Born To Resist

C.S. Lewis said it best (of course, right?), “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” These mortal transports are merely a blip on the map of our eternal journey. In our very original design, where God walked with us in the garden and we had a perfect communion with Him, we were every bit harmonizing with Him. Never separated, not left behind. Here and now where our broken and sinful natures exist, we are confounded and brutalized by death. If you don’t believe that a reigning Christ is on the other side waiting with arms outstretched for you, it’s a bleak and horrifying prospect to die. You realize that all of your earthly pursuits mean nothing and were a vain attempt to distract. That you’ve been so wrapped up in your sin to realize that God has been there the whole time offering you the very life that you’ve wanted.

Eternity has been set in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are “forever”. We are to be restored and given a home with Jesus, which He has prepared. At some point in my life, my picture of heaven went from being golden streets and doing what I never imagined possible, to falling down and worshipping the Savior that claimed my soul and wrote my name in His book. I look forward to handing my crown right back to Him.

Whether we are believers or not, our souls cry out and ache in every way knowing that someone we love is gone. The only difference is the hope that a Christian has found in the blood of Jesus. I know that someday when I die, I’ll see the people that I love the most in heaven. No one can take that away from me. So, today, if you’re hurting because you don’t know what to expect, let Jesus take care of that. Let Him give you every confidence that death won’t sting because He is victorious over it.

and the longer i live
the stronger i feel a
creator put us here
and the day will come,
gravity will run
and we’ll meet you in the air
where face to face we will wonder

as the mysteries come undone

and at the end of all our travels
we find our journey’s just begun

- Forever Man, Newsboys

Francis Chan has been kicking my butt lately. Every.Stinking.Time.I.Listen.To.Him. The basic equation comes out to: Way more Jesus, way less me.

In that vein, I bring up a difficult situation. My Grandma Hazel is in her last bit of life here on earth. While I’m sad, I’m not torn up. I’m not torn apart. My Grandma believes in Jesus and I think that she’s ready to go see Him face to face. I did have a dream about her last night and I woke up recalling sweet memories of being a child in my Grandma’s little tiny single wide trailer. I’ve had to bring these to the surface and remember her for them. You see, my Grandmother wasn’t the best Mom to her own children and she was not always the greatest to my Mom later in her life. I didn’t know this until I got older and more aware of relationships. But- and I say this with confidence, she was a fantastic Grandma to have as a kid. I think she may have sought certain redemption in us grandkids that she needed after neglecting her own children.

Let me say that my Grandma taught me an incredibly valuable lesson that I carry in my heart to this day. I had a “Jesus Loves the Little Children” book at her house. There was a picture of a little Native American boy with his bow and arrow. I get sort of foggy when I think about what I asked or how it came up, but I asked about “Indians being bad”. A very black and white stereotype that I had seen on TV and cartoons. Cowboys were good. Indians were bad. My Grandma Hazel’s answer is still very crystal clear to me “It doesn’t matter what color skin you have, it’s what’s on the inside. Everyone is different. Jesus loves them all and so should we.” BANG! A lesson in racism from your Grandma! It was simple, it was Christian, it was suitable for my young heart. I couldn’t have been more than 5 years old. Knowing now that my Grandma only ever had a middle school edcuation at best, I know that this was her heart speaking. Not anything that had been taught to her. What a simple summation of how to love others & that it’s not our job to judge people based on the outside.

Other memories:

-She would make fried Cheerios when I stayed the night. Sounds gross, but it’s FANTASTIC.

- Going to church with her on the Church bus. What a treat! No normal car ride to church for me! I’ll take the bus with all the Saints Alive Seniors!

-I always slept on a fold out couch at her trailer and one night she sat on the end of the bed and fell through… haha. Awesome.

-She always sent birthday cards with $1 in them.

-When she bought me my favorite teddy bear, Smokey.

-Sitting in church with her and she would slip me some communion, even though I wasn’t suppose to have it. Mwahaha.

- She always had Trident gum in her purse and always made sure we got a piece.

-Going to potlucks at her trailer park. Man, it’s the best to be a cute little girl with pigtails at a trailer park pot luck and get all the attention from all the other Grandmas!

-When I got my driver’s license I would drive her to hair appointments and to lunch dates.

I know that my Grandma was an incredibly flawed person who let her demons and desires get in the way of being the person God wanted her to be. I also know that she did love Jesus. I am glad she was my Grandma. She loved me and I loved her. Someday when we’re all in heaven together, maybe she’ll make fried Cheerios for me and Jesus.

