Mediocrity is Normal...Really?

In the opening of her biography about the life of Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Elliot describes her with a phrase that has become an intense desire for my own life in the past couple years. She says,

“The preoccupations of [young people] —their looks, their clothes, their social life—do not change very much from generation to generation. But in every generation there seem to be a few who make other choices.”

In the church today, it is a commonly accepted notion that we are supposed to live “normal” lives. We get up and go to work in the morning, just like everyone else does. We go about our classes and go to school just like everyone else does. We hang out with our friends and have a typical social life. In our free time, we can typically be found watching TV, playing some sport, reading the latest novel, updating our Facebook status, and shopping. However, what apparently makes us “different” and “set-apart” as Christians is that we go to church on Sundays (maybe even Wednesdays, too!), and have slightly higher moral standards.

“Christianity is not morality on stilts.” Leonard Ravenhill

Shouldn’t there be something radically different about our lives? Are we really supposed to be living normal, mediocre lives that don’t have an impact on anyone or anything? Is this all there is….?

True Christianity is anything but mediocre. The apostles turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Amy Carmichael rescued a thousand little girls from temple prostitution. Gladys Aylward led 100 orphans safely across mountains and stopped a men’s prison riot herself. Jackie Pullinger walked into the walled city of Hong Kong (where even the police refused to go) and saw people radically delivered from intense drug addictions and prostitution. Jim Elliot gave his life for a tribe that had never before heard of Jesus. Rees Howells established an entire Bible college, trusting God to provide all the money that was needed and interceded for the nation during World War II, that helped to shape the direction of the war. George Mueller never made requests for financial support when he established orphanages but saw God provide each and every time for money or resources that were needed.

So, what’s the difference between the majority of the church today and what the early apostles and these Christian missionaries had? It’s that they were radically given to Jesus. You see, when we truly come to Jesus and surrender everything at the cross, we no longer have the “luxury” of living normal, self-indulgent lives. We are His, for Him to spill and spend as He sees fit. That means that He can call us anywhere He sees fit. Something vital that we also need to understand, though, is that what made these men and women extraordinary was not what they did. It was Who was living inside of them. Yes, many people are still called to go about daily routines at work or school. However, they will never again be living mediocre existences. When Jesus is truly owning and operating their existences, their school or work places will be turned upside down for His glory. Eyes will be opened to see that these seemingly “mundane” routines are spiritual battle grounds. Souls of men and women are at stake, and people that He gave His life for upon the cross are living enslaved to sin, defaming His Name. Can we really stand to live normal, self-indulgent lives while the world around us perishes and goes to hell? May it never be so again!

“Normal Christianity means never being ‘normal’ again.” Leslie Ludy

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2: 15

“I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17: 14

I for one want to be “one of the few” in this generation. I can’t stand the thought of living a “normal” life any longer. All my soul longs for is that He would get the glory that is due His Name. If this means that He sends me to some distant country to share the Gospel with a tribe who has never before heard His Name, so be it. If this means staying here in America and fighting to see Truth prevail against the mounting lies, so be it. However, I know that, no matter what, it will not look normal to the rest of the world or church.

“The whole play act of Christianity which is all about us and fits in Jesus around the edges to make us feel better about ourselves needs to go. And the way it’ll go is when Christians start being Christians once again.” Eric Ludy

Is Jesus your Addiction?

What are you clinging to?  Is there something in your life that you cannot imagine living without?

It’s normal in our culture to have things that we are addicted to or “need” in order to get through our days. Common examples that I’ve observed or that have been present in my own life are: shopping, TV, texting, hanging out with friends, video games, school, food, soda, music, magazines, work, any so many more…

What does Scripture say? Titus 1 says that we are to “hold fast the faithful word that [we] have been taught…” Though this passage is specifically talking about bishops (overseers or watchmen of the church), I think this qualification applies to us all. “Hold fast” literally means to “hold to firmly; cleave to; pay heed to.” It’s used 3 others times in the New Testament, and two of those times are when Jesus is talking about how we cannot have two masters; we will either serve mammon (literally “treasure or riches”) or Him.

So, in other words, we cannot hold to firmly or cleave to both Jesus (the living Word) and [insert your addiction here]. We cannot find our satisfaction in shopping and Jesus. We cannot depend on both television and Jesus. We cannot be addicted to texting and Jesus simultaneously. Jesus must be all.

You see, we’ve accepted so many counterfeits. We turn to things that promise to give us what we need, all the while rejecting the One who has already provided us with all that we could ever need in Him.

We don’t need caffeine for our energy or to keep us awake at work or while we are writing that 20 page paper. We need Jesus.

We don’t need to veg out in front of the TV in order to “relax” or have “downtime” in the evening. We need Jesus (Acts 3: 19).

We don’t need to be constantly surrounded by our friends or constantly texting in order to not feel lonely. Jesus has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is our constant Companion.

Leonard Ravenhill said, ““Where there is no joy, you have to fill it up with entertainment. The more joy you have in God, the less entertainment you need outside of yourself.”

