Friday, October 26, 2012

WOF vs "Word of God Snob"

Last weekend I attended a Women of Faith (WOF) conference in Charlotte with a terrific group of ladies from Ridgecrest. My daughter Caitlin, who lives in Charlotte, also joined me. Now, I must admit that before the conference, I had some "negative" feelings about WOF. I attended one about 15 years ago and I remembered the women speaking but not "teaching" from God's Word. In all honesty, I like smaller, more intimate conferences with the speaker teaching straight from the Bible. Verse by verse...teach me what it says and how it applies to me. I prefer the "just teach me, no yak-yak approach". I am a Kay Arthur and Anne Graham Lotz kind of gal. So with my past experience at WOF, I wasn't expecting much.
The first night proved me right. I lugged my "Big Bertha" Bible into the conference on Friday evening for it to sit in my tote bag all night.  Ha! I knew it! They aren't going to teach me ANYTHING! And so the conference went on Friday night and Saturday with different speakers and praise and worship.  Despite the testimonies and wisdom they shared and the absolutely awesome time spent in worship, I was still a little huffy. You could have called me a "Word of God Snob".
But then a funny thing happened. God began to work in me. I needed an attitude adjustment. I began to realize that while there was minimal  teaching straight from the Bible at this conference, God was still there. He still spoke through the many speakers, worship leaders and musicians. I believe that women testifying to God's grace, faithfulness and mercy pleased God. I do believe that thousands of women lifting their hands and voices in praise to God makes Him smile. The conference was a celebration of Jesus! It was OK to relax and have fun! It was OK to spend two days praising Him and thanking Him and sharing the joy with other ladies. It was OK to Look Up!!
Sometimes,  I think we Christians are just too serious. Yes, it is important to study and know God's Word. Yes, it is of the utmost importance to share the Gospel with others. But it's OK to rejoice too! Many times, I think nonbelievers are turned off because believers are so blah! No wonder they think Christians are boring and following Jesus is no fun. They don't want a lecture.  Maybe instead of spending all our time with our nose in the Bible reading about the one Who saves us,  we just need to LOOK UP at the One Who saves us! Maybe instead of preaching and teaching and discussing theology and doctrine,  we need to show more excitement over the One it's all about! We need more testimonies of how He has worked in our life. We need more sharing about the joy and peace knowing Him brings. I wonder how many women were at that conference that didn't know Jesus. I wonder how many met Jesus because of the excitement about HIM and for HIM!
So, get excited, dance, shout, and knock yourself out. It really is permissible. I promise!  I did it some last weekend. Look out! I'll do it more next time!







Monday, October 15, 2012

Coupon Redemption

Last weekend I attended a "Coupon 101" class offered at my church by the Women's Ministry. The class taught me everything I needed to know about couponing. The presenter, Sarah Lineberry, had lots of great ideas and tips. I learned how to organize my coupons. I learned how to recognize "friendly" cashiers and how to "play the game" at my local drugstore. (Don't worry, it's all fair and legal!) I discovered several helpful websites devoted to couponing and which grocery stores had the best deals and will double and triple my coupons! At the end of the presentation I was motivated to go shop, redeem my coupons and save money!
But during the class, as I was pondering coupons, I thought of  the best "coupon" that has ever been redeemed. The best that has ever been offered - Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, I have the redemption of my sins, the promise of eternal life. I don't need to present a coupon,  I just need faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life. No clipping, no organizing, and no searching out deals. Jesus gave me the best "deal" and coupon of all when he went willingly to the cross for my sins. His gift of eternal life has no expiration date and I don't even need my "readers" to see it!

Colossians 1:13-14 "For he has rescued us from darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins."

 

Friday, October 5, 2012

POW! POUND! OUCH!

During the recent renovation to our dining room that I wrote about in my previous post, I recovered the seats of the dining chairs. My grandmother had recovered them many years ago with what I'm sure was once a lovely gold fabric. But from many years of  gluteus maximus' in the chairs, the fabric was now faded and worn. And it ABSOLUTELY did NOT match my Butterscotch accent wall!
To redo the seats, I first had to remove them from the chair, and then go about the task of removing all the old upholstery tacks. Not an easy thing to do. With each tack, I would murmur, "Mimama, you did a great job!"  I was admiring her work and complaining about how difficult removing the tacks was at the same time. After removing the old fabric, I cut and placed a new piece of fabric on the seat (it actually came from the curtains I took down before the renovation and was not going to use again). Then I had to go about the job of nailing new tacks into the bottom of the chair to hold the fabric in place. Easy, right?
Here is a little snippet of trivia about me. I am simply horrible at hitting a nail on the head. I am as good at that as I am at playing "Cornhole".  It's a really sad thing. So with each swing of the hammer, there was a good chance I would catch my finger holding the tack in place. My hands and fingers took a beating!. As Izzie slept in the little cushion in the kitchen, I sat in the middle of the floor pounding one tack after another into one chair after another. Six chairs in all. Pow! Pow! Pow! Pound! Pound! Pound! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! It was LOUD and painful. But as I continued, with each loud pound, God began reminding me of His Son Jesus on the cross, and the nails, hundreds of times bigger than the upholstery tacks, that held him there.  Pow, Pow, Pow, Pound, Pound, Pound. It was loud in the kitchen and I'm sure it was loud that day on Calvary when the Roman soldiers pounded nails into Jesus' body. Pow, Pow, Pow. Pound, Pound, Pound. The tacks I used never drew blood. The nails the  soldiers used, drew lots. With each nail, a loud Pow! Pow! Pow! Pound! Pound! Pound! Add to that, the sound of bones being crushed in Jesus' hands and feet. Blood spurting and pouring in different directions. Muscle and tendons tearing. Soldiers and onlookers mocking and  women at the foot of the cross crying. I can hardly imagine the pain. I can't even begin to fully realize the scene. I continued my "upholstery work" and continued to think of Jesus on the cross. With every hit of the hammer, I saw Jesus on the cross before me. Why did God sacrifice His Son for me? Why did Jesus stay on the cross when He could have come down? Why did he have to endure the agony and such a painful death? It was all for me. It was all for us - sinners in need of salvation. Jesus took the nails for me, for us.
God speaks to me in different ways. That day, on the kitchen floor, God spoke to me with some upholstery tacks. Each pound on the tack said "I love you that much." Thank you God, for using chairs, tacks, a hammer, and an occasional hit on the finger to remind me!

Romans 5: 8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."