In physicist Blaise Pascal’s proverbial book titled Pensees he writes, “Christianity is strange.” In my opinion this is a rather awkward and puzzling way of describing the Way he professes to follow.

So what I am trying to say? Well I believe Blaise Pascal was a devout Christian. He offers a unique persepective grasping known physical laws and livng professed Christian disciplines. I would definitely say it made him a bit strange and as that cliché saying goes, “it takes one to know one.” And I see it sure does as this scientist played part in his own Jesus-following experiment personally testing out this physical/spiritual mystery.

Jesus, the man who jump-started Christianity by being Christ and all, was no stranger to being strange. As a Holy Man, he hung out with all the wrong people: tax collectors, wine bibbers, outcasts, lepers, demon-possessed, the blind, the lame, the poor, the sinners, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… If I may test out my own physical/ spiritual theory for a moment, it was as if Jesus was following some kind of paradoxical mathematical formula or law. For wherever the social outcast was, (you know, the low man on the totem pole), there Jesus was sticking up for the rejected under-dog. To top it off, Jesus publicly professed that He revealed who God perfectly was and is and always will be… or as Philip Yancey poetically describes this wonder of physics, this awesome formula, “Grace like water flows to the lowest points of gravity.” And so it seems physically and spiritually, God defies social gravitational forces and laws of physics. Christ makes the supposed weak strong, God-graced, and of course, strange.

“The things I hate most [about my life] are the things God uses most every day in ministry.”

This is a rough quote from Beth Moore that I jotted down during Bible study last night. She was talking about wrestling at times with her own past, and the many things it contains that she is ashamed of. She mentioned her abusive childhood coupled with her own sinful choices that took her into a life in the pit. She then talked about how she has prayed that God will reminder her of those experiences when she is ministering to people. This allows her to connect with them in a way that at times others can. She said that we often will show the amount of grace that we understand God to have shown us. This means that those who understand and are humbled by the lavish amount of grace God has shown them are more likely to extend grace to others.

I know as a counselor, I face this reality daily. I see so much of myself in others, especially when they are hurting. Much of my compassion comes from the grace I feel on my own life, and I realize that just like Beth, God tends to use parts of my life I regret the most to help me minister to others who are broken and hurting.

When we are contemplating our life of faith — where do we stand with our own past and the grace we show others? Have we accepted our past (no matter how stained it is) and are we readily and openly available to show grace towards others (no matter how stained their past or present is)?

I realized no one blogged last week, which makes me think this week is open, too. I’ll do my best to post something daily… but as some of you who have tried blogging might know, it’s harder to remember than you’d think!

Here goes: Yesterday morning I got up and decided to do my bible study for the day before church. Beth Moore suggested in her book to us ladies that we all spend some time “on our face” (literally) before we do our study each day. She talks about how our posture can really affect our heart and our communication with God — and how being face down on the ground can really humble us into the right spirit. I’ve found this to be true, and have enjoyed the practice of literally reminding myself of my position before God. I’ve made it a practice to have some personal worship time while on the ground, and yesterday, while I was face down, one song kept popping in my head. The only problem was that I couldn’t remember all the words or the tune… It was one of those moments where you know that you know the song, but you cannot get other tunes out of your head. So all I could sing was “I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive.” I tried looking in an nlcf songbook that was nearby, but nothing could jog my memory.

Frustrated, I got up and did my study. An hour later, I stood in church and Isaac started playing during the first worship set, and I heard it. He began to play the song! “You alone are Father, and You alone are Good… You alone are Savior, and You alone are God.” That was it!!! I started tearing up I was so moved, because I felt like God was saying, “I know you heart — here is your song.” I had such a worshipful moment while singing…and it was definitely a boost to my faith. And I felt more alive in my faith while singing than I have in a while…it was like God literally breathed life into me.

What a reminder of the fact that all we have to do is try in our faith, and God will not only meet us there, but take us further.

Let me just flat out say it. I do not believe that if someone is sick that means they have sinned or they have sin in their life, or they lack the faith to be healed. Not so. That is not what Jesus said, nor is it at all scriptural. (Please read story of healed blind man John 9:1-41) Unjust suffering happens in this fallen world, and physical illnesses seem a viable cross to bear for followers of Christ in this world. (This type of suffering too always seems to happen for redemptive purposes in the world! so it seems it is worth the cost! Learn more about Helen Keller if you don’t believe me.)

Take for example, Job got sick. Even Jesus himself was never a best-selling author instead he was crucified. The disciples and apostles throughout time got sick, were imprisoned, and were for the most part martyred. The southern short story writer and follower of Jesus, Flannery O’Connor, followed in suit of a Paul with the thorn in his flesh (See 2 Cor.12:7-10). She had Lupus and ended up dying [“falling asleep”] from the disease. She looked at her sickness as a blessing because it allowed her to concentrate on what is eternal and holy, not the gone with the wind worries of life. Her continuous struggle with the dis-ease was also a continuous reminder that she is in need of God’s help to get through each day.

I myself am a bit of a hypochondriac meaning I have a tendency to always think I have some form of sickness and/or I am dying. (And I guess if I am honest our bodies are mortal frames that can die away any time.) Over time though what I once looked at as a weakness, I now find to be a God-graced strength. I am reminded each day that it may be my last. Therefore I find I take each hour of life for granted less and less. Which in turn I thank God for the gift of Life he has given me and promises dreams of a coming Resurrection of the Saints. Now and here no matter the circumstances may we be trees of Life, rooted deeply in Abba’s unconditional love bearing good fruit … How bout them apples?

Be holy as God is holy. Practice Resurrection.

