The world is messy
It's filled with complicated people and unfair circumstances
We have hundreds of "friends" and "followers" but walk around lonely
Predators and terrorist exist
Hearts hurt, our bodies groan, break and need
Evil is real
But so is God,
And His heart for people, even the complicated unlovable ones, is that they would know the HOPE of eternity
Know His presence,  His love,  His best in our today and the promise of His better tomorrow.

The world needs to know this God
His heart, that breaks and longs and swells and cares for His kids
His LOVE
His thoughts, the ones that are higher and deep and wider than our understanding
His HOPE
His justice, that's always fair and requires the price be paid
His mercy, that says - I'll pay the price
His GRACE
His GOODNESS

But the world doesn't need another church
The world doesn't need another building, or assembly or gathering place for believers
It needs the believers to stop the routine of church
And it needs the church to start being The Church
It needs the hearts of people to start bleeding
Bleed for the abandoned, the lonely, the lost, the lovely and the unloveable
It needs the eyes of pew sitters to start seeing
See the hurting, the homeless, the father-less, and the dark corners we're accustomed to ignoring
It needs the ears of the Sunday listeners to start hearing
Hear the cries for help, the voices of the oppressed and persecuted
The world doesn't need another church it needs The Church to come alive,
To go, reach, love, seek, share, hope, give, move, abide, focus

I get tangled up in the everyday; the emotion, the mess, the drain of being needed and needing
But, I don't want to be short-sighted, full on the Word, but caught up in self
I don't want to miss the eternal
The souls, wrapped in skin, walking into a tomorrow that stretches into forever
I know a God the world needs
And I don't want to miss the call
I want to be the Church
Because
We're all walking into an eternal tomorrow
And we get today

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says...

Religion that our God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

- James 1: 22&27 -

Giving Up for the Gathering

Week after week we gather together 

Prioritizing life around something called life-group

It's not legalistic or ritualistic or religious

It's just life

Here, the word fellowship is made real in cups of coffee, cookies and confession 

Gathering is giving up time to show up

And life is more fully lived when people show up

Uniting in forgiveness and the sacrifice of time

Because

Encouragement doesn't come from strangers 

It's found in the faces of the ones who know your heart and your mistakes

And if we don't rub shoulders - how are we going to rub off on each other?

A day is coming when we'll be gathered 

And on the day our Savior shows up I'll be ready because you showed up 

Until then, I need you to rub off on me, encourage me, forgive me, inspire me, love me

And collectively give up for the gathering

Linking up with the  Five Minute Friday writers

@ Kate Motaung.com 

I'm quitting the routine of Church

My Sunday looks a lot like yours.
The outfit is never quite right then I get toothpaste on my shirt (just me?)
The kids are arguing about cereal or legos or the pretend game they've just changed the rules to
No one can find the match to the missing shoe
We should have left five minutes ago but he doesn't have a coat and she can't find her Bible
Rushed and tired, a balance of coffee and Jesus keep me going
But Sunday is not restful and this busy often steals the holy from the Sabbath He intended for me

"Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on this day His creation was complete and He rested.  So remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart and keeping it holy."
--Genesis 2:3 & Exodus 20:8--

God didn't need to rest
But He knew I would
So He took a day and made it different than the rest
Holy
Set apart
Different
Revered
A time for me, for us
Not to be selfish, but to slow down
To worship, to Relish and to Relinquish

A time for being known
Because no one want to be anonymous [all the time]
Called by name, Comforted and Challenged

It's a time to know
Know the God of the universe,
His creativity, His heart, His peculiar, and His love

A time to be overwhelmed by the love of a Savior
Because we are the debtor, the lost, the guilty, the captive
And He came anyway
To pay the debt, save the lost, erase guilt, and rescue

A time for family
Because that's what we become at the foot of the cross
Brothers and Sisters in baptism through the blood of Jesus
Devoted to, Accepting, and Accountable

