Held

I was making my way around some of my recent blog-buddies posts and ran across another amazing individual. (I hope she does not mind, but I am going to link to her blog because she has an amazing testimony - Thank you Tracy for being so honest).

After reading some of her posts, it brought back the feeling that my wife and I had when we lost a pregnancy. (To this day we always tell people that we have four children when they ask, but we both know that we mean five...one is waiting for us at home). Then this song came to mind. It is talking about losing a child, but it truly reaches beyond just that point and touches all of our hearts at whatever pain we may have. So, I give this song to all of you out there today. Never forget that we are always HELD. God Bless



"Held"
Natalie Grant

Two months is too little.
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It’s unfair.

Chorus:
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred numb our sorrow.
The wise hands opens slowly to Lilly's of the valley and tomorrow.

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

Bridge:
If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

They're Just Rocks....Lets Get Dirty

This has been a very amazing morning for me. God has reached down and touched my heart because of two different blog posts that I think are linked in a very special way. Before we go any further, please read "They're Just Rocks" and "Make Them Care".

After reading those, you may be thinking that I have lost my mind. "How could these two things be related?", you ask. Well, I'm glad you did.

As I have written on this blog (and the more I read others, I am finding out that I am not alone in my thinking), a shift in thinking of the "Church" today is needing to take hold. Just look at the statistics that are out there, and you will find that church attendance on a weekly basis is down all across this country. My church is facing it, and I am sure we are not alone. Of course, you have your "mega-churches" out there that seem to continue to grow and prosper (but are they growing in new converts, or do they just have a better marketing approach than the church down the road) but then you read thing like "50 small churches a week are closing their doors". Why is this happening? I believe that it could be from several different issues, but two of them were discussed by John Paul and Adam.

1. We must begin to understand that the "younger people" in the church have something important to say and contribute.

I remember when I was working with youth on a regular basis, I was always caught up with the latest "lingo" that was being used. It has only been five years since I was a youth minister, and you put me around a group of students today, and it sounds like I have crossed into another dimension. That is how fast our world is changing. Now after saying that, who do you think would be the best people to go to if we wanted to find out what the culture today is thinking about church and Christianity. Don't give me a church committee, give me a group of twenties and teens for a town hall meeting. We want to grow our churches (again, not for numbers sake, but for Christ sake) , then we must listen to the youth, and allow them to lead. I remember when I was still twentysomething, I use to look forward to turning 30 just because I thought others may finally begin to listen to what I have to say. It still didn't happen, but isn't that sad to have to think. A Barna Research article stated, "One of the reasons that many twentysomethings struggle to find their place in churches is that many young people may feel overlooked as potential leaders." As I sit in our churches committee meetings, I hear things like, "What are we going to do to bring in more younger adults into our church?" I want to stand up and scream at the top of my lungs, "Listen to them! Let them lead! If you do, you just might be surprised what they can do."

2. Another reason our churches are beginning to wither on the vine is because of...FEAR.

This is where John Paul's and Adam's posts really collide.

A. We are afraid to get dirty

This is where I am probably going to step on a lot of toes (mine included)...but here I go. I CAN'T STAND SPIRITUAL GIFT INVENTORIES!!! If you are reading this post and saying to yourself, "What is that?" God bless you and continue down the post to the next point. We now live in an era where we essentially say to the people in our church, "we are not going to ever ask you to do anything that you do not feel comfortable, or at least well trained, to do." We have these spiritual gift inventories that we complete and after doing so find out that we have the "gift" of teaching, prayer, missions, and so on, and so on, and so on. Can I let everybody in on a little secret....are you ready.....WE ARE ALL CALLED TO DO WHATEVER CHRIST LEADS US TO DO!!!! How can we ever see the miracles of God take place if we are never placing ourselves in situations that we can truly look at and say, "Man, there is no way I just did that....It had to be God, because I could never do such a thing!" You want to know why I believe in miracles, because time and again I am able to get up in front of a group of people and preach. That is not something that I could ever do without Christ standing right next to me each time I go out. Don't believe me....Meme if you are reading this.....leave a comment and let everyone know that I would have rather taken a Zero on a book report in school than ever get up and present it in front of the class...am I lying. :) Another little secret, I feel that way EVERYTIME I get up to speak to this day. It is not I, but Christ in me, that allows me to do what I do. And, if you ever liked even one of my sermons, let me say for the record....It is not I, but Christ in me, that developed that sermon. (Man, I think I'm getting worked up)

The last part of the post was just about getting out of our comfort zones....Don't get me started about getting out and working with people we don't feel comfortable around, but I'm going to let Adams post speak on that issue (I think he stated it very well).

