I very seldom buy cake mixes, and I especially rarely read the box!  But the other day as I was trying to make the FB famous soda/cake mix low fat cake, I looked at the side when I picked the box up and was startled by this statement: “Thank you for welcoming us into your home.  We hope that what’s inside the box helps you bring more love to your table.  Cordially Yours, Betty Crocker”

Wow. Really? Buying a cake mix meant I was welcoming Betty Crocker and Co into my home?  How interesting!  And of course, I immediately saw a spiritual connection…a very serious one.  Although this is a very friendly “welcome”, I thought about what God might be saying to me through this.

I know we have all heard the statement that serial killers seldom look like evil, vicious people with a knife in their hands…they look very ordinary and calm.  And we all know those statements that say the enemy, satan, will not come at you with horns and an evil grin – he will usually be disguised as the very thing you want/need.  I have also heard repeatedly, usually from a pulpit, that what you watch on TV/the internet is also equivalent to welcoming that into your home, with all its consequences.

HOWEVER.  What if each of those ideas came with the entire statement that this box did??  Not just a warning that you’re welcoming ____ (fill in the blank) to your home, but the WHOLE story.  We hope (know) that what’s inside helps you bring more_____ to your _____.  As in, “welcoming pornography into your home, to help you destroy your family“.  Or what about “welcoming drugs and alcohol into your life to help you  ruin your body”.  Or this one, “welcoming that hobby into your life to help you never develop the prayer life you want”.  You can add so many other things to this list…..with so many different results.

I thought about the cake mix again, and it should truly have said “bring more fat, sugar and empty calories to your body!!  But humor aside, I really believe that God was showing me that in the busyness of my life, I have many times been guilty of rushing through decisions about my time, my health, and my spiritual walk by brushing aside His voice and saying, “I’ll deal with that next time, or later, or whatever” and never doing it.

The good news?  There is a positive flip side to this.  When I pick up my Bible to read, I can end that with “bring more knowledge and understanding to my life”.  Praying?  I can end with “bring more intimacy with my Father to my life”.  Buying that modest clothing? “Bring more honor and respect to my body, the temple of God”.  Listening to Christian music?  “Bring more encouragement and happiness to my day”.

So, I don’t believe I will ever look at a box of anything in the store the same way again.  And I hope that you and I will slow down, and look at what’s in our lives, our homes, our hearts, and our minds, and think about the ending to that statement….thank you for welcoming……..and do our best to make sure that ALWAYS has a positive, uplifting and honoring to God ending!  May He receive all the glory as we live our lives for Him!

When I was little, there was a sing we learned in church choir that went like this:  one door, and only one, and yet its sides are two..inside and outside, in which side are you?  I sang that with the firm conviction that I was on the right side, INSIDE the Kingdom of heaven with Jesus, and I felt sorry for everyone who wasn’t.

Fast forward about 45 years, and God brought that song back to me this past Sunday.  We were sitting in my Lifegroup (SS) and started sharing prayer requests.  A new member of our class, who us a brand new Christian, asked us to pray for her friend who had driven her to church.  He was elderly and on oxygen 24/7, and wanted to come with her, but wasn’t breathing good that day due to weather, and couldn’t come in.

Now, by “come in”, we thought she was saying he went back home and was going to pick her up later. What SHE meant, however, was entirely different!  He was actually out in the van, hoping that he could breathe enough to walk in for church!!  Really.  We absolutely could not believe it..and once the shock wore off, there was an immediate reaction.  Didn’t the church have a wheelchair? Yep!  Would he be willing to come inside with that? Oh, yes!  So I was dispatched to find the chair, two guys took it outside and rolled him in!  AND he was able to stay for church!

What a blessing we all almost missed out on!  At our church, in Moultrie, GA, there was actually someone who wanted to worship and was sitting JUST OUTSIDE the doors!  What an amazing thing for us..and what an amazing lesson.  If this woman had not spoken up, we would have never known it and HE would have never made it inside!

