Second in Command

   

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.   -First Timothy 2:1-4

  I am enjoying my job teaching 5th grade at Calvary Christian Academy.  A few weeks ago, one of my students made a comment that got my mind working overtime.  

     "It must be so easy being Vice-President.  You just follow the President around and wait for him to die so you can have a job, and if he doesn't, you just get to hang out in Washington, DC!"  I realized that I needed to correct this misconception.  Being the Vice-President is a real job.  A very hard job.  Sometimes, a very thankless one.  

     I put a lot of thought into this.  Including current Vice-President Mike Pence, there are six living Vice-Presidents.  Some, I have a very high opinion of and agree with.  Others, I do not.  However, all of them have done (or are currently doing) a very difficult job for our country, and deserve respect if nothing else.  People who accuse any President or Vice-President of simply being "stupid" are completely wrong.  

  

   

     I have twelve students in my class.  What if I were to place them in groups of two, and have them each do a report on one of these men?  That is exactly what I have done.

     We are currently working on major history fair projects, so I plan to start this project in March, due in early April.  However, I knew one aspect of it needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.  I had each group write a letter to their chosen Vice-President.  They did that today.  I wanted to give them plenty of time to respond (if they do) so that the students can use the return letter in their reports.

     Doing this took a lot of planning and research on my part beforehand, including tracking down mailing addresses for former Vice-Presidents.  They're not exactly listed in my local phone book with poison control and the police department.  I also had to try to find out the respectful way to address a former Vice-President who is now a private citizen.  I learned that, unlike Presidents, who may still be called "Mr. President" after leaving office, Vice-Presidents do not take that title with them.  Rather, they should be addressed by the highest office they held prior to the Vice-Presidency.  Did you know that?  I didn't.  This meant Dick Cheney would be Mr. Cheney, while Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, and Joe Biden would all be addressed as Senator.   So much to learn!  

     Having found all this out, I came up with a form letter for my students to follow.  The first paragraph in each was virtually identical:  "We are in 5th grade at Calvary Christian Academy.  We have been placed in groups to write reports about Vice Presidents.  We are learning about what the Vice President does.  We chose you for our report."  

     The next paragraph was blank.  I had each team come over and tell me what they wanted to ask their Vice-President.  Some questions, I tried to steer them away from.  We eventually came up with some good letters.  I printed out the letters and had the kids sign them.  

     I was really proud that each group wanted to include the question, "Are you a Christian" in their letter.  I told them that probably all of these men would say "yes" to this question.  I told them that personally, I have read the salvation experiences of both Dan Quayle and Mike Pence.  The rest, I explained, I'm truly not certain of.  I was proud my students cared about their relationships with the Lord.  I didn't have them include that question in their letters, because, as I said, I believe their answer would simply be "yes" either way, and I wanted them to focus on the role of Vice-President.  Perhaps that was wrong of me.  Maybe that would have been my students' witness.  We did identify our Christian school, and were extremely respectful (we closed each letter with "Thank you for serving our country!"  Before their signatures, we put "Most Respectfully,".  Still, perhaps it would have been good for me to let the kids actually ask if they were Christians.

     Some of the things the kids said and wanted to say were sweet and funny.  For example...

     The group writing to Mike Pence asked him if he got into traffic jams on his way home from the White House every night.  They explained that we have bad traffic in Albuquerque.  They asked if other people on the freeway recognized him as the Vice-President and tried it honk and wave at him.  They also told him our class is praying for him and President Trump.  I thought that was a nice touch (and it is the truth, too)

     The group writing to Al Gore asked him what he does for fun.  They also asked him what he thought the most interesting thing was that happened when he was Vice President.  I thought this was a good question, and of course let them keep it in (I just hope that if he writes back, he doesn't say the Monica Lewinsky scandal!)  

     The group writing to Walter Mondale wanted to ask him how much gas used to cost back then (I told them that he was the only Vice-President I didn't remember out of all of them, so I guess they assumed it was really far back!).  I encouraged them to keep it more general (the man's in his 90's!).

     I think the funniest thing was the group writing to Dan Quayle.  They had specifically requested him, because they're sort of on a George H.W. Bush kick (since he passed so recently, and I had also told my students he was President when I was their age).  One of the boys on the team wanted to ask Quayle, "How was it working with George H.W. Bush?"  His partner immediately stopped him.  "You shouldn't mention him!  Dan Quayle probably misses him now that he's dead, and that question might make him cry."  I had to stifle laughter at this, trying to imagine Dan Quayle opening their letter and bursting into inconsolable tears.  But their concern was very sweet.  I told them that the question was appropriate and they could keep it in.  

