Lesson from a Zombie

By Dawn Wilson –

I’m not a zombie fan, but a TV commercial by Sprint Unlimited about an “undead” zombie made me laugh. In the commercial, a creepy-looking zombie asks a Sprint representative whether their “unlimited for life guarantee” also applies to someone who is “technically” not alive: “Like, maybe you were … undead”?

The Sprint rep replies, “Sure, like a zombie.” The slightly offended zombie suggests she not put “labels” on people. But when his ear falls off, he has to confess, “… I’m a zombie.”
Busted!

We never try to pretend to be something other than we’re not, do we?

I’m reminded that the Pharisees strutted around, proud of their good works. They thought they were fooling people with their self-righteousness. But Jesus saw inside their hearts to where their lives were falling apart.

He called them “white-washed tombs” (Matthew 23:27-28) full of dead men’s bones. Hypocrites.

Before we get all judgmental with the Pharisees, we need to check our own hearts.
• Are we filled with pride?
• Do we spend more time looking “spiritual” while our inner life—intimacy with God—would make us blush if others knew?
• Do we want people to think we’re better than we are?
• Do we modify our actions to appear “holier than thou”?
• Do we quickly condemn others, but get defensive when others point out our own failings?
• Do we get upset when people don’t notice our spiritual accomplishments?

When the zombie’s ear fell off, the obvious exposure made me laugh.

But I don’t laugh when others discover my façades.

The cure for all of this, of course, is to know God and to get real with Him so we can be real with others. It’s recognizing we don’t need to impress anyone. We certainly don’t need to appease or impress the Lord. When we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive; and He can certainly handle our everyday mistakes.

This is a call for authenticity. Honesty. Knowing who we are and Whose we are, and living in light of that truth. In Christ, we are accepted and secure, and we have dignity.

Once we know who we are in Christ, we certainly don’t need to pretend (like that zombie in the commercial) that we’re something other than what God says we are: sinners rescued by God’s grace on an incredible journey of transformation to become like His Son. Our greatest goal now is to live for the praise of His glory (1 Peter 4:11), not our own.

The Twist

By Cheri Cowell –

Call it good parenting. Call it bribery. But all of us have done it.

We have several more errands to run and the children are getting restless. So, we offer to take them to the park, stop for Happy Meals, or allow them to choose the movie that night “if they will help get these last few errands done.”

If you will…then I will… God uses this same parenting technique with us, but His comes with a twist.

Today’s passage is often quoted to make the point that God set up this “if you will do this” (humble yourselves and turn from evil) then God will forgive and heal the land.

Some say that because we have not humbled ourselves and have turned from evil, God is withholding His forgiveness and blessing. What this explanation leaves out is that throughout history we’ve repeatedly not held up our end of the bargain, and yet, God still sent Jesus.

Jesus is the twist. He rewrites this parenting technique to say, even if you don’t, I will still forgive and shower you with blessings.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV).

Prayer: God, You are to be praised for being the ultimate parent who, although maintaining the “if you will” goal, steps in with a twist—the twist of grace. Help me see Your grace as reason to fulfill my end of the bargain.

Happy New You

By Judy Davis –

At the beginning of this year I felt God speaking to my heart about writing a new book. I started writing in January. When God speaks we must be sensitive to hear His voice and be obedient to His divine direction.
Sometimes it’s not easy to step out in faith. It takes discipline, perseverance, endurance, and work. But when God asks us to do something, we can do it in His strength. We certainly need to pray and seek Godly counsel daily in every area of our lives.

Are you pressing forward in the things Jesus has placed on your heart to do? Keep moving forward and let nothing stop you. God wants to meet us right where we are. Learn to see how He works in the details of our daily lives. His promises are as real today as they were when the Word was written. He is still able to meet us at our point of need today as yesterday.

This week my husband and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary. Our marriage has not been perfect but we know God has been there through the good and bad times. We both are forever thankful for these years he has given to us.

Recently I told my youngest son, “The hardest and most important job we do is raising our children.”

Mr. John Rosemond, a minister, was asked, “What is the biggest mistake parents make?”

He stated, “They pay entirely too much attention to and do entirely too much for their children. These children usually, but not always, end up as spoiled brats. On the other hand, some parents’ biggest mistakes are that they pay entirely too little attention to their kids.” Again, we must do the best we can with God’s divine guidance.

Remember, nothing in life is easy. Whether it is writing a manuscript, being married, or raising a family, we must depend on our faith in God. My book Happy New You, a 365-day devotional on reading the Bible through will be finished this month. To God be the glory for He has helped me every step of the way.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, what a mighty God we serve. Help us to do the best we can in all we do so our lives may glorify you.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 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 NIV).

