Mark Driscoll Done Me Proud

If you've been hanging around here long, you probably realize that I have a love/hate relationship with Mark Driscoll (what Christian doesn't?)

I love his determination. I love that he has strong opinions. I love that he's reaching out to our post-mod culture without buying into its wish-washy nature.

But I hate his jerkiness. I hate his forceful and derogatory comment. And sometimes, I just hate his opinions.

But today, Billy showed me a video that I absolutely love.

It's Mark Driscoll being strong and determined, but also loving and compassionate.



A few things to note:

• The statistic he mentions of 1/3 of the congregation having been raped or molested is not limited to Mars Hill. This is a national statistic. It's sick, and it needs to change.
• Believe it or not, many Christians are still not willing to believe that abortion is wrong. There are many pastors who won't take a stand on this, and many more congregants that still want to be PC and pretend it's a "choice" issue. As someone who went through a crisis pregnancy 8 years ago and someone who's counseled others through them, I know that there are other, better choices. It's not about a choice or a preference. It's about life. And as Driscoll says, "A life is a life."
• At other times, I've heard Driscoll encourage people to attend small groups or get hooked into other community at the church in order to get encouragement or discipleship. Here, he offers to meet with this woman himself. I think that's a great balance between guarding your time and being available when people most need you.
  

40-Day Fast

Last week, I wrote about the beginning of the 40-day-fast, and since that time, you've seen links to other bloggers who were participating. I hope you've clicked through to a few to offer your support and to learn about some great causes.

Well, today, it's my turn, and I'm about as geeked as you can be to not have food for a day. I have a fasting partner, Steven Russell. We're not necessarily fasting for the same cause, just on the same day. Please go visit him after you finish here.

Fasting for the Persecuted Church

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10

Tomorrow, we Americans will celebrate our independence. Ours, like any other, came through a hard journey and a great fight, starting long before colonization. Regardless of the bad rap that the Puritans and Pilgrims get in our history books, the truth is that they came here for religious freedom. Some came because they held a different conviction from the ruling powers. Others came because they wanted to reform the current church by setting a good example of purity. Either way, they moved here to be free.

Then when our founding fathers drafted the Bill of Rights, the right to this freedom was placed #1 alongside the freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and the press.

No matter where our country's religious fervor stands now, we are still blessed with freedom to practice as we like. But we have millions of brothers and sisters around the world that don't have this freedom. These Christians are facing imprisonment, torture, and death.

In fact, the most recent statistics estimate 175,000 yearly murders and assassinations.

Of course, this is happening in the obvious countries - China, Iraq, Ethiopia. But persecution and torture also takes place in parts of Mexico and other democratic countries like Belarus.

This is where my student Vadim came from. His family had immigrated to America in 2000, as religious refugees. His parents owned a tailor shop, and he was enrolled in my writing class, but confused about where he was headed in his life.

Over the next year, I got to watch him find direction, to grow in his faith, to burn with passion, and to take the oath to become an American citizen. It was awesome to witness all this. I was proud of him and proud to know him. I am forever grateful that God chose to bless his family with passage to America.

But people in his home country - and around the world - still suffer.

It's easy to sit over here on the opposite side of the world and take our freedom for granted. It's easy to ridicule our churches and complain about all the ways they're "doing church" wrong. It's easy to forget that the reason we have posers in our congregations is that we have freedom and our lives are not in jeopardy just because we showed up to a gathering.

It's easy to feel secluded, far away from the pain. It's easy to go all day, all week, all month without thinking about the torture, bondage, and death that our family across the ocean goes through.

So, today, I am breaking away from what's easy. I'm praying today for spiritual perseverance, for faithfulness, for joy for our persecuted and tortured. I'm praying specifically that these Christians living in captivity will find peace in knowing they are free in Christ.

And I'm praying for Americans, too, that as we celebrate our earthly freedom, that we would be burdened to unify with our global family.

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:3

For more information and ways you can help encourage a persecuted Christian, visit http://www.persecution.com or http://www.prisoneralert.com.

Why Fast?