*Background: Our 5th anniversary is this October, so I jokingly sent Cameron a link to Fred Meyer Jewelers where we got our wedding rings from*

Me:http://www.fredmeyerjewelers.com/Categories/EW_AnniversaryRings.aspx
Just thinking.
Cameron:haha
yes you are
Me:I mean, I’ve managed to stay with you for five years.
Cameron:haha
well we’ll see how it goes
haha
Me:i’ll get you one, too.
for your pinky
Cameron:YES

I’ve prayed for God to provide me with an awesome Pinky ring full of diamonds

Me: dear Lord Jesus, please bless this little pinky finger of mine with a plethora of beautiful diamonds to shine with your glory. AMEN.
Cameron: that was my exact prayer
just doing my “praying things into existence” time with God
Me: I love you for saying that.

That cat is mostly out of the bag. I mean, it’s sort of lounging in it, cleaning it’s paws, but everyone knows it’s coming.

We’re moving to LA. We’ve been called to minister to the city. It’s a little bizarre. A family of four moving from the suburbs to the city, usually it’s the other way around. We’re downsizing & minimizing. Not exactly “moving on up”. However, Cameron and I are both confident that we’ve been sent into the middle of a city that hugely influences the culture in the rest of the country to be a part of it and show it some love. We’ve found a fantastic church, Reality LA that LOVES JESUS so much. We were first invited to visit by two people at the Song of Solomon conference in February. They even enthusiastically said: “We even have a children’s ministry! It’s small, but we have one!” I owe these two volunteers a great deal with changing out lives.

I never thought that I would end up in a big city, they use to give me a huge sense of dread. Even New York City, for all of it’s sights, gave me a sense of hopelessness. That would be precisely the reason our family is going to Los Angeles. Too many people are hopeless in the city. When we visit LA now I feel nothing but a peace and love for a town full of the homeless, Scientologist celebrities and people too wrapped up in themselves to care.

The other day Cameron shared with someone that we were going to move to the city. A Christian person. This person decided instead of encouraging Cameron that a slight warning veiled in Biblical imagery would be appropriate: “Just don’t be like Lot and be LIKE the city.” First of all, no one ever tells the missionary heading into the dark jungles of the Amazon this. When my friend Courtney told me her and her family were going to Peru as missionaries I didn’t admonish her with a warning about being like the lost people of Peru. I cheered her on. Second of all, isn’t a danger anywhere to turn into the people that you’re trying to reach? For instance, if you minister in Orange County, please, for the love of God don’t turn into them. They love money, self-importance and status just as much as an Angelino. Too many Christians are afraid of the city & of culture.

While I have no intention of turning into a pillar of salt, we are heading into the city to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Pray for us.

I cannot say enough about the sermon from last Sunday at Reality LA. So good.

Romans 12:13

^13(AD) Contribute to the needs of the saints and^(AE) seek to show hospitality.

*Click the picture to be taken to the sermon.

The same power that conquered the grave
Lives in me, Lives in me
Your love that rescued the earth
Lives in me, lives in me

Singing this on Sunday morning reminded me of how powerful Christ is. That everything about the gospel is transforming. Everything about falling in love with Jesus and Him rescuing you is BIG. The very power of God that said “I choose to give these humans another chance because I am Love” is the unchangeable power that I accepted into my heart when I was 3.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
‘Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

I got in an internet fight today.

Shame one me.

I’m not usually that person.
In the end I was told I was judgmental.  That it wasn’t a Christian’s job to tell another Christian when they’re screwing up. Basically I was being judged by someone else who thought I was being judgmental. Does that make sense? Well, anyway I thought I would post my response to this person who told me that “it wasn’t our job to tell people their sins, it was Christ’s job.” It is slightly edited to take out a few personal notes that wouldn’t be appropriate on here.

I initially responded this post left about Constance McMillin (a lesbian student who was denied entry to her own prom with her girlfriend, she is now being honored at the White House):

she should stay at the wh with all the other freaks [sic]

Here’s my response:

@Robin Really? That’s what you have to say to someone who is probably very confused & very hurt? You are the person that gives the rest of us a bad name. I’m not quite sure where in the Bible it says to make fun of a teenager who is confused & hurting.. I just looked at your Facebook page to see if you were a young, naive person who was trying to be funny. You’re not. You’re an adult. You need to spiritually and emotionally grow up.
Don’t be so horrible. See people the way Jesus would. Call them out on their sin, but love them.

