Almighty God of Love

Sunday, we sang the lyrics "We welcome you with praise! We welcome you with praise! Almighty God of Love, be welcomed in this place!"

Almighty God of Love. What a perfectly astounding name for our God. He is All Mighty. He can do or be anything He desires. And His deepest desire is love.  The God who is Almighty chooses love.

Almighty God of Love, help me daily to choose to devote my limited might to the same purpose you have chosen for your all might. Help me love.
-mo

The Book of Eli

This is the second time I have seen this movie. The first time was the night before my life would change forever. My heart is sentimentally heavy as I watch tonight. It's not the best movie ever, but it will always be the movie I watched the night before my life changed forever.

The first time I saw this movie was the evening of January 16, 2010. My best friend and I went out for the evening to spend quality time together before I would leave on January 17 for my first trip to Liberia. My first trip to West Africa. My first trip to the developing world. My first international trip since surrendering my heart and life to God's calling.

When I was in 6th grade, I first knew God was calling me to serve him internationally. I remember waking up in the middle of the night strongly impressed that God was asking me to go to China to share Jesus with the people there. At that age, I was terrified of flying, and I remember sitting in the living room with my dad and bawling for several minutes before I could even catch my breath to tell him what was wrong. When I finally could speak, my only words were "I don't want to go to China." As I regained composure, I was able to describe to Daddy the calling I was sensing. We talked things through, and I was finally able to sleep.

But I said no.

I failed to follow God's call.

I went instead to Philadelphia that summer with my church youth group. We had two flat tires on the way to Philly, and I remember the driver turning around and making a joke about Jonah and the storm God put in his path as he ran from his calling. The joke was not funny to me. I knew I was Jonah. I don't know if I am literally the cause of the flat tires, but I will never forget the lesson God taught me with those tires.

The next several years, I was free of the burden of the call. I all but forgot about it. Perhaps God was waiting until I proved trustworthy to reissue the call.

At just the right time, the reissue happened.  Out of a lemonade machine at Chick Fil A, God spoke. Have I written about that experience here before? It was and is so real. I consider that machine my burning bush. I was an employee at CFA and had just taken an order. I turned to fill a cup with lemonade and clearly heard God speak, calling me again to go.  It was such strange timing. I had not been thinking about spiritual things at all. I was just doing my job, and boom. There God was. I imagine Moses felt similarly when he was just watching his sheep and all of a sudden was being called out from a burning bush.

And I said yes.

I decided to follow God's call.

I signed up to go with West Africa Crossroads Corporation to Liberia.  On January 16, 2010, the old me saw The Book of Eli at Regal Atlantic Station with Amanda. On January, 17, 2010, the old me boarded a plane to Liberia, where on January 18, 2010, the old me became a new me.

I like this movie.
-mo

Desperation

People's desperate need for Jesus has become increasingly apparent in Liberia.

May we all sense the urgency of a world lost and dying without Him.

God, our healer, heal West Africa. To God be all glory in sickness and in health.
Amen.
-mo

Spring Shower

Enjoying a soft, spring rain. One of God's gentlest whispers.

the theology of cardiology

The photo above is an image of a vein. Veins are designed to carry blood toward the heart. Blood is designed to go to the heart, from where it is pumped out again to take life to the rest of the body. Notice that in this picture, though, that blood flow is restricted by two dark clots. The amount of blood reaching the heart - and the rest of the body - is less than ideal.

Consider that the Church is the heart of the kingdom of God. Blood cells are individuals brought to the church through the vein of God's choosing. There, at the heart, they are given a purpose, a mission to carry life into the rest of the world - a body dead without those little Christians coursing through the arteries of its limbs, generating new cells to be carried back into the heart to begin the cycle afresh.

What happens when we allow darkness to enter the Church?

1 John 1.5-7
 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John cuts straight to the core, and without apology, John asserts that darkness has NO place in the Church. When we walk in darkness, we become clots in the veins of God's kingdom. Many of those cells that would otherwise be pumped into the heart, repurposed, and sent back into the world to bring more into the kingdom will never enter a heart clotted with darkness.

Today's Church is in desperate need of a cardiac catheterization. We must flush out the darkness (or bypass stubborn clots) to allow God to bring a fresh flow of life into the chambers of our churches and out into the far appendages of the world.
-mo

Where would Jesus shop?

I believe homosexual relationships are Biblically defined as sin.

Why, then, will I, a Bible-believing Christian, not stop shopping at The Home Depot, JCPenney, Belk, Target, or any other company that supports homosexual couples?

The answer is quite simple, really: I believe it's what Jesus would do. Jesus spent his entire life living among sinners. He didn't sin with them, and he didn't celebrate their sin, but he didn't avoid them.  Jesus never expected sinners to act like saints. He walked into the midst of sin, and he loved sinners.

