To Be A Fool…

Heresy.

No word in Christian circles gets my attention as much as this one.  For some reason (probably the intent and spirit behind it) I often cringe when I hear this word.  For a long time, although I knew it was a TERRIBLE thing, I didn’t really know what it meant.  I did realize it was some sort of false teaching, but often times I was more upset at the intent of the person speaking the word than I was at the person spouting the false teaching.  Not because they were necessarily ‘wrong’ to call something to attention, but because of the spiritual club behind the word.  “Raca… you fool!  You are spouting something that is so far beneath us, and so against what we are saying, that we must now label you with the worst “Christian” curse word we can come up with!”

Here is the definition of Heresy from Wikipedia and some snippets of the explanation:

Heresy is a challenge to a prescribed system of belief, especially a religious one

Heretics usually do not define their own beliefs as heretical. Heresy is a value judgement and the expression of a view from within an established belief system. For instance, Roman Catholics held Protestantism as a heresy while some non-Catholics considered Catholicism the “Great Apostasy.”

And, in case you were wondering… they also have a “Christian Heresy” definition.

Christian heresy refers to unorthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches.

Today, heresy can be without a religious context as the holding of ideas that are in fundamental disagreement with the status quo in any practice and branch of knowledge.

So does that clear it up for you?  Me neither!  MUD!  Go ahead and read the entire entry, and maybe you’ll understand more than I do why this word has resurfaced in Christian communities.

Something that it does is tell me is that Heresy is often a religious term used to “label” things that are considered a “challenge” or “not-my-belief” by religious people.  Hmmm… what exactly is this supposed to mean to me?

If heresy is questioning something, then I’m guilty.  I’ve challenged the status-quo.  I’ve questioned why we do the things we do, and wondered many times about traditions and dogmas.  I’ve asked hard questions.  I’ve changed my so-called beliefs more than once on things as I have understood grace and mercy and struggled to overcome legalism and “religious” mindsets.

I’ve never denied Christ (which is what I THOUGHT heresy meant but yet that made no sense in light of how I hear people use the term)… and I even took an on-line quiz that proved I’m not a heretic!  But according to whose standard?  That is what I’m seeing now… that the word is being used against anyone who doesn’t believe according to our particular flavor of theology rather than based on the unerring truth of Christ.  Let’s be cautious, dear ones, in labeling people… or threatening them with a label when they are just trying to walk out their own life in Christ and work out their own salvation with the Lord.

If we cannot challenge and question something, then we are no better off than those who had to look to a priest or pastor to answer every and all questions.  Perhaps we must never read and try to understand the Bible for ourselves, or we might get something wrong.  Should we all hand in our Bibles so we “don’t read while thinking?”  Hey… that would make a great bumper sticker!

I’m not angry… but I am concerned that we are seeing the return of the “heresy police” in our midst.  That we cannot stand to be challenged and don’t trust believers to remain firm in the faith, so we must silence those who are spreading lies, and insulate people from anyone who might question them.  I have loved the apologetic people of the past decade or so, who have armed people with truth rather than hide them in a hole.

It all comes down to this for me.  Why DO we believe what we believe?  Are we solid on the things that we know to be true?  (ie. the basic tenents of faith… the things that make us a “Christian”)  How can we share that with others? How will we handle it when someone questions us?  And, to the point that we are able, are we equipping and discipling those who have turned to Jesus?  Encouraging them to learn and grow, and lean wholly on their Saviour and Lord?  Are we pointing to Jesus for all of the answers?  Are we avoiding the pit-fall of trying to BE God for people?

Can we lay down all of the pretense, and simply stand on the Word of God?  Stand in the grace and mercy of the One who gave His life for us?  Do we truly believe what we say we believe?

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.    John 14:6 (NIV)

So…now I’ve read The Shack. I just don’t see what all the negative hype is about (don’t they know it just makes people want to read it more)? It is a great book… I believe it portrays God in a beautiful way.

