Church Clothes

Posted on by Betsy

Consider the history of the necktie. Legionnaires in the 2nd century B.C. wore the first neckwear, according to some historians. Their cloth bands were worn as protection from the weather. Other people cite the 3rd century B.C. terra-cotta statues of Chinese warriors as the first evidence of neckties. They wore neck scarves to protect the source of their strength, i.e. their Adam’s apples.

Most experts, however, date the initial appearance of what led to the modern tie back to 1636. Croatian mercenaries hired by King Louis XIV wore cloth bands around their necks to ward off natural elements and sword slashes.

Today, however, men don’t need to protect themselves from weather, assaults to their Adam’s apples, and hopefully not sword slashes. So why the tie? Most men find them uncomfortable and bothersome. Loosening the tie is often the first thing a fellow does the minute he leaves the office. I mean, even the word neck-tie sounds restrictive.

Neckties are a means of uniformity. Imagine the workplace of the 1960’s without men in neckties. Imagine the church of the 1990’s without men in neckties. Uniformity was the goal, and neckties were the instrument that tied it all together. Blessed be the tie that binds? Not when it is tied around the neck!

Thank God we are over that.

Ties, hats, gloves, and heels have faded away as mandatory “Sunday morning best.” Society has accepted the fact that it is so much more important to show up than to show off.

So with neckties out, what should we wear around our necks?

Proverbs 3 New Living Translation (NLT)

3  My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

    Store my commands in your heart.

2  If you do this, you will live many years,

    and your life will be satisfying.

3  Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

    Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

    Write them deep within your heart.

4  Then you will find favor with both God and people,

    and you will earn a good reputation.

Loyalty and kindness. The perfect neckwear for any occasion! This type of necktie will help you find favor with God and people alike. When we tie the things God has taught us around our necks, we will have a satisfying life and a good reputation. Now that’s a necktie everyone should have in their closet.

I once had a conversation with a teenager about church clothes. Michael was the son of the school bus driver and never attended church. I knew him from the High School marching band, where I volunteered as a chaperone and band announcer. All the kids knew me, but most didn’t know I am a pastor. Michael had spent the weekend at Taylor’s house, and when they awoke on Sunday morning, Taylor’s mom called them to breakfast and told them what time to be ready for church.

When Michael arrived, he looked around at all the people dressed up for church, and all the men wearing ties. He found me and immediately came up to me. “Miss Betsy, I am so sorry to be wearing my band t-shirt and jeans in your church,” he said. “I spent the night at Taylor’s house and my Mom didn’t know we would be coming to church so I don’t have church clothes.”

I looked him in the eye and asked, “Michael, are you in a church?” He replied, “Yes, M’am.” I said, “And are you wearing clothes?” He laughed and said, “Yes, M’am.” “Then you’re obviously wearing church clothes, so have a seat.”

The Gospel is a message of freedom, not restriction. Church is a place of harmony, not uniformity. Come on in and find a seat! We’re just glad you’re here. There is no dress code in God’s house. In my church at the beach, the acolytes wear flip flops and the pastor never wears a tie. Got clothes? Come on in.

Sometimes We Wear Green

Go the Distance

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever had a never-ending week that turned into a never-ending weekend that suddenly became the middle of the next week, and you had not yet come up for air? And then it became a month, then a year, then a life of never ending-ness? I think this is why God created the second wind. Were it not for our ability to catch a second wind, we would have all burned out decades ago.

So let’s talk about second winds for a second. (See what I did there?) According to Grammerist.com, a second wind is defined as:

A second wind is a renewed sense of vigor after becoming fatigued, a fresh conviction that one is able to achieve one’s goal, a burst of energy following exhaustion. The word wind, in this case, refers to breath. The idea is that one becomes fatigued and is out of breath, and then becomes reinvigorated and catches one’s breath. The term second wind may be used to mean a burst of energy after one becomes physically fatigued, or it may mean a burst of energy when one is mentally or spiritually fatigued. The term second wind was first used in the 1830s, to mean a renewed sense of vigor when one has become tired from physical exertion.

