Tag: andi chorley

grayscale photo of remote control near eyeglasses

Change the Channel

.Reading time 9 minutes.

First I want to apologize for this getting to yall late. I usually send this out for Monday morning… but I lost some sleep lately and I needed to put my health first. I encourage you all to do the same. If you try to sacrifice your health for your work… your work will suffer as much as your health. Always take care of yourself!

“This world has gone crazy!” I hear this from other Christians all the time. I also hear, “I can’t believe what they showed!” We have all kinds of things being shown to us. We have the Super Bowl half time show, the Grammys, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Tony’s… I could go on and on with the list of shows that are watched by millions of people. Then there are the things we listen to on the radio and in person. I am not sure if it was this year or last… but I heard one of the number one songs of the year was a woman talking about her vagina in the most vulgar way. It is 2021. Every year it gets worse and worse. But.. does it? What exactly are we saying is getting worse? Are there really more vulgar songs? Are there really more inappropriate performances? I think back to when I was a teenager. I remember songs that talked explicitly about sex. I remember movie stars releasing their sex tapes. I remember these things because I was exposed to these things. I didn’t always have the best people around me. I didn’t always have someone there to tell me, “Hey, that stuff is not good for you.” I believe my life was directly impacted by all of this.

Is it getting worse though? Are there more inappropriate songs? Is it a quantity or boldness increase? There may be some of both. But I was reminded of the Samaritans. I encourage you to stop here and go read 2 Kings 17. In 2 Kings 17 we hear about the Samaritans. Samaria had become over run by the Assyrian Army. Many of the people were what we would call displaced people because the Assyrian King took the Israelites from Samaria and placed them in Halah, and on the Harbor, and in the cities of Medes. Many of them had died during the ensuing wars and those that were left began to intermarry with gentiles and pagans. The Israelites that were from Samaria, but now displaced, were known as the Samaritans. The text tells us that they built high places for themselves. In these high places, they worshipped idols and did wicked things. They despised God. The text also tells us that they abandoned ALL the commandments of the Lord. They made metal images of calves and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal. They burned their sons and daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

This makes me weep. I started to weep as I reread this text. I looked over at my two daughters lying on the couch. I look at their small bodies and I can not imagine practicing witchcraft on them. I can not imagine burning them as a sacrifice. I can not imagine selling them or myself just to do evil things. I can’t imagine doing these things because I do not walk in the dark. I do not walk with evil. I walk in the light of Christ and these things are unfathomable to one that walks in the light. However, we live in a similar world in 2021 as the Samaritans did in 722 BC. There is just as much evil now as there was then. Now we just know the numbers. We still have people worshipping idols instead of God. We have people denying God’s existence. We have people who disrespect and often abuse their mothers and fathers. More than 400,000 people are murdered every year in the world. Adulty has become so common that the current rate is 22% of all people commit adultery. Globally 35% of women have experienced sexual violence and assault. 137 women are killed by a family member every year. Less than 40% of women who experience violence seek help. Over 200 MILLION women and girls have experienced genital mutilation. 15 million girls worldwide have experienced forced rape. It is estimated that there are currently 25 million victims of human trafficking as of 2020. People steal every day. Whether it is a candy bar at the grocery store or a hedge fund manager, people steal. Most people have lied in their life. Some people are really good at it. Jealousy and coveting is one thing that keeps people seeking more “stuff”. More Idols. We have all these things going on every day and Christians will still say, “I can’t believe they had that performance on prime time TV.” “I can’t believe they played that song on the radio.”          

WHY NOT!

Why can you still not believe the evil in this world? One reason is because we don’t call it evil. We don’t call musicians that sexualize, degrade and demoralize other humans, evil. We don’t call super bowl shows and emmy performances, that show half nude women dancing and basically acting out sex with just their genitalia barely covered, evil. Sometimes, we don’t even change the channel!! You have a moral and biblical responsibility to change the channel. Change the channel so that your daughter instead grows up knowing she is chosen by God and her body is perfect the way he made it. Change the channel so your son grows up knowing that he is to love his wife just as Christ loved the church. Change the channel for your children. Change the channel for your marriage. Change the channel for yourself. Change the channel so that you don’t normalize evil things in your life. CHANGE IT!

Then PRAY! Pray for protection from the evil in this world and pray for the salvation of those portraying this evil. Remember the kindness and hard truths Jesus gave the Samaritan at the well. Remember the parable in Luke where Jesus taught us that even a Samaritan is capable of good and mercy. Pray for and with your children. Pray for and with your spouse. Pray for and with our world.

*What evil do you need to call out in your life?

*What are you allowing to influence your home?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:5

Grace & Peace

Chorley

Hike like a Disciple

.Reading time 9 minutes.

I am sore and just need to rest. I know that my life has been called to live a life on a narrow road. Part of that narrow road includes fostering relationships between women. My amazing sister Kelly, often walks this road with me. We have recognized a weakness and after sitting with the Lord, we decided that we need to focus hard on helping women build relationships with each other. What we both know is that making friends and building relationships are harder in 2021 than they were in 33AD because we don’t actually do life on life to the extent that women did in 33AD. What I mean is we don’t all go to the same small market. We don’t all go down to the river together to wash clothes. We don’t deliver each other’s babies. I am not saying that we should be doing these things. I am just saying that life on life and fostering relationships in 2021 looks different than it did in 33AD.

