Salty Ramblings~
A place to come, sit, pull up a chair, and talk awhile
In light of the tragedies this week, I find myself reading Job, the book of the Bible on suffering, I love The Message version of Chapter 35:
“When times get bad, people cry out for help. They cry for relief from being kicked around, Don’t you think that is true – as life becomes overwhelming, we tend to find our need for God. The most stoic non-believers ask for prayer when we look at our mortality or our failing finances, or impending tragedy. Cancer, chemo, bankruptcy, addictions, all have the potential to harbor despair. Our God is not a God of despair- but of eternal HOPE- the expectation of goodness. In light of the San Bernadino shootings, the Daily News posted a cover that said, “God’s Not Fixing this”. This saddens my heart, as – like the men in Job – we are putting God on trial for the evil that lurks in Man’s heart. I understand the implication that we need to do something about our nation’s state of affairs. I also understand the implication that our prayers are not the answer to the nations state of affairs. As a nation we continue to remove God from all of our systems, affairs and agencies. We strike God out of business and we remove Him from our courts and schools. Let’s look at Christianity and relationship- let’s take God off of the trial seat and put ourselves on that seat. When we point fingers and judge, condemn and criticize…ostracize and treat church as a Country Club, hate and hurt in the name of God – we are not representing relationship- but RELIGION. Religion is what got the Pharisees in trouble – they missed Jesus- God made flesh- standing in their midst. They found the legalistic adherence to rules as a focus, rather than God made flesh standing before them. Christianity, when operating as a church – as the Bride of Christ- is one that accepts and loves, it is a relationship with God, and with the world- where the truth is held as non-negotiable and the love is reckless. The state of affairs of our world is held in our hands, as we press into God, and press into the world with acts of compassion paired with truth and reckless love. When Christianity is brought into parts of the world where it has never been before, love prevails. Swords and hatred are put aside. Revenge and murder are cast aside for forgiveness and repentance. Children are valued. Women are valued. Living conditions are improved. I know the world would say that we go into the world uninvited and share our faith. I would offer that we go into places in the world that need compassion and love, a heart and a hug. I have been to Romania and I have looked despair in the eyes and I have reacted with love and touch- and I have seen hope restored by this simple practice. Yes, I did share my love of Jesus with these people, because His presence in my life has made all the difference. I have gone into jails and worked with addicts, sharing their value with them and that they were made to be loved – truths that are new to their hurting hearts and ears. I have seen value bloom in parched hearts. His presence in my heart allows me to have peace, while my husband is unemployed and my daughter has a severe concussion. I don’t pretend that I am ok – I am ok, in this day, in this moment I know that He holds me- and, more importantly, He holds our tomorrows. I am not acting or putting on airs – I feel peace and a joy in my day- against all odds and all reason. I get to share this faith with others – through simple acts of love. I am Christian. I love God and that is not negotiable. If I am asked, I will share my faith – through love and excitement- not judgment, hate, offense and criticism. My answer to the Daily News would be that God is my answer. When I line up with the principles and the doctrines of Christianity, I leave a gentler footstep. In the practice of loving God before all else – it puts things in perspective for me. Money, success, possessions do not take the center stage of my heart, and I think I am happier. I remember the “me” before Christianity – the pursuit of STUFF is relentless and never satisfying, always growing. The Corporate Ladder was a tough God to bend my knee to, Me before Christianity was more aggressive and argumentative. I had to argue and win the arguments. I was selfish before relationship overtook religion. I know I have not arrived, nor ever will. I am a sick soul in need of an ever -present God in my day to day. This is a God who forever forgives and always presents opportunities for me to grow into Him more and more. He presents me with places and spaces to give over more of my fleshy practices – AND I AM HAPPIER FOR IT. I share Jesus because He has made all the difference in my life. Others share things that make them happy . Why has Christianity become a bad word? Why has God been put on the trial seat by an angry world that forsakes His presence? We can blame Him, but we cant profess a belief in Him, How frightening it is to me that the power if prayer is being put on trial by the Daily News. We denounce God and now we are denouncing communication and the power in prayer. I think this state of affairs is more frightening that calling out to God when we are in terror. The flippancy and arrogance in thumbing our