I love the fact that this definition mentions becoming spiritually fatigued. Spiritual fatigue can happen just like any other fatigue. When we push hard at something, even the rewarding task of spiritual development, worship, sharing the good news with others, trying to be a light in the darkness, or just getting through the day without punching somebody in the throat, exhaustion can happen.

We are living in a time when hate, anger, hostility, rudeness, and viral vomiting are the norm. These things hurt our spirit. These things exhaust our souls. It is exhausting to be the light when people feel the freedom to bash, criticize, condemn, and bully others on every social media platform, news program, and radio show that we turn on. We are surrounded by a cacophony of negative noise that makes it impossible to hear anything good or wholesome. And that wears us out.

Are you worn out? Need a second wind?

I think there are two things to keep in mind when your will to go forward goes backward and you just want to sit down and stop.

First, sit down and stop. The whole reason God created the sabbath is so that we would stop everything and have a sabbath rest. Some days you just need a day of disconnected, unplugged solitude in order to recharge. Pushing when you have absolutely nothing left in your tank just means your engine will stop anyway, just farther down the road.

Second, consider what Paul says about second winds:

Hebrews 12 The Message (MSG)

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

When you see yourself flagging in your faith, take a breath, stop to rest, wait for the second breath to come, and remember why you are doing this. Remember what Jesus plowed through. He went the distance for you. Remember the story, every step of the way, and how Jesus plowed through all the hate, anger, and hostility that he had to overcome.

You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. You got this.

Take a breath, and then a second breath, recharge, and get back in the race. And keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we are running. God is at the finish line, so breathe.

Just breathe.

Go the Distance

Steep In God

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever seen anything more relaxed than a napping dog? Don’t you wish that for a brief moment you could actually achieve this level of chill? Not a care in the world, not a thought in your mind, no worries, burdens or pressures of bills, flat tires, back-talking kids, cheating spouses, and lay-off notices. It’s a dog’s life!

But for the rest of us….

Relaxation is hard to attain. Everyday life is so full of everyday stress, and then life-altering situations such as job loss, death of a family member, childbirth, hurricanes, etc. come along and can send you right over the edge.

Several years ago I evacuated a hurricane twice from two different states. It was heading straight for Florida while I was there. Flights were suddenly canceled and the airport was about to close so we fled to catch the last flight out to North Carolina. Then the hurricane turned and we braced again for it to hit us on the Outer Banks, so I evacuated a second time to Virginia. One storm, two evacuations, three states. That will make you a little uptight.

I came home to find it raining in my closet. It’s not supposed to rain in your closet. My shoulders were so tense, they did not come down from my ears for a month and my neck ached for months from the tension. And compared to our brothers and sisters in other places, we got off easy.

What do you do to relax? Golf? Read? Walk somewhere beautiful? Play games? Binge Netflix? Talk with friends? These are all wonderful ways to find a measure of relaxation in the crazy reality we live in.

But do you ever wonder, what would it take to find relaxation that actually lasts?

Matthew 6 (The Message)

30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to RELAX, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.

People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Steep your life in God-reality.

Steep your life in God-initiative.

Steep your life in God-provisions.

Every tea drinker knows that to steep something means you immerse it in hot water and leave it there until the tea flavor is fully drained out. Matthew reminds us to immerse ourselves in the heat of God’s love until God-reality replaces crazy reality. Like a long, steamy bubble bath where you emerge Jello-legged and empty-headed, we are invited to steep in everything God is providing, and stay immersed until the tension leaves our shoulders and we lay quiet and no longer anxious.

Do something for yourself today: Enter into God’s presence and relax there. God adores you and has great pride in you. He desires to meet your everyday human concerns. Let him take care of you, and just breathe.

See the dog? Be the dog.

No Worries

Panting For God

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever experienced a season that felt spiritually dry? We all experience seasons of dryness, times when we feel abandoned by God and isolated from his blessings. There is no shame in feeling that God isn’t hearing your distress or answering your prayers. Today’s psalm teaches us that everyone feels that way at one point or another. Situations like illness, death of a loved one, betrayal, financial insecurity, divorce, addiction, rebellious children … life is full of times when we look to God for an easy out and are met with silence. The question that our Scripture asks today is how can we get through those periods of dryness when they occur? How can we survive when our extreme thirst for God’s presence is not being satisfied?

