Would You Stomp (Step) on Jesus?

 
Jesus is still being abused today.

It’s sad. Actually it’s beyond sad. When I read the news
report this morning, I was outraged to say the least. I have been in the position of the involved parties, and this situation just made my blood boil.

I was reminded of some other people who wanted to “stomp” on Jesus.

“So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” John 19:1-6

It seems easy for Christians today to say, “I wouldn’t have gone along with the crowd! I would have stood up for Jesus!”

Notice the word seems above. How many of us actually would, however?

Huge kudos going out to Ryan Rotela who not only wouldn’t step on the name of Jesus, but had the gumption to question the instructor who made the assignment.

Now, as a teacher, I’m not ok with students talking back, refusing to do my assignment, or questioning my assignments in general. Each and every assignment is prepared for a very specific purpose. No matter how easy, hard, dumb, or any other adjective you’d like to insert they may seem, they are intentionally developed to help students get to where they need to be.

But I wouldn’t ever ask my students to do something that went against their core beliefs even if their core beliefs were drastically different from mine. If I ever did cross that line, I hope and pray a student would call me out on it.

Pilate, let’s call him a politician, could find nothing to charge Jesus with and wanted to set Him free. The government wanted to let Jesus live. The people refused to let him. They wanted to see Jesus put to death.

The people won.

There’s a lesson here. On this earth, the people win. Christian people, we had better be standing up. After reading the actual lesson plan from that class, I understand the concept behind the assignment. I don’t AGREE with the assignment, but I understand what the assignment was supposed to bring about in a classroom of students.

Take time to follow the link above and read the lesson plan. See, something entirely different was supposed to take place. The students as a whole were supposed to balk at stepping on the name of Jesus.

I have a hard time believing that only one person in that classroom believed in Jesus. I just won’t. So what happened the rest of them? Did they succumb to pressure of a grade in a class thinking that they should step on the name of Jesus to earn their grade for the day?

Christian people have to stand together, and most importantly, have to stand.

Step on the name of Jesus? We might as well be swinging the hammer to drive the nails.

Come on, sisters and brothers, let’s not give in to the pressure to step on Him. Instead, let’s step up and lift Him up so that the world may see!

Even the Florida politicians are getting involved. The Christian community should be the loudest voice. We should raise a loving voice, but we should most definitely be using our voice.

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Asteroids, Scientists, Politicians, Public Schools, & Prayer

What should Americans do if an asteroid is heading towards their continent?

Pray!

Well, duh!

And yet that one response uttered by a NASA Scientist is making headlines.


Fox News
RT.com
MSN
NBC Video Clip

The sources are all reporting professionals say if we hear an asteroid is heading our way in three weeks that our only plan is to pray.

Does this concern you?

I’m not going to lie. For once I think someone has gotten it right.

Pray first. Plan later.

Some of you just gasped, didn’t you? Carrie, the planner extraordinaire, just said that out loud and everything.

When disaster seemingly looms, pray first. Prayer changes things.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. Isaiah 58:9-10

In the midst of our emergencies, if we call, He will answer. The first step, however, is we must call!

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamites have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. Psalm 57:1-2

I find it almost ironic that in a government meeting, a scientist answered a question asked by a government official, with the word pray.

Separation of church and state?

Doesn’t apply if an asteroid is headed our way. Why? Because God is the only One who has any authority over the asteroid.

Evolution theory?

Means nothing when one is hoping to be saved from a potential asteroid.

Our nation has gone from looking to God as Provider of everything to looking to everything but God to provide everything. Without God there is no hope. No other being can offer us peace or assurance.

Like the saying goes: No God, No Peace. Know God, Know Peace.

I don’t have to fear an asteroid regardless of where I live or when it can be identified.

Why?

Because my salvation is secure. I know that I know that I know where I will spend eternity.

I have placed my trust in Jesus and because I have repented of my sins, believe that He is God’s son, and confessed my belief publicly I will spend eternity in Heaven. Asteroid or not.

As for prayer, well, I’ll keep praying. I hope that NASA scientist does too. I hope those politicians join right in. In all truth, I hope more Americans rise up and join Mississippi. Let’s put public prayer back in our public schools.

Prayer is important. Prayer is how people come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Prayer is how we communicate gratitude. Prayer is how we cry out in need.

Folks, I don’t care if an asteroid is headed our way or not. Pray!

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/6w3dFbWlAc4&source=uds

 

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Never Worthy, But Yes, Redeemed!

 

Do you struggle? Are you haunted by skeletons in the closet? Are you blinded by past failures?

