God Loves Gunnison

We got a phone call one day from college student wanting to do an interview about people who live in Gunnison, and their lives with Christ. This is her senior project for her film class. I hope you enjoy.

Click on the title "God Loves Gunnison" and it will take you to the link.

Un-Group, I Love this Body!

Every Tuesday night, for almost 2 years now, I have met with a group of women. We started out meeting in different homes, but now we all gather together in my home. I have a basement that is perfect. That is why we settled on this. We call ourselves the un-group. We have no agenda. We have nothing in mind for our time together. We have no book to guide us. We do not even, always study the bible. We come together and allow God to lead our un-group into praise and worship of Him. We cry together. We laugh together. We share our lives together. There are some women, who are always there. There are others who float in and out, depending on their home situation and what they are needing right then. This un-group of women, this is my church. This is where the true beauty of God comes alive. This is where we see the Holy Spirit move and where we see lives changed.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11, "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have." This is my church body and I love her.

Last night we had a discussion about going to church on Sundays and what that looks like. During this discussion we had several different opinions being tossed around. I don't think that any of us really knew. Church on Sundays is an institution. I hate to say it, but it is. There are certain things that have to happen. There is a certain program that has to be run in order for everything to go smoothly. The question was tossed around about what kind of teaching needed to be taught there. Does it need to me "milk" for the ones who are new and who do not have a strong faith walk yet? Does it need to be "meat" to help spur on those who have been Christ followers for sometime now?

I wrestled with these questions all night. When I awoke this morning and opened my bible, I could hear the answer. It did not come to me through the words that I was reading. It came to my heart. (Then later my heart's desire was put into its place and I have changed what I thought needed to be changed in this writing). Sunday mornings is a time for the believers to come and sing praises to their God together, to worship Him. It is a time to introduce yourself to new people. The meat that we so desire that Sunday morning to give us, is not enough if we expect it to happen once a week. This cannot happen on Sunday mornings, not the way it happens to us on Tuesday nights. If everyone were part of a "small group" then when that person comes in for the first time, who does not know what worship is all about, then the believers should take that person and invite them into "group" night so that the body can work its magic. Just like there are many different "churches" in a town there needs to be many different groups, so that a person can join that group and be fed what they can eat at that time in their life. If they are a new believer, they can receive milk. If they are someone who has been on this journey for some time now, they can eat the meat they need.

This is how it can work. I saw a new woman in our church one day. I made it my goal to go up to her, introduce myself, and invite her into my home on Tuesday night. Now, I am not sure if our un-group is the "right" one for her, but at least she feels like part of the body now. She can come to church on Sunday mornings to meet with people who have the same goal in mind and she does not feel like an outcast by being there. Tuesday night is where the true body of Christ is felt for us. This is where true "church" happens. Now that my friend feels comfortable in our group, if she needs to find another group, she will not feel so uncomfortable in joining another group that may better serve her what she can handle. She is part of the body and she can now find her place. But it all started because she walked into our church, she was invited into a home, she felt desired. This would have never happened if she had not been invited home. Home is where the true teaching needs to happen. Home is where the true church meets.

So if you go to church on Sunday, why are you going? Are you going there to get your fill for the week, until the next Sunday? Are you joined with other believers, part of a small group, during the week? Do you see the new faces who need to be invited into your home, into your group? What does church look like for you? If you are new, if you have been there for your entire life, have you plugged into a small group? If you have not, you are missing the true "church".

Battle Field

I am fired up this morning. It is crazy, but I am. Yesterday, I could not get past 2 Corinthians 6. One chapter is as far as I was able to read. This morning, I read 7-13, the rest of 2 Corinthians. It is funny to me how people think that Christians should only teach others by telling them about their weakness. I know, for I am guilty of this. I would much rather tell people how much I do not know and the bad that I have done. For otherwise, I fear they will think that I am boasting. What I expect when I go to "church" is to hear a lesson on how to live peacefully for God and to leave there feeling all happy and full. I go as a glutton, expecting to be filled. This is not at all what, basically, the entire book of 2 Corinthians is about. It is about Paul giving his defense and letting them know just how much he has done for them.