It's a time for fellowship
Relationship that breaks the boundaries of okay
Food that feeds the heart and the soul

A time to commune,
Surrounded by the presence of God
Because He is even when He is beyond our understanding
Together, Trusting, and  Hoping

A time to serve
Because here your gifts are an expression of His heart and His Spirit
Your time, your talent, offer it worship
It's right to give here, Welcomed, and Needed

It's a time to see and be seen
As we are
Broken, falling short, trying hard, but never good enough
Covered in love and poured out grace
Human
Holy set apart for a purpose

Church shouldn't be a part of our regular routine
It should be that which shakes our norms and rips apart the ordinary
It's the day we wake up early for
The time we anticipate
The service we savor
The fellowship we linger in
And the love we take with us

So I'm quitting my routine of church
And trading it for what He intended - a day that's more than coffee and Jesus, a day that's wholly different from the rest, and truly holy.

For the love of relinquishing, resting and looking forward to Sunday,

Linking up with

Holley Gerth -Coffee for your  Heart

and Meredith Bernard

Following a Servant

For three years they walked and listened
On dusty streets, crowded hills and over stormy seas they followed
Followed a servant
A servant who was not selective in those he served
A prostitute
A Government official
A thief
A mother
A betrayer
A leper
A doubter
A paralytic
A bunch of fishermen

And he showed them how to live, how to love, how to serve
He showed them God's heart
Then they wrote it all down
And started living it too

JESUS

Innocence for the Guilty

Forgiveness for the Condemned

Second chance for the Liars, stealers, haters, and the good but not good enough

Justice for the Undeserving

Peace for the Aching and the Worried

Promise for the Doubting

Love for the Unloveable

Healing for the Hurting

Ransom for the Prisoner

Knowledge for the Seeking

Hope for the Wandering

LIFE for the Dying

Everyday is a second chance
Because I'll never be good enough
And I need this servant
The world needs Him
Because we're all dying
So I'll love Him because He loved me first, and follow Him with all that I have
Because it's not just eternity you get when you follow
It's Him in the middle of right now too

Judgmental Christian

I sat on top of a mountain
The majesty of creation stretched before me
Pairs of eyes gazed into mine
With quivering knees
A vulnerable heart
And a deep breath
I spoke
I spoke of my selfishness, my pride, my hypocrisy, my failures
Sex, Lies, Separation, Pain, Thoughts of suicide
Beside me A guy lost in porn who almost wasted everything for it
Another whose skepticism lead him into a life of alcohol, drugs and alienation
Beside them
A girl who couldn't accept her body, abused it, and denied real love
Another who masqueraded different version of self to be anyone, anywhere, fake and fractured

 All of us common
 Sharing in our selfishness
Our need for more
Lost in the lifestyles we'd fashioned
Tired And Overcome
We were lost
And in need
Ready to be found
Courageously laying ourselves down
We found freedom in surrender
Truth
Healing
Redemption
Completion
Love
Assurance
And Life

Those eyes that looked into our souls
Those ears that heard our stories
All attached to Christian

Do you know what their response was?
Open arms,
Welcoming us
As sisters and brothers
People with faults
But faults that don't define us
Or dictate our decisions any longer

And my response
Everyday I wake up next to that guy who struggled with porn and we live life together
Unencumbered by our past mistakes,
Not perfect but forgiven
And surrendered to a plan and choices that are greater than we could have imagined
The skeptic we welcome in our home every week
With perspective and patience he is a role model for our son, and teaches him guitar too
The girl who abused her body I call my mentor, and prayer warrior
The fake is my friend, She's whole and 100% herself unwavering

There is no judgement
Only the realization that our choices define us
And when you choose Christ
His love and forgiveness redeem all that you once were
And He is our definition
The ultimate filter for all choices

Who did Jesus love?
What did Jesus say?
How did Jesus live?