B. We are afraid of not being popular (both outside the church and inside)

Outside the Church:
I have to agree with John Paul, I am tired of feeling that I have to stand in the shadows just because I say that I am a Christian. You want to try to change my mind about my political views...go right ahead...I'll will agree that each view has about the same % of a chance of being right. You want to try to change my mind about being a Cowboys fan...go right ahead (you may not get far)...I'll will agree that there are other great football teams in the NFL. But, you try to convince me that the faith that has grown inside of me (with fear and trembling..but that is another post) is on the same level with some of the other garbage that this world is trying to teach is truth.....I promise you will not get very far. You see, I have come to the faith that I have because of a lot of work on my part and a lot of love on Christ's part. I could no more live without the faith that is inside of me, than I could live without the blood that flows through my veins. We (as Christians) come from a long line of people that have given their lives for their faith. If you haven't...take a look at Jesus Freaks by DC Talk Volumes 1 & 2. John Paul wrote, "I encourage you all to check yourself over the next week. Are you keeping your faith private? Let it out, what’s the worst that could happen? I think Stephen (from the Bible) is up in Heaven yelling down, 'They’re just rocks!'" THEY'RE JUST ROCKS, man that is great (I wish I had written that). Some of you are saying right now, hey man their rocks...they can do some damage. I would agree, but the point that John Paul is making is this: If killing us is the worst that they can do (and it is pretty bad) then who has REALLY won. (Pay special attention to vv 54-60)

Inside the church:
Through the leadership (Adam spoke well on this issue), we have been taught from a very young age: sit down, be quite, do your job (worship) and leave...we (the leadership) will take care of the day to day stuff.
Isn't this exactly what Jesus went through. Adam made a very good comment on a fiends blog recently about the culture that Jesus was born into.

"In Jesus' times children would grow up following the school of religious thought in Jewish culture. The students would learn and memorize, then when they got older they would move to the harder schooling and some would get kicked out, then to an even harder school and more would get kicked out and rejected, then when they were adults, the elite would study with a rabbi, and follow him around all day long just trying to learn form him. If the rabbi told you to follow him, it meant you were good enough and you could do what he does. The rabbi may reject most as say to them to go follow their family business and they would end their schooling, they were not good enough. So Jesus comes, and He is a rabbi and he approaches some of the rejected people, the fishermen, the tax collectors, the people that were not good enough to follow a human rabbi with faults. Jesus tells them. "Come and follow me," It was amazing. I used to wonder why the disciples would just leave everything behind for a guy that just said follow me, but it was more than that, they were being told they were good enough. Finally told they were good enough to follow God."

Do a little study about the Jewish leadership of Christ's time and you find that His teaching threatened them not just spiritually, but also politically. Can I ask a very hard question: Is it any different in the church today? "Be careful what you say, you don't want to offend Deacon so-and-so." Can I ask another very hard question: What exactly can Deacon so-and-so do to me? And another: Would Deacon so-and-so even be offended if Christ Himself came down and said the same thing? Again, it all goes back to making the changes in the church that need to be made. I'm not saying that I have the answers, I'm just saying we need to start looking really hard for them...from The One that does have the answers.

I really don't know if any of my ramblings have made any sense...but after reading Adam's and John Paul's posts, I really felt moved to write. Thank you guys for your words. Thank you God for loving us. Jesus, give us all the strength to be able to say, "They're just Rocks...Lets Get Dirty!"

Love

Today I was driving my two youngest (my little blond haired angel - 4; my little brunette angle - 2) to their Bitsy's (Wife's Mom) on my way to work. I have a custom with the girls, whenever we get going in the car we listen to some of the music that we all have fallen in love with from movies that we have seen (I really love downloading music...sometimes too much). I have a disk that has become our favorite. It has the "Little Wonders" song from Meet the Robinsons, and a few songs from the most recent Curious George movie. They are really great songs for an early morning drive...soft, sweet, and brings a smile to your face.

Well, this morning I was in a hurry and forgot to turn the music on for us all to enjoy. My little two year old, in her cute little broken language, stated a desire for some "mufic". Realizing that I had forgotten to turn it on, I slip in our favorite disk and the music began to fill the air. This is the time during the post that I wish I could have recorded the next sounds I heard, because I will never be able to amply describe the beauty that came next. To hear a two and four year old sing a song is one of the cutest things in the world. To hear them sing words like,
" Let it slide, let your troubles fall behind you, let it shine,
Till you feel it all around you,
And I don't mind, if it's me you need to turn to, we'll get by,
It's the heart that really matters in the end."
will melt your heart.
While they were singing these words, I could not help but to begin to say in my head....I love these kids. Now, I was not saying the word love like the world today throws the word around. I really LOVE these kids. I would die before I would ever want to see something bad happen to them, but bad things still do happen. It kills me whenever I see them fall and scuff a knee. I HURT when my 8 year old comes home from school and feels she has been mistreated by friends. I go to bed at night praying for God to give me the strength to be the father they need. I LOVE MY FAMILY, and will do all I can to always let them know that I am here for them.