And God wasn’t through with me that day.  We rode the motorcycle to church that night, and took the longer way to enjoy a longer ride.  As we passed another local church on the way, there was a house not 20 feet from it, and a little boy sitting in the grass, playing with a truck, and he could have literally walked from his yard to the church without ever crossing the street.  God spoke to me AGAIN about being just outside the opportunity to worship/know Him!

My heart was broken at that moment about the “just outside” people!  How many do we miss every week?  Every day?  And are we doing anything about it??  After all, our friend that morning just needed a wheelchair and someone to push him…and that little boy just needed someone to walk to his yard and invite them!

As we drove on and got to church that night, I was so tickled to see the man from that morning WALK inside under his own power!  And he was there Wed night for Bible study..again on his own power.  All he needed…..was a little help!

So what about you?  Are there “just outside” people in your life?  Are you trying to help?  And are you daily looking for others?? I pray that we will all be able to answer that more frequently with a YES!  And may those “just outsiders” become “all the way insiders”!

I have been in church all my life, in  several churches with a lot of different worship styles, and I have seen a lot of weird and sometimes funny things happen in those services.  However Easter Sunday this year something truly remarkable happened, and the Lord has used the last two weeks to challenge me and grow me from it in ways I never knew about.

Our pastor is very down to earth in his preaching, straight from the Bible and with lots of insight and practical applications, which I love.  Many times during his sermons, he’ll stop and say, “does this make sense to you?” which is a wonderful way of seeing how clearly he is communicating, and also to refocus those who may have mentally drifted off.  And the usual response is a bumch of head nods and amens, and we continue on.

However!  Easter Sunday as he was giving a clear presentation of the Gospel, he asked that question and a deep voice from the back clearly said “not really!” What????  I looked at those around me, they looked at me, we all looked around, totally startled!  Did we really just hear that?  Someone said “not really”??  NOW what do we do?  I believe we were all stunned at what happened.

Now our pastor, because if previous knowledge of the person, continued with his sermon, and we went on as usual.  For me, however, the questions just kept pouring in, and I don’t think I ever really refocused on the sermon.  What did this man mean?  Did he nor understand a point?  Or was he not a Christian?  How could he NOT comprehend what I so clearly heard and understood??  And why wasn’t anyone addressing this?  Were we really going to not make sure he knew Jesus?? 

Later, after talking with our pastor, I learned of those extenuating circumstances.  But God has just been hammering my heart since then about how casual I am sometimes about people who don’t know Jesus!!  When they hear the Gospel at church, I just assume they are absorbing a lot of what I am, and they are blessed by being there.  What a mistake!  The Bible itself says “but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him…” (I Corinthians 2:14).  And the same holds true when I share the Gospel or church things or stories..I have to remember that they don’t hear it the way I think they do!

So…what would have happened if this man was a first time visitor that no one knew?  Would we have stopped and gotten a godly man to take him aside and lead him to Jesus?  Would our pastor have stopped and addressed it from the pulpit?  And what about US?  Are we prepared to address the people that may answer back “not really!”?  Are would we just move on and pray they get it later?  May God help us to say NOT REALLY!  May our aim be to be more aware of our witness for HIS glory!!

One of my hubby’s favorite things to make fun of on infomercials is the infamous line, “But wait!  There’s more!” wherein they offer you an incredible, onetime only deal, that usually doubles the offer they were making originally, except the 2nd offer is free.  Of course, there is that little thing about paying separate shipping and handling, but it is free…..And if you are so gullible as to fall for the “free” offer, you are in for a shock.  It’s all a sham, and you realize you’ve just been had when you can go to Walmart and find the same item for half the price with no shipping and handling.

To some, Easter is that way.  It’s about a fake bunny bringing loads of candy to good children, and eggs being decorated, hidden and eaten for no real purpose other than fun.  If there is any mention of faith, it is in the broadest “all religions celebrate the same” theme that is part of the enemy’s plan to deceive as many people as possible. The best part, the REAL part, about the death, burial, and resurrection of a Savior, is totally absent or written off as fable.

