Tag: disciple

sea black and white beach love

New Year, Same Hope

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Many of us just celebrated Rosh Hashanah. This is the Hebrew/ Jewish new year. This is also known as the Feast of trumpets. New year often comes with new goals and new hopes. It can be hard for some to blow the trumpet with joy when we think about the times we are living in.

The only thing that keeps me stable in these days of uncertainty is the absolute dependability of God’s Word. -Elizabeth Elliot

I wish I could say that most things in our world are running smooth and exactly how we want them to run. They are not. We have had a very trying couple of years. I wanted to share a few numbers with you.

Notable violence numbers from 2019:
2,983 Christians were killed for their faith
8,537 Christians were raped or sexually harassed for their faith
9,488 Churches or Christian buildings were attacked
3,711 Christians were unjustly arrested or imprisoned
1,052 Christians were abducted for faith-related reasons
3,315 Christian homes were attacked, burned or destroyed

Before you read any further… Pray.

We have these violent acts going around the whole world. I don’t have the answer for what you can do other than pray. The violence of this world is nothing new. People have been killing each other since Cain and Able. We can not look at these numbers and be surprised. Only a little over 30% of the worlds population is a Christian. Only about 65% of the US is Christian. That number is declining every year. These numbers should not scare you, but they should stir you. They should stir you to be in the Word so that you are also… prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

I recently when through Ephesians 4 with the Family Life Assembly of God in Choctaw, OK. The whole chapter is so rich and gives a great playbook for the Christian. One thing that we discussed every night was that the first three chapters of the book are the why and the next three are the how. As in, why we are Christians and how we walk that out. The biggest things that we have to understand is that we can not begin to walk out out faith, if we don’t know why we have our faith. My friend Maria shared the biblical definition of faith with us; confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. The only way that we can live in these trying times is by faith with hope. Not faith in a government to protect us and provide for us, but faith in our God to do that. Not hope that things will be how we want them to be and that we wont face trials and persecution, but Hope that Christ’s will be done in our lives.

One of the most powerful things that was ever told to the Hebrews that were being persecuted and were filled with righteous anger was; We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. When we have Christ as an anchor in our life, the storms and waves of the evil in this world don’t shift our faith. The frustrations of mundane daily tasks don’t distract us from the mission we are on.

What mission are you on?

Is your mission Christ centered?

What distractions from the enemy, stumbling blocks or briars of rebellion do you need to address?

Stand firm in your faith. Pray for the persecuted. Pray for those that persecute. Blow the trumpet of the Lord. Loudly!

Grace & Peace

Chorley

art writing morning business

Stuck in the Changing Room

.Reading time 6 minutes.

I recently started listening to this book from Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad, titled A Passionate Life. I am listening to it because I always have so much time in the car between school drop off and pick up, soccer practice and everyday errands. At the opening of the book Mike describes a situation that happened when his children were younger. He tells of a time that his family had a membership at a “health club”. That term “health club” alone takes me back to the 80s and 90s. He talks about how he loved the hot tub. Then his children told him about the sun shower. It was like a beach experience. You get sun rays and a tropical breeze for a set amount of time. So he goes in and doesn’t enjoy it. His children loved it and told him to try again. Just try a lil bit more time. So he did. Still didn’t get it. They talked him into trying it a 3rd time. So he goes in again. This time, when he opened his eyes, he found a 2nd door handle in the small room. It was a door knob. He opened it and that is when he realized that he had been standing in the changing room the entire time. He hadn’t even opened the door to enjoy the sun shower. Then Mike goes in to ask: Is your relationship with Jesus like that? Have you gone through the first door and just stood there not knowing that there is more?

I think that many Christians are guilty of this. I know that I was. Often times when we grow up we are told a little bit about what Christians believe. We are told that Christians believe in God and that God sent his son Jesus to be the messiah and that he died on the cross for our sins. I am not saying that is not a great definition. What I am saying is that; that is just the changing room. If we believe that is all we need to know about God, we are fooling ourselves.

I dont pretend to know all there is to know about the Kingdom. One thing I am reminded of is Matthew 7:21-23.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’

I am also reminded of the words that were directed to the Church of Laodicea in Revelation 3

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

There is so much more to God than the knowledge of the sacrifice of his Son. C. H. Spurgeon said that, ‘ to disregard the study of God, you will sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. … this will waste your life and your soul’ I know that knowing that we are to know God is just the beginning. The next step is often harder. The next step is knowing where to begin in our journey to know God. I will give you the number one way to know God. His word.

