A group of men from my church along with some other guys have formed a Men’s Book Club. Before you laugh, let me assure you this is a very manly book club. If you would have told me in High School that when I was 34 years old I would be a part of a Book Club I would have either laughed or cried. But I digress…

Each month we rotate which guy picks the book for the next month and leads our time of discussion. This month my friend Dan Shearer (illustrious board member for Consumed) picked the biography of Rich Mullins life entitled, “An Arrow Pointing to Heaven”. James Bryan Smith writes the biography and he does a phenomenal job of incorporating the lyrics & journal entries of Rich along with testimonies from Rich’s close friends and family. I feel as I read the book that I am not just learning about the person Rich Mullins. I am also being challenged to love God & people in a more intensified way.

I recently finished the chapter entitled “The Love of God: Encountering the Reckless, Raging Fury”. I found myself really resonating with much of what Rich wrote and believed about God’s love. I wanted to share a few of these thoughts with you…

“It is hard to love an angry God. It is also difficult to see ourselves as God’s beloved children if we believe we are worthless. Rich had become familiar with the spiritual foes of fear and self-hatred.”

Unfortunately I find myself in conversations with people that truly believe God sees them as worthless, wretched sinners. To make it sound more spiritual they will throw the magic words “saved by grace” on the end of the previous sentence. But I am sorry…I just don’t see that type of language used of God’s children in the New Testament. I see terms like “beloved, children of God, heirs, co-heirs of Christ, redeemed, saints, slaves of God”, etc. We will not know and experience the love of God fully if we believe deep down in our guts that we are nothing more than filthy scum. The bottom line is God is love and He chooses to love us. Paul wrote this to the church of Rome – “God demonstrated His love towards us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” He loved us so much He gave us Jesus. And when we accept this gift of salvation offered by God we are placed into His family and He sees us as new creatures. Salvation provides us entrance into the family of God and nothing we do or don’t do can remove us from our Heavenly Father loving us.

“…it (God’s love) is also not something we can merit. Our world functions on a system of rewards and punishments. If we do well, we are rewarded and we feel loved. If we fail, we are punished and we feel unloved. But the love of God is not something that is contingent on what we do. It is constant. Unfortunately, many Christians are desperately trying to earn a love they already possess and are fearful of forfeiting a love they can never lose. This whole system has to be unlearned.”

This is another amazing thought by Rich or James Smith or whoever thought of this. I just know that I completely agree. When Christians try to either “earn a love” from God or try not to “forfeit a love” from God they are putting the control of God’s love on themselves. Honestly, it is a very humanistic way of looking at our relationship with God. I believe this kind of thinking is both damaging to us and it cheapens the love & grace of God. Paul said “nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8). God always loves His children no matter what we do. James Smith (author of the biography…just in case you forgot) goes on to explain that Jesus told many parables about God’s love to try and help us or “shock us” (Smith’s words) into learning this truth. He told the parables of laborers working various shifts in a day but receiving the same paycheck and a selfish son that squanders his dad’s inheritance but receives a party when he returns home broke. In both of these stories the point is clear – we are not in control of God’s grace & love. We are simply the beneficiaries. The actions of the workers in one parable or the sons in the other parable did not effect the wages or parties thrown (metaphors for God’s love, grace, & forgiveness). As a receptor of God’s perfect love I can tell you this – I desire with all of my heart to love my Heavenly Father right back.

So much more could be said on these topics but I will cease for now. I write because I honestly believe that many do not understand the depth of God’s love for them. This love of God assists us in living the abundant life Consumed Ministries is passionate to share. This love is why we exist and many other ministries like ours. We want all to know the vast ocean known as the love of God. I leave you with the prayer of Paul for the saints in Ephesus. It is my prayer for you and me as well:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

from Abby Dubbe

I couldn’t live without the church. Without a doubt my spiritual health would fail. God has lead me to live in various states and cities throughout my 28 years of life. I can confidently say that what made each of those places home to me was the church. (Ok, if I’m being honest Starbucks and Target also play major roles in making a new city home.) A thought that has bounced around in my head quit often recently is that I am so blessed to have been apart of so many amazing churches. But then it occurred to me that this blessing is not unique to me. It is unique to all Christians!

