a friend of mine found this poem online and i stole it from her. i don’t know who the author is or when it was written or anything about it really… other than it’s really awesome and spot on.

when you tell people you’re a Christian, what is their reaction? do they slowly start to back away? do they look at you like you’ve gone mad? do they show concern on their face like they’re not good enough to be around you? are they interested in obtaining the grace you’ve found?

when I tell people that i’m a Christian, i want them to look at my life and see hope and peace and love and joy. i don’t want them to be terrified that i’m going to ram my beliefs down their throat. but i want to be the person who is willing to share their faith at any given point in time when an opportunity arises.

I Am A Christian

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting “I’m clean living’.”
I’m whispering “I was lost,
Now I’m found and forgiven.”

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
And need Christ to be my guide.

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible
But God believes I am worth it.

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His Name.

When I say… “I am a Christian”
I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner
Who received God’s good grace somehow!

Author Unknown

thoughts on this poem?
anything you’d like to add to it?
what is your favorite Christian/inspiration poem?

The following is a confidential report on several candidates being considered for our church leader.

Noah: Former pastorate of 120 years with not even one convert. Prone to unrealistic building projects.

Joseph: A big thinker, but a braggart; believes in dream-interpreting and has a prison record.

Moses: A modest and meek man, but poor communicator - even stuttering at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge.

David: The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor’s wife.

Solomon: Great preacher, but our parsonage would never hold all those wives.

Elijah: Prone to depression. Collapses under pressure.

Elisha: Reported to have lived with a single widow while at his former church.

Jeremiah: Emotionally unstable, alarmist, negative, always lamenting things; reported to have taken a long trip to bury his underwear on the bank of a foreign river.

Isaiah: On the fringe? Claims to have seen angels in church. Has trouble with his language.

Jonah: Refused God’s call into ministry until he was forced to obey by getting swallowed up by a great fish. He told us the fish later spit him out on the shore near here. We hung up.

Melchizedek: Great credentials at current work place, but where does this guy come from? No information on his resume about former work records. Every line about parents was left blank and he refused to supply a birth date.

John: Says he is a Baptist, but definitely doesn’t dress like one. Has slept in the outdoors for months on end, has a weird diet, and provokes denominational leaders.

Peter: Arrogant, brash, and lacking self control. Often speaks without thinking and claims to have walked on water.

Paul: Has a long record of torchering and murdering people. Physically impaired, and claims to have actually heard THE actual, audible voice of God.

Jesus: Befriends prostitutes, hangs out with publicans, and bashes religious leaders. Often wanders off into the mountains or quiet gardens. Claims to be three people all at once – seems a bit schizophrenic.

I wonder which of the people on this list we would have turned away from our churches? Who would we have deemed worthy or unworthy to serve Christ? Who would we have denied time to preach in our church’s pulpit?

I’m glad God can see through all the rubble and mistakes and use a person regardless of his past.

Can you think of any others that could be added to this list?
How would you describe them?

So instead of what I was originally going to post, I decided to upload a new “music video” (ish) I made several months back. It’s rough, poor quality, terrible sound, amature singing and piano playing, and one very old picture of myself. ha.

Anywho, it’s the words of the song that really matter… everything else is secondary. The song is called “Count Me” — and I’m not sure who wrote it. So give it a listen and hopefully your ears won’t hurt too bad at the end. ;]

Oh, and while the song’s playing in the background, you could always go back and read last years V-Day post titled “Mucho amore” where I talked about being a blushing bride.

By the way, Happy Valentines Day to everyone! even to any single people out there — go buy yourself some dark chocolate. buy some for me while you’re at it. ha. ;]

Tell me… how do you plan to spend today’s holiday?
If you had the choice, would you rather receive (or give) chocolate, flowers, a nice dinner, a simple card, or some bling?

What I never imagined would happen is that it would attract such an audience as it has. people from all over the world, of all different ages and walks of life, of all different faiths have visited this humble little site.

In turn, my faithfulness as a writer has diminished. My promises as an author have dwindled away. My commitment as a daily host has basically vanished.

Why…? Because life happened.

