We Wage War....Why?

In my conversations recently the topic of war seems to have come up a lot whether we are referring to a historical war, the military, or the battle that as Christ followers we were born into and responsible to start fighting daily as our maturity grows.

I know most of you are thinking, "It's Thanksgiving weekend why am I talking about war", but people don't realize how much we have to be thankful for because of those that wage war in each of these categories. We are not excluded from this responsibility either because in the very least, we are called to fight the battle of integrity everyday so that the Lord's light shines brighter and makes our battle that much easier. We are to be the army that fights each day for truth, sovereignty in God, and the peace of eternal grace.

For those of you also fighting in the armed forces I want to appreciate your sacrifice in how the Lord has brought you to a commitment of defending your earthly country as well. I can only imagine the conviction it takes to make that choice, but I pray the Lord convicts me with the same sense of duty, honor, and sacrifice as I seek to lay down my desires and comforts to battle the images, abuses, emotions, and sins of this world in seeking to redeem the view and voice of women around the world. God made woman beautiful and purposeful for Him, and through certain people He brings around the hand you need to step out of the ditch people have come to know as home.

If you are that hand for someone else and have been denying the push He has put on your life to step up, today re-evaluate who you are deciding to leave in the ditch because of your choice. If you are the one living in that ditch, start looking for the hand because in choosing to stay in your ugly existence you are telling God his creation is not worth refining and using for His glory.

So I think it is fair to say we all have a war to be in and a battle to fight, we should get working!

With all the sincerity of my soul,
Laina

Soldiers of the Right Fight

I know the title of this entry seems a bit harsh and maybe that pushes some of you away but this was the topic of my young adults group discussion last night. Our study has been on the nooma clips that combine, scripture, practical discussion questions and stimulating visuals of real life daily struggles.

Last night the speaker used the theme of the anger we can often get when being cut off in traffic, our grocery bag breaking, or for some of us it just takes someone looking at us the wrong way to set us off. He then compared that reaction to the kind of righteous anger Jesus had with his children and the religious elites, when cleaning out the temple. The difference is when Jesus acted on his anger it immediately resulted in restoration and love, which unfortunately is not commonly the result we get as humans in the way we act out our anger.

The final question posed to each of us was, do we let our anger drive us or do we drive our anger? How often do we ask ourselves, why am I angry, and actually think through what the Lord might want us to do about those feelings. We are created as humans who get angry about things, just like Jesus did, but most of us today view our anger as a bad thing that needs to be removed from our life, simply because we don't take the time to understand its purpose.

In light of that realization I would ask everyone, how many of us recognize what makes us angry as a directional tool the Lord might be using? Someone once told me, sin breaks the heart of God and because we are made in His image, sin should break our hearts as well.

So...are we serving in jobs or ministries where our motivation stems purely from righteous anger to see change occur that will bring about justice for whomever involved? If we are not, then we might want to rethink how we spend your time.

Young Adult Group at our Halloween Party!!!