     I mailed these letters at the Post Office after work.  I think it would be really great if they wrote back to the kids.  I think it was a great thing for the kids to do this.  I look forward to eventually hearing what these students come up with in their reports.  I'm certain they'll never underestimate the Vice-Presidency again!  

Top Ten Things that Bug me...and probably you too!

     I was raised to have a positive attitude and try not to complain.  But life isn't perfect, and some things are annoying.  The Bible even talks about annoying things, particularly in the book of Proverbs, such as: a neighbor who wears out his welcome (Proverbs 25;17), a complaining wife (Proverbs 27:15), and greeting someone early in the morning (Proverbs 27:14), among other things.  The following are the top ten things that annoy me, and probably annoy you too!  If you can think of anything to add to the list, let me know!  This is meant mostly for laughs (but not entirely), and also just for people to relate to.

10)  When I'm wearing a long skirt, such as in church, and I bend over to pick something up, and step on the skirt unknowingly, and then inadvertently pull it down when I stand up!  One time, I was in front of the church years ago, sitting on the platform, and then when I stood up, I heard this loud RRRIP!  I had stood on it and ripped it!  I was sure everyone heard it.  The whole seam ripped, and I had to hold it together and walk out of the church sideways!  A close "cousin" of this experience is when I'm wearing lightweight, loose-fitting slacks, and I put something in my pocket (such as keys), and then, when I run, or walk more quickly, the weight of the thing in the pocket pulls my pants down.  I've had that one happen in public a few times, where my pants came all the way down!

9)  Traffic!  No further explanation needed with this one!  I loved having very little traffic to speak of in South Dakota.  I'm learning my way around Albuquerque, and figuring out the best time to leave in the mornings to avoid rush hour (which, like LA traffic, doesn't rush!).  I'm also seeing which side-streets are more direct than the freeway. Even Jesus must relate to this, because Matthew 8:18 says, Now when Jesus saw the crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

8)  When someone brings you a drink you enjoy (soda, iced tea, water...whatever), but it's 3/4 full of ice with very little liquid.  If it's water, you just don't get enough to quench your thirst, which is annoying in and of itself.  If it's any other beverage, it's the same problem, plus the added annoyance that all that ice waters down the flavor.  I prefer no ice in my drinks if it's already refrigerated.  If it is room temperature, I like very light ice to cool it, but not much. 

7)  When you're at someone's home for dinner, and they're getting the salad ready while you're all visiting before the meal.  You watch them cut up the veggies and it looks delicious and mouth-watering.  Then they add the one vegetable you don't like, and put it all over the salad and it kind of ruins it for you!  You would have loved the salad otherwise, but the thing they added (for me, it's onions) makes it so you can't enjoy it, and it is usually applied to the salad in a way that you can't politely pick it out (or even if you can, it alters the flavor enough that, even if you remove it, the taste lingers).  For the record, if you ever come to my house for dinner, I always set up a salad bar, so people can put what they want on it.  

6)  This happens to me at Walmart all the time, but has happened at other places too.  When I'm at the Walmart photo center printing pictures or having photos put on a disk (which I do a lot), there is seldom an actual employee behind the counter or anywhere near.  If there is any problem at all with the machine, or if I have any question at all, I have to leave my stuff there in the machine, go to some other department (hopefully the electronics, which is right next to photos, but sometimes I have to go further) and find someone, who usually doesn't know anything about photos, and has to run and find someone who does, and it turns out they don't come in for another hour or two.  Yikes!  If this happens at Walgreens (the other place I often go to print pictures), the store is so much smaller than Walmart that it is easier to get help, but this still happens.

5)  This is a big teacher one.  It can happen at church, school...wherever, and has happened with all ages.  If a child I am in charge of in some way is acting out, being disrespectful, or especially if they are doing something dangerous, but their parent is right there, I'm left not knowing if it is appropriate for me to correct them.  What's worse, sometimes I forget myself and correct kids who aren't my responsibility at all, and I've had to go back and apologize to parents.  The pet peeve here isn't really the child acting up (because they all do, it's normal), but that awkwardness of having the parent right there and not being sure how to intervene, or even if I should.  This most often happens during drop off or pick up times when both parent and teacher are present.

