"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."

Lately I'm so aware of how the gospel can be offensive.

Part of me really wants to think that if only people could see Jesus for who he truly is, nothing could stop them from loving him. But then I remember that he walked the earth, and people did see him, unhindered, for who he is. And many hated him, and maybe worse, many were apathetic toward him. Even after he rose from the dead. He also assured his followers that people would hate them.

So, who am I to think that if I could only give people a clearer picture of Jesus, they would surely embrace him? I am called to give people a clear picture of Jesus. But I need to let go of my expectations of how they will respond. And I certainly should not measure myself by people's responses.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do.

Natalie shared this with me, and I love it:

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” (Ecc 9:10)

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,” refers to works that are possible. There are many things which our heart findeth to do which we never shall do. It is well it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful, we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart, and talking of them; we must practically carry out “whatsoever our hand findeth to do.” One good deed is more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we “find to do” day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God. Endeavour now to bring forth fruit. Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find to do-”do it with thy might.” Do it promptly; do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do to-morrow as if that could recompense for the idleness of to-day. No man ever served God by doing things to-morrow. If we honour Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do to-day. Whatever you do for Christ throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little slurred labour, done as a matter of course now and then; but when you do serve him, do it with heart, and soul, and strength.

But where is the might of a Christian? It is not in himself, for he is perfect weakness. His might lieth in the Lord of Hosts. Then let us seek his help; let us proceed with prayer and faith, and when we have done what our “hand findeth to do,” let us wait upon the Lord for his blessing. What we do thus will be well done, and will not fail in its effect.

-Charles Spurgeon

Talking with a visible Someone.

He had a face that could be looked at.

Eyes you could look into.

Here, on earth.

God with us.

The Word, wrapped up in flesh.

Spiritual refreshment at Harvest.

Today we are in the Chicago suburbs with Keith's family. We worshiped at Harvest - so edifying. Today's message was about how we have no ability to live the Christian life outside of Christ living his life in us: the Holy Spirit. Here's the intro video from the sermon:

Lord Change Me from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

If you're looking for some spiritual refreshment, I would encourage you to check out the entire sermon.

Remembering.

I just finished reading the story of Gideon. It's full of human nature mixed with God's power. But the book of Judges is making me mad. God delivers Israel over and over again. And they keep whoring after other gods; after wood and stone and metal. After Satan.

They never deserve the deliverance God gives them. And they always forget about it, almost immediately.

I'm so mad about it.

But it's so true. It's so true of the human heart. God is so good to us. And we forget. We whore after other gods. And he waits, patiently. Then we get overtaken, and cry out to him for help. And he delivers us. We say thanks and feel great, then go whoring again. The cycle goes on.

That's why this concept of remembering what God has done is all over the Old Testament. That's how we escape the cycle of Judges. When things are great we remember who is our Deliverer. When things are terrible we remember who is our Deliverer.

We write it on our faces and on the doorposts of our houses so we don't forget. We talk about it when we're at home and when we're out, when we lie down and when we get up. We bind the words on our fingers and around our necks. We write them on the tablets of our hearts. We find the words and we eat them. We eat the scroll. We eat his body. We drink his blood. It's our only alternative to whoring.

An update on our lives in the Natural State.

The Natural State.

Northwest Arkansas is a neat area. With a population of around a half million it is fairly metropolitan, although most of it is new growth caused by the mega-corporations based here: Walmart, Tyson, and JB Hunt, to name a few. The campus of Ecclesia, where we live and work, feels very rural, but any store, restaurant, or entertainment we could want is within 20 minutes of our house. As you drive down the road you'll pass a strip mall, then a gated community, then cattle in a pasture, then a mobile home, then a chicken farm, then another strip mall - it's all mixed together. So different than Illinois, where the lines between urban, suburban, rural, and small town seemed very defined.

Ecclesia is a tiny college. It was started as a YWAM base in 1975, and got accredited as a four-year college in 2005. There are 105 full-time students taking classes on campus. There are another 45 part-time students, and then about 25 students in the Ecclesia Online program.

Keith and I are so thankful to each have full-time jobs: with the (modest) salaries we're making we should be completely debt-free within a year, if the Lord wills. My official title is Assistant Director of Financial Aid, which was bestowed upon me after working a few weeks, and I take it as an honor (note the absence of to the). However, my boss does the jobs of about seven different people, so while he is available to answer my questions and help me with unique situations, I am essentially running the financial aid office myself.

