Sunday, June 16, 2013

The world needs men!

Despite the fact that Traveon slept most of the way through church with his head in my lap, I instigated the routine post-church question when we reached the car..."What is something you learned today?"  To my surprise, he responded without delay...

"The world needs men."



Yeah, we really do.  Godly men.

Our pastor gave a pretty strong call to action for "men to be men" - to lead their lives, wives and families with courage, boldness and conviction.  To serve humbly, out of love and have compassion for the vulnerable.  To be the kind of man worth following.  I think every woman...at least in her spirit...said amen.

I've had a journey with a particular scripture over the past few years.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Ephesians 5:22-24

I imagine doing the first read-over will stir a variety of emotions...it did for me too...so let me tell you where my journey began...

I was probably in my early 20's...a few years before Jesus came on the scene (of my heart)...when I first caught this scripture being read during weddings...and I had but one thought..."I will absolutely not have that scripture read during my wedding."  I very much marched to the beat of the I can do anything you can do better drum and I was certainly not going to sign up for a subpar position on Day 1 of my marriage.

But Jesus...

I have a good friend and sister in Christ who has battled this scripture with me several times over the course of our friendship.  She's had some hang-up's with submission and experienced an abuse of the definition in the past.  Naturally, this is going to raise a red flag.  And then she looks at me, knowing that I'm very driven and strong-willed, and therefore can't understand why I'm at total peace with it.  Not only can I imagine this scripture being read during my wedding someday...but I hope and I pray that my marriage would becoming a living example.

How's that for a 180?

But I'll take it a step further, I actually think a lot of women would be willing...and do I daresay, even desire, to submit to Godly husbands.  And I'm not referring to the guy who merely drags himself to church on Sundays...but rather...the kind of man who refuses to sit on the sidelines...who leads his family with courage and honor...who puts down the childish ways of the world and puts on the ways of God.

Let's keep reading a bit further onto verse 25..."Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." Did you catch that?  Christ died for the church.  He loved her. That. Much.  And He calls husbands to love their wives with the same intensity.  I'd imagine submission becomes just a tad bit easier when you've been swept clean off your feet.

When the pastor finished speaking, he invited the men who were making new or renewed commitments to the Lord or to their families...to come to the alter.  And within moments...kneeling...shoulder-to-shoulder...it was lined with men of God.

The world needs these men.

As I was holding back tears, taking in the sight of surrender at the alter, I leaned down and whispered in Traveon's ear..."You are going to break the cycle in your family Traveon, some day you will grow into a courageous man of God...you will be a faithful husband and a devoted father."  He looked up with a continuous nod...wanting the truth of those words to indeed prove true.

You see, he may be growing up fatherless...but he is not without a Father.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.  Ephesians 1:4-5

Happy Father's Day!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Unsafe Territory

I've wanted to be in the FBI, CSI or some form of investigatory law enforcement for as long as I can remember.  But among other factors, I allowed my dad, who likely didn't want his daughter to continually put herself in harms way...to talk me out of it.  I can't help but to think he'd rethink that decision if he could have predicted where I'd end up...continually running into dark places...to spread the light of Christ.  He'd probably prefer I carried a gun.


I don't want the territory where my feet tread to be safe for the kingdom of darkness.  There is a war for our souls on this earth...whether you ever choose to acknowledge it or not.  Our enemy will use whatever tactic necessary to keep us apart from God and move us toward destruction...through sin and bondage...apathy or deception -- he doesn't care which.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...John 10:10

And so, I want to speak TRUTH where the Father of Lies has spoken...I want to bring freedom for those in captivity...I want to walk in the authority of Christ and disarm the enemy.

And this means running toward the darkness...armed by His grace and illuminated by His glory.

I want to leave everlasting footprints on those He's given me...

Those neighbors who live beside me...the co-workers who work beside me...friends...family...

...airplane seat companions...the hungry...the lost...the broken...even my enemies.

While I often don't get to see how their stories play out...I witness and serve as the Holy Spirit would lead me...sometimes with words...often with actions...fighting for the vulnerable...feeding the hungry...intersecting His Kingdom the moment their path crosses mine...

and trusting Him for those He's 'given' me...

It is a transitional year for many of the dear ones He's put in my path...and I don't know what their futures will bring.  I've been on my knees for these sweet souls with tears streaming down my face more times than I should probably admit...and I'd do anything to keep them safe and protected from the enemy.  But I can not control their decisions, the circumstances which will surround them, or the spiritual journeys they must embark.  I can only take every opportunity our sweet Lord bestows...to reveal Himself...to them....through me. 


I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.  John 17:6

  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12