4)  When someone loses a significant amount of weight and suddenly wants to give you all their "fat clothes".  Please, people, just give them to goodwill!  I've had people offer me clothes five to ten sizes bigger than I wear!  I was left thinking, "Wow, I must give off the illusion of being a lot bigger than I am."  That is incredibly awkward.  Some people are perfectly satisfied with their weight and body image, and some are terribly insecure.  Either way, offering someone your big clothes is not complimentary, even if your intention is to be kind and helpful.  Please just give them to goodwill.  Or find a creative way to reuse.  I had a coworker who lost 80 pounds, and had the clever idea of saving her clothes for pregnancy, so she didn't have to buy maternity clothes.  She got good use out of them when she was pregnant.

3)  When your favorite TV show kills off important characters!  Pictured below are a few people they've killed off from my favorite shows over the years...and it was a big mistake!  I'm still trying to get over When Calls the Heart having Jack die!  Cruel!  I guess it goes to show we shouldn't get too emotionally attached to fictional characters.

2)  People asking indelicate or vulgar questions.  A friend of mine is constantly asked when her baby is due...and she isn't pregnant!  She even gets strangers coming up and touching her belly!  It really offends her, understandably!  When I was in high school, it was, "When are you going to college?  How will you pay for it?  What job are you getting?  What?  You're not working yet?  What's wrong with you?  How will you ever pay for school or a car or insurance?  You know that's expensive, right?"  As a teenager, I was very overwhelmed by this, and I walked away without a word.  When I was a single adult, it was, "Why aren't you married yet?  You need to get out more!  Ditch that little church God called you to do ministry at and join a big church that has a singles group, just for the express purpose of meeting someone, because this singleness thing is a curse that needs to be broken, and that's more important than following God's plan for your life and trusting His sovereignty. (okay, I'm paraphrasing slightly!)"  My response to this reasoning was a hyperbole, "Because I'm a reject nobody wants!" just to get them to realize how rude they were being.  Today, it's "Why don't you have kids yet?  You're getting old!  What if you can't have any?"  As if I don't feel rotten enough about it every time I look on Facebook an see that people a decade younger than us and who have been married less time than us are having kids, and we aren't.  We want to be happy for our friends, so it is a quiet pain to bear.  My answer to this most indecent question is, "Gee, I don't know why we don't have kids yet, but we sure enjoy trying!"  I figure if people are going to ask a vulgar question, they can expect to get a vulgar answer.  Sometimes, this is a good way to be a little bit funny, but also establish a boundary.  

AND THE MOST ANNOYING THING TO ME IS (the envelope please...drum roll)

1) When I tell someone about an experience I had after the fact, and they say, "Well, if I was there, I would have...".  First, that not only implies that I handled it wrongly, but also that the person I'm talking to would handle it so much better. This is arrogant.  Even if this was true and I did handle it wrongly and should have handled it their way, the situation is over, and someone telling me how they would have handled it doesn't help me in the present.  It's useless.  It helps no one  And really, no one really knows what they would do in a situation until they're in it.  It's one thing to hear someone talk about a situation and think how you'd handle it, but it is entirely different to actually have the situation thrown at you, sometimes without a chance to reflect on the best response.  I've gotten to the point where, when someone says, "Well, I would have..." I say, "I'm sure you would have.  Maybe that's why God put me there and not you."  This shuts them up!

     What things annoy you?  Have you dealt with any of the ones I listed here?  

My side of the street

     I recently saw a post on Facebook that shared a little story.  The gist of it went something like this:  A man went to church and forgot to turn off his cell phone.  It went off during prayer.  Everyone was really offended with him and let him know it in no uncertain terms.  He determined never to go to church again because of their harshness.  Later that same day, he went to a bar, and everyone treated him kindly and respectfully, so he spent the rest of his life going there.  The story ended with an admonishment toward Christians to watch how we act, because we're sending people to hell.

     I've heard this stuff before.  While I completely agree that we need to be kind to people, we are not responsible for anyone else's choices, nor are we responsible for anyone else's eternal destiny.  In the story above, the man made his choice.  The people at the church who were rude to him will be held responsible for being rude, but they are not responsible for him choosing to go to the bar and never return to church.  That's on him.  This story is a long list of tactics meant to vilify the church and Christians.  Unfortunately, Christians are often all too eager to accept the blame and pass on the Facebook posts.  

