missions

Unwanted

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I heard a beautiful story today in a sermon. The story was about 200 or so girls born in a village in India where boys are preferred. The fathers all named them “Unwanted,” because they were hoping for sons.

Later, these girls had a chance to get new birth certificates and choose their own new names. They chose names like “Wanted” and “Happy” and “Beautiful”.

In the same way, some of you have felt Unwanted at times. I know I have. I have a family who loves me and wants me, but some of you had parents that didn’t want you or gave you away or left you.  Maybe it was a husband or a wife. Maybe a son or a daughter. Maybe a close friend. They as much as told you that you were Unwanted.

Have you ever been at a party and felt left out and like you were not wanted there? Have you ever been in a large crowd and felt completely alone, like no one understood you or your circumstances? You thought to yourself that you might as well have been wearing a name tag that read Unwanted.

 Have you ever come to the conclusion in the dark watches of the night that the world would have been better off without you in it? That you are a worthless waste of space?

The good news of the gospel is that through the cross, God is calling the Unwanteds of the world and giving them a new birth certificate and a new name. Your new birthday is the day you said YES to Jesus and his forgiveness bought by blood.

Your new name is what God has chosen to call you. Wanted. Beautiful. Forgiven. Blessed. Son of the King. Daughter of the King. And, my very favorite of all, BELOVED.

When it felt like no one else wanted you, God did. He died to prove it. He still wants you to be a part of what He’s doing. He wants to take the broken and shattered pieces of your heart and your life and put them back together.

He wants to take your unholy mess of a life and transform it into something that shines and radiates the glory of Christ. He wants to take your scars and pain and make them testimonies. He wants to take you and make you a beautiful and glorious witness to the power of His love. He wants you.

If you say YES to Jesus, there’s no telling what He can do through you. You’ll never cease to be amazed at all God does in you and how He uses your hands and feet to bless those in your life. If He could turn the 1st century world upside down through 12 nobodies, imagine what He can do with you!

I can’t wait to see what that will be.

What’s Important

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking all day about my friend Nathan’s family, particularly his wife and 6-year old son. They said goodbye to him for the last time last night. It was also he and his wife’s 12th anniversary.

I also kept thinking about how I lost touch with him all those years ago and never really thought about him until he was almost gone. I rejoice that he is whole and happy and with Jesus, but I regret that I didn’t make the effort to reach out to him.

My lesson for today that I had to learn all over again is this: life is precious and fleeting and by no means guaranteed. Today is all you have. Cherish every moment of it and don’t ever take it for granted.

The same goes for the people in your life. Never let a day go by without letting the people in your life know how much they mean to you. Work is important, but if it gets in the way of the people you love and who love you, then you’ve lost the mission. To-do lists, schedules, and activities aren’t nearly as sacred as loving the people in your life while they’re in your life.

I heard a pastor say that only two things are eternal: God’s Word and God’s people. That’s so very true. Five years from now, you won’t remember what grade you got on a paper or what you did at work or how many checks you had on your list of things to get done. You will remember those people that touched your life and encouraged you when you desparately needed it. You will carry their love inside you even after they’re gone.

Call someone and let them know you’re thinking about them. Text someone and let them know what they mean to you. Say, “I love you,” and don’t just assume the person knows. Go out of your way and deliberately stop your business to reach out to someone. Your words and smiles and hugs and kindness could be what helps that person survive through that day. You could be Jesus reaching out and loving that person and beginning the healing process.

Nathan, for what it’s worth, I was blessed to have you for a friend and to know you. I love you, brother, and I will miss you every day. See you on the other side.

Attention: God Wants You!

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I’ve mentioned before how I was kickball-challenged and almost never got picked to be on either team. I was always assigned to the team that had the last pick. In fact, my entire sports career was spent on the bench watching the better players while I got in the game a few times after the outcome was already decided.

I am still amazed every single day that God wants me. I’m astounded that He wants to use me in what He’s doing in the world. Not only that He wants to use me, but that He’s working through me, often in ways I will never see.

News flash: God wants you. He wants not just your checkbook or your calendar, but you. He’s got an awesome plan to change the world and that plan has your name in it. If you say YES to God, whatever the question, there’s no telling what He will do in you and through you.

God made you and gifted you and called you to a place that only you can serve. There’s somone out there who won’t step inside a church or go near a minister, but you have the best opportunity to be Jesus to that person and turn their world upside down.

The disciples weren’t overly smart or clever or skilled or innovative. They just stuck around Jesus and soaked in everything He had to say. When He spoke, they listened. When He said, “Follow Me,” they did, and the world hasn’t been the same since.

God is calling you and me to be lights in a very dark world. He calls us to be Jesus to the world that for the most part doesn’t know it needs saving. God is able to take your broken life and bless so many others with it and make your failure and wreckage into a beautiful story that will captivate and enthrall those who see it.

God wants you. Not after you get your life right. Not after you complete a 12-step program, get cleaned up, get dressed up, get your act together. He wants you right now, just as you are and right where you are. He’s not calling you to condemn you, but to change you. And He is calling right now.