Moreover, if I stopped shopping at every store that gave to sinners' charities or that depicted sinners in its ads, I would have to become quite adept at hunting and gathering in order to survive.

Sure, I understand that while homosexuality is no different from any other sin on God's scale, it is surrounded by a unique cultural context. No festivals are held for liars' pride. And clothing catalogues do not depict models with the caption "yes, we're cleptomaniacs." Homosexuality is among a very few sins that are loudly celebrated and openly supported by whole sectors of society.

BUT...

I wonder how much of the blatant celebration of homosexuality in our society is encouraged by - if not caused by - the Church's insistence on marginalizing those for whom Satan's sin-of-choice is homosexuality. When it comes to homosexuality, we have done exactly the opposite of what Jesus demonstrated.

Jesus came to bridge the gap between sinners and a holy God. He calls us, his followers, to do the same.

How, then, can I justify avoiding sinners to make some sort of statement about my faith? What statement am I really making when I refuse to shop at a store owned or managed by sinners? I think this statement is one that pushes sinners away and widens the gap between the world and the Church.

My choice, based on my view of my purpose as a Christ-follower, is to continue to consume as usual when Christian businesspeople stand for their beliefs AND when pre-Christian businesspeople do what pre-Christians do: sin.

I choose to follow Christ in bridging the gap between sinners and a holy God.

As always, I welcome your comments.
-mo

Ephesians 3:20

homosexuality within theology

Read This!

This article provides a unique and fascinating perspective on the intersection of homosexuality and theology. The writer is Mormon, but as he continually points out, the article is relevant for Christians as well.

In particular, the paragraph below speaks incredible and incredibly eloquent truth.


"If you know and love somebody who is gay and LDS (or Christian), your job is to love and nothing more. Let go of your impulse to correct them or control them or propel them down the path you think is right for them. Do what you need to do to move past that impulse.  Do not condemn the choices your loved one makes. Love. Only love. Show your love in word and deed. Embrace them, both literally and figuratively. I promise they need it—and they need to feel like they can figure out this part of themselves in a safe way without ridicule and judgment. It’s what Christ would do. It’s what your loved one needs. Accept them. Love them. Genuinely and totally."

only once before...

...have i felt the intense burden, the physical feeling of spiritual heartbreak that i feel today. before, it was the day my sister called to tell me she had joined a unitarian universalist congregation. today, it's my brother.

i don't have a genetic brother. but when one man has been around through your absolute pinnacle of Christian growth (so far) and through your darkest hell on earth (hopefully ever), what are genetics??? even in our relationship, there have been certain peaks and troughs. yet, even when he's not my friend, i cannot deny he will always be my brother.

part of being his brother has been adopting parts his genetic family as well, in particular, our little brother.

when i first met little brother, he was nearing the end of a court-ordered stent in drug rehab, and we, his family, were celebrating not only his coming graduation but also his new-found faith in Jesus. he graduated and moved to atlanta to live with us, where i learned to love his wit, his charm, his thoughtfulness, and his naturally good and dangerously tender heart. in what may now be seen as an incredible irony, this little brother taught me through his calm, quiet example the importance of refusing to battle over petty things. he often shamed me with his ability to forgive and forget.

...
+ four years
...

the fourth year was a tough one for little brother. an influx of old influences, old temptations, old emotions, old habits.

today, i saw his face for the first time in months. but, the face i saw wasn't really his at all. it was the bruised and unshaven mugshot of a man who has forgotten who he is. the emptiness in his eyes, the absence of his characteristic cheesy smile sunk deep into my gut and sent an overflow of tears down my cheeks.

in that mugshot of my little brother, i saw what i heard in the phone call from my sister years ago: my own guilt. while i cannot be held accountable for their choices, i cannot help but think of my own failed responsibility in each situation. how could i have loved better? when should i have sucked up my pride in apology? where should i have lent a hand, a compliment, or a shoulder to cry on? how could i have better represented Christ to his church?

rather than dwell on rights and wrongs done, i ask again the question of ultimate importance: how can i love? and i pray that God will use my thoughts, my words, my time, my actions as answers to that question.

to God be all glory in and through all creation.
-mo

Pinch me.

The older I have gotten, the more I have wondered if I will ever be done with school and free to start "real life." I am soooooo tired of being a student and just about to the point that I don't want to learn anything else. ever.

But, Sunday, as I sat in church thinking back over my Sunday school lesson, I realized I am living my dream! We had talked about Paul's exclamation in Philippians 1 that "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I can pretty honestly say I am at a place in life where this is true for me. Even when the specifics of life are annoying or boring, the whole of life is an exciting pursuit of Christ in me, the hope of glory!

As a child, I looked up to adults who somehow managed to maintain a genuine faith and zeal for the Christ-life. There weren't many of them, but I dreamt of becoming one of the few. Now, I am an adult. Although I'm still in school, still not living "real life," still don't have a "real job," I am living my dream. I am living for Jesus, and He is living for me. I couldn't dream of anything more.