     The ultimate questions is this:  What did you do with Jesus Christ?  If you made Him your Savior, you have eternal life.  If not, then you have an eternity apart from God in the lake of fire.  No one else is responsible for what you do with Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation.  There will be no finger-pointing at the judgment.  No one can say, "People at church were rude," and have God accept that as a valid answer as to why they rejected Jesus Christ.  It isn't about other people.  It's about you and Jesus.

     I have enough guilt for my own sins.  I don't need guilt heaped on me by being told I'm sending people to hell.  I don't have that kind of power.  I feel strongly about this, and there is a reason.  Several years ago, in my early 20's, I had a ministry superior become very angry with me for the way I handled a situation.  This woman's anger was out of proportion to the situation.  Looking back, I can see that I could have handled things a little differently, but my heart was in the right place.  All I really needed was a little admonishment from the boss.  That isn't want I got.  I got shouted at, and accused of sending people to hell.  

     Do you want to know what had happened?  I have shared this story before, in earlier posts.  We were having our Christian Youth in Action camp at California Baptist University.  The University had a swimming pool, but one of their rules was that women had to wear one-piece swimsuits.  Several of our females students knew this, but brought bikinis anyway (testing the limits).  My superior told the girls she was going to give them "grace" and let them wear their bikinis anyway.  That's fine and dandy, but it wasn't her pool or her rules.  My superior made me take these students to the pool.  The lifeguard saw those bikinis and wouldn't let them swim.  He came down on me about it, since I was the staff present.  He asked me, "Why don't you think you have to follow our rules like everyone else?"  He was exactly right.  My superior had no business telling the girls it was okay to break the rules.  I took the girls back to my superior, who became enraged at me (as if I were the one responsible).  She told me I was judging and legalistic.  She then told the girls to try going to the pool again and see if the lifeguard would change his mind.  I absolutely refused to go back with them, and my superior told me I was prideful.  Makes perfect sense, eh?  

     Anyway, there were a lot of problems with girls dressing immodestly and breaking rules all through training.  These girls were rude and had bad attitudes in every other aspect of camp as well, not just clothing.  The last night, I gave a little impromptu talk about why it was important to obey rules.  Some of what I said was a little zealous, and I would probably reword some of it today.  However, none of it was wrong.  A lot of people liked what I said.  But my superior was furious.  That was when she told me I was responsible for sending people to hell.  She physically shook and trembled as she raged at me.  As an evangelist who wants to see people saved, I was hurt deeply by this remark.  

     I can't speak to my superior's other decisions that week.  But as for her comment that I'm sending people to hell, I have this to say.  If someone rejects Jesus, they're sending themselves to hell.  They don't need anyone's help.  If what I said in my little talk was wrong, then I'm responsible for that.  But I'm not responsible for someone's actions as a result of my talk.  If they got mad at mean, legalistic me and decided not to follow Christ, they're a big baby who needs to grow up.  It doesn't sound like they had any interest in Christ to begin with.  I have heard many people say things I disagreed with, but I didn't reject Jesus because of it.  I just decided that I disagreed with that person and left it at that.  I've had other believers make mistakes that have hurt me.  I think we all have experienced that.  We don't reject Jesus because of it.  If someone does, his faith wasn't in Jesus anyway, but in people.  

     I found it interesting that my superior wanted to show "grace" to girls who were intentionally breaking rules, but not to me, her own ministry worker, who was doing my best and maybe got overzealous.  No grace for that.  But lots of grace for intentional sin.  What's with that?

     One thing I've learned is that I need to focus on my "side of the street".  What am I responsible for?  If I do wrong, how am I responsible for making it right?  Making things right again is just as important as doing right to begin with.  If I sin against someone (even unintentionally), going back and making it right can make all the difference in the world, and bring Christ the glory.  That's all my side of the street.  My responsibility ends at that.  What the other person does is their side of the street, and I refuse to take guilt for that.  The same is true for good choices.  If I do right and someone comes to Christ as a result, it's God, not me.  I just did what was right.  I can't take guilt or credit for other people.

     I am very open to examining myself, and making things right.  I will own my choices and mistakes.  However, I will never, ever taken on guilt for other people's sin.  That's their side of the street.  I have enough on my own to deal with.  

   
     In conclusion, we are not responsible for sending anyone to hell.  We are not responsible for anyone's sin but our own.  One day, as believers, we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account.  We'll receive or lose heavenly rewards.  But our sins are gone forever because of the Blood of Jesus.  Trusting Christ is the first step to taking care of our side of the street.  No one else can do that for us, nor can we do that for anyone else.  Let's stop taking blame and start doing right.

