I’m struck, as I watch the Hope for Haiti telethon my burden to pray grows heavy. I know money will help – they’re desperate for the basic necessities like food and water, medical supplies, and eventually all kinds of materials to rebuild on a material level; but, we must pray that the greater, deeper, eternal message of the gospel reaches the suffering masses, for without the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the change will be only fleeting. Let’s link arms together, wherever we are, and pray to the God of the Universe to send His sure and steadfast hope that will never disappoint. Let’s pray for the believers scattered among the devastation, for strength and perseverance. Let’s pray for His direction for those who are risking their lives to save others, for wisdom for doctors and nurses who are working tirelessly among the sick and dying. Let’s ask the Lord to carry food and water to those in areas beyond Port Au Prince. Let’s pray He’ll use this in a way that draws many to Him.
Relief for Haiti-we can be involved! January 20, 2010
As the scenes of Haiti’s devastation play across our television screen I feel such a sense of helplessness. I’m unqualified – I’m not a doctor or an excavator, I’m not a rescue worker or in the military. Sure, I can give money, but even that seems nebulous. Then, I realized that praying for this effort is a way to join the front-lines of relief.
A few days ago, when roads were blocked and water was unable to be distributed, I prayed for a host of God’s angels to pave the way. I envisioned thousands of His heavenly host protecting those whose lives hung in the balance a few days ago.
I think He woke me up on Monday night to pray. At about 3:00am I was wide awake, so I lifted up the men, women, and children I saw on T.V. that night, for the woman who was miraculously rescued after six days under the rubble of a building.
I’ve prayed for the outlying areas, that seem so far from Port Au Prince, to receive aid in miraculous ways. And, I marvel that God loves Haitians, He is mindful of their suffering and is a very present help in times of trouble.
I’m so grateful for the men and women who are there helping. I pray for the believers – for perseverance, compassion, boldness, and wisdom. God is far greater than this tragedy and moves in mighty ways. We can be involved – join me in praying against the spiritual forces of wickedness and praying for a mighty work of God to prevail in what looks, from a human standpoint, to be in ruins.
Pass it On January 10, 2010
One of the many wonderful things about following Christ is the amazing people He tends to put in our paths, men and women He uses to shape our character, sharpen our skills, and draw out our strengths. One such woman I met, during our first month in Texas,when I was 26 years old. Marion was teaching a women’s Bible study that I attended through our church. I think, when we met, she was in her early 50’s (like I am right now). I was drawn to her from the beginning. She knew the Lord well, and she shared her joys and her sorrows with honesty and grace, revealing a depth that came from a life spent at the feet of Jesus.
One week Marion shared a story about someone who regularly spent time hanging around her kitchen, leaning on the counter asking questions about the Lord and life. I could see why! So, I invited Marion to lunch and asked her if she’d disciple me. She was kind of hesitant at first and asked me what my expectations were. I told her I wanted to be like the person she shared about – I wanted to hang around and learn from her. So, our friendship began, and we met consistently for six years. Not only did Marion model devotion to Christ, a godly marriage, and a gospel-rich life, but she also gave me many opportunities to teach the Bible in the women’s study at our church. I often reflect back to those days – she took a risk and allowed me, a young believer and a young woman, to stretch my faith and exercise a gift I barely knew I had. She believed in me during very formative years of my spiritual life.
A funny twist – her husband was my infertility doctor. On several occasions Bob and I had lunch with Joe and Marion. It was kind of awkward, to say the least. BUT, they were very generous with us and even helped us with the cost of some of our tests. Marion was a huge example in all kinds of ways back then, and I’m so grateful to her for all that she’s added to my life and walk with Christ. Over the years the Lord has woven
her family into the fabric of our lives in rich ways, for which I’m so grateful.
In a few weeks I’m going to start teaching Philippians at The Summit here in Durham. I’ll be co-teaching it with Sharon, who’s 28 and newly married. She’s a lot smarter and more qualified than I ever was at her age, but I hope I can encourage and believe in her the way Marion did me.
Marion and I are still touch, though not often enough, and now she’s in her 70’s. I’m so thankful for the years I leaned on the counter of Marion’s life and listened and learned. Thank you Marion!
Maybe you need a “Marion” in your life – or you could be a “Marion” in someone else’s…just a thought. 
