Living Unfiltered for God

In these strange times in which we are living, “church” looks a lot different these days. As we’re told we cannot meet in groups larger than 10 – and even that is discouraged – we must find new ways to stay connected to our church and our friends. I am blessed in that our church, Christ Community Church in Cumming, GA, is being very creative and intentional about keeping us all connected. One of the things we’ve started doing is reading the Book of Acts together, as a church, albeit on our own. The connection is knowing that over the course of the next two weeks, we will all be reading the same couple of chapters every day. Along the way, we’ve been encouraged to share any insights and revelations that come about. This piece has been birthed out of that encouragement... In Acts Chapter 3 (part of yesterday’s reading) we come across the following situation… “Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to be...

In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy about whether we should say, “Merry Christmas” or, “Happy Holidays” this time of year. Unfortunately, like so many things these days, it has become a divisive, political issue. Let me say from the outset, I’m solidly in the “Merry Christmas” camp. That said, I recognize that, at least from a purely religious standpoint, it does not apply to everyone. I have Jewish friends for whom, “Happy Hanukkah” would be more appropriate. But, also non-believing friends who, while they may not be followers of Jesus, still celebrate Christmas in its secular form (if that can really be a thing.) And of course, many others that fall across the spectrum. I’d like to offer here, though, a different way to think about all of this. Will you give me a few more minutes? Sitting in church this morning, as our Pastor was talking about Jesus being the fulfillment of certain Old Testament prophecies, I was struck with the following thought, “ Don’t just s...

Over the last few weeks, our church has been doing a sermon series called "Wonder". It has been especially impactful to me, during this season of Advent, to "re-remember", if you will, all of those things that bring me wonder. Those things that just make me stop and say, "Wow, would you look at that?" Sometimes it's something I see, other times it's a situation, still others it's a memory that is brought to mind. I wanted to use this space today to record just a few of these wonder-filled moments for me over the last few weeks. I would love it if you would share some of yours in the comments, as well. Where have I found wonder lately?... ... I've found it in nature. The picture below was taken of the sunset on my way home from work the other day. It still doesn't quite capture the vividness of the colors. I saw and "wondered" at how God just shows off sometimes with His beauty in nature. When you look closely, it's alm...

I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to hear something more than once for it to actually sink in. And when it comes to sermons, if I hear two messages that are very similar, yet from different sources and places, it really manages to get my attention! It's like my spirit stands up and takes notice and says, "Are you listening? Do you hear this? God's trying to tell you something here!" This happened to me recently with a talk I heard while we were at camp and then another a little over a week week later at my home church. While the two pastors that delivered the messages know each other, I'm sure they didn't coordinate their talks just for me! The theme of both talks was the importance of "digging holes and ditches", in faith, for the future and for those who come behind us. The first message was delivered by Jason Baumgardner at Florida Family CFO . Jason B. was speaking from Psalm 84:5-7 about going through dry places. The ma...

(This post was partly written several weeks ago. Since then, it has been sitting in it's draft form... waiting for a piece that I was missing. Waiting for something - I didn't know what. This morning in church, I discovered the "what". I am grateful that I have a church, a pastor, and this morning in particular, a pastor's wife, that are obedient to the Spirit's leading and promptings. Thank you Tiffany.) Here we are, still at the beginning of a new year. A new year that no doubt started with lots of promise. If you're like me, you tend to look at the start of a new year with a blank slate... You look at all the wonderful things that God might have in store for you in the next 12 months! But maybe, there have already been trials. Maybe, that beautifully bright future has already begun to be somewhat tainted by events that you would rather have avoided. This isn't meant to be one of those dark and depressing posts about how rough life can be... qui...

Several evenings ago I attended a memorial service for a friend's husband. I didn't realize it but he was 11 days younger than me. That gets your attention. As I was waiting to pay my respects to my friend, now a widow with twin 3-year-old daughters, I thought about how they handled the last couple of years through his illness. They navigated it with strength, courage, and an unwavering faith. There was always a subtle confidence that came through in every update of their journey. And now, that part of the journey over, as I spoke with my friend another confidence was exhibited. That of knowing where her husband was - celebrating with Jesus in Heaven - and knowing that whatever future may be in store for her and her girls, God has it all under control.  This is exactly what our pastor was referring to in his message last Sunday when he taught us that we must have, " confidence, even when we don't have clarity. " The same confidence that Jonathan had when attack...

How easy is it for you to trust someone? Do you automatically do so, or does the trust have to be earned, or built? What about with God? Does He have to earn it? How do you grow your trust with Him? What types of things grow your trust in the Lord?  I think these questions are pertinent, because if we are going to truly live an "unfiltered" life for God, we have to learn to trust Him. Really trust Him. Trust Him with a "more than we trust anyone or anything in the world" kind of trust. He's going to ask us to do things, to go places and to say things that may not be comfortable. For us to be able to do them, we'll have to trust that it will all work out OK.  So how do we make this happen? Our pastor offered up some clues regarding this last Sunday during his message on  Delighting in the Lord . He said something that really made a lot of sense... That our faith starts with obedience, but then it moves to trust. That the best way to increase your trust ...