Sunday, February 24, 2019
Caroline's Writings: The Great Commission
Caroline's Writings: The Great Commission: Most Christians have memorized Matthew 28:18-20, which states that we need to Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. M...
The Great Commission
Most Christians have memorized Matthew 28:18-20, which
states that we need to Go into all the world and make disciples of all
nations. Many Christians believe that
verse is a priority for Christians to live their lives; however, it’s one thing
to believe and another thing to do.
James states that if we don’t have works with our faith, then our faith
is dead. As I look around at the state
of affairs of our country, we need to question if our faith is dead or alive.
In a recent online conversation, someone chastised me that
as Christians we need to stay away from evil people and just be safe in our
Christian circles. Then, we sit back and
blast the evil people for being evil and doing evil acts. It wasn’t the whole conversation, but it was
the gist of it. If we want people to have Christian values, then as Christians,
we have to go places where there are no Christians and represent Christ as He
is and not who we make him out to be. We
have to be like Jesus who met with the woman at the well and who ate at Zacchaeus’s
house before he changed.
We cannot blast people for behaving like non-Christians when
they are not Christians. We cannot
excuse Christians for behaving like non-Christians. We must do better. We must follow the Great commission. We have to read it in its entirety. The Great Commission says to make
disciples. We don’t do that. We just bring people to Jesus and let them
sink or swim on their own. Very few
Christian communities set up a discipleship ministry.
Discipleship is not waving your finger at someone and
telling them what they can and cannot do as a Christian. Discipleship is going through scripture
together, confessing sins to each other, and praying for each other. Discipleship consists of community that is
genuine, committed, and deep. Discipleship
means that we invest into the lives of someone else or to a group of
people. If we begin to invest in one
another with community as Christians, then our society would begin to see a
faith that is alive.
Recently, I joined a group that is keeping one another accountable
with our goals for the year of 2019. All
of us are Christians that instead of chastising, we give advice of how someone
can begin to make positive changes to continue with her goals. We all know our flaws and sins. We really don’t need someone to point them
out to us. We could use some encouragement
to continue to move forward.
All of us need someone to guide us. Jesus was the ultimate teacher for his
disciples. The church was created to
make disciples. That means as
individuals we are all creating disciples.
We are not relying on the pastor or staff members only. We are building others up. Then, when those who are not Christians see
how we are loving and lifting each other up, they will want what we have. Then, Christians will no longer fear to go to
all parts of the world, no matter how evil they think the parts may be. It all starts with us obeying the command of
Jesus. Love God. Love others.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Caroline's Writings: Leap of Faith
Caroline's Writings: Leap of Faith: We all have faith in someone or something. To have faith means we believe or trust in someone or something that we cann...
Leap of Faith
We all have faith in someone or something. To have faith means we believe or trust in
someone or something that we cannot see and we are willing to take a risk for
that belief. So many innovators have
taken risks with their ideas and have created inventions that have changed our
world. It all starts with a leap of
faith. No matter our age, gender,
ethnicity, or role in life, we all need to take a leap of faith.
This last weekend I spent time at my first writer’s
conference. At the West Coast Christian
Writer’s Conference, I noticed quickly that 85% of the demographic was women
over the age of forty. Older women
taking a leap of faith for someone to finally hear their voices in the written
word. Older women taking a risk for
their writing to be critiqued. It is not
easy for anyone, but especially for the demographic of people who struggle to
be heard.
If we struggle, we grow.
If life is easy, we believe that everything we do will not be a
challenge and we will not be challenged in life. The one thing that all of us women had in
common at this conference is that we are tired of being comfortable. We are ready to take a risk and to struggle. Taking a leap of faith takes vulnerability. If we are willing to be vulnerable to others,
then we will reveal to others who we truly are.
Anyone in the Bible that was able to conquer any battle had to
be vulnerable. They had to be willing to
take a risk and get out of their comfort zone.
It was always a leap of faith.
Peter stepped out of the boat.
David volunteered to fight Goliath.
Moses’s mother put her son who was supposed to be killed as a baby in
the river, and sent her daughter to watch him; he was saved. It was only after those leaps of faith that
they were able to fulfill what their mission was.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Caroline's Writings: Two Commands and THREE Loves
Caroline's Writings: Two Commands and THREE Loves: One of my students with special needs gave the best comment I think I’ve ever heard about Valentine’s Day. She stated s...
Two Commands and THREE Loves
One of my students with special needs gave the best comment I
think I’ve ever heard about Valentine’s Day.
She stated she is the “Valentine’s Day Grinch.” As much as I thought it was funny, I also realize
that we have created a day that we believe that love comes from external
sources only and that we only love externally.
It was in a mind-blowing message a few years ago from my pastor that
made me understand that I had misread and misunderstood a passage my whole
life.
An expert in the law tested Jesus with the question of what
was the greatest commandment. It’s
interesting to note that the person testing Jesus is an expert in the law. Jesus’s answer is connected more with an expert
in love.
Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as
yourself.” Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV) Once I
was taught that passage, all the religious leaders and experts in my life told
me that the two greatest commands are to love God and to love others. They were partially correct. As my leaders had great intentions, and
probably passed on what they were taught, Erwin McManus revealed a slight miss
that they all made. Yes, there are two
commandments, but it’s THREE loves. Love
God. Love others, as you love
YOURSELF. It states it right there. Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. You must love others just as you love
yourself; therefore, we must do a better job at loving ourselves in order to love
others better. To love yourself is not
arrogant or to think that you are the greatest, but to have a genuine love for
who you are and who God has created you to be.
Loving yourself requires you to see the best in
yourself. It means allowing the right
voices to speak truth and life into you.
Those right voices can be hard to hear because all of the wrong voices
scream louder. It takes discernment to
move away from the loud obnoxious voices that keep telling you are not good
enough or that you will never achieve the greatness. It’s the obscure voices that rarely speak
that may be the ones that have the most weight and volume. The right voices will tell you that you can
achieve what you have set out to do. The
right voices will stand there with you during the storms and the
victories. The wrong voices laugh, mock,
and scorn during the storms and are usually silent during the victories.
God created us. I know
some people believe we came from nothing, but in order to love myself, I have
to believe that I am created. Creativity
surrounds us. Creativity is seen in the beauty in nature; it is seen in the
creation of formulas and chemicals that can cure diseases; it is in business to
create a plan to create a product everyone wants to buy. Since creativity surrounds us, we are all
part of the creation and we must use our gifts and talents, no matter how small
or insignificant they may seem, to complete the beautiful picture. It’s like a puzzle missing the piece when we
don’t love ourselves because our creativity is needed in order for the world to
be beautiful.
Love who you are, even with all your flaws, mistakes, and
sins. See the good inside of you and the
beauty that you have yet to share with the world. Love yourself for all of your
accomplishments, even if they are so small, like turning off the television to
go to bed or read a book. Wake up every
day to a new dawn. Every day is an
opportunity not to be missed. Every moment
we live is a new opportunity. We must press on after our mistakes and our
achievements. It’s self-love. It might have to start with self-care. Care for yourself. Take time to rest. Take time to reflect. Take time to allow others to speak life into
you. Then, when you are refreshed, the
love you have for yourself will shine and reflect on those around you and that
love will spread and you will be able to follow the two greatest commandments. Three loves.
Love God. Love others. Love yourself.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Winners
Most of us have incidents in life that if someone had done
the right thing, we would be in a different place. We cannot blame others for our lives. There are moments that others can affect
us. We need to look to the next
moment. Yes, the Saints got a no call,
but instead of crying, the team needed to look at the next moment and block the
fifty-three-yard field goal, which in football terms is difficult to make. When we live life with what should’ve
happened, we miss what is happening right in front of us. That’s when we lose. Life is full of obstacles. It’s up to us to move forward in life and
create a better future.
For the past few years, I’ve noticed on social media that
many people are living in the land of “what would’ve happened if…”
Unfortunately, those are lives that have a perception that life is already
lived. Life is good enough. They are living with requirements. Their dreams are dead, which means that their
souls are beginning to die. They believe
that the people in charge are ruining their lives and they are not
participating in the rest of the game of life.
We have to quickly get over what happens to us and continue
to live. As a Christian, I have to
remember that I am a new creation in Christ, and that means that the old is
gone. Every day I must throw off the old
and live in the new. The more we live in
the one event that we believe has ruined us, we cannot see what is ahead of
us. Our past will begin to haunt us and
we will live with our sins, mistakes, and flaws. We must move forward.
So, for the Super Bowl, it’s between two teams that move
forward. Then again, I am a Duke
basketball fan. There was a moment that
a Duke player stepped or in the eyes of every University of Kentucky fan,
stomped on a player on the floor. Every
UK fan believes that Duke player should’ve been tossed out of the game. He wasn’t.
He played on until the very end.
With 2.5 seconds left and Kentucky in the lead, that player who did the
stepping or love tap, hit the shot heard around the world and Duke won and went
on to win the NCAA championship. They should’ve
guarded him and blocked that last shot.
They didn’t. He moved forward into
history. It’s time to move forward.
We can cry about unfairness, or we can live and make our
lives and the lives around us much better.
It’s a choice that we have to make every day. Those who live to make life better live with
peace, contentment, and are successful. Those
who live in the world that blame unfair moments and what “should’ve” happened,
live in anger and bitterness. We can see
by all the social media posts. I choose
to live for today and create a better future. Let’s enjoy this Super Bowl Sunday with food,
friends, commercials, and create memories that are beautiful. Let’s move forward. If someone steps on you or pushes you, guard
him against you the next time he comes after you. If you don’t, you may watch him succeed and
you sit back and cry your whole life long.
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