WAR ROOM: My Real Life Story

I waited with great anticipation to see this movie! I have seen all my friends sharing how great it was and how it opened their spiritual eyes in ways they had not seen before.  So I was chomping at the bits to get the opportunity for Brad and I to go see this movie together!!

What I am about to say may sound so cliche, but with all sincerity, this is no exaggeration!  I was completely unprepared for what I saw.  You've heard people say things like, "Man, it's like those screen writers read my mail!"

But what I saw was my real-life story unfold on the big screen in front of me! And yet, I know in the heart of Christendom, this kind of story is often an unspoken miracle that many people are afraid to talk about due to the shame they feel about troubled marriages.  But this story was genuinely MY story....and I am sure if we would be honest, it is many of your stories as well.

Every human being on earth should have the honor of having a prayer warrior like Clara come into their life!  My real-life prayer warrior and mentor's name is Jody Van Riper.  I've not seen or spoken to Jody in years since we moved to a different town and began attending a different church. But today as I walked out of the theater, still wiping away tears, all I wanted to do was talk to Jody and tell her "Hey they made a movie about us!"  So I shot her a text message to see if the number I had in my phone was still her number.

So the back story....

Brad and I had several years of truly difficult life circumstances that began to take it's toll on our marriage.  We had lost 7 babies in the first trimester of my pregnancies.  After the losses, I was diagnosed as having Lyme disease that the doctor suspectedthat I had been UNdiagnosed for about 18 years before we determined what was wrong with me. I began a very aggressive treatment protocol that lasted 3 years. There were two occasions that left me unable to walk. I was bedridden for many years and unable to do basic life skills that most people take for granted. Near the end of my treatment, as I was getting closer to being medically declared "in remission", I had to have one last surgery to ensure my life of remission could be enjoyed to its fullest--- brain surgery.

Yes-- life, death, and health issues had battered our marriage unmercifully.  We had even agreed that maybe marriage counseling would be helpful so we dove right into the healing process determined to save our marriage and better our family.  Remission granted me a new lease on life!  The kids were in school so I decided to go back and get my masters degree to become a counselor. At that time we had been married for 18 years-- some of those were brutally rocky years-- but the anniversary in October of 2009 was a milestone that I thought should be celebrated BIG because we had over come so much!

We had an amazing weekend at a Bed and Breakfast.  It was a time of relaxation and time well-spent together. Yes, we were still working through things in counseling, but for the fist time in a long time things seemed to be looking up!

Nothing could have prepared for October 20, 2009.  Brad and I were going to my favorite restaurant before I was to head off to my counseling appointment. As we pulled into the parking lot he didn't turn off the car. He sat quietly for a minute looking like he was struggling to say something important.  A few seconds of awkward silence and the words came to him, "I want a divorce".

I felt like I had been side-swiped by a Mac truck. I felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs and suddenly overwhelming nausea hit me.  My mind raced to make sense of his statement. Just 6 days earlier we were having a romantic get away for our anniversary.  This was just 6 weeks after my brain surgery.  Every fear known to man flooded my heart and mind and paralyzed me to the core. I could not make sense of any of this. Many tears were shed from both of us. He told me he had no desire for reconciliation. I kept looking for context to make this make sense-- but there was none.

The next 3 days were like an emotional war zone where I was trying to comprehend everything that was going on, watching my husband sleep pn the couch and telling me we needed to plan a time to tell the kids we were calling it quits.  Every fiber of my being RAGED-- I had anger I had never felt before...."WE were not calling this quits, YOU are!" When it came to the point I felt I had no more tears left to cry, and that my insisting we could work things out seemed to fall on deaf ears, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to call my praying friend Jody and beg her to pray for me and Brad.

Jody asked to meet with me over coffee and she let me ramble on for a while about all my mixed emotions ranging from shock, horror, rage and absolute despair.  After some time she stopped me and asked me if I was ready to do something that could make a difference.  I had brought a notebook and pen so I took it out when she told me to "write this down".  She told me to read the 23rd Psalm and focus in on praying that God would "restore my soul."  She told me to pray that over myself and Brad and then we set another coffee date for the following week.

