Get in it.

Last year, there was a women's march of historic proportions, but most of my Christian friends were not there. You viewed it as of "the Jezebel Spirit" and therefore, wouldn't be caught dead there. You looked down your noses at what you saw as a "gathering of the darkness" and looked forward to a time when "the light" would have their own march on Washington that would surely change everything.

While you were shaking your head over "women going down a wrong path," you shook out your knowledge of Jesus spending his time with "sinners and tax collectors" --Jesus spending time with "women gone wrong." You forgot how he derided the religious leaders of the day for thinking themselves above it all.

And what you refused to recognize was that the march was a joining of humanity against hate, against division, against the destruction of the planet. It was a joining together with "the least of these" who were terrified of losing their insurance, terrified by the nods to white supremacy, misogyny, and homophobia. You should have been there as Christ's representative to bring hope and peace to the terrified. Instead, you were content with Fox News commentary spinning it into something you could cheerfully condemn.

Yes, there were loud-mouths who were just as full of hate as what they were standing against, but that was just a small part of the march. If you had been there, you would have seen that.

So I'm challenging my Christian sisters to a new view this year--to look at the marchers not as "Jezebels" but as a mixture of people--men and women--who are hoping for peace, the same as you. They are not people to deride or shake your head at. They are not people to even pray for or try to save.

They are people to love.

Christians are called to be "in the world, but not of it." You've got the "not of it" down. Now, get in it.

Sack Cloth and Ashes

No, Hillary wasn't worse.

No, abortion is not a bigger issue than taking care of the living.

No, Trump was not put in the while house by God.

No, he does not have any kind of heavenly "anointing."

No, it wasn't difficult to tell that he was a fraud and a con man.

No, the Republican Party is NOT the party of family values, or any values at all, really.

No, patriotism does not equal Christianity.

No, America (or today's Israel) is no more a "chosen nation" than Turkmenistan.

No, the flag and the national anthem are not sacred.

No, trickle down economics doesn't work.

No, the swamp can't be drained by installing Wall Street insiders and bankers.

No, climate change is not a hoax.

No, America has not been made great again.

America has been shown for what it is

petty

fearful

hateful

full of greed

Christians voted for this mess, and only Christians can fix it.

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14

Most Christians read this thinking they are "standing in the gap" for the wickedness of the world when they pray, but that is not what it says. God was calling out the wickedness of his people.

Supporting a wicked man is wickedness.

And Trump is wicked.

The fruit of his life is lies, fraud, sexual assault, cheating his workers, cheating his wives. He has connections to mobsters and Russians and money launderers, and he admires the despots of the world more than democratic leaders.

Don't tell me we can't judge his heart. His heart is plain to see.

And it's time that Christians owned what they have done by installing this man as President over America.

And it's time for some major repentance.

Be stiff necked no more, Church.

Humility in prayer is the requirement for this unholy alliance.

Before it's too late.

Another Lesson From My Son

Years ago, we were having a bit of puzzle mania at my house. Over the course of several days, every single kid puzzle we owned was put together on our basement floor.

On one of those days, my four-year-old was talking while he was working on a puzzle of Lassie with puppies. "Don't worry, little puppies," he was saying, "I'm putting you together. And you will love me because I'm making you." He paused a moment as he put a few more pieces together. Then he said in a low voice, "I am God."

I sucked in a breath, expecting lightning to strike, but then I realized that he had grasped what so many older and wiser people never do: The creation will love the creator simply because he made them and gave them form.

This is the basics of relating to the Father. Without that simple appreciation, we can never move on to anything closer.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

There have been many times in my life when giving thanks seemed all but impossible, but even in those times, this truth remains: I will be grateful to the Creator who made me, simply because he did.

Lessons From My Goofy Son

A few weeks ago, I drove my son to the hospital for a surgical procedure. Although it wasn't a particularly risky surgery, he would need to stay in the hospital for several days after.

I parked in the valet parking lane after the 80 minute drive, and my son gets out, grabs his bag out of the back and says, "Thanks for the ride."

"Well, I'm not leaving you!" I sputtered incredulously.

He looked genuinely surprised. "Oh! Okay."

What a goof! Did he really not know me any better than that after 26 years? Did he think I'd let him go through anything that required anesthesia with no one there waiting for him on the other side?

When he was 7, I held his hand and sang to him while the  technicians forced a tube up his nose and down his throat to his stomach when he had his first intestinal block. I was there for the second one when he was in his early teens and the third when he was 19--one week after my mother died. I spent the night in a ridiculously uncomfortable chair in the ER for that one.

When he was 11, I tried to hide tears when his doctor said for the first time that his lungs weren't sounding as good as usual, and he wanted to admit him to the hospital, and I was there, mad as hell, when we found out he had steroid-induced diabetes.

My husband and I have been there through so many hospitalizations with him, I can't even tell you how many, and we've sat in quite a few waiting rooms when he had biopsies and bronchoscopies and hernia surgery and gall bladder surgery... How could he possibly think I'd just turn around and drive home while he went through a G-tube installation? Didn't he know me at all?