            I took 9 women hiking this past weekend. I wanted to do something fun and outdoors in my anticipation of spring coming. I started planning about a month ago. I figured out where I wanted to go quickly. The decision was made to go to the Wichita Wildlife Reserve. Then I started inviting different women to join me. After everything was all said and done, I had invited 120 women. I know that seems like a lot of women to take on a hiking trip. Once you reach this huge number of people when hiking, it becomes overcrowded fast. I knew that I would not end up with more than 25 women hiking at the most. I knew this because I knew that what I would be asking of these women was costly. I cast a wide net. Nine out of 120 women were up for the challenge. Why so little? I will tell you.

            There were a few reasons for women not to go. We were set to go on a Saturday morning. Many women set aside their weekends for their family. They go hard doing so much through the week, they want to give their family the time due. Some women are either single moms or have a spouse that works weekends. This made an obstacle for them to hurdle. A person’s priorities and prior engagements can determine their willingness to join us. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong. We were set to leave at 5am. Yes you read that correct 5am. We leave our area at 5am so that we can make it to the hiking trail in the mountains by 7am. When we get there early; we are able to avoid a lot of traffic, see the sunrise, catch the animals on their morning walk, avoid most other hiking groups, and most importantly we are able to avoid the majority of the heat. There are a few reasons to leave at 5, the biggest being the safety of all hikers in the group. Dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are killers. The only water that is guaranteed on a hike, is the water you bring with you. It was not the opportune time fore some women to join us. That is okay. They weren’t wrong. We had decided to hike 6.1 miles. This is the full Bison trail. Hiking a 6.1-mile trail can be very physically demanding. Most American women can not go from living our everyday lives with minor physical activity to hiking 6 miles through the mountains. The trail is not flat. The trail is up and down the whole way and has a 417 ft elevation gain. Some believed they were unable to physically complete the hike (some were right), some worried they would hold others back. They did not believe they were prepared to go the distance. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong.

            Then… there were the 9. The 9 that chose to make this a priority. They chose this over other things. They found a way. Many of them had to rearrange many things and rely on other people to make this possible, but they put in the work to do be able to go. 9 women made sure that they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there. They knew that they could not change the time but wanted to go bad enough they were not deterred by the inconvenient time. 9 women knew they could physically and mentally complete the test laid out for them. Whenever a few had doubts about their abilities, they chose to trust the Lord to bring them to the end of the trail. 9 women continuously checked on each other while on the trail. 9 women encouraged each other to keep going. 9 women either spoke scripture or received scripture with a glad heart. I don’t know about the other 9 women, but I know that I am tired and sore. I just need to rest and let myself recuperate.

All of the things that I have talked about here, having to do with the hiking trip, is also true about discipleship. Even when a wide net is cast, few will be caught and committed. [Matthew 7:13-14] Discipleship has to be a priority in your life. You have to be willing to sacrifice other things in life to follow Christ and teach others to do the same. [Luke9:23] [2 Timothy 2:2]You don’t always get to choose when things happen. Everything is based on the Lord’s timing.[Proverbs 16:9] If you are waiting for a more convenient time to walk as a disciple or disciple maker, you may never do it. [Luke 9:57-62]You have to count the cost before you can commit. [Luke14:28-30] You constantly have to remind yourself that the Lord prepares you, [Mark 1:3]encourages you [Romans 15:4], reminds you of scripture [2 Peter 1:12]and fully equips you to walk as his disciple. [Hebrews 13:20-21]

Hiking, just like discipleship, can wear on me and force me to rest and recoup. So today, I’m sore and need to rest physically. I always need to rest and recoup with the Lord. Resting with the Lord renews me physically and spiritually.

Are you prioritizing correctly?

Are you waiting for a more opportune time?

Are you willing and able?

Are you resting with the Lord?

Grace & Peace

Chorley

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The Weight of the Load

.Reading time 10 minutes.

I wish I could say that I have suffered enough pain for my life, so I should be exempt from anymore. That is simply not the truth. The truth is that I have sinned over and over in my life and I, like most, deserve no grace. I have yet to find any place in the word that says that the I have earned the Lords love and kindness so he must make it possible for me to live happily ever after. The word paints quite a different picture for me. While it is not all sunshine and rainbows, it is still a picture that I choose to accept because it all works out for my good.

Back in 2007 I was quite the Soldier. (At least I thought so because you know… I’m prideful) I had made it through 3 years in the Army and 1 deployment without any knee pain. I bragged about it to my husband. He was going to regular doctors’ appointments for his knee problems. You were a unicorn if you didn’t have knee pain. Having been one with no knee pain and being a female, I got roped into a lot of extra training. We were gearing up for our next deployment. Most infantry companies now employ at least one female for combat missions. With tensions being as high as they are now, you don’t want a male soldier searching a female detainee. This is especially true for a female detainee that is Muslim. That is one reason that it is important for every unit to have at least one female. Well, for many missions, I was that one. While training I went on an Air Assault mission. The leadership decided not to waste time repelling from the Blackhawk. Instead, the helicopter swooped down as low as it could and we all jumped. The jump was probably five feet from the ground. I was wearing my vest, assault pack (backpack), rifle, and a 50-caliber barrel on my shoulder. The vest weighs 16 lbs., ammo in the vest adds about 7 lbs., the pack weighs 25, The rifle 11 lbs., the barrel weighs 24lbs. All together that is 83 lbs. on my (at the time) 113 lb. body. I’ll do the math for you, that is 73% of my weight. This small jump should have been fine and not injured anyone. Well…I have a genetic disorder called Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Basically, my joints bend further than they should because the ligaments in my body are too loose. This results in limbs moving into positions that they shouldn’t, which leads to sprains, breaks and a lot of pain. If I bend my knee a certain way, the ligament that is known as the hamstring (behind my knee) will get hooked on the side of my fibula (leg bone) and prevent me from standing up. If it gets hooked, when I try to stand it will feel like I am ripping my leg off. So, when I hit the ground with 73% of my body weight on my back, my knees buckled backwards which led to me fracturing both patella’s. I am no longer a unicorn. My knees have gotten worse over the years. Sometimes I just scream trying to stand, and sometimes they feel fine.

