Living life with steps of faith

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...

"'This one at last Is bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called Woman, ['ish], For from man ['ish] she was taken.' Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh.  The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet they felt no shame." (Genesis 2:23-25) As men and women we feel compelled to return to one another.  We are compelled because of our creation.  The first human was likely neither male nor female.  Neither is God male or female.  It is in our coming together that we more fully reflect the image of God. It is in our nature to cling to one another and in our uniquely shared nakedness to be unashamed. It is interesting that in the second telling of the creation story in Genesis 2, there is no command from God to reproduce. The first telling in Genesis 1 is more about the mechanics of creating and filling the earth, whereas the second telling in Genesis 2 focu...

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...

Recently I've come to a place of peace related to my diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  For so long I've not known what to pray.  As a person of faith that has probably been the most difficult aspect - what should I say to God in regard to this diagnosis.  About a week ago, I found the answer.  I let go and released my desire to be a mother to God, recognizing that He may or may not fulfill that desire.  And now I have peace, whether I became a mother or not. I love how Paul and Timothy write in Philippians 4:11-13: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Before I was praying, "Lord, I trust your perfect timing in making m...

--> Sermon: Love - Romance/Eros                                                           Scripture:  Song of Songs 1:1-4a, 4:9-10, 6:3a, 8:4                                     "A man was reading his paper early one morning at the breakfast table. His wife came over to him and patted him on the shoulder. She looked at him, smiled, and said, “I bet you don’t know what today is, do you?” He looked at her and said, “Of course I know what day it is!” and went back to reading his paper. He didn’t have a CLUE what day ...

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...

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...

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) ...

Dating, Marriage, and Sex High School Sunday School Class I. Letter to Parents Prior to the class, email parents to notify them of the upcoming discussion related to dating, marriage, and sex. Here is an example email: “ Although only 13% of teens have had sex by age 15, most initiate sex in their later teen years. By their 19th birthday, seven in 10 female and male teens have had intercourse.” *** Dear Parents, This coming Sunday in High School Sunday School we will be discussing the sensitive topic of dating, relationships, marriage, and sex.   I will be leading the High School class and will organize it more in a discussion style than in a lecture style.   I am making the assumption that most of the youth have been in a sex ed. class at their school and that conversation about these topics is not unfamiliar to them and their peers. Thus this will not be a biology focused sex ed. class (S.T.I.’s, biology of intercourse, etc.), rather it will be a discussion of how o...