noses at the words, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you….”, saddens my heart. From the Daily News: "As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes," the cover reads. House Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham all responded with "prayers" for the victims of San Bernardino, Calif.” I won’t get into a debate on gun control. I will defend my God and say that there is nothing better than praying for the victims and their families. Prayer moves the heart of God. Prayer, and the presence of God, makes the darkness flee. I pray now, that all would feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst. I don’t have answers to the big “Whys” of the world- but, I know that God is a personal God- a God that draws near to the broken hearted. This is not a simple platitude – I have lived this and I have experienced miracles. Prayer is not a platitude but a means of warfare. Prayer alters atmospheres- I speak from experience not generalized platitudes. Cut off prayer, ridicule prayer and you render us powerless in the face of adversary. A clever tactic by the enemy of our soul. Will you join me in prayer for our world? Will you alter atmospheres by engaging the heart of the Father? Jesus intercedes for us---will you intercede for the world and our Nation? In looking at Job, the text goes on: But never give God a thought when things go well, when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts, When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom, using birds and beasts to teach wisdom. That is the God that I must sing from the rooftops and speak of unashamedly – the God that puts spontaneous songs deep in our hearts. His Joy is not dependent on circumstances or luck- JOY is found in salvation and the indwelling of Christ within us. Joy is present in the trials and a close companion when you walk with the Lord. Job continues: People are arrogantly indifferent to God-- until, of course, they’re in trouble, and then God is indifferent to them. There’s nothing behind such prayers except panic; the Almighty pays them no mind. So why would he notice you just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard, Or waiting for him to get good and angry and do something about the world’s problems? And there I must pause in light of today and where we find ourselves. Why do we think God has to “do something” about the worlds problems when we approach His throne of grace, dirty and sinful…James says that the prayers of the righteous man avail much. We approach a Holy God and we demand and we whine at the situations that we find ourselves in – and we demand answers. The answers can be found in a transformed heart. A transformed heart loves where there was once hatred. A transformed heart offers grace and forgiveness rather than hatred and revenge. A transformed heart bows its knees to Jesus, allowing something other than ourselves to occupy the throne of our hearts. A transformed heart offers prayers and compassion, not argument and defense. I know there are Christians that have made us look harsh and judgmental. I would say they have missed some of the basic precepts of Christianity, just as the Pharisees did. We are all broken and sinful---Christians as well as muslims, atheists and Jews, black and white – we all united in our sinful nature and the need of God. None of us have arrived or are perfect – we all make mistakes and we all find ourselves angry, upset, judgemental and arrogant. The Christian walk is a day to day, moment by moment walk- where we all slip and fall – but keep going on. Not a one of us is perfect- Christian or non- but, the worlds problems lay in the transformation of our hearts. It all starts with ME. I transform my vessel to become a presence carrier- and I get to love on someone else. That touch of the Holy begins a transformation within them- and so on and so on. James says that we must decrease so that He may increase. I would strongly disagree with the Daily News – that God isn’t going to fix this – because God is actively involved in “fixing” me, and through that – we can change the world. Here we go!!! The Advent season is upon us....is His creative army ready to take up arms and splash the world with color, creativity and the light of the Gospel?
In a dark world, where times are chaotic and confusing- our "job" is clear- to spread the gospel to a hurting world. Are you in? Will you join us? I have a challenge for us all....Christmas is a season when the world seems to slow down and there is good will toward men. Let's take this Advent season to salt our world, and pray that a seed might be planted in the softened heart of those He chooses to bless. Advent starts November 29 and ends December 24th....would you join me in committing to releasing, at least, one salt leak per day during Advent? What if the love of the Christmas Season changed our hearts, as well as those in the world? Anyone in? That would be one leak per day, uploading your salt leak pic here..let's bless the world with the Gospel!
I do many workshops and work many retreats. I, invariably, hear - at EVERY event I work: "I am not creative", "I can't draw a stick figure". I hear it again and again, in all areas of the country and the world. I AM NOT CREATIVE.
