Category Archives: Christian Living

Hero Worship

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I love hero stories, of incorruptible leaders you’d follow through battle or disaster when there’s no way out—because if anyone can make it, they can. And they won’t just save themselves, they’ll rescue as many as possible.

The popular trend in fiction is flawed protagonists like us, who muddle through to victory and give us hope we can do the same. I understand it, but it’s not much fun.

I miss the wonder, the larger-than-life dream, the characters I could admire.

Maybe that’s why I re-read favourite novels. I don’t have many “new” fictional heroes and a few have fallen to moral lapses along the way. In new fiction, the best I can hope for is a quasi-hero or heroine, the reluctant hero model where s/he grows into the role and may someday be pedestal-worthy to me.

Hero-worship… could it be the soul’s instinctive longing for something—someOne—higher, bigger, greater? That God-shaped hole inside us aching to be filled?

God took on flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus subjected Himself to human limitations to reach us. He went farther than that. He gave Himself as a willing sacrifice to rescue us from bondage to the enemy of our souls.

He wasn’t a hero sneaking into the strong man’s lair only to be caught and executed as a failure. He came intentionally, deliberately, with a plan so outlandish that the devil missed it entirely until it was too late.

Jesus, Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God, Messiah, Saviour, Prince of Peace. Arrested and condemned to death. He could have called more than twelve legions of angels to rescue Him.

Remember Elisha’s servant’s eyes being opened to see the angel army poised to rescue them? I think Jesus saw the heavenly hosts around the Cross and held them back by His own will. He chose to finish His work.

He saved us. At inexpressible cost.

How does that make you feel?

To me, it demonstrates one and for all the absolute and utter proof that He loves us with a strong and active love.

If our spirits are open to understand what He has done, and why it was necessary, what other response can there be but absolute and utter devotion and loyalty?

That’s what I’d give unreservedly to a fictional hero if I were in a story. It wouldn’t be a choice, it’d just happen. That’s what I want to give to my God. It’s His right. It’s cause and effect.

But God is unseen and His whispers are soft. The world is loud and in-your-face. I need to choose this day, each day, to take every thought, idea, doubt, suggestion to God—take it captive to Christ—and examine it from a point of unquestioning loyalty and devotion to my Saviour. My Rescuer. My Hero.

A fitting song is the newsboys’ “We Remember.”

Writers and Musicians

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Fans of Canadian suspense writer Linda Hall will be happy to know some of her stories are available in various ebook formats through Smashwords. Currently there are two free short stories, one 99-cent short story and the novel, Steal Away, for $2.99. The short stories may not be suspense, but Steal Away is the first in a series featuring private investigator Teri Blake-Addison. I highly recommend it, and you can read my review of the paper version here.

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A Better Way is a new blog from Canadian writer Jan Cox, reflecting on the “better way” Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen… and discovering how we can choose that way as well.

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Part of living the better way–God’s way–is gratitude and praise. Check out Marcia Laycock’s excellent post, “Maybe it’s Time we Pay Attention,” on Grace Fox’s Growing with Grace blog.

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The Barn Door Book Loft spotlights and interviews 3-6 Christian authors each week and hosts book giveaways.

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I’ve been captured recently by the music of Geoff Moore, specifically his new album, “Saying Grace,” which is not yet widely available (you can get it at any of the stops on his cross-Canada tour with Steven Curtis Chapman). I wish I could share my favourite tracks with you: “I Believe,” “Saying Grace” and “The Long Way.” You can hear some of his other music on the Geoff Moore facebook page. Or searching YouTube will bring up older material including a duet with the legendary Larry Norman: “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?”

God’s Unfailing Love

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The NIV declares of God, “his love endures forever” 43 times. “Unfailing love” appears 40 times, always describing God’s love. These results are just from the Old Testament. The New Testament overflows with God’s love too, so I assume the writers used phrases that translate differently.

But Old Testament life seems to have a harsher edge to it than New Testament and into today. God was preparing the way, but the Messiah had not yet come. The Holy Spirit came to individuals but not to all. If God spoke to a person it was usually through a prophet or an angel.

