Living life with steps of faith

Modesty.  This morning as I was getting dressed I was reminded of how contentious the idea of modesty could be at the conservative Christian school I attended as an undergraduate.  It was the young women's responsibility to dress in a way that wouldn't "tease" the young men.  The women were held responsible for protecting the men's morality.  I remember reflecting on this as a student and wondering if the same rules would apply if the school were located in a southern state instead of the cold, wintry north.  I also thought it might be better for us women to desensitize the men from skin so they weren't turned on so easily! Recently, I've encountered two other reactions to modesty that were different from my college experience. In one, a group of immigrants from a very warm climate of the world were complaining that the public school's dress code regarding modesty was too strict.  One father explained that the clothing his daughter wore was perfectl...

We live in a culture in which adoptive parents are criticized for "taking" someone else's baby, and yet we march to encourage "freedom" of abortion.  My heart is struggling with the Women's March that just took place in Washington D.C.  On one hand, I'm proud of so many women gathering together to express unity and a desire for good for women across the globe.  I think of how privileged I am as a woman living in the United States.  Even though I may be criticized and come against opposition, I can choose whatever life I want for myself.  Yet in so many places across the world this is not the case.  So, I would march for my sisters who cannot march. On the other hand, my heart is grieved.  This isn't a statement of lightly banded together words to figuratively express an emotional appeal.  No, my heart grieves.  I am a barren woman.  I desire a child.  And yet the march that took place Saturday, January 21st, 2017...

Dear Car Salesperson, For the last eleven months my husband and I have been shopping for a car.   We have been eager to buy, and yet we have not purchased any vehicle.   I believe this is due to poor salesmanship of the auto industry.   So, I now offer tips to all car salespeople. ·        Don’t forget to close the sale.   Bring the contract (with the small print) to the customer and ask them how they want to pay.   Yes, even before they have said, “Yes.”     A customer can't pick up a car and carry it through the check-out lane.  The customer has to wait until the salesperson pulls out the contract and asks for the money.  Assume their answer is "yes," and say, "so, here is the contract... how would you like to pay?" The ability to close the sale is an essential skill for a car salesperson!  ·        That being said, don’t ask questions where the customer will answe...

I feel like my brain is being re-wired.  Actually, whenever I read God's word I feel the fresh breath of the Spirit's wind cleansing out my mental cobwebs and giving me new clarity of thought.  But, today I have to admit a courage-giving movement of the Word in my life.  I return to what I knew, but with greater buy-in and more depth of understanding. Infertility can strike the core of one's gender identity.  Doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman - there is a part of your femininity or masculinity that is attacked.  Part of the healing process is a restoration or a new creation of that identity.  What does it mean to be a woman whose womb doesn't seem to work?  What does it mean to be a man whose arrows miss the target?  Our culture is over sexualized.  I think that is one reason that homosexuality gets so much attention - we care a little to much about our gender as it is related to our sexuality. We overemphasize this character t...

The beginning of the story of the marriage of Jacob and Leah, captured in Genesis 29, is an interesting one.  I am not intending to write this as a seminary trained theologian, but rather as a person who is reflecting and de-tangling a biblical narrative. I find it interesting that Jacob uses his father's poor eyesight in order to gain his blessing.  Then his uncle uses Jacob's own poor "eyesight" to attain a blessing for his oldest daughter Leah.  I know there is debate about the meaning of the Hebrew adjective that describes Leah's sight, but what if it points to a form of blindness?  Wouldn't that be appropriate?  Jacob deceives his father taking advantage of his dad's difficulty in sight and as a result Jacob is deceived into marrying someone who has difficulty of sight?  And the purpose of both deceptions is to attain a blessing? And then this one sentence, stops me: "When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel w...

The saintly woman three generations ago was defined by from what she abstained.  Perhaps the saintly woman of today is defined by how she exhibits compassion.  Those in their 90s today define godliness and being set apart as related to a moral goodness that is internal.  Yet, when I look at the term godly or righteous, I see it in terms of external relationships, how one interacts with the stranger.  When I put these two models side-by-side, I experience a bit of friction.  I love the sinner by inviting him in, she loves the sinner by keeping him out.  She is set apart by her personal lifestyle of abstaining.  I am set apart by my personal lifestyle of engaging. We read the same passage of Scripture and hear different things.  What did it mean when Jesus said to treat the obstinate as one would a pagan or tax collector? (Matthew 18:17)  What did he mean when he invited us to live in the Spirit instead of by the flesh?  Did the flesh r...