This morning I was sitting in Luke 9:23. And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” There is more to the conversation… but I narrowed in on this. I woke up this morning and felt okay. Sore from working out, but okay. As I read the scripture, I told myself that surly I pick up my cross daily. Surly I willingly pick it up. I looked into this word “cross” in the Strong’s concordance. Stauros. An instrument of crucifixion. The cross represents unspeakable pain, humiliation, and suffering- and ironically it is also the symbol of infinite love. It is not a symbol for suffering in general. Rather it refers to withstanding persecution (difficult times), by the Lord’s power, as he directs the circumstances of life. As Christ’s Disciples, believers are told to hold true even when attacked by the ungodly. I prayed for the Lord to remind me over and over to pick up my cross. I prayed for him to continue to humble me, and I thanked him for the blessings of his word. I stood up… and went downstairs. On my way down the stairs my ankle gave out and I started to fall. When I caught myself, my kneecap slipped out of place. I was able to slip it right back because I have those amazing Stretch Armstrong ligaments. I immediately thought… NOT THIS CROSS! I don’t want to pick this one up. This one is not convenient for me. This one shows my physical weakness. I tried to walk, and I could barely put weight on it. I was immediately annoyed by my minor inconvenience. While at church I stood and worshipped as I usually do. I was then annoyed again because it was too painful to kneel down to pray. “ Why am I feeling pain that is preventing me from worshipping as I desire to worship!” As soon as the thought hit my head, my other leg became too weak to stand and I was forced to sit down. As soon as I was able to catch my breath and feel a break from the pain and weakness I stood again. It wasn’t long before I had to sit again. I was frustrated and hurting and just wanted to cry. As soon as I said the words, “Why God?” He reminded me of the pain of the cross he bore. He reminded me of his questions to Job. He reminded me of his strength in my weakness. He reminded me that I should not be surprised when a fiery trial comes upon me. He reminded me to rejoice in my sufferings. He reminded me that I said I was willing to pick up my cross and follow him. I would pick up my pain. I would pick up my humiliation. I would pick up my suffering. And follow him. I immediately repented. The congregation was asked to stand. I stood up and tears just flowed from my eyes. They flowed with joy and thanksgiving because I was standing and putting weight on my knee and most of my pain had been removed.

I live most of my life in some type of physical pain. I have asked the Lord to take it many times. Often the answer is no. When the answer is no, I just remind myself that the Lord may have me suffer this pain to keep me humble. I am no Paul, far from it. But I do know that Paul’s thorn kept him humble. I can respect that. After all, no discipline feels good at the time. So, yes Lord, continue to break me to my knees and humble me. I witnessed a physical miracle this morning. How precious a gift is it to witness a miracle, let alone feel one. The weight of our load may seem heavy, but all things are possible through he who strengthens me.

What cross have you been asked to carry? Physical, Mental, Spiritual.

Do you pick it up willingly and daily?

How do you hold true when attacked, when in pain, when humiliated, when suffering?

I pray this finds you well.

Grace & Peace

Chorley

My Battle Buddy

.Reading time 13 minutes.

I can honestly say that my husband is my best friend. The story of how we became a couple is often shared with many laughs. We met in the Army. We married in August of 2005 after dating for 6 months. I proposed on the balcony of my barracks room. He said no. A week later he asked me why I had been moody all week. When I revealed that he hurt my feelings when he told me no… he just said, “ I didn’t know you were serious. Let’s get married tomorrow”. So, we did. Here we are 15 years later, and I am more in love with him now than ever. Growing up I didn’t get to witness many healthy marriages. I was raised to be independent and strong. I was raised to be more like Joan of Arc than Jackie Kennedy. I viewed women like Jackie Kennedy as enslaved women who had no idea how powerful they could be if they weren’t held back by their husbands. I had truly little knowledge of the fact that Jackie Kennedy was behind many top secret moves in Washington and even continued nuclear peace talks with the Soviet Premier just days after her husband’s assassination. What we see about others is just that, our view.