For me, Easter is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the remembering and the celebrating of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and joining my church family in praise and worship. I also take time to remember how the Lord saved me at age eight, and to thank Him for giving me the gift of salvation so early in my life. However, there has always been a sad side to Easter, and that is this – there are still SO many more people who need to hear about Jesus and trust Him.  And up until a few days ago, I knew and had prayed for one of them for over 25 years, with no results that I knew of.

AND YET!!  God,in His perfect timing, led my loved one to Himself since I last spoke with him,and now this amazing person in my life knows Jesus!!  I have loved and prayed for this person since I met him…and I have watched him spend his life away from God in pursuit of his own life and agenda.  He is an amazing man – a good man – a man who gives to charity, helps others, and treats his wife like a queen.  And he was always very respectful of mine and Robert’s beliefs, and said he admired our faithfulness to them.  But he did NOT see a need in his life for the same.  And now….NOW!….I can celebrate Easter with more joy in my heart than ever before!  I am thrilled beyond words that my very special guy will now spend eternity with Jesus and me!

Because you see, Easter is NOT a fake “but wait, there’s more!”  proposition.  The reason for Easter – God – is real, alive, and full of promise and hope for everyone who believes in Him.  He is the creator of this universe, yet He is also the one who loves all mankind to the point that He was willing to send His Son, Jesus, to live, die, and rise again to provide the only perfect sacrifice for our sins.  That provision has given us eternal life with Him, and that is an offer that no one should refuse.

And it was this thought that brought me to tears Sunday.  Overflowing, happy, and joyful tears at the knowledge that my loved one now has everything that we sang about that morning!  Amazing grace, peace, love, a home with Jesus, life full and free….all of it!  I no longer have to pray for him with longing and concern for Him to know Jesus.  My prayers are now full of praise, and hope, and excitement about his new life.  He  is a new creation, a child of the Lord, and there is nothing more now than to serve the Lord with the rest of his life!

Isn’t God awesome?  Amazing?  Faithful?  Are there really enough words to fully describe Him?  NO.  And yet, this Easter Sunday, I will find myself trying anew to express my gratitude for His grace…and for saving my loved one.  AND then I will renew my efforts to be all that I can be for God, so that I can continue to see more and more come to know Him.  After all….just wait, there IS more, and it’s all free, no strings attached! May God receive all the glory for the marvelous things HE has done!

It all started with a burned pan of biscuits during the morning rush. We were keeping pace with orders, customers were smiling, the line was moving, and then, WHAM.  Suddenly we were in nowhere land, because of one pan of ruined biscuits, and we were told it would be eight minutes before we had any more.  I NEVER knew how long eight minutes could be!!  We had to ask customers to have their biscuits put on buns, or bagels, or order something else that didn’t require a biscuit..leading to re-orders, confusion, and frustration for those customers who chose to settle for only what we could offer.

Some customers, however, decided to wait it out, and sat in tree shaded parking spors and had nice hot fresh food delivered to them that was exactly what they wanted.  And they drove away very happy.  Now of course, there are those who cannot wait..bosses don’t understand being late because your restaurant was behind…but many who chose an alternative just simply were too impatient to wait.  And believe me when I say I was most impatient to get those fresh biscuits too!  I hate having to disappoint people.

God reminded me right then of one of my major spiritual weaknesses that I have been trying to improve for many years:  my impatience when waiting on Him!  I am always eager to go to Him with problems, obstacles, requests for loved ones.  I love “yes” answers, and I have learned to live with the “no” answers.  But the “not now” ones???  Sometimes I’d rather have a root canal than to hear that from the Lord!  And so I find myself fussing, complaining and feeling very inconvenienced when it happens.  I am a very unhappy “customer” if I have to “park” my plans and wait on Him. I have been known, also, to take a “bun” or “bagel” from either the world’s solutions or my own resources, rather than wait.