A young man sits dreaming out his window, looking out across the sky at the beautiful sunset and the painted sky.  He dreams of another life and as his mind wanders he dreams of receiving recognition, just once, through the attention of the man his people honor with the title of "emperor."  He realizes that it is just a title, and the man is an ordinary man, but the title still makes this man special and revered.  So special, in fact, that they are willing to move walls and structures in order for people to honor this man.  The boy sits and dreams and imagines this "emperor" as weak and dying and in the midst of his great weakness the "emperor"sends a message to this Chinese boy who sits at the edge of the empire.  To the boy, he recognizes the reality that a thing like this would never happen, but in his fantasy he also realizes that a message like this would never make it to him, because he is too unimportant and too far off and there are too many peopl...

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what it means to be set apart for God and how all of us Christians are set apart for God.  I've thought about how I started the race well as a child, having been confident of my faith and committed to living differently as described in the Bible.  Then considered how my teenage years I gave into pressures to "conform to the world."  It was in little ways that I gave in - telling a dirty joke, laughing when I shouldn't, and wearing "attractive" clothes.  I remember hearing my grandmother say on multiple occasions, "what is so bad about being a nerd?"  Then in college, I chose to be set apart by joining other Christians at a Christian college. I had hoped to be humbled by having others around me of deep faith.  Instead what I discovered were things that I didn't like about Christians.  Yes, I was blessed my first couple of years in a cocoon of growth, but in the later years I began to questio...

One of my favorite New Testament stories is of the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well.  I love this story, because it models to me what it means to share the gospel.  In it, I am reminded to speak the truth in love, to invite my neighbor to have his or her thirst quenched by the Living Water, to use what is before me as a tool for witness, and to reach out to those who are marginalized by society.  I typically interpret the woman to represent in modern times those disfranchised in society by race, poverty, or culture.  But, today when I read it, I saw it in a new way.  The Samaritan woman had faith. She believed in the Torah and worshipped God.  She was at odds with the Jewish believer because she chose to worship God in a different way and she rejected parts of the Scriptures.  I read it and I heard an encounter between Jesus and a Muslim woman. I also heard the part about her having several husbands in a new way.  Previ...

This morning I read an AP article about the young man who went on a shooting rampage at the new Batman movie.  As I read his story, it sounded like the story of so many people in my generation.  We were told in elementary school, middle school, and high school to continue our education after high school and to pursue a white collar financially secure career that fit with our gifts, talents, and dreams.  But after completing college, so many of us discovered that the only jobs available to us were jobs that did not require the education we received.  Those who were able then decided to further their education with a masters or doctorate degree.  But once in those programs, we discovered that the higher the degree we earned the less likely were our chances of finding a spouse, having a happy marriage, and getting a job.  Some of my peers who are completing their PhDs are discovering that indeed the job pool is even thinner than when they began.  So what...

A highlight of my week is often visiting the alcohol and tobacco shop located next door to our church.  Every time I go I am met with an unexpected and pleasant surprise.  One of the employees has decided that I am the store's pastor and that it is my responsibility to come by each week to bring a little Jesus into the store. Today when I went, it must have been in the midst of a shift change, because several employees were behind the counter.  One of the men who I am getting to know introduced me to another man as "the padre I've been telling you about, the one at the church next door."  This then started an entire conversation with employees asking where the church was because they hadn't remembered seeing one next door.   Our church is currently meeting in two connecting store fronts in a strip mall.  We don't yet have a traditional sign, so many people don't yet know we are there.  It is only by our relational presence in the community tha...

I was just searching the Internet looking for a middle-eastern nativity scene for purchase.  In that search I came across a brief article about a human-sized "political" nativity scene that was vandalized at a church.  I thought this a bit strange, and realized that a Christian could be charged with vandalizing a Christian nativity scene, because they considered it sacrilegious, but if a Muslim stole an image of Muhammad, because they found it offensive, it might be considered practicing religious freedom. In our society, to some degree certain religious beliefs and commitments are idolized, whereas others are scrutinized - and not with the same measure.  In this fictional scenario, the media and protestors would be up in arms advocating for the Muslim who rightfully was defending Mohammad, and would also be up in arms in opposition to the Christian who was defending Jesus.  At the same time, in other parts of our country, the Muslim would not even have a chance t...

Here are some of my initial observations of the cultural differences between Iowa and Northern Virginia (from the perspective of a person who has lived in both cultural contexts): What Iowans consider to be friendly, Northern Virginians consider to be nosey. Iowans define "hard-working" as labor intensive with few breaks to rest.  Northern Virginians define "hard-working" as efficient, high-level thinking, with the completion of a larger quantity of work in a shorter time. Iowans give standing ovations to recognize the work that was put into the performance. Northern Virginians give standing ovations to recognize a once-in-a-lifetime performance. "To talk politics" in an acceptable manner in Iowa, one discusses current issues and how they impact people you know and criticizes politicians who express extreme views.  "To talk politics" in Northern Virginia is comparable to discussing the Iowa-Iowa State football game in Iowa.  The discu...