Remember...but don't linger

     Sometimes unmet expectations aren't disappointing.  It depends on what you expect, and how flexible you are.  I'm not always very flexible, and am therefore disappointed more often than I should be.  This is something God is working with me on, though, and this Christmas season was a joyful example!

Above: the Christmas Tree in Palm Springs, California, December 2018

     We just returned from an eleven-day journey.  We drove to California (our home state) for Christmas.  After spending two winters in below-zero blizzards in South Dakota, and now being in chilly 20's and 30's December weather in New Mexico, I figured California would feel perfect.  After all, people in northern states used to laugh at me for saying that 30 degrees was cold.  I expected 60-70 degree weather.  Well, in that, I suppose you could say I was disappointed...or validated.  The temperatures ranged from upper 20's to the 50's, depending on the time of day.  Also, the wind had a bite in it that had always chilled me as a child (but which I had forgotten about until I was in it again!).  It certainly wasn't the tropical paradise I'd been imagining.  Although it was mostly sunny, it rained hard on Christmas Day (I've experienced many "wet" Christmases in my lifetime in CA).  For the most part, it felt like crisp fall weather (which makes sense, since Christmas falls just a few days into winter.

Beautiful California scenery, early winter 

     But I'm getting ahead of myself.  We set off on December 19...our anniversary.  We had made arrangements to stay in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  We honeymooned there, and had made reservations for the same room we'd stayed in back then.  Instead of the two weeks our honeymoon had been, we were only in Lake Havasu two days, but it was a blast to go back.

Above left: crossing from New Mexico into Arizona.  Above Right: Walter and I enjoying our favorite ice cream shop in Lake Havasu, Scoops.  Below: The famed London Bridge (yes the one that fell down and has the preschool game in its honor) in Lake Havasu (FYI, it was moved from London to Arizona in 1964)

     After a few relaxing days at Lake Havasu, we crossed into our home state.  It had been almost three years since we left, and I hadn't been back once!  Walter briefly flew back for a funeral in 2017.  Re-entering my home state felt like coming home again.  

     One thing that was funny was that, while we were in CA, I kept seeing California license places on the freeway and thinking, "Wow, look!  A California license plate!" and then realizing, "Wait, I'm in California!  No wonder!"  I was pleasantly surprised that gasoline was only $3.09 at most places while we were there.  While this was about a dollar more than Albuquerque's gas, I had been told rumors that it was $6 or $7 a gallon in California.  That just goes to show that we shouldn't listen to rumors!  Especially negative ones.  So, again, an expectation wasn't met...but I wasn't disappointed!

     It was a wonderful time with family and friends.  I was able to see a lot of people, but I would have loved to see so many more.  I have a lifetime of friendships in California, and I only scratched the surface in visits.  It was Christmastime, and many people had plans that precluded us being able to visit.  That was completely understandable.  I enjoyed the visits I did have.  

Lolly Miller and her daughter Harlee in Riverside.  I taught Harlee in AWANA and Sunday school for years.  She is in tenth grade now!  She played Sally in our Charlie Brown play many years ago.

I was able to meet with my cousin Rachel.  She and I had been roomates before I got married.  She is living in Yucaipa, but we met up in Palm Springs, because she was flying out of the Palm Springs airport to visit her parents in Ohio for Christmas

I met up with my former YMCA coworker Amy in Redlands.  We enjoyed some girl time (while my husband enjoyed visiting his good friend for some guy time in Costa Mesa).  Amy and I had a blast working at the Redlands Y together for several years (such as the time I accidentally started a fire when we were baking cookies with the kids!).  Our girl time involved Little Women and When Calls the Heart.  

On our way back to New Mexico we visited another of my YMCA friends, Jan, at her new home in Arizona.  Jan is a delightful sister in the Lord, and a lot of fun to be around.

     I think the most eye-opening part of the trip was going to places of deep memories for me.  I drove by my childhood home in the city of Corona, as well as my two "single adult" homes (one in downtown Riverside, the other in Yucaipa).  All of these places had so many memories of things God was doing in my life at the time.  Ways He was at work in and through me.  Ways He was speaking to me.  I was at different places than I am today.  I had learned so much from my mistakes and failures, and gloried in the triumphs and spiritual victories God used me to accomplish.  Going back and remembering brought a lot of joy.  A deep sense of purpose.  My faith was deepened through looking back at these special times and places in life.  I was tempted to stay a long time, lingering in these memories.  But in my heart, the Spirit of God seemed to be saying to me, "Remember, but don't linger."