I'm really enjoying working in an office; the administrator in me who loves order and clarity and organization is blossoming. Clearer boundaries between work and personal life have been a welcomed change. It's not hard to leave financial aid at the office (although, the workaholic in me does try to bring it home from time to time). There are systematic changes that I am hoping to implement in the financial aid process at Ecclesia, but this semester has been about getting through the giant learning curve and keeping my head above water. It's been very challenging/frustrating/overwhelming at times. I've done tons of research and self-training. But, again, I am thankful.

The soccer boys at a rest stop on the way to a game.

Keith has just finished his season as the head coach of the first ever Ecclesia soccer team. He had about two months over the summer to create an entire soccer program from nothing; from recruiting a team, to scheduling games, to finding places to play...everything. With the help of the Lord, he did an incredible job. He made the wise decision to make it a club team instead of a varsity team for the first year, which allowed him to include guys from the surrounding community, as well as students who may not have been eligible or able to commit the time to a varsity team. He has a great team of precious young guys. They pulled out a remarkable four wins their first season ever.

Keith and I are observing some patterns among small organizations. We have a number of frustrations here and are praying through how to deal with them. But we are thankful. And you know what? When I pray for things here, God has been answering speedily. I have to remember that and stay encouraged.

We have become a part of a wonderful church called Mosaic. It's a congregation that meets on Saturday nights, and it falls under the umbrella of Fellowship Bible Church NWA. It is a huge organization that runs in an excellent, strategic fashion, which brings a nice balance to our weeks. Now that the first soccer season is over, we're excited to get more involved in ministries there and join a small group.

I will end it there. Soon I hope to share more specifically about what God has been doing in me these last few months.

Talking with an invisible Someone.

A quiet time takes faith. To stop all other activities to sit down and have a conversation with an invisible person requires faith.


Is he really real? Does he really speak? Does he really speak to you? When you speak to him does he really hear you? Would he really respond to something you say?


That you can quiet all other noises for the purpose of interacting with this invisible person says something of your faith. Quieting noises to read a book doesn't require much faith. But looking to commune with your invisible friend does indeed.


Be encouraged when you enter into a time of stillness with God. Faith got you there. Act on it. And receive the rewards of that.

"whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." bible.us/Heb11.6.ESV

Popcorn: so hot right now.

The popcorn business seems out of control. And we have just eaten it up. Why all the ridiculous kitchen appliances? Why all the microwavable varieties in expensive and wasteful packaging? Not to mention paying like $4 for a bag of novelty pre-popped corn at the store?

During all the purging I was doing surrounding our move, I got rid of our "air popper" on the hunch that it was absolutely unnecessary. Man, was I right.  All along, all we needed was a pan, some oil, and popcorn kernels. We were in awe last night. We were so excited. We're never going back.

We put the pan on the burner and turned on the heat, poured in some olive oil, poured in enough kernels to cover the bottom, put the lid on and waited. It was magic. Towards the end as the pan filled, the popcorn pushed up the lid a little - classic! I stirred some salt and garlic powder into melted butter and we poured that over the top. It was delicious (even before adding the butter). And I'm very excited to try making different flavors.

Now we have one more item we can buy in bulk and keep stocked in our kitchen (virtually endless shelf life) for an anytime snack that is easy, healthy, cheap, and super fun. Popcorn: what a fantastic idea on God's part.

Consumed. There is no middle ground.

Back in June I had some things churning in me. I was seriously struggling with something in my life and God ministered to me in that. I had these thoughts about this process that I'm seeing repeated in my life, so I decided to talk out my thoughts in front of my cell phone in a video (maybe a result of Keith being away).

I cut out about 5 minutes from the beginning of the video of me explaining how I tend to get completely consumed by problems - over and over in my life. And God sets me free, but then I end up getting consumed by something else. So, the problem isn't the things that consume me; the problem is me and my willingness to be consumed (as the pattern shows). But God is faithful to heal me and set me free and pull me up out of the pit. And I go on from there to form my main idea:

A beautiful response.

