Sold Out

Every day it happens. Some days more than others. Christians "sell out" to the world.





Its something that perplexes me. I dont understand it at all. I have done it too.




After 20 years in ministry positions, I have witnessed this on so many levels. Some Christians sell out to politcal ideals, others to the compromise of a sinful society. Some sell out their faith for a rational view of academia, forgetting that the basis of rationalism falls into the hands of the finite and fallen human thought. For whatever reasoning, every generation of Christianity sells themselves out for some "modern" concept or ideal, or contempory crisis.



God's word tells us that He never changes. It tells us that He is the Alpha and Omega, omniscient, omni-present and omnipotent God. Circumstances are not a surprise to him. Situations and personalities do not perplex Him. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.


Somehow, Christians have forgotten this. They think that everything that happens in this life is up to us. But it isnt. Its up to God. We have free will to do as we choose, but God is still above all. He doesnt need our permission, ideas or opinions.


Many Christians live as if God has changed his mind about the fundamentals found in the Old Testament. He hasnt. The Ten Commandments are still His Commandments. He is still Jehovah.


In the Old Testament, to be forgiven of sin, priests drew lots to determine who would go into the Holy of Holies. If the priest who entered had any sin in his life, he would be struck dead behind the veil and would be dragged out by a rope tied to his ankle for that express purpose.


In the New Testament, God sent his son Jesus as the final sacrifice for sin. No longer do we need a priest to enter the Holy of Holies on our behalf, but Jesus himself intercedes for us. He is our direct line to God. Our bodies now serve as the Holy of Holies and a temple for the Holy Spirit.

God didnt change his mind about sin when Jesus died. He still has the same disdain and intolerance for sin as he ever did. Jesus death did not give us freedom to sell out and compromise the sacrifice. It brought redemption to those bound with sin and guilt. It brought forgiveness for our unrighteousness. It was Christ's love for us that brought him to the cross so that we may be the living temple of the Holy Spirit.

Many Christians live their lives as if freedom in Christ means a person can live anyway they choose. I am not sure where this postmodern Christian thinking came from, but I can be sure of one thing. God will remain the same. His word never changes. He is the only way the truth and the life, and no one comes to God except through Christ's forgiveness and grace.





Christians have corrupted the new temple by selling out their ideals and opinions without regard to what Christ himself would want in the temple. The unfortunate truth in this is that being that their bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit as part of the trinity can not reside with sin. Christians who compromise truth as God designed it also in turn compromise the Holy Spirit's ability to work or be present in their lives.






"Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the LORD

Jeremiah 7:11

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
Matthew 21:12


Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent?
Job 34:33

Producing Fruit

At some point last winter I hatched the idea of growing my own seedlings for my garden.

I don't have a tremendous vegetable garden. I don't necessarily have a "green thumb". I just like to doodle around with plants and see what happens.

My husband bought me some heirloom seeds and in February, I started my seedlings. They were off to a treacherous start, however, as I had started them in our shed hoping that the light from the window would warm the shed enough to start the seeds. I really wasn't sure of what I was doing, and figuring that my venture may fail, I planted and over sowed my seeds into the seed starter pots. To my amazement, I think they all sprouted. Broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini and lettuce. I was pretty proud of myself.

One March afternoon, however, I came outside to find my seedlings dead. They had been removed from the shed to access other tools and not put back inside. Some of the seedlings actually had been spilled out onto the brick patio. All the plants were destroyed.

As I swept up the seed starter soil and cleaned the patio, I was discouraged. I had high hopes for these plants. I was looking forward to a summer of delicious fresh vegetables. I would harvest seeds from them from the next year's crop. I was left only with frozen seedlings.

After the first frost, my husband took me to the nursery to pick out plants. Knowing the area we live in, and knowing the soil we had, I hadn't many hopes for the plants at the nursery. He encouraged me to buy replacement plants for the ones I had lost. I hesitated, and then consented. I purchased the plants I wanted and brought them home along with fertilizers and some soil treatments to help grow.

Time passed and my garden was thriving. I had more zucchini than I knew what to do with and the grape tomatoes were ripening like wildfire. I was happy for the harvest, but wished for the lost seedlings. I wanted to collect their seeds. I wanted to sow them the years following.