AND YET!  God has a very nice “parking spot” (His will) where I can comfortably wait in a nice shady area (His love and grace) and then wait for “fresh delicious” answers, that are EXACTLY what I really want and need!  And they are hand delivered to me, WHEN I wait, by a loving, generous God who prepared them just for me!

So!  The nexr time I am in a potential “not now” situation, I am praying that God will give me the wisdom to recognize the value of waiting, and the strength to persevere in it!  That way I am satisfied, He is glorified, and I am able to grow in my love and wonder of Him!

At our ChickFilA, we have 4 big coffee urns..3 for regular coffee, and 1 for decaf.  They are very ordinary, black on black design, with a coffee gauge and timer on the ordinary plastic top.  They get used over and over, day in and day out, and no one pays a whole lot of attention to them.  We use 3 at front counter, and a regular one at drive thru.  This saves a lot of steps and time for the drive thru workers (me!) during morning rush.

However!  The other morning when I was getting the front of the store up and running for the day, I took one urn out of the coffee maker and placed it on the counter to fix decaf in another.  And of course moments later my elbow caught it and knocked it to the floor!  The sad coffee urn that I picked up had a cracked face, and when I tried it the gauge didn’t work anymore.  So we had to put it away till repairs were made.  No big deal, right??

Wrong!  That first morning I took one of the 2 front regular coffee urns to drive thru.  Unfortunately, the front kept running out of coffee, so they took it back!  That meant that every time drive thru needed coffee, someone had to walk to get it, slowing us down..so we took the urn back!  And so it went, fighting over urns every day until the other one got repaired and order was restored.

So what’s the point? Just this…some days I feel just like that black coffee urn, and I am not alone!  It’s so easy to feel ordinary and/or unappreciated.  We feel used and reused over and over again, being constantly drained by those just seeking satisfaction for themselves (the urn) and it’s hard to see ourselves as being special or unique (black on black) in our daily lives.  We can even get into the rut of thinking that we’re not needed (being 1 of 4).  

And yet!  Remember what happened when I broke one?  It was hard!  It was inconvenient!  And it caused a slow down in service and customer satisfaction. It was also immediately repaired, because it’s absence was such a hardship!  Which is absolutely true for each of us, even if we don’t always believe it.  God uniquely designs every one of us at conception, and has a role for us that no one else can do.

And yet.  We get beaten up every day by the world, our jobs, etc and we forget our specialness and our worth.  I see this every day at my window whenever I compliment a customer’s clothes, hair, or accessories (yes, even men!)  This look comes over their faces like “wow..me?  Really?” and they look amazed that they received a compliment. I waited on a man just today who is a systems analyst and I told him that was great.  He said that he really only sat in front of a desk all day, but I told him I was impressed with his smarts!  He looked much happier when he left, and all because he was reminded of his worth!

So…the next time you feel unappreciated, remember our coffee urns…and even if no one else tells you, remind yourself that you are making a difference.  It will carry you through a rough day anytime!

Even though I absolutely love my job, there are still THOSE customers…the ones that all employees know because of their attitudes..usually for all the wrong reasons!  And while most of us have a different type of annoying customer, such as the talkative ones, or the not-so-good hygenic ones, or the ones with 1,000 kids..there is one type that pushes everyone’s buttons.  That type is the “I am so wealthy/powerful/important ” person that is entitled to every discount and every special order under the sun!!  Those are the ones that REALLY improve my prayer life!

But it’s not just at work.  Entitled people exist everywhere..church, home, in the grocery store, at the baseball field…everywhere.  And they generally make themselves known and can cause resentment and anger at a moment’s notice.  Which brings me to the point if this blog.

I used to be one of those people that got angry or resentful wuth the entitled.  I used to silently hope and pray that one day they would be brought low with all kinds of fire from heaven raining down.  Or at the very least, that they would wind up on my perceived end of things, the land of unentitled.  UNTIL not so long ago, when I was talking about this to the Lord and expressing my opinion of “those people”.  And He reminded me of this verse:  “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to the Lord” (Romans 14:11).