Above left: the house i grew up in, Corona, CA (It is painted differently than it was when my family lived there).  To the right is the view of my street.  I grew up in a very jolly, friendly neighborhood, with down-to-earth neighbors who helped each other out.  I really learned a sense of community from my upbringing there.  Our neighborhood was called Butterfield Estates.  The houses were all one-story, and ranged in size from 1300-2000 square feet.  They were all very open, with spacious rooms.  We had a community pool, and a scenic greenbelt where we kids used to roll down the hills together and have picnics.

Above: Fairmont Park in downtown Riverside, right next to the house I lived in until I lost everything in the Great Recession and moved to Yucaipa out of necessity.  God did so much in both places (Riverside and Yucaipa), but the seasons looked very different from each other.  That's why I need to remember without lingering.  God might be doing something totally differently than before.  To quote CS Lewis' book Prince Caspain, "Things never happen the same way twice."

     In the Bible, God had His people put up monuments or start new holidays as reminders of ways He had worked and delivered them.  They were never to forget those experiences.  I believe the same is true for us.  We are never to forget past battles and victories.  But we're not supposed to linger in the past.  We're to remember...but not linger.  God has plans for me today, and will in the future.  Each season is precious.  On a note about seasons:  I've been in seasons in life where I stayed behind and others moved on without me.  Then, in other instances, I've been the one God moved on.  In both cases, there is initially some grief, because there is change either way.  But God has a purpose and future joy in it, if we trust Him.

     I also drove by the church we began attending when I was fifteen years old.  I had been unable to attend there the Sunday before Christmas, but still drove by later on in the visit.  The things God did there, the way He met me and ministered to me, was paramount in my life.  When we started going there, I had been so beat up in life that I was borderline suicidal and struggled with deep depression and feelings of worthlessness.  God used the pastor and loving members to reach me, and turn me into a joyful Christmas once again.  The pastor would take us teenagers out to do evangelism around town.  When I went on mission trips, that church supported me.  In my late 20's, I became the church's children's ministry director, and that was a completely exciting time of seeing God work in kids' lives (including seeing six siblings with a dad in prison come to faith, and grow in Christ).  One Christmas, my cousin Rachel and I directed a Christmas play of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  We would go Christmas caroling in the surrounding neighborhood.  We had an amazing AWANA ministry.  The memories still hang in the air.  I could feel them, remember them as if they happened earlier the same day.  It would be tempting to linger there...but again, I'm called to remember, not linger.

Below: Glen Avon Community Church.  For me, a place of miracles, redemption, and seeing God work.  Many stories started there that will have their culmination in Heaven.

     The encouraging thing is that, while we're not called to linger, the things we remember are still having eternal effects.  The ripple effect of it all is unknown to us right now, but is still going on, and in Heaven, we'll get to see everything God was really doing.  At least, I believe we will.  

     Three things made me a little nonplussed toward my home state.  The biggest is the traffic! 

Traffic in the Cajon Pass, on the 15 freeway.

 It's much worse than I remember.  I'm not sure if it got worse while we were away, or if it just feels that way because we've been in much lighter traffic (Albuquerque is heavier than I'd like, but not as bad as CA.  South Dakota had very little traffic).  Another little irritation is the fact that you have to pay for bags at stores.  If you don't want to buy the bag, the cashier will just hand you your merchandise.  It's awkward.  The final thing was that, at restaurants in California, it is now illegal for a waiter or waitress to give a customer a straw with their drink unless it is specifically requested.  Like the bag law, this is new since we left, and at first I was confused by it.  The waitress who explained it to me said, "Don't even get me started about it!"  But these things notwithstanding, I still love my home state.  I'm called to remember all God did there, but not linger.  God has things to do right now....things that will have just as many "ripple effects" into eternity!  I don't want to miss it!

Any Moment

     "Watch this!"  our pastor exclaimed as he drew on the chalkboard.  It was the late 90's.  I was in high school.  Every week, the lesson had pretty much the same thrust.  Jesus was coming back, and it could happen at any moment!  Every week, the pastor wrote out a timeline of history on the chalkboard.  He would write creation at the beginning, then draw a cross right in the middle to represent Jesus' death and resurrection.  Then, at the end of the line, he would write 1996 or 1997, or whatever years it was at the time.  He would then draw an arrow going up, to represent the Rapture of the church, which he expected to happen at any moment.  "Watch this" was his catch phrase as he drew.