God was preparing a people for Himself and there were a lot of growing pains. There still are, even now when we can rely on the Holy Spirit living in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory.

In the middle of the hardship of Old Testament life as God sculpted a reluctant people for Himself, when their actions often required correction in the form of invading armies and exile, His Holy Word proclaims His unfailing, forever-enduring love.

Whatever we face today, we can know and rely on God’s love God for us. There is hope.

 

Bullying and Prayer

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Bullying includes harm by word as well as by fist.

Increased awareness and social pressure is presumably making a difference, but in some cases maybe it’s making the perpetrators craftier. Texting and social media make it easier to shoot from a distance.

I’ve been reading lately about cyber-bullying, including some cases that allegedly drove the victims to suicide. If that’s true, you’d hope the spiteful talkers would feel remorse for what they’ve done. I suspect they’re saying “what a loser” and still blaming the victim.

School administrations are often helpless to intervene, and may even deny the problem now that it’s politically incorrect.

Our communities’ kids are under attack, and that’s nothing new. They’re vulnerable to one another—and to the enemy of our souls. How can they defend themselves, when it hurts too much to just walk away?

In Psalm 109, David opens his prayer with these words:

My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. (Ps. 109:1-3, NIV*)

David was bullied too, even as an adult. But David, a man after God’s own heart, knew where to go for help. How many of our kids do?

His prayer starts with this cry for help (Ps. 109:1-5) and then launches into what looks like a prayer for vengeance (Ps. 109:6-20). In typical Old Testament mindset, it carries the punishment for the bully’s acts into the lives of his wife and children.

Living under grace, I’m not comfortable with that. I’d rather pray for our kids’ bullies to be set free from their own spiritual darkness and to come into Jesus’ light.

I can’t call down vengeance. That’s God’s territory and I’ve needed too much grace myself. But look again at those verses. Sometimes it’s only when “what goes around comes around,” when we’re on the receiving end instead of in control, that we realize the truth.

God knows what it will take for bullies to understand the damage they’re doing, and if personal experience is what it takes, then may He bring it on. I still pray that with the end of the bully-life will come rebirth into Kingdom-life.

Ultimately, the prayer asks God to deal with the bullies. David knows he can’t fight this himself. Hear what he says:

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I fade away like an evening shadow;  I am shaken off like a locust. (Ps. 109:22-23, NIV*)

Can’t you feel his pain?

David knows how to pray. He comes to God, the highest Authority, and he holds nothing back: this is how I feel, this is what I’m asking in my anger and my pain, I’m asking You to repay my accusers. And I’m asking You to “help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it.” (Ps. 109:26-27, NIV*)

See how his prayer comes around to God? Not only for vengeance and help, but for God’s own glory? David is under God’s care, and he wants the world to know not just for his own sake, but for God’s.

He has laid out his need and his pain, and now he turns his focus to his God. In the moment, while circumstances are unchanged, David finds the strength to voice praise:

With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them. (Ps. 109:30-31, NIV*)

David left us a valuable prayer to offer for our youth, for our friends, for ourselves. It reminds us that our God is Mighty to Save.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Marching Forward

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I don’t know what time of year our local writers’ group began, or how many months I attended before guilt made me write something: just a short letter to the editor of our local newspaper.

The group, bless their hearts, praised me as if I’d written a feature article. I started listening to my thoughts—and to God—a little better and writing inspirational and personal experience essays.

Got my first rejection letter—and a positive one at that—on my birthday one May.

When a novel started brewing, I resisted for a year before giving in. My earliest dated notes for that manuscript are from March 1994. That means I’ve lived with some of these characters for 17 years now, ignoring the long gestation period. No wonder we have cake every March!

Three years ago, again in March, God nudged me into this blog. It’s been a great way to meet some new friends in the faith, and I need to publicly say that not once has He not provided the input for a weekly devotional. He is faithful.

Since March seems to be the month for significant writing beginnings for me (not that I’d turn one down in, say, September) it feels appropriate to choose now to join the Christians keeping gratitude journals.

Not lists of positive things, but lists acknowledging that those things are gifts from God who loves us. Lists that accept the gifts and thank the Giver.

