Comfort Is A Satin Lined Coffin

I read a quote once that for the believer, "Comfort is a satin lined coffin."The American Dream is comfort. A happy family. A nice house. A nice yard. A nice dog. Enough money for whatever we want. No struggle. No pain. Most of all, no discomfort.

I think the American Dream has permeated the Church. We want a comfortable Church with all the amenities of a country club. We want the preacher to say inspiring things on Sunday, but nothing too challenging or uncomfortable. We want to follow God, as long as He doesn't ask us to be missionaries in Africa.

We don't want to shake the boat and we don't want anyone else to either.

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, the new song by the Dixie Chicks has really inspired me (politics and such aside). It's not a comfortable song. It's a black and white song. Either you like it or you hate it. They take a stand and require to you take one too.

Oh that the Church would do that! Instead of trying to infiltrate the world, copy the world, lure people in with things that look like the world.

My husband was reading the Smithsonian yesterday and there was a picture of a bombed out church from the 1960's civil rights movement. He turned to me and said, "You know there's really a lot to fight for in this world." Our country may be pretty safe and comfy, but there are SO many people who need to be fought for around the world. Children. Orphans. Widows. Believers. The poor. The hopeless. The opressed.

Could comfort be sin at some point? What can and should we do to fight for those who can't fight for themselves? How can we take a stand?

Inspired By The Dixie Chicks…

The Dixie Chicks, famous for lead singer Natalie Maines untimely and perhaps unpatriotic comments as our country was on the verge of war, have a new album out and the first single give me chills and inspires me to no end.

Mind you, I don't necessarily agree with their point of view, but passion and conviction inspires me and if this new single is anything, it's passionate and full of conviction. Here are a few lines:

I've paid a price and I'll keep paying it

I'm not ready to make nice

I'm not ready to back down

I'm still mad as hell and

I don't have time to go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right

I probably wouldn't if I could

'Cause I'm mad as hell

Can't bring myself to do what it is that you think I should

Wow. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I don't know the whole story, but am SO moved by uncomfortable and unashamed honesty and if you are to, listen to the whole song at their web site.

I'd really like to know what you all think about this song. Shaun? Cach?

My Greatest Fear

My greatest fear is that I will lay my head down at night and be the same person that I was when I woke up.

My greatest fear is that I won't grow or change today.

My greatest fear is that I'll get so caught up in life and in seeking comfort and rest that I will avoid the places and people that stretch me, challenge me, change me.

It seems to me that people grow and mature so much until about age 25 and then they start to stagnate. My greated fear is that I will stagnate.

I think I did for a few years. From about 23-26 I got caught up with work, life and trying to be a grown up and surrounded myself with lots of other people who's highest goal was comfort and the American dream. They were nice and they loved Jesus, but they didn't challenge me and I didn't challenge them.

So what did I do? My husband and I moved back to our college town and our college church. We still stayed stagnant for a couple years – we were quite consumed with having babies and living in a constant state of sleep deprivation. But even in those years, we were SO challenged to love someone other than ourselves, to give when we didn't think we could give any more and to love more than we thought was possible.

That season laid a foundation for all that God has been doing in our hearts this past year. It's been amazing. My heart has been so stirred. I've learned so much. I've been challenged and changed. I hope this season never ends.

That is my greatest fear.

So, what challenges you? What has stirred your heart? What has inspired you? A book? A movie? A verse? A song? Please share. 

Should Christians Save for Retirement?

I've been thinking about this lately and I've not come to a conclusion. Should Christians (or really – anyone who cares about others) save for a comfy retirement when there millions all over the world who will not live to see 15 because of simple problems that my retirement account could easily rectify like clean water, or basic food provisions, or readily available health resources?

What do you think?

-kat 

Why Christians Shouldn’t Pursue Prosperity

"In my experience, 95% of the believers who face the test of persecution pass it, while 95% who face the test of prosperity fail it."

-A Romanian pastor who survived the Iron Curtain 

(excerpted from Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn p.46) 

I Can’t Think of a Post Title

Here are a couple of lines from a Bethany Dillon song that have been stirring my heart. I hope you don’t mind me sharing with you.

“The Nations fall when You speak,
And You have spoken over me.”

Wow. Just let your soul marinate in that for a minute or two. Read it again. One more time.

“The Nations fall when You speak,
And You have spoken over me.”

