love Archives - Page 4 of 5

How You Do a Disservice to Church

When you church-bash, it’s not just your voice on the internet saying you don’t like church, but others, too, the unbeliever hears in one unified voice. Our unity should be in Christ, not in disgruntled discontent. In reading 1 Corinthians 1:10,

“Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose.”

I sat in church on Sunday and thought about how Christians appear online as a divided group from their politics to their stance on border security and the refugee issue. We can agree on one thing: Jesus is the only way. We disagree on the methods, but you’d be surprised at the unity that DOES happen behind the scenes.

For instance, the pastors in the church in our area get together and pray almost every week. Missions organizations work together to help in real world issues. Countless volunteers work every week at their local churches to provide food, clothes, and manual labor to these nonprofits to benefit their church and community.

If you need to vent about church, talk to a friend in private. A group of strangers of more than 25 people online or a vent on social media to countless people isn’t harmless. When I am even tempted to get angry online, I think of these people who volunteer quietly, humbly, and who have positively impacted my life. That’s when the hurt or anger ebb and I realize that church is the family of God, not a building. We are a dysfunctional bunch! Without these great people, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Those faithful people who do the hard work, study the Bible, and call people in their time of need are the unrecognized heroes of the faith in our day and age, and this includes pastors and their wives.

Yeah, this is my family. My community!

Listen to The Webinar #SocialMedia #missions

The webinar from April 22 is posted. Please watch on Vimeo. Click button below.

Running and Ministry

Not every run will turn out okay. Running is a metaphor, an adjective, and a goal and discipline-maker. As a high school student, I wasn’t athletic. I hated running. All I wanted to do was sit on the bleachers under the warm California sun and read. Running happened almost three years ago when I so desperately wanted to do something different with my life; break the mundane. Do something crazy.

Running happened because someone believed I could do it (you know who you are!). It became part of my spiritual life, a creative expression, a longing to embrace the outdoors. On Saturday, I ran my peak run a few weeks from the Whiskey Row Marathon (20 miles) and it was the worst run ever.

If a friend had driven by and offered me a ride, I would have taken it that day, and called YMCA to downgrade my run from a full to a half marathon. When the emotions and pain subsided, I realized that I did finish 20 miles. The very act of just finishing a difficult task is worship. Following the Lord in what He has called you to do is like running that 20 miles. It is obedience.

Training requires consistency. You can’t train sometimes and only when you feel like it. For a marathon, you have a regiment of regular running, specified miles, so you are prepared for the real thing. When I think of bad runs, I think how ministry requires consistency and planning.

Many times a ministry will fail, not because the idea was bad or it was against God’s will, but because of lack of preparation, discipline, or consistency. A ministry cannot run on a few volunteers. Volunteers must embrace the vision and mission of the ministry and be “sold” on its message. Like running, ministry requires patience as you train to get there.

I’m praying that my run on May 14 will be good in spite of the struggle to train just like I pray your ministry will succeed with unlimited energy to produce great results, but not be results-driven.

Have a great day, friends!

Why Investing in Experiences is Necessary

In an article by Intellectual Take Out called, “Why You Should Spend More Money on Experiences than Things,” it said,

” While new things might make us happier at first, we adapt to having them, and their meaning to us changes over time. So rather than buying that shiny new Apple watch or shelling out for a brand new BMW, research suggests that you’ll get more happiness by spending that hard-earned cash on experiences like art exhibits, participating in outdoor activities, learning a new skill, or traveling..”

When we began moving from our mobile home to the home we now live in, we had watched too many home and garden television shows and began to clean through all the “things” that had cluttered our life. The rule was, “If we didn’t use it for a year, did we really need it?”

Lots of sentimental and other items went in the trash bin or donation bag. The result was an easier move and simple living. Our Christmases and birthdays in our marriage had begun with gift giving and have now become about gifts of experience. Our short term missions trip to Honduras taught us this, too.

While donations and prayer got us to Honduras, some expenses still came out of our pocket. We didn’t mind because this was another gift of experience. God was moving our life to another culture, and using that culture to prepare me for a life of missions in a new field. He showed us how happy and content the Honduran believers were with so little. I couldn’t help but think of the American culture at that moment, and how the culture wants what their neighbor has, and is never content to live with what God has gifted them.

We take for granted our home, our stuff, and our lives every day. A missionary in Phoenix recently shared in his newsletter how the refugees he sponsors were amazed at having an apartment, clothes, and the basics that are the norm for most Americans. A book I read from a Sudan refugee (now American citizen) was amazed at the size of the houses and his room when he was adopted into the United States. As I journey into this new direction and learn about the peoples on the move, people groups, and develop relationships online, I look forward to new experiences. Experience is the greatest teacher.

Your prayers and financial partnership will help me serve online, help other churches and missionaries, and work with others to use the gift of technology across the globe in very creative ways, because as I have learned, people want to support this kind of ministry, and are uncertain themselves how to do it.

LEARN MORE

Praise the Lord for Great Blessings!