We are all known by our Words. Our Words reflect what is in our heart. That is why the Word tells us, out of the mouth flows the heart. If all I ever talk about are other people, my heart is focused on other people. If all I ever talk about is money, my heart is focused on money. If all I ever talk about is people being “judgy”. My heart may very well be “judgy”. If I talk about kingdom things, my heart is focused on kingdom things. Be very carful who you allow to occupy the air space around you. Is the voice of the world louder than the voice of the Lord in your life?

Unpopular opinion: If you are never in his word, you don’t know him.

I pray this finds you well and hungry for the Word of the Lord.

Grace & Peace

Chorley

monochrome photography of people shaking hands

Prosthetics make Partnerships

.Reading time 7 minutes.

I am in my third month at being at a new church. I new body of believers. I new denomination. I new mission. I finally got a chance to sit down with the women of this new body and discuss what exactly I do.

            I am a disciple maker. I invest in reliable women who will invest in more reliable women. I spend a lot of time with women teaching them Jesus words. Then I show them how to walk in his ways. Then they go off and do his works. It is a beautiful cycle.

            I don’t believe that disciple making can only look one way. I know that the women who were discipled along side of me, do things different than I do things. That is fine. I know that some churches have classes on how to be a disciple. I am not saying they are wrong. I am just saying that I do things differently than some. If I see Jesus do it in the word, I do my best to emulate that. If I do not see him do it in the word, I walk with extreme caution.

            I have a prosthetic implant in my neck. When I was in Iraq in 2006, there were a series of mortars dropped on a forward operating base that I was stationed at. Long story short, a percussion from one mortar slammed me and another soldier into a truck. For a long time, this caused pain in my shoulder blade. Little did I know that I was experiencing nerve pain in my shoulder blade because the blast had caused me to break 4 vertebrae and herniate 6 disks. I didn’t know until almost 10 years later when I moved my neck one day and it just got stuck. So, I had surgery to replace 2 of my disks. The ones causing the most pain. The doctor decided that it would be best to not get a donor disk. Instead, I would be receiving a man made prosthetic. The reality is that often a donor disk is rejected by the recipient. The recipients body sees that donor disk as a infiltration that must be killed to protect the body from becoming infected. The human body is amazing like that. It always seeks self-preservation.

            I have known the Pastor at the church I am at since I was about 13. I say 13 because I don’t have a lot of memory from that time in my life due to that fact that I had a substance abuse problem. I believe that this relationship that we have has been building since that time. I have shared with him and his wife, my faults, my past, and where I am now in my walk with Christ. I have shown myself to be a humble person and ready to assist.

             I am a prosthetic. I am here to help strengthen them. I know that it is not all up to me. I know that it is also up to them and the Holy Spirit. After all the Holy Spirit is my senior advisor in all of this. I can not be a donor. I can not be something that has the potential to infect or harm their body. I know that I will not be accepted by all. I walk into this body knowing that I will not be received by all. Paul was not received by all either. Not that I am comparing myself to Paul, but rather to say, if a great man was rejected by some, why wouldn’t I be as well? What I am sure of: is that one is enough. If I can just walk with one person, it is enough. If I can encourage one person, it is enough. If I can plant one seed, it is enough.

            I am writing this to encourage those that are sitting with the Lord and have realized that there is a calling on their life to go. To Yatsa. To Poreuomai. If  Isaiah can stand up and say, “ Here I am, send me”. Can we? When the Lord calls us to leave our homes and go build the tower somewhere else, will we? If Moses can hold up his staff long enough to endure the battle, can we? And If we can’t, can we at least hold up the arms of those willing to do so? For those of you that will Go… be a prosthetic. Be helpful. Strengthen and encourage. Don’t be a donor Don’t be one that is only given away when its host no longer needed or wanted it. Do not attack. To those of you that have someone coming in: prepare your heart to receive new things. Don’t assume that it is something that is meant to hurt you or attack you. Prosthetics make partnerships.

The best way for the Prosthetic to prepare and the Recipient to receive; is in prayer.

Pray without ceasing.  -1 Thessalonians 5:17

Grace & Peace

Chorley

P.S.

Don’t forget to head over to the resources page and check out my friend Sara on the Grace Warriors podcast! It is great!

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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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

Walking with Compassion

.Reading time 7 minutes.