I went home to my bedroom, and with courage I have never known before, I created my very own WAR ROOM.  I took some index cards and started posting some very strategic scriptures that I would pray over my marriage and family-- and specifically praying that God would restore our souls.  RESTORATION was what we needed more than the next breath we breathed.  I felt a spirit of peace just wash over me as I spent the first of many hours in prayers in my former bedroom turned War Room.  Daily God would begin to give me new passages of scripture to pray over Brad and our marriage. When I strayed from those specific promptings and began to pray in my flesh--- you know those prayers--- "God please change Brad!" --- God was more than faithful to turn the spot light off Brad and begin to speak to my own heart about ME! That was one of the greatest lessons learned in my War Room. When you focus on the faults of others in prayer God will lovingly highlight your own faults with  unrelenting conviction.  The more I asked God to change Brad the more God told me what He desired to change in me.  OUCH!  I felt the loving sting of conviction and so I made my way to a local Celebrate Recovery program and made the first admission that I had my own issues I needed to deal with. -- fear had slowly turned me into a control freak over the many years of battling a chronic illness, and then there was also that problem of projecting the issues of a previous abusive relationship onto my husband-- who paid dearly for almost 18 years at that point for the way the other boy had abused me in high school.  The revelations and self-awareness of how I had been hurting my husband over the years was having its full effect in my heart that I began to seek out his forgiveness.  And I often wondered it was too little too late. 

My War Room became my daily ritual! The first hour and a half after waking up I spent praying in my prayer journal, reading the scripture and focusing in on the specific battle-prayers my friend Jody had given me that lined my wall-- a managerie of index cards with strategic prayer!  I felt strangely aware of God's presence in my War Room.  By the evening time, I returned to my War Room and I spent the last hour and a half before I went to bed back in prayer, seeking God, and doing my Celebrate Recovery homework. 

I met with Jody again and this time she brought me a book called The Power of Prayer to Change

Your Marriage by Stormie Omartian. She simply asked me to read a chapter each day and include the topic daily in my prayers.  So I began learning to pray in ways that I never had before. I would read the book as almost a devotional that would launch my warfare-prayers for the day.  The book was only a guide and brough to light topics I might otherwise have never considered to pray for my husband and marriage!  The thing I value most about Jody was that she never really had an opinion that she shared with me. She only had the word of God and clear directives to pray and fight for my marriage on a spiritual level. She coached me, mentored me, and trained me for the fiercest spiritual battle of my life. She equipped me and strengthened me. I was encouraged knowing that she too was on her knees for Brad and I.

During this time another friend recommended a book that she said changed her life in regards to how

to deal with a marriage that looked like it was on its last leg.  I suddenly realized so many people had walked tthrough similar life-struggles and had an amazing arsonal of tools that had sharpened and strengthened them for the spiritual battle they faced.  I knew I was not playing games with my marriage and if there was one more avenue of insight into prayer about my marriage I was IN! So I went to the book store to purchase Dr. James Dobson's Love Must Be Tough (never to be confused with "tough love").  This book led me to a place of understanding and brought me to my knees when I realized some very hard things about my self and how I interacted with Brad. This book made what I was facing a reality--- and even dealt with the issue of only one spouse wanting the marriage to survive and being willing to work on the marriage.  This took my prayers to a whole different level.

I was spending on the average of 3 hours a day in fervant prayer for my marriage.  Prayer became the oxygen I breathed. There was nothing happening in my day that could move to the top of the priority list. Before I even got dressed or brushed my teeth I was spending time in prayer.  By night fall there was no TV show, game or facebook that could hold my attention. I had a War Room waiting for me with the God of the universe giving me detailed instructions and strategy to win this war in prayer.

Keep in mind, I have NO idea what is going on with Brad.  He is not speaking to me on any deep level by this time. (Maybe someday he will share his perspective of what was going on inside him that caused him to havea a change of heart and work to save the marriage.)We were both still seeing our counselor-- just individually, not as a couple. I think the thing that really cemented the intensity of spiritual warfare we were engaged in was when Brad told me he felt that God told him he should divorce me.  That rattled me. No matter how hurt or angry I may have been at Brad, I never doubted his ability to hear from God. And when I heard him say that, the battle alarm was sounded! I mean this in no way to be disrespectful, but I knew at that moment in time my husband was being deceived. That was the first clue to me that what was happening between us went far beyond wounds of the past, or medical issues or financial struggles-- that was deception because my husband knows the word of God deeply!  Something or someone had sown a seed of deception.  The intensity of the spiritual battle just hit new heights.

October 2009 had been a heart wrenching month. As fall was rolling in, we were all living under the same roof but very separate lives. We still had evening meals together and started having conversations that were very reminiscent of our early friendship. I craved this attention from him. To me this was a sign of hope! If only he could remember the good times, the simple times... I thought I would step out on a limb and ask him if we could go to the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin. I remember him saying that he had never carved a pumpkin.  I was desperately wanting to connect with him and create a memory-- something, anything that we could do together. I was suprised when he agreed to go.  November rolled in with no changes. He was still not sleeping in our room and we were almost "playing house". Thanksgiving came and we had our normal Thanksgiving with family and guests as if nothing was wrong at all.  We watched football together and had an amazing time.  But as everyone went to bed, he went to his own area of the house to sleep.  I went to my War Room.  Everything in my spirit was screaming that this marriage was far from over-- but I had absolutely no visible sign of any level of hope coming from Brad to indicate anything had changed for him. I knew something had changed-- even if it was only me.  Prayer has an ironic ability to change the person who prays -- sometimes more than the situations they are praying about.