I look at the greatest attacks on the children of God and realize that our enemy is concentrating a lot on the creative minds, and hearts of His children. Why such a full frontal assault on the creative? This past weekend I was with two other artists as we pondered and thought through our role at Encouragement Cafe, 91.3 Joy FM. We spoke of the Tower of Babel and how God intersected human pride and scattered us through language. And then it hit. Color is a universal language. It speaks to everyone, without words. Beauty speaks and it requires no translator. It is the universal language- of course, the enemy would want to shut it down. Shut down the creative and you shut down a language that intersects the darkness, through color and light. Remember that black is devoid of color, white embraces all of the colors. Shut down the creative and you shut down the use of light and color as it pierces into the darkness. John 1:4-6: "The Word gave life to everything that was created and His life brought LIGHT to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it." So, today, I whisper into your heart - that you serve a creative God - you were made to be creative. Rise up creative Army of the Most High and take a stand against the darkness. Beauty Matters- speak the language of color, shatter the darkness, and salt your world with His love. In Romania we served the elderly, through Elder Orphan Care. Imagine your parents out on the street, through a cold European winter. Imagine the frostbite settling in and the feeling going out of their limbs. Imagine the sleepiness that takes over the senses. Now, if you would join me in imagining the rats that feed on such victims, nibbling on frozen limbs through the long hours of the night. Imagine your parents and grandparents waking up to the horror of seeing their limbs frozen and gnawed on and the horror as their legs are amputated. There is a man in Romania who was watching TV one night in Dumbravya, Romania. The news caster spoke of two elderly that had frozen to death on the streets of Oradea. He had a choice. He could have turned the channel, turned off the TV and “said a prayer” – or- he could act. He chose to act. He hit the streets and found elderly and took them into his home. He rescued, and continues to rescue, the elderly and frail from the streets. At this point, he is serving 161 elderly and frail through the countryside villages in Romania. We get to partner with him when we go to Romania and encourage him. He is the one that lives there and lives with the everyday demands of rescue. We are a small respite that wishes to encourage and partner with him. If you are interested you can learn more about “Elder Orphan Care” on Fb, https://www.facebook.com/ElderOrphanCare?fref=ts
In the months of preparation of our trip, we prayed into what our focus would be. In the past we have brought eyeglasses so that – literally – the blind could see. This did not feel like the focus of the trip. Through prayer we kept landing on “art” and “shoes”. With 160 elderly, of all different physical and cognitive capabilities- I had no idea how to roll out an art aspect! The Lord provided answers in little steps. First, we purchased watercolor kits, inexpensive watercolors, and cheap brushes. With a sharpie marker, I printed out 160 different Romanian words: Jesus loves me and Praise the Lord!. I had an art bag packed and ready to go, not sure how it would play out and if it would be received well. These were children’s watercolor kits- would I be insulting? Would they “go for it”? I was there with one purpose and one passion, because BEAUTY MATTERS. Beauty pierces through the darkness and brings hope. A single rose is a protest against the violence, poverty, disease that is all around it. Color is the presence of LIGHT, in dancing hues. Blackness is not a color – it is void of color. To bring color into the soul is to bring LIGHT into the darkness. Let me take you to the moving moments when the art bag was opened and color was released out into the world. There were gnarled hands, incapacitated from a stroke. There were trembling hands that shook. There were those that couldn’t even sit up in bed. Protests against the light were many – in the words of our translator: “We will not take no for an answer!” The paints were given out and we all stood and sat by each bedside. Sometimes we gathered in the garden, and other times we gathered in the lobby of their homes. Either way, paintbrushes were put into gnarled hands and encouraging words were spoken. Men with big hands, that had worked their whole lives- dwarfed the little paintbrushes- engulfing the tool of light so that it was almost not visible. And……they….painted. Smiles played on their lips and sparkles could be seen in their eyes. It was if they had INGESTED the color, they were radiating out this message of life and light and color. We all wept to see the transformation that a simple pan of watercolors could bring. One man, Rudolph, spoke gibberish constantly. He has been waiting for his mother to come and get him for years. We put the watercolors in front of him and he continued to babble and gesture wildly. One member of our team, took his hand and placed it around the brush. At the darkness often does, it protests against incoming light. He gestured, his eyes told the story that he believed he couldn’t do it. With