In my last post, I discussed a Peter Lundell's new book Prayer Power: 30 Days to a Stronger Connection with God. This is a great resource for helping anyone develop a closer daily relationship with God. Over the next few weeks, I am going to create a series of posts springing from Lundell's book. Reading the book will not be necessary in order to understand or enjoy the posts. However, I will be offering an opportunity to win a free copy. Everyone who comments either on the blog posts, through personal email to me, on my Facebook, or on my Twitter will be entered into a drawing for a free book. At the end of the series I will congratulate the winner.
By the way, Congratulations to Bill S who won my last drawing for a Starbucks gift certificate. Bill, I am still waiting for you to email me your physical address so that I can send you the gift card.
Check back soon for my next entry about getting hungry for God. Don't forget that you can subscribe to Get Real and have it delivered to you personal email account.
Gettin' Real,
Melodie
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melodiefleming@sbcglobal.net
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Gamevance Ads Aren't From Me
In my previous post, a couple of words were highlighted in green and underlined. When a reader clicked on these words, a Gamevance advertisement popped up. I did not add those advertisements to my blog. Although I did visit the Gamevance site once this week, I did not play any games. I am not a user of this service and do not endorse any of their products. I don't know how the links were attached to my blog and have sent them an email to complain. I will attempt to take of the links, which may result in the same content being emailed out. I apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced.
Thanks,
Melodie
Thanks,
Melodie
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Connecting with God
Yes, but how? First of all, just talk. God isn't standing beside the door of Heaven with a cosmic shotgun waiting to blow away anyone who dares try enter without the magic words. If we want to connect with God, we just start. He is listening. We don't even have to speak out loud. He can hear our thoughts. In fact, he hears them whether we are praying or not. So, we might as well use them to connect with him. It's all a part of getting Real with God.
Think there must be more to it than that? You're right. Talking to God as we go along is a vital part of a great adventure. God wants to commune with us on levels we don't even know exist. He wants to invade our day and annoint it for use in his Holy Kingdom. He wants to transform our hearts and sanctify even the smallest moments: the drive to work, the trip to the grocery store, washing dishes at the sink, story time with the kids. All of these can be connected to The Divine. So, just talking is only the beginning. There's more.
Peter Lundell has been pearl diving in the ocean of mystery. His well, written book Prayer Power: 30 Days to a Stronger Connection with God is loaded with little jewels brought up from the depths of God's heart. I'm going to do a series of at least six posts based upon gems of wisdom found in this book. In the meantime, I encourage you to pick up a copy of your own. Next time, I'll tell you how to win a copy from me.
Gettin' Real,
Melodie
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Gettin' Real with Jesus
In his blog post The Call to Follow Jesus, Nathan Crietz asks, "What aspects of Jesus’ relationship with His twelve closest disciples were meant to be universal to all of Jesus’ disciples?” In other words, when Jesus challenged the twelve, was he also challenging us?
He points out that while followers of Christ face vastly different lifestyles from that of the twelve disciples, the call for radical discipleship remains the same.
I've invited Nathan to be a guest blogger today. I've picked up his blog a few paragraphs in. Enjoy!
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The Call to Follow Jesus
By Nathan Creitz
GroupLife Coordinator at Grace Community Church
Student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Author of The ChurchEthos Blog
Boston
...We know that some things are probably going to be a bit different two thousand years later in our modern society. Most of us aren’t going to be asked to abandon our businesses, leave our families for months and even years on end to travel the dusty countryside and not know from one night to the next if we are going to be sleeping in a random person’s home or sleeping outside with a rock for a pillow.
On the other hand, in many of our churches today, the most that people are asked to commit to by church leaders is to attend a large gathering for one hour a week and tithe so that we can pay the light bill.
Radical discipleship for us today doesn’t really look like either of the above scenarios. We often consider the relationship that Peter, James and John had with Jesus, but we forget about Lazarus, Mary, Martha, Bartimaeus, Susanna and Joanna. These were men and women whose lives were transformed by their encounter with Jesus but it didn’t compel them to be with Jesus every minute of the day. More importantly, it didn’t compel Jesus to ask them to have the same relationship with Him that the Twelve had. In other words, they weren’t invited to spend the next 2 or 3 years wandering around with Jesus.