December caught us all by suprise. Brad had been feeling bad and had gone to the doctor. They sent him off for a needle biopsy.  He came home one evening and told me he had been diagnosed with  Lymphoma and they were scheduling surgery for the next week.  It's true what they say-- that you can see your life flash before your eyes. I had racing thoughts circling my brain: the day we met, our first kiss, our crazy adventures in college, our kids being born, happier days in our marriage, then battling chronic illness, my brain surgery, his talk of divorce and now CANCER?  Are you kidding me??!!??

I felt my War Room calling me to some deeper intercession. This is NOT how our story could end! Fasting and prayer would become a lifestyle.  I found an urgency in prayer. The anger that had once been turned at Brad was now squarely on the enemy: the father of lies, the great deceiver, the defeated and fallen foe. Though the reality we faced did not feel like the enemy was defeated at all, I prayed with every fiber of my being.  The morning they were getting ready to wheel him into surgery I leaned over and asked if I could kiss him. He said no. My mind filled with fear to the point of paralysis.  My thoughts were tormenting me. What if I would never kiss him again? What if he died in this surgery? The pain in my heart was more than I could bear. I closed my eyes and prayed all the more.

He made it through the surgery fine and the doctor felt they had gotten all the cancerous lymph nodes. When he was discharged I took him home. Hisdoctor ordered bedrest.  When we arrived home Brad started to head for the couch in the living room to lay down.  I knew this was a touchy topic but I carefully confronted him on the fact that he could not sleep on the couch after surgery! I told him he would sleep in the bedroom and I would sleep on the couch. He refused to let me sleep on the couch. I refused to let him sleep on the couch-- so we were at an impasse.  I walked him to the bedroom and laid him in the bed, gave him meds and just sat on my side of the bed and watched him sleep. I watched and prayed for hours.  After all-- he was now in my War Room! I told him I would be happy to look after him and take care of him. I told him, "you may not like me, but right now you need me."  He was not really in a position to argue with that.  He conceded.  So he agreed to have me sleep on my side of the bed, be available to help him to the bathroom, give him his meds and bring him food to eat.

As crazy as it sounds, I felt honored that he was willing to have me sleep next to him. In Brad's words..."Well, I do need some help."  That may be offensive to some-- but to me, that was music to my ears! So I laid next to my husband of 18 years who wanted a divorce, did not really even like me and would not even let me kiss him before being taken into a surgery for newly diagnosed cancer.

I recalled many times in my War Room where I read of the miracles of God-- the parting of the Red Sea, Daniel and his friends thrown into the furnace and once the door was closed another was seen in the fire who appeared to be the Son of God...over and over my spirit just criend out like Daniel and his friends, "My God is ABLE!!"  I looked over to my wall full of scripture on index cards: What does the Lord require of you? To seek  justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

God spoke to my heart, "You have been walking humbly with me for a few months now. But do you love mercy? If you truly love mercy then you will serve your husband with your whole heart as if he has never hurt you."  And from the bottom of my heart, I could honestly say it was a JOY to serve him-- even with no promise of reconciliation or even friendship.  For several days I watched him sleep as I prayed for him. I would sleep by his side waiting for him in case he needed my help.  One day I fell asleep and was awakened when I felt his arm draped over waist and his head rested on my shoulder. I was afraid I had take up too much space and needed to get up before he would think I was attempting to cuddle up with him. I started to slide out from under his arm when he asked me where I was going.  I apologised for taking up too much space and he just drew me closer and hugged me.

The next morning he got up and and kissed me. He really didn't say or explain anything. And I was not about to complain! We went to the follow-up visit at the oncologists office where we got the official word that Brad was Cancer free!  We had our Christmas miracle!  Cancer free AND it looked like our marriage was on the mend.  I sometimes joke and say that cancer cured our marriage-- but I know beyond all knowing that it was the hours I spent in that War Room communing with the maker of the universe and the lover of my soul-- THAT is without a doubt what saved our marriage!  God was intimately involved in saving our marriage! I know that whatever God was doing with Brad-- and the things I may never know about-- had an impact on Brad's decision to stay in the marriage as well.