After all this talk of food that's been going on here at This One Goes Out, my day of fasting is coming up quickly. I'll be abstaining from food on July 3rd. Billy will be taking a couple of shifts with the girls to allow me some time to be focused on God, unified with His desires, and listening to his prompting.

But all this raises the question, "Why bother?" While we can't say for sure just what fasting does for us or for that which we're praying for, I have my beliefs on why we should bother withholding food.

There are actually few times that I've felt called to fast. Once was when Billy and I were trying to figure out where to go with our relationship. Another was while we were living apart a few months ago and we were trying to sell our house. Each time I saw powerful things happen.

Scripture points to this power when Jesus' disciples question him about why they could not drive out a demon. They seem to have been able to drive other demons out, and they wonder why this one just won't listen. Jesus replies, "This kind can only be driven out through prayer and fasting." (Mt. 17:21, Mk. 9:29 NKJV)

In other words, there is a lot of power that Jesus has given to us already. We can personally do a lot to further God's kingdom, but sometimes the power is reserved and we just have to turn to him in a state of humbleness, remembering that we must rely completely on him to do the work himself.

So, tomorrow, I will be doing just that.

July Goals

Here's how I did on my June goals:

• Continue "real" exercise 2x a week, but also add in mini-sessions 2 evenings - Except for the week that I had insomnia, I did good with this.

• Find out about new car and drivers' licenses - I never knew how hard it would be to find out where I actually go to do this. I quickly found out the requirements for transferring my license and titles, but figuring out the location took quite a bit of effort. I think I got it, though.

• Decrease auto fuel usage by 10% (in terms of dollars!) - This was kinda a dumb goal. We ended up driving less, and if gas hadn't continued to rise, we would've made it. But as it is, we spent about the same amount as last month.

• Figure out some ways to eat healthy and cut the grocery bill - We spent 18% less this month than last month. I feel like we've had enough to eat and it's been quite good for us.

• File all my crazy papers - honestly, I don't know why I put the filing off so long. I set aside a couple of evenings that Billy was at band practice, and I whipped through this bad boy in a 30-minute session. What a relief!
• Shred unneeded ones - This was a little more difficult. When my 8-pages-max shredder started choking on one sheet at a time and overheating after 5 minutes of use, I knew I had problems. Eventually, my shredder was grinding really weird, and I'm a little scared to finish.
  

• Finish choosing photos for the baby book - DONE! And not just the choosing, but also some of the editing, uploading, and arranging on the memory book template from YorkPhoto.com

JULY GOALS:

Finish Ashlyn's baby book and order it, along with other pix I haven't wanted to pay for yet
Prepare lessons for the first 4 sessions of schooling for fall
Go on a date
Figure out what to do with my papers that need shredding
Decide on a cause to support

Southern Hospitality

Today, we headed out to a local park for a church picnic. Good time, of course. Hanging out with no agenda usually is, right?

I talked for a while to some ladies that I haven't spent enough time with yet, and we had a nice time praising God for his creation.

But it was after the singing that I really got my socks blown off. Our pastor, Dorothy Ann, called me up to join Billy in front of everyone (Ugh! I thought. I hate having people look at me.). She then announced that we were about to get pounded.

We looked nervously around as people began hitting fists into open palms. (Now, excuse me a second, please! Aren't y'all a bunch of Christians? What happened to the whole 'love thy neighbor' thing?)

Our eyes were then directed to a picnic table in the corner that was secretly piled high with food. A "pounding," it turns out, is an official Alabama welcome. People from our community brought a pound of food each to help us stock up our kitchen.

A "pound,"however, in Alabama equals at least 48 oz. We were stocked up and stocked again.

But it wasn't enough. No ma'am.

Our new friends not only purchased a ton of food for us, they also loaded us up with all the leftovers from the picnic. There was nothing I could do to convince anyone that they could take some, too, if they wanted.

Let's just say all my grocery money saving just got a whole lot easier.

Thanks, Chase Valley. We love you, and we're blessed to serve here.
before after
not to mention all of this:

Power to be Brave

This last week, Chase Valley had a week of Power Labs for VBS. I missed most of it cause I was staying home with Ashlyn getting some organizing done. (Well, that... and the fact that the only kids I like are my own and those of my friends. Ouch. I know. But it's true.)