As brick patios often do, my patio became in need of weeding. Weeds began to sprout between the cracks of the bricks. How anything can grow in such limited space so quickly is truly beyond me, especially as the cracks are sand packed, and are less than a few millimeters wide. Aside from those conditions, thick and rocky Virginia clay lie underneath the bricks. It doesn't take much for the weeds though. They have enough stubborn to succeed I guess.

As I was weeding, I made an interesting discovery. A tomato plant was growing from between the bricks on the patio. It was growing in the same place where the seedlings had spilled over. Not only was it growing, but there were blossoms on it, and there was a small tomato too. It was less than eight inches high, but its stem was broad and so were its branches.

I was amazed. I couldn't believe that after all this time, a tomato plant from lost seedlings from 4 months earlier took root. A bird didn't find the seed. It had been "sown" onto bricks. The patio had been well swept from the topple of the plants. Yet here stood this tomato plant. It was thriving. It was producing fruit.

Last Saturday I picked the biggest tomato from my garden all season. I had other plants that had been pampered, watered, caged, and fertilized. Yet the plant who had the least produced the best fruit. It took longer than all the other tomato plants, in fact they are all finished for the season. Not this tomato plant, though. It has more blossoms on it and another tomato in the making.

I cant help but think that God has a lesson for me in this. In this life, God honors the faithful. He gives strength to those who need it and protection for those who need it so that all may bear fruit. We may have the best circumstances or the worst circumstances. That doesn't matter to God. He can grow fruit anywhere He chooses in any circumstance He chooses. He honors obedience. He honors diligence. He honors humility and humble circumstances. The end result is the fruit of His Spirit.

Accepting Change

This week I said good bye to some of the dearest friends I have ever had and began a new journey at a new church body.

It has been an adjustment this week settling into a new place with new duds and new challenges. I am really not good at change. I guess I will have to get good at it soon.

Some of my friends in Northern VA have told me that our former home is on the market again. I think they are trying to tempt me to move back :)

But with God's plans, there can be no turning back. I can't look back to where I have come from and get to where He needs me to be. I need to focus forward: focus on the goal He has set before me. Trust completely. Let go. Lay it down.

Exciting things are happening at the new church. God is making His move there. He wants me to be a part of that. I must accept the challenge. I am excited to be a part of what God wants to do at Northridge.

A Change...

Tomorrow is the last Sunday I will be serving at Community Christian Fellowship. It's the day of the Annual Church Family picnic. It's promotion Sunday.

I have been a part of Community nearly since its inception in September 1999. We came to Community in January 2000. In June that year, I began serving as the children's ministry director there.

When I started at Community, we were meeting in a nearby Fire Hall. We were a small but growing church. There were just about 25 children total if they all showed up. We were a family. My children were very young, in fact, Angela hadn't even been born yet. Adam was only an infant and Jessica was about 8.

In children's ministry, we had parties. We met "Miss Daisy" and "Uncle Hershel". We played camera tag at the Discovery Zone. We held VBS at the park or another church, and held easter egg hunts at a family's backyard since we did not have our own church "home".

Then we moved to the new building. It seemed so huge. We had so much space and room to run around. We hosted Terrific Tuesdays. Wacky Water day was a huge hit, until we discovered that we ran the well dry. We went on field trips to Skyline Caverns and Luray Zoo. And who could forget Double Dare?

We held Kids Crusades with Ronnie Caldwell and The Crazy Science Professor..... Dr K Oss came for visits. Children's ministry was growing like wildfire. Sunday morning was filled with robot dancing and crazy stunts.

There were great VBS memories too. Champions for Jesus, Polar Expedition, KidzTown Mysteries 1 and 2, Fiesta, Sonforce Kids, and then Rome and the Underground Church. Kids came to Community from miles around to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Prime Time, KFC, KidzTown, CritterLand, Kidztown Jr, Planet 45, KIDS Church, Blessings and Kidztown Friends. The Master's Inn and Centrikid. So many kids. So many events. So many memories. So much joy.

Tomorrow ends a very long chapter in my life. For nearly 10 years, I have treasured every moment. These families and children forever hold a piece of my heart in theirs. I will really miss this family.

It's an Amy Grant kind of day.....

It's at this time of year I tend to get reflective on life. The life I have at times squandered, misused, and taken advantage of. I look back on the things that have happened to me over the years and am taken in awe of the mercy and love that has been shown to me despite my foolish decisions.

