Blog Post by Ashley Bowie - Loved by God even though she is sometimes annoying.

Is anyone else a little irritated that the bible does not give instruction on how to deal with people who annoy you? We have words from the mouth of Jesus on how to treat enemies, how to treat the people who oppress us, or are wicked leaders, or unrepentant sinners, kings and queens, orphans and widows, but nothing on being annoyed. This is unfortunate because people are very annoying. Some of them talk too much and sometimes you have to carry the whole conversation. Some people try to cross the street where there is no crosswalk, some people chew with their mouths open, some people don’t speak in complete sentences, some people say “irregardless” like it’s a word, some people always interrupt you, and you guys, some people don’t like ice cream.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you said something really ridiculous or out of place and you felt like the fool of the moment? You can recall that moment with exact perfection 10 years later and still feel hints of shame? We all have stories like this. And we have bigger worse ones where you know you sinned against someone or hurt someone and you can’t seem to shake the guilt. Sure this is a tool of our enemy, to keep us trapped in past hurts and make us ineffective for the present. But the Lord is kind, He can and does turn those moments into a remembrance of how far He has brought you and how He has turned your heart against sin.

I’ve done my fair share of sinning in my life. Generally, I am an open book with my friends, I don’t mind talking about the things I’ve learned and the grace God has shown my life. There is one, however, that I cannot stand to talk about if I can avoid it, and I usually can. It produces the strongest aftershock of shame in my heart and frequently I find myself praying, begging God, that I never fall subject to that particular sin again. I’m going to tell you what it is.

Superiority.

There have been moments in my life where I intentionally did not talk to someone because I thought I was better than them, or I didn’t want people to think I was friends with that type of person. I have grown annoyed at people's faults or insecurities and have counted myself better. I’ve seen bad decisions in action and been glad that “at least I’m not stupid.” I have looked down on people as though their sin is any worse than mine, I have avoided people because their quirks rubbed me the wrong way. It makes me feel wretched because I have intimate knowledge of the darkness in my heart, and I have intimate knowledge of God's beautiful light.

Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!”

Have you ever had a chance to see so many stars in the sky on a perfectly clear night that you could trace the thick band of the Milky Way over your head? It’s a stunner. You have to stand there and just breathe between your exclamations and sighs because what can you really say to adequately capture that kind of beauty? When I look at another person, that night sky is what I imagine. Inside their mind are the infinite possibilities of what they will say or do, what made them who they are, what their goals are, and what they might possibly be capable of. I can see your eye color, the length of your hair, I can be familiar with the shape of your face and the sound of your voice. I can know a few things about you, we can share some memories, but the reach and depth of who you are extends beyond the possibility of total comprehension. At the very least, this kind of craftsmanship by God the Creator, must be respected. And in its design, this delicate and vital work by the hand of God is essential to our growth as a people.

It's easy to chalk our annoyances up to sin. It’s easy to say “what it really is, is that she is selfish.” Or “I just don’t know how to interact with people who are so close minded.” Or “They dislike/hate me, why should I make an effort with them?” Popular advice supports most of this; protect yourself, don’t give to people who won’t give back, don’t engage with people you know you can’t win over. And this can seem like wisdom. Except…

Christ Jesus was God, and He humbled Himself to become a man, He valued the lowly, He reached toward sinners, He held out hands to the difficult personalities and made them an intimate part of His life. He washed feet and He healed the wounds inflicted by those who were too immature to sort out when was a good time for a fight.

There is no, absolutely no discrimination when it comes to who is more deserving of our time. I’ll tell you how you know when to give yourself and when to stop. This two-part rule; are they human? Are they in your vicinity? I’m not saying, seek out people who annoy you. No one has to do that, they exist in our world and if you need an ego pop; you are someone else’s annoying person. Just embrace it, there’s probably nothing you can do about that. But there are people everywhere who need to be loved as they are, welcomed in with sins and quirks and little habits that have you squirming.

Christ who is God, became lower than that, He became a man in order to welcome all to Himself. If the goal is to become more Christ like, then we must welcome all. We must humble ourselves and be sacrificial with our time, our ego, our pride. Can you talk with someone who is openly racist? Jesus did. Can you be seen talking with people that all of society has ostracized? Jesus did. Can you spend time with people that you feel like should be spiritually mature by now but aren’t? Jesus did, and He still does. I am so glad that He does. Where would I be without His loving embrace?

This week's post by Brandon Adent, a deacon at Redeemer Church. He likes words, music, and words about music, and has already had one cup of coffee too many. 

I get angry both too often and not enough.

I get riled up by inconveniences, such as slow internet or getting cut off on the highway.

But I don’t get angry near enough, not well enough, and not at the things I should. I think I’m scared to do that.