I have known and read that verse for years, and have seen it used in various settings, usually evangelistic.  But this day, God used it to heal me of my wrong attitude!  He reminded me that when that moment comes, I have nothing to fear.  The blood of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection I have accepted and acknowledge, and I know that He is my Lord and Savior, so I can only view that moment as another time of praise for whar HE has done for me.

AND YET.  For those who have NOT accepted Him, this future moment hangs over them as a guillotine, ready to strike them down and their confession will be one if terror and fear as they realize that it is all about to end, and badly for them.

So..what am I saying?  Is everyone who acts entitled not a believer?  And is every blue collar person who doesn’t act that way going to heaven?  Not at all.  However..I now have a much different perspective of the high and mighty acting in my world. Where I once felt anger and resentment, I now feel a genuine compassion!  God is helpinh me look past the present moment with them, and get a bigger picture of who they really are. That picture pushes me not to just put up with them, but now consider them people who will one day bow before the Lord, and pray that they will find Him.  The visualization of that particular person on their knees has had a major impact on me and it now enables me to love them, to minister to them, and to work towards bringing them ALL to the Lord!

So next time you encounter one if “these people”, STOP.  Breathe.  And get that picture in your head.  And then see how God uses you in their lives!  To Him be the glory!

We have two cats.  Louise, who has been with us 13 years, and Tabs, who just came into our lives a few months ago.  Louise has been “queen” of the land since she arrived, and she is not extremely thrilled with Tabs, who is a teenager (according to the vet) and is full of energy, eating ability, and attitude.  He doesn’t hang around fulltime, but he does come for food and loving quite frequently.

Today, I went out the door to the screened in porch to pet Lou.  However, Tabs was still around and came flying in through the cat door to join us on the porch.  Lou was NOT happy that her petting was interrupted by this, and she started growling.  Tabs meanwhile was flipping all around my feet, so I turned my attention to him, petted him, and then he went to see what food might be left in the bowls. I turned back to Lou to pet her, and she growled, then jumped at my arm, and bit me in four places before I could get my arm back!  Normally she is the sweetest cat, and has never come CLOSE to biting.  But today she had apparently had enough, and it was on!

I quickly decided since Tabs was back from the bowls that food would help, and peace was restored.  I went back inside and got the blood stopped from the bites, and all was well.  Later I checked on them and they were both still on the porch, eyeing each other suspiciously. This whole event was completely unexpected, because although Lou had growled a little here and there, they had actually gotten close enough to each other to sniff and lay down beside each other, without any trouble.  We even got Tabs fixed, and he had to stay on the porch for 2 full days with her, and nothing happened.

As I reflected on this later it occurred to me that God had given me an impressive illustration of one of the worst aspects of church too many times, and that is this….many churches seem to be “closed” to newcomers!  They are places where people have been for 100 years, and who don’t really know or understand the process of winning people to the Lord, or gaining new members to help the church operate better and reach more people.  Nor do they seem concerned when the only changes in church membership are due to either death or birth.

Occasionally, however, someone will join one of these churches, full of energy, eager to learn (hungry), and with the attitude that they will be received with open arms.  In other words, they are younger, and still teenagers in their faith, just like Tabs.  And like Lou, the older members will “sniff them out” and even pretend to like them by sometimes “living with” them (worshipping with them) and acting like everything is ok…when all along they are prepared to “pounce” when equal attention is paid to the new ones!  And like today, people can get very hurt (bitten) when that happens.  It’s a very sad story all around, and it does nothing to further the Kingdom or honor our Lord.

Now I have been on all three sides of this…I was a member who used to oppose new ideas, I have been a new member who got bitten, and I am now on the ministry side of trying to help those two groups mingle and become effective together!  ALL of those are hard…and only one out of three is productive.  So I am challenged – and am challenging you – as we all prepare for Sunday tomorrow to stop and reflect on our recent church life, and ask God to show us where we need to make improvements.  God needs the freedom to move in our churches, our pastors need our cooperation, and shepherding a bunch of biting cats is NOT fun!!