Three Ways to Better Your Friendships

Most of the time, social media has been a blessing to me. Not all relationships can withstand social media though. Sometimes, it is better for friends not be “friends,” and in light of missionary work, today I took some steps to build some healthy boundaries and keep healthy friendships well. Here are my three ways to build better relationships:

My personal Facebook: This is for friends, family, co-workers, and those “grandfathered” in over the years (because, well, we’ve become great friends from a distance). Oftentimes, I will ignore Facebook friend requests unless I know them as a personal friend. If you are a ministry contact, please “like” my Facebook page or request via email to join our Technology and Missions Page. I do want to connect with you, but Facebook limits the amount of friends one can have on their personal profiles. This is why I created a page. I have 22 social networks. I am active on most of them; and all of them, when I am 100% supported.
Healthy Discussion by Example: One of the things I have done over the years was to create a comment policy so discussions and disagreements can be civil. This applies to all my Facebook accounts and some other social media where I can monitor the thread. I believe we can treat each other with love and not agree with everything the other person stands for. In doing so, I delete comments that are name calling, a put down to the person’s character, or come off as angry and sound confrontational. There are 52 Bible Verses talking about “self-control.” James 1:19-20 says, “Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness.” I believe we can be loving to others with any confrontations done in private message, text, email, phone call, or face-to-face; never in the public eye.
Refraining From Being Right: The church I work at is doing a sermon on the tongue, and James really hits it hard on the power of the tongue and its consequences. When perusing my social media, I may disagree with someone, but I only respond if it is a misrepresentation of the truth or if there is a chance they are open to discussion. Politics can be a stumbling block to some in seeking Jesus. It is such a hard balance to maintain. Share my politics and become that stumbling block or say nothing? I believe a happy middle ground exists. I think people can share their views if we all practice tolerance towards those we disagree with (and I’m not talking about the tolerance in the accepting way). Tolerance in being kind as we disagree. This goes back to point number two. Or if a conversation is going badly, refraining from further discourse to preserve the friendship. Make sure you are relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance as you navigate social media and relationships.

What have you found in your relationships that work?

How do you monitor your social networks?

Night Thoughts

When it’s dark and quiet as your head rests on the pillow, and gone are the nagging day-to-day to-do-isms that have kept your feet moving, your mind awakens.

Another ministry leader falls. Scandal shows up on your newsfeed from another person who claimed to be Christian. Our kingdoms on earth are built on foundations of sand instead of Stone. Or on normal nights, noting the comments online or thinking about the people who can’t see clearly how their words can build up or tear down; it’s their right to say and do as they please publicly regardless of the consequences. And how I pull back my fingers from the keyboard, choosing to walk this walk upright as best as possible.

Then, there’s the diaspora.

With so little time during the week, how do I reach them? How do I connect?

To connect, I need to learn about their culture which requires a whole lot of listening first and asking a lot of questions. To make connections online, you have to invest the time.

So as I think about walking the walk and my own deficiencies, I think of these verses always:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

– 1 Corinthians 13

Prayer Day Two: The Waiting #Patience

Pray today that I wait on the Lord on His timing, not my own. Don’t allow me to fall prey to the fears of the otherside or the doubts and insecurities that fill my mind once in a while. It is so easy to rush ahead. Pray I obey Him on everything.

Facebook: Reconsider What You Post Online

A year ago, a person posted about her struggles in church to a Facebook group of at least over 100 strangers. The online community gives us a false sense of security even in a group. We don’t know those 100 people so nothing is guaranteed confidential. That aside, we also don’t know the struggles of those 100 people.

Are they the ones Barna talks about all the time who are leaving church?
Do they go to church?
Is our speech encouraging them to a community of faith or to become a lone wolf Christian?
Is our speech encouraging forgiveness?

When I mentioned my concerns, the person lashed out. I tried to be kind, affirming her concerns and hurt, but my words weren’t welcome. In another situation, a woman in a public group was upset because someone reposted her prayer request on another account. She had said it was confidential, but the group itself has thousands of people in it and the group was listed as public. Again, we lapse into a false sense of security.

An alternative would be to the first situation to talk to a small group of people via private message, email, or in person; someone he or she knows to rely on them for encouragement, sympathy, and support as they heal in their situations, or speak in vague terms to the public group.

On the second situation, post vague or “unspoken” requests. Confidentiality is to a select few in more private forums. Understanding social media privacy settings is also key.

For instance, a Facebook group set at public or private, will show up in your friend’s newsfeeds, and when people in that group comment or like, that also shows up in their newsfeeds for their friends to see. “Secret” is a Facebook group setting that doesn’t show up in your newsfeeds and also doesn’t show up in public searches. That is the best setting. If you don’t want your private details to be on someone else’s Facebook, only add people to a group that you have gotten to know or know face-to-face to keep your requests confidential.

Meanwhile, I am starting to post a new graphic series called, “Why I Go to Church,” on my social media feeds. When we air our differences about church, a great disservice is done to those who have labored in love for us. Church is a dysfunctional family, but we need each other. It’s not a building, but a body. Church can look like a small group, a house church, or a traditional building provided it bases its teachings on the Bible.

If you need to talk to someone, you can speak to me through private message on social media. I’ll be happy to listen and pray for you.

What have you found in your relationships that work?

How do you monitor your social networks?

What Have You Seen on Facebook or Any Social Media Account?