patience, each stroke was laid on with the help of a team mate. His breathing slowed, his focus sharpened. She let go of his hand. HE continued on. He took a deeeeep, deeeep breath, almost breathing in the light and the color into his soul and continued on in silence- finishing the entire painting by himself. And we wept to see the beauty find victory over the darkness. One man couldn’t do it, though we tried and tried to convince him. Another member of the team sat by his bed and did it for him, while he watched in fascination. One might say that the beauty failed him, that beauty couldn’t pierce through his darkness. When we all left his room, a member of the team stayed behind and caught a picture of him, holding the little painting before him, soaking in the color and the light- as beauty pierced into the darkness and shattered the night of the soul. And we wept for the goodness of beauty and a God that works in such an intimate way Psalm 23 is a well loved, classic scripture that we all seen to be familiar with, regardless of our spiritual walk. It seems that ithas become embedded into our hearts, and our society. What a beautiful scripture to find such widespread acceptance in the world. This is the scripture that I am referring to:
1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ----when the Lord is our Shepherd - we can have faith, trust and hope in our tomorrow. Hope is the expectation of good. Through Jesus- we get HOPE for tomorrow 2He makes me lie down in green pastures, ----We are called to seasons of rest- in His will, He provides green, fertile places to rest our head he leads me beside quiet waters, - --bubbling brooks scare sheep, He leads us to quiet waters. He knows our fears and our anxieties - when we follow Him, He leads us away from these things. 3he refreshes my soul. ----There is peace in having a good shepherd He guides me along the right paths ----He guides us in truth and love and out of the situations and circumstances we get ourselves into. for his name’s sake. ----To always be more like Him, to glorify His name 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death -----A shadow is cast,only when there is light. He is with us through the valleys that we walk through - the valleys that want to kill us, destroy us, hold us hostage...His light is with us, when we ask Him to be the lord of our lives, giving our will and our hearts over to Him. In this place,w ith Him as our Shepherd, the darkness is merely a shadow. A shadow can not hurt us or harm us. His light negates the powers of darkness. I will fear no evil, -----Every knee will bow to Jesus Christ - with Him leading- there is nothing to fear. Your greatest fears,addictions, bondages -are negated to mere shadows in His presence. for you are with me; -----He is always with us - before we even know His name He pursues us. HE dies for us before we took our first breath. He loved us while we were sinning. He loves you now - and wants to be your good Shepherd your rod and your staff, they comfort me. -----The rod is meant to protect you from the predators that circle you, taunt you and mock you and the staff is meant to redirect you and guide you - what a comfort these re - that we dont have to defend ourselves anymore - He will do that - and He will always be with us, through the Holy Spirit, guiding us and gently correcting us. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. ------In the presence of your enemies- He sets a table for you. the enemy has kept you on your knees, begging for scraps. That is no position for a child of God---He sets a table for you - a banquet - and sits you down in the presence of your enemies to eat with Him. The shadows cant hurt you anymore. You can dine, at peace, with predators all around. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ------Annointing oil was saved to designate kings- to designate God's chosen one. Before there was time - you were chosen by God as His child. There is no need to beg for scraps anymore - you are a child of the King - declare your inheritance and your birth right!! 6Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, ------Yes, through the Good Shepherd there is goodness and love. You are never too bad, too far gone, too much of a sinenr - goodness and love are your birthright and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. ------We will all spend eternity somewhere. Jesus brings us heavenly access - to dwell with Him forever. Want to know more about becoming a Christian and declaring your birthright? Check out more info under the "contact us" tag - we would love to hear from you!!!! Last night, in our Bible Study, we were looking at Abram. Let me get you to the spot - we were in Genesis 12. Let me get you up to speed, Abram and his family have left Haran and are walking to a land that the Lord will show them. In verse 7, they arrive at Schechem, and come to the Oak of Moreh. This beautiful tree, a landmark, is mentioned throughout scripture. In verse 7 the Lord says to Abraham, "To your offspring I will give this land." We find a two fold promise here - offspring - for the 75 year old man, that has no offspring yet ...AND...that they will be given this land. The land of Canaan. I would call this a "Not Yet" Promise- a promise for the future, a promise that you can rest in and find peace in---but a promise for tomorrow.