I wasn’t as deeply affected by the book as some… but I enjoyed it, and it did touch me greatly in parts. Especially in realizing that I share a lot of things with Mack. No, not life circumstances… but mind-sets. And lack of trust.

A lot of this book seems to be in line with what God is doing in the Body generally these days, in relationships, and in understanding what is truly important.

I have to admit that my desire to read the book wasn’t based as much on everyone’s good reports… but more because of the people who fight so hard to keep it from being read by their congregations. Why is that? It was a fiction book, not a theological text book. I don’t think that it was even a ‘dangerous’ edge. It does challenge one’s thinking about God… but I don’t believe that is always a bad thing. I don’t believe we ever know all there is to know, even if we are accomplished scholars of biblical things. I would be the first to denounce it if I thought differently.

I’m still working through my thoughts and feelings… if nothing else, reading this book with an open mind will lead to some really intense and wonderful conversations with God! But I don’t see a single reason to burn Paul Young at the stake.

I’m curious though…what is the real reason this book threatens theology, or so-called institutional religion? Is it because relationship is encouraged, and manipulation, control and power are discouraged by the text? Hmmm…. I cannot help but wonder. If I wanted to keep control, the book would tick me off too! In fact, to the extent that I don’t want to let go of my control of things in life, this book is challenging my mind-sets.

Last night I put the book down and settled in for sleep, realizing that my mind had ground to a complete halt. I had to think through some of the passages I’d read before going to sleep… but my mind was just not grasping some things. I have a feeling I’m going to have to read it through a few times before I’m ready to move forward. But I do know that I’m enjoying the flavor!

I can say that there were several sections in the book that really touched me and made me cry. I would recommend it!

Blessings!
Heidi

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 (NIV)

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For 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. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

Too cool. 

Let’s consider the words that come out of our mouth. We can build up… or we can destroy… with just our words.

Some of the most serious hurts in my life come from words. Little words that cut, tore down, and cursed me. What about you?

Let us consider our words carefully. There are a lot of scriptures about the tongue. Here are just a few.

Reckless words pierce like a sword,but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)

A sword sounds about right. Sometimes I think I’d rather be stabbed by a sword than live with the words spoken. Amazing how an emotional pain can hurt.

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)

Ever been crushed by someone’s words? I have.  I’ll bet that everyone has felt the sting of words at least once.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Life and death. We can give or take life. Sure… they may not be physically dead, but we can kill them on the inside where nobody ever sees the pain… some take their own lives to escape the pain inflicted by others. Let’s show them the healing that can come, also from words… speaking words of life over the damaged and broken, showing the love of Christ to them.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:9-10 (NIV)

It reminds me of an old horror movie, where some horrible monster comes through and destroys the town before the army can figure out what to do to stop it. Someone with a tongue that is out of control can cause that kind of damage to a church or group.

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. James 3:2 (NIV)

Oh to be perfect. Oh to be able to go back in time and take away the words spoken over me, and the words I have spoken over others… only through Christ can these words be made null and void… to be made to fall to the ground lifeless and without power.

Let’s be conscious of our tongues today, and use our speech to give life to another. Let our words bring healing, and our love show the way to Christ.

That person who sits next to you on Sunday might seem to have it all together, but underneath there may be a person who has been torn apart and in tremendous pain. Trust me…. you never know who is covering the fact that they are crippled emotionally.

Ask the Lord to show you who you can build up and how.

Blessings,

Heidi

Guilt says, “I did something wrong.”

Shame says, “I am something wrong.”

Shame: Shame is a dangerous thing to feel. We all have felt ashamed of our behavior at one time or another… but the shame of “who we are” can damage us deeply.

Where does shame come from? Guilt can turn into shame if we do not deal with it. Remorse also can lead into shame, as well as the more obvious degradation, humiliation, and demoralization. Guilt usually comes from something we have done. Shame doesn’t need a cause to rear it’s head, because it is at the root of who we are as an individual.