Anyway, our Sunday messages have been linked to the VBS lessons of things that Jesus gives us the power for.

Today, we talked about the power to be brave. Pastor Fred talked about the song, "Voice of Truth," which I for one love. I'm not a big fan of most Christian music, as I think I've mentioned before. And I'm really not a fan of the style of music that Casting Crowns producing.

But man! this song has a powerful message.

There's this balance in Christianity that is often hard to find. On the one hand, we want to be real. You hear the word "authentic" thrown around like it's going out of style. We're supposed to admit our weaknesses and our struggles. The last thing that we want to do is be fakers who pretend everything's fine when it's very obviously not.

But in our authenticity, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our feelings that we forget Truth. Sometimes, we choose to let our feelings tell us what's true, instead of letting Truth tell us how we should feel.

So, I love this song. Because no matter what the circumstances, no matter how I feel... Jesus is the Truth, and he really does give us the power to be brave.

Ways to Save - Bonus Idea

And you all thought I only had 6 ideas for saving money for groceries.

But this one actually comes from someone else.

On Wednesday, Brian Seay wrote his 40-day-fast post for Compassion and shared something that his family does for dinner on a weekly basis.

Rice and Water.

That's it. Nothing more.

I think this is an amazing idea for 2 reasons.

First of all, it helps a family identify with another world that can so often slip from our thoughts. An ongoing commitment to eat a meager meal once a week reminds kids (and parents!) how much we really have. After all, we'll get up the next morning and eat something different. People in Africa, or China, or the DR will eat the same thing over and over and over.

This also helps to save grocery money. Billy and I talked last night about implementing this and intentionally using the money we save to feed someone who's starving. We haven't decided yet if that will be in the form of finding a child in another country or giving to a local ministry who feeds those in our own area. But the $20 that we save a month will not go toward buying more gas or paying for more A/C. It will go somewhere for God's work.

Ways to Save- Part 3

Earlier this week, I started telling you about some ways that we are trying to cut down our grocery bill this month. The verdict's still out on how effective this all was, but my current predictions are that we saved about 15 - 20% of our last month's bill. Pretty good if you ask me.

Today, I'll wrap up the series. If you missed part 1 or part 2, be sure to check those out, too.

5. Go to the store once a week, and then be a food nazi.
In the last installment, I told you that I've been planning meals and snacks a week at a time. From there, I make my shopping list and I go to the store on Monday. (This is my errand day, which is a gas-saving tactic, but that's a different post, right?)

If we stick to the plan, things are fine. If Billy drinks a glass of milk that I didn't strategically plan (gasp!), things don't go so fine. (trust me... I wasn't pretty) But I am not going back to the store. So, come Saturday, we may be having one egg each and dry toast for breakfast. But it's all good, cause on Monday, we all appreciate a real meal a little bit more.

Obviously, I have to work a bit to perfect it, but my theory is that if I'm in the habit of not returning to the store, then we'll save money on those nickel/dime trips that can quickly add up.

6. Check out the food pyramid and change our portions.
Eve and I learned about the food pyramid for science and if you look at what an actual serving size is, you'll realize that you're probably eating way too much. So, one of the things that I am definitely still learning to do is eat less. I'm not one to indulge and stuff myself anyway, but if my government says I only need 5.5 oz of meat a day, then who am I to argue?

Okay... that was just a little bit sarcastic, but really. Most of us could stand to eat smaller portions. This was hard at first, but I have a couple of suggestions that I've used to help the transition happen more smoothly.

First of all, we are, in fact, making it a transition. I have intentionally cut back on portions but not to the extent that we're done in two bites and a gulp. We're eating smaller portions now, but we still have a little ways to go before we're down to the recommendations.

Next, we drink more water. You hear this all the time, but I think a lot of people forget about it. I know I do. But between spacing out our meals and cutting back on portions, we've come to rely on the truth that we're often thirsty. We tend to drink water at each meal, and also have a few glasses in other parts of the day. I haven't measured to see if we're at the 64 oz. recommendation, but I'm sure we're close.