Psalm 42 (New International Version)

As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

6 My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

8 By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Let’s start by talking about hydration, a necessary part of living, especially in the hot summer months. We know from science that the body is made up of about 60% water. Water is essential for health and is necessary for keeping the body running smoothly. It regulates temperature, assists cellular function, and is the primary source of waste removal. Your brain and your heart are about 73% water, your lungs are 83% water, your skin is about 64% water, and your muscles and kidneys are about 79% water. All parts of the body need water to work properly, and so drinking water is necessary for life.

I am a fan of shows like the History Channel’s Alone, where survivalists are dropped into wilderness areas and have to survive extreme conditions like below zero temperatures, lack of food and shelter, and loneliness. One of the first things they do when they are dropped off is to seek clean, drinkable water. Did you know that the body can survive for one to two months without food (except teenage boys … for them it’s much shorter) but can only survive for 3 days without water? The contestants immediately construct a temporary shelter and then go out to collect and boil water from streams, snow, and rainfall. Water is essential for life.

I think the teaching points from this passage boil down to three important concepts. First, this is a gut-wrenchingly honest lament. The psalmist pulled no punches here in his deep despair over his circumstance. I wrote a devotional about this last month when we read from the Book of Ruth. Naomi found herself without a husband or sons and returned to Bethlehem with a new name. She called herself Mara because of the bitterness of her situation. Both Naomi and the writer of Psalm 42 are great examples of people who handled their tragic situation with raw honesty. You will never get better unless you are honest about your situation.

The second teaching point from this passage is an encouragement to do some self-care by doing some self-talk. “Why are you so downcast?” the psalmist asks himself three times in this passage. Admitting the truth to yourself is essential for moving out of any state of being downcast. We call this “preaching to your own soul” and pretty much every Sunday, you can get an idea of the elements of preaching. A good preacher will ask you questions and then use Scripture to answer those questions. Those Scriptures help you reframe your focus and return to what God is saying to you. Preaching to your soul helps you come back to a ground zero of God’s unconditional love for you and his abiding presence in your situation, even when you can’t feel it. It’s very important to remember who you are, and whose you are.

And finally, the psalmist encourages us to choose hope. 

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Hope is a choice, my brothers and sisters. Hope is when we look up from being downcast and stand solidly on God’s promises. Hope is when we sit in an ash heap and count our blessings. The psalmist gives us permission to say, “This is the worst thing ever! And yet I will praise him!” No matter how hopeless and dark things can seem, there is always an “And yet” choice to make. We can refocus on God’s goodness instead of our despair in any dry season. 

Jesus invites all who thirst to come to him. He is the Living Water flowing freely from the heart of God. Come, and drink.

As the Zebra Pants for Streams of Water

In the Blink of an Eye

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been in a moment that seemed like it would go on forever?

A first kiss, sitting in the Operating Room waiting area, the month before Christmas, a painful reprimanding by your mom, being in labor with your first child, church administrative meetings … lots of things feel endless.

Of course the end eventually comes and in hindsight, you realize that it wasn’t as bad as you thought in the moment. Well, except for church administrative meetings.

Our sense of time and our perception of its passing are easily skewed by our expectations. If you expected a meeting to be over in half an hour, then by the third hour you are sure you’ve been there for days. The month before Christmas is exactly four weeks, no matter how ready you aren’t or excited you are. A first kiss is probably more fleeting than you realized … but when your Mama is yelling at you, well, that really did go on for an eternity.

When working with people who have lost a loved one, the subject of time and our perception of its passing are often a part of the discussion. In the grand scope of things, this earthly existence is but a blink of an eye. One blink, and there is your 89.5 average years of earthly existence. By contrast, the scope of eternity is, well, endless:

Revelation 21 New International Version (NIV)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Can you even imagine? All the pettiness, grief, hardship, heartache, and even all the pleasures of earthly life will pass in the blink of an eye, and we will dwell with God forever. And in our new Jerusalem, there will be no more pain, no more crying, and even no more death.