We have a deep-seated need for security and significance. Security is knowing that we belong somewhere, we are accepted and approved of without condition, and that we are loved. Significance provides a place for us in life, says that we are important to ourselves and to others.

Shame invalidates these two core needs, and makes us to feel we have no place we will ever belong, the ‘real us’ can never be loved, and that we have nothing important to offer in life. In other words, we aren’t even worth having security and significance.

We hear much talk in secular markets about low and high self-esteem. But the answer is much deeper than just having a higher self-esteem… we need healed at the very center of our being, we need to know exactly who we are and why we are here, and for that we need Jesus.

I believe we begin to feel shame as children. Whether it is our perceptions of what we “should” be and aren’t, or whether we have been told or taught we are worthless… either way the resulting emotion is “shame.”

I have struggled much of my life with shame. Being adopted brings it’s own set of ’self-esteem’ struggles. While some children seem to navigate the waters more easily, perhaps due to the help of their parents, others get mired down in the mud of shame, even in spite of their adoptive parent’s best efforts to help them.

I was the latter. I determined in my heart at a young age that there was something wrong with me. Really wrong… not just with the outside, which I thought was hideous enough, but with who I am. After all, what kind of mother would give up their child unless there was something so terribly wrong with them, that they didn’t want them. Yes, you could have told me that wasn’t true (and it wasn’t true at all) but it was what I had come to believe. I showed a sense 0f pride for being adopted (hey, look at me, I’m adopted and special) when really I was hurting on the inside deeply enough that by the time I was in 8th grade I had become suicidal.

Shame had gotten it’s tentacles around me, and dragged me down to the depths of hell.

When I tell you that only Jesus can set someone free, I don’t mean to imply that he won’t use people. He has used people in my life to help me recover, but ultimately it wasn’t them who healed me… these people led me to the only One who could really help me.

I had no significance. I was nothing. I hated myself for not being ’somebody’ or ’something’ worthwhile. I knew that nobody would, or could, ever love me. I thought that the world would be better off without me, and that I really didn’t belong here.

The more God shows me that he chose me, that I was chosen before the world began… that he wants me, loves me, and created me to be me, the more healing and freedom I find, and the more I’m able to step out and share that with others who need healing, without feeling like I have nothing worthwhile to add. I know the one who is worth it all!

I thank God for the healing I’ve had… and I know that God will continue that healing in me. Our significance and our security need to be found in God through Christ, first and foremost, for it is He who created us to be… well… us!

Our needs for security and significance are filled as we receive our positions of security and significance in Jesus!!!

*emphasis mine

*emphasis mine

These scriptures help us to recognize and receive our significance to God through Christ. And there are other scriptures that tell us what our identity really is! To find out more about who you are in Christ, please click here .

Healing from shame may not come overnight… although it may! But as we learn more and more about who we are in Christ, we can began to heal. In Christ I am accepted, I am secure, I am significant, and I am free!

It also can be very helpful to find a good Christian counselor to walk with you through the steps of healing and freedom. There is NO SHAME in asking for help!!!

There are so many people out there feeling shame. God, help them to turn to you with their pain, and send your people to lead them to truth… to the Cross, the Word, and the Holy Spirit that they can be free of shame.

Guilt says, “I did something wrong.”

Have you ever felt guilt?

Guilt can be a very healthy emotion as long as it is valid. Do you know people who never seem to feel guilt about anything they do or say? It is as if their conscience doesn’t work. Or maybe you know people who feel guilty about everything they say or do. Both extremes can be debilitating. The first is scary, and the second is probably rooted in shame, which I’ll talk about in the next post. For right now I’m just going to discuss regular old ‘guilt’ for things we have done or said that we know were wrong.

God built that conscience into us. We all know right from wrong, and unless we have worked hard on erasing our conscience, or unless we have become a pro at blaming everyone else for our own shortcomings, we feel the prick of guilt often enough that we cannot escape our own wrongdoings..

