New Blog Announcement!

Hello everyone, and happy Saturday! This post is a bit different than normal ones on here, as you can see by the title. I did a post like this once upon a time, but for different reasons. Allow me to explain.

About ten months ago, I started this blog. I had a previous blog, but due to the radical changes in my life that God was imposing, I felt led to entirely make a new blog with a new focus. This morning, I have been lead again to start a new blog, but it is not at the demise of this one.

Instead, I will continue to write periodically on here, as I have been doing for quite some time now. In addition, I have started a new blog, which can be found at www.lttchurch.blogspot.com. The purpose of my new blog, entitled "Letters to the Church," is to write a series of letters to churches in different places, much like the apostle Paul did with the churches of Galatia, Ephesus, etc.

These letters, the first of which was just written a few minutes ago, will be posted a bit more often than my "Lightning Bug" posts, as they are shorter and require much less work to write. I was inspired by my recent purchase of the book "Operation World," a book which tells of prayer needs in every country in the world. It also encourages you to pray for churches (or parts of the Church) in that nation. Therefore, I will be praying for different nations all the time, and will be writing short letters of encouragement to these parts of the body of Christ. I hope you will look into these posts and also pray for the churches. Many believers in foreign countries have it much worse than we Americans do, and I pray that we keep their troubles and triumphs in our hearts.

Have a great weekend, and keep those most affected by 9/11 in your prayers this weekend. A post on this will come on this blog tonight.

By the way: Happy Birthday Michael! My little brother has turned 18 today. :)

The Day of Adversity

A couple of years ago, my spiritual life looked quite different than it does today. I had been dealing with some depression, stuff at work wasn't going how I liked it, and our church was struggling with conflict. This, along with random other things, caused me to seriously doubt the presence of an all-powerful, loving God. In fact, I was quite sure that the God I had learned about my entire life, the Christian God, was not the real God. I didn't know who the real God was, but I wasn't even sure I cared. I'd been doing the Christian thing for quite sometime, and the only reason I was concerned about the God I assumed was there was so I'd have a bit of fire insurance in case Hell was a real place. As far as my life was concerned, though, God didn't seem to care much about me, and the feeling was going to be returned.

How often in the darker times of our life do we feel like God isn't there, or that He doesn't care? I mean, crappy stuff happens to us, and we don't like it. If we don't like it, then why would God let it happen to us? Does He enjoy our suffering?

God does not enjoy human suffering. We were not made for that. Suffering didn't come into the world until humanity screwed up and rebelled against our Ruler. It's ultimately our fault for anything bad that happens to us. Anything good and perfect, though, comes from God (James 1:17). So why does suffering happen? Look at Ecclesiastes 7:14 with me.

"14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: without question, God has made the one as well as the other." -Ecclesiastes 7:14, HCSB

Just like we doubt God's being around when bad stuff is happening, we are quick to praise God when good stuff is happening. We can recognize that God causes good things, but is it possible that He sends bad stuff our way sometimes? Every day we live on earth is from God, good or bad. Yes, bad stuff is ultimately our fault. Our sin causes it to exist. But perhaps God uses that bad stuff to work in our hearts? Perhaps God is still around, watching over the whole thing, using everything good or bad to glorify Himself?

After I had been in a pit of despair, relying on myself to get through life, I realized that I had done nothing to fix my life on my own. In fact, my life was getting worse without God. I began reaching back to Him, realizing that, in the dark moments, He might still be there. Guess what?! He is.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says that God will not leave you. He will not ditch you. When bad things are happening, don't turn away from God. Those bad times may be teaching you something. I was a proud, arrogant teenager that thought I could run my life as well as God can. I needed to learn to depend on God to run my life, and realize that He is in charge, not me. I learned more about the love and passion of God during that stretch of my life than I ever did before. God is constantly working to form you to be more like Him.

To make a car, you cannot take a block of metal and simply mold it into the shape of a car. You have to melt it and pour it into a mold and let it cool and harden and pull it out of the mold. It's a process. God will not mold you into perfection in a day, a week or a century. It's a process, and in order for the process to work, you must participate. Instead of running from hard times, embrace them. Let God mold you in the rough times. If you will run to Him in the hard times, you'll come out closer to the finished product than if you want just the good of God.

So will you let God work in your life in the bad times, or will you reject Him in times of need? Will you be formed by Him?

Refresh

I want to start out by thanking Rachel Rummell again for being a guest blogger last week. I have been in contact with several others since, so hopefully this blog will have other new voices join mine from time to time. Today, however, you have me again.