Twirl January 4, 2010
Bob has never liked to dance, and I’m not sure if he even knows how. So, at my niece’s wedding a few months ago, as romantic ballads floated through the air, I decided to take the lead and dance with Bob. He stood still while I held his hands, pulled in close and twirled away, one arm around his shoulders the other extended to the side, pulled in close, twirled away – light in shuffle, smooth in style. He laughed and I got to dance, but it wasn’t a shared experience.
Our walk with God is like a waltz and the gospel is like a romantic ballad. The Spirit, taking the lead, invites us to follow. It requi
res a certain kind of energy to yield when He sends us in a new direction, and effort to dip when He bends. It also takes practice to move in sync with God, to trust He won’t let go. Sometimes the monotony of the exercise makes us forget the intrigue of the beat and of the beauty of the rhythm. Sometimes we stand stiff and refuse to flex, we resist and give up, but the song keeps on singing, the Spirit hangs on tight.
Listen…can you hear the melody of love and grace? It’s the serenade of your Savior – take His hand and twirl!
Can I know God? December 21, 2009
When I was just 20 I remember calling out to Him, in faith, for the very first time – and He answered. He brought someone along to tell me about His love and forgiveness and explain to me how to place my faith in Jesus Christ. I remember kneeling on the olive-green shag carpet in my bedroom and spilling out my heavy load of guilt at the foot of the cross. My life was never the same. Forgiveness brought a rush of freedom, and following Christ brought a whole new set of choices. Somehow God’s mysterious presence, His holy Spirit, surrounded me and things began to change — I began to change. Transform is a better word. Over the next several months I began to experience true love instead of the shallow kind I found in dating relationships, and a new kind of peace that wasn’t dependent upon a bottle of wine. And, while it took time to understand the Bible, as I persevered and kept reading, I began to understand more and more about God and His character. I remember reading John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” It dawned on me that eternal life wasn’t just about forgiveness and a secure home after death, but it was about knowing – really and intimately – God Himself.
Thirty years later transformation is still going on. God’s Spirit is still shaping my character – filing down the rough edges and smoothing out the well-worn ruts. I think He’s nudging me closer. He reminded me just today that within the pages of His Word are precious and magnificent promises, everything I need, for life and godliness, and even more, a greater understanding and a more intimate knowledge of Him. My Father, my Savior, my Friend.
With God we’ll never plumb the depths. But, He bids us to try. “This is eternal life that we may know Him.”
It is loss to keep what God says give… December 13, 2009
Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon reading a biography about Lilias Trotter. Right around the turn of the 20th Century God called her to take the gospel to Arabs in Algeria. Those were the days when women wore long woolen skirts, tight fitting corsets, and blouses buttoned right up under their chin. In all that discomfort Lilias stepped out in faith, traveled by ship from England to the sweltering heat of the desert, and pioneered missions in a very foreboding part of the world.
Before Algeria Lilias, as a 21 and 22 year old believer began a ministry in the poor sections of London, reaching the working class girls who came from the country to the city to make money for their families. Among other things, she trusted the Lord for workers and a even a building, which required substantial funding. She was a pioneer in her own city. Then, when she was 34 God called her to Algeria. She wrestled with His call. She knew following Christ meant giving up a lot – a career as a fabulously gifted artist, her position as a wealthy and aristocratic influence in London society, and her thriving ministry in the inner city of London. But, finally, what drove her was the gospel and her passion to follow Jesus.
The story goes on to tell of the next 41 years that she spent spreading the gospel in Algeria, the amazing in-roads God gave her, into the lives of Arab women as well as men. She spent the rest of her life as she would say, with a “passion for the impossible.” She walked by faith and bumped up against all sorts of obstacles. God called her to a culture that had little regard for women let alone an interest in the Son of God.
I’m compelled by women like Lilias. I love her courage and vitality, her adventurous spirit, but most of all I am moved by her steadfast faith in Jesus. Her willingness to ‘let go’ of pretty significant things in order to follow Him fully. Her story also teaches me something of the nature of God’s grace. I just can’t get over how He really speaks into our hearts. One by one He nudges us to follow Him – He has plans for us! He uses us in places and through circumstances that are so beyond our limited perspective and ability.
