Creative God & His church

So God is planting another church and inviting us into the process.

It is out of the box.

It fascinates me to hear how people come to know Jesus. Most of the time, it is through relationship. A friend or family member told them about Jesus or invited them to an event where they heard.

For myself, I was invited to a Christian camp by my best friend in grade 5. There I learned that Jesus wanted to have a relationship with me, to forgive me for the wrong things I've done and to be number one in my life.

Most of us have seen it all: friends who can't sit through a one hour church service, friends who have 101 reasons why they are not interested in learning about God.

So about 3 years ago, a friend and I were impressed by God to be creative and create one more way for people to hear about God.  Why not church in a coffee shop with table discussions?  In March we will be doing a series called the big 5 which asks the top 5 questions people around the world are wondering about God. For example: Who is Jesus? etc. So there you go. It may be for you, it may not. It may be for a friend or family member. Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The packaging can change. Ie) Learning about Jesus on an outdoor program in Hawaii on the side of a rock or in a coffee house. Once you know Jesus, you will never be the same.

So come check it out. I have a feeling the creator of the universe loves creativity.

cafe.velocity@gmail.com

Approval of man or of God

Jesus did not get the approval of men in His own city. He lived for an audience and approval of one - His Father, God. As my pastor was saying the other day, everyone goes through this lesson at some point of their lives. Recently I learned it hard out and I'm so thankful for that.

We don't have to guess where we stand with God once we accept His love and forgiveness. When we give our lives to God, He calls us: beloved child, chosen, adopted, destined with purpose. As a loving Father, He speaks to us daily and corrects us out of love.  He is perfect love.

So when we look to humans for their approval it is futile. Humans make mistakes. It is distorted if our first and primary source of affirmation is not from God.  He's the only one that knows us fully and Has our best interest in mind.

Friends and family can be a great secondary source of encouragement. When the body of Christ is on their game, it is a beautiful symphony of mutual encouragement and building one another up.  The difference is that encouragement is a bonus but it does not define or give worth.  It is simply a bonus. Like in Max Lucado's book: you are special, the character was given stars every time someone encouraged him and dots when people discouraged him. He was covered in stars and dots and his emotions were up and down. It wasn't until he met his maker (God) that all the stars and dots fell off.  God spoke into his life, gave him the very breath of life itself and that's all that mattered.

Being in any position of leadership will lend itself to many dots and stars.  Even though I thought I had learned this lesson many years ago, I still found myself "overly" encouraged by praises and overly discouraged by dots.  So God took me through a dot season.  I was hit with feeling unprotected and under encouraged. I realized that after a couple weeks of that, I really didn't care. I realized that I receive my value and worth from God.  When God speaks His encouragement over His children, it transforms us. He fills us with so much love that when people are critical, it only makes us want to love them more.  Or at least pray for them!

I'm so thankful to be learning this lesson. Women, your worth comes from God alone! He knows and has your heart first. Listen to His voice before any other.

Isaiah 52:2 (paraphrase)

Shake off your dusk,

Rise up, sit enthroned,
Free yourself from the chains on your neck 

 

soft to fierce

I know in my Spirit when it’s time to go back. Back to Africa...My days in Tanzania were spent with rich people who had little materialistically. I know when it's time to wake up and act justly on behalf of our brothers and sisters who are in harm, severe poverty or lacking education. For me that means actively going, praying or giving. We are called to Micah 8: To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.

In Africa, we were in orphanages where the kids had nothing. No shoes, ripped up clothes, dirty head to toe, sick etc. Once you see this kind of poverty you cannot ignore it. I was with pastors who were preaching, smiling and sweating because of the raging malaria surging through their body that day.  We were lifting rocks building a church. We didn’t like the food sometimes but we didn’t care because it was food. Some of us got parasites and forgot all about it when 10 kids without parents were climbing all over us and laughing. We were walking down streets with people with machine guns and machetes. We were praying over people who were dying of preventable diseases.

God has also called some of us to north America and we are called to live radically for Jesus here. I adore beautiful British Columbia and my life here.  I know that He has also placed a call on my life to be dissatisfied with living in routine comfort. I want to give my life away in a means that is radically beyond myself. To live and breath completely reliant and dependant upon Jesus and as if eternity with Jesus could be a breath away for ourselves or our brothers and sisters. There was a minor earthquake a few weeks ago while I was in palm desert and it woke me up to remember that we are daughters and sons of destiny, called to shake the foundations of the earth. We are called to pray and fight in love and truth for justice! We are called to Micah 8: To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.

Leave it up to Gerard Butler and “Machine Gun preacher” to be part of the wake up call. So much can be said about this film but bottom line is that is shows our brothers and sisters being harmed, many sold into human trafficking. I cannot close my eyes. I cannot ignore it. I want to be part of the solution.  I think it’s everyone’s calling to fight for justice in love whether local or abroad. As the kid says in the movie “don’t let them take your heart”.  I won’t let comfort take my heart. 

*side note. Obviously there are severe local needs right where we are. Human trafficking is happening in Canada. I'm simply sharing about a region that rocked my heart. Let's wake up and be part of the solution whether by our hearts (prayers) or feet (actively giving or going).