Have you ever heard the saying, "what goes around, comes around?" This theme is all over the world. Buddhists believe in karma, and that doing good things will cause good things to happen to you. It's the boomerang effect, right? Today, I'll show that while the Bible doesn't necessarily line up with Buddhism, there is a theme that is quite similar. Let's look at Proverbs 11:25.

"25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." -Proverbs 11:25, NIV

It says that if you will give, you will be given. I'm not saying that doing good automatically makes you eligible for material possessions (See: Avoiding the Feel Good Fever). The Bible is instead saying that to those who give generously, God will bless them generously. It may very well be material blessing. It may be interior blessing. Regardless, you will never give generously out of faithfulness to God and receive no compensation for it. I've experienced this myself; the more you're willing to give, the more God will bless you.

Some of you may think I'm talking only about money. Sure, money is an option. But that's not all we have to give. We also have time, passion, energy, and other things that are less tangible than money, but equally as giveable. Look at the end of that verse: "whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." You can simply refresh someone: send them a nice note or text, smile at them, or buy them a Coke. It doesn't have to be something big. Most people can be refreshed by simple things. And that's not all: refreshing them also refreshes you!

When you make someone smile, you smile too. When someone is having a bad day and you can lift them up, it lifts you up, too. It's a cycle that can never end, if kept up. Do you know of anyone that needs refreshing today? Or perhaps you need refreshing. It only takes one person to start the refreshment cycle. Will it be you today?

Below is a video that just screams this principle. It's a commercial that shows exactly what I'm saying.

Guest Blog: God Won't Leave You

Rachel Rummell is a friend of mine that I met in Atlanta this past January at the Passion 2011 conference. We have stayed in touch since that time, and I have been asking her about being a guest writer for this blog for almost the whole time. She is an English major at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10

As I was preparing for the summer, deciding what to do with my three months off, I applied for jobs anywhere I could that offered security. I knew I could always return to the research firm I was at last summer, but I wanted a new, exciting experience as my last summer before entering the “real world.” I had applied for and gotten a job at a camp I visited last year but something just didn’t feel right. I felt there was more out there than just being a camp counselor yet again. I had received an application for an internship in Kansas City, Missouri, but they could never in a million years pick me. So I settled for Music and Ministry with my college for another summer.

I knew it would be a blast, having six guys and two girls, almost just like the last summer I had participated in the traveling worship team. Now that was a job I knew I’d love and enjoy! After the first meeting, we had all signed the contract and were ready to go shopping for our new outfits!

However, God had a different plan for my life. Driving home from college for Easter Break, I received a phone call from a new number. It was the Nazarene Publishing House, calling to offer me one of the internships I had applied for! Of course I said yes!

The only major problem I faced is that I did not own a car that I knew could make it out to western Missouri. Summer was only a few weeks away and there was no way I could find a reliable car in my very low price range to get out there safely! I was at a loss. A week and a half before finals, my mom called me, however, with news of a car for sale. Of course, loving yard sales, my mom was at a yard sale that fateful Friday where a beautiful bright red 2001 Chevy Cavalier was perched in the yard with a price tag almost low enough for me to purchase. My parents both looked at it that night and determined it was to be mine. So they bought the car, for which I would pay them back. Thus, Raphael joined my family, named after the super awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. He has since gained a Superman steering wheel cover and seat cover, as well as a bumper sticker that says, “I break for SUPER POWERS!!!” He is epic.

With transportation taken care of, I had to determine where to live. I received phone numbers for living with an employee for the 8 weeks so as I looked into that, I called Darl, who seemed like a nice woman with cheap rent. I went ahead with it and was ready to leave!

Since I could decide when to start, we picked June 13 as a good starting Monday and I headed out. I drove 9 hours that first day with my mom, stayed near St. Louis, MO, and got to check out St. Louis for a morning before we drove the next 5 hours to Kansas City!! This is where things started getting iffy for me.

Darl was an older woman that I honestly didn’t feel comfortable with. She is a sweetheart, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t feel right at all. As my mom was standing in the airport, headed for home, I just hugged her and cried, so unsure, so scared, and feeling more alone than I think I’ve ever felt in my life. But I stuck through it and went to work the next day. There, I met Kim, who was to be my boss for the next 8 weeks. God couldn’t have picked a better boss for me! Easy-going, 29 years old, and full of adventure, Kim has just been a great person to work with and work for. When she learned who I was living with, she looked me right in the eye and said, “I have room in my basement if you want to live with me and carpool every day with me.” Joy filled my heart as I drove home to Darl’s, packed up, and moved to Kim’s townhouse in Overland Park, Kansas. That night, I slept infinitely better with a heart full of peace that God was truly taking care of me, and He hadn’t left me in the dark with a strange old woman I didn’t feel right about.