I will be forever grateful for Jody having the loving discipline to tell me that we could spend our time letting me complain about Brad or we could move on to something that could really help.  She loved me enough to tell the truth. She took of her personal time to train and mentor me-- and even equip me when I did not have the tools I needed. She walked me through developing an intentional prayer life that led to my discovery of a War Room-- long before the movie was ever made.  I just never had a name for that place of prayer until I saw this movie!  My life was forever changed in that War Room. And with our marriage being rescued from destruction, generations of the Irons family have been changed as well.

When I came home from the movie today I made a bee line for my book shelf.  There is was.... the 1-inch thick prayer journal from Oct 2009 to Jan 2010. All but 5 pages were filled with hand written prayers for my husband and my marriage that were birthed out of my War Room.  All in all it was the best time I ever spent that made eternal difference!

This is a picture of the journal and small video clip that shows the volume of pages that were prayed in that War Room!

Next month on October 12 Brad and I will celebrate 24 years of marriage! I have my best friend back and we are living life like we dreamed it could be.

BUSTED: The Day God Shed Light on an Ugly Bias in My Heart

I always tend to  be very conservative in my approach to church. I genuinely believe less is more in most areas of life. Over the years, and due to my geeky love of research and my vested interest in the church being healthy and growing, I have painfully followed the research from the Barna Institute on evangelical churches in America and how the trends either follow or depart from Biblical truth.
When following the research as close as I do, it becomes more clear where there are major issues of apostasy and outright unbiblical teaching are creeping into modern church. So personally, I have chosen to err on the side of caution.  This cautious approach has led me to form opinions and biases about church trends, aesthetics, and procedures.  I'm not saying they are right or wrong-- they are just my cautious observations and opinions that I have used as my preferences when seeking a church that will be a good fit for our family.

In recent years, with the emergence of the Millennial generation taking leadership in churches, there have been  trends toward more modern, contemporary, and even a concert-like atmosphere in church services with a large millenial population. This has been an area of caution for me.  I love, LOVE,

LOVE contemporary worship as well as blending it with songs and hymns of our heritage that can be introduced to the new generation.  I love a church where you can see both the old and the young worship together in unity.

I have been to churches where worship service was more of a concert with the fancy light shows and fog machines--- and songs I have never heard before.  Eventually I would just sit down and enjoy the show because I couldn't actually "participate" because I didn't know any of the words-- even with them on the screen, the unfamiliarity of the music made it where it was best interpreted as a concert.  I could sit and observe and appreciate the lyrics at that point-- but it was not a coorporate worship service that we could all participate.  I secretly would wonder if it was really necessary for the light show and fog machine to reach the masses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This past Sunday I visited a church with some close friends while Brad traveled to Denver City. This church caused a lot of my opinions and biases to surface and have a head on collision!

I was talking to my friend before the service started and shared with her about my momentary crisis of conscience and conviction -- realizing that God was about to shed some light on some issues and give answers to some of my questions....whether I wanted Him to or not!
...About that time the fog machine started to release smoky fog in the air.  There I stood a bit perplexed and conflicted emotionally and spiritually.

The music started. The people were singing and I found myself very familiar with the songs so I had a voice to sing and I could participate.  People moved from just singing to intense worship and I sensed the familiar presence of God in our midst.  In my observation, this church had a heart for reaching the millenial generation and their parents. The vast majority of the near 2000 people were from the age of 12-55.  There was a good presentation from the senior adult crowd as well-- but it was obvious this was a church built on YOUNG FAMILIES-- but everyone was welcome!

As I began to reflect on my thoughts and discomfort about why this scenario of "entertain them to death" showmanship bothered me in the past, I remembered thoughts such as 'why spend so much money on fluff and external decor when we could spend that money on missions! Is a fog machine really NECESSARY to give a sound gospel doctrinal message?

It was as if my loving Heavenly Father put his arm around my shoulders, pulled me close to Him and then smacked me on the back of the head! I was reminded of a similar conversation among the disciples when Mary Magdalene poured expensive purfume and oil on the feet of Jesus--- a lavish outpouring of her affection for Him.  The disciples grumbled among themselves saying "shouldn't that purfume have been sold and the money given to the poor?!!?".

In that moment I realized God was about to make Himself so very clear about His heart towards some of my biases!  I felt I was about to enter a Job conversation with God that would end up with me just sitting down and putting my hand over my own mouth with my eyes wide open and awe-struck!

And so it began....