The need in our lives that relates to guilt is “justification.” We simply need somewhere to place the blame for things. We attempt self-justification, which is our own attempt to be free of guilt, to be forgiven and to be in right standing with God, but in reality we only have three ways to pay the debt of guilt.

1. Place it on yourself

2. Place it on someone else

3. Place it on the cross.

The truth is that only God can justify us. Only He can “declare us free from guilt, by forgiving us our sin, and making us righteous in His sight.”

So, when we feel guilt, our absolute first step should be to take it to the cross. Nowhere else will we find freedom from guilt, and no one else can justify us.

Why? God’s word gives us some answers. I suggest you look these passages up.

1. Christ is the only one who is just. Romans 3:21-26, 28

2. It is God who justifies. Romans 4:1-3; Romans 8:31-33

3. We have been justified through faith. Romans 5:1, 8-11, 18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11;

Titus 3:3-7

Take your guilt to the cross and receive your freedom through forgiveness! The truth is that it isn’t just you… Nobody is good enough. There is not one who is righteous on their own. Jesus took your guilt upon himself on the cross, paid the debt in full, and reconciled you to God. Take him at his Word!

Is this the only step we need to take? Well, that depends on whether our sin was just against God, or whether we wounded another in the process. Jesus does teach that we need to be reconciled with our ‘brother who has something against us’. So you can ask God to show you the effect your actions had on others, and whenever possible, you can take the appropriate actions to be reconciled with one another.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. I guess it started because I was on a church website where they mentioned these two major scriptures, and how they feel led to live them out. This church said that they believed that the Great Commandment is first, and then the Great Commission is to be followed also. Therefore, they spend time loving the Lord, and loving one another. Then they go forth and share that with the world.

I was thinking that sounds really cool.

The Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

The Great Commission: Matthew 28: 16-20 (NIV)

Well, that got me started to thinking about how we all have been given different personalities and gifts. Why is it that we always feel the need to “fix” one another even if we have to beat our point of view into others? I’ve had people say to me that I’m too sensitive, and I care too much about other people. Or that I should just let people go ahead and make mistakes, rather than trying to help them, because they will never grow up that way. I’ve told other people that they don’t care enough, or that they should be doing this, or that….

My point being, we go back and forth judging the way the God has made each one of us. I’m not talking about the “junk” we all have that needs to be cleared up as we conform to Christ…. I’m talking about the different, unique and special ways God made each of us. Even in the conforming we are to do to become more like Christ, will that all look the same? We will evidence the fruit of the Spirit, yes.. but we still won’t share the same personality and gifts, just as we won’t all suddenly start to look exactly like one another.

God is multifaceted. Do a study sometime on the Names Of God, and you’ll discover a bit of how vast and wonderful God really is. And just as He is many things to make a whole… he created us in a way that ALL the parts of the body need to work together to be effective and healthy. How can a head get around without feet? How can a hand scratch an itch without the arm? If we all were noses, who would get the kleenex when things got messy? ewwww…. (that’snot a pretty picture, ha)

Some get out of bed each morning for the joy of going out to preach the Salvation message and see people saved. Some of us are more Pastoral, and really care about the well-being of others, and want to see people made whole and happy. And others spend hours studying scripture, then there are the servants that take the word to a new level and serve wholeheartedly. Some build up and encourage others, and another may be more likely to be found among the poorest, loving the unlovable. We musicians could sit and worship and never notice that the city is burning down, while those who put out the fires are running around yelling for us to help them.

What is my point? If we were all the same, life would be BORING! We don’t need to keep trying to get everyone to conform to us… we need to get out there and do what we feel convicted to do, and allow others to do the same. We need to stop expecting others to do what we want them to, and allow them to use their own gifts and callings… maybe even help them and encourage them to do so!

If he had meant us to all be the same… little clones running around doing the same thing, wouldn’t he have made us that way? Perhaps we are ALL needed to see the body of Christ built up until we reach the things listed above.

Just some food for thought, and a fresh reminder for myself as well, to bear with one another in love. And aren’t the Great Commandment and the Great Commission part of the point after all? It takes us all to fulfill both.