Living with Kim has made everything all the better. Now I have someone I can talk to, someone that can drive me to work almost every day that understands poor college students, and someone that can plan awesome weekends and help me sightsee and get the most out of my stay here in Kansas/Missouri. But life isn’t always full of rainbows and butterflies.

See, God knows how I work and what I need to function and have a successful time here. However, Satan knows what elements I don’t need for work, but what I need to survive in life. Living on a college campus, I am always within 5 minutes of a friend whenever I want to do something. Living 13 hours from home and being placed in a city I’ve never seen makes seeing said friends slightly challenging. I assumed I would get involved in a church college group and make friends like I would anywhere else. But things get in the way of those original plans. Not only have I yet to attend a college group in the two weeks I’ve been here, I have yet to make a friend outside of work. Yes, Kim is great. But we all have those days when we just wanna go out and see friends we haven’t seen in awhile or meet up with someone for coffee. That’s difficult when I live and work with the same person every day and who I hang out with on the weekends as well.

Satan knows I want to get out and make friends. He has arranged to make it nearly impossible. He has instilled a slight fear of driving in the city and getting lost or in an accident with these crazy drivers. He has given me a long 8 hours of work every day that I am not used to yet. He has placed me a half hour from the one church that I found a college group and was interested in attending. He has placed fatigue in me to want to stay at home every night and try to sleep, even when a fellow co-worker has invited me out. And he has placed many of my close friends in great positions where they are doing great and making money, but unable to really talk to me. In doing this, Satan has delved deep into my soul and filled it with a feeling of loneliness it seems no human can fill. He has made my 8 weeks here more difficult than I imagined.

The story doesn’t end here, though. Satan, though he thinks himself a genius, forgets that I still have God to turn to, God to talk to, God to just love on and feel His love. Yes, I feel super lonely and I feel like I’m the only one in the world who feels this negative. Yes, I feel like these 8 weeks could be miserable and just look forward to each weekend and wait for my time to go home. But I refuse. God did not bring me 13 hours from my home, away from my friends, and out of my comfort zone to make me miserable for two months. God has a bigger plan than that. God wants to take me out of my comfort zone so I can grow and feel the stretching and the molding that is taking place. In my comfort zone, I can never truly transform into the woman He has created me to be. Yet in this scary, new, and not-always-inviting place, God can change my heart and change me for a new and brighter future. It is here, in this place, that I am truly His to do what He will.

In taking me away from my friends, He is forcing me to re-evaluate some of my friendships, as well as really take to heart what being a true friend means. He is trying to erase all traces of selfishness I hide in my heart, to make me the best friend I can be to anyone who needs a friend. In taking me away from my family, He is showing me how much my family cares. When I come home on breaks from school, it is so easy to want to be around them for a few days and then get tired of it. But out here, I really see how much I truly miss them. When they are no longer 2 hours away, a simple drive, when they are at long last 13 hours away, I find I miss them more, or so it seems.

The things God can do with us when we open up to Him is incredible, how God can truly change us and mold us into who He created us to be when we let Him. What’s more amazing is how Satan tries so desperately to turn us away from God and to allow ourselves to get wrapped up in sin and lies, yet God’s love will always come back for us. He never really does leave us or forsake us. He really is always there. We may not see Him. It may take a crazy adventure to remind us that there is One who is greater than the madness of this mortal world. But when it all comes down to it, God really is always there for us and He looks out for us. We just have to be patient and learn to look for the sun on a cloudy day. Just as the sun is still there when it’s covered by clouds to bring rain, God is still there, covered by Satan and the lies that he breathes to rain on our parade. But with the sun comes a rainbow, and with God comes a way out.

Rachel has since survived Kansas City, being blessed with all that she has learned, as we read above. If you want to contact Rachel, her email is frk4jcandchocolate@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter: @Rummellstiltskn. Hopefully her writing has shared what God has been doing in her life, and we hope to hear from her again soon.

If you are interested in being a guest blogger, contact me at thefreedbug@aol.com or via Facebook or Twitter. I'd love to hear from you and share what you have to say!

