will eventually see that the problem is either solved, has gone away, or we have had a change of heart and no longer look at it the same way. Our story has changed.

What's your story? Are you in a need of clean hands or some spiritual nourishment? Take it to the Lord. Ask Him to work it out for you. Ask Him to re-write your story; ask Him to wash you and then do your part – nourish yourself with His Word and allow Him time to do His work. You'll be amazed.