The new blog will focus on three categories of wellness — mind, body and soul — which are undeniably connected and effect each other.

I will continue to post the same type of content as phenomenally made (including all of the old posts) in the “soul” category, but will incorporate content related to physical health (such as the benefits of certain foods or the joy of a certain type of exercise) and mental wellness (like book recommendations or a new way to relax).

My hope is that the blog can become more interactive and that through expanding the content, I can post much more frequently.

Thank you for loyally reading this blog. I hope that the revamped version will be just as profound, if not more enjoyable and consistent. Please visit healthy body, healthy soul and let me know what you think!

In Love,
Natalie

Today, my heart is broken for Haiti. In case you haven’t heard (unlikely, but certainly possible), a 7.0 earthquake struck near the capital of Port-au-Prince in Haiti yesterday. There are hundreds of confirmed deaths, though I’d imagine that is up to thousands by now. According to the New York Times,

The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, left the country in a shambles. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.

My first response was sadness, devastation, and compassion for this terrifying tragedy. My next response was simple: what can I do? And  I’d encourage you to ask yourself the same. We are the body of Christ. We are his hands. The fact that we live in America makes us among the wealthiest in the world. It’s easy to ignore these sort of international crises when we are far away and our lives are seemingly unaffected. And when we have a worldly mindset, I think that is natural. However, let’s take this to the next level and remember that we are part of the kingdom of God, which knows no national boundaries. These people — our brothers and sisters in the family of God — are devastated, suffering, dying.

I’ve spent some time researching the many organizations helping with earthquake relief, and ultimately decided to direct my support toward World Vision:

World Vision plans to begin assessing damage and preparing a relief response today after the major earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday. Our team has worked in Haiti for 30 years and has some 370 staff members in the country. Downed communications, blocked roads, and continuing aftershocks slowed relief efforts overnight, with staff unable to leave the World Vision’s Port-au-Prince office for several hours due to fallen debris in the roadways…

World Vision is on the ground rushing emergency supplies to survivors of this catastrophe. Your gift now will help distribute life-saving relief supplies – including food, clean water, blankets, and tents — to children and families devastated by the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti. “We would be very concerned about a quake of this magnitude anywhere in the world, but it is especially devastating in Haiti, where people are acutely vulnerable because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty,” said Edward Brown, World Vision’s relief director in the United States….Please join us in praying for the children and families devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. And please send a generous gift to help them today.

Let’s join together and do something. If you find yourself moved to help out through World Vision, here are three ways you can make a HUGE difference and support the relief efforts during this difficult time:

1. PRAY for the children, families, and communities left devastated by this disaster in Haiti. Also, pray for protection and guidance for those involved in emergency assistance.
2. DONATE now to World Vision’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Your gift will help our staff members rush emergency assistance to those in greatest need following the disaster — like food, clean water, blankets, tents, and more.
3. SPONSOR a child in Haiti. Your love and support for a child in need will help provide basic essentials and help him or her be better equipped to cope with disasters like the recent earthquake.

Perhaps you’ll contribute to World Vision’s efforts. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, as a follower of Christ and an agent of his love, what will you do to help Haiti?

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

I blogged earlier this week about effort and earning based on a passage I read from 2 Peter, and I simply cannot get those verses out of my mind this week. Specifically, I’ve been dwelling on two things: nearsightedness in my faith, and the pursuit of steadfastness. For tonight’s post, I’ll focus on the first; however, expect another post on the latter very soon!

In addition to reading 2 Peter during my morning reading time this week, I also listened to a Francis Chan podcast on the same verses. Coincidence? I think not. The Holy Spirit trying to show me something? Highly likely. Before I dive into my thoughts, here’s a refresher on the Scripture I’m talking about:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Nearsightedness in our faith insinuates our inability to see what’s to come. It suggests that we are too focused on the present or our own immediate satisfaction, rather than looking ahead toward what’s to come. We are moment-minded, rather than eternity-minded. We want to gratify our desires right away, and we neglect to think about the consequences of those actions. We forget that what we do on a daily basis has a huge impact on our ability to connect with the Lord. We forget that we are dead to sin — not just free from punishment for our sin, but also dead to sin itself! How amazing is that, that the Holy Spirit (God himself) empowers us to be free from sinning as we walk in step with him?