I’ll add a thank-you to Ann Voskamp, whose lyrical book, One Thousand Gifts, convinced me to give this gratitude journal idea a try.

I won’t post a weekly list, but here are the first gifts I’ve recorded (resisting the urge to play catch-up for the ones in my memory):

  1. Bright, white seagull in a clear blue sky.
  2. Spring sunshine.
  3. Dancing candle flames—and the little girl who shared them with me.
  4. Expansive stillness moment in my spirit.
  5. Michael Tait singing “Glorious”.
  6. Sparkles on my journal cover—and that it was waiting on my shelf for this purpose.
  7. Fluffy black cat nestled on the back deck.
  8. Sun stripe bright on green moss on the willow branch.
  9. Small brown sparrow in the bare, brown hedge branches.

10.  White-gold sun disc behind translucent clouds.

Thank You, God!

Lent

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The calendar is leaving me behind again. This past Wednesday—Ash Wednesday­­—I suddenly realized, “Lent is beginning.”

Full marks for observation?

I grew up in a denomination that didn’t put much emphasis on Lent, and I sure didn’t learn much about it from watching childhood friends give up chocolate or candy.

But if we look at fasting, which is what the “giving up for Lent” really is, there’s value in that. It’s not a mindless ritual that lets you diet a bit so you can eat a larger chocolate bunny.

It’s not giving something up in penance, maybe not even to show devotion. It’s abstaining from something—or adding in something—to make more room for God in our lives. To get closer to Him.

Ash Wednesday… and I was wishing I’d seen it coming, had put thought and prayer into discovering what I might do to better make room for myKing.

But He’s been planting seeds all along. Showing me how noisy it is in my mind. Wooing me with wistful thoughts of silence. Of silence with Him.

So it’s my intent to take a few minutes’ deliberate quiet with Him each day. Maybe over tea. And whenever I catch myself humming or making gratuitous noise, I will take that as a reminder to quiet my spirit and turn my thoughts toward Him.

They’ll be this child’s special moments with her Papa. My version of a Lenten fast.

Focusing Prayer

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A recent post at Under the Cover of Prayer asked, “Is Prayer Your Steering Wheel?”

It’s worth reading the whole article (the link is in the title). What has come back to me repeatedly this week stems from this quote:

I could take a few moments and ask for direction and inspiration. Before I start to make dinner I could take a moment and ask for help in achieving a balanced tasty meal. Before I go to tap dancing lessons I could stop and focus my mind on God, asking for calmness and the ability to recall the steps and do my best.

Am I flipping from activity to activity without stopping to thank God, to seek His favour and ask for the Holy Spirit to be present as I go about each task? (read the full post: “Is Prayer Your Steering Wheel?“)

Most of my mornings begin with an informal prayer committing the day (and my loved ones) to God’s care and leading, and it’s understood that God is God and whatever I do is open to His leading.

But, like Jan asks in quote above, how often do I consciously stop and commit my current activity to Him? Submit it to Him? Acknowledge His right to direct, shape… or interrupt it?

If I’m writing, working on homework for a course, driving, attending a funeral, preparing a meal… those are just some of the times the question has come up. Each time, I’ve stopped for a quick prayer.

It’s probably not bringing anything into better alignment, but it’s reminding me Who’s leading, and that whatever it is I’m doing needs to be seen as service to Him.

I think these short commitment-prayers will make me more able to see God’s gifts, to see His love for us and to show it to others. And they’ll remind me to listen for His opinions rather than formulating my own.

What do you think?

 

Perspective and Gratitude

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Think of the grateful, hopeful people you know. Have their lives been easy, or have they learned to rely on God despite their circumstances? It’s tempting to complain about the small stuff when the framework of our lives is rich with blessing. If we do it long enough, though, we don’t see the treasures that are really ours. I wonder if that’s why people keep gratitude journals.

This is something God is nudging me about in my own life. I need to be awake to the wonders of the present and delight in what He gives—and not allow desire for my own way to poison me.