Of course, church leaders today aren’t promoting that sort of commitment anyway. Today, it is more common to bend to the lowest common denominator. A weekly service, a challenge to give to the church and to the needy, a 15 minute quiet time, and be a good father, mother, husband, wife, and don’t cheat on your taxes. We don’t do too good a job asking people to go deeper in their commitment because we don’t really know what that means.
Oneness
So what was it about Jesus’ relationship with His twelve closest followers that we are meant to continue today? When Jesus’ prayed for His disciples in John 17, He asks the Father that He protect them (from stumbling?) “so that they may be one as We are one.” Then, for all disciples, He prays the same thing: “May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.” (17:21) A relationship with God and with each other takes time. It takes sacrifice. It takes love. Certainly, in my marriage, I don’t leave it at one hour a week. Relationships take effort and we are asking way too little if all we are asking is a couple of hours a week.
But relationships aren’t scripted either. That’s why we can’t say that a disciple is more committed if she shows up at the church building 10 hours a week rather than 3 hours a week. We need to help people “practice the presence of God” and show a willingness to get together with other believers. Invite a couple over for dinner. Meet someone for coffee. Volunteer together at the homeless shelter. Gather for Bible study and prayer at someone’s home. Be consistent. Be available. Do it because you love your family and want to know how to pray for them.
The universal call to discipleship may not look exactly like the Twelve, but it is every bit as radical and transformational. It affects how we work, how we play, and how we live. For some, it may involve more time than we are currently giving, but for others it may simply be the quality of time spent that needs to change. The most important thing is that we are in relationship with God and with the Body and Jesus prayed that we would all be One. Oneness won’t happen with the back of someone’s head, it happens face to face.
Thank you, Nathan, for helping us Get Real in our walk with Christ,
Melodie
To read more from Nathan, check out his blog ChurchEHTHOS, which exists to encourage "thinking Christianly about the habits and customs of the Church and about our reputation with the unchurched."
He points out that while followers of Christ face vastly different lifestyles from that of the twelve disciples, the call for radical discipleship remains the same.
I've invited Nathan to be a guest blogger today. I've picked up his blog a few paragraphs in. Enjoy!
By Nathan Creitz
GroupLife Coordinator at Grace Community Church
Student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Author of The ChurchEthos Blog
Boston
...We know that some things are probably going to be a bit different two thousand years later in our modern society. Most of us aren’t going to be asked to abandon our businesses, leave our families for months and even years on end to travel the dusty countryside and not know from one night to the next if we are going to be sleeping in a random person’s home or sleeping outside with a rock for a pillow.
On the other hand, in many of our churches today, the most that people are asked to commit to by church leaders is to attend a large gathering for one hour a week and tithe so that we can pay the light bill.
Radical discipleship for us today doesn’t really look like either of the above scenarios. We often consider the relationship that Peter, James and John had with Jesus, but we forget about Lazarus, Mary, Martha, Bartimaeus, Susanna and Joanna. These were men and women whose lives were transformed by their encounter with Jesus but it didn’t compel them to be with Jesus every minute of the day. More importantly, it didn’t compel Jesus to ask them to have the same relationship with Him that the Twelve had. In other words, they weren’t invited to spend the next 2 or 3 years wandering around with Jesus.
Of course, church leaders today aren’t promoting that sort of commitment anyway. Today, it is more common to bend to the lowest common denominator. A weekly service, a challenge to give to the church and to the needy, a 15 minute quiet time, and be a good father, mother, husband, wife, and don’t cheat on your taxes. We don’t do too good a job asking people to go deeper in their commitment because we don’t really know what that means.
Oneness
So what was it about Jesus’ relationship with His twelve closest followers that we are meant to continue today? When Jesus’ prayed for His disciples in John 17, He asks the Father that He protect them (from stumbling?) “so that they may be one as We are one.” Then, for all disciples, He prays the same thing: “May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.” (17:21) A relationship with God and with each other takes time. It takes sacrifice. It takes love. Certainly, in my marriage, I don’t leave it at one hour a week. Relationships take effort and we are asking way too little if all we are asking is a couple of hours a week.
But relationships aren’t scripted either. That’s why we can’t say that a disciple is more committed if she shows up at the church building 10 hours a week rather than 3 hours a week. We need to help people “practice the presence of God” and show a willingness to get together with other believers. Invite a couple over for dinner. Meet someone for coffee. Volunteer together at the homeless shelter. Gather for Bible study and prayer at someone’s home. Be consistent. Be available. Do it because you love your family and want to know how to pray for them.
