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!

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

Let's move away from boring...

(photo compliments of Holland)

I've had the opportunity recently to share a portion of my story with various youth groups in my community.  Perhaps one invitation in particular summed up the theme..."Can you share your Jesus adventures with the kiddos?"  Jesus adventures...hmmm...it resonated - because that's what they are you know.  Far and away the most exciting and purposeful chapters written in my life...were penned by Him.

But I realize as I write those words, they simply are not true for everyone...and I'm not talking about those who are living apart from Christ...but rather those who are trying to 'do the Christian life' and are quite frankly...bored...or worse yet...defeated.

It makes me ask...why?

I recently finished Perspectives which is a 15-week class with 15 different missional instructors...essentially helping participants understand what is God's purpose in it all...and therefore what is our individual purpose within that larger context.  People say it will ruin you for the ordinary (if Jesus hasn't already done that).  Offered in over 200 locations throughout the U.S. and more around the globe - I'd encourage you to check it out! 

One of our instructors was Brad Buser.  Brad has an energetic testimony that takes him from being a very talented, pot-smoking-California-surfer to a dedicated missionary, giving 20 years of his life making disciples among a previously unreached people group in Papua New Guinea.  But this detail alone isn't actually the most impressive part of his testimony, the part that struck me...was the youth pastor who influenced the radical transformation.  Brad called him Pastor Von...and he didn't describe him as anything particularly flashy or attractive...or even relevant or cool.  Instead, Brad described him by the way he unashamedly challenged his students...to become disciples of Christ and servants of His Kingdom.  I smile as Brad's words echo in my memory..."We don't need to raise any more nice Christian kids, we need servants of the Lord."  According to Brad's testimony, from 1977-1981, over thirty young people were commissioned as missionaries from Von's church.  Brad was one of those students.

Back to the why...

It seems to me that we tend to preach far more on cleaning people up than we do introducing them to the One who does the clean up.  And I get it...in the Christian community, sin makes us nervous...and so we do everything we can to strive for righteousness and try to encourage (just short of force) that righteousness onto our youth.  We're so scared of them falling into the ways of the world that we preach to convict...to keep them on the straight and narrow.  Now please hear me when I say...sometimes we need to hear the hard truth from the pulpit...but I want to take a slightly different spin...what if we trusted the Holy Spirit to do the conviction...and therefore we spent far more time talking about Jesus?

People say I had a radical conversion but in full disclosure, my sinful lifestyle didn't fall off me overnight.  It was a process...and in that process I kept my eyes on Him...not my sin.  And when you're striving for His purposes in your life...your sin tends to pale in comparison...until it seems rather absurd that you'd choose sin...over Him.

Before I began sharing my story, I glanced around the room at the young eyes looking back at me...and I saw them questioning my relevance.  I opened up with a question..."Who has ever been really bored with the Christian life?"

Nearly every honest hand went up...

Yeah...I thought so.

Let's move away from boring.

You see...I believe Jesus' purposes run much deeper than giving us a golden ticket to heaven...I believe his life, death and resurrection were necessary to reconcile our hearts to the Father...and only covered by His blood will we stand righteous before The King.  But I also believe...while on this earth...He has divine purposes designed for me...designed for you.  And those purposes may be described as many things...the least of which is...boring.  There is far too much darkness in this world...not to penetrate it with the Light.  And it's in those places where our torches shall burn (both locally and globally)...that we will find the greatest Jesus adventures.  And somewhere amid those adventures...from a place of truly being used by Him...we realize we are serving and do I daresay loving a holy God...and so we delight to respond...with righteousness.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  Philippians 3:9

Interest piqued?  I'd love to share at your youth group or across the table (with a cup of coffee in hand of course).  I have a passion for mentoring young girls in the Lord and awaking the fire within us all to serve passionately in His Kingdom.  Would love to hear from you!

...but Christ

"You know I used to be a but Christian..." he said.  "You mean your Christian walk merely consisted of sitting on your butt in a church pew each Sunday?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile .  He laughed.  "Well no, but that may have been the result.  No, I mean I would always pray 'but' prayers, 'God I'll do anything, but don't ask me to sell my house...God I'll go anywhere but don't send me to a 3rd world country.' And so I spoke with some of the guys in church about it because I knew it needed to change.  They told me to stop focusing on trying to give things up and instead focus on falling more in love with Christ.  I guess it worked, our house is on the market and I'm willing to go wherever He leads."