The internal dialogue with my own thoughts was wondering if the spoken message following this spectacle of lights and fog-filled special effects would be followed by a sound doctrinal teaching or just a sugar-coated candy message that is so common in recent days with churches following societal norms rather that biblical standards. God brought to attention to the lyrics of the songs we were singing-- pure doctrine regarding the triune God, the death, burial, resurrection, and return of Christ-- a literal heaven and hell, and the devestation of sin and the need of redemption.  So at least the music chosen was a sure doctrinal statement!  Then as worship moved from the music to the teaching of the Word, the Gospel message came forth with boldness and power! That was certainly no Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory sugar coated message there!

It was as if God asked me to look around and report to Him what I was seeing. I observed about 2000
people made of millenials and their parents/grand parents worshipping in one accord, being challenged to live a biblical lifestyle in a godless culture, how to be prepared for potential persecution for their beliefs and how to STAND strong in the midst of ridicule, bullying, or a work environment that is hostile to their faith, how to build community with other believers and how to love our enemies and those who persecute us for the cause of Christ.

Then it was if God asked me when was the last time I saw a church filled to the brim and overflowing with the "next genration"--- and this church refused to call them the NEXT generation-- in fact they went as far to COMMISSION them as the NOW the generation.  I had to think-- my home church is reaching this age group albeit in a more traditional means, but the previous church experiences I have been a part of was always a struggle to see growth in the youth and college age.  We were at a church for a 3 years where it was a struggle to get more than 4-6 youth to come to bible study at all.  This church had an ongoing struggle and battle of the wills with the older and younger generation over traditional vs comtemporary--- ultimately the kids quit coming all together.

That still small voice whispered once again-- where do you think they would go? Where would they feel welcome to worship in a way they can connect with Me?

Right about that time a stream of fresh fog washed across the room and the light hit it just right and I observed old and young alike worshipping with hands raised to the God of the universe!

...Then that proverbial slap to the back of the head! My loving heaving father spoke to my heart. "So, if a fog machine and lights make them feel welcome here and they are free to worship, would that be okay with you?!!?"

OUCH! ...but understood!!

I remember the painful heartbreak of watching warring factions in the body of Christ that would rather see a church split than compromise on how to make church welcoming to both young and old alike. Worship is such an intimate experience, and ideally one should be able to worship in any circumstance-- but there is

something to be said about being able to worship with confidence and full participation of your heart and soul.  I still don't have the answers for this age-old dilemma within the church but I fully believe people should be able to worship freely-- however that may look....wheter it involves a fog machine or an altar!!  God is God. And He knows the hearts of His children!

I'm thankful God took the time to deal with this issue in my heart. In a world where TRUE doctrinal issues of faith are being sacrificed on the altar of public opinion, it is good to know that my heart need not be worried about such non-essential issues such as lighting and fog machines. God reminded me to keep the main thing the main thing!

In essentials... unity.
In non-essentials...liberty.
In all things...LOVE.

Life Lessons: When God Speaks in Unexpected Ways

 Several years ago-- about 5 years ago to be exact, my daughter went to a youth group lock-in at the

church. About 3 hours after arriving we got a phone call and she asked if I could come pick up her FISH!!  WHAT??!!?? Apparantly the youth pastor had taken the kids on a scavenger hunt at the mall and one of the items to collect was a FISH!! (Kids should not be sent to church and come home with pets! That was never in any of my youth ministry classes at Bible School!)  But I digress...I went to pick up my daughter's new pet fish and the last thing she daid to me was very CLEAR--"Mom, don't kill my fish!".   The
fish survived 12 hours in my care...unknowingly, I killed her fish.

So fast forward 5 years and you can imagine my shock and horror when she asked us to babysit her hermit crabs (named after two mythological sea monsters with names I cannot even pronounce!) My husband came home and informed me our new responsibility to Laura's hermit crabs.... and ALL I could hear in my mind was "Mom, don't kill my fish!"  I'll never forget the life lessons I learned from that time I kept Laura's fish, so I began to pray - because honestly-- have you seen hermit crabs? THEY CREEP ME OUT!!! They look like a walking shell with tarantula legs! (shiver and shudder!!).

So with the honest pray to God to teach me something in this experience, I began to embrace this new challenge before me.

LOVE THE UNLOVEABLE

As I began to think just how hideous these creatures were to me and how deeply they creeped me out, there were deep moments of conviction where God gently whispered in that still small voice, "The sin in your life is that hideous to me. Are you not grateful for the blood of Christ and the gift of grace I have given you that allows me to love you while you are yet a sinner?"