The universal call to discipleship may not look exactly like the Twelve, but it is every bit as radical and transformational. It affects how we work, how we play, and how we live. For some, it may involve more time than we are currently giving, but for others it may simply be the quality of time spent that needs to change. The most important thing is that we are in relationship with God and with the Body and Jesus prayed that we would all be One. Oneness won’t happen with the back of someone’s head, it happens face to face.
Thank you, Nathan, for helping us Get Real in our walk with Christ,
Melodie
To read more from Nathan, check out his blog ChurchEHTHOS, which exists to encourage "thinking Christianly about the habits and customs of the Church and about our reputation with the unchurched."
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Are Young Adults Active in Your Church?
Young adults aren't sticking with church. So reads the August 8 online edition of USA Today. The article reports that currently seven of every ten Protestant churchgoers leave the church by age 23. Seven out of every ten!
The 18 to 30 year olds who were surveyed, attended church regularly during their teen years. Few saw church members as caring, welcoming, or authentic. Most said church members were judgmental, hypocritical, or insincere.
Astounding.
True, people in their late teens and early twenties are highly idealistic in their expectations about many things, including their views on how a true Christian should behave. Our current culture is highly relativistic, and the newest generation of adults has been consistenly fed the lie that any reference to sin is categorically judgmental and unloving.
Clearly, the truth cannot be altered in order to accommodate an over-sensitive worldview. But this reality does not solve the problem. Knowing we are sometimes unfairly labeled by our culture does not absolve us from the responsibility to be above reproach in our attitudes.
The statistics quoted in the article come from several sources. The numbers do not represent a few disgruntled folks who don't want to repent, so they lash out. They aren't referring to a few people on the outskirts of Christianity who are making judgments about something they know nothing about. Nearly 70% of our churched young adult population feels unloved at church. Teenagers are going to church looking for authentic, loving faith. They can't find it, so they leave!
Notice that judgmental attitudes are not the entire picture. Young people not only feel judged at church, they feel judged by Christians they percieve as hypocritical, insincere, inauthentic, and unloving.
They may have a point.
Why would I say that? Because it's Biblically sound. Jesus told us that people know we are his disciples if we love each other (John 13:35). Nothing undermines truth more hideously than a lack of love.
The love we Christians are to have must be REAL. This isn't "yeah but" love. You know what I mean, "Yeah, of course we have to love each other, but ..."
Followers of Christ are called to a deep, deep love. Christ defined it for us in the John 13:34. We are to love each other as he loved us. When we love each other like that, we show we are the REAL deal to anyone who may be quietly watching, regardless of their age.
In case we missed the point, Paul makes it clear in I Corinthians 13. He tells us that everything we say, everything we do, everything we teach, everything we give, and everything we sacrifice is worthless if not done from a loving heart. To keep us from giving a little non-committal nod of assent, he goes on to define Biblical love: patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, humble, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, not record-keeping, truth-rejoicing, protecting, hoping, trusting, persevering, and unfailing.
Later, the Apostle Peter said, in effect, "Great job in the obedience department guys. I'm glad you love the truth. It purified you and caused you to love each other sincerely. So, now that your love is real, love each other deeply. Make sure it comes from your hearts." (I Peter 1:22)
In other words, there is no competition between absolute truth and genuine love. Biblical truth will result in Biblical love -- sincere, deep, from-the-heart love.
When our churches abound in this kind of love, the truth about tough issues is more likely to be heard. If the person who is calling for repentance is obviously repentant, the listener is more likely to hear. If the person announcing the truth is doing so in love, the truth is more likely to be received. Strength is shown most powerfully when it framed in meekness.
Of course, there are no guarantees. Our job is to become like Christ and leave the results to him. After all, no one was more loving than he was, and he ended up being crucified.
Hmm, adds a whole new dimension to taking up your cross, doesn't it?
Gettin' Real!
Melodie
The 18 to 30 year olds who were surveyed, attended church regularly during their teen years. Few saw church members as caring, welcoming, or authentic. Most said church members were judgmental, hypocritical, or insincere.
Astounding.
True, people in their late teens and early twenties are highly idealistic in their expectations about many things, including their views on how a true Christian should behave. Our current culture is highly relativistic, and the newest generation of adults has been consistenly fed the lie that any reference to sin is categorically judgmental and unloving.