2 Cor 10, "We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.
Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do. I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority..."

Yesterday, Aaron gave a wonderful lesson about the war that we have. 2 Timothy 2, "Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things." He gave a beautiful apologetic (defense) for the battle we are in as Christians. "When you are on the battle field your perspective is different than when you are USO (on vacation). Your expectation is different. When in war you endure. Your complaints are different. Are you inconvenienced or are you incapacitated? Health care is different, your appetite is different- junk food vs real food. Relationships are different- superficial vs significant. Your heart is different."

While he was speaking, he was boasting. Not of himself, but the power given him by the authority a worker of Christ has. In this defense, I was strengthened! Then this morning I read what Paul says and he does the exact same thing. "We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you...And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! ...But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too." All over Paul is giving his defense. He did not keep it a secret and quietly go to one individual, but he publicly gave his apologetic. We too are to give our defense. We are in a battle and sometimes that means gaining strength in God by looking at the battles we have won. It means taking up arms and standing our ground, so that we are not overcome by Satan ourselves.

Things come to me in threes. Yesterday, I read chapter 6. Then I went to church and heard a lesson that backed up what I was reading. Now today, I finished with the rest and was strengthened even more. Sometimes we need to remember the authority that we have and we need to boast about that authority so that we can win the battle. If you ever go to church and feel you are getting blasted, because what is being said seems like boasting, maybe you should read these verses and see that sometimes we need to be reminded that we are in a war. Do you know that you are in a battle? Do you see it, but instead focus on the small things? Do we wake every morning with great expectation to see where we will be taken today? If you were there yesterday, did you leave strengthened, or were you more offended that the service did not feed your appetite like you thought it should? Where are you in this battle? Did you sign up as a ready soldier, or do you live as a reluctant draft?

Veil Taken Away

2 Corinthians 3:12ff, "Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image."

I was once talking to a sweet young woman about my life and she just could not understand. To her, everything that I had done, since I truly gave my life to Christ, seemed like I was walking blind. She thought that the decisions I had made, were decisions made in blindness, and it is by shear luck that they worked out the way they did. But to me, the way that I lived before was living in blindness. I was a wanderer, wandering around in the darkness of the world.

As I watch others living out their lives, I am often heartbroken because of the choices that I see them making. They think that I do not understand and I am just judging them, because I do not see things their way. But I am not. I now see things more clearly than I ever have before. I have opened my heart up toward God enough, so that I see things more clearly now through His eyes. I can clearly see sin, but I can also more clearly see how much He loves us and how He is crying out for us to see things through His eyes. Now please do not take this and think, that I think, I know it all and that I think that I am perfect. I also see my own heart more and know how truly evil I am. It is not in seeing how much we have sinned. It is not about our sin at all. It is, everything is, about His Holiness.

If we are going out and partying; If we are getting high; If we are sleeping around; If we are living for our next physical pleasure; If we are living for our next false intimacy, it is about our sin. For all that we can think about is our next time to live out that high. Everything becomes about us. What is that next big rush we are living for? Or, what is it that we are going to spend our time crying over, because we cannot get our mind off of whatever it was that we just did? All in all, it remains about us.

But we are called not to live for that next pleasure. We are called to live in His joy. 2 Cor 5:14, "Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them...This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

Oswald Chambers, "Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.

You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25)."

Where is your true heart's focus? What is your true desire? We must look at ourselves with truth, in order to see Him more clearly. If you have truly given your life to Christ, there will be proof of that in the way you live, in your focus for your life. What is your focus? Do you see Him, or do you see your sin?

Bereft of Shame

Michelangelo's teacher asked him, "Why are you painting nude pictures of people?" Michel's answer, "I want to see man as God sees man." Teacher, "Michel, you are not God."

My husband is a real estate broker and when my oldest son was, I think, 3 years old we went to a house that had a plethora of art. As we were driving up the drive to the house we were greeted with Greek statues. We all went with my husband into the house to look at the house and all that it had. I immediately regretted my decision to join him when we started to walk up the stairs of this amazing home. I was going to try and avoid taking with my son about what he was seeing, but he would not stop. He kept asking me. "Why don't they have any clothes on?" This whole experience was something that I was not prepared for.