Being Bold In Faith...Even When It's Dangerous

Ever said something and wished you could take it back, even if it were true? I know that I have. It may have been something that was mean. It may have been something that was arrogant. It may have just been a bit bolder than I might have wanted to say. Regardless, all it takes is a few seconds for us to say something too quickly, and all of a sudden we have a problem.

Ezra, a priest of Israel, had one of these moments. The Israelites had been under Babylonian control for quite some time, and then the Persians took over Babylon. The Persian kings had let some Israelites go back through the years, and Ezra wanted to take another group back to the home land. King Artaxerxes didn't have a problem with this, and even would have been willing to send along soldiers and horsemen to protect them on their journey from modern-day Iraq to Israel. Here's where Ezra had his mouth before his head. Let's look:

"For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him." -Ezra 8:22, ESV

Whoops. Ezra told the king that God would put His wrath on the enemies of God and Israel. That's a pretty bold statement to make before heading out on a journey through enemy territory, particularly before you had the promise of Persian protection. And now Ezra couldn't really ask for protection, considering he already said that God would handle that. What was Ezra to do?

He had two options: take the "safe" route and ask the king for protection, thus making his claims about God appear weaker, or he could put his life in God's hands (maybe even literally) and have faith that God would protect them. It was a pretty clear cut decision. Fortunately, we know that Ezra's faith was strong enough to back up his mouth.

Ezra led the group to Israel, praying and fasting, asking God to protect them as He had promised. As always, God did what He said. Do you have the faith to make bold statements like Ezra did, and expect that God will do what God does? Or will you break and put your faith in the "safe" bets of earth?

What is Your Legacy?

In life, everyone leaves a legacy. Sometimes, it's a a legacy that everyone notices, good or bad. Michael Jordan's legacy is that he is the greatest basketball player in history. Thomas Edison's legacy is that he invented the modern light bulb. Harriet Tubman's legacy is that she led many slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad, often risking her life. Al Capone's legacy is that he was a mobster, and Osama Bin Laden's legacy is that he was a terrorist.

Some people don't have such impacting legacies. Everyday, many people die as little known, blue-collar workers that just had average lives and average deaths. In fact, most of us have and will have average legacies.

While reading in 2 Chronicles the other day, I stumbled upon the legacy of a man that made me really think about my legacy. Let's look at it:

"Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu's soldiers captured him (he was hiding in Samaria). Then they brought him to Jehu, and they killed him. They buried him, for they said, 'He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the LORD with all his heart.' So the house of Ahaziah had no one to exercise power over the kingdom." -2 Chronicles 22:9, HCSB

Did you catch that? When referring to King Ahaziah of Judah at his funeral, they referred to him as the "grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the LORD with all his heart." Wow! What a legacy Jehoshaphat had! This is not his funeral, but his grandson's. Ahaziah was a king, too. It's not as if Ahaziah had no legacy at all. Sure, he only reigned in Jerusalem for one year and was a sorry king that helped turn Judah away from God, but still. Jehoshaphat's reputation for loving and chasing after God was so strong, his legacy was so powerful, that he was mentioned at his grandson's funeral. In fact, it could be argued that the best thing said about Ahaziah at the funeral was that he was Jehoshaphat's grandson.

Isn't that something we should all strive for? To be known for generations to come as someone "who's sought the Lord with all our heart?" How amazing of a legacy that would be!

What is your legacy? Will you be remembered for your love for God, or do you have something else, something lesser, defining your legacy?

Avoiding the Feel Good Fever

Ever had a big decision to be faced, and you didn't know how to figure out what to do? We all do at some point. It comes with the territory when you are a finite, trapped-within-time-and-space being. We cannot see the future, and have no idea how things will play out, so we stress out about what to do. This is a problem that has occurred since the beginning of time, and happens throughout the Bible. Today, we will be looking at 1 Kings 22, and the dilemma that was facing Ahab, the king of Israel.

Now, Ahab made a deal with the king of Aram not to fight, and there had been peace between Israel and Aram for three years. But Aram had some of Israel's towns under their control, and that bothered Ahab. Those were supposed to be his lands, and he wanted them back! So when the king of Judah (the Israelite nation was split into two nations: Israel, led by Ahab, and Judah, led by Jehoshaphat) came to town for a visit, Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if they could team up and take back these towns.

Something about getting support just makes us bolder, doesn't it? Ahab wasn't into the idea of going alone against an army he probably could have defeated (Israel routed Aram in 1 Kings 20). He was scared. But if he had some help, he felt better about his chances. Jehoshaphat had a different focus of support, though.