I’ve been so busy with living my life that I haven’t had time to share whats going on in my life. Between church, and school, and work, and family, and friends, and homework, and my health, and everything in-between… I’ve literally been on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

So please don’t think it’s because of you. Please don’t think I don’t care about you all… because I do. Really. I’ve just been forced to prioritize everything — and since blogging isn’t a source of income or a requirement for school, it’s sort of taken a backseat to everything else going on in my life right now.

in short… It’s not you; it’s me.

Geez, I feel like I just broke up with you all. how depressing…

So tell me… Whats going on on your world? Surely something new and exciting is going on in your lives these days. :]

Oh! And share a link to one of your favorite recent blog posts below (either something you read lately, or something you wrote.)

Have an awesome day, you fantastic people! ;]

in the words of Pastor Mark Driscoll, “clean out your own lumber yard!”  which is his fancy way of paraphrasing Luke 6:39-42.

anywho, give this video a watch then leave your thoughts…

thoughts?
do you agree or disgree?
did he leave anything out?

so after two trips to the emergency room, they decided to admit me for a 24-hour stay, which then turned into a 60-hour stay. they pumped I.V. meds into me 24 hours a day. eventually the swelling started to go down a little and the redness started to fade a little.

one doctor expressed concern that what i had might be MRSA. they did do a culture of the spot, but i won’t get the results back for a few days.

finally, yesterday evening they decided to release me from the hospital and send me on my merry way. i have never been so excited to see my own room, lay on my own bed, hug my own pillow, or turn on my own TV.

speaking of TV… i watched more national geographic, animal planet, and discovery channel in those 60 hours than i ever care to admit. which, technically, i just did. whatever.

over the last day or so i’ve developed this nasty cold/sinus congested thing, so i’m feeling pretty miserable at the moment — can’t breathe, congested, drainage, bad headaches, little appetite. blah.

anywho, so that’s how i’ve been spending my time over the past week. it’s been a real picnic. ;]

thank you to those of you who have been praying for me. i really appreciate it.

i hope you all are doing well and staying healthy!

i seriously think you’re going to love this video – especially if you like David Crowder, John Piper, and Matt Chandler.

give it a listen and leave your thoughts below afterwards.

so you think your spiritual failures break His heart…?

so you think you can’t share your testimony without being a hypocrite…?

so you think the guilt you feel is from God…?

i want to share something with you that i learned earlier this week, and it may just change the way you think. it changed the way i think anyways. as i stood in the doorway of a co-worker i often have spiritual conversations with, he told me about a book he just finished reading – “52 Lies Heard In Church Every Sunday“ by Steve McVey.

rather than try to explain it in my own words, i’m going to write out the conversation we had (actually, i let him do most of the talking).

me: i guess i just feel like i always let God down. like He expects more of me, but i’m just a disappointment…

him: is that what you think? you think your shortcomings, your failures, your sin is a disappointment to God…?

me: well… isn’t it though…?

him: heather, you could never disappoint God, regardless of what you do or say. because in order to disappoint God means you caught Him off guard and did something He didn’t think you would do. heather, He knows exactly what you’re going to do before it’s ever a thought in your mind! see, before you were ever born He knew ever choice you would ever make; He knew every road you would walk down; He knew it all! you absolutely cannot disappoint God!

me: but doesn’t He expect things of us…? doesn’t He expect us to try to be the best we can be…?

him: sure, He desires us to grow in grace and mirror the life of Christ, but when we fall short He doesn’t look at you and say: “you idiot! i expected more from you! I’m so disappointed in you right now!” no… He knew what the outcome of that situation would be from the beginning, so when you fall short He’s not caught off guard or surprised in any way.

me: what you’re saying makes sense… i’ve just had a whole different way of thinking about it in the past than this…

him: let me give you an example. let’s say you’re my wife and i asked you to go back to college and pursue a degree and you agreed to do it. if, halfway through the degree, you decided to quit and approached me one afternoon to tell me you dropped out of school, would i be disappointed in you? sure i would be. BUT, let’s look at it from another perspective. if i asked you to go back to college and pursue a degree and you agreed to do it, but told me there was a possibility you would never finish and graduate. if, halfway through the degree, you did indeed drop out of college, would i be disappointed in you? no i wouldn’t, because i knew ahead of time that you weren’t sure you were going to follow through with it to the end. see, God already knows the end from the beginning, so when you say you’re gonna do something (or not do something) and don’t follow through, He already knew that’s how it was going to end so He’s not surprised; and, therefore, He’s not disappointed.