Since the very day I understood Jesus to be my personal Savior from sin, I became apart of a worldwide community. This community of Christ-followers became my family and I had no idea the blessings God had in store for me through them. I had no idea the joy that would fill my soul during the countless times of serving side-by-side with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only was I forgiven through Christ, but he chose to give the wonderful gift of the church!

Having been apart of my local church community for less then a year has proved, yet again, invaluable to my new husband and I. We came back to a new city after our honeymoon with no idea what church we would join in with. After visiting different ones, and praying about specific details we desired, God lead us to where we are today. Reston Bible Church believes very strongly in community and small group interaction where real life takes place.

One night Chuck and I visited one of these groups (Shepherd Groups) not too long after our wedding. When we shared about our new marriage, they were just as excited as if they had actually been apart of our wedding! They gave up a big part of the evening to ask us about ourselves and had us share as much or as little as we wanted. Chuck and I felt instantly at home and we’ve been “home” ever since.

Later that week one of the girls from the group even stopped by our apartment. She brought over banana bread, wanted a tour of our apartment, and bounced with glee on our couch as she looked through our wedding pictures. Looking back it brings me to tears to have been so cared for by someone who didn’t even know us. She was simply being the church to us.

Fast forward seven months until now and as you can imagine the relationships from our church have grown even more. Two weeks ago a couple from our SG got married. Not only was it a joy to see them commit to each other and God, but it was even more of a joy for our whole SG to support them together. Many people volunteered to help Joseph and Maria pull off their wedding.

Some were bridesmaids, some were ushers, some handed out programs, some helped decorate, some left the ceremony early to get the reception ready, some served cake, some cleaned up, some poured drinks, and we all did it together with delight! It was a pleasure to help out our brother and sister and to do it side-by-side.

As I sat at our round table at the end of the night, surrounded by people of love and servant’s hearts, I felt so overwhelmed with the gift of the church I could hardly contain myself. My feet hurt, my legs were tired, but my soul was energized beyond anything that could be explained except for God’s supernatural gift of the church. Thank you God!

Post submitted by Gretchen Miller

A friend of mine gave me some Gerbera Daisies last week because she was going on vacation and knew if she left them at home with her son the flowers would probably die. And after the first day I was thinking my friend was probably better off to have left the poor flowers with her son since I came out and saw that one of the once beautiful yellow daisies was now all hunched over and wilted. I quickly ran to get it some water hoping to somehow salvage its life but not holding out much hope for that to happen (I am learning to be a good vegetable gardener, but flowers and I don’t really get along that well). To my surprise, as I came back outside later, there was the little Gerbera Daisy standing as tall and beautiful as it had ever been. I guess it just needed some water. Everyday, this little daisy does the same thing. When I first see it, it looks so pathetic, like it is willing itself to hold on to life for one more moment. And then I give it some water and it perks back up to share its beauty with my backyard world.

God used my little daisy friend to remind me we are not here on planet earth to be all hunched over and wilted. God did not intend for us to look pathetic and be barely holding on all the time. He planted us here to thrive and grow and share His beauty with the world. And like the daisy, there are times when our souls just needs some water. We need the nourishment that the presence of God brings. Thankfully for us, we aren’t daisies and we don’t have to wait on a novice gardener to bring us some refreshment. We have access to the Father through the gift of the Son and we have the Spirit of God inside of us. We only need to let the root of our souls soak in the richness of Him so we can perk up and shine for His glory.

“Those who are far from you will perish; 
You destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; 
I will tell of all your deeds.”
Psalm 73:28

I spoke to Eden Prairie Presbyterian Church last week. If you are interested in hearing the talk you can find it here:

Mighty Men & Women

We are having some minor difficulties with our podcasting abilities so I placed the talk on my church’s website. The talk comes from the story of David’s Mighty Men in 2 Chronicles 11. There are so many parallels between King David and his mighty men to the fact that we should be mighty men & women for our King – King Jesus. Hoping the truths found from 2 Chronicles will exhort you like they have me over the last several weeks.

From Lisa

There are certain things that cross language barriers…

Smiles
Music
Sharing a Meal
Playing Sports
Hugs
Tears
Prayer
Pictures

These are things that can be shared between people… felt and understood whether or not your spoken languages are the same. God showed me this in fresh and heart warming ways during our time in Germany as we were able to experience these things with people we were blessed to meet during our 10 day stay.