We know that God is, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex 34.36). We know, as well, that He does get angry (Judges 2, Exodus 32.9).

Human anger is scary because, even as it's not always violent, it is imperfect - or, I should say - we’re imperfect. We don’t get mad about what we should, so we have a tendency to think that our anger is inherently bad, and even if it’s righteous, our emotions - or our intellect - can easily lead us into sin; we like to think that we’re the Judge.

While human anger can be scary, it’s nothing compared to God’s anger. When He saw sin and ruin and injustice, He did something about it. He sent His Son for the wicked, and not until He had unleashed His calculated, controlled, perfect, terrifying and righteous wrath on Jesus was His mission “finished”.

We get mercy. And it’s only because our Father understands justice, and gave His Son what we deserve.

Because of the grace we have in Him, we can work for justice, mercy, and grace in this world without fear of the eternal consequences of getting it wrong.

Like Nehemiah, filled with sorrow for Jerusalem’s lack of walls, or Moses’ fury with the nation of Israel as they broke the covenant just as it was instated, we should get angry at the things that the things that make God angry, things that are an affront to His rightful authority, and prayerfully take action.

Again, we should be careful with our anger, even if it's righteous. There may be earthly consequences for taking the wrong action. But there could also be earthly consequences to doing nothing.

So what’s broken around you? Where do you see injustice, hurt, pain, and suffering? Where is justice a joke, where are human rights neglected, where is there a lack of love, of mercy, of compassion?

Ask God to act on behalf of the oppressed, and ask Him to stir your heart and mind toward action.

Pray that you’d be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Pray that anger would eventually come, and that your anger would not lead you to sin. (James 1.20, Ephesians 4.26)

Pray that you’d get angry about things that matter, and that we'd work for justice and mercy in this broken world.

This blog post was written by Theresa Adams, a Redeemer member, wife and mom, who would love to have her own roller skating rink & thinks getting her kids to eat kale is a major victory!

Loving others. Serving others. Meeting needs. All of those things can seem so daunting. So overwhelming. It can be paralyzing to know even where to begin. Sometimes people do get immobilized and don't even start. They think the circumstances have to be just so. They think when their kids get older when they have more spare time when they don't have such a heavy class load when they find a cause that breaks their heart then they will begin. I get it. I was that person. I wanted to "do something." I wanted to be a drop in the bucket that would turn into an ocean of loving, compassionate acts. But I didn't even know where to begin. I didn't know what broke my heart. What would make me weep? Sometimes I didn't even want to know that a need was out there. 

When you are living in oblivion/innocence/ignorance, it is so effortless to look the other way. Once you are made aware, it makes it near impossible to go on living without doing something. There is no going back to blissful naivety once you've become acquainted with a need. It's like Nehemiah. He was a Jew, born in Persia during the exile, so he didn't know Jerusalem other than he had relatives there. When he inquired as to the conditions among the Jews there who had survived exile in Jerusalem he went from being unaware of having his heart wrecked. "They told me, "The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still in rubble; the city gates are still cinders." When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven." (NE 1:3,4) The need was not directly affecting Nehemiah, yet he wept. For days. He sought God and then he set out to meet the need.

Perhaps you think: God wouldn't use me.  Why in the world when He has his pick of all the great, kind, loving people on the planet would He ever want to use the likes of me to accomplish something for His Glory? Why would He entrust me to love others?  To serve others? With my past? With my weaknesses? With my judgmental tendencies?  With my greed? With my selfishness?  With my potty mouth? With my grades? Whatever the reason you think you aren't "good" enough to accomplish something for His purpose have you ever thought that when we say we are incapable of being used by Him that we are saying He's made some mistake?  

God made each one of us perfectly and intentionally. He doesn't make mistakes.  It's not as though He had some terrible no-good-very-bad-day when He was creating you.  He knows you from the hairs on your head to the tips of your toes.  He knows your thoughts, your words, your heartbeat and the rhythm of your soul. It's because of the exquisite detail that makes you -you- that no one else can accomplish what you can. No one else can meet a need in the specifically same way as you. No one else can love as you love. Your gifts, skills & compassion differ from mine. What breaks my heart may not break yours. 

If you find yourself longing to "do something"  to serve your neighborhood, your city, your county, your campus, but you don't know what said something is can I encourage you to pray about it? To ask God what breaks your heart? He will be faithful and reveal something to you. He did to me. Years ago it was human trafficking that first gave an awareness to the myriad of needs of our world, country, state, county. And I began small. Sending letters & cards to a shelter in Greece that housed women freed from trafficking. Then it was building an awareness of what went on in our county and connecting with local resources.