Jehoshaphat said he would help his Israelite brother, but one thing needed to happen first: they needed to consult God on the matter. Jehoshaphat's daddy, King Asa, had been a long-ruling king of Judah, and had taught Jehoshaphat all about following the Lord. The king of Judah knew that if God didn't approve of going to war, both armies could be destroyed.

Do you look for God's approval in decisions? Are you concerned about His opinion on the matter?

Ahab agreed to find out what God thought, so he called up 400 prophets to tell him what God said on the matter. They all said that Ahab would be victorious, for God would be with him. They filled the room, shouting that God wanted nothing but good for Ahab, that God certainly would give over those lands to Ahab.

Of course, Ahab was thrilled to hear it. But here's the thing: these weren't prophets of God. They had no authority from above; they were former idol-worshippers that were brought in to make the king feel like he was hearing from God.

Do these men sound familiar? Let me go further.

These are men that were catering to man's feelings, and not to God. These were men saying things about God that pleased man to hear, whether it was true or not. They weren't concerned about staying true to God; they just wanted man to "be the best you could be." They want man "to reach their full potential" and "live their best life now." Nothing more than motivational speakers in preacher's clothes.

These men exist now. They are everywhere, and people are all about them.

Men like this will tell you that God wants you to be rich and wealthy, if you just follow Him. If you just follow God, he will give you the desires of your heart. He wants you to be happy, all the time, no matter what. Whatever you want is what God wants. This, my friends, is a lie.

Books like Love Wins will willingly leave out words from Scripture, or twist it to mean what they want it to sound like. Does God really send people to Hell? How could a loving God do that? There's no way this could be... Let me tell you, it is. Anyone who tells you that Scripture could be inaccurate is lying to you, and is speaking not from God, but from the adversary, the devil himself.

I'm not saying God doesn't want you to be happy. Of course he wants you to be happy. The Psalms and Proverbs are fulling of verses that say that He wants us happy (Ps. 68:3, Pro. 17:22 for example). But it also says that He wants us to rejoice in Him (Ps. 118:24, Phil. 4:4). This is how God wants to give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4). This oft-misquoted verse says,

"4 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires." -Psalm 37:4, HCSB

Prosperity gospel preachers will say that this verse is meaning that delighting in the Lord will give you everything you want. That is NOT what this verse is saying. If you are taking delight in the Lord, He will be the desire of your heart! Sure, He may choose to bless you with material wealth, but He may not. Life doesn't always turn out with rainbows and butterflies for people that follow Jesus. Look at the 12 disciples. Jesus leaves and they start the church. 11 of them are killed, and the other is left stranded on an island to rot. Do you think they were delighting in the Lord? Where's their wealth? Where is their perfect life?

What about the apostle Paul? He wrote 13 books of the New Testament. He started many churches. He traveled all over, proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior. He was killed after spending years in multiple prisons. He spent his life with a "thorn in his side," which is believed to be some sort of physical pain for him. Do you think he was delighting in the Lord? Was his pain and confinement taken away because of it?

Or what about our Christian brothers and sisters in countries like Nigeria, China, and India, where Christians are being tortured, burned alive, raped, and killed for loving Jesus. Do you think they are delighting in the Lord? Did that make them rich?

My readers, false prophets are everywhere. They are idol worshippers in God-loving disguise. No, they aren't sacrificing to a god on a hill like Ahab's prophets. They are sacrificing to a much more subtle idol: themselves. Following these pastors and speakers feels good, because they say things that make themselves and other people feel good. But God's Word isn't just a warm hug on a cold day. It is the Truth, the written words of an almighty God.

So, do as Jehoshaphat did in verse 5, where he asked if there were any real prophets of God. He knew these "feel-good" preachers weren't speaking from God. How do we know?

Look for Scripture. If the speaker is leaving out words of Scripture, or just throwing it in at the end to give weight to his message, red flags should go up. All preaching and teaching about God should come directly from Scripture. It may not always make you feel good (this is why Ahab hadn't called on the only real prophet around, as we see in verse 8). The truth hurts sometimes. But we must be willing to listen for what God is saying through His Word, not what a glorified motivational speaker is saying through his charisma and smile.

Are you willing to look for the truth from God, even when it doesn't always make you feel good? Are you willing to look for speakers grounded in the authority of Scripture, or will you be content to be fed lies about "becoming a better you?"