What Songs Does Your Heart Sing?

By Carol McClain –

Life can drag us down, and regardless of our religious philosophies, we don’t always get what we want, even if we do everything right. In my case, I divorced at thirty, and although I always wanted a large family, I only met my new husband long after I could no longer have a second child. My life wounded me. In high school I believed myself to be an outcast. I grew up in poverty under the hand of my family’s alcoholism. The consequences of sins I’ve committed in my youth left scars, reminders I’d rather forget. Loneliness stalked me, sometimes nearly devouring me.

And I’m not alone in my pain. Several friends battle breast cancer. Another friend’s husband died suddenly of a heart attack, and she found him in the back yard. Odd genetic abnormalities plague the children of a sweet, young family. Each person reading this could add to this list and attest to the fact that life can devour us.

However, several years ago I met a young man whose life made mine look like the pity-party it was. His life convicted me of my sin. I never met him in person, but only through his book of poetry, Journey Through Heartsongs and a few TV appearances.

Mattie J.T. Stepaneck was a peace ambassador for MDA. Born with mitochondrial myopathy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease, his life has been plagued with a chronic decline and loss of motor control. He’s had to breathe with a respirator, had a tube in his heart for medications, and endured weekly blood transfusions.

This disease eventually killed him as it did his brothers Stevie and Jamie and his sister Katie. It also afflicted his mother who discovered she had it only after she’d had four children.

What amazes me most about Mattie is not what he suffered, but the faith and grace that characterized how he faced his pain. Mattie had incredible poetic talent. He began writing at age three, by seven he wrote poetry with enviable sophistication. As a poet, Mattie tried to bring reconciliation to the world, and his poems speak poignantly of disabilities, hope and an indefatigable faith in God.

He knew sooner or later he would be “buried into heaven,” that he is an “echo caught between two worlds,” that his brother Jamie sent him gifts from heaven when he was sad, and that he was remiss if he failed to notice them.

In one poem, he asked his mother if God would extend His right or left hand to him when he died. His mother responded that God would extend both. In a hug. Mattie couldn’t wait for that hug which he received on June 22, 2004, three weeks before his fourteenth birthday.

Reading about this young man who earned a black belt in karate, who dreamt of being a grandpa, who wanted to hold on forever to his holy family, and who held on to a holy God, convicts me. What is my pain? How frail is my faith? How unseemly is my attitude toward God?

I need to remember, I’m a part of a holy family and will ultimately be hugged by God.

(Poetic excerpts taken from: Stepaneck, Mattie. Journey Through Heartsongs. NY: VSP Books—Hyperion, 2001).

Danger Lurks in Paradise

By Peter Lundell –

Danger lurks in paradise. Kim and I were sent to speak at a Pastors’ retreat in Honolulu. So of course I had to swim at Waikiki Beach. The water was warm and clear blue. But below were patches of exposed lava. I smashed my toes black-and-blue, cut-and-bleeding. At least I didn’t break them. Underneath the post-card-perfect-most-famous-beach-on-earth lie rocks that wait to injure swimmers.

When people on the mainland hear the word “Hawaii,” they think vacation heaven and say, “O-o-o-o-o-h.” Indeed it is for tourists. But for more than a million people who live there, it is much like anywhere else, or more so.

Housing, cars, food, merchandise, and almost everything else costs more there than anywhere else you’d like to live. The pastors I met frequently deal with greater financial, cultural, and social challenges than those on the mainland. And people in Hawaii have such an easygoing culture that pastors have a hard time motivating them.

Everyone still loves the place—it truly is wonderful. But when we see beyond the veneer of the tourist industry, we find that in daily life, Hawaii is a rough and tumble place like any other.

We humans tend to idealize. We want things to match our imaginations and fantasies, whether vacation spots, careers, or people we fall in love with and marry. But we always find that a more difficult reality awaits anyone who sticks around.

Think about how much that happens in your life.

People can be the same way about God and faith. But anyone serious about it will find that following Jesus includes more than just being loved and forgiven. He leads us into facing ourselves and changing, and also embracing the pain of others.

But even at that rough-and-tumble level we come to know a deeper beauty than we could have known on the surface.

“Lord, sometimes my eyes only see what they like. Teach me to see as you see. Deepen my heart and mind to embrace the hard things in life—and then to find and appreciate the blessings from them.”

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? . . . No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:7, 11 NIV).

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