That's the heart of it isn't it?  Being in love with Jesus Christ.  I have a friend who occasionally hits the wall of frustration when he can't motivate his church folks to tangibly engage in the service needs of his community.*  You can only strategize, expose the need and develop creative ways to serve so many times...and then you begin to wonder...why isn't this working?  Where is the spirit of Isaiah declaring 'Here I am, send me?'  My only answer would be to shift the focus...away from the need to serve and toward falling more in love with Christ.**  And His love...will absolutely, unashamedly lead people to service...allowing good works to flow from a changed heart vs. obligation...but make no mistake...good works should come...

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?  So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.  
James 2:14-17

I recently helped with a YouthHope girls' retreat, trading the Rock Island city limits for the fresh air at Camp Summit.  As we were sitting around the camp fire that evening, laughing at the silliness of our game time and allowing space for honest conversation and hurts to surface...I assembled my s'more and watched the fire bounce and reflect in their eyes.

The reflection demanded an answer...why isn't someone from the church (any Christian) mentoring each one of these girls?  They need someone to stand alongside them, doing life and modeling good decisions.  Being the Body of Christ...reflecting Jesus.

Maybe they've been bitten by the 'but' syndrome.  I would...but I'm busy, but I'm scared, but I don't know what I'm doing....but....

 ...but Christ.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:14-17

_____________________

*This same individual is simultaneously blown away by other followers of Christ who radically lay down their lives for the sake of others...

**I'm not saying the church shouldn't provide opportunities to serve, teach the Biblical importance of serving, etc. because I believe they absolutely should.  Rather I hope you can see the heart behind the shift of focus which I'm trying to portray.

He is enough

There's something about the sturdy sculpting of the cross by Isabel Bloom that reminds me of God's unwavering love.  The fact that He's always there...even when we are unaware or unwilling to take notice.  An unshakeable rock.  

When I got home from the World Race, I kind of had this ‘new life’ imagined that the Lord was going to deliver.  My future husband would walk into the pages of my life and together we’d write the remainder of the story together; fulfilling the vision for ministry the Lord had given me, or rather, as we’d come to find…given us.  Well it’s 2013 and while the Lord has blown me away with what He is doing with Field of Hope and my career with John Deere…no husband has picked up the other pen.  One night, early in my impatience…I flat out told the Lord that I knew His Word said that He alone was enough to satisfy…but I didn’t want Him to be.  I wanted my future, all inclusive of the husband…delivered and tied with a bow. 

Let me recommend something to you…never tell the Lord that you don’t want Him to be enough.  I probably walked through the darkest season of my life directly following the utterance of those words.  I don’t know how God views these situations but I feel like He must of looked down and said…“We could do this the easy way or the hard way…why must you always choose the hard way child?”

Fast-forward…and the most beautiful and hard to describe transformation has occurred in my heart.  Through tears and loneliness…joy and blessings…it happened…He became enough.  I now know the authenticity of Paul’s words in Philippians 4 when he said…

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

This doesn't mean that I don't still have desires, hopes and dreams...because I do...but my peace and contentment in this world is no longer controlled by my circumstances or relationships, it is rooted in Him. 

Why do I share that story?  Because I guess that gets me to the cross.  You may all be in a different place on your faith journey…or maybe you feel that you aren’t on the journey at all.  And that is ok, in fact that is the point.  He will remain faithful, even when we remain faithless.  He will be ever-waiting, always-anticipating, and open-armed welcoming us to turn to Him. 

I’m not surprised that we often have to dig to the bottom of the barrel…to be humbled in some way or suffer a great loss before we turn to Him.  Instead, what does surprise me…is that He meets us there.  In those places of heartbreak, shame and defeat…He is there.

I can not find in the Word where He says that our lives in this world will be easy, in fact quite the contrary as He states in John 16, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

After all, we live in a fallen world where evil runs rampant, relationships may fail, disappointments shall come and death will pass…

He alone remains.

He is constant.  He is unchanging.  He is faithful.  He is love.

He is enough.

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,

“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Luke 22:19-20

May the blessings and treasured relationships that we receive from above…be built upon the cross...our Savior...an unshakeable foundation.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

Happy Easter!

The faithfulness of Ruth

It is a divine story...the one that entwined my life with the Hafner's...one only God could write.