She was not a new Christian, but was new to living a life of total obedience to the Lord, because she had not grown much past her salvation.  After living for many years in a sinful situation, she had finally obeyed the Lord and had become active in her church, along with her husband and kids.  There were struggles, but she continued on that path until one day.  One very big, sad, thrilling, awful day.  And that was the day she met him.  Younger, funnier, seemingly more wonderful him.  And slowly her life went off the tracks, and she began dabbling..just a little..with sin.  And no one really noticed. So she dabbled some more, and people began to notice, and she grew defensive.  And hard, and uncaring.  She slowly quit church, and turned a deaf ear to those in her church and circle of friends who tried to bring her back, turn her around, and counseled her that GOD called it sin, and it was wrong.  She continued to not hear, and to cut off those who annoyed her…and she had now come full circle from where she began.

The story above is true..and I am one of the friends that still loves her.  And the result in MY life, and the lives of so many others who also care about her and her family is heartbreak…sorrow…and anguish at the seeds she is sowing, and the future consequences.  You see, one of the biggest lies the enemy tells us is that what we do affects NO ONE else but us.  Biggest lie ever.  And far too many people today believe it..Christians and the lost alike.

So what’s the real truth?  It’s this: sin is sin, it still destroys lives, and it still breaks hearts!  Family, friends, church members, pastors, and ministry leaders are brought to their knees every day by the actions of those in their lives that choose to believe this lie, and their hearts are broken for those they love who are caught in this lie.  Sleepless nights happen and anguished prayers flow from hearts that feel too distraught to continue on.  And ALL of this because one person decided to pursue their own way, and decided everyone else would not notice or would get over it.

So what’s the answer?  It’s more like WHO is the answer!!  It’s GOD, the only one who can bring a straying life back to Himself..and Who can heal the broken hearts left in their wake.  GOD, who was so brokenhearted over the sin of the world that He sent His only Son to the cross to save it.  And Who rose again to complete His victory over the very enemy that lies to us!

How will my friend’s story end?  Only God knows.  But I take comfort in knowing that His heart is also broken, and He is more than capable of bringing her back to Him.  And may He receive ALL the glory for it!

“And how can they call on Him in who they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

This has always been a favorite verse of mine, so much that we had it used as the main verse (Robert and I) when we were commissioned in 1997 to be missionaries to the Native Americans in Denver. And that’s the context I have usually seen this verse used in, as a “sending out” verse for anyone in evangelistic ministry. But the other day, God gave me a new reason to love it and appreciate it.

A lady came through the drive thru, and I was having difficulty understanding her because she was somewhat hoarse. We made it through the transaction, and as I was handing her the change, I told her that I hoped she felt better and got over her cold soon. She quickly corrected me and told me that she was 3 months past a stroke, and that day was her first day “back out in society” and she was going to work. She was feeling very grateful, and told me as she left, “I never knew what a precious thing the ability to speak is!”

As I thought about that later that day, the Romans verse above came to me and God used it to speak to me about another ability to speak that we currently have in this country….the ability to speak about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are still the most blessed of many Christians in our world. We have the freedom to share the Gospel with people anywhere and everywhere we go, mostly without restriction or fear of reprisal. But as we all know, that freedom is being infringed on a little more every day, and that has caused many believers to begin to fight back to retain our religious freedoms. And fighting back is VERY important…the church has been silent far too long.

However, it seems that in all the battles,speeches, and fighting back, we have forgotten the BEST way…by spreading the good news that Jesus came, died, and rose again, to provide salvation and eternal life for anyone who will believe in Him! Only God can change a heart that is totally against Him, save it, and make it brand new. Only God can bring our country back to Him. AND YET! We have the ability to speak on His behalf! We have the opportunity to be His instruments to win the world, one person at a time. The ability to be used by Him to influence the entire future of our country, by bringing more and more people to Him. But we cannot do it, if we don’t, like my customer, realize the precious privilege that it is and begin to work to regain our voices, and to speak out the truths of the Bible and our Jesus! May God use ALL of us to get that done!