Most of our marriage has been me doing what I want and my husband just accepting it. I wanted to marry, so he did. I got called to leave our support company to join an infantry platoon in Iraq, he kissed me good bye and we spoke when we could. I wanted a child, and Calvin came. I wanted another child, and then came Micah.  I wanted to move to Oklahoma after retirement, he packed our house up. Every house that we have bought, I have picked out. Every child I have named what I wanted. Now that I start listing things… I look super demanding. The reality is that My husband is very agreeable and often agrees with me on most things. I know his agreeableness is usually out of love. When I left our support company, he knew what that meant. It meant I would hardly ever get to see him. It meant I would be in more danger. He knew I would be one female in a company of 150 men. He knew I would have to put up with harassment and death threats. It also meant I would finally have the job that I had fought for. It would open me up for a promotion. More importantly, it would open doors for other women. How all that went, I will save for another day. He knew the desires of my heart and he supported me. We were both Non-Commissioned Officers leading Soldiers. We often shared different weapons techniques and drills. We shared different training and leadership information. After missions I would share stories about different fire fights we were in or different high value targets we caught or what bombs we found. He would share what blown up vehicles he had to tow, or how he got blown up, or a thirty minute mission turned into three days and he survived on Dr. Pepper. We had similar experiences that bonded us. It was a weird bond because while I tell him the fire fight was fun, he knows I mean I was scared I would never see him again. I never had to say it. We were in the same fight. He is my battle buddy.

Church can either give me hope or sorrow. Most Sunday mornings I get up between seven and eight. I get our kids up and tell them to start getting dressed and ready for church. I get myself ready and the four of us head out the door. We are usually home by 1 and I spend the rest of the day with my husband. He usually works on his truck or our property while the kids and I are at church. I process the sermon and double check the pastors words against the Word alone after church. We don’t discuss How I repent and worship on my knees or how I beg the Lord to put a new spirit in him.  I go to different Discipleship conferences and events through the year. I usually go with another group of people that I dearly love. The group usually consists of other couples and a few single women. When I get home and I see my best friend sitting there, we discuss places I visited or food I ate. We almost never discuss the depth of the things I was doing while gone. We never discuss that I cried on my knees again for him to know Jesus. We don’t discuss how lonely I feel in a crowded room without him. We don’t discuss how I go to events alone and drive home alone. We don’t discuss that I long for him to pray over me. We don’t discuss that I desire for him to wash me with the Word. I sit with the Lord daily and totally find amazing things in the Word that are life changing and so amazing that it is unreal and mind blowing that I would love to share with him. I would love that. I would love to hear him talk about the Lord. I would love to know what the Lord is teaching him. I would love to hear how he is laying his life down to share the Gospel with others. But we don’t discuss that.

The words tells us,  14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. 17Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor 6:14-18)

When you yoke animals together, you join two animals that can share a load of work together. They walk side by side and share the total weight of a load. When one animal gets tired it does a little more work for a while. Then, the rested animal can carry some of the over worked animal’s load. It is an amazing partnership. However, when one is unequally yoked… one is always doing more work on their own. They carry a load they are not meant to carry. If one animal is continuously over worked, it often gets injured easier and dies earlier.

I know that I am unequally yoked. I don’t plan on unyoking myself from my husband.  7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”  Mark 10:7-9.  I once had a spiritual brother tell me that he was my partner in ministry. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was not, nor would I ever be his ministry partner. No man can be my ministry partner. I don’t believe a woman can be either. I am married and the Lord has reserved my husband for that. He is my battle buddy. I know that I will always choose my husband over my sisters in Christ. I hold fast to the Hope that My husband will walk with the Lord one day. Because I have that hope, I will not give away his spot. I know that the Word says,  1Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 1 Peter 3:1-2. He may be won over without word by my conduct. by my respect. by my pure conduct. by my love.

I can only speak from my view, but I suspect that there are a whole set of other struggles for the women who are unmarried. The women who have no man leading them in any part of life. The women who also come alone. The women who have no one to lay in bed with and talk about how they saw the Kingdom move today. The women of Tabitha’s upper room. I am not saying that Jesus is not enough for them. I am just saying that their struggles are different and very real. My heart feels an extra beat for them.

Whether you are unequally yoked or not yoked at all… What do you do when you are running low on Hope? How do you remind yourself that the Lord’s yoke is easy when things feel hard?

If you are walking with someone unequally yoked or unyoked… Do you really try to understand their position? How do you show them compassion, empathy, and love?

Grace & Peace

Chorley

Qorban

.Reading time 9 minutes.

Note: This is an old post that I had originally posted in November on another site. After hearing someone speak the other day, I felt it would be good to share again. Old things are still useful.

Qorban:  An offering brought near the Alter

Korban: An offering dedicated to God and misused by the Jews as a way to evade their rightful duty to God to care for aged parents or other responsibilities.

1The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.

3“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. 4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.                Leviticus 1:1-4

First let’s note that this book was wrote to the people of Israel. Those who chose to believe and follow God. If that applies to you, this text is for you. The word used here for offering in Leviticus is Qorban. The entire book of Leviticus has to deal with offerings, sacrifices and atonement. It has to do with the “ Holy” things. The word “Holy” is used 87 times in the book of Leviticus. The Hebrew word for “holy” used in Leviticus, qodesh, means “that which is set apart and marked off; that which is different; separateness; apartness; sacredness.” If this reminds you that Ephesians 1 tells us that the Lord chose us in him to be Holy and Blameless in his sight, give yourself a fist bump. So, now lets jump forward to Matthew 27…

     3Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”       Matthew 27:3-10

The word used here for treasury is Korban or Corban. Judas had a huge awakening after he gave up Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The 30 pieces of silver relates back to the old testament when you would have to pay someone 30 pieces of silver if your animal mauled someone’s slave. Mauled someone’s slave. Read that again. Mauled someone’s slave. Hmm. Everything in the Old testament is  useful. There is always a transition of words through the years. Spelling changes and often through territories, pronunciation alters. The word Korban was coming from the older Hebrew word Qorban. The Chief Priests knew that this money was not fit to be a gift because of what it had been used to buy. This money was what we would call “dirty”. Kinda sounds like unclean. Hmm. The only other time we see this word used in the new testament is in Mark 7.