Francis suggested in his sermon that we cannot even fathom how good eternity is going to be, and I must admit I completely agree. If I had even a glimpse of the glory of heaven and eternity with God, I wouldn’t even think about returning to the life I lived before I knew Christ. Calling ourselves believers while still pursuing things of this world is like this:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24)

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud. (2 Peter 2:20-22)

Like forgetting our face in the mirror, returning to our own mess, or wallowing in the mud, it is foolishness to return to sinfulness when we have the joy of Jesus Christ. We do not merely run from sin because it’s bad, but we run to Jesus because he’s better. At coffee this morning, Ashley Perez shared an exercise with me that she did in a small group. The leader handed out cards and asked everyone to jot down on a piece of paper something that they deeply desired and would do anything to have. After collecting the cards, she passed out another set and told everyone to write this:

JESUS IS BETTER.

Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Do I believe this? Do you believe this? Do we trust that Jesus truly is better than anything your heart desires and anything you could ever have? If so, why continue to oppose what is pleasing to God? Why continue to engage and invest in what will not last? Eternity is set out before us, and God is pleased when we make every effort to add to our faith goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love.

How have you been nearsighted this past year? This past week? Today? What sort of worldly pleasures do you continue to return to?

As we begin this new year — this new decade — let’s remember: Jesus is better.

To give you some context, Simon Peter is the author of 1 and 2 Peter, and an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Christ. In both of his letters, Peter acts as a pastor seeking to encourage each reader to have a strong faith and put it into practice. More specifically, his purposes are to stimulate spiritual growth, to combat false teachings, and to prepare the readers for Jesus’ return.

I have recently been under the impression that as a good, faithful Christian girl I should sit back and let God do everything for me; I should just “be,” and rest in the presence of the Lord. And while that is certainly true to an extent, much of Scripture supports God’s desire for action on my part.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-11)

Make every effort? Do these things? My image of my role has flipped upside down. And that passage is just the beginning:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

“Work out,” “do your best,” “please God” — these are all phrases that indicate action on my part. It is clear that I am called to act a certain way and to pursue certain qualities, but what for? Am I not saved by grace, rather than works? These are the questions I worked through in my mind and in conversation with Brian this morning, and our ultimate conclusion was this:

The Bible is against earning not effort.

EARN [urn] verb (1) to gain or get in return for one’s labor or service (2) to merit as compensation, as for service; deserve (3) to acquire through merit.

EFFORT [ef-ert] noun (1) exertion of physical or mental power (2) an earnest or strenuous attempt (3) something done by exertion or hard work.

By definition, earning indicates gain and merit as a result of hard work. If God supported earning, our salvation and God’s pleasure in us would be based on the things that we accomplish. On the contrary, effort refers to exertion and motives. It is not dependent on outcomes or results, but rather on a certain heart condition and a desire to do something (from Peter’s point of view, to grow in spiritual maturity and knowledge of God).

During my hike with Piper this morning, I had a bit of an epiphany about what this truth means to our faith. Consider oxen and their yoke. A yoke ensures that two oxen can pull a cart or plow together in unison. One doesn’t do all of the work while the other sits back and hangs out, but rather they work together toward their goal. In the same way, God himself invites us to be yoked with him.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30)

His yoke is easy, not nonexistent. He will guide us, and he will walk with us, but we have to put in some work. We can never earn salvation, or love or worth; but we can do what is pleasing to the Lord. We can run, we can strive, we can pursue, and with effort we can work with the Lord to be godly people, effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:36-37)

I resolve that my physical appearance will not determine my worth or my value.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. (1 Peter 3:3-5)

I resolve to invest in relationships with others above pursuing my own selfish desires.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

I resolve to maintain an eternal perspective with my time and my money, and to act accordingly.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:19-34)

I resolve to glorify God through the suffering and hardships in my life – past, present and future.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

I resolve to be a steward of God’s gifts, and recognize that I own nothing of my own.

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2)

I resolve to live and move and have my being rooted in Him.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.’For in him we live and move and have our being.’ (Acts 17:24-28)

I resolve to pursue love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25)

I resolve to point others to Christ.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

On this Christmas morning, what better way to worship and celebrate than to reflect on the beautiful story that this day is all about? It’s a much a bigger story than Christmas trees, baked goods and consumerism, and it’s even bigger than the fragment of the story that we focus on every December 25th. The Christmas story has been formed over thousands of years, and it’s not even complete yet. In a word? Redemption. In summary, here goes:

This whole thing called life started with God, who made everything we know, and in whom we live and breathe and have our being. After creating the universe and this little planet called Earth, He created this guy we know as Adam, and He made him a wife, who we know as Eve.

God gave them Eden, which was paradise on Earth, and told them they could have anything they wanted there, except not the fruit from this one tree because they would surely die. Through a serpent, the enemy of God tempted Eve, telling her that God had tricked her and if she ate the fruit she would become like God, knowing good and evil. She decided to believe him, and as a result, she and Adam did experience death just as God had warned — immediately in a spiritual sense (separation from God), and eventually in a physical sense as we know it.