Jesus did not leave us a relative or changing truth
He left us a definitive truth
A rock we can build our lives on
And sometimes that means standing up for the things Jesus said
Living differently because that's how Jesus lived
Loving the unloveable because that's who Jesus loved
Being faithful and honest when politically correct would be easier and more accepted

So when you get to the end of yourself and you realize it's empty
When you're tired.
When you're ready
Ready to feel,
Ready to be heard,
Ready to belong,
Ready to be welcomed,
Ready to have peace
Ready to build your life on an immovable foundation

He is waiting
And I'll welcome you

The Plague Of Enough

Serving enough?
Giving enough?
Working enough?
Resting enough?
Loving enough?
Talking enough?
Listening enough?
Compassionate enough?
Doing enough?

And how much is enough?


The question nags at our souls and leaves us feeling inadequate.
There is no answer for enough.
There is always more.

But He came to be enough for us.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." - Romans 8:1-2

Because He is enough
In Him, we too are enough

The plague of enough is one of the world
A world of joy stealing comparison
A world full of judgement clouding pride
And a world full of decisions made in impatience
A world of inadequate circumstances, situations and people
Who desperately need set free from themselves
And immersed in Christ

In this world
We are enough as ourselves in Christ 
Created to be in Him
Free from comparison
Free from pride
Full of long-suffering in a world that is temporary

"He has showed you what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8 

I wonder....

I came across this article posted online in the Kansas City Star
Side Note: It is a sad but true reality that the majority of my news input is found on Facebook
In the above article a furloughed employee is quoted as saying:
"We didn't create the government or the programs we work on.  HUD doesn't get lots of attention, but we help keep roofs over the heads of millions of senior citizens, handicapped folks and kids."
And that's true.
This man didn't create HUD,
Neither did my father-in-law (also furloughed) create the EPA
I would venture a guess most people accepted jobs they had a passion for
Helping people, sustaining the environment.
At least I hope that's the motivation.
Caring, Meeting needs.

Typically the government and it's issues don't spur me to conversation
I would even describe myself, at times, as politically apathetic
That statement has it's own set of issues, but I'm not going to divulge those now.

We have come to this place of dependence and complacency
A place where we turn to a government, and it's programs for help rather than God.
God,
Creator of the Universe - who spoke, spoke the stars into existence
God,
Ruler over all - who establishes Kings and give authority
Who can also destroy kingdoms and establish new
God,
Who sent the true light that gives light to every man into the world
And God,
Who loved us enough to send a Savior to redeem us back to Him

Why do we look anywhere but to Him?
Because we are an impatient people
Seeking the immediate rather than the eternal.
We are a  selfish people
Prone to follow our hearts rather than search for truth.
We are a needy people
In need of redemption and faith
True faith, that dictates our actions, and limits our reactions.

And where is the Church?
Are we living the religion that is acceptable as pure and faultless?
"to look after orphans and widows in their distress"
AND "to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

We can argue regulations, people, natural consequences, justice, societal norms and math.
But are we living it?
Where is the Church?
Are we;
Devoted to the apostles teaching?
Devoted to the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread?
Devoted to prayer?
Are we filled with awe at the miraculous power of God?
Giving to to everyone as he has need?
Are we glad with sincere hearts?

Father you've not been secretive in what you desire.
Where am I?
Do not let me be deceived.
I am a piece of your church a small brick joined to the Cornerstone.
Uniquely purposed and positioned.
Am I living it?  
Is there worldly pollution of my soul?
Again, Father do not let me deceive myself - but spur me on to love and good deeds as I am called
While my body is here, may I be faithful
Faithful to live as a stranger and alien
With a sincere heart, imitating the faith of the leaders who spoke the Word of God, considering the outcome of their way of life.
The outcome is eternal.
Show me how I need to sacrifice the immediate to be the living stone you've called me to be.


Hebrews 13:7,  James 1:27, 1 Peter 2:4-10, Acts 2:42-47, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:22-24, John 3:16, John 1:9, Genesis 1:14-18, Romans 13:1, Luke 1:52, Colossians 1:16, James 2:14-18