Hello all! It is cold here in Oklahoma. Oklahoma doesn’t usually get to -7. I hope all of you are staying nice and warm. This unusual weather that we are experiencing has me thinking a lot about those that are out in this weather. I am not talking about the linemen, the ranchers or the first responders. I am talking about the roughly 4000 homeless that are in Oklahoma. The ones that have to rely on places like the Homeless Alliance. I am also talking about some of the 750,000 elderly. Many of whom have no one to go get them supplies. I am also thinking about the 168,000 single parents that are solely responsible for keeping their children warm and fed. Currently, 594,140 people in Oklahoma struggle with hunger. 208,110 of those are children. If you think you are a Disciple of Jesus and none of this is your problem, you are wrong.

            “Him who strengthens me.”

If we take a minute to look at the Disciples and the lives that they lived, we see people who were shepherds. Jesus and his disciples fed thousands and thousands of people in the span of just three years. If I made my family a meal 3 times a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 3 years, for the 5 of us that would be 16,380 meals. We look at the number of people the Disciples fed, and we are in awe of their selflessness and the miracles of being able to feed that many people. But… How often do we grumble at even having to make dinner a few nights a week for our husbands and children? I don’t say this to shame you. Believe that I am the first to raise my hand and say that I have grumbled. I have grumbled a lot. In my grumbling my husband has shown me grace. My husband who goes to work five days a week for 12-15 hours every day in all weather, shows me grace in my grumbling. The word tells me:

She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.

Lord continue to change me. Continue to change my mind. Continue to change my heart.

“Him who strengthens me”

In Mark 6:30-44 we read about the Disciples feeding 5000 men. The word tells us that Jesus saw a great crowd and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  The disciples came to Jesus when it got late and told him to send them off to buy themselves something to eat. Jesus response was, “You give them something to eat”. The word does not tell us if these men had the ability to fend for themselves. It does say that the Disciples were going to tell them to buy food for themselves. If I were an assuming woman, I might assume that they may have had the ability to acquire food. Regardless, Jesus said, “You give them something to eat”. If we look further into Mark, Mark 8:1-10, we see once again that Jesus had compassion on the crowd. This time he had spent some time with these men and did not want to send them home hungry for fear of them fainting. So, he said, “feed them in this desolate place”.

When we look at the Greek of this word compassion we find the word “splagchnizomai”. Splagchnizomai: to be moved in the inward parts, to feel compassion – “from splanxna, ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. These gradually came to denote the seat of the affections.

Deep down in his inner most being he was moved to care for people. He modeled this for his Disciples. We know that this was successfully modeled for his disciples because we see the Disciples follow this example in Acts 6. The Disciples were informed of a need and they appointed people to fill the need.

            My life has not been easy, but I have survived. I have not always had all I wanted but by still being alive, I have had all I needed. I was reminded of Paul’s words to the Philippians.

            I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I have recently asked myself a couple questions and I encourage you to ask yourself these questions.

Do I praise his name when I am brought low? Do I praise his name when I abound? When I am given plenty and I have abundance, am I showing compassion and generosity to others that have hunger and need? This hunger and need could be spiritual or physical. When I have hunger and need, do I seek that which gives what I need? Do I truly walk as a Disciple?

“Him who strengthens me.”

Remember that compassion and generosity is not meant to make you feel better. It is meant to make others feel better. It pleases the Lord. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” I pray you find your hands useful.

”She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”

As Always,

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?

Is this mic on?

.Reading time 11 minutes.

Hello all. I hope this finds you well. By well, I mean spiritually healthy. It is funny to think about the fact that I could mean so many things by well. I could mean, your bills are paid. I could mean you are healthy physically. There are so many things that go on in our lives and be determined as well or unwell. The average English word apparently has at least 3 meanings. The word “set” has 430 meanings. If I were to ask you, “did you win the set?”, would you know what I am talking about? You would only know by asking questions. The average person can speak 125-175 words per minute. Amazingly, the average person can listen to 450 words per minute. Our ability to understand depends on our ability to listen. More than our ability… our desire. If we don’t have a desire to listen to others. There is no way that we are ever going to understand them.

            I have this deep desire, like most women, to be heard when I speak. When we speak to our spouse, we want them to hear us. When we correct our children, we want them to obey. When we share the Gospel, we want the hearer to believe. If there is one thing that I understand, it is not being heard.

I grew up in a house that had little want for the voice of a child. I remember my big brother sitting timidly next to our stepfather at the dinner table. We all knew if my brother made one wrong move he would be hit hard enough to be knocked out of his chair. Our stepfather worked nights and all four of us children knew that if we woke him, we would surely be whopped with his cowboy belt, that was intricately engraved with his name. When I joined the Army at 17, I spoke up all the time. I usually landed myself in some type of trouble for speaking my mind. Afterall, the Army could not break me down any further than my childhood. Someone yelling in my face was nothing. I guess I am a glutton for punishment.