This is the perspective of time which we would do well to remember. So often we focus on the seeming endlessness of everyday life, when actually every day is minuscule compared to what is to come. So the aggravations of this world end up not amounting to much in the end. Yet in the moment, they certainly can overwhelm everything.

So next time you are stuck in a place or situation that you long to flee, remember the new Jerusalem. This moment, this thing, this burden will quickly pass, but God’s eternity is endless. His love endures forever, world without end. Amen.

Gone in the Blink of an Eye by Michelle Robertson

Jesus in Time-Out

Posted on by Betsy

Parents of twins know that the two-for-one special you brought home from the hospital is very special indeed. Twins can develop their own language, often communicating non-verbally and verbally in ways nobody else can understand. There is an inextricable link between them, formed in the womb, that can’t be broken.

Several years ago we observed this in action when ours were about two years old. One of our sets of twin grandchildren (yes, we have two sets of twins. It gets weirder than that. Each of our daughters had a boy first and then two years later had boy/girl twins. Exact duplicate families. It must be some kind of record!) could have been modeled after Winnie the Pooh characters. Nora Jean is a Tigger: bouncy, laughing, always in motion, and happy-happy. Ryan is an Eeyore. He is thoughtful, contemplative, loves to sit with a book, and very observant of everything around him.

So Eeyore was playing with a light switch on his Gigi’s small, glass-fronted refrigerator, probably figuring out the engineering of the entire system and contemplating how electricity works. Tigger was bouncing around the room, saw her brother deep in thought and WHACK, popped him on the head. Mom disciplined her and told her to back away. So she immediately WHACKED her brother on the head a second time. Like I said, twin language.

A call to time-out ensued, accompanied by much weeping and wailing, as Nora Jean sat dutifully and contrite in her corner. Then along came Ryan.

First he tried to cheer her up with a silly little dance, but that didn’t work. So he did the brotherly thing and sat down next to her, scooting along the floor until their legs touched and her crying subsided.

This, my friends, is a perfect picture of the incarnation.

When God became the man called Jesus, he placed himself in time-out with us. We were hopeless and condemned by our own sin, with nothing to save us. Except love. God so loved the world, he sent his only son into time-out, so that whoever believes in him would be offered a get-out-of-jail free card. And eternal life.

Philippians 2 New International Version (NIV)

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6  Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

God put on flesh and dwelt among us. In so doing, he experienced what we experience: pain, anger, frustration, joy, temptation, sorrow….everything but sin. This is how we can trust him to deliver us! He KNOWS US. He was us. He is always with us.

The “humbling Jesus” that is mentioned in this passage is a reminder of what God calls us to do. We are to humble ourselves in like manner, getting down on the floor and scooting over to someone in need. We are invited to offer sharing, tenderness, and compassion, being of one mind with the spirit. We don’t need to have all the answers, or even any, but God call us to sit with the hurting and offer the comfort of ‘presence.’

Where is God calling you today to simply sit with someone? To offer hope, healing, encouragement, a silly dance, or a silent witness to the incarnation? Some will do this in the hospital, some in the pew, some in the prison, some at the office, others in the High School.

Wherever that place is, go and sit. And may you receive the blessing of Eeyore, who was always happy to have someone to sit with and replied, “Thanks for noticing me.”

Go, and notice someone.

Twinlove

Jesus, Take the Wheel

Posted on by Betsy

A few months ago I found myself back in Atlanta traffic after an absence and it was a huge culture shock for me. In just 48 hours I received a hellfire-and-brimstone, full-immersion baptism of cars slamming on brakes, tires screeching, angry commuters, speedy lead-foots, impatient workers running late … it is a vehicular nightmare. Then add road construction to the mix, and you will change your mind about going anywhere and decide to just sit in your back yard and stare at the trees.

In Atlanta and the surrounding communities, the culture responds to traffic, which controls the daily flow of life. In just two days, I saw people altering their lives to accommodate it. One hurried through a task because she needed to “beat the traffic”. Another couldn’t come until rush hour is over. Plans are made around which roads will be congested, stop-and-go, or overcrowded at certain hours. And by all means, avoid the parking lot known as 85 North unless you happen to be traveling at 3AM. Then it’s only a slow crawl.