I was listening to one of my favorite CDs and was reminded of the power of God's grace and mercy for me.... I am so thankful for my children and my husband who are a constant visual reminder of what true love is. I don't know where I would be today without their love.


Lord, Thank you for giving me the family who loves me and supports me. Thank you for your sacrifice of love so that I can experience forgiveness and mercy...




I can't relive my life
I can't retrace my tracks
I can't undo what's done
There is no going back
I chased a selfish dream
Did not survey the cost
Illusions disappeared
I've found my innocence lost

Some say it's lessons learned
Some say it's a living life
I say it's choices made
Knowing wrong from right
One night I fought to sleep
In my slumber I turned and tossed
I woke to a cloudy day
And found my innocence lost

Innocent child is a beautiful thing
Secure in her father's arms
Sleeps while a mother sings
There's no way to know
All the harm this world can bring
I miss my innocence
Oh, to be innocent

My heavenly Father
The way of eternal love
That overflows with grace
I can completely trust
My broken heart repaired
And all my sin forgot
I can be pure again
In spite of my innocence lost
In his eyes I'm a newborn child
'cause I accept his love
I have a newfound hope
Though I've found my innocence lost

I can be pure again
I've found my innocence lost

-Amy Grant

Are you a picky eater?

It's been my experience through many years of working with children that, while they are sweet creatures created in the image of God, if you put the slightest bit of the wrong thing on their dinner plate, it can cause a hunger strike. Instantaneously. It doesn't have to be touching anything else, but somehow the entire plate has become contaminated and hazardous waste.

I think the same is true often when we ask people in the church to get involved in small groups, Sunday school or even attending church. The picky eater syndrome raises its ugly head.

What do I mean? I mean I don't think we as Christians are hungry enough to devour the word. I think that we have too often taken the Burger King "Have it your way" mentality to our own spiritual demise. Its as if we are starving ourselves spiritually in a hunger strike because the corn touched the potatoes on our spiritual plate.

Often times as Christians, we take the "picky eater" approach to our spiritual growth. We head out to church, and we immediately begin the negotiation process of what its going to take to make us come back. We look "on our plate" so to speak and find that there are items that we didn't order when we came in the door. "The kids are too noisy." "They don't have coffee." "They do have coffee, but they drink it in the sanctuary." "The drums are too loud." "The hymns are old." "Someone is making them uncomfortable." "No one looks like me." "They all send their kids to public school." "They live in the dark ages." Every detail of the church is so scrutinized that fault is found "on our plate" in every church. With that kind of scrutiny, no wonder.

In other cultures, I am told that Christians will walk miles to attend a worship service. They gather together and worship and praise and teach for hours. These people are hungry for the Word. They will do what is necessary to be filled. They will over look the imperfections of this world to experience the Perfect presence of the Almighty. And they are filled.

Imagine if western Christians came to church with this hunger.


I know personally that I am hungry. I am hungry for food. not milk. not rice cereal. I need a spiritual steak. I need some really protein rich foods to sustain my spiritual workouts that I face each week in my family, community and ministry.



"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Jesus

Leadership- and recruiting

As the leader of CM its my job to put on a happy face and "spin" our "desperation" for volunteers.....

I have a general philosophy of "as goes the leadership, so goes the group".

This means that if I am discouraged or disappointed in my ministry, the people beneath me will be too. If I have negative attitudes, so will the group. BUT if I am encouraging, smiling and helpful, the group in turn will also be.

It is never my opinion that we are "short-handed" or understaffed in front of anyone. God gives us each person that he does when he does for a specific purpose and time that is appropriate, never longer or never more than we need. He goes before us in ALL things including volunteers. Prayer and trust in God's timing must be the cornerstone of all recruiting in Children's ministry.

I dont want anyone serving in CM from guilt or any other reason other than the fact that they are responding to a call from God. I also don't want anyone in CM speaking negatively about lack of committed volunteers to anyone inside or outside of the department. Keep that conversation to our prayers with God and God alone. It is not our job to do the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of people. Only the Holy Spirit can change people's hearts, minds and values to serve in any ministry.

Please be careful who you talk to about recruiting/volunteers/or lack of them. If people comment to you, encourage them to pray for those that they feel need to be involved in ministry. Pray for God to work in their lives. That is where the emphasis must be.