     As teenagers, we all wanted to get to graduate from high school and get married.  The idea of an imminent Rapture wasn't 100% appealing to our young minds.  When we voiced this to the pastor, he would laugh and tell us we were just like a bunch of monkeys who didn't know what was good for us.  And, you know, he was right. Titus 2:13 says, "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."  Philippians 3:20 says, "For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." 

     The pastor also preached about the imminent Rapture from the pulpit.  He always gave an old-fashioned altar call, with one big difference from other pastors.  Instead of asking the question, "If you were to die, do you know for sure you'd go to Heaven?" he would ask, "If the Rapture happened right now, would you be taken or left behind?"  He lived in full expectation of the Rapture, and didn't expect for any of us to physically die.  Jokingly, he would often say, "We're closer to the Rapture than we've ever been in the history of the world!"  A fact that is always true, and gets truer by the moment.

     At times, it may have seemed a little much, but the truth is, we are supposed to be watching for Christ's return.  Never in my life--neither before nor since--have I had anyone speaking this truth into my life to such a degree as my pastor in high school.  All of us began to live in expectation of the Rapture.  We were urgent in our witnessing.  In fact, when I was eighteen and attending community college, I was afraid to drive unsaved friends home from school.  I thought, "If the Rapture happens while I'm at the wheel, I'll disappear, the car will crash, and my friend will go to hell, and won't even have a chance to get saved in the tribulation!" So, if an unsaved friend needed a lift, I would silently pray, "Lord, please don't come back until I get her home.  It should only be five minutes." I laugh to think of it now, because, I mean, I have no power to change what God has determined to be his return.  God isn't going to wait five minutes!  It's not like I was the only person who was driving an unsaved person in a car.  But I kind of miss thinking that way--that urgency.  That knowing it could happen at any time.  That's how it's supposed to be, and I so seldom hear it spoken of anymore. 

     I'm thankful for my time of having this truth taught to me in such a concentrated way.  I don't want to lose sight of it.

From the Bottom of My Heart

     The word heart appears 830 times in the Bible (King James Version--give or take 100 depending on the version you use).  If it is mentioned that often, it must be important.  Some notable verse about the heart are:

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?"

Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Romans 10:9 "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

  These are just three verses that refer to the heart.  There are hundreds of others.  Yet just from this basic view, we can ascertain that it is not referring to the organ in the chest that pumps blood.  It is referring to a person's innermost being.  The core of who he or she is.

     It isn't just the Bible that uses the term heart this way.  It is common in our own way of speaking.  Have you ever thanked someone "from the bottom of my heart,"?  How about telling someone you love them with "all my heart"?  If something has hurt you, have you said, "That just breaks my heart."?  Obviously, these phrases are not about your physical heart, but emotional and spiritual.  People understand this vernacular.

     Here is my point.  When I was five years old, I fell under conviction from the Holy Spirit that I was a sinner, incapable of saving myself or pleasing God on my own.  I needed to be "born again" (a term that is both biblical and used by my teacher at church at the time).  The Holy Spirit was at work in me, and after three days of struggling with conviction, I asked Jesus to come into my heart.  I had also been exposed to this terminology.  Oddly, I instinctively knew that asking Jesus into my heart was the same thing as being born again.  It was a real conversion experience.  The moment I surrendered, believing that Christ died for my sins and asking Him to live in my heart, I knew I was saved.  I had absolute assurance of my salvation.  I had true peace.  That restless conviction vanished instantly.

     For much of my growing up, I used the term "invite Jesus into my heart" when referring to salvation.  At the age of ten, I led a friend to the Lord using this terminology, as well as the verse John 3:16.  There was very strong evidence that this, too, was a genuine conversion.

     That sweet, simple term fell seriously out of favor in my teen and adult years.  People began taking exception to it, saying, "Jesus doesn't live in your heart!  Your heart is an organ in your chest that pumps blood!  Jesus doesn't live in that!"  Others said it confused children, who might get the wrong idea that Jesus would physically get inside their chest, hurting them in the process.  Still others claimed the phrase was unbiblical.  Two ministries I love and respect very much, Child Evangelism Fellowship and AWANA both stepped away from the phrase. siting similar reasons.