 Since that time there have been many different opportunities I've been able to take part in: from giving my credit at a consignment store to a homeless woman so she could buy clothes with dignity, to having garage sales for at-risk-teens, to providing Christmas presents to kids whose parents were unable to provide one of their own.. I don't share this with you as a "look-at-me-I've-got-it-all-figured-out" kind of pat on the back, because truly, I am pretty sure I mess up & miss opportunities on a regular basis. 

What I hope to do by sharing with you is to encourage you. I too once wanted to love others. I wanted to "do something," I wanted to help to serve to make a difference. Sometimes I wonder if that is what Jesus meant when he told his followers: "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34,35)  He didn't say people would know we were set apart because of the fish logo on the back of our cars. Nor by the verses & well-meaning quotes we share on Facebook. Not even by the in-depth knowledge of doctrine we may have. None of which are insignificant.  But by our love. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's by the feeling of love, but rather the action. An outpouring of activity regardless of the outcome. Regardless of what we gain in return. Love as He loved us.

 If your heart is to love others (Or you want to have that heart) and you'd like to serve alongside those in our county who are already meeting a need here are some possibilities. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it's a start. And isn't that what we need sometimes? Just a start?

http://www.engedirefuge.com/engedi_house.html

http://www.skookumkids.org/

http://www.bellinghamhopehouse.com/

http://www.amysplaceforyouth.org/

http://thewhatcomdream.org/

http://www.reboundwc.com/who-we-are

http://www.pass-the-hat.org/

Homesickness by definition is: the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home and attachment objects.

My husband and I have moved nine times in our life together. Some in town and some cross country. Each move has left its mark even if we were moving ahead with excitement and anticipation we’ve still had to leave dear friends and family behind. We have left dreams of what we thought would be. In doing so you can imagine I've experienced my fair share of homesickness. At times it came with waves rolling in and out of familiar nostalgia. Other times it was swift and piercing. We've lived in our current house for five years which is almost a record for us. So it's right on schedule that we've recently started to get the longing for something new. It’s too soon to tell whether the longing in something that God has placed on our hearts or whether we’ve just had a bad week. I think there are times homesickness can present itself when circumstances are difficult. When we are struggling we sometimes long for the home we haven't yet seen. We think- if we only (fill in the blank) then we'd be happy. Content. Sometimes, for me, the feelings of homesickness isn’t due to being separated from home but separated from thoughts of what home could be.

One of the moves we’ve had was from a home that we thought was the one. We loved it and the property it sat upon. We had such dreams and hopes for the future we would have there. Through a series of events that “forever home” is no longer ours. Turns out it was temporary after all. 

For some time after I dealt with feelings of shame, guilt, remorse and homesickness. We were “responsible" people. We did everything possible to keep that home and avoid foreclosure. But it wasn't ours to keep. It wasn't our forever home. That's what I walked away with. No matter the dorm, apartment, basement, duplex, gorgeous house you lay your head at tonight it's only sticks & stones. Temporary. But there is hope. No matter how fleeting the time in our houses here is or not, there is hope.

Our hope can be in this: the homesickness and longing we experience are for our home with God. Our place is beside Him. We weren't made to live separate from Him. On our own. We will always experience homesickness in this world no matter if we are near family or not. No matter if we have that extra bathroom or not. We will always have longing for "something more." Because there is something more. Something forever. Something that will satisfy and allow us to no longer feel as though we are strangers in this world. That is something to put our hope in. What if we spent a little more time thinking about our true "forever home?" What if instead of thinking what all we could do to the houses we live in now (don’t get me wrong I love Chip & Joanna too) we spent that time thinking about how we could prepare for the home we will have when time doesn't end? Maybe, just maybe, our longings then would turn to thoughts of joy and hope rather than distress or impairment. Maybe then our homesickness would draw us closer to The One who holds the only key we will need for all of eternity. 

This week's article is by Theresa Adams, a Redeemer member, a wife & a mom, who would someday love to have her own roller skating rink & thinks getting her kids to eat kale is major victory!

Brace yourselves for a strong statement.

And be prepared to just accept it, because we're not gonna fight about it.

...

Baseball is the most beautiful sport ever to be invented, period!

Now, I know some of you out there think baseball is one of the most boring sports ever. I have heard some people even say that they would rather watch paint dry than watch a baseball game.

But even if you are in that spot, hang with me. Because just like baseball or any sport, skill or pursuit for that matter, becoming a better disciple of Jesus takes a lot of determination, persistence, and practice.

Dreaming Big

When I was a kid I remember watching and listening to baseball with great curiosity. I used to daydream about being in the big leagues, pitching in the World Series, putting my team on my shoulders and leading them to victory.

I wanted to pitch professionally; that was my dream. But as with all dreams there comes a great reality that we all have to face: a dream is really just a precursor to an awful lot of work. For musicians, athletes, professionals, students, whomever, you have to practice to be able to accomplish a dream you might have. 