Then someone else joined the conversation and decided to let me know that I was judgmental:

Sounds like a whole lot of judgement is being flung between those who are commenting and towards this girl. We are not called to judge. To simply be examples in the world and to have our actions speak as Christ does to our heart. People need to look at their logs before pointing out splinters. Myself included… PS it isn’t our job to “call ppl out” on their sin. That’s Christ’s job. You wouldn’t walk up to a random person in the store and “show them right vs wrong” so why do it when you have a screen to hide behind..

My response:

Here’s the thing, we’re told to call other Christians to the mat when they’re doing something wrong. That’s Biblical (1 Corinthians 4:14). There is a big difference between saying I was judging someone and knowing that I was admonishing (the origin of the word admonish is “to urge by warning”) them.
I am not someone who comments on FB pages like this. I usually ignore them.  While I felt passionate about the subject, I did not write my comment with any malice or lack of knowledge about the log in my own eye. (I’m the first to realize my own state of sin nature and that I would not be who I am but by the Grace of God).
Perhaps I didn’t use the right word, but we aren’t suppose to just “be OK” with someone’s sin. But we are suppose to love them and show them every compassion.  We shouldn’t compromise on someone’s sin.
I’m thinking of Jesus and the adulteress from John 8. Jesus gives us a great example of how to love a sinner being attacked by the religious. In verse 11, he doesn’t condemn her, he forgives her, but he tells her to sin no more. That’s what I was going for. Sorry if that got lost in my writing.
Phew. That’s quite a bit out of me. Back to Mommy duties.

I thought I did alright. I used the Bible, I was nice. I tried to give it a little levity at the end. A good message board troll I would not make.

I’m done. Done for the night.

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of God’s unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

I’ve highlighted the Treasures Ministry before, but I received an e-mail from Harmony Dust who founded the ministry. I had to share this e-mail.

STRIP CLUBS & BAPTISMS

7 years ago, during Treasures’ first ever Vegas outreach, we met Abby*.  A bright young woman, full of life and personality in spite of having faced some very painful circumstances in her life, she had just entered the sex industry.
“This is perfect,” I thought.  “Perhaps after meeting the Treasures team, she will decide to leave the industry before she gets too deep into it– before it gets too deep into her.”
The journey that has followed has caused me to practice everything I preach—Loving people right where they are at, trusting that God will do a work in their heart as they draw near to Him, knowing that it is His goodness that leads people to change.
I would ask God, “What do you want me to say to Abby?”
“Nothing.  Just listen,” He would speak to my heart.
In the past 7 years, there were moments when I had the opportunity to tell her how much God loves her or to pray with her about a challenge she was facing.  I have to admit, there were times when I thought to myself, “Okay God
I know that healing is a journey, and that I am supposed to love people where they are at
but 7 years?”
He would remind me that His love is unfailing, unchanging, unrelenting, unstoppable, and that I am to love as He does.
This weekend, God’s work in Abby’s heart had our team in tears.  She let us know that she wasn’t going into work, despite it being a potentially lucrative holiday weekend and that she just wanted to be around us.  So she joined in all of our activities for the weekend.  During our volunteer prayer, she jumped in and asked us to pray for her.  Before we prayed, she turned to me with tears in her eyes and said, “Every night when I show up at work, I pray that ‘the Prince song’ will come on because I want to leave like you did, Harmony.”
I literally started balling.  I couldn’t even hold back the tears if I wanted to.  Because I know that she was referencing a pivotal moment in my own life when ‘the Prince song’ Purple Rain came on, and I had an encounter with God in the middle of the strip club.  It was at that moment that I left the industry.
We all cried and prayed with Abby.  We told her that God’s plans for her are good and encouraged her that He would make a way for her, just as He made a way for me.
The next day, Abby asked us to come to church with her and was delighted to show up with an entourage of girls.  That day, she told us that she wanted to be baptized but had no one to cheer her on they day her church offered baptisms.  She asked if I would be willing to do the honors of baptizing her.  So, with her Treasures family cheering loudly at the hotel pool, Abby was baptized!
I love that God loves us and meets us right where we are at—in strip clubs and hotel swimming pools, whether we are still dealing with pride or envy
or stripping—He loves us and He always shows up!  He is unrelenting in His pursuit of us and I am honored to witness His pursuit of Abby and the beautiful work He is doing in her life.

Love, Harmony & The Treasures Team

God is good and knows when lives will change. Thank you Jesus for this ministry and the women who are your hands and feet. These women go places where most of us would rather judge.

If you’d like a simple way to help Treasures, you can put their non-profit on your Ralphs card and whenever you shop there, Ralphs will donate to them.  Click here.