 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”   Mark 7:5-13

Here we see Jesus dig into the Pharisees and the scribes. He is calling them out for their clear hypocrisy. The Pharisees and scribes were known for telling their children to use “Corban” as an excuse to not offer things to their parents or others they were responsible to. Always claiming, I cannot give you that, it is for God. When the reality is that they just did not want to give it away. Their gifts to offering were not to give God something from their heart, it was to get out of helping other. The word here for Corban is again: Korban. So, in the New Testament we see Korban used two different ways. One: The Chief Priests admit the dirty money cant be Korban. Two: The Pharisees are called out for giving Korban not from the heart but out of selfishness and pride.  

How did we go from Qorban to Korban? How did we go from offering God something we care about, something without blemish, something acceptable to the Lord, something that we desire to give to the God we love… to offering him something he never wanted, something that may have innocent blood on it, something that we give out of selfishness or pride? I am not talking about the sin we walk away from. I am talking about the things we offer God. This is something different for everyone. Time, Money, Love, Marriage, Children. Etc.. What is the heart behind what we offer the Lord?  What is the heart behind the things we refuse to offer the Lord?

The Obligatory Season

.Reading time 8 minutes.
Photo by Daniela Constantini on Pexels.com

First off… let me tell you all that I love receiving your calls, texts, and emails. It really warms my heart to hear how you are spurred on, encouraged, and walking in freedom.

Every morning when I am getting ready I look out the window in my bathroom. I don’t look for any particular reason. I think it is probably just an old habit of checking my surroundings. This week when I looked out the window I was drawn to our huge pile of logs. This pile is about ten feet wide and five feet tall. The logs themselves are about 6-8 feet long. The entire pile has yet to be cut and split. The wood is still seasoning.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is Ecclesiastes. I know that many people see it as a doom and gloom book. However, it is known as one of the wisdom books. I think that is why I am drawn to it. When I know that I need to seek wisdom from the Lord, I often go to Ecclesiastes or Proverbs. I know that many of you have heard the phrase, “for everything there is a season”. Many times, that I have heard it from someone, it was because I was going through something hard and they had no other words of comfort. It has become something that sounds very patronizing, even if that is not the speakers intent. I want to give you some context of those words. While looking at the wood just laying there seemingly useless to me, I was reminded of this section from Ecclesiastes chapter 3.

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

If you have never really dug into each of these lines of poetry, please do this! If you don’t know how, head over to the resources page and download the PDF. It is a free tool that is amazing! I don’t know how else to express my emotions for the word other than to say that it makes me weep. Over and over. I can’t read this word without weeping because I am reminded of so many things when I read these words. Everything that is born, must die. When we have this hope in Christ, death can look much different to us. It can look like peace for the sick. Reprieve for the wounded. That does not mean that the loss of a child or spouse does not hurt. It still hurts. It hurts something bad because it cuts deep and leaves a black hole that is too big for us to fill alone. Being planted somewhere is great for growth. However, being plucked can look rough at first… until the roots are allowed to settle into new space that allows more growth. I understand the time to kill must be followed by time to heal. Not healing after killing is one reason that we currently have over 22 veterans committing suicide every day in America. Every season of life that we go through has been ordained by our God.

My wood pile is seemingly useless. It is big and takes up space. It is not cut or split. I know if I had to use it, I could. I need to put more work into it for it to be its best.  It needs to season. It needs time. God does not always use us when we want to be used. He uses us when it is time for us to be used. Some seasons he has us work, some seasons he has us rest. We need to be vigilant in the word to know exactly what season of life he has us walking. Many times he has us go through a hard season to prepare us to do his work. Just as my wood has no knowledge of when I will toss it in the fire, you never know when the Lord will call you to action or when you find yourself in a fire. After all, the Lord calls us to be prepared in season and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:2)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a list of antithetic parallels.  I am not going to lay all of these out for you. I think it would be a great exercise to go through this and think of how each of these seasons have been reflected in your life. Not everything will be literal. Remember: rabbinical people wrote the old testament. So, for those of you who have never killed anyone, consider a time that you hurt someone, or they hurt you. When a relationship was killed. When you think of casting stones, don’t assume that the word is referring to John 8:7, but rather 2 Kings 3:25. Really dig. Find the voice of the Lord in this text. You may find things you need to stop or start. I did.  

As always, feel free to reach out to me! All email subscribers will be entered in a drawing January 31st. The prize is a Sweater from Chorley’s Christian Clothing with a (TBD) amazing sublimation design! If you are not a subscriber, you can easily sign up on the main blog page or the home page.