What is it that God has spoken over you? The power of all eternity rests in the voice of God and He has spoken things and continues to speak things over each of us , if only we’ll listen to and believe Him.

If you don’t know what He loves about you, if you don’t know what He’s called you to, if you don’t know His encouragement, I challenge you this Spring Break to take some time away and listen.

“Shake off your dust;
Rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.”

–Isaiah 52:2

So go tell your family that you’ll be needing a couple hours to yourself this week. Ask God what He wants you to know. Listen. Then rise up and sit enthroned, Daughter of Zion.

Be free.

Three Keys to Happiness…

My children are sick. We all have colds, but my eldest (a preschooler) has it the worst. She’s past the scratchy throat, runny nose part, but she has a terrible hacking persistant cough. It’s been keeping her up some at night and if you know anything about the preschool set, you know that lack of sleep = cranky kid.

So, while my eldest is usually quite the angel, we had some definite struggles today. As my husband was holding her and praying with her after a period of time out, I overheard him say, “Now remember, today we’re going to say yes mam and yes sir, we’re going to obey and we’re not going to whine.”

It struck me that what is true at 3 is really true for our whole lives. If we would just respect others, obey what God call asks of us and stop complaining about things that may not “seem” fair, I think that’s a guaranteed recipe for the good life.

My husband and I would have loved to have taken the kids out to eat at a fun restaurant today, but we didn’t because of all the whining and disobedience. We were disappointed because we really wanted to give them a treat.

I wonder if that’s ever true with God? I wonder if He’s ever sad because He had something good that He really wanted to give us, but we’re so busy complaining and ignoring Him that we miss it.

The American Church has a Wedgie.

I’ve been reading over at Shaun Groves blog lately and it has been extremely thought provoking. He often asks questions that I’ve always been afraid to ask and he says things I’ve often been afraid to say. Reading his blog and reading Madeleine L’Engle books seem to have the same effect on me – they stretch me and challenge me. I don’t always agree with everything they say, but they make me really evaluate what I think and not just regurgitate the things I’ve been told all of my life.So, what does that have to do with the title of my blog? Well, one thing that’s been discussed is the recent article about Bono in Rolling Stone magazine. Several commenters wondered about Bono’s faith because of various statements he made, including the use of the “f” word and his reference to God as a “force.”

I completely understand where all of those people were coming from. About three months ago, I would have questioned how much of a Christian Bono could possibly be if he’s cussing and referring to God in rather vague terms. But now, I’ve been thinking that the American Church (as a whole) really just has a big wedgie. We’ve gotten so bent out of shape about the little things and have completely forgotten the big things. We’ve so familiarized and rationalized God, that we can’t handle anything outside of “the box.” I’m not say this to insult anyone personally, but more to comment on the state of the Church in America.

I’ve never cussed in my life (out loud anyway) because I was taught that cussing is a sin. So, this is really a revolutionary thought for me – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with cussing. To speak negatively about someone else and to “curse” them is definitely wrong, but I don’t think there’s anything inherently sinful about certain words. If I said the “f” word in Uzbekistan, I don’t imagine anyone would be offended, because they’d have no idea what I was saying.

Here’s another revolutionary thought for me – I don’t think God is a He. Gasp! All my life I’ve been taught that God is most definitely a He and that to even question that is a bad almost sinful thing. Well, I’ve been thinking and I think that God is God and doesn’t need to procreate and therefore has no need for gender. God is not a he or a she. God is God and not limited by our standards. So, to call God a “force” is completely accurate. Now, I do refer to God as He simply because He loves us personally and intimately and wants us to know Him as our “Abba” Father. Saying, “My ‘force’ loves me, just doesn’t quite cut it.

Let’s not worry so much about others and what they say or do, let’s focus on Jesus and listen to what He says and wants us to do. One person focused on and following Jesus can make more of a difference in the world than one hundred people focused on Bono and trying to make him say and do what we want.

I challenge you to think outside of the “box” that you’ve been taught. God is amazing and mysterious. Unpredictable yet faithful. Unfathomably huge yet intimately small. Whatever you’ve thought Him to be, He’s more.

Thoughts anyone?

A blog that will help you read through the Bible this year

I’ve been thinking about how I want to read through the whole Bible this year, but as each day went by I still hadn’t laid out my plan.

Well, then I came across this site and I’m now all signed up and ready to go. They even provide all the verses so that I can read the day’s verses right from my computer. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!