Clearly, the truth cannot be altered in order to accommodate an over-sensitive worldview. But this reality does not solve the problem. Knowing we are sometimes unfairly labeled by our culture does not absolve us from the responsibility to be above reproach in our attitudes.
The statistics quoted in the article come from several sources. The numbers do not represent a few disgruntled folks who don't want to repent, so they lash out. They aren't referring to a few people on the outskirts of Christianity who are making judgments about something they know nothing about. Nearly 70% of our churched young adult population feels unloved at church. Teenagers are going to church looking for authentic, loving faith. They can't find it, so they leave!
Notice that judgmental attitudes are not the entire picture. Young people not only feel judged at church, they feel judged by Christians they percieve as hypocritical, insincere, inauthentic, and unloving.
They may have a point.
Why would I say that? Because it's Biblically sound. Jesus told us that people know we are his disciples if we love each other (John 13:35). Nothing undermines truth more hideously than a lack of love.
The love we Christians are to have must be REAL. This isn't "yeah but" love. You know what I mean, "Yeah, of course we have to love each other, but ..."
Followers of Christ are called to a deep, deep love. Christ defined it for us in the John 13:34. We are to love each other as he loved us. When we love each other like that, we show we are the REAL deal to anyone who may be quietly watching, regardless of their age.
In case we missed the point, Paul makes it clear in I Corinthians 13. He tells us that everything we say, everything we do, everything we teach, everything we give, and everything we sacrifice is worthless if not done from a loving heart. To keep us from giving a little non-committal nod of assent, he goes on to define Biblical love: patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, humble, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, not record-keeping, truth-rejoicing, protecting, hoping, trusting, persevering, and unfailing.
Later, the Apostle Peter said, in effect, "Great job in the obedience department guys. I'm glad you love the truth. It purified you and caused you to love each other sincerely. So, now that your love is real, love each other deeply. Make sure it comes from your hearts." (I Peter 1:22)
In other words, there is no competition between absolute truth and genuine love. Biblical truth will result in Biblical love -- sincere, deep, from-the-heart love.
When our churches abound in this kind of love, the truth about tough issues is more likely to be heard. If the person who is calling for repentance is obviously repentant, the listener is more likely to hear. If the person announcing the truth is doing so in love, the truth is more likely to be received. Strength is shown most powerfully when it framed in meekness.
Of course, there are no guarantees. Our job is to become like Christ and leave the results to him. After all, no one was more loving than he was, and he ended up being crucified.
Hmm, adds a whole new dimension to taking up your cross, doesn't it?
Gettin' Real!
Melodie
Thursday, September 24, 2009
How to Win a Starbucks Gift Card
Sunday marks the three month anniversary of Get Real!
I'm having a blast, and I pray you are finding encouragement as we journey along together. To celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away gift cards. Keep reading to find you how you can win one.
For starters, I want to thank Edina Lara for being the first person to post a comment on one of my entries. Edina is also one of my most faithful readers, following along with every post. Thank you Edina. A Starbucks gift certificate will be in the mail to you soon.
If you've been blessed by this blog, consider passing it forward. Send a favorite entry to a friend, post a link on your Facebook page, or Tweet the blog. When you do, let me know in the comments section below, by direct message, or at my email address (melodiefleming@sbcglobal.net). Everyone who does this and notifies me within the next three days will be placed in a drawing for a Starbucks gift certificate. You can enter more than once, and if you post a link to my blog on your own website, I'll enter your name three times.
Don't forget that you can sign up to have Get Real! delivered directly to your email account every time I post. Just follow the directions at the top right of the blog. Let me know you did this, I'll enter you name twice. (If you are already signed up, you'll be entered automatically.)
Gettin' Real!
Melodie
I'm having a blast, and I pray you are finding encouragement as we journey along together. To celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away gift cards. Keep reading to find you how you can win one.
For starters, I want to thank Edina Lara for being the first person to post a comment on one of my entries. Edina is also one of my most faithful readers, following along with every post. Thank you Edina. A Starbucks gift certificate will be in the mail to you soon.
If you've been blessed by this blog, consider passing it forward. Send a favorite entry to a friend, post a link on your Facebook page, or Tweet the blog. When you do, let me know in the comments section below, by direct message, or at my email address (melodiefleming@sbcglobal.net). Everyone who does this and notifies me within the next three days will be placed in a drawing for a Starbucks gift certificate. You can enter more than once, and if you post a link to my blog on your own website, I'll enter your name three times.
