Be The Revival: Appointed

Story Time!!!

God had been pestering me for quite some time.  He was really getting annoying.  We moved alot, and EVERY TIME we did, He would impress upon my heart the need to do more in my new neighborhood than just be "neighborly".

He didn't want me to be the girl who gave casseroles to people when they were sick or the girl that people knew not to swear around.

Funny thing...it seems like, as Christians, we feel like we've accomplished much for the advancement of God's Kingdom by being the person people know not to swear around.  I'm judgy.  Its true.

He kept telling me that those things were just being a nice person, but didn't mean much in the scheme of eternity if I did not connect my goodness to Christ.

Okay!  Absolutely!  Here am I, send me!

But...then my babies were small.

But...then it was winter and we never went outside.

But...then I already knew my neighbors and now its just plain awkward to bring up my faith!

Slowly...every so slowly...I forgot.

Evangelism, for me, became like flossing.  Something I KNEW I should do...but just somehow forgot about.

House after house.  State after State.

Meanwhile, God got more and more irritating.  And, yes, God can be irritating...just ask Jonah.

Then, we moved from Michigan to Georgia.  It was sudden and miraculous.  Everything came together so smoothly.

Too smoothly, really.

It dawned on my husband and I that, maybe God wasn't moving us because He wanted George to make more money or for us to get away from the cold.  MAYBE God cared very little about our comfort and  happiness.  MAYBE...we were being appointed.

This is point number two toward Being the Revival....

2.  YOU ARE APPOINTED

How does that change things for you...to think of yourself as appointed?  You don't live in your house because that house was the right price, with a full basement, and a 4th bedroom for guests.

You live in your house because you were appointed to your neighborhood.

You don't have the crazy insane family that you have because your Irish immigrant grandparents met at a country dance in the 1930s and the rest was history.

You have your crazy insane family because you were appointed to it.

You don't have your career because you moved up the corporate ladder and paid your dues.

You were appointed.

You are part of a Strategic and Divine Plan.

God has a task for you.

And that task is more than just raising healthy babies and being the person everyone knows not to swear around.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says

We are, therefore, ambassadors for Christ as though God were making His appeal through us. We plead with you, on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God!"

If you are a Christian.  You are an ambassador.  You are representing God and YOU speak to the world regarding God's appeal for reconciliation.

My Dad (remember him? You will hear from him alot in Be The Revival posts) says it this way:

"If you are a Christian, you ARE an ambassador.  Its just a matter of if you are a good one or not."

UGHHHHHHHHHHHH!  That kills me every time!

It killed me, one night, as I was chopping vegetables in my kitchen.  Just minding my own business, chopping away.

Up to that moment, God was really pressing me hard to reach my neighborhood for Christ.  I was torn up, but too scared to do anything about it!  My pastor could speak on tithing and I would go home convicted that I needed to share my faith with my neighbors.  It was nuts.  God was in relentless pursuit and I deeply resented the struggle.

So...there I was...chopping vegetables.  When all of a sudden, the song "Going Through the Motions" by Matthew West came on the radio.  I'd heard it a million times.  But suddenly, I laid down my knife and my tomato and began to sob.

"'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

That was it.  The irritation and guilt became stronger than my fear! My time as mediocre ambassador was over.  I had been appointed...time to step up to the front lines.

I did very little thinking...or praying (but more on that later!)...I just acted.  I had to act fast before I could change my mind.  I decided the best thing to do would be to start a Bible Study. I made up really pretty flyers.  I canvased my street (sure it was just my street...but its a long street, I swear!).  If people weren't home, I left them in mailboxes.  

I THEN took my HOA phone book and literally cold-called a bunch of people that I did not know but that lived all around me.  I am mortified when I think about it, even as I write about being brave:)  I did not relent!

But do not think about me as this amazing person.  Remember, this took years to accomplish.  I was a total wimp!

That's the thing about realizing that you are appointed, though.  It also means realizing that Someone has appointed you.  Someone thinks you are the best person for the job.  Someone has your back.

Think about it.  An American Ambassador in France.  Paid by the U.S.  In constant communication with the U.S.  Backed by all the power and influence and guns and military and might and distinction of the U.S.  Face it...whatever your view on American foreign policy...if you are a US Ambassador...you have sway.

Remember, point one? Don't Wait 'Til You're Great  Remember that you are ordinary...but God speaks through you.

If you are appointed by God, then you are also equipped by God!  

Once I let go.  Once I realized that fear was not an excuse...that I would always be a little afraid, but that courage comes from accomplishing things in spite of the fear.  Once that happened, God ignited a fire in me that was not my own.  

For weeks I prepared.  Then, the Friday of my first Bible Study came!  I was new to the neighborhood and didn't know what or who to expect, really.  I made cookies.  I situated everything in my front room.  I had all my notes and worksheets.  I had people praying for me.  

The rest was up to God.  

And boy, did He make "the rest" SO much more than I bargained for!

To...Be...Continued...

Be The Revival: Don't Wait "Til You're Great

I sat down today and stared at a blank screen, completely unsure what to type or where to start.

Thank goodness for pushy (and loving!)  friends...one in particular...who has said enough is enough and I need to write something!

Let's start with a pep talk.  More than anything, Christians need pep talks in order to stop hoping for Revival and to start Being the Revival.

The very first thing I have learned is this:

1.  DO NOT WAIT 'TIL YOU'RE GREAT

I bring your attention now to a passage in scripture that was first shared with me at SEMP (Son-life Evangelism Missions Project)...a week-long intensive training course in Chicago that changed my life.