If my guitar is in tune and I hit all the strings while holding either the fifth, the seventh, or the twelfth fret it makes a wonderful sound (that the band Pink Floyd loved to use.) The sound communicates and resonates some angelic ring undescribable with words. If you don’t know what I am talking about ask someone who knows how to play the guitar to let it ring. Audibly it is just too amazing that I beleive everyone ought hear with their ears, listenening carefully, allowing the singing voice of the guitar strings to sink in, gracefully. (The band Pink Floyd obviously thought so too since they use it so much in their music.)

Please note and beware harmonics only happens in the world if the musical artist tunes the guitar exactly as it was designed to work, and then the guitar player needs to actually pick up the instrument with hands in place and guitar pick strumming ever so delicately down each string and “viola!” Harmonics!!! HARMONICS!!!

To take my musical notes even further, I believe God is the ultimate designer of his instruments, earth, space, nature, you, me and every other human being… We need God to tell us what being in tune with God’s Spirit is (for God knows what is best.) Jesus Christ is that tuner. And The Holy Spirit is the Artist who creates artistically the symphony of Life [matter and spirit] from nothing. And we play it! We play it! WE play it!!!

Eugene Peterson writes:
“We are not presented with a functional god who will help us out of jams or an entertainment god who will lighten our tedious hours. We are presented with the God of exodus and Easter, the God of Sinai and Calvary. If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms. If we want to see God the way he really is, we must look to the place of authority–to Scripture and to Jesus Christ.

And do we really want it any other way? I don’t think so. We would very soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool. No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to–a God we must look up to…The moment we look up to God (and not over at him, or down at him) we are in the posture of servitude.”*

Wow. This was all I needed to read today to challenge my faith. Am I in the position of servitude? Do I have the posture of looking up at God in this way?

Psalm 123 is a good prayer for me to cling to…

*Eugene H. Peterson. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 63.

I like reading other women’s blogs. Many of them I don’t know personally, but I feel like I do know them in the Lord. They share their lives and faith, and I learn so much from them.

I was reading one today in which a woman posted this as part of a blog post:
“That’s the bottom line…give to God generously, above and beyond what you are called to give, and do it with joy. Live your life directed toward His voice, knowing that one day, He may ask you to give it all away. It may be as insignificant as a silly purse (nothing personal, Coco), or as meaningful as someone you love. None of it is ours, not one bit.”

I couldn’t have said this better myself. Part of living out our faith is to give to God generously, above and beyond, AND to do so with joy. I desire to live my life directed toward His voice. And I want to be ready to give all that he calls me to do.

What do I have right now that I can give? Time? Money? Possessions? Friendship? I want to be seeking God daily to be in touch with what he might have me sacrifice for him and his kingdom…

Here is a reminder of our faith challenges for each week.

Remember, small focused changes that occur daily, when combined with faith, can result in some wild things from God. If you have gotten off schedule, just shrug it off and hop back in!

Monday – pray for boss/co-worker/spouse
Tuesday – look for intentional ways to serve someone around you
Wednesday – encourage the faith of someone in your bible study / homegroup
Thursday – serve the city you live in somehow
Friday – invite someone to church
Saturday – connect with someone in your family to encourage their faith
Sunday – pray for leaders of [nlcf], look for ways to serve the church

Little things plus an extrordinary God will lead to extrordinary things. Our goal is to look to him to guide us! “According to your faith, it will be done.” – Jesus of Nazareth

Okay… so after another missed day, all I can do is share that this summer faith thing is challenging. It doesn’t seem too hard to have to post a blog daily, but yet I’m only batting .500 on day 4. That might be a hall of fame batting average, but I’m not sure the same rules apply to blogging.

One thought that has been on my mind since yesterday was the idea of hunger and satisfaction.

A quick story: After attending a baseball game in Salem on Friday, I found myself and the 4 others with me craving a Krispy Kreme donut. We frantically drove to get there before close, and we bought a dozen in addition to being given a free one each. Our tummies were satisfied and we didn’t think much of it until later, when Jeanette (one of the 4) discovered Friday had been Free Donut Day at all Krispy Kreme shops. We got a good laugh out of that one, and joked that must have been why some of us were craving one.

Fast forward to Monday night’s Bible study, and one of the ladies shared that she hadn’t realized how thirsty she was for fellowship until she had attended the first Bible study. It was being there, satisfied, that left her realizing how thirsty she had been.

What is it that each of us is thirsty for this day? This summer? The next year? Sometimes we might miss something we need, because we don’t realize we need it until its right in front of us. Other times we just want something and don’t realize that we can have it without having to do a lot to get it. My point is this: either way, by being active in our faith, giving things a try, and putting ourselves out there, we are more likely to find satisfaction in God than if we just stay complacent.

Two different examples. Same result. Satisfaction. What a wonderful feeling.

So I’m already off to a “rough” start with my faith challenge. Yesterday was my first assigned day to blog, and I forgot. Oops. But that’s the great thing about something like a faith challenge. It’s designed to last over a long haul, and along the way there will always be slip-ups.

This week I’ve been reading in the Psalms as a start to the women’s bible study on the psalms of ascents. We’re memorizing one, Psalm 121. In this psalm, there’s a verse that stands out to me today.

Psalm 121:3 (HCSB) states: “He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.” There will be times when the faith path gets slick, and its easy for us to slip up. But God is there to protect us and to help us keep our footing. That is such an encouragement to me.

But what happens when we slip up anyway?

Jude 1:24 states: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—”

We may lose our footing, but our Lord is there to keep us from getting really banged up, so that we can finish the race before us “without fault and with great joy.”

Keep running hard on this challenge…