Imagine stepping off the plane from the World Race, returning to US soil for the first time in 11-months...carrying a strange blend of heartbreak and hope...and a very small handful of dirty clothes that seemed salvageable after the journey. (they really weren't)

 A little bit overwhelmed...

     as the fringes of my radically simplistic life collided head on with the pace of American culture.

Thankfully my parents whisk me away to the farm where I was able to slowly adjust...for a month enjoying the chores of my childhood...mowing endless acres and working alongside my dad cleaning grain bins.  What a sweet season...all the while carrying a burden for Uganda in my heart.

Family picture 2011 (note, wrong color tractor)  :)

I knew the Lord had asked me to return - to do something bigger than myself - to connect the knowledge and resources of American agriculture with the development efforts in Uganda...

...but I hadn't the foggiest idea how to go about it.

With a big vision and not an ounce of a plan, I did the only logical thing I could muster...I prayed.  And then I admittedly told the Lord..."I know you are asking me to do something in Uganda...but I don't know how to go about it...I need time to develop this vision so unless you show me another way to financially support myself, I'll pull money out of my 401K while we figure this thing out."

The next day I received a text..."Brandy now that you're home, do you want to make a little money - I could use an additional resource to help test for a few months."  I literally laughed out loud.  And then I accepted the offer to come back to Deere as a contractor working for a good friend and previous co-worker.  The beautiful thing about being a contractor is flexibility.  Which is really important when you're trying to flush out a vision in Uganda.

Meanwhile, I receive an invitation from Mike and Cathy Hafner to come and visit them out West where Mike was on territory within Deere's Construction & Forestry Division.  I had met Mike years earlier during my own season within the C&F division when he was based in Illinois.

The simple invitation:  Come and visit us in Washington, share your stories from the World Race and where God is leading next.

The incredible offer:  Wherever the Lord is leading you, we want to be a part of it.

I was deeply touched by their 'we will go where you go, faithfulness of Ruth' offering.  Amazing how much more reasonable a vision seems when you aren't going at it alone.  Mike and Cathy helped me co-found our non-profit, Field of Hope.  Mike retired from Deere in the fall of 2012 and is currently running around the dusty roads of Uganda for a few months supporting our FOH initiatives.  Mike...the same guy who was leading a Bible study before work on Friday's during his stint in Illinois.  The same Bible study which I was invited...then inspired to listen to Christian radio...and eventually led to Christ.

 Cathy, myself and Mike taken in Fall 2011 after our initial investor fundraising banquet.

Sometimes we have to let the story play out for awhile before we are able to see where the Lord is leading.  I've learned to take one small step of obedience after another and let Him lay the divine path before and behind me.

Please keep Mike lifted up in prayer and follow his posts on our facebook page.

Mike with farmers/students of John Deere's smallholder training program in July 2012.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay I’ll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.  Ruth 1:16

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.  Proverbs 19:21

A changed heart...

“It takes a big heart to do what you do.” 

I smile…hesitate…somewhat awkwardly trying to formulate a genuine response.  “What I should have said” didn’t hit me until I was westbound, 20,000 feet in the air en route home.

While I’ve never actually physically seen my heart, I’m pretty sure it’s just regular sized, proportionate to my body.  But of course I realized he wasn't accusing my heart of exceeding the fist guideline we were all given in grade school...but a 'thank you' didn't resonate so I opted for the awkward smile in response...because it felt more honest.  

My heart really isn't big...it's changed.  [what i should have said]

I’d imagine that Christ had to make quite an impact on earth to live a life worthy of marking time.   

BC = Before Christ

AD = Anno Domini or Year of the Lord referring to the year of Christ’s birth

I’d also imagine that Christ should make a strikingly similar impact on our individual lives when we authentically come to Him.

Sometimes I find myself referring to my own life in those terms, telling a story and clarifying 'before Christ' because in some stories...it makes all the difference.

Before Christ...

• My identity was wrapped up in the world, dependent on my accomplishments and attention from others. 
• I didn't think about serving the poor or feeding the hungry - I thought a lot about me.
• I threw away a marriage.
• I swam [ok nearly drowned] in the deep end of certain pools of sin trying to fill the void in my heart.
• I held grudges, fostered bitterness.

Anno Domini...

• My identity is rooted in Him. 
• My heart breaks for the least of these.
• I've been forgiven.
• I've been set free.
• I forgive.
  

So while you may see a big heart - I know better...

He changed me.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  Ezekiel 36:26

 

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

  

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14