With this, I began to feel a warm feeling, almost like a hug, come over me. I can not say that I heard God say, "I love you", but what I felt made me believe that God was essentially saying to me, "You love those kids that I have given you, imagine how much more I love them and you."

John 1:11-13 says:
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Romans 8:38-39 says:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Side note: The word use here "convinced" - the word used in the Greek New Testament - has a sense of great work put behind what he now believes. You almost get a sense that Paul is saying, I have not come to this conclusion just because I want to, because it's convenient and it's something I want to believe...I have had to be "convinced" of this...I have had to be shown this to be true)

You see, we can not begin to understand the love that God has for us. I believe that the love that we are capable of is just a drop in the bucket to the perfected love that God has within Him. But for discussion sake, lets say that God can only equal the amount of love that I have for my own children, then I am thinking we are going to be alright.

Everyone

This is a video that was suggested by another one out there in the blogosphere. (Thanks Dragonflysoul) I am a huge Kirk Franklin fan, so I was surprised that I had missed this.

For me, one of the greatest parts of the video is when Kirk says, "This song is dedicated to people like me." That one phrase speaks volumes to me. You see, everyone has baggage that we are carrying. Everyone has pain in our past (and maybe present) that we are still struggling to let go. Everyone....Everyone....Everyone. Yet, we live in a world where honesty about our weaknesses is mocked, ridiculed, emotionally beaten, and laughed at. Therefore, Everyone hides their pain and does one of two things: 1. Puts on the "Everything is alright" face. OR 2. (Because of all the others that put on the "Everything is alright" face) There are those that hold on to the pain and wonder if they are all alone on this ship that is caught in a hurricane. If you expose your weakness at any given moment, then you hear things like, "Are you sure your cut out to do this job?" Yes, I am speaking of my own pain. I'll tell the story, to open myself to you. There was a season in my life where God graced me with an opportunity to speak from His pulpit. One day I was so moved by my study of the Word of God during the week, that when I brought myself to the pulpit to deliver the message...I wept. I wept for myself, the congregation, Christianity, and the world. After the message, I went to take my usual place on the front pew. When church was over, I did not have too many people come to me (I think they did not know what to say). Later on that day, a member of the congregation came to my house...sat in my living room...looked me in the eye (now I have to be honest, this is where I thought a moment of encouragement was going to take place)...and said, "Are you sure your cut out to do this job?" Oh, the pain that I still feel over that moment. After hearing this song, I now have a way to verbalize how I have been able to move forward everyday after what was said....I try to imagine me. Am I the only one with this kind of story, NO! Everyone has this kind of story. That is why this song is so powerful, because it is saying that no matter what any"one" has done to you, "The One" still loves you and will always be there for you and bring others into your life to help. May God bless you with this song, and may we all find the strength inside to except that we are "Everyone".

"Imagine Me"

Kirk Franklin

(Thank you...For allowing me to see myself the way You see me...Thank you)

Imagine me loving what I see when the mirror looks at me cause I, I imagine me.

In a place, of no insecurities and I'm finally happy cause I imagine me.

Letting go of all of the ones who hurt me cause they never did deserve me, can you imagine me.

Saying no to thoughts that try to control me, remembering all you told me, Lord can you imagine me?

Over what my momma said, and healed from what my daddy did and I wanna live and not read that page again.

(Chorus)
Imagine me, being free, trusting you totally, finally I can imagine me, I admit it was hard to see you being in love with someone like me, finally I can imagine me.

Imagine me

Being strong and not letting people break me down, you won't get that joy this time around. Can you imagine me?

In a world, in a world nobody has to live afraid, because of your love, fear's gone away, can you imagine me.

Letting go of my past and glad I have another chance and my heart will dance cause I don't have to read that page again.

(Repeat Chorus 2x’s)

Kirk talks:
This song is dedicated to people like me, those that struggle with insecurities, acceptance and even self esteem, you never felt good enough, you never felt pretty enough but imagine God whispering in your ear letting you know that everything that has happened is now.

Gone, Gone, Its’ Gone, All Gone
Repeat 8

Kirk’s remarks
( Oh It’s All Gone. Every Sin, Every Mistake, Every Failure Its’ All Gone!
Depression Gone By Faith It’s Gone
Low Self Esteem, Hallelujah Its Gone, All Gone,
It’s Gone All My Scars All My Pain It’s In The Past , Its’ Yesterday Its’ All Gone( Can’t Believe Its’ Gone) What Your Mother Did, What your Father Did, Hallelujah (Its’ Gone All Gone Oh Whoa))

Oh na-na-na-na
Oh na-na-na-na-na-na
Repeat 3 X’s
Oh na-na-na-na-na-na