Well...OUCH!!    God brought several bible passages to my heart and mind:

Matthew 5:43-48New International Version (NIV)

Love for Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Least of These - Matthew 25:40

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Ok-- just be patient with me for a minute. I've had enough theological training enough to know that "the least of these" were referring to fellow Christians in various stages of life trials and not hermit crabs, but God used this verse for me as an analogy of how I interact with people in general; and these hermit crabs could teach me something.

Over the next few days I spent countless hours just watching and observing these little creatures. I began to read up on their environments and habitats, feeding habits and more. The more I learned about these little creatures the more I found I began to have an affection for them. Seeking understanding about them and their environments made them very fascinating to me!

When I got them home they were in a cage that was too small for the 2 critters. I learned they needed two bowls of water-- fresh water and salt water. I learned they needed a very humid and warm habitat. I even learned that they molt!  So the journey bagan! We bought a 10 gallon aquarium for the hermit crabs. We added the proper sand and climbing obstacles because they are climbers! It was almost instantaneous how playful and animated these hermit crabs became in the right environment!  I even learned that although they are called "hermit" crabs they really are very social creatures!  So now we had a much larger  tank for them to play and roam-- the two looked almost lonely in the larger environment....so off I went to the store to buy them a new roommate!  Ys, our little hermit crab family was growing and thriving! I began to feel very proud of my accomplishment with them... and then it happened!!

Joshua came to my room with an urgent sound in his voice, "Mom! You need to go look at the crab. I think it's DEAD!!!!"  In that moment, it was like the world stopped moving in it's orbit and a loud ominous voice rang out as if to haunt me, "Mom, don't kill my fish!!"  

I was not at all prepared for what I saw. After careful observation I remembered what I had read about MOLTING!! It was still very disgusting to me!  I looked at this helpless little critter who looked like he completely fell out of his shell and there was a gelatin-like peace of goo next to what looked like crab body parts.  Had I not read up on hermit crab molting habits I would have been very convinced my little critter friend was DEAD. 

I learned that molting for a crab is the most stressful and vulnerable time of its life. Joshua was absolutely beyond disgusted and kept saying it was dead! I swear, it was almost as if the therapist rose up and me and asked firmly for Joshua to step away from the crab. There was a momentary rush of empathy to protect this creature that was facing its life's biggest crisis.  This is the time where crabs will either live or die-- in how they handle their molting and if the environment is conducive for a safe molt. Mamma bear in me came out to protect this little critter. I simply could not bear to let my daughter down if her crab died on my watch!

This time of molting has brought about many more careful hours of observation on my part. Everything I have read has told me to not handle, disturb in any way, but to only maintain the humid environment.  I observe this hardened little exoskeleton just laying there looking like my critter friend died, but knowing that he is not really dead-- even though there is no visual evidence of anything that looks like a living creature. They go into hybernation when they molt and it can be 2-3 MONTHS before they wake up with a new shell! 

I have a flood of emotions as I look at my dear critter friend who is in such a vital life transformation, and once again, I hear God's still small voice... "It may be painful, and it may be hard, but sometimes brokenness is the only way to GROW HEALTHY again." As I looked at my critter friend his body was definitely broken-- broken by God's design. God created these creatures to shed their hardened exoskeletons about once every 12-18 months so that can live to grow more.

Now that will preach!  I am reminded of a song by Avalon....it has a powerful lyric about the crucifixion. It states "the beauty of the body that was broken for my forgiveness...."

I see this very often in my counseling office. I count it as a holy privilege when people invite me into their brokeness and ask me to help them live life again... it is a sacred I trust I guard with my whole heart.  In return God gives me the gift of seeing brokenness lead to LIFE-- and life abundantly on almost a daily basis.  Jesus tells us that to follow Him we must die to ourselves, take up our cross.

What things in our lives (your life too) do we need to surrender to brokenness? I often find that most people cling to the very things that are killing them.  If my little critter friend had refused to molt and be broken to the life he knew then he would have no hope for every growing and living a healthy life.

I am grateful that God takes the time to reveal himself to me in the most  amazing ways that I never would have expected.  So at one time it was the death of a fish, another time it was a great spiritual life lesson from BLUEBERRIES, and today--  it is my little hermit crab family.

I hope you will enjoy following the journey with me!

Educational FAIL: Let's Go Back to CIVICS 101

Every now and then I am reminded of my LOVE and hunger for truth and knowledge.  Few things irritate me more than history being re-written for the sake of political gain or special interest agendas.

So, let's go back to the classroom and refresh some BASIC truths that have been so grossly distorted over the past few decades-- that if we don't start teaching the basic facts again will be lost forever.