Acts 4:13

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus."

 To really get this passage, you need the set up.  Read Acts 4:1-12.  John and Peter were preaching and got arrested for healing a man in the name of Jesus.  The Sadducees...a very scary, very powerful sect of Judaism...brought John and Peter into their midst for questioning.

This was not an organized American Court system . This was men, in a circular auditorium, seated on ancient bleachers, looking down on John and Peter both figuratively and literally.  (Now, this next part is from my Dad....a very wise biblical scholar) The prisoners were expected to face their questioner.  SO, the Sadducees would do rapid-fire questioning from opposite sides of the circle in order to intentionally confuse their victims/prisoners.  It was a terrible position for Peter and John.

But Peter gets bold...

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ⁹ If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’^{[a] 12} Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Boo...flippin'...yah!!!

Peter stood up the to Sadducees.  Not only that, he pointed the finger back at THEM!  If there was a sound system there, I imagine Peter throwing his mic on the ground and strutting off the stage while "We Will Rock You" played in the background.

"Such a great man!" you say.  

"Oh, I could share my faith if I had THAT kind of courage!" you exclaim.

But wait.  Hold on.  Its not just his courage!  That's only half of it!

The Sadducees...

1.  "Saw the courage of Peter and John"

BUT they also...

2.  "realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men"

Their ordinary-ness was their secret weapon!!

Then what?   Did the Sadducees get super impressed with them and ask for their autograph?  Did they comment amongst themselves that they were obviously interviewing true greatness?

NO!

"They were astonished and took note that these men...

had

been

with

Jesus."

You feel a prompting in your heart.  You KNOW what you have to do.  You KNOW you need to view your neighbors, your friends, your family as people in need of truth and love.  But you are so scared!

"Oh, God!", you cry, "I am SO ordinary!"

"Oh, Lord!", you cry, "I am SO unschooled in how to do this!"

Perfect.

I can't tell you how many times, when talking to someone, the thought has popped into my head, "Ugh, I'm screwing this up.  I'm accidently making them an Athiest.  If my Dad were here instead of me, this person would get what I am trying to say."

No.  Wrong.  Total Lie.

If my Dad was supposed to talk to a lady on a flight from Amsterdam, God would have put my Dad in that seat.  But He did not.

If God wanted your pastor to share his faith with your neighbor, He would've had HIM fall in love with your house, get a good deal on it, and move in.  If God wanted anyone else in the universe to touch the lives in your sphere of influence, He would have done so.

He does not want anyone else in the entire universe.

He wants you.

And, here's the secret...Peter wasn't even all that brave.  Not on his own anyway.

He didn't whip up some courage before speaking.  He didn't dig deep and become a successful orator on his own merit.

No.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Hey, you have the Holy Spirit!  I have the Holy Spirit!

Your excuses are just excuses.  You literally have all the resources of heaven...including the Counselor and Helper.

Let me leave you with a pre-Holy Spirit passage, but one that reminds me why I can be ordinary and unschooled and still risk great things for God.

Exodus 4: 10-12

The Moses said, "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent.  Neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow in speech and tongue.  The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now, go!  I will help you to speak and will teach you what to say."

Don't wait 'til you're great.  It'll never happen.

God wants you ordinary and unschooled so that people will notice HIM not YOU!

On top of that...HE will give you the words.

Honestly, if God is in it and the Holy Spirit is working through you, you could stare at the person, throw up, then walk away, and God would use it.

I strongly suggest you write these verses on 3x5 cards like I did many years ago, and let them be a constant pep talk for you.

Now "Go"...as God says.  And Don't Wait 'Til You're Great.

Globes Fashion 2013

I can't decide whether to take this from a "This is what I would wear to pick up my Best Lead Actress in a Musical/Comedy award" angle or from a "This is what I think people will wear" angle.  So, it might be a little bit of both.

Here's the thing about the Globes.  Its the homely sister of the ravishing Academy Awards.  Its cool and all, and has a great personality, but you don't pull out all the stops until Oscar Night.    Its important to look good but you don't want to peak early.

STILL...I'm calling dibs...even though it shouldn't be worn until the Academy Awards...

Oscar de la Renta, Fall 2013

I find this dress to be completely breathtaking and a lovely departure from the mermaid and column dresses we see constantly.  Its exquisite.  I will need to have the worlds best spray tan because my pink skin is not a fan of yellow but its my favorite.

But, if I'm going understated...

Caroline Herrara, Fall 2013

 This is very Michelle Williams, to me.  Or..

Oscar de la Renta, Fall 2013

I'm a sucker for Oscar.  My grandma is a classy broad who owns several "Oscars".  They are just as beautiful today as they were in 70s when she wore them.

I like these pretty drapey things, too...

Pucci, Fall 2013

Jason Wu, Fall 2013

Helmut Lang, Fall 2012

Zac Posen, Fall 2013

 

 

 

Or, since Sofia Vergara will be there and will need something to wear...

Those are both Zac Posens.

I'm so tired of the mermaid thing.  INSTEAD lets move on to classic dresses with a little twist.

Pucci, Fall 2013

Prapal Gurung, Fall 2013

Caroline Herrara, Fall 2013

Jason Wu, Fall 2013

Oscar de la Renta, Fall 2013

My boyfriend, Oscar, Fall 2013

Okay, I've just decided to save my yellow Oscar for the actual Oscars.  I'll wear the one shouldered number instead.  Wish me luck!