Something to Ponder

Book Review

"Author Jim Wallis has astutely observed what happened. 'On September 11 American joined the world'. Our membership was long overdue. Painful as the process has been for us, the benefits of widening our perspective to include the rest of the world are earthshaking, especially the relevance of this development to the conversation we are about to commence concerning God's vision for his daughters."
Carolyn Custis James in Half the Church

I picked up this book because a group of women at my work are reading it and will be discussing it at the end of this month. Having grown up in church, and grown up reading all sorts of books for women in the church, I have to be honest that I was skeptical about reading this book. I was intrigued, but also wary. I have read too many books that tell women what their place is and is not. At the end of the book, there is a sense of declared destiny that is not encouraging or hopeful but more like a life sentence. I was afraid this book was going to be another of those.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The global perspective of this book is very refreshing. She doesn't focus on American Christians and the American church, but focuses on the church worldwide and the struggles of woman across the world. That was my first clue that this wasn't a typical book. The discussion begins with how the church's message to woman might not relate to woman across the world who are feeling trapped and suppressed through cultural traditions, sex trafficking, and the like. The meat of the book comes from a long discussion of what it means that man and woman are both made in the image of God and are therefore his image bearers in this world. She spends much of the book talking about what is means for woman to be his image bearers in particular, but never reduces the importance of both men and woman.

For those of use who have heard the term "ezer kenegdo" and have tried to understand how it applies to us, both in and out of marriage, James gives us a good description that brings strength and help to the term poorly translated "help meet." She reminders woman that ezer is a term most often applied to God himself in the Old Testament and it isn't a lesser term of any kind. At this point, some woman may be rolling their eyes with a "not again..." type reaction. I almost did too, but her presentation of the ezer concept was good and Biblical.

If you are looking for a book to define the role of women in the church or to continue the complementarian vs egalitarian debate, this is the not the book for you.  If you are looking for some encouraging insight about women's role from a Biblical stance, then you will find this book a good read.

In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places wild be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh will see it together." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

We recently celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday which serves as a remembrance of what a great man did during a dark time in American history. We remember him as an activist and as a voice of justice and change in a time of deep injustice and chaos. We often forget that he was also a follower of Christ and a Pastor. 

For the first time, I actually sat down and read the famous "I have a dream" speak that is quoted above. We are all pretty familiar with it and probably have a passage from it that we can quote by heart. Familiarity is good, but reading it is better. I read it and was moved again by his powerful words. His words are for justice and freedom; he strongly addresses the sins of man and asks that they be corrected. He doesn't, however, slander the people who he sees are driving the injustice. He doesn't call names. He actually encourages people who favor racial equality to value their character and not be dragged down into the gutters. He speaks with power and influence but he also speaks truth and integrity. It's a beautifully crafted speech that I would say is Holy Spirit inspired. I am moved by his passion for his cause and also his passion that his movement stay non-violent. He encourages his people not to give in to the violence that has come against them. Wow. 

The line I quoted above was moving to me. In the midst of racial segregation that was tearing lives and our nation apart, stands one man who longs to see the glory of God be revealed through people uniting and treating each other as equals. He doesn't write this hope as a fleeting desire that might happen. He writes this hope as a solid guarantee that one day, the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all will see it. The certainty is inspiring. 

So, what's the point? My point is to challenge all of us to see opposition the way Martin Luther King Jr. saw it. As an opportunity to for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. Jesus told us in Matthew 5 that we are to love our enemies and be kind to those who hurt us;
Martin Luther King Jr. is echoing the words of Jesus. There is much conflict in our world today and Christians are some of the first to get nasty and become violent whether in word or deed. We should be challenging ourselves to keep our character and not stoop to violence. We should stand together with anticipation that the glory of the Lord will be revealed. 