Grace & Peace

Chorley

Daddy Issues

.Reading time 8 minutes.
Andi, Teresa, Daniel, Katrina -1989-

Life has been very reminiscent of childhood this past week. I have had many conversations that have led back to childhood pain specifically. I am not sure if that is the best wording for it, but I will use it anyway. When I say pain, I am referring to physical and emotional wounds that are caused usually by those that were put in place to protect us. I can say honestly that I have had to walk through many issues personally.

          I was reading from the book of Genesis this week. I am doing a read the bible in a year plan with a group of women. It is called wondered by the Word. It is nice. I don’t think I can get as deep as I usually do because it is just so much in such a short amount of time. So, I pick and choose what verses I will get really in depth with. This week I was reading through the story of Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, Isaac, Sarah, Lot and his daughters. Oh the daddy issues!

          Okay, the first thing… Go read Genesis 16-22.

Now in this text there are so many things that would not be okay to us in 2021. One thing is Abraham having a child with his servant. In 2021 we would most likely see this as human trafficking. It wasn’t considered that when Abraham did it…it was different times. While it may have been different times, I honestly believe that this would have a negative impact emotionally, on many involved. The next thing is lots daughters sleeping with their dad while after their mother chose her past over them and God. Not to mention their dad has isolated his daughters from society. WHAT?! This is plain as day incest. The girls are also no doubt dealing with abandonment issues as well. The story goes on to talk about Abraham telling his servant Hagar and his child to go away and not come back. Hagar runs out of water and just places her child next to a tree to die. To Die. The Lord then speaks to her and saves her and her child. Then Abraham (following God’s commands) takes his son up the mountain to sacrifice his life. His Life.

In a few chapters we have read about so many things that could have lasting effects. I have lived through a lot of abuse in my life. I don’t say this for sympathy, I say it because sometimes experiencing something helps you understand it better. I think I understand abuse because I lived it and I overcame it. Well, I guess it is more honest to say that every day I choose to overcome it. Every day I make choices to make sure that the abuse is not passed to my children. I want this sin to stop with me.

I have found a few facts that I wanted to share with you guys:

  1. It’s estimated that at least 1 in 7 children in the US has experienced child abuse and/or neglect in the past year.
  2. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse, followed by physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse.
  3. In 2018, about 16% of children who were abused experienced more than one kind of maltreatment.
  4. Boys and girls experience similar rates of childhood abuse (48.6% and 51% respectively).
  5. Rates of child abuse and neglect are 5 times higher for children in families with low socio-economic status compared to children in families with higher socio-economic status.
  6. Children younger than one year old are the most vulnerable to maltreatment, accounting for almost half of child fatalities from abuse in 2018.
  7. In 2018, 76% of child abuse perpetrators were a parent to their victim.
  8. In 2018, 62% of children placed in foster care were removed from their homes due to abusive neglect, totaling over 160,000 children.
  9. Children who experienced any form of violence in childhood have a 13% greater likelihood of not graduating from high school.
  10. Adult survivors of childhood abuse are more likely to experience mental health difficulties, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, eating disorders, and substance use disorders.
  11. Adult survivors of childhood abuse are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors like smoking, alcohol and drug use, and unsafe sex. They’re also more likely to report overall lower health than those who haven’t experienced childhood abuse.

The source for this information can be found at:

 11 Facts About Child Abuse | DoSomething.org

I shared these facts with you for a couple reasons.

One is for those that have experienced abuse. You get to choose what your life looks like from here out. You get to crawl out of the deep pit of despair and chase the God who is your true father. The one who never leaves your side. The one that has gotten you through every battle. The one in the den that calms the lions. The one in the fire that stops the singe. Even when it seems like he is sleeping through the storm, he is still in the boat. You choose what you will pick up and carry. You choose what you will leave behind.

The other is for those who are walking with someone who has experienced abuse. This is the moment that you get to show someone else love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. This is when you get to show someone Jesus. Choose your actions and your words very carefully. Remember that hurt people, hurt people.

My questions for you:  

Are you a hurt person, hurting people?   

Do you have anyone you need to forgive? How do you walk that out?

Do you need to ask anyone for forgiveness? How do you walk that out?

Are you walking with someone who needs extra grace? How do you walk that out?

Grace and Peace

-Chorley

Additional Resources

National Child Abuse Hotline: 24/7 at 1-800-422-4453

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 24/7 at 1-800-799−7233

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Helpline: 24/7 at 1-800-622-4357

Crisis Text Line: 24/7 text DS to 741741

Fellow Believers vs. Spiritual Family

.Reading time 10 minutes.

Relationships are weird and complex and amazing all at the same time. We read in Genesis that man was not meant to live alone. (Gen 2:18) How do we look at this in a whole sphere kind of way? There are two parts to this. We can take this in two different directions at the same time. The first is that we are not meant to live apart from God. Walking with God daily is a choice. Walking with God daily is one of the most important things that we can do. The second part of this is walking with others. Adam was given Eve: a helper. I know some may say that she was not a helper, only a vessel of temptation and bad influence. The reality is that we have no clue if Adam would have made the same choice whether Eve was there or not. The Word never says, “If Eve hadn’t convinced Adam, He never would have…” We all have parts of us that are not Christ-like. Adam was not innocent in this world changing event.

I talk about relationships because I have witnessed two different types of relationships lately. They may seem like twins on the surface, but they have quite different DNA.