And in my indignation, I heard God laugh. Because I do that to Him all the time.

Even though He's been walking with me for 50+ years through every single crisis of my life, when the next one hits, I'm convinced that He is nowhere around. That He's dropped me off at the curb and said "So long, sweetheart, this time you're on your own."

But He hasn't, and He never will. He's going to walk with me wherever we need to go, holding my hand and singing me songs.

You'd think I'd know that by now.

Merry Christmas!!

It has been a year of new things.

Tristan and Kelly moved to a new apartment.

Jessi started a new job at a daycare.

Tracy went on his first camping trip.

We remodeled two leaky showers.

And discovered termites.

I wrote two new books (that will be coming out soon).

Kevin, Tracy, and Jessi have taken up rock climbing

(in a rock climbing gym).

And most importantly, we got a new kitten.

Twix is sweet and adorable and wild and crazy and

tenacious and cute and makes us smile.

God always knows what we need.

Stand Firm 2

"Stand Firm. Be still."

Spoken by Moses at the edge of the Red Sea to a people fleeing an enemy. Their obedience resulted in one of the greatest miracles of all time as that sea split and they escaped that enemy on dry land.

Thousands of years later, Jesus was in a similar position. The Enemy of Enemies was determined to take out the King of Kings. He had him cornered in a garden, where Jesus was praying much the same way those Israelites of long ago must have prayed. "Is there any way out?"

We don't have God's answer, but we can extrapolate from Jesus' response. I believe the Father said, "Stand Firm. Be Still."

He could say that because, just like long ago, he was doing the fighting, and he would bring the victory."

Where the Egyptian army never caught up to the Israelites before they were swept away with the collapsing sea walls, this Enemy got his hooks into Jesus.

And he thought he'd won.

But not every victory looks the same. While the Israelites' victory split the sea and led them toward the promised land, Jesus victory split the veil that had separated mankind from the Father since the first promised land was called Eden.

But let's not rush past this. Standing firm was painful. It was bloody and awful, and Jesus didn't have to take it for a second. He stood still and let them whip him. He let them smash a crown of thorns on his head. He let them beat him and spit on him and pull out his beard. He let them drive nails with painful blow after painful blow through his hands and feet... How could he do it? How could he be still through all of that when he could have stopped it at any time?

Hebrews 12:2 says he did it "for the joy set before him."

And that joy is you.

Nehemiah 8:10 says "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Did you ever consider that the joy of a people redeemed was Jesus' strength in his greatest hour of need?

Jesus endured because he looked through that veil with the eyes of faith and saw you. He fixed his eyes on you in that dark garden, so that you would be able to fix your eyes on him in your long, dark night of the soul.

His eyes locked with yours. That's how standing firm begins.

Stand Firm

Are you feeling pursued? Is there an angry dog snapping at your heels? Is there something you can't outrun threatening to take you down?
Maybe it's depression and anxiety. Maybe it's a lousy job with a horrible boss you're stuck with at the moment. Maybe it's a loveless marriage. Or maybe it's a terminal illness.
There was once a people pursued by an army. They'd fled for days down a valley road between rough hills that would vie for the name "Badlands." And at the end of the road was a large body of water. If it weren't for that pesky army that wanted to kill them, it would have been a nice place to rest. The only place left to go was along the water's edge, and although they were exhausted, they would have taken to the beaches had their leader not told them something that was two steps beyond ridiculous: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm."
Huh? What? Did Moses just say what I thought he said? No, Moses there are only two responses that make sense in this situation: fight or flight. There is no "stand," firm or otherwise. Standing, when someone wants to kill you, leads to death. And since we have no weapons, well, we'll be seeing you. B' bye.
But Moses didn't stop with a command, he made some big promises: "Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you: you need only to be still."
Can you imagine the faith it took to actually "be still" in that moment? Yes, it took faith. And a whole lot of it. FAITH in the one who promises deliverance. FAITH in the one who promises the destruction of the enemy. FAITH in the one who says that he'll do the fighting.
So what will you need when the enemy is nipping at your butt?
Those plagues back in Egypt weren't just judgment on Egypt, they were also a show of power to a people who had completely forgotten that God is powerful. They showed His favor to a people who had forgotten that they were favored. They were proof of his word that never fails and his provision that is abundant and his protection when the storm is raging all around. It was "Who I AM 101." And you'll need the same thing--a steady diet of who He is.
And I love it that God was still showing them who He was when the angel of God and the cloud pillar moved from in front of them to behind them. He placed himself between them and the enemy.
And whether you can see it or not, he's done that for you.
"Still" is the new "fight." "Rest" is the new "battle." The new wine for the new wineskins is praise.
"I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and the rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him."
It's hard to worship when you're running. It's nearly impossible to praise Him when you're swinging a sword. Stand firm and sing.
He's got your back.