If you are interested in reading the speech, click here

Reflections on the New Year- better late than never :)

It's a new year which seems like the promise for a fresh start and new things. I usually get a funny feeling that things are different when the calendar turns to January 1st. Sometimes it does indicate that the Lord has changed my spiritual season, and something new is about to begin. This year was a bit different though. I felt like our new year actually started in October, when we moved across the country for a new opportunity. When the year changed to 2014, it didn't feel different, but it was still new. We have only been in our current city for about 4 months and so we are still settling in. We traveled over the holidays and didn't have plans for the new  year, so we went out to dinner just the two of us, talked about what we wanted in our new place in the new year, and went to bed while it was still 2013. I did start my new job on January 2nd, so that was a new thing specifically for 2014, but it was another new thing in a long string of new things.

Honestly, I love moving and changing environments. Moving to a different state provides an opportunity for growth and self-learning that doesn't happen with many other experiences. This being my second time, I knew a little of what to expect, but this is the first time I moved as a married woman. It was easier on some levels to move with a spouse. There wasn't that initial overwhelming sense of loneliness. The loneliness did come however, and that continues to be something we are taking a day at a time. Once you have friends and community, you quickly forgot how long it took to get to that point. Then once that group is gone, you are slowly reminded of how long it takes to build relationships again. I feel like my sense of loneliness is a reminder that my dependence should be on the Lord more than on people. I am guilty of spending more time reading the word and praying when I'm lonely and hurting then making it less of a priority when I'm feeling good. Silly me.

All of that to say, we have been given a fresh start that came a bit earlier than January 1, 2014. I am excited for the new things that God is and will do in our lives as we continue to pursue him. My prayer this year it to always remember that He is the vine and I am the branches and apart from him, I can do nothing.

In His Love,
 Andrea

 

Interesting Book :)

So I often find myself bogged down with Christian books. They seem to be more like religious self-help books, and I've recently been in a season where I've just not felt the desire to read them. Not that they are bad, and I know many good people who get really encouraged by them. I've just been in a season of not feeling drawn to them. I've read other quality material instead ;) (hah!! Harry Potter doesn't count as quality). Then I picked up The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. I picked it up mostly because a co-worker threw it at me and told me that it was me. I was intrigued by what that meant, so I cracked it open. It's basically a book about taking the religiosity out of Christianity, and return to the rawness as it was originally intended. The book starts by talking about John the Baptist and his living in caves, wearing burlap, and eating locusts and honey. Not the religious refinement the western Christian has grown accustomed to seeing. One of the quotes that has recently stood out to me is: "Our civilized faith demands caviar and escargot; our barbaric faith accepts that we might have to eat fish eggs and snails." 

I just like the raw and real that the book captures and encourages. It's time for Christians to give up looking pretty all the time. It's time for us to lock arms with each other and commit to be the church through the good, bad  and ugly. It's time for us to love God and love his people in a real way that will take perseverance and guts. Are we ready to dive in?

Just some food for thought. :) 

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today we are off to celebrate our first year anniversary!!! Yay!! Hope everyone has a great day! We'll be back to post more in a couple of days!

The Lamas :)

In this crazy life, and through these crazy times.... (Michael Buble style)

Hello Friends!

It's been a cccrrraaaazzzzyyyy week! I've started several posts and just never felt like any of them would go some place that I would be willing to post, so I deleted them. For those of you who have checked several times and seen nothing new, I apologize :) But here we are today! Another day, and another blog post in The Lama Times.

Today I am sitting on my couch with a load of laundry in the washer, two more to go, and a sink full of dishes that need to be washed. Such is life. It moves too fast and by the time you get a day to rest, then its time to do the things that have waited at home while you ran around and took care of other things. Because of my amazing husband, there aren't as many things to clean today. The only reason I have this morning to type to you and clean my house is because my husband went to a prayer meeting for both of us. The nice thing about being married is one person can take credit of both of you. :) Days just go by too fast. We've already been married almost a year. Where did the time go?

I don't mind Texas most days. I love my jobs and our church and the people in our lives. Soon Bijay will have a job he loves too. However, the pace of DFW makes me motion sick. I could never live in New York or California. I don't like spending my days running and running and running. So today I am enjoying a still moment of listening to the television and the washer and knowing that at least for the moment I have no where to be and nothing to work on. Just a paragraph to write to you and a few dishes to clean.

Take some time today to stop and enjoy the moment. Life is not the things you do but the moments you remember. Take a moment today.

Andrea