me: hm. that’s simple, but yet deep at the same time…

him: just know that you could never disappoint God in any way. He knows everything about you and every choice you will ever make. He knows every thought that will run through your mind, every word that will exit your mouth, and every sin you will ever commit. and still He loves you and thinks you’re awesome. and that guilt you feel when you fall short? it’s not from the Holy Spirit… it’s from a spirit… but not the Holy one. you’re not a disappointment – never have been or ever will be in the eyes of God. your His.

i’ve been learning oceans of stuff lately, and i’m thankful for Christian co-workers who are willing to take time out of their busy schedule to help me in my (ever-struggling) Christian walk.

i’m just curious what your thoughts are on the above conversation…

do you think our sin disappoints God, or do you agree with my co-worker…?
has anyone read the book “52 Lies Heard In Church Every Sunday”…? if yes, did you recommend it?

i think i had Him figured all wrong though, to a point. see, i always pictured Jesus as merciful and gracious, but having a secret agenda. i always thought of Him as loving and kind, but expecting something in return. i always believed him to be wonderful and perfect, but demanding and legalistic. and, in my mind, he was allowed to be all of those things if He so chose to be, because He is, after all, God.

but i was wrong about Him. not that that will come as a surprise to you.

remember that note i wrote a few months back titled “i don’t want my Jesus.” …? in that note i said the following:

“i don’t want my Jesus to be someone who spends all His time with the publicans and pharisees. i want my Jesus to be someone who’s willing to get down in the dirt to show a sinner how much He loves them. i want Him to be the one who steadies the prostitute as she rises to her feet just after washing His feet with her tears and hair. i want Him to be the man dying on the cross while still having enough compassion to forgive someone who’s done Him wrong.”

i didn’t know then that the Jesus i wanted was actually who Jesus really is. or maybe i did know it, but i wouldn’t allow myself to see it.

in my devotions i’ve been reading about all the miracles He performed. actually, the Bible only mentions a few of them specifically. but then i’ll read a blanket statement like “they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick” (Matt. 8:16), and i have to wonder: how many is “many”…? how many is “all”…? because if i heard that someone was in town that could heal people of whatever ailed them, i’d be breaking people out of nursing homes and kidnapping hospital patients, and making house calls to invalids to let them know there was hope for them.

i can’t imagine that “many” and “all” are other words for… say… like 15 or 20 people. i picture hundreds — if not thousands — of people lining up along the side of the road hoping Jesus will heal them and make them whole again.

and then there was the aspect of how Jesus dealt with the haughty and high-minded in the community. he was kind! the only time he ever used harsh words were when He dealt with the “religious rulers” and pharisees. you know, those people who were supposed to be good examples of what Christians should be, but instead they were failing. epicly. (i don’t think “epicly” is a real word…)

i’ve watched preachers and “mature christians” use harsh and crude language when talking to lost people, then justify it with “well, Jesus talked this way sinners, so we can to.”

news flash: Jesus did lots of things. that doesn’t mean you can do them too.

Jesus healed the sick. Jesus was fully God while fully man. Jesus forgave sins. Jesus brought people back to life. Jesus brought unbreakable hope to the hopeless. Jesus became the Lamb that was slain. Jesus was perfect.

so while Jesus did speak harshly at times to the pharisees, He never spoke harshly to those who were lost. how do you win someone over by treating them like dirt and speaking to them like they’re beneath you.

remember — speak the truth with love.

love is key. grace is pertinent. mercy is necessary. but love… love is what conquered sin in the first place. who are we to think it won’t still work today?

…thoughts?

This week’s QOTD post is going to be a bit different. There are no right or wrong answers. I just want to hear from you and learn a little about what your past year contained, and what you hope your future year holds.

It doesn’t have to be a huge 25-point list or 4 paragraphs of information – it could be just one or two or five things. Whatever – as little or as much as – you want to share is completely fine.

What did you accomplish this year?
What did you learn from?
What were some of the struggles the Lord brought you through?
Is there anything you wish you would’ve done differently?

Do you have any resolutions/goals you for 2012?