Don't forget that you can sign up to have Get Real! delivered directly to your email account every time I post. Just follow the directions at the top right of the blog. Let me know you did this, I'll enter you name twice. (If you are already signed up, you'll be entered automatically.)
Gettin' Real!
Melodie
Saturday, September 5, 2009
What We'd Like to Forget
Several years ago I stood in Tienanmen Square. Kites flew in the air. Flags waved in the breeze. Handsome soldiers marched in rigid but peaceful formation. I tried to picture huge tanks barreling down on college-age protesters, but my imagination failed me. I knew that horrible things had happened right where I was standing, but the atmosphere seem more ripe for a family picnic than a holocaustic memory. Behind us a centuries old palace memorialized ancient Chinese emperors, but no historic markers mentioned the occasion that blasted itself onto television sets around the world a few decades ago.
While I was trying to take in the scene, another haunting image crept into my mind. My trip to China had been full of breath-taking scenery, exotic food, and rich history. But amidst all the fun, I looked across Tienanmen Square to the offices of the Communist regime. What was happening behind the gray walls? Were there interrogation rooms in the basements of those buildings? While I enjoyed watching kites soar against the backdrop of an Asian sunset, was some Christian brother or sister suffering for their faith just a few feet from where I stood?
Each month I receive a newsletter from the Voice of the Martyrs organization (VOM). When I started receiving the publication, I admit my heart would sink when I saw it in the mailbox. The stories are sad. People all over the world suffer imaginable horrors because of their faith in Jesus Christ. VOM doesn't spare the details in describing what these brave believers undergo because of their love for Christ.
The first few times I read the publication, I cried. Sometimes I couldn't finish the articles. For a while, I quit reading them altogether. They sat in a pile, accusing me. I knew that the Bible says that we are to remember those who suffer for their faith as if they are our own family members. What if these stories were about my real brother? I'd read every word...and pray fervently.
So, out of obligation, with guilt and reluctance, I began reading again. The stories often made me feel inadequate. I asked, "Could I take this type of persecution?" I doubted it, which made me feel even more guilty. When I compared my faith to theirs, I didn't measure up.
Then a change began to take place. A thought occurred to me, which at first added to my guilt, but then began to free me. If these people can suffer torture, imprisonment, and death for Christ, I thought, the least I can do is suffer a little discomfort each month to read their stories and pray for them.
That's when it began to dawn on me: by praying over these people each month, and even crying over them, I was partaking in their suffering in a small way. In so doing, I was also partaking in their sacrifices for Christ.
I've not been called, at least not yet, to make great sacrifices for my faith. But one small sacrifice -- to obey God's call to "bear one another's burdens" -- this I can do.
When I recognized my struggles and sadness as small gifts to Jesus, I began to have victory over my reluctance to read the articles. Then things got even better.
As I prayed over the articles, pity and sadness began to be replaced by a feeling of empowerment. Every time I read a story, I prayed for the person in the article. I began to lay hands on the photographs and ask God's mercy on the individuals pictured. I prayed for the salvation of the persecutors. I prayed for strength for the suffering. The miracle of God's great Christian community became real to me.
My heart beats faster even now as I write these words. Here, in this very study, I can pray for a brother or sister in Ethiopia, or Pakistan, or Chiapas, Mexico . .and that brother or sister can feel the effects of my prayers. The thought astounds me.
I'm so stunned by that, I've had to stop typing and just meditate on the joy of it. By God's grace, I can sit in South Texas and make a difference in world missions, international relations, comforting the sick and suffering, setting the captive free, bringing salvation to the worst of humanity, comforting widows, educating orphans, bringing medical treatment to the injured, and encouraging a missing Christian in solitary confinement somewhere.
So, I've found joy in a strange place. Now, when the VOM newsletter arrives, my heart leaps. "It's from my martyrs," I think. A strange way to put it, I know. But I feel like I've received a letter from a long, lost friend.
Now, I look forward to reading the stories and praying. Yes, I will probably be sad. I might even cry. But the joy of connecting, of making a difference, of experiencing the power of God while I pray...these things overwhelm the sadness. But it gets even better.
One day, I'm going to meet these people. I really am. I'm going to hug them and thank them for challenging me to keep my faith real. I'm going to give God glory while I hold the hand of a genuine hero of the faith.
They will say, "Thank you for praying for me."
And I will say, "It was an honor."
Then we will cast our crowns at the feet of our Lord.