All it takes for the incredible journey to start is your YES. That’s all.

Another Unoriginal Blog

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

That’s the good news. That’s the story you and I have to tell to the world. That’s not original to me, but I guess you knew that.

What is original is your own story. No one in history has ever or will ever live your life. The good, the bad, the goofy, the ugly, no matter what it looks like, it is all yours and only yours.

God has given you your story to tell. God has given me my own story to tell. I heard today that someone who will never step foot inside a church building or spend a red cent on buying a Bible is watching your life. You are their Bible, their Jesus, and what they see will inform what they think about God.

That’s what the word Christian means, after all. Little Christ. Not that we’re divine or anything close to that. But if we have surrendered to Jesus and invited Him to take over our lives, then His Holy Spirit is inside us, making us more like Jesus each day.

The beautiful part is that transformation looks different for each person. We each display a different facet of Christ’s character and when we come together in unity, love and fellowship, Jesus is magnified. That’s worship. Whether together or individually, everything we do can show the great worth of God’s glory.

We’re not always the best witnesses. I know for sure that I’m not. Thankfully, as I heard a pastor say, Jesus isn’t quick to judge, but He is quick to be patient and merciful and, best of all, to unconditionally love. He treats us so much better than we deserve and He invites us to treat others that way.

Remember that. You were a nobody and a reject, but now you’re somebody and you’re accepted. You were lost but now you’re found. You are a child and heir of the King of Kings have a new name– BELOVED. That itself changes everything.

Tell your story. Someone will hear it and find that this Jesus is as good or better than you say He is. It’s worth it for just that one person. I should know, because that person was me once.

Life and How to Live It (No Relation to the R.E.M. Song)

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This past Wednesday, I went to Williamson Medical Center to see my newborn niece for the first time. Displaying my usual directional prowess, I barged into the wrong entrance, meandered aimlessly around for a bit, came back out, puttered around the building, and finally found the right entrance.

As I left the elevator, I almost ran into a lady who was obviously upset and weeping. As she entered the elevator, I heard sobs beginning. I’m sure she had just enough strength to get to her car before she completely fell apart.

I can only imagine the loss of a loved one could bring out such grief. To think I passed someone who had just said their final goodbyes when I was on my way to say my first hello to the newest member of the family.

Life is like that. So much joy and sorrow, laugher and mourning, sunshine and rain (I bet those of you who grew up in the 90’s immediately thought of the same song I’m thinking of now. Good luck getting that out of your head!) Very rarely is life as good as it could be or as bad. It’s usually somewhere in the middle.

I was reminded tonight that the story I’m in isn’t a “me-story,” but a “God-story.” I love the way someone put it tonight: I didn’t invite Jesus to be in my story, but Jesus did invite me to be a part of God’s story of redemption and restoration for the world.

God’s plan is still the best plan because He sees what we oftentimes can’t. He can get you through anything, no matter how dark or hopeless it seems. He is always, always for you. His love is still the most powerful element in the universe, more than any weapon or group or force that ever has been or ever will be.

My advice to you (but mostly to myself) is to live in the wonder of God’s story and never cease to be amazed at what He is doing in you, through you, and around you. Always keep your eyes open with the expectations of seeing God do amazing things.

I love this passage. I think it says what I’m trying to say a thousand times better:

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” (Romans 8:15-17)

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl

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Welcome to the world, little Catherine Elizabeth Qualls. We’ve been waiting for your arrival and you showed up. In fact, you were so eager to make an appearance, you showed up early. That’s okay. We don’t mind in the least. We’re very glad to see you.

I remember holding you and thinking how small you were. How fragile and helpless, but strong and resiliant at the same time. You had my heart the first time I saw you. I’m so proud to be your uncle.

I’ve heard it said that people don’t have children because they don’t want to bring them into this cold, hard, cruel world. But who’s to say that those very children aren’t the ones who God will use to radically turn the world upside down? Who’s to say that they won’t be the ones to accept the world as it is, but try to bring a little of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth?

I don’t know what plans God has for you. I do know they are good. I know He loves you much more than your parents or relatives or any other human being possibly could. He already has your name, Catherine Elizabeth, tattoed on His heart and on His hands.

As you grow up, you will find life is full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. You will find sometimes you don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need. You will find you can’t be whatever you want to be, but you can be exactly who God made you to be. That’s my dream for you.

My dream is to see you become the fully alive woman of God who isn’t afraid to take her faith into the lions’ dens of the world and who is convinced of her beliefs, yet compassionate and tenderhearted toward the down and out.

I can’t wait to see you grown up and find the beauty God has for you. I know it will be so much more than worth the wait.

A Blessing Blog

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

This is my blessing to you (although I’m not Irish, so this may not be as good):

May you awaken every morning with renewed hope and mercies that never run out.

May you feel the embrace of your Abba as He hold you in His everlasting arms.

May you hear His voice whispering to you throughout the day, calling you beloved.

May you remember the price Jesus died for you to take away your sin and be filled with gratitude.