     On top of all this, I am from Southern California, the home of spiritual legalism (at least it seems that way at times!).  The Christian community in my home state is very well-versed in scripture, but can get very threatened by anything even slightly different than the way their home church does things.  Different denominations (or, as is common in Southern California, non-denominational denominations that think they are too spiritual to actually admit to being a denomination but operate as one anyway--and there are many of those!) have different terminology they deem the most spiritual.  Very prevalent in Los Angeles is the John MacArthur crowed, and most of them that I have met only allow for the phrase, "Put your faith in Christ alone for salvation".  Any other wording (whether it be "receive Christ" "become a Christian" "get saved" or the very infamous "invite Jesus into your heart") is viewed as heresy.  I have had many people from this mindset jump on me when I would teach evangelism workshops at conferences.  It grew very tiresome, constantly having to check myself, and sometimes feeling beat up by fellow believers because I didn't use their sacred words.  This was something I was very freed from when we lived in the Midwest.  The Christian community there has better things to do than suspect each other of heresy!  If anything, there might have been a slight tendency to go to the other extreme, which, of course, has its own set of troubles.

     I will never forget the man who told my husband and me that we weren't truly Christians, because, when we both got saved as children, we "invited Jesus into our hearts."  We found his assertion offensive and vulgar.  This was when I found that the phrase obsession had gone too far.

     It may be interesting to note that "Invite Jesus into your heart" is, in fact biblical.  For so many years, I kowtowed to the legalism, being very careful not to use this phrase, and also to use the preferred phrasing of those I was around at any given time.  It wasn't until I was thirty years old that I discovered Ephesians 3:17, which says: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith."  This verse actually refers to Christ being in our hearts.  Couple it with Revelations 3:20, which says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock!  If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in..."  I would say these verses validate the phrase "invite Jesus into your heart."  If, by faith, I am repenting of my sins and trusting Christ to save me, I am a Christian, whatever phraseology I choose to utilize.

     As to the other concerns raised about the phrase, I have never, ever had a child confused by the expression "invite Jesus into your heart."  I have never had a child think I was taking about Jesus physically opening their chest up and climbing in.  Children and adults alike know that we use the word heart to mean our inner person.  Like with any phrase, though, it needs to be explained.  If I was going to use the phrase, "Born again," I would, of course, explain the meaning (Nicodemus needed Jesus to explain that one in John chapter 3).  The same is true with any phraseology.  The thing is, there are so many verses in the New Testament that describe salvation.  Different phrases are used to mean the same thing, and I believe each one has its place in different witnessing situations.  Each one takes a slightly different approach, but means the same thing.  Think of the beauty!  Asking Jesus into your heart is a picture of having your sinful heart renewed as Christ indwells it.  Being born again is a new start--a new life in Christ.  Receiving Christ as Savior depicts that He is a gift!  Getting saved reveals being rescued.  The list could go on and on, but you get the idea.  All of these biblical phrases reveal something beautiful about our salvation.

     I just read an article that stated it was "legalistic" to be able to have a time and date of your salvation, and that it should be a gradual thing.  This same article also completely decried the phrase "invite Jesus into your heart" for the same reason many have given.  Finally, this article said that believers shouldn't be baptized until they are adults, living on their own.  I disagree with all of this.  Having a date of salvation to write in one's Bible is not legalistic.  It can give assurance of salvation when the doubts come.  I, for one, can point back and say, "On February 7, 1987, I asked Christ to save me."  On the other hand, some people didn't write it down, and don't recall the date.  That is okay.  God doesn't need it.  According to Ephesians 1:4, God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.  He doesn't need our date of conversion.  That is for our benefit, if we are fortunate enough to have it.  And, while coming to understand who Jesus is can be gradual, salvation itself is not.  It has to be instantaneous.  That's why the thief on the cross could be saved.  There has to come a point of recognizing sin, repentance, and trusting Christ as the solution.  It doesn't have to be dramatic.  But you can't be partly saved.  You are or you aren't.  So that's point two I disagree with in the article.  As for baptism, I was baptized at age nine.  I had been saved four years, and I had a desire to be baptized.  When my parents, Sunday school teachers, and pastor all asked me why, I simply said, "Because Jesus told us to." Everybody thought this was a good enough answer, and I was allowed to do it.  Even though I know I was saved at age five, my faith became much more mature after I took this step of obedience at age nine.  It was also a very real time for me.  I believe anyone who is a born again Christian can and should be baptized.  I think criticizing phrases and setting age limits on believer's baptism is much more "legalistic" than having a time and place written down for when you were saved.

     I will close with this question:  Have you asked Jesus into your heart?