The first relationship that I see is the relationship between fellow believers. This is encompassing many types of relationships. I would even go so far as to lump “Church Family” in this group. Many of the people that fall into this group are amazing people. They love, they are kind, and they read the word. They are the ones that invite you to church. They bring you a meal when you are sick. There are also many that do not love, are not kind, and don’t read the word. They are still believers. They are the ones that have never met each other but debate scripture on social media. I consider this all to be lumped together as “fellow believers”. The thing that ties this group together is that while the relationship is good, it is good. While it is also disposable. It is the relationship that can be here today and gone in a month. We see many people sever ties when they leave a church. The relationships slowly or even as quickly as it takes to click unfriend, disappear. We see this type of relationship play out in Luke 4. ( please read Luke 4 :14-30) He had begun his ministry and when he returned to Nazareth. He went to the synagogue and read from Isaiah. He went to the people that had known him a boy. He went to the people that he had been raised near. He went to people that were fellow Jews. Fellow believers of the one true God. As soon as they did not agree with what he was doing or saying, the relationship was over.

The next type of relationship is Spiritual Family. While, like I said before, on the surface to looks like “church family”, it is not. This group is also loving, kind, and reads the word. The difference is in the hurt and the pillars This is the  group that has walked though hard things together and come out looking more like Christ. This is the group that has spent hours fighting for each other’s freedom. This is the group that has shared each other’s burdens. This is the relationship that I long for all of you to have. I have this.

In 2016, I witnessed this in Nashville, TN. One of the harder things in my life is being unequally yoked. I had made a hard confession of pain, sin and shame about this to a group of 26 people. While I had grown a good relationship with many of the women, not all of them. I had yet to grow a good relationship with most of the men. One of the men spoke up and read, What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. -James 4:1-3. Then he said, “Let’s ask now”. So, I dropped to my knees to pray, and then 26 people, many that I did not have a relationship with, also dropped to theirs. All of us began to petition the Lord for my husband. Powerful prayers and weeping. If anyone would have walked in they might have thought we were a cult ready to sacrifice someone. (HAHA) After these five men vowed to dedicate one day a week to praying and some fasting for my husband. They still do this. I occasionally get calls asking for specific struggles to pray about. This is “Spiritual Family”.

I have also witnessed this in telling a woman to give her unborn baby to God. She had many pregnancy complications and was told the baby might not survive. While this hurt my heart, I knew what the word said. I had the obligation to fight for her freedom in this. I had the obligation and authority from the Lord to tell her that everything in this life is his plan and his will. That even if her baby were to die, that it would only be by Christ’s design. She came to know that the Love of Christ might spare her child a life of hurt and pain. Then, the Lord changed everything around she delivered a healthy baby. As he was delivered, I did not watch him come out. Instead I watched her face as she was overwhelmed with absolution. A baby boy that joyfully now calls me “Grandma”. His joyful smile and laughter lights up a room and when I see him my heart is reminded of the Lord’s steadfast love for us. I am also reminded of his mother’s freedom that was gained through tears brought on by a balance of truth and grace. There were things that she did not agree with or want to hear. However, she humbled herself to the Lord. This is Spiritual Family.

While I am in a season of mission I will remain tethered to my Spiritual Family. While Christ is my anchor and the Word is my rutter, they are the ones who remain in the boat with me. Through every storm, they remain. They are my helpers as I am theirs. This is the type of relationship I wish for you. I only found this through the process of making Disciples of Christ. I am not saying that relationships with fellow believers are wrong, I am saying that there is just a difference. Relationships with fellow believers can turn into Spiritual Family. Remember also, that relationships with Spiritual family can be hard too. It is not perfect. The great example of this is found in Acts 15:36-41, when Paul and Barnabas separate. While they went separate ways in ministry, Paul still had great things to say about Barnabas from Prison. They were still Spiritual Family. In my opinion, it is because they had already gone through hurt and the Lord has already built pillars in them.

Spiritual Family is built through hurt and pillars of faith.

My questions for you…

Do you have Spiritual Family?

Do you have people have give you truth and grace and you do the same for them?

Do you have people that are willing to bruise their knees for you?

Are you willing to wash their feet?

How can you turn your relationship with fellow believers into Spiritual Family?

Grace & Peace

-Chorley

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Maturing Like Vanilla

.Reading time 7 minutes.

Hello again my dear friends.  I have been incredibly grateful for all of you that have subscribed to this blog. If you have not yet subscribed and would like to… please head over to the homepage, scroll to the bottom and type in your email in the provided box. I do not sell your email address, and this does not subscribe you to junk mail.

I enjoy learning new things all the time. I like to think of myself as a jack of all trades. If I do not know how to do something, I try to learn. I spent a long time not being able to do things that looked interesting or fun. Yesterday marks 1 year exactly since I had my Explant surgery. For those that don’t know what this is… it is a surgery to remove breast implants. Basically in 2013 I had implants put in because I did not have my identity in Christ. That is the easiest explanation of why. Starting in 2015, I got sick. I continued to get sicker and sicker every year. I had so many strange ailments that I seemed like a hypochondriac. I found out that my implants were slowly killing me.

Since having them removed I have continued to get better. I have gotten so much healthier and been able to do so much more with my life. I am definitely more present as a mom and wife. I have also been able to have some amazing conversations with other women who have been sick because of the same thing. Through the sickness and toxicity, I developed fibromyalgia. There is currently no cure. I have days that are great, and I have days that I am in bed. I praise the Lord for allowing me to have so many more good days now. So, on good days, I want to live a full life and learn new things.