The reason that traffic is so egregious is because people become egregious once they get behind the wheel. Everyone feels entitled to be first in line. People push to be first in the lane as you merge onto the highway. Cars zip and zoom around others so they can pass and get in front. Every day you can watch drivers switching lanes without warning like it’s the Indy 500.

Think of it! If everyone would just be content to stay in their lane, wait their turn, and God forbid, even let someone else go first, traffic would be tolerable and accidents would be greatly reduced. But instead, we cut one another off and risk causing an accident just to get one car-length ahead.

James 4 The Message (MSG)

Get Serious

4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find.

It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

Humility is the act of letting others go first. Humility is the practice of putting someone else’s need ahead of your own. The willing humble ones wave people in, slow down, look out for others, and give way. Humility is not thinking more highly of yourself than you ought.

Where are you pushing when you should be stepping back? Who needs to be waved into your lane while you slow down and allow it? Where are you acting like a spoiled child, wanting first place at the expense of the other travelers in your life? Are you driving your life like the willful proud, determined to get your own way at any cost, or the willing humble, reflecting the image of Christ in what you say and do?

God gives grace to the willing humble. So slow down. Be gracious. Let somebody in. Show generosity. And please don’t cut someone off today … especially if you have an ichthus on your car.

Lord, Have Mercy

Buy the Green Bananas

Posted on by Betsy

A friend who is undergoing cancer treatment is finally having a good week. He feels good, he can walk without a cane, and he actually drove a car for the first time in three months. So he went out and bought green bananas.

I love that last part. It is a glorious sign of recovery. It is an act of hope. It’s what people do when they realize they will indeed live to see another day.

I wonder how many of us are leading our lives as though tomorrow won’t come. There are times when life can beat us down so hard we don’t have the energy, resolve, or desire to even lift our head off the pillow. Sometimes this feeling is situational, and eventually gets easier.

I’m sure we can recall a very hard break up with someone we thought we would be ours forever. Relationships ending can leave us feeling tremendously defeated. If you’ve ever been fired, you might recall a moment of sitting in the car with your hands on the wheel, unable to imagine a tomorrow. At the moment when the doctor came out of the operating room and told us that our daughter had cancer when she was a college junior, I could not see her tomorrows for a moment. Not seeing hers made me not see mine. Losing your parents, a spouse, or God forbid, a child, can leave you not even wanting tomorrows.

Hebrews 11 The Message (MSG)

Faith in What We Don’t See

11 1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.

When tomorrows seem hazy and possibly unattainable, it is good to remember what this verse is telling us. We have the firm foundation of a trustworthy God, which gives us a handle on what we can’t see. We can fix our feet firmly in a world called into existence by God. How amazing is it to know that God creates what we see, and what we don’t see. He is the creator of all of the tomorrows yet to come. We don’t need to see it…God does, and that is enough.

The ancestors of our faith were content to allow their tomorrows unfold according to God’s design and will for their lives. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah…they all bought green bananas.

32-36 There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead.

There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection.

Our ultimate tomorrow is found in the resurrection. There is something better. There is hope. There is a reason to get up, get moving, and get on with it. In truth, tomorrow never comes, for each tomorrow turns into today, and each day brings new mercies.

Faith is the reality of what we hope for and the proof of what we don’t see. So let us walk by faith and not by sight, and go forth to buy the green bananas.

Threre is Hope

The Price of a Pet Canary

Posted on by Betsy

According to scientists, the average human head has approximately 100,000 hairs and about as many follicles. You are born with all your follicles and do not develop more as you age. Hair grows at a rate of half an inch per month, and we lose between 50-100 strands of hair each day … unless you are the parent of a teenager, in which case you can double that.

If you are wondering why we are talking about hair today, our Scripture makes the wonderful statement that God numbers the very count of hairs on your head. Isn’t that amazing? Granted he gets to skip over the baldies, but still, to think that he can know us in such finite detail is something to marvel.