Heidi

I have been listening to Elijah Streams radio station on-line today.   They advertise ” 24 Hours of the Best in Prophetic and Mainstream Worship … 7 Days a Week.”  If you enjoy listening to worship music while you sit at your computer, check it out. 

I want to actively live my faith. I want to actively live my LIFE! I don’t want my life to be lived from a safe location. A joke in our house when things are going badly is that we’ll go hide under a pile of coats and wait for it to get better. And that is funny, but it is not the way to deal with life.

Radical faith. Radical obedience. These are what I want. I want to feel as though I’ve run the race with everything I’ve got.

Lately I’ve been feeling like something is missing, or I’m playing it safe (call it a mid-life crisis), but I know that taking the years that my children are small isn’t ‘hiding out’… it is some of my best stuff, ya know? But in this long season of diapers, bottles, school, homework, and the seemingly impossible job of potty training, it is easy to lose track of the fact that I’m doing something important.

One of our biggest challenges of late was our adoption our little girl from Ethiopia. She wasn’t so little. She was 7, and she came knowing no English, no western manners and from an entirely different culture. What a struggle she had adjusting to us (and us to her). Yet we learned so much about God throughout the process! It was a HUGE risk for us. I traveled to another country alone to pick up our daughter, and my husband stayed with the 3 little ones we had at home. That is a story for another day.

You’d be amazed at the needs in Ethiopia. No, really… unless you’ve traveled to Africa, you would seriously be amazed. And yet, they are such a wonderful, warm, and really neat people! It was a blessing to be there among them. When we left the protected walls of the hotel complex, we were surrounded by an entirely different world. The extreme poverty, children begging in the streets, small children playing naked in the mud on the median strip of the road. The AIDS epidemic has orphaned so many children. If you’ve never been to Africa, you should go at least once and get a glimpse of what other places in the world live with.

There are lots of ministries that are helping. Many people are adopting from Ethiopia. One of my favorite ministries combines orphan care, adoption, help for widows, and hospice care for dying women. It is called AWOP (African Widows and Orphan Project). But I want to be there. I want to help. I want to be living a radical life for Jesus!

But He hasn’t placed me there, He has placed me here. And I will strive to find the balance between being radical, and being content. I can support ministries that are working there, and I can visit and do my best to meet needs in this far away country that my heart is forever connected to through my beautiful daughter. But, for now, my mission field is right here in front of me. In the guise of my family, and my town.

Blessings,

HW

There is a scripture that God has given us time and time again.

We are not ashamed to be fools for Jesus!

In the eyes of the world, we look foolish. Believing in a God nobody can see? Believing in an afterlife that isn’t evident to our natural lives? Even trusting in the greater plan of a higher being that supposedly created us from dirt?

Even more ridiculous is the belief that Jesus is not only God’s son, but also God, and that he wasn’t just a good man but rather a Savior who gave his life that we might be able to spend eternity with God.

Of course, I would say that to believe Jesus was just a good man is impossible for those to would actually read what he claimed to be! He claimed to be divine. To be the messiah. He claimed to be the son of God. He also advocated belief in God, and taught about his Father in Heaven, claiming that to see him was to see his Father.

Jesus was either a mad-man, so insane that he would certainly spend his life institutionalized here today, OR he was who he claimed to be. That doesn’t leave the choice of being just a “good man.” That doesn’t leave the choice of being just a “prophet.” We are only left with the decision to believe he is telling the truth… or to believe he was the biggest liar ever.

So those of us who DO believe… who are “foolish” enough to stand against everyone telling us we are crazy… must believe it all. All… or nothing.

If you want to find out more about this Jesus guy, you can pick up a Bible. Try the book of John. It is in the New Testament. Don’t have a Bible? You can read the Bible online for FREE at www.biblegateway.com. Or you can visit the website of some friends of mine. www.considereternity.com for more information.

Happy to be a fool,

HW