Now for those who know me, you are probably aware that I didn't make it as a professional baseball player. I've got awful eyesight, my reflexes are terrible, and I'm always looking up to others, literally. There was really no amount of practice that was going to overcome some of these physical limitations.

Once I considered this, I knew my dream was dead. But when I became a Christian years later, I realized baseball gave me such a wonderful understanding to what Christian discipleship should look like.

Baseball Discipleship

Yes, to the untrained eye baseball seems to be to simple. Boiled down to the simplest form, there is a ball that someone needs to hit and run around the bases to try and score before the defense tags you. But there is much more that goes into baseball than meets the eye. 

There's a specific way to hit the ball based on where you want it to go.

To develop arm strength needed to throw that runner out at third, you have to throw a lot, since most people aren't born with that kind of strength.

You have to train focus, hand eye coordination, speed, decision making.

You can't do these things without constant practice. And you can't just practice when you feel like it. And you don't know what to practice if you don't know what skills to build or maintain. And you don't know what you need to work on without feedback.

Christian Discipleship

Being a Christian is a lot like training to be a baseball player.

Except that we got drafted by no merit of our own. we did nothing to earn it.

We don't know home from second base. Our arms are weak, our eyesight is poor, and our decision-making needs some work, because we've been making those decisions toward a different goal than the one we were made for.

When Jesus died and rose to save you, and the Holy Spirit called you and changed your heart and mind and affections, and you got drafted, weak arm, bad eyesight, and poor decisions all.

So now, your job as a Christian, drafted to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18ff), is to train and develop the skills necessary to effectively lead people to Jesus.

This is why we do things like pray, knowing that we have not the strength on our own to accomplish the purpose set before us.

Or read our bibles, knowing that in them we can read about the love and wrath and mercy of God for people who did not and do not love God apart from Christ, ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ.

Or participate in Christian community, serving alongside family, who can point out where we're strong or weak, and can encourage us in our walk with Jesus.

Getting In The Game

Whether or not you're training to make disciples, you already are, by your thoughts, your words, your actions.

It sounds kind of daunting. We may not even know where to start. We're afraid of the damage we'll do to others in our failing, or we're scared of starting in the wrong place, or just paralyzed by indecision, concerned about going in the wrong direction.

It's in these moments that we need to remember the conditions under which we were drafted to begin with.

Christ performed perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose victoriously.

By His grace we are saved. That's it.

So we can start trying, training, running, falling, getting back up and starting again.

We can set our alarm an hour early only with the intention of reading and praying and meditating only to unconsciously hit snooze for 45 minutes.

We can show up to hang out with a Gospel Community, in which we know no one, and feel really awkward the whole time and leave and say "well, that wasn't a good fit, let's try another next week."

We can take a step toward leadership, only to be confronted with the reality that we can't manage details worth beans. (How many beans? I don't know. I wasn't counting.)

Whatever it is, remember the team you're on and how you were drafted.

And don't be afraid to fail, because where we fail, Jesus has won.

Blog Post by Brandon Adent

One Sunday morning several months ago, my wife, Anna, made a quick stop at the grocery store.

She hastily chose the shortest line and, though she was in a hurry, struck up a conversation with the checker.

Somehow, it came up that she was on her way to (or from) church, which lead to questions like, "which church?" and "when do you meet?"

"I've heard a lot about it," the checker explained. "I'd really like to go sometime. It's been hard to find time finding a church up here,  mostly because of my crazy schedule. Between working Sundays and school, it's always a struggle to find the time or energy to go interact with a room full of strangers."

Though Anna had to get going, she encouraged the checker to come to Redeemer some time, and committed the checkers name to memory.

Anna related the experience to me later that day, and from that point on, every store run we'd always check the aisles to see if "Theresa" was working. If so, it didn't matter if her line was the longest or not. We'd wait to ask how her day was going, how school was going, what she'd done with her weekend, if she'd had one.

After awhile, when Theresa was finally able to get a Sunday off, she came and hung out at Redeemer for a service. My wife and I were ecstatic that she'd been able to make it, and did our best to introduce her to a few others we knew, trying to increase the number of friendly faces she'd be able to associate with at Redeemer.

Some time later, she's a committed member of a Gospel Community and is getting more plugged into the Redeemer family.

Now, I don't bring this up to make my wife or I look super innovative or heroic. In fact, what makes this story so encouraging to recall is that it didn't actually take that much effort, and the payoff was huge!

All that happened was Anna started a conversation, which God used to create a friendship. Once we had a friend at the register, it was just trying to consistently build that friendship.

All this to say, treat your small interactions with intentionality. Sure, it can be a little uncomfortable, but it's a small price to pay for getting someone plugged into a local church community or experience the saving power of Jesus.

So smile, say hello, listen, respond. You never know the impact you might have over time.