I love how whatever He’s trying to show me will pop up in the strangest places. Here are a few:

§ I’ve recently discovered Louise Penny’s mystery series, set in small-town Quebec, Canada. Wish the language wasn’t so harsh in places, but I have so enjoyed the first two novels and am in queue for the third at the library. For mainstream novels, they treat Scripture and faith with respect. Armand Gamache is a homicide detective. Look at what he says:

“People expect me to be cynical because of my job… but they don’t understand. …I spend my days looking into the last room in the house, the one we keep barred and hidden even from ourselves. The one with all our monsters, fetid and rotting and waiting. My job is to find people who take lives. And to do that I have to find out why. And to do that I have to get into their heads and open that last door. But when I come out again,” he opened his arms in an expansive movement, “the world is suddenly more beautiful, more alive, more lovely than ever. When you see the worst you appreciate the best.” Dead Cold, by Louise Penny. [Headline Publishing Group, 2006, p. 268]

§ I finally had the chance to see the Chronicles of Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Near the end, Prince Caspian realizes he’s spent his time regretting what’s been taken from him (his father), instead of embracing what he’s been given—a kingdom to rule. That changes his life.

§ One of this week’s posts at Other Food: Daily Devos includes this quote from Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

“We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs. We can decide to live in the environment of a living God and not our own dying selves. We can decide to centre ourselves in the God who generously gives and not in our own egos which greedily grab.” A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 96-97. [It’s worth reading Violet’s entire post here: Statute Songs]

§ I’ve been hearing Johnny Reid songs on the radio lately—and liking them. The first time I heard him,. NJ Lindquist was teaching at a local writers’ conference and she used one of his songs as an example of story: “Kicking Stones” . Again, it’s about how we choose to react to our circumstances.

§ My copy of Ann Voskamp‘s One Thousand Gifts arrived today. I’m sure it’s going to reinforce the message.

We may not have much control over what happens, but we can choose how to respond. We can choose where to focus. We can, by the grace of God, learn to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV*. Or in the fresh language of The Message we do it by “fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5, MSG**.

Johnny Reid’s official video for “Kicking Stones.” (2007, Open Road Records) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foYTQPd7CNo]

*New International Version, ©2010 (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

**The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Devotionals, Fitness, and Work as Art

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Everyday Christian offers daily devotionals, among other things… and their new devotional writer is Canadian author Brenda Wood. I’m using her published devotional book, Heartfelt, for my daily readings this year. Brenda also blogs at Heartfelt Devotionals.

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The High Calling has a number of fine posts, and one that stood out to me recently is Bradley J. Moore’s “Your Artisanal Life“, that asks the challenging question, “What if we viewed our jobs – all of them – as divinely artisanal?”

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Invitation to Fitness is a new site with daily fitness and exercise tips.

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Grains of Sand is a devotional blog from Canadian author Lynda Schultz. It’s not new, but it counts as “new to me” because I’ve just rediscovered it… Lynda is the author of Divine Design for Daily Living.

On God as Our Source of Comfort, Why Praising Him is Crucial, and What’s the Point of Life?

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I manage most of my blog subscriptions through Bloglines (thank you, MerchantCircle for keeping this service going) and hadn’t logged in for a while. Among the posts waiting to be read were three that I’d like to share today:

“What Satisfies You?” at Captured by God mentions an idea from Lysa TerKeurst’s book, Made to Crave.

What we think about most is an indicator of what we are trying to fulfill ourselves with. Is it God? Or is it something else? [Read God’s Girl’s full post here for a practical example of what this can look like–and the difference it can make.]

In “Tuning our Harps” at Canadian Writers Who Are Christian, Judith Lawrence writes:

We may not feel like singing God’s praises when things go wrong in our lives, we may want to wallow in our misery. However, a difficult situation is not the time to hang up our harps but a time to sing the Lord’s song with even more vigour. [Read Judith’s full post here, and consider what freedom from captivity might look like for each of us.]

In “What’s the Point” at InScribe Writers Online, Karen Toews shares “a twisted version of inspiration for 2011 or my dose of ‘this is the real world, girl'”. Selections from the book of Ecclesiastes convince her that there is a point. [Read Karen’s full post here.]

Thank you, God’s Girl, Judith and Karen, for encouraging words for the journey.