So, I just stumbled upon a contest, where members of the U.S. American church are challenged to write a letter to the church answering the question, " If I could say anything to the church, what would it be?"   The contest ends tonight at midnight (oops - I guess it ended at noon - I missed it).  Here is the website that details the contest:  http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/211410 Since I just stumbled upon the contest, here is my impromptu response (hopefully this counts as submitting it in the contest?): Dear church,             Don’t be so concerned with fitting in with culture.  I remember how hard you tried as pre-teens to gain approval from your peers, how in middle school you were taunted for the way your faith made you stand out, that is okay.  It is okay to not fit in.  The early disciples didn’t fit in, “and more were added to their number each day.” (Acts 2:47) ...

I was thinking the other day about how we give greater honor to those whose stories have been recorded.  It is almost as if one's work doesn't matter unless it is published.  But, this isn't how it works in God's kingdom.  This morning I read Jesus' words as recorded in John 4:38, "I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."  Who are these other people? In the church, we frequently rely upon the stories of the New Testament, for obvious reasons.  But, we also tend to tell the New Testament stories that are louder and take more space.  The disciples get a lot of attention.  Here, in John, Jesus acknowledges that the disciples have the easy job--they get to reap what others have sown. But look at what, or should I say, "who," Jesus is pointing to here.  Jesus is recognizing that many of his followers have worked quite hard to get people to the feet of Jesus. ...

Last time I read through Numbers 28 & 29, I had similar thoughts to today's reading - Do we have a rhythm of celebrations & holy gatherings in the church?  We meet regularly on Sundays to worship God; We have Christmas celebrations and recognize Holy week; But do we really have a rhythm?  What if we changed how we behaved as church such that our main gatherings were for specific celebrations and purposes and Sundays became times for small group Bible studies or for individuals to come into the worship space to worship solemnly and individually?  Do I sound too Catholic?  Would this work better in our culture? Imagine having everyone in a Christian community commit to going camping for 8-days (Festival of Tabernacles) and during that time we shared the blessings that God had given us the previous year?  Imagine the whole Christian community stopping everything for one day to fast and to repent (Day of Atonement), not only for our individual sins, but th...

I came across another youth ministry article today that was addressing purity in teenage dating relationships.  Since getting married I have some very strong feelings about how the Christian sex/dating/marriage education thought-process is missing the target.  Here are just a few of my thoughts: 1.  When I was a teenager much of the focus of "purity" lessons was on the physical aspect of purity, but little was said about the "heart" aspect.  I remember people commenting on how quickly a young man could undress a young lady with his mind, but little was said of how quickly a young woman may marry a young man in her mind.  (And of course nothing was said of how quickly a young woman may undress a young man in her mind or how quickly a young man might marry a young woman in his mind.)  Instead of focusing on what a young woman should wear or how she should keep physical boundaries (which so often is focused upon), shouldn't we address how quickly she com...

“If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the LORD’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty.” – Leviticus 4:13  Before I went to seminary, I had never heard of corporate sin, or at least I had never heard it named that way before.   Of course, I was aware of pollution, racism, and the like, but I had thought of these social issues as individual problems – a bunch of individuals acting sinfully, not as a community sinning in one accord.   Then I was challenged to read an Emilie M. Townes book on womanism.   Womanism is the feminism of African-Americans who carry the weight of both gender and racial injustice.   And I was amazed and convicted by what I read.   I learned that there are both systems we establish and support and cultural rhythms that we practice as a community that are sinful.   I learned that when we concede to a cultural habit or system that perpetuates a sin, we are corporately sinning.  ...

"Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." - Matthew 13:52

This is a devotional I wrote for our church daily e-devotional: "B ut the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'” - 1 Samuel 16:7 As a teenager I held tightly to this verse. When I felt judged by my peers or socially inadequate, I would remind myself that God doesn't judge me by my outside appearance, but God judges me based upon my heart.  And in regard to heart issues, I felt like I was doing pretty good. Now as an adult I've begun looking at this verse differently. Instead of seeing it as a prop to my self-esteem, I view it as a standard in my interactions. Do I see other people with God's eyes or do I evaluate people based upon the standards of the world? When I meet the teenaged girl dressed all in black do I take the time to discover she has a very compassionate heart...