I think sometimes, we want all of our promises right away. We hear from God, "I will..." and we assume it is NOW. We sit up and we wait and we watch, and we wait and we watch.....and we wait ....and we watch...... and we start doubting the faithfulness of our God- or we start doubting that we actually HEARD God- and we find ourselves in the fix it room, trying to make things happen on our own. Suddenly, we are out of the will and timing of God- and we are in our own flesh trying to make His promises come true Abram will do this very thing - He hears of this promise at the beginning of his journey - but as time goes on and the promises arent coming true- his wife starts to hatch a plan - Abram will impregnate her servant - and they will call this child, IShmael. OUTSIDE OF GOD'S WILL, things get complicated! God's timing is always perfect, sometimes it is hard to wait on the NOT YET promises of God, to sit and be still and trust that His ways are not our ways and His timing is always perfect - never late or early. There is 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the New testament- 400 years of NOT YET, as the world watched and waited for the Savior that was promised. We can also get tired as we wait, and we can miss the signs of God...the world missed Jesus being born in a stable. In the book of John, first chapter, verse 10- it says that the world did not know Jesus when He came. There is a story of ten virgins waiting for their bridegroom to come (likened to us waiting for Jesus) and some of them fell asleep and ran out of oil. We can get tired waiting on His promises, we can loose focus, we can loose gas in our faith walk. Do you have a NOT YET promise that you are waiting on? Do you have hopes and dreams that you have lost focus on - the waiting has gotten bigger than the dream? Have you given up on God because it has taken too long? I want to encourage you today to pick up HOPE again- Hope in he Lord, Hope in the promises that have been issued. I want to encourage you to write down those promises and start praying into them again. Start reading scripture about the faithfulness of God - a mighty oak is born of a seed. There is unlimited potential trapped inside of you - waiting to sprout through the vessel of HOPE. God does not forget His promises. God has not forgotten you and the song He sings over you. He sees, He hears, he knows, He is faithful. Perhaps you have found your way here form a salt leak that you picked up and you are not sure about any of this, but you feel a burning curiosity- I would encourage you to head over to the "Contact Us" tab - and reach out to us - we will be happy to pray with you and hear your story - remember, He hears, He knows, He remembers His promises. May you find peace in that today!! I would like to tell you about Beverly. She is a 92 year, young woman I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few days. Beverly needed to have two teeth extracted. The oral surgeon was over an hour away, with all highway driving. My mom and I said we would take her over to the surgeon and take the pressure of her driving -alone, at 92- off of her. I met her, and my mom, early Monday morning and we set out on our excursion to the dentist. We came to find out that this was only a consult and we would have to return again. In addition: *She would be going under general anesthesia and would need to be cared for after her procedure, for 4-6 hours. *She would need prescriptions filled. *She wouldnt be able to walk and would need a wheelchair and assistance once we got her home. We signed on the dotted line and promised to be back the next day for the procedure. On my way to a PRAYER MEETING that night - I was lamenting , in my mind, about how BIG this errand had turned out to be and how much of my time it would take. Yes, on my way to a prayer meeting - that I was asking the Holy Spirit to join us in, to already be there, to bless us with His presence....as I lamented over loving one of His widows. Have you ever had one of those "Wake up" moments where you come up short on the mercy and grace scale? Yeah, me too. As I was busy asking for the Holy Spirit to bless us - He interrupted my thoughts-----He interrupted my patterns - He interrupted my plans, with one question: "Will you be inconvenienced for me?" My breath caught and I felt so little and selfish. "Oh, YES, Lord. I am sorry. I will do whatever you call me to do with a smile, with love and with mercy and grace." The Holy Spirit blessed our socks off that night in that prayer meeting. I think I had to make more room for Him, by dying to my schedule and my calendar, and to what I thought was important. So, that got me thinking - when was the last time you were inconvenienced by your faith? Have you been called into unstable waters? Has He called you into uncomfortable places? Has He set a heart of mercy on you over His homeless orphans, and widows? I hope so. I hope