This week I took on the adventure of making my own vanilla extract. There are so many different ways to make it. One way that I found involved an Instapot, vodka, and a bunch of vanilla beans. I started with a clear liquid and after 35 minutes of pressure cooking the vodka with the beans, I had a beautiful amber liquid. I have no clue how it tastes. I can not even try it for another month. Right now, it still smells very alcoholic. The smells let me know that it is not ready. I am excited to see how it matures in a month. This whole process reminded me of our spiritual maturity.

Spiritual maturity is something that we all need to perceive with reality. I first got a good grasp of this maturity from Jim Putman’s book Real Life Discipleship. Jim explains the different stages of spiritual maturity as: Dead, Infant, Child, Teenager, Adult, Parent. I have come to focus on just: Dead, Infant, Teenager, Adult, Parent. I focus on those because that is what my spiritual mother taught me. If you want a breakdown of the different stages of maturity, I strongly encourage you to read Jim’s book or get with a disciple maker! One thing I know for sure is that age does not equate spiritual maturity. The traditional way to make vanilla extract involves putting the beans in vodka and letting it ferment for at least three months while occasionally shaking the bottle up. My vanilla is now 1 day old. If you put my vanilla next to a bottle that was traditionally made and also 1 day old… you would find that they are vastly different. There has been special care put into my vanilla to help it mature quicker. One way is not better than the other. They are simply different processes. Just as I know 50 year old women that are still spiritual infants while I know 30 year old women that are spiritual parents. The parents have had special care put into them.

One thing that I am reminded of is 2 Corinthians 3:1-18. I really want to focus on verse 18.         

 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This speaks into the fact that we are all being transformed over and over. While it is true that the process of making Disciples matures believers, it is also true that the maturing comes from the Lord. The Lord who is the Spirit. This maturing happens through abiding, reading the word, a solid prayer life, and making Jesus Lord of every aspect of your life. All of these things take time. They don’t happen overnight. We may reach spiritual maturity, but we will continue to move from glory to glory. By this I mean that there is glory in what we were, what we are, and what we are to become.

My questions for you…

Are you giving your spiritual life special care?

Are you using the right ingredients?

Are you rushing the maturing process?

There is too much in this verse for me to unpack it all in here. I encourage you to really study this verse and dig into unveiled face, beholding, transformed, and glory. Look into the Greek! What is the voice of the Lord for you in this verse? Don’t forget to check out the resource page on this site!

Grace & Peace

-Chorley

Sourdough

.Reading time 5 minutes.

This year about a week before thanksgiving, I started down the sourdough journey. I got the idea from another writer. I think her starter is passed down from 100+ years. Mine is not. I started my sourdough starter with flour and water and let it sit and ferment. I loyally fed it every day. The only thing I made for two weeks was a thin layer of hooch. I was disappointed and discouraged. Well, I loyally fed it unbleached all-purpose flour. After two weeks I did some more research and found out that when creating a sourdough starter from scratch, you need a flour with a higher gluten content. I decided to toss my jar of hooch and start over with whole wheat flour. After just 4 days, I had successfully created a sourdough starter. Now the thing with a sourdough starter is that you have to “feed” it every day. A certain amount of flour and a certain amount of water. You also discard some every day so that you don’t have a gallon of starter. If you aren’t going to use it frequently you can keep it in the fridge and feed it once a week or so. I have now shared some of my starter with my mother-in-law in California, a prophet in Harrah, a prophet in Choctaw and a shepherd in Choctaw.

When I handed over the starter I got to have good conversation with three of the four. Good Kingdom conversation. Sourdough has become a vehicle for ministry. Once conversation stuck out to me more than the others. The Shepherd from Choctaw. She is an amazing woman that, while we do not know each other well, we share a common grief. That grief binds our hearts together in a weird way.

She prayed for me at the end of our visit. Her prayers reminded me of so many things. I was reminded that iron sharpens iron. I was reminded that mundane visits can turn into moments to minister to others. I was reminded that we should not forsake the gathering. I was also reminded that walking with the Lord is a lot like making sourdough. You can not build from the wrong stuff. You need to be fed regularly. When left too long with out nourishment, there will be death. Death of prayer life, death of abide time, death of covenants, and death of spiritual growth. Death of spiritual growth will pour on to every other part of your life. Parts of our life need to be willingly discarded. In other words, Prune all branches that bear no fruit.

I was also reminded that one reason the Lord allows us to grow, is so that we can feed others. I have extra sourdough starter because I regularly feed it and nourish it. So, I am able to share with anyone who asks. If I want to be able to pour Jesus into other people, I have to first feed myself. You cannot pour from an empty cup. If you don’t know how to feed yourself the word, that’s okay. Everyone has to start somewhere. If you need some pointers, head over to the resources page and download the bible study PDF. If you need more help, reach out and I can help you find someone.

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.              John 21:17

Are you feeding yourself? Are you feeding others? Are you trying to pour from an empty cup?

To the Shepherd in Choctaw: “It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while he is the end of our journey, he is also at every stopping place.” -Elisabeth Elliot

I pray this finds you well. Grace and Peace,

– Chorley