Ok, dear readers, here is our civics review for this week:

The Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

The Legal information Institute defines the free exercise clause this way:

The Free Exercise Clause reserves the right of American citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in religious rituals. The wording in the free-exercise clauses of state constitutions that religious “[o]pinion, expression of opinion, and practice were all expressly protected” by the Free Exercise Clause.[1]  The clause protects not just religious beliefs but actions made on behalf of those beliefs. More importantly, the wording of state constitutions suggest that “free exercise envisions religiously compelled exemptions from at least some generally applicable laws.”[2] The Free Exercise Clause not only protects religious belief and expression; it also seems to allow for violation of laws, as long as that violation is made for religious reasons.  In the terms of economc theory, the Free Exercise Clause promotes a free religious market by precluding taxation of religious activities by minority sects.[3]

People have been very confused lately (giving them the benefit of the doubt because the anger seems almost venomous in recent days since the Supreme Court rendered their decision last Friday on same sex marriage.) But there does seem to be some comfusion about exactly what the free exercise clause is and how it is compatible with the equal opportunity employment law.

Equal Opportunity Employment law is defined the following way:

Equal employment opportunity is employment practice where employers do not engage in employment activities that are prohibited by law. It is illegal for employers to discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, or national origin.

This week in Texas the state government reminded all state employers of their first amendment right to freedom of the expression of their religious beliefs without penalty of losing their jobs under the Equal Opportunity Employment law.  This has caused no small uproar from people across the country.  But seriously, this is CIVICS 101.

I think the anger is because these laws have never really had to be used to defend the conservative Christian crowd. And Christian belief can be be offensive to many. No surprise there! Jesus told us way in advance that people would turn against Christians and despise them because they stand firm of the teachings of Jesus and the inspired word of God as revealed in the Bible.  Clearly, we are at that point in history. Christians are demonized as "haters". Evil is being called Good.

Moving on to our next topic in Civics 101 review is the concept of "Separation of Church and State".

Separation of Church and State

Next time someone mentions the separation of church state being a constitutional law ask them to show you where in the constitution that is written.  (Never ask a question you don't already know the answer to in a debate!)  The fact of the matter it is nowhere in the Constitution-- NOWHERE!

The facts

So where did this phrase come from "Separation of Church and State"?

I'm so glad you asked!

Back in the early 1800s when Thomas Jefferson (an original signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence) was entering his Presidency of the United States, he received a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association expressing their concerns and asking for clarification about religious liberties and the role of the government.

President Jefferson sent a letter in reply that absolutely assured and promised the Danbury Baptist
Association that there would be a "wall of separation" that the government could not cross when it came to the protections and freedoms of religious expression and religious practice. This was the

guarantee that people of faith would not have to check their faith at the door when it came to  issues of public service, employment, etc.  The President actually quoted the constitution stating that congress shall pass no laws regarding the establishment of a religion (remember the church of England WAS the GOVERNMENT which is why we revolted on the basis of freedom of religion for all) nor could the government prohibit the expression of any religious views in any way. The president assured them the only legitimate use of government would be in ACTIONS of ill towards one's neighbors (violence) but never against religious thoughts, beliefs or convictions--EVER because there was a wall of separation protecting people of faith from government intrusion. 

But somewhere in modern society and creative revisionist history (the rewriting of history) this concept of "separation of church and state" has been twisted to mean that Christians must be banned from influencing the political area or public discussions. Yet the historical documents show the exact opposite to be true.  The President was assuring them that in the United States there would be freedom of religion, not freedom FROM religion.


It's important to know the facts. Read the original documents for yourself!

The Politicaly Correct Jesus

It has been an interesting week on Facebook.  This is Holy Week-- a very sacred time in the life of Christians.  As I have been reading through my FB feed I have seen all manner of postings from my liberal friends about Jesus. My thoughts have ranged from, "Awww, that's sweet. They really are trying to embrace Jesus" all the way to "Bless your heart...." (Yes, I am from the SOUTH and that term MEANS SOMETHING!)

Here is the meme that fell in the "Aww that's sweet, they are trying to embrace Jesus" camp:

But the problem with FB is theology is that it is about as sound as Cracker Jack Theology!

It seems the politically correct crowd needs to somehow make Jesus conform to their idea of what He should be. So they will celebrate the idea of Jesus eating theives and prostitutes, and he most definitely DID! But what they fail to embrace was the message he gave those people when he spent that quality time with them.  He loved them enough to address their sin issues and tell them to not to stay that way.  Yes, this is where they will take back Jesus's "politically correct" card!  Jesus dared to tell those he loved about the sin in their life and told them to stop living that way! Yes, He had the audacity to tell them to change their lifestyle and follow Him...to go and sin no more. Yes, he called out their sin and told them to follow Him.