that the next time He calls me to be inconvenienced I spring into love and to love well. As an epilogue to Beverly's story -we did get those teeth out yesterday, and it took longer than we expected. And I smiled. She wanted an Orange Julius on the way home. I got her a medium, with extra ice so she could eat it with a spoon. She needed her prescriptions filled. We waited the half and hour until we got her - just what she needed- to walk in health. She asked for a dozen eggs. ............................................And a dozen Kripsy Kreme donuts. I got her both, with a smile and a hug. We got her into her apartment. She needed to take her antibiotic. She had to use the bathroom. I got to listen to the stories of her boys and see the pictures of her life. I got to hug Beverly. In all honesty - the Holy Spirit had to keep reminding me that I promised to be inconvenienced by Him. The eggs? The donuts? I think a gentle reminder that our God loves extravagantly and if we are going to be His hands and feet- we need to make time for Him to work through us. The past few days have been a valuable lesson for me - that, in order to be inconvenienced for Him, we have to lay aside every plan we had- and release into His plan. I pray Beverly felt the love of the Father yesterday as He showered her with His attention. So - Will you be inconvenienced for Him? I hope so. My heart is heavy this morning, there are many flags that pepper our skyline, as of late- with the American Flag taking second stage. I am called to remember the words of our forefathers, "In God we trust". I know that as a Christian I am called to LOVE with abandon. I am not called to judgement, I never want to cast the first stone.
Remember when the elders brought the woman to Jesus and threw her at His feet? Remember that they wanted to stone her for her sexual sin? Remember that Jesus asked that "He who has no sin cast the first stone." They all were able to see that they were not perfect---lets face it we all have sin. I would even dare to say that most of us have some sort of sexual sin - repented and redeemed, or not. So - mine is not to cast the first stone. Mine is not to judge. Mine is to love in truth. Yet, I can only love in the paradigm of truth that I understand and live by. I am called to love all people. Every race, color, creed, trans everything - I am called to LOVE. It is easy, really - just love everyone where they are and asked that I am loved where I am. Can we all put down our fists and offer grace and mercy, love and life? - that is the message of Jesus - Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself (Mthw 22:36-40) I am going to be honest, there are some things that are happening in society today that I dont understand. My kids try to get me up to speed- but, I struggle with some of the new things that are happening. Please dont hate me for that - I am trying to understand, trying to walk out this "living loved" with relentless and reckless abandon. I am sure there are things about my faith that others may not understand. In this place of love - we can set down the argument and the accusations, the judgement and the offesne - and we can be two people coming together to share our experiences, to laugh and to love each other - despite our differences. We are all called to love- its what Jesus came to teach us- Love God, Love each other - thats easy isnt it? If we start slowly - with just two people- coming across the battlefronts- just two people meeting in the place of love - it could work, couldnt it? Dont hate me for being a Christian and I wont hate you for not being a Christian. I will love you, and laugh with you and walk beside you and encourage you and hold your hand during hard times. I will be a friend and a comrade - if you would allow it. So, how does all of this tie into Salty Sidewalks? I believe in the transformative power of the Living Word of God - aka the Bible. I believe that it does not come back void. I believe it sets us free and releases us from bondage. Lets face it - I believe in Jesus Christ and sing His praises for the transformation within my own heart and life. We have such an amazing opportunity within this community to LOVE His world-----to reach out and let the Holy Spirit do His work, as we deposit salt throughout our world. We are called to love others to Christ--we are called to spread the Gospel and speak of what He has done for each one of us. I am encouraged that we have the capabilities to impact our communities, our towns, our states and our world through HIs LIVING word. I am encouraged today that we get to love up on His world, with our arms, our hearts, and His word- one person at a time. Are you ready to answer the call to love? I hope so. |
Lisa Albinus
A Gospel spreading, mixed media artist...out to love the world through the salt of creative expression Archives
August 2018
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