If you would like to join in, go www.persecution.org and sign up. You can have the newsletters mailed to you as I do, or you can participate through their Internet services. Resources appropriate for children and teens are also available.
Gettin' Real,
Melodie
PS Thank you for your patience with my lack of posts this month. Please pray for my husband's family as they have experienced the tragic loss of his cousin. Please also pray for my family we adjust to our new life as homeschoolers.
While I was trying to take in the scene, another haunting image crept into my mind. My trip to China had been full of breath-taking scenery, exotic food, and rich history. But amidst all the fun, I looked across Tienanmen Square to the offices of the Communist regime. What was happening behind the gray walls? Were there interrogation rooms in the basements of those buildings? While I enjoyed watching kites soar against the backdrop of an Asian sunset, was some Christian brother or sister suffering for their faith just a few feet from where I stood?
Each month I receive a newsletter from the Voice of the Martyrs organization (VOM). When I started receiving the publication, I admit my heart would sink when I saw it in the mailbox. The stories are sad. People all over the world suffer imaginable horrors because of their faith in Jesus Christ. VOM doesn't spare the details in describing what these brave believers undergo because of their love for Christ.
The first few times I read the publication, I cried. Sometimes I couldn't finish the articles. For a while, I quit reading them altogether. They sat in a pile, accusing me. I knew that the Bible says that we are to remember those who suffer for their faith as if they are our own family members. What if these stories were about my real brother? I'd read every word...and pray fervently.
So, out of obligation, with guilt and reluctance, I began reading again. The stories often made me feel inadequate. I asked, "Could I take this type of persecution?" I doubted it, which made me feel even more guilty. When I compared my faith to theirs, I didn't measure up.
Then a change began to take place. A thought occurred to me, which at first added to my guilt, but then began to free me. If these people can suffer torture, imprisonment, and death for Christ, I thought, the least I can do is suffer a little discomfort each month to read their stories and pray for them.
That's when it began to dawn on me: by praying over these people each month, and even crying over them, I was partaking in their suffering in a small way. In so doing, I was also partaking in their sacrifices for Christ.
I've not been called, at least not yet, to make great sacrifices for my faith. But one small sacrifice -- to obey God's call to "bear one another's burdens" -- this I can do.
When I recognized my struggles and sadness as small gifts to Jesus, I began to have victory over my reluctance to read the articles. Then things got even better.
As I prayed over the articles, pity and sadness began to be replaced by a feeling of empowerment. Every time I read a story, I prayed for the person in the article. I began to lay hands on the photographs and ask God's mercy on the individuals pictured. I prayed for the salvation of the persecutors. I prayed for strength for the suffering. The miracle of God's great Christian community became real to me.
My heart beats faster even now as I write these words. Here, in this very study, I can pray for a brother or sister in Ethiopia, or Pakistan, or Chiapas, Mexico . .and that brother or sister can feel the effects of my prayers. The thought astounds me.
I'm so stunned by that, I've had to stop typing and just meditate on the joy of it. By God's grace, I can sit in South Texas and make a difference in world missions, international relations, comforting the sick and suffering, setting the captive free, bringing salvation to the worst of humanity, comforting widows, educating orphans, bringing medical treatment to the injured, and encouraging a missing Christian in solitary confinement somewhere.
So, I've found joy in a strange place. Now, when the VOM newsletter arrives, my heart leaps. "It's from my martyrs," I think. A strange way to put it, I know. But I feel like I've received a letter from a long, lost friend.
Now, I look forward to reading the stories and praying. Yes, I will probably be sad. I might even cry. But the joy of connecting, of making a difference, of experiencing the power of God while I pray...these things overwhelm the sadness. But it gets even better.
One day, I'm going to meet these people. I really am. I'm going to hug them and thank them for challenging me to keep my faith real. I'm going to give God glory while I hold the hand of a genuine hero of the faith.
They will say, "Thank you for praying for me."
And I will say, "It was an honor."
Then we will cast our crowns at the feet of our Lord.
If you would like to join in, go www.persecution.org and sign up. You can have the newsletters mailed to you as I do, or you can participate through their Internet services. Resources appropriate for children and teens are also available.
Gettin' Real,
Melodie
PS Thank you for your patience with my lack of posts this month. Please pray for my husband's family as they have experienced the tragic loss of his cousin. Please also pray for my family we adjust to our new life as homeschoolers.
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