I doubt God will call me to Algeria, but I know that He often calls me to give Him my dreams and desires, my expectations and wants. Over the years, as I’ve allowed Him to pry open my hands and pick out of my little treasure trove what He wants from me, it suddenly blossoms and grows, becoming worth far more eternally than I could’ve ever imagined. There’s a rich and mysterious reward when we let go of what we hold dear and give it to Him.
Now, I’ll be clear. I still clench my fist and hold some things close, sometimes I’m afraid of what He’ll ask for next. But, Lilias’ legacy reminds me, as does my own life, that it truly is loss to keep what God says give.
Of Self & Ducks December 9, 2009
I sit here in my over-stuffed, ivory damask writing chair thinking about my self, wishing I didn’t so often. Sigh. Earlier this morning, on a conference call with some colleagues, we discussed how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of God. I wish I could say I only think about God and very seldom about me.
I often don’t blog because I can’t think of anything clever to say. It disheartens me to think my words or thoughts won’t change the world or even, more simply, another person. And why, dear self, does it matter what anyone thinks or if anyone reads anyway? A simple reminder that I think too much of me. Sigh again.
So, I’ve decided that I’m just going to write…write about what God shows me because I like the written word. I don’t always like my written word, but I do surely love the One I write about. Every week I shall write. You can hold me to it.
So, I thought about Him today while grilling burgers for dinner. Outside, along the little pond behind our building, stood a gaggle of ducks. All in a row, at attention, behind the Head Duck. They patiently waited for some sort of command and when it came they excitedly quacked their way off into the sunset. Such silly creatures ducks are. Earlier one dove down deep in the pond for food, so deep in fact that it flipped completely over. A young and inexperienced diving duck.
God made the ducks. I wonder if they make Him laugh.
Ahh. So good to think about God.
Is He Following you on Twitter? November 15, 2009
Why do we like Twitter and Facebook (or other social networks)? If nothing else they keep us in touch with people we otherwise lose contact with. And, it’s a way for us to share the mundane and glorious with whomever will listen. It’s fun, right, to post an experience and realize we’re not alone, that someone else relates, someone else cares?
It occurred to me that God is always following us, every minute of every day. He cares about the boring and the frustrating, the frightening and the exciting events in our lives. He’s ready to give wisdom, strength, power, courage. He listens to the cry of our heart, and He promises to provide all of our needs, we simply need to tweet. Remember He’s the relentless lover of our souls.
Try it this week and as often as you tweet your friends “tweet your anxiety upon the Lord, because He cares for you.”
In Hot Pursuit November 8, 2009
I wonder about God sometimes and why He pursues us and if we really notice when He does. Like the varied colors of the sunset that splash across the sky in splendor…and silence…and regularity. Did He do that for me? “Cas, look! I painted the ceiling of the sky with a fresh stroke of red tonight because I know it’s your favorite color.”
The other day I was exiting off of I-40 and a crippled, older man limped along the line of idling cars with his hand out asking for help. He needed money…and probably so much more. Was that God? “Cas, when you show love to the least of these you show love for Me.” I couldn’t help but give him something…my heart ached for this man I’d never seen before and may never see again.He showed me His compassion by planting the same in my soul.
I’m currently having a conversation on www.everystudent.com with a guy I’ll call J. He wants to debate the existence of God. He says: “You’re living under a delusion and I want to liberate you from it.” I want to introduce him to the God of the Universe and tell J that there’s no debate…God exists, it’s no coincidence that we’re talking. God is in hot pursuit.
So, I’m watching for God. Listening for His voice. Embracing the pursuit.
See You at sunset.
Starbucks in an Instant? October 15, 2009
Come on! Starbucks in an instant? The whole Starbucks draw is the linger long at a little table and chat with a friend not coffee sprinkled into a cup of home-boiled water. What’s the coffee world coming to? I already tweet and post snippets on virtual walls. I’ve given into expecting Pike’s Place for heaven sakes. I don’t want instant coffee.
Again I bellow: What’s the coffee world coming to?
I’ll admit, Starbucks isn’t my most favorite cup of my most favorite beverage, but it’ll do in a pinch and sometimes (a lot) more often than that. Though horrified by the thought of insta-brew, I decided to give the quick-brew a whirl.
Nasty…gritty…stick to your teeth instant…definitely not that freshly brewed (and all too familiar burned-bean) flavor.
Do us a favor, oh Starbucks CEO’s. Abandon the instant and stick with the brewed.