In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. But fast forward a couple thousand years and the Word (aka Jesus) entered the world in a whole new way, and not the way you’d expect.

Rather than a glorious entrance the one who is called the King of Kings deserved, He came here the same way we all did. He experienced birth — and a humble one at that — and joined us here as a human called Jesus, or Emmanuel (“God with us”). He breathed our air, and He walked in our shoes; He knew pain and hunger and fear and joy; He knew our laughter and tears and He overcame the sin issue every one of us had and still has, making Him the only one worthy of the sacrifice necessary to give us a fresh start and a clean slate.

Through Jesus — both fully human and fully God — we have access to the Father and the gift of eternal life. What’s the cost? Nothing we could ever give by our own power or strength, and everything we will ever have:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

Let’s remember together the reason for this season, and give thanks for a God of hope, faithfulness and redeeming love. To quote a line from my favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night:

His law is love, and His gospel is peace.

Amen, and Merry Christmas!

Do you know this today? Do you know the love God has for you? I always know it in my mind, but not necessarily in my heart. I’ve realized recently that without a grasp on the depth of love the Father has for us, we are incapable of experiencing the intimacy that God intended for us to have with him.

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me. (Psalm 94:18)

God’s love supports us when we are slipping. His love carries the weight of our burdens and gives us a peace that surpasses understanding. When we feel like we can’t do it anymore, like we are falling and we can’t catch ourselves, his love is like a huge net that scoops us up and keeps us safe. I want to rest in that kind of saving love.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

God’s love is like this: grace first, truth second. That’s not to say that grace is more important, or that truth is an afterthought, but rather to emphasize that he loves us before we are forgiven, before we are wiped clean of our nastiness, before we are even worth of any sort of love. He gives us grace in the moments when we are farthest from deserving it. Sure, there is so much truth that follows. If truth doesn’t come into the picture, we do not get a full scope of God’s love, which is encompassed by the perfect combination of grace and truth. With God, these two always come together. The beautiful part of it all is that we get grace first — unconditional love first!

So today I ask you, do you know that you are so loved??

“You are so loved” print is available on Etsy from Jess Gonacha.

That is how many items are on my to-do list for this week. I have 27 things — plus another 10 things that I’m probably forgetting to write down — that need to be accomplished before Friday at noon. Some are simple, some are complicated, and all of them are stressing me out at the moment. My mind is consumed with what needs to get done, and I’m wrapped up in the weight of my daily duties.

But I don’t have to be.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

What are earthly things? I think it’s safe to say that the majority of my to-do list qualifies in that category. Since I work in ministry, there is also a fair share of items that carry eternal weight, but the fact that my mind is stuck on “getting things done” is a reality check for me. Yes, work needs to get done. Yes, I have a ton of responsibilities to follow through on. But what dominates my heart and my mind and my thoughts today, in this moment right now? Have I “put on love”? Have I died to myself and my desires for how I should spend my time this week? Do I feel more important today because I’m so busy? Is it easier to let myself get overwhelmed and worked up than to rest in the peace of Christ?

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

I find Paul’s letter to the Colossians incredibly eye-opening this week and a much-needed reminder of what life and living really mean: Christ is life, and to live is Christ! It’s no mistake that I spent my Sunday morning yesterday reading over this letter, and then came to our staff meeting this morning to realize our entire time would be spent studying and wrestling with the third chapter. Perhaps the truth in this letter is what God is trying to get across to me right now. Ok, who am I kidding — it’s definitely what He’s trying to get across to me! God speaks in many ways, and in my life He speaks primarily through His Word. What a blessing it is to know that anytime I don’t know what to do or say or how to act, I can just crack open my Bible — literally the Words of God — and grow in intimacy with the Lord through knowledge of His truth and commands.

I have 27 things to do and perhaps not enough time to do them, but rather than set my mind on “earthly things” and let myself get crazy because of it, I will choose to let the peace of God rule in my heart. Above all, I will work hard at what needs to get done, and I’ll do it for the right reasons:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

In an interview with Esquire Magazine, Shane Claiborne asked us all, “What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?” and I can’t help but ask myself the same thing. This article is beautiful reminder of the Gospel of Jesus, which is grace, love and truth. More thoughts to come (very soon!) about what God’s been stirring up in me about following in his steps. For now, enjoy this lovely nugget of honesty from Mr. Claiborne…

To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity.

Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

The other night I headed into downtown Philly for a stroll with some friends from out of town. We walked down to Penn’s Landing along the river, where there are street performers, artists, musicians. We passed a great magician who did some pretty sweet tricks like pour change out of his iPhone, and then there was a preacher. He wasn’t quite as captivating as the magician. He stood on a box, yelling into a microphone, and beside him was a coffin with a fake dead body inside. He talked about how we are all going to die and go to hell if we don’t know Jesus.

Some folks snickered. Some told him to shut the hell up. A couple of teenagers tried to steal the dead body in the coffin. All I could do was think to myself, I want to jump up on a box beside him and yell at the top of my lungs, “God is not a monster.” Maybe next time I will.

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, “I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ.” A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here is a bit of an image crisis, and much of that reputation is well deserved. That’s the ugly stuff. And that’s why I begin by saying that I’m sorry.

Now for the good news.

I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong — and that God really is love. Maybe the fruits of the Spirit really are beautiful things like peace, patience, kindness, joy, love, goodness, and not the ugly things that have come to characterize religion, or politics, for that matter. (If there is anything I have learned from liberals and conservatives, it’s that you can have great answers and still be mean… and that just as important as being right is being nice.)

The Bible that I read says that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world but to save it… it was because “God so loved the world.” That is the God I know, and I long for others to know. I did not choose to devote my life to Jesus because I was scared to death of hell or because I wanted crowns in heaven… but because he is good. For those of you who are on a sincere spiritual journey, I hope that you do not reject Christ because of Christians. We have always been a messed-up bunch, and somehow God has survived the embarrassing things we do in His name. At the core of our “Gospel” is the message that Jesus came “not [for] the healthy… but the sick.” And if you choose Jesus, may it not be simply because of a fear of hell or hope for mansions in heaven.

Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is life after death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us. I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God’s Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” On earth.

One of Jesus’ most scandalous stories is the story of the Good Samaritan. As sentimental as we may have made it, the original story was about a man who gets beat up and left on the side of the road. A priest passes by. A Levite, the quintessential religious guy, also passes by on the other side (perhaps late for a meeting at church). And then comes the Samaritan… you can almost imagine a snicker in the Jewish crowd. Jews did not talk to Samaritans, or even walk through Samaria. But the Samaritan stops and takes care of the guy in the ditch and is lifted up as the hero of the story. I’m sure some of the listeners were ticked. According to the religious elite, Samaritans did not keep the right rules, and they did not have sound doctrine… but Jesus shows that true faith has to work itself out in a way that is Good News to the most bruised and broken person lying in the ditch.

It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a Samaritan or a prostitute. In fact the Scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute named Rahab, an adulterous king named David… at one point God even speaks to a guy named Balaam through his donkey. Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since. So if God should choose to use us, then we should be grateful but not think too highly of ourselves. And if upon meeting someone we think God could never use, we should think again.

After all, Jesus says to the religious elite who looked down on everybody else: “The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom ahead of you.” And we wonder what got him killed?

I have a friend in the UK who talks about “dirty theology” — that we have a God who is always using dirt to bring life and healing and redemption, a God who shows up in the most unlikely and scandalous ways. After all, the whole story begins with God reaching down from heaven, picking up some dirt, and breathing life into it. At one point, Jesus takes some mud, spits in it, and wipes it on a blind man’s eyes to heal him. (The priests and producers of anointing oil were not happy that day.)

In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay “out there” but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, “Nothing good could come.” It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society’s rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.

It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors… a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.

In closing, to those who have closed the door on religion — I was recently asked by a non-Christian friend if I thought he was going to hell. I said, “I hope not. It will be hard to enjoy heaven without you.” If those of us who believe in God do not believe God’s grace is big enough to save the whole world… well, we should at least pray that it is.

Your brother,

Shane

THE TIME IS NOW.

The time for what, you ask? The time for pursuing what this life is really about. The time for cutting out all that is holding us back from what we are striving toward. The time for pursuing intimacy and relationship with Christ. The time for giving the best of ourselves to the One who created us to reflect His glory to the world.

Yes, all things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant….I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ – God’s righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so that I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him to death itself….I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong. By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus. I’m off and running and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:7-14, The Message)

Sometimes our shame and guilt about our past or present can prevent us from going to God and experiencing the fullness of intimacy He hopes for us to have with Him, but that is just the enemy talking. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: God’s desire for us is our desire for Him. Period. God doesn’t need you in order to be a sovereign, all-powerful, eternal God, but He does love you and He does yearn for you. He wants you – all of you – and He doesn’t want you to wait until you have it all together, or you’ve achieved a certain level of success or beauty or relationship with others. We are promised so many things, but we aren’t promised tomorrow.

The time is now.

Is your life about Christ? If not, what’s keeping you from experiencing the fullness of His freedom, love, grace, and peace?