Matthew 10 records Jesus’ instructions, encouragement, and admonitions to the disciples when they encountered great resistance to their public proclamations that Jesus is Lord. They were being bullied and persecuted for their faith and they struggled to stand up for their beliefs among all the nay-sayers around them. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been put down for being a Christian? Take heart and read on.

Matthew 10 (The Message)

29-31 “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.

God loves the tiny canary but he loves you even more. Read that again. He is the author of all creation and gave his only Son for our salvation, which proves his love for us. He pays attention to what we do and knows us down to the last detail. Does that encourage you or intimidate you? If intimidation is your answer, what are you trying to hide?

32-33 “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?

34-37 “Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

This part of the Scripture takes a sudden turn. We’ve gone from the gentleness of being reassured of our worth to what feels suddenly threatening, as Jesus makes it clear that however we have treated him in our lifetime on earth will determine how he will treat us in eternity. Do you pretend you don’t know him when the going gets tough? Do you remain silent when your beliefs are ridiculed and disparaged by a secular society that has turned its back on God?

Are you in or are you out?

38-39 “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

It is important to note that this section of Scripture is peppered with an instruction to not be intimated by the world. In fact, in the passages that surround it, Jesus says “do not fear” three times in six verses. If we chose him over every other relationship on earth, there will be nothing to fear. The sharp knife that divides earthly relationships is Jesus’ way of helping us understand that we are called to make a radical commitment to him and learn to die to self so that we might live with him. Devotion to Christ must come before devotion to any person, place, or thing.

Where are you on this spectrum of public belief? Is God calling you to make your faith known?

Pick up your cross, and follow him.

Priceless by Becca Ziegler

The Unfairness of Life

Posted on by Betsy

Parents of young children eventually have a moment when words from their own parents come flowing out of their mouths and they hear themselves saying, “Life’s unfair.” I heard it a thousand times and I said it a thousand times. The bad referee call, the lead part in the play going to the teacher’s pet, the boy dumping you for the popular girl … life is full of unfair moments. These moments aren’t confined to childhood. If you’ve ever been passed over for a promotion that went to a less qualified employee, been left by a cheating spouse, or suffered any number of inequities in your life, you understand.       

There are deeper causes of unfairness in life that occur as a result of institutional racism, social hierarchy systems, misogyny, ageism, generational prejudices, etc. These underground issues prevent people from operating on an even playing field. Sadly, unfairness is a part of life. How we deal with unjust situations, however, is up to us and is a measure of our relationship with Christ.

This is the subject for our reading today. Peter addressed the servants of masters who were often unfair in their dealings with them. He focused his argument by pointing out that the stripes that Jesus suffered on our behalf bring spiritual and physical healing to all who believe. When Jesus took the sins of the world on his body as he hung on the tree, it was the ultimate “unfair” moment, but his suffering there enabled us to live in righteousness and freedom. This life is indeed unfair, but our complete and final healing will come with our own resurrections, purchased with Christ’s blood on the cross.

1 Peter 2:24-25 (Common English Bible)

4 He carried in his own body on the cross the sins we committed. He did this so that we might live in righteousness, having nothing to do with sin. By his wounds you were healed. 25 Though you were like straying sheep, you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your lives.

This is an invitation to return to our original conversion moment and redirect our lives under the faithful watch of our Shepherd. Whatever unjust treatment we receive in this life will be equalized in the next. Jesus himself will restore us.

Are you being treated unfairly? Do you crave equity and justice in your life? Are you struggling under a “cruel master”? Take heart. Jesus walked that lonely valley before you and walks it with you today. When the world was unjust to him, he bore that suffering in his body so that you might live in righteousness regardless of your circumstance.

How we respond to life’s challenges is a measure of our relationship with Christ. He endured the treatment he received, knowing his Father was with him. He believed in a future with hope as Jeremiah had promised. Sometimes you have to raise you voice in protest; sometimes you have to just quietly leave. In either case, Jesus believed that we are not alone.

May we have such faith as well.

The Peace of Christ be With You by Kathy Schumacher