-mo

Treasuring God's Word

"I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings, and I trust them so much that I tell them to kings. I love your commands! They bring me happiness." (Psalm 119.45-47)

I'm not here for me

If I believe in a God who desires the best for those whom He loves, and if I believe in a heaven that is better than earth, and if I believe what I believe will get me there when I am no longer here, then I must believe that I am not here for me. If I were the whole point of my life, I may as well move on to the afterlife, where my personal satisfaction will be maximized. But, God, who desires what is best for those whom He loves, has not yet chosen for me a place better than earth. My being here must somehow contribute to His plan for the best for those others whom He loves. I must believe I am not here for me.
-mo

reflecting God's radiance

Exodus 34.33-35 - "When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. [...]"


Acts 4.13 - "The officials were amazed to see how brave Peter and John were, and they knew that these two apostles were only ordinary men and not well educated. The officials were certain that these men had been with Jesus."


I pray that my appearance, speech, emotions, and actions will be a reflection of God's radiant power and love, that although I am "only ordinary," others will be certain that I have been with Jesus.
-mo

worldview

worldview (by my definition): what's at the very core of one's being, affecting the way he/she approaches life and engages the world.

My world view: missions. God has called me to a life of domestic and international missions, teaching and taking His hope to the world. When I am at my best - which certainly is not as often as I'd like, everything I do is about ministry. Wherever God leads, my life is His, and my goal is His glory.

While I believe every Christian's call is to share Jesus with his world, I also believe each Christian has a unique intersection of giftedness and passion. It follows that few people will share my exact world view.

But, the ministry partners (specifically, the life partner) to whom I will be most attracted are those who share my ministry passion. IF (and i cannot type this IF big enough) I marry, I will marry a man whose heart beats missions.

So... I broke up with Marc. Not because he does not love Jesus, not because he does not desire and strive to serve Him daily, not because he and I are not great friends who have fun times. None of those reasons would be true. Marc is an incredible man with incredible drive to succeed in his work, to know God, and to be righteous. But, God has not called Marc to missions.

I am not spiritually attracted to Marc. I wish I were. I am attracted to him in every other way a woman can be attracted to a man. Marc is a man of God. Marc will be an excellent, loyal, and loving husband and father. I am grateful for our time together and for what God has taught me through him.

-mo

I'm glad God invented faith because He really doesn't make much sense sometimes.

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new year's prayer

purge from my life anything that is not of You. if it's not what You want, it's not what I want. Amen.

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spirit of adoption

i am so anxious for the day when i get to meet the child(ren) whom God has chosen to be mine. chances are, my child is alive today somewhere in the world. the thought of him/her without a family this christmas is tough. i know, though, that God will bring us together with perfect timing. i am grateful for God's plan of adoption and for His call on my life of sharing His love with children who so desperately need and so earnestly want to be loved. i am grateful that God's plan of adoption included His adopting me into His family.

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery ^[g]leading to fear again, but you have received ^[h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8.14-17)

bad Christians

During a seminar at school this week, Lily and I were professionally attentive, as usual. As we passed notes back and forth, an interestingly involved and spiritual conversation arose. She asked me why all Christians do not obey Biblical principles. Somewhat hesitantly, I wrote and explained the phrase "bad Christians." I hesitated because, really, all of us are "bad," and some of us are Christians. Logically, it follows that all Christians are "bad Christians."

I walked to my car thinking about my use of the adjective bad to describe a subset of Christians. As I thought, I concluded these two words are a beautiful summary of so much of the hope that Jesus offers. In a world where so much of who we are is defined by what we do, God's unfailing, unconditional love is an anomaly. He loves without condition, and He forgives on only one condition: that I accept it. Because my Christian identity depends not on who I am nor on what I do but solely on who God is and what He does, I can, in fact, be both bad and a Christian.
Whew!
-mo

{Of course, a good Christian's goal, although he may never attain it, is not to be bad (see 1 Peter 1.14-15).}

to be a b****

I decided today that I want to be a bitch. In fact, I think God wants me to be a bitch.

I was walking through the park on my way to work this morning, and I observed the always cute first encounter of two dogs. Both were leashed, but from the moment they laid eyes on each other, their leashes were taut in anticipation of that first, good sniffing. As their owners were dragged closer, the dogs' tails wagged faster. They finally met and proceeded to prance around, each greeting the other with sheer, unadulterated joy.

I watched these dogs and wondered what life would be like if more people acted like dogs (bitches, if you will). What if, before we even met another person, we loved him? What if, after we met and got acquainted with even his smelliest, dirtiest parts, we continued to love and to demonstrate that love with joy and sincerity?

What if more of us were the bitches God has called us to be?

Mark 12.31

-mo

answers!

1)

2) I have a new home! Dori and I now live at Townview Station in a cozy 1br apartment. So far, we are loving it.