May you also remember the joy you knew when you found your true First Love in Christ for the first time.

May Christ dwell in you richly and may He shine through you so that people want this Jesus that you have.

May you see the hurting around you with God’s eyes and feel their pain with His heart.

May you always be willing to love those Jesus loved, especially the broken and the outcast.

May you know that you yourself are loved more deeply and more perfectly than you could possibly imagine (and then some!)

May you rest in the arms of your Father God at the end of the day.

May you hear Him dancing and singing over you in the night and may your dreams be filled with His glory.

May you take hold of the fact that at no point will this Love ever let you go or desert you or in any way diminish. May you find that as you grow older you see more and more of your weaknesses and find that God’s strength works best in those weaknesses.

That’s all. Thank you again for reading my blog. Each of you are a blessing to me and I thank God for you all the time.

Who You Are

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete” (1 Cor. 1:20-22).

The Bible says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. Not just an overhauled creation or a rebuild creation or a refurbished creation. A completely new, never before seen creation. I think this is what that means.

You are God’s YES to the world, when the world asks can anyone really change and can anything good come out of a bad situation.

You are God’s AMEN, an exclamation point to the story of God’s power to change lives and redeem lost causes.

You are God’s POSSIBLE, for what is impossible for us is not even remotely diffucult for God (thanks to Pete Wilson for that one!)

You are God’s I CAN, when people say it can’t be done, that there’s no way, that it’s too late and I’ve screwed up too much for God to use.

You are God’s AMAZING, a testimony to how God can make brokenness into beautiful and He can even make the brokenness itself beautiful by how His strength is made perfect in it.

You are God’s LOVE STORY, His epic whirlwind romance about how He went to every length and never gave up in His pursuit to win your heart and how now your name is BELOVED.

You are GOD’S OWN, precious to Him and safe in His everlasting arms always. He’ll never let you go or give up on you or decide you’re not worth it.

That’s WHO YOU ARE.

Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given

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lifeofthebeloved

“During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples: Take, eat. This is my body” (Matthew 26:26).

I’m in the middle of another Henri Nouwen book and I am loving it. He more than any other writer (except for maybe Brennan Manning) always seems to speak to where I am right here and now.

He says, “To identify the movements of the Spirit in our lives, I have found it helpful to use four words: ‘taken,’ ‘blessed,’ broken,’ and ‘given.'”

I had never thought about it that way before. I never looked at Jesus breaking the bread at Passover and made an analogy to my own life.

We are taken (or chosen) by God who loved us from the start. We are blessed by Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We are broken by our own sin and the broken and marred world we live in with so much poverty, injustice, and inhumanity. We are given to be God’s hands and feet to bring healing and justice and compassion into the world.

I read somewhere that my life is loaves and fishes. Remember the ones that Jesus used to feed the 5,000? In and of myself, I can’t do much. But if I am blessed and broken and poured out, God can bless so many more through me.

News flash: God takes and uses broken lives, scarred hearts, screwed-up pasts, and promises left unfulfilled. He can use anybody. In fact, He more often than not prefers the outcasts and nobodies and failures to be the ones to turn the world upside down (see the 12 disciples for examples).

Lord, may I be taken by You, Who chose me before I was born and gave me the name Beloved, and blessed with as much of You as I can stand. Break my heart for the things that break Yours and then give me out to those in need.

PS The book I’m reading is Life of the Beloved. Expect more blogs to come out of this. I’m not even halfway through. And, to throw in yet another shameless plug, go buy or download or pilfer or ingest this book as soon as humanly possible. It’s that good.

Still Amazed

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I had a good conversation with a friend of mine at Starbucks recently. During the conversation, I had two thoughts.

1) I’m amazed that the person I’m talking to wants to have a conversation with me. I’m even more astonished that this person wants to be my friend. After overcoming a lifetime of low self-esteem and codependency, it’s still hard to grasp that I was who God was talking about when He looked at what He created and said, “It is very good.”

I have an even harder time believing that God wants anything to do with me, much less wanting to use me in any way. It blows my mind that He can take my meager offerings, like the two fishes and five loaves of bread, and use them to bless so many (usually in ways that I am completely unaware of at the time).

I’m astonished and amazed and grateful every single day.

2) If I can come from pretty much hating myself and thinking most everybody wanted nothing to do wih me to being able to hold normal converations, anyone can. If God can use me, He can use anybody. The God who heard the cries of His children in bondage in Egypt heard my cries in the middle of the night when I felt alone and abandoned. And He hears your cries, too.

I love this testimony and I’ve borrowed it for my own. I am just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody. That really is all you need to know about me. I’m just a vessel that God uses. Many times, I’m amazed at what God can do through cracked vessels like me.

Remember tonight that your Abba is very fond of you. He knows where you are and what you’re going through. He hears your cries, even when they have no sound. He heard you calling His name even when you can’t speak. He has His everlasting arms underneath you and He is singing over you. I hope you can hear it.

Mostly, I hope you never will cease to be amazed at what God does in and though and around you. I for one never will.