I had to fight to be heard in the Army for a long time. It was not until I became a Non-Commission Officer that I was actually heard. Then I got moved to an all-male company. The fight was back on. It was not until after our first fire fight in Kadhimiya, Iraq that I no longer had to fight to be heard. I had gained the respect of the men. I had been with them for a short time. We were doing a standard escort mission. As soon as we went under a bridge one of my best friends started running back towards us and just barely got out of the way of an RPG that flew past us. We immediately followed the commands of our platoon sergeant and moved our individual squads into position. I took my squad to keep overwatch on one side of the bridge that we were receiving fire from, while the other squad leaders moved to their positions. We were under attack for a while. I saw a small fire under one of the trucks that we were escorting. I was worried because the day prior to this, we had to sweep the remains of a fellow Soldier out of a truck that burnt down. I explained to my squad that I needed them to cover me while I moved to the truck on foot. They were to maintain their position. One Soldier started to tell me that I should stay in the truck. I quickly had to inform him to shut up and follow orders. Believe that I was yelling over the gunfire and I did not say it in the nicest way. When I made it to the truck that was on fire… I quickly found out it was a small fire the civilians had made to keep warm while we handled the enemy for them. I put out the fire that was drawing attention to them and made my way back to my guys. As soon as I got there, I received a call from the platoon Sergeant that he needed me to call for fire. This the nice way of saying we were going to call for air support to drop a bomb on the building that we were receiving gunfire from. I began to wonder if the mic was working. The air support network had gone down in our truck. I had to make the call across the entire battalion network. There was a chance of up to 900 people hearing me call for fire. I was incredibly nervous and didn’t feel like I should be the one doing this. I immediately felt inferior. Then I told myself that my voice was needed more now than it had ever been needed. I had to speak up to help the lives of the 12 guys, 1 medic, and 5 civilians. I couldn’t sound weak because there were already too many who didn’t believe I should be serving with the infantry company to begin with. I mustered the guts and began my transmission.  I had one person try to interrupt me. I quickly told them to shut up and wait( I added some explicit words). At the time I didn’t know it was the Operations Sergeant Major. Our air support Arch Angel was unable to come due to air status being Red (too dangerous). So, we just continued the fight until the enemy gave up and ran away. Believe that those of us still alive, are alive because of the heroic actions of SSG Snapp and the squad leaders on the ground. When we returned to the small forward operating base, the Sergeant Major paid me a visit. He informed me that when things are important, always speak up. Fight to be heard. Then he had me do 50 push ups for cursing on the battalion network. My men never questioned me again. My words had weight in them.

I got to wondering about women in the Word who spoke up anyway. Women who spoke up when it was necessary. The women who stick out to me the most are Ruth, Deborah, and Esther.

Ruth spoke up to Naomi. Naomi had given up. Ruth listened to Naomi list off her woes. Ruth empathized with Naomi. Ruth helped give Naomi reprieve and an absolution to her loneliness. Ruth chapter 1

Deborah was the first and only female judge to reside over the people of Israel. Deborah was the one that was instructing Barak on how to handle the Canaanites. Deborah was the one that reminded Barak that the Lord had commanded him. Barak had doubt, it was Deborah’s voice and support that led him to defeat the enemy. Barak didn’t do this alone. His show of force led Sisera to flee to a woman for shelter. This woman Jael drove a tent peg through his head.  And verse 21 so eloquently says, “So he died” This course of events lead to the Canaanites defeat. Because Deborah spoke up. Judges chapter 4

Esther is one of the most well-known speakers in the word. She got her position in the only way that she could. She got the position of queen through her beauty. Her beauty may have been what got her to her position, but it was her selflessness that led her to risk her life and speak up for the Jews who were set to be killed by her husband’s friend. There is so much weight in her husband choosing her voice over his best friends. Choosing any woman’s voice over a mans was huge already. Lives were saved because Esther spoke up. Esther chapter 7.

You have a voice and your voice matters. Speak up for yourself and speak up for others. You may be met with opposition or you may be heard. Know when to speak up. Know when to stand up. Know when to walk away.

Whether you are a friend, a co-laborer, or a spouse… do you listen? Do you ask questions to clarify? When someone speaks do you listen to understand, or do you listen to respond? Is your response more important than what they are saying? Is your response apples of gold?

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

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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