Beautiful, graceful, honest response by Bill Hybels to Howard Schults, CEO of Starbucks, after Howard canceled his speaking engagement at Willow Creek. This seems so much more Christian than engaging in a cultural war.

Housewarming/Birthday Party: Everyone's invited!

Hello friends!

We moved to Arkansas this summer! We're renting a house on the campus of Ecclesia College, where we're both working. Keith is the new soccer coach at Ecclesia & Lindsay is working in Financial Aid.

We wanted to open up our home to old friends & new friends to see our new place & celebrate Keith's birthday (8/26). We understand that most of you from back in Illinois won't be able to make it, but we still wanted to extend the invitation. :)

PRESENCE as PRESENTS: no gifts please!

Shalom!

Lindsay & Keith

"As to the Lord"

We finished our S.O.S. Ephesians study this morning.

That is the Bible study I host at the cafe on Tuesday mornings (I don't lead it; this lady named Susan does. I just play hostess, making scones & coffee, etc. for the small crowd of older women who come).

Right before starting that study we had just finished a sermon series, coincidentally, on Ephesians at church.

A few months before that, God gave me still deeper understanding of submission to my husband.

And recently God has been rocking my understanding of submission to my boss.

Get this: In Ephesians (& elsewhere in the New Testament), I am told to submit to both my husband and my boss...
 (wait for it...)
...as to the Lord.

Regardless of whether they're being obedient to God.


But the zinger is the "as-to-the-Lord" part.

Doesn't that mess with your mind a little?

It does mine. But in an exciting way. I get excited about stuff in the Bible that seems really counter-cultural. Almost because I'm told to be deviant. I feel like "submission" is a swear word, kind of.

It excites me because it's deviant and it's simpler.

I mean, it's super-hard to submit when your husband or boss is doing stuff they should not be doing, or not doing stuff they should be doing. That's for sure. BUT, it's simpler not carrying around all that disgruntled-mind-always-churning-about-how-and-why-things-should-change. I'm responsible before God for one thing: submit as to the Lord. They're responsible for the running of things in a way that pleases God and treating me really well. Their assignment seems a lot more complex & heavy.

(Well, and I know that because I'm a boss, so I'm on the other end of it in other relationships.)

But in my relationships with my boss & husband, my end is honestly pretty simple & reaps GREAT reward. So for the joy set before me, it's easy to do.

And any opportunity I get to be on the somehow submissive/humbler end of a relationship, I love it because it's what Jesus did. That he chose to come down from glory & lower himself to wash the dirt off our ungrateful, lazy, foolish, arrogant feet... wow. And I have these clear, straightforward opportunities to be like him in that! It's almost unfair.

Man, do I sound sarcastic when I say these things? Because I'm totally sincere! I love it!

My eyes have been opened to it in a new way recently. It's blowing my mind & I love it. Another paradox of this life of faith: in submission there is freedom & joy. We know that's true with submission to God...then he goes and tells us that we're to do it with husbands & bosses, as if we're submitting to him!

I feel deviant. In a really right way.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Now that I'm Twittering, I find myself having the desire to share more than 140 characters on a regular basis. Will this mean blogging again? Perhaps.

I am finding over and over that while I have many interests, I have only one passion. I may get into something for a while, but I eventually see that I am nothing; that all pursuits of my flesh are worthless at best, and terrifying at worst.

I'm at Coffee Fest and it's really cool. And this is my trade. I want to develop my skills & knowledge. I want to do it well. But this will never be my consuming passion.

In my job I want to put out a quality, consistent product, have great customer service, a happy, hardworking, competent staff, and grow the business. But none of those things are my consuming passion.

I'm afraid I have gotten to the point in my journey where I am hopelessly lost in him. The idea of loving anything more than him, of pursuing anything more than  him ... kind of terrifies me. All I have to offer to anyone...is him. Nothing makes sense but his way. I can comprehend other ways, but they seem desperately futile.

If I were to leave him, I would have to relearn how to live. I know nothing outside of him anymore.

I am in him.

Whichever way you're going, you choose it & you work for it, till you are doing it without even trying. Till you're a slave to it.

I am his slave.

And I love it. And he is my consuming passion. Nothing else can ever satisfy me.

And where I used to say that as a desire, I say it now as a reality. Even when I try to find satisfaction elsewhere, I can't.

I think this is something like maturity. I am utterly consumed.