The next sign of FB Theology this week fell into the "Well, bless your heart..." camp:

This gets the best "cherry picking" of scripture-out-of-context award I have ever seen! But it is definitely popular with the politically correct Jesus followers.

These liberal thinkers seem to think that Jesus was all love and butterflies and fully accepting of any choice a person might make...as if LOVE = acceptance (no questions asked).

I think in honor of Holy Week, as we approach Resurrection Sunday, maybe it is time to actually look at the things Jesus actually did say. To do anything else actually makes a mockery of his sacrificial death and cheapens the grace that was given at so great a cost-- His own blood.

Jesus said of himself in Luke 20 (quoting the prophetic psalmist in Psalm 118:22) that he was the scandalon (root word scandal) and rock that would make men stumble. "The stone the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone."

In Luke 20 Jesus says "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed".  Jesus left no option of being unaffected by his life. There are only 2 options presented. Fall on Him and be broken (so that he may restore you whole and healed) *OR* His judment will fall and it will crush the souls of those who do not receive Him.

Let's face it-- JESUS was OFFENSIVE!

In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Yes-- that excluded anyone who wanted to get to Heaven by way of Islam, Hinduism, any other religion or philosophy. Jesus said He was the ONLY way to Heaven. 

It seems the Politically Correct Jesus lovers are discussed in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Jesus warned very clearly (in Matthew 7:21-23):
"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!'

There are few passages of scriptures that make me shudder the way this one does when I read it.  Jesus states there are many people who are fully convinced they are in relationship with Him and doing the work of the ministry-- but states it plainly-- "I never knew you...".  That makes me shudder to the core of my being! I think it rattles me so badly because I know people like this-- many of them are followers of the "politically correct Jesus" who is NOT the Jesus of scripture. And on that day-- when they meet the real Jesus face to face many will hear "depart from me, I never knew you."

Jesus takes this relationship thing with Him SERIOUSLY. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. SIN was a huge deal to Jesus!  He layed His life down and shed His own blood to to free you from that SIN.  But unfortunately we live in a society where there is no such thing as SIN anymore.

Repentance is a necessary part of the salvation experience. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, "unless you repent, you will perish." In a society where there is no acknowledgement of sin-- there would be nothing to repent of-- because the politically correct Jesus as sold by liberals seems to say that a loving God would never let anyone go to Hell so it must be that in the end- everyone gets into Heaven because God is love. 

But if we watch closely the Jesus of the Bible-- His love was somewhat different.  Jesus confronted the confused religious teacher at night and told him that regardless of his adherance to the law that he must be born-again.  Jesus told the woman caught in the act of adultery to "go and sin no more" after he addressed the self-righteous sinners who held the rocks and were ready to stone her to death and made them all aware that HE was aware of the sin in their lives.  Jesus LOVED people enough to confront the sin in their life. He loved them enough to not let them stay there without some kind of provocation to encourage them to CHANGE THEIR LIFESTYLE and follow Him.

Ultimately, at the end of the day-- I think the main problem with the politically-correct-Jesus-crowd is that they like a "little Jesus" they can fit in their pocket and pull Him out at Easter and Christmas and feel all is ok with the world with themselves.

I think the harder truth for this liberal crowd to embrace is that Jesus did not say he was just a great philosophical teacher-- He said he was the Son of God. He said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."  These were the bold statements He made that led to His his trial and crucifixion. (All part of God's plan for the salvation of mankind.) So if Jesus says that He is the Son of God people have to respond to that.  They can either accept that and surrender their lives to follow Him, or they can reject that He is who He says He was.  He was either a liar, a lunatic, or he was the Messiah, the Son of God, Lord of all.

And if one comes to the conclusion and believes that He really is the Son of God-- then we have to admit that God gets to make the rules.That will require change on our part-- not perfection-- just a heart willing to be changed by the power of God.  To repent-- we must get to a place where we can agree with God that what He says is SIN is sin. And when we surrender to Him, His Holy Spirit gives us power to walk out of our sin.

I have great concern for the liberal politically correct crowd. It breaks my heart. If they truly believe there is no sin then there is no need of repentence in their eyes, and without repentence there can be no salvation.  Repentence may not happen in an instant, but once Christ is received you are given the power of the Holy Spirit to help you walk out your own soul's salvation. If one has no desire to repent you have to wonder which "Jesus" they met-- the Biblical Jesus or the Politically Correct Jesus?  Only one is the true Son of God with the ability to offer salvation.

So the question remains--- what is one to do about the Biblical Jesus, the rock of offence, the Scandalon??

What will you do with Jesus?