Rain Drops by Grace

God's Grace Through a Rainstorm

 

 

There are sometimes in our lives when we take time to give thanks to God simply for human life. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, major life milestones. I think most of us enjoy times when we gather with family and friends for those occasions that we have deemed a family occasion. With Christimas a New Years fresh in our minds, many of us are feeling refreshed from long meals and gift exchanges with loved ones. Some of us visited with family that we had not seen in a long time, that is often a treasured gift on it's own. Then there are times where we thank God for human life, becasue we have suffered loss, or have been given a glimpse of what could have been a possible tragedy.

 

 

I am feeling a little of all of these things. I enjoy Christmas time, and seeing my family. I was able to visit with my brother James, who lives away from home for work. There were the special events with the 26 neices and nephews crawling all over "Aunt Crabby".. Yesterday I lost my cousin Teresa, and today I almost lost several people that I love. I know that my thoughts will not be far from my own mortality for days as I ponder these events.

 

 

While I am a small town farm girl from the Northern Mid-West USA, and American by birth, I am also a Brazilian woman. I belong to the Carvalho family, by direction/adoption of the Holy Spirit. I want you to know this because the testimony that I am about to share needs to have the inclusion of a deep and abiding love that has been built over time, and for me includes not just other members of my church, but also includes members of my family, by that adoption.The church in Poá, São Paulo Brazil, sits on a hill that is rather steep, and it is a busy area with a fair amount of traffic at times. Carlos, my dear papai, lives across the street from the church, on the northern side of the street with his family. Today his son, and two other close loved ones were washing the car, and it began to rain. (it is scorching hot summer there right now)...They abandoned the cleaning project when heavy rains moved in. Moments later a crash was heard, and the back of the car was smashed in, and the car badly damaged, where my loved ones were working.. Essentially four lives could have been lost in those few seconds, as soon Carlos will be a grandfather. The hand brake had failed on another vehicle, and it went crashing into the back of the car.

 

I know that many people would say it was a coincedence, or that it was just good luck. I have no use for luck of any kind, as there are only 3 kinds, good luck, bad luck, and none at all ....the odds are just not in my favor. Grace and blessings though are one hundred percent assured. I know the power of rainstorms. I lost my home and most of my belongings to a rain storm. That was simply something that happened. God was there, as none of my family was hurt. This time, I have to give God thanks simply for grace. For whatever reason of what ever kind, my loved ones went in to get out of the rain at that very moment and were spared! I was once spared in the same way. I was supposed to ride somewhere with some friends, and my buddy Rodney insisted that I ride with my sister, even though at the time we fought constantly. His insistance saved my life, as I would not have survied the crash that followed.. the back seat where I would have been moments before was completly crushed. The three young people that were spared today have more work to do in this world. I had more work to do to.. They each have their talents and possibilites to yet unfold, and the grace of God has allowed for that to happen. Although I will never have concrete, undoubtable proof for the rest of the world, the testimony of my heart says that God has sent grace this day, in the form of rain drops.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



When Proverbs Come to Shove..

Why I Won't Click Share

 

Peer pressure is a lovely thing in someways. It can rally people for a cause such as fighting cancer, getting people to vote, or to participate in a worthy event. Other times peer pressure is the cause of common threads that spread of the cancers of the mind, such as prejudice, and very zealous hate posting on facebook. On facebook and other media sites, the pressure is on!!  Almost daily I read things that say "Click share if you love your sister" or Click share if you LOVE dogs" those are not so bad I guess.... but then we have pictures of animals that are bloody, they say "Click share if you are against animal violence", others I have seen are picture of statistics regarding Christianity you better click share or you are a closet Christian.. or worse a sinner. Oh my.. oh my...(we are that anyways). I have news for you.. I am an open Christian. But I will never ever click share when someone posts this kind of stuff.  I don't care of it makes me appear to be a "gun toting grandma hating puppy kicker", the operative word is "appear". People who truly know me, know that my actions speak for what I believe in. The photos that are being shared make many people feel sick, and are an immediate turn off, even though they are supposed to invoke emotion or action. Often times the point is lost, before the words sink in. Othertimes we are simply offended at the implication that we are too stupid to understand there is a problem.

 

 

As to the problem of religious click and share for Christans.. Jesus ministry was about choosing. He, himself taught lessons, visited with people, preached and cared for people. He never ever threatened the common people whom he was trying to reach. Even men like Zacheus, he simply shared a meal and spoke to him. Yes Jesus threatened the Pharisees and Sadducee's. They were learned men, who were clearly abusing God's words. They also were abusing their position in society that was founded on their religion to glean all they could in the temple and on the streets from God's children. Jesus often began those statements to them with "Woe to you .... you who....", he never spoke to those whom he was preaching to like that in a crowd. Especially in a crowd of unlearned poor people. Instead Jesus began to tell them about a home that was being made ready for them, and how they would be filled with joy and hope. There was a sense of belonging to a family and a community that would take them in, and love them.

 

Jesus never used guilt or fear as a tool for public teaching. He also never used what I called the "yin for yang wisdom" found in Proverbs. It was much much deeper than that. Rather than campaign for some bandwagon ideal, Jesus went very deep into the ideas he was sharing by teaching with a story or parable. He offered an illustration that was reflective of life that the person he was speaking to, so they would hear what he was saying, then he would further explain so they could understand the pupose of the story. Matthew 13 uses the illustration of a farmer sowing seeds, his own disciples even asked him "Why do you use these illustrations?" (Matthew 13: 10, The Way). He then proceeds to tell them that He wanted those who needed to understand.

As for effective witness.....

 

People often ask me because I am a very active young married, "How can we get young adults to come to church? How do we get them to come and bring their children?" The answer is very simple, and very, very straight forward. Tell them your testimony, your story of how Jesus touched your life. Tell them why He matters to you. No fluff, no bling, no glitter, just your testimony.  Then sit and listen, listen, LISTEN. Be prepared to change the order, sometimes you have to listen, and then tell your story. Either way you form a caring relationship that is real. When people ask me why I use little note cards when I preach, instead of huge papers, I tell them it is because I am telling my story, and that is written in my head, so no notes are needed. What people are looking for is clear and concrete proof of the ways that Jesus changes lives. The only clear and concrete proof you can have is your own story. When you spend all of your time gathering proof or testimony from other sources, it is very hard sometimes to stand by what you share, especially when things happen and suddenly that testimony is no longer true or applicable. Your testimony will always be true, no matter what happens.

 

 

If you look very closely and read, then re-read the "click and share" campaigns, they are often times pushed through by groups and individuals that have some kind of personal gain with the cause they are pushing. One time I saw a title page that was called "God", the click and share picture was a slide making fun of Tim Tebow for taking a knee in public. Now for as long as I have known God, I have never ever heard of God being upset with people for expressing their faith publicly for Him. It is only when there is a personal gain that it is no longer preferable. I also get angry when a post implies that if I don't "click and share" I am implying that some horrible condition will exist for my family. I am sorry but this gives credit and power to evil in our lives, and allows us to think that there is something bigger than God that is present. I cannot, and will not allow that kind of thinking to rule my life.

 

While there is much wisdom to be found in Proverbs, it is a cause and effect kind of wisdom. It in many ways does not allow for the depth that we as human beings a quite capable of taking in. Don't get me wrong, it is a starting point, but only that.  As for the posts on facebook and other social media, they are not even starting points, just opinions that people have formed and posted. They often do more harm than good because people from other faiths see them. These people then draw the conclusion that Christians are narrow minded and intolerant of not only them, but of each other. So for as long as facebook proverbs come to shove, I choose not to share.