Now that several years are passed, I am faced with more of a delima. How do I explain to my son that images on a computer screen of nude people is pornography, but a painting of the same image done by an artist, is art? What is the difference? Some may argue, "It is the intent of the one who is putting that image to paper. If the intent is to arouse sexual pleasure then it is pornography, but if it is to show beauty then it is art." This may be well and fine for the one painting the picture, but what about the others who will view it? Does the one who is painting have no responsibly for my son's response?

When I was in the fourth grade, I stumbled upon some Pent House magazines. What those images did to me as a young girl were enough to start me down a pathway I wish for no one. What is the difference in what we call art and what is pornography? It cannot all be left in the hand of the composer and what their intent was when they designed the "art." We are called to see what we may be doing to others. Even if what we are doing is not wrong in our own hearts and we have a clear conscience about it, we are called not to make others stumble.

I am not saying that we have to live our lives in fear of what everyone else is doing, but art, this one is a big one. For our foundations are being destroyed and our children are hanging in the noose. "When secularism has had its way, we will be left with a society bereft of shame,"(RZ).

When you see a painting of a nude woman, do we think of the heart that was hindered as she was putting herself out for all the artists around her to paint? When you see a woman on the internet, or in Play Boy magazine, do you see what it has done to her? Is there a difference? Those who look at the image in front of them, do they see a difference?

In our world today, I feel like I am fighting a no win battle for my children's eyes and their hearts. Everyone is trying to separate what is art and what is pornography, but how it affect them, how it affects my children, that is the same. When art has had its way, we will be left with a society bereft of shame. From the movies we watch, to the paintings on the wall, our children are standing at the gallows, while the artists paintbrush is dipped in their blood.

Celebrating the Wrath of God

"Celebrating the Wrath of God," I have just finished reading this book. If you know me, this may surprise you. For you know, I don't read books! I am serious. This is the third book I have read in the last ten years. I don't have the time, but when I do, you must know it is a GOOD one. One of my brothers gave me this book when I was in Texas to see one of my friends for the last time. She died just a couple of days ago. This was my last chance to see her and I knew it. His giving me this book really had nothing to do with why I was in Texas, but it had everything to do with God's timing.

As I was struggling with how I saw her laying in her bed and how good she was, I had many questions. How? Why? But she loved God! How was this living in God's blessing? Isn't He supposed to protect His children? Aren't we supposed to be set apart? Aren't others supposed to see His blessings in us? Isn't that how others are drawn to Him by watching our lives, our blessings? He is supposed to heal us right? Why... Why.... Why? As I was going through the process of watching her die, these were just some of my questions, and at the same time I was reading this book.

For the days that I was with her, I could not read. I could not read until I returned home, for it is hard stuff. The first part of the book is the suffering and in the moment of watching my dear friend, I could not do it. So when I got home and I could focus a little better, I started to read. I laid aside my bible in the early morning, and took up this book. In just a couple of days I was through. I will not talk about what I learned, I am still processing it. I will say that we have a mighty God and I love Him!

One of my favorite parts of the book is a discussion between God and Job. This I will share....

Job: "The way You treated me just lately made it difficult at times to trust in You."

God: "That is interesting, the way you treated Me earlier made it easy for Me to trust in you."

"....And He believes in you. Yes, you who sit nursing your breaking heart that's filled with questions and niggling doubts. You whose pain and anger sometimes spills over into speech that isn't right. You who, because your trouble has been around for years and your prayers for ease have gone unfulfilled, have emotionally given up (and yet here you are reading this)- He believes in you, too."

This is all that I will share. Get the book. Read the book. Then, if you want, we can visit. If you have questions about God's love, all because of the pain you see around you; If you struggle with unanswered questions; If you just cannot see how love and pain can work together, this book is for you. Please read this book......

"To my sweet Daun,
How your life is such a wonderful blessing for me. Thank you for living in love with your God. Thank you for helping me when I did not know I needed your help. Thank you for everything. How I rejoice with you in your new adventure. How I will miss you and your bossy, nosey love....
I love you. Part of your life, saved my life!"