Charity vs. Justice

Justice is a concept that the Lord is really working on in my heart in the last year or so….I think this says it well.

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Justice

Letters to the President….

I found this article in the New York Times today – it highlights a collection of letters written by children to our next President.

The one that made me laugh?

Dear President Obama,

Here is a list of the first 10 things you should do as president:

1. Fly to the White House in a helicopter.
2. Walk in.
3. Wipe feet.
4. Walk to the Oval Office.
5. Sit down in a chair.
6. Put hand-sanitizer on hands.
7. Enjoy moment.
8. Get up.
9. Get in car.
10. Go to the dog pound.

— Chandler Browne, age 12, Chicago

The one that shows the treasure of a child’s heart?

Dear President Obama,

I am small, quiet, smart. I love to swim and play basketball. My mom and dad are from the Dominican Republic. I am going to the Dominican Republic next year. I think you should try to change the world by building shelters for the people who live in the streets. It’s the beginning of January, and it’s cold. Good luck being the president.

— Pamela Mejia, age 11, Boston

And a little child shall lead them. Social justice isn’t lost on kids…..it’s often lost on adults.

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Kids

50,000 Shoes….Soles 4 Souls

Imagine if you didn’t have any shoes…..what would that feel like? How would your life be different?

A  group of people has taken on the challenge to raise awareness of this huge problem facing those who are the poorest of the poor – and can’t speak up for themselves. We are using social media to GET THE WORD OUT!

It’s time to give poverty a swift kick with 50,000 pairs of shoes!

This is the 50,000 Pairs of Shoes in 50 Days challenge.

The website is http://www.50000shoes.com

On Monday, November 10, we will be blogging, Facebooking, Twittering, emailing….. ANYTHING & EVERYTHING online about this campaign.  We want to raise enough money to purchase 50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days.  $5 buys 2 pairs of shoes!

We can make a difference in somebody’s life with only $5……what hardly even buys one meal at McDonalds!

I’ve taken the challenge….now go check it out, and spread the word!

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Justice, Things I'm hoping you can't ignore , 000 in 50 days, 50, Soles for Souls

Voting, elections and other angst….

I voted this morning – and I cried when I did it. Not because my emotions or my future are tied up in the results of an election…but because it’s an awesome privilege that we have as Americans. I won’t tell you who I voted for because it really does not matter…what matters is this:

I want to go on record here. I’ve very intentionally kept out of the political avalanche of information swirling around for months. This simply isn’t the place. I’ve heard the arguments on both sides. I’ve seen the finger pointing, I’ve witnessed the division…..and it has saddened me.

Here is the bottom line for me. God is still in control. The moral and spiritual and economic health of our country doesn’t rest in the hands of one man…..it rests in the hands of each of us. There is no need for panic…just a need for prayer.

When we wake up tomorrow with a new president elected – God will still rule and reign. When we walk through the next 4 years with that president, good or bad – God will still rule and reign.  Sure we have to do our part, sure we need to participate in the process….but if we don’t do it with love in our hearts we are missing something.

My friend Paul sent me in email yesterday that said “The truth is, we will be better off, or worse off, not because of who wins the election but because of how we treat each other, and how we respond to the hurting and helpless — the least of these — among us. We will be better or worse off because of how we treat those who think and vote differently than we do.” You can read the rest of his thoughts here.

Amen friend….amen. Pray today for our country….our WHOLE country and not just the Democrat part or the Republican part. Pray for BOTH of the men who could lead our country….and commit to support them regardless of your politics.

And now, I will return to business as usual – and no more politics!  If you haven’t already….go vote. Vote with your heart, vote with your concscience and leave the results in God’s hands – they are big enough to hold us all.

Now, if you want to make a difference in another way, go here and sponsor a child – you will change their life forever!  To read the latest on the blogger tour to the Dominican Republic, go here

Filed under: Faith and Culture , McCain, Obama, Politics, Presidential Race, Vote

I dare you….

Nine months ago I had my world rocked by a group of bloggers – people who traveled to Uganda with Compassion International to blog about children, poverty and the hope that Jesus offers. The result? We now have a precious child named Enock from Uganda who as joined our family as a sponsored child through Compassion. We have sent and received letters from Enock and we are growing as a family in our understanding of the mandate that we have as Christians to embrace the needs of those who can’t speak up for themselves.

Last week I completed the last step toward becoming an advocate for Compassion International to assist them in their mission to “release children from poverty in Jesus’ name” My life is moving in a different direction because of a group of people who took a risk….

This week, a different group is traveling to the Dominican Republic to take that same risk. You can read it all here.

My challenge to you is to simply join them on their journey by reading along…and open your heart to the possibility that God may want to change you…to grip your heart.

You may never be the same again!

Filed under: Compassion, Faith and Culture, Things I'm hoping you can't ignore , Compassion Bloggers, Compassion International, Dominican Republic

The Shack….

I just finished reading this book yesterday.

Have  you read it? I would love to have some dialogue about the book, but nobody around me has read it. My husband….keeps saying he is going to read it, but who knows how long that will take!

The book gave me a lot to think about and raised a lot of questions for me….but I don’t want to give anything away if you have not read it or are not finished yet.

So….wanna talk about it? Bring on the discussion inter-peeps!