That’s where I’ve been this year. I’ve actually been there longer than this year, but this year it all became an issue for some reason.

Summer of 2011 after going to Indianapolis with the youth on a mission trip, Chris and I came home from a second honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. We came home in mixed states. We were relaxed. We had our eyes opened to just how blessed we truly are in America. And Chris came home sick. Overall we had a great time, but it was followed by a lot of time in and out of doctor’s offices and hospitals.

I spent a lot of time on social media during that time. It just happened that SB54 was being introduced at that exact time. I jumped into the mix on social media and began speaking out against it and encouraging others to do the same.

I contacted as many politicians in Missouri as I could via e-mail and facebook. I encouraged everyone I knew to do the same.

I followed every news report on the situation and was outraged at a few politician’s idea to limit free speech for educators because they were afraid teachers would inappropriately communicate with students and eventually become sexual predators.

The second day of school I received a phone call from an attorney with the teacher’s union I belong to wanting to know if I would be willing to be listed as a plaintiff on a lawsuit against the Governor of the State of Missouri for SB54. I couldn’t believe I was even being asked, and I wanted to find out what ramifications could be before I consented.

After checking with my husband and employer, I agreed to place my name on the lawsuit. I then contacted all religious organizations I served with to let them know what I was doing. I wanted them to know ahead of time that way my name could be removed from leadership positions if the lawsuit would cause problems due to some religions stance against lawsuits.

I explained in my contact that I felt I needed to do this even if it meant losing some of my positions because if the bill became a law, I (and any other teacher serving in churches) would not be able to communicate via text, facebook, or Twitter with any of the students in the Sunday School class I taught or Youth Group I served in. This loss of communication methods would greatly affect my ability to work with today’s youth in their world.

Long story short…I didn’t lose any of my positions, did have to miss a day of school the first full week to go to court in Jefferson City and testify, the judge did issue a preliminary injunction, and before we could go to trial the Governor repealed SB54 and it was rewritten as SB1.

In essence, we won. In reality, educators still have district created rules for how they may communicate electronically with students. It means I can still communicate with my kids from church.

Before this situation had completely died down, came the cancer false alarm.

Then all of my Association VBS responsibilities mixed in with my high school softball coaching responsibilities. There were a few other things going on in that same time that caused some additional stress, and migraines started.

In the middle of my softball season and MAP testing, I was fighting some intense stress levels that seemed to be causing headaches.

I had to resign from all of my volunteer positions. It was taking everything I had during this time simply to do the things I had to do. And resigning from my Sunday School class & youth group job, well, stressed me out even more.

I knew I had to do it. Chris knew, and had been telling me for quite a while, that I had to do it. But I really didn’t “want” to do it.

You see, I fought a law for my right to communicate with my church kids.

What does it say about me if I was willing to risk my career, my name, my reputation, all to fight a possible law that would limit contact with students I have both at school and church because I wasn’t willing to lose contact with them outside of school and then barely six months later I resign from working with them at church?

Guilt set in.

The voices started whispering. The things they were whispering weren’t encouraging. They were awful.

“You aren’t worthy to do His work. You’ve never been worthy. No one has ever found you worthy. You’re never first choice. Always last resort.”

And those whispers were things that I’ve heard all my life. So it didn’t take much for them to take root in my being. The negative thoughts added to my stress.

I needed a plan; I reached out for help. That’s a whole other story. The last sixteen months have really been a rollercoaster ride. The highs have been high, and the lows have been low.

And in the midst of dealing with the issues a song came on our local Christian radio.

I’m always amazed that someone can put my emotions into lyrics without ever meeting me. That’s exactly what “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave does.

The verses of this song, well, they are my testimony.

“Redeemed”

By Big Daddy Weave

“Seems like all I could see was the struggle
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
Bound up in shackles of all my failures
Wondering how long is this gonna last
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son
Stop fighting a fight it’s already been won”

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be
I am redeemed, I’m redeemed

All my life I have been called unworthy
Named by the voice of my shame and regret
But when I hear You whisper, “Child lift up your head”
I remember, oh God, You’re not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be

Because I don’t have to be the old man inside of me
‘Cause his day is long dead and gone
Because I’ve got a new name, a new life, I’m not the same
And a hope that will carry me home”

You see, no matter how low my lows get, they’re NEVER too low for God. He’s already won the war. I’m still a work in progress, and He won’t be finished with me until He calls me home.

That voice that whispers to me when I get down, well, it’s wrong. I’m not the same! I have been redeemed!

Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:18-21

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