What's it all about?

So I just got done listening to a sermon podcast that Francis Chan preached at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA. The sermon was titled "Making Sense of Your Life". The basic point of the sermon was: When you accepted Christ as your own did you make the life change or are you still sitting on the sidelines. Francis talked about a couple of mission trips he has been on and talked about how he went on them not because he is strong but because he is weak. He talked about going to India and China where christians in both places deal with persecution everyday. He talked about story after story of lives being lost or torn apart for the sake of Christ.

What struck me was how the people in China laughed when Francis told them that in the USA we don't get persecuted and how we have buildings that we have church in. He said they laughed so hard and asked how we got what we do in America out of what the Bible says a church is. You know I have to agree. How DID we get the way we "do" church from what we read in the Bible? Sometimes I have to wonder if we here in America were being persecuted would we take Jesus Christ more seriously? Or if we stopped hiding in our buildings and really reached out to the lost and sick would the world take Jesus more seriously? We get so caught up in all the wrong thing that we forget what God calls us to do and be. We are called to BE the church (ie. the HANDS and FEET of Christ) not to PLAY church. I think in so many ways we have missed the mark on this one.

The sad thing is tons of people are going to hell everyday because we care more about who's at our church, the color of the carpet, the music, or being comfortable then we do about saving the lost.

Post From Xanga

I am posting this to "save" a post from my xanga account before I close it.

So I have not been blogging for sometime now not because I don't like to but because I have had so many crazy feelings going on inside. I was afraid to let people know how I was feeling because I am a pastors wife and most the people I talk to like to see the Pastor and his wife "have it all together" well I am proud to say that I do not have it all together. I have had to come to the understanding that God is really truly the only PERFECT person to roam this great big world I call home (only for now, Thank God). I went to a church planters conference 2 weeks ago and attend the "wives" tract. I have been dealing with alot of unknown feeling and was hoping this would help me to not feel alone in my roll. Well that I got out of is was that I indeed am not alone but still felt like I was the only wife to ever feel like maybe they were going crazy and unsure of the calling to be a pastors wife. I got to hear many wives speak but felt almost like they were robots. They shared nothing of the feeling they felt I mean truly felt. I didn't want stuff candy coated. Brent and I have learned that the people of our generation just want you to up front and tell them like it is. Don't fluff me just tell me. I felt like that at the conference. Stop dancing around the feelings and show some. On the way home from the conference I was talking to Brent and I told him that I am so sick of people not telling you how it really is. I mean think about giving birth, I have 2 kids and when I was pregnant with my first of course I knew it was going to hurt but when I would talk to people about it they would always say "oh Hun it is the best thing ever you just feel so whole". Now I did love giving birth to my two kids but you can bet you bottom dollar that I was asking for the epi when I was able to have it. Another thing I had to find out on my own with having kids is that about 6 to 8 weeks after giving birth your hair starts to fall out! I would have loved to have known that one! So I guess what I am saying is from now on I am going to once again go against the flow and just be real. Church planting is wonderful and I don't think I would ever not do it but watch out because as a woman and the wife of a church planter you will have feelings about people, things, and just life that you have never had before. You will love and hate the job all in the same day. Trust me. I think woman who say they have never wanted to throw in the towel also have a major problem with lying. Trisha