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Stuff I'm writing to shamelessly pimp my stats , Shack book Discussion, The Shack, William P. Young, William P. Young's The Shack

Fireproof…

Okay, let me say first of all that I am not usually easily swayed by hype. The fact that this movie has gotten a lot of great press in the Christian Community doesn’t necessarily mean that it appeals to me. Let’s just say that I sometimes have issues with the whole “Christian Sub-culture”.

That being said, however, I went to see Fireproof this past weekend with my husband and parents. If you haven’t heard of this movie you can read about it here. You guys???? I seriously cried though at LEAST half of this movie! At one point, I was crying, my dad was crying, my mom was crying and my husband was crying. While I recognize that the ability to make one cry is not the only benchmark of a good movie, it does attest on some level to the emotional impact that it leaves on you.  I don’t know that I have ever seen a more heart wrenching depiction of marital difficulty or the impact it leaves on the people involved. It was almost breathtaking for me to witness the effect that coming to Jesus can have on a person’s heart and their relationships….and it was so realistically portrayed.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….Jesus is all about changing lives. He is all about changing marriages, and relationships. If you want to see a great portrayal of the reality of that change, then see this movie!

One quick side note, and my only “complaint” about the movie. The acting…especially in the first 15-20 min. of the movie, was pretty sub-par. I wish that we could make something that has the high standards of quality films, but has the message that this one does. Maybe we will get there.

Watch the trailer at:
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Stuff that makes me cry.... , Fireproof movie

Not everybody looks good naked!

The other night I was watching this show:

Now in all fairness…..I’ve only seen this show once. I’ve heard about it, but had not watched it until the other night. That being said, however, I have a few thoughts about what I saw…..

1. You could pay me LARGE amounts of money and I wouldn’t agree to being on this show….no way…never going to happen!

2. The woman who was featured on this episode? She actually DID look good naked….although, just to squelch any nasty rumors about my TV watching habits….they never actually show the people featured completely naked….tastefully and artfully draped or covered in the….umm….necessary areas, but not completely naked…..but enough to see what they really look like. My point? This particular women really had nothing to worry about.

3. Do they ever put people on the show who actually maybe *don’t* look good naked and try to convince them that they do? Let’s face it…..some of us….including myself…..just look better with clothes on! Admit it people…..you know it’s true!

4. If you truly didn’t think you looked good naked….what on earth would make you think getting on national television in your underwear (or less) would help?

5. Why is this entertaining? I’m by no means a prude….but I fail to see the draw here…..truly!

So….there is my 2 cents……what do you think? Thoughts? Opinions? Sarcastic comments?….Come on people…..let it all hang out! *snicker*…..

Filed under: Faith and Culture, Seriously?, Stuff that proves how fun I really am , How to look good naked

I’m just disappointed….

There has been a lot of buzz going on for the last couple of months surrounding a song written by Mike Guglielmucci called “Healer”. The first time I heard it I was captivated by it….and it stirred me. Much of the buzz about this song, however, surrounded the fact that the man who wrote it was dying of cancer…and he wrote it as a heart-cry to God in response to that news – he believed that God could heal him. That faith, that belief touched many as they heard the song and saw the video clip of Mike leading the song, sick and with oxygen tubes in his nose before a huge crowd of people…..it stirred them too!

Fast forward……and the news breaks here that Mike lied. He was never dying….he made it up. My personal blogsphere circles and twitter were BUSY yesterday with commentary and reaction to this news. People are sad….disappointed….angry…..turned off….compassionate…..cynical….there were a lot of emotions flying around.

And my response? I’m disappointed in Mike for feeling the need to lie and make such a story up when the song he wrote would have had an impact just because it’s a great song and it’s TRUTH….God can heal….God does heal. But bigger than that disappointment is the sadness I feel at some of the reactions coming out of the body of Christ in response. One person’s response that I saw was “I think the church should stop just showing grace to these nutjobs (like Todd Bentley) and start distancing ourselves from them…..Just admit you are a liar and repent. You don’t need therapy. You need a swift kick in the ass.” Wow guys, I was under the impression that it is ALWAYS the Church’s job to show grace to people who fail, and let us down, and sin. Showing grace doesn’t imply that we agree with what they did. Showing grace doesn’t send the message that it’s all okay and there aren’t consequences for our actions. Showing grace is, however, in my opinion not an optional part of the life of a Christ Follower…it’s what is required of us. The Bible was written by and full of stories of men who failed, lied, cheated, murdered, sinned in myriads of ways….and God showed them grace….and he shows us grace.

I think that what Mike did was serious….and sad….and disappointing, but it’s not an unforgiveable sin. God can redeem Mike and God can use this in ways that we can’t imagine. And my thoughts? Let’s pour on the grace church…..

Filed under: Faith and Culture , Compassion, Disappointment, Grace, Healer, Mike Guglielmucci

Questions….

I ran across this fantastic article entitled “Knocked Up..Knocked Down” here – and it shook me more than a little. I know that nobody likes to think about the harsh realities that face people on the streets, people who are unseen and make us uncomfortable….but it’s hard not to rethink everything you thought you knew about justice when you read something like this.

So I’m left asking….what does justice look like? What should our response look like? Why does Jesus highlight the poor so often….why don’t we hear more….do more….love more?

If you made it this far after reading the article linked above….read this FANTASTIC blog post by Shaun Groves on this subject here…..it will flip your world on end just a little bit.

Filed under: Compassion, Faith and Culture, Justice , homeless, Justice, the kingdom, the poor