I started out the trip, honestly, with these hesitations and doubts about how effective we could be in ministering to people in Germany when none of us speak German! (Well, Eric is the exception… just ask him to count to 12 in German, and he will count each number loudly to you with gusto and a nod of his head for each number). Now of course, I realize that we as Americans are very spoiled in that the English language is pretty much spoken and understood mostly everywhere at least to an extent. I think my hesitation came into play more as I prepared/pondered what my “role” on the trip would be as a musician playing some of the songs I’ve written.

I was unsure of how these opportunities would play out in a place where the language most familiar to the people I was singing to was completely foreign to me. I’m also a detail person… a bit of a Type A planner personality. I knew that with this type of trip, there was a lot that would require “going with the flow”, being available and flexible. I didn’t know all the details of where I’d be playing, if there would be a keyboard or piano, if there would be translators, etc. My one prayer request before I left was that I would be flexible and just willing to jump in and sing however and wherever God had planned. That I would be more concerned about His agenda than mine. That I would just be this vessel and be used in spite of my human limitations and uncertainties.

Well, thank God that He is so much bigger than the limitations my mind puts on circumstances. He wasted no time in showing me this right away as soon as we arrived in Germany. Before I even played my first song at Rob’s church on that first Sunday, (March 14th), I found myself surrounded by a church family, singing worship songs in German, and tears flowing from my eyes. As I closed my eyes and heard the familiar melody of songs like “How Great is Our God” with lyrics being sung in a way I never had heard, I was overcome with how beautiful it was. Even songs whose melodies I didn’t even recognize, much less the words, brought me into the presence of God in a powerful way because I saw the hearts of worship around me that were singing out the songs so passionately. It expanded my view of The Church… it made me realize how week after week, while I am with my church family in Raleigh, North Carolina, there are churches across the globe singing a song like “How Great is Our God” in every language, and God knows every language. And He is hearing it like this beautiful International Medley of praise to Him. The people standing with me in that church building in Dorsten, Germany really felt like brothers and sisters in Christ. Singing with them, at times trying to sing the songs in their language, I felt like I got a glimpse of what Heaven might be like. Instead of the experience making me feel out of place or alienated because I spoke a different language, it only assured me that God is bigger than languages. That music is something He created to be a powerful avenue of worship that can be entered into with our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter what language we speak.

I love that God started out by teaching me this lesson right away…and after that, as each day’s opportunities presented themselves, all God asked of us was to be willing to use the giftings that He gave each of us. To be present and engaged when we talked to people and heard their stories. To see how what we communicate is really only 8% verbal and the rest is all the non-verbal stuff…the HEART…

The second Sunday (March 21st) I was reminded of the other thing I love about music that never ceases to amaze me. We were gathering with the church family that Duane and Daylin Beach minister to in Vilsek near a US Army base. The majority of the church body there was made up of American soldiers and their families, so this time, it wasn’t the language barrier I was nervous about. The thought on my mind was more, “What can I possibly have to say in my songs that talk about things like financial uncertainty or learning to surrender to God when things don’t go the way I plan” to a group of people who deal with stress and sadness and fear and loneliness and loss and uncertainty to a degree I’ve never known? I suddenly felt like all I had gone through in the past year that had birthed these songs was so pale and “grade schoolish” compared to what these families face on a daily basis. Again, I just asked God to somehow use what I had to bring. Singing songs is like opening up your journal and putting it to music in front of an audience. It is very exposing, but there is something about singing my songs that just lights me up inside. I LOVE to sing and I LOVE to proclaim truths about my God that He has shown me. How faithful He is. How generous and kind. How loving and personal. How NEAR He is to the broken-hearted. I feel like I am most alive in those moments when I’m playing and singing out those musical journal entries. After the service, a woman whose husband was about to be deployed to Iraq said to me, “That song you sang about uncertainty really spoke to me and my friend today. Our husbands are being deployed soon, and what you said really ministered to our hearts. Thank you.” I am constantly stunned by these responses. Here, I wrote this song because I was nervous about our house foreclosing, and this woman resonated with the lyrics even though her situation was so different (and so much harder) than mine. Music is truly the universal language. My heart is over-flowing with thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to sing a few songs in the beautiful country of Germany to the beautiful people living in Germany.