Acts 2:42 says, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” The word “steadfastly” means “to adhere to, be devoted or constant to, be steadfastly attentive to, give unremitting care, persevere and not to faint, show one’s self courageous for, be in constant readiness for.” This word is used of prayer (Acts 6:4; Romans 12: 12; Colossians 4: 2), fellowship (Acts 2:42), doctrine (Acts 2: 42), and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).

So, what are you adhering to, being devoted to, and giving unremitting care to? Is it your TV? Texting? Work? Shopping?

Let us forsake all that would hinder us from pursuing hard after Jesus and cling to His Word instead! For only in Him can true life, joy, and satisfaction be found!

Let us be steadfastly attentive to, be constantly devoted to, and give unremitting care to knowing His Truth, prayer, fellowship, and ministering His Word. This is what the early Christians did. And the result?

Well, they turned the world upside down (Acts 17: 6). 

Believe It

God can’t lie. It’s just fact:

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Titus 1: 2

“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie…” Hebrews 6: 18

“God is not a man, that He should lie…” Numbers 23: 19

“The Strength of Israel will not lie…” I Samuel 15: 29

What He has been pressing upon me recently is that God cannot lie. It is literally impossible for Him to lie. He simply can’t do it. So, what does this imply, as a result?

The promises He has made in His Word? Yeah, He is legally obligated to fulfill them.

*Victory (Romans 6-8)

*Comfort (II Corinthians 7: 6)

*His Faithfulness (Isaiah 54: 10)

*Forgiveness (Jeremiah 33: 8)

*Grace (II Corinthians 12: 9)

*Guidance (Isaiah 30: 21)

*Healing (Psalm 103: 3)

*Joy (John 15: 11)

*Life (I John 2: 25)

*Mercy (Deuteronomy 4: 31)

*Peace (John 14: 27)

*Provision (Psalm 37: 25)

*Redemption (Job 19: 25)

*Strength (Ephesians 3: 16)

*Wisdom (I Corinthians 1: 30)

*(and so many more…)

Do you realize that we, as Christians, can claim every single one of these promises in Christ Jesus? Not on our own merit or based off of anything that we have done but based solely upon what He has done. Our confidence in approaching the Throne of God is not that we are righteous or have anything good in and of ourselves, but that we are IN Him Who is perfect and has all the authority in the world to approach this throne (Hebrews 10:19).

Therefore, if God has promised and cannot lie, what are we saying when we disbelieve His promises or allow anything that is opposite of them into our lives?

What are we saying when we allow anxiety into our lives?

-He’s a liar. He cannot or has not given us complete peace in Jesus Christ.

What are we saying when we allow ourselves to be controlled by sin?

-He’s a liar. He cannot or has not given us complete victory in Jesus Christ.

What are we saying when we allow depression into our lives?

-He’s a liar. He cannot or has not given us complete joy in Jesus Christ.

You see, in the lives of believing Christians, there should be no such thing as any of those things. We have the promises of God, and He cannot lie. So, let us claim them as true and let Him make them true in our lives!

Because He’s promised. And He cannot lie.

“To walk in the Spirit is to assume by faith the victory with which He credits you, and God will vindicate your assumption and make it real in your experience.” 

Major Ian Thomas

“We’re waiting to feel like it. Are you willing to reckon it?” Eric Ludy

“Learn, O pleading saint, to hold up the promise and the oath of God before Him. The Lord cannot deny His own declarations. Hold up the rod of promise, and have what you will.” Spurgeon

“If you have a divine promise, you need not plead it with an ‘If.’ You may urge it with certainty. The Lord meant to fulfill the promise, or He would not have given it. God does not give His words merely to quiet us, and to keep us hopeful for a while with the intention of putting us off at last, but when He speaks, it is because He means to do as He has said.” Spurgeon

“Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only but to be appropriated…There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for His people to make a show thing of Him, and not to use Him. He loves to be employed by us. The more burdens we put on His shoulders, the more precious He will be to us.” Spurgeon

A Meditation on the Honor of Femininity

"His sacred intent for you and for me is nothing short of absolute abandonment to Jesus Christ, entire separation from the pollution of the world and ardent worship of our King with every breath we take."

- Leslie Ludy

• My Vow - Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, by Thy grace I will do it
• My Constraint - Thy love, O Christ, my Lord
• My Confidence - Thou art able to keep that which I have committed unto Thee.
• My Joy - To do Thy will, O God
• My discipline - That which I would not choose, but which Thy love appoints
• My Prayer - Conform my will to thine
• My Motto - Love to live: Live to love
• My Portion - The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.

Amy Carmichael’s Sisters of the Common Life

“I don’t want anybody treating me as a ‘person’ rather than as a woman. Our sexual differences are the terms of our life, and to obscure them in any way is to weaken the very fabric of life itself. When they are lost, we are lost. Some women fondly imagine a new beginning of liberty, but it is in reality a new bondage, more bitter than anything they seek to be liberated from. I want to know not ‘people’ but men and women. I am interested in men as men, in women as women.”

 “No woman who has not learned to master herself can be trusted to submit willingly to her husband. And that word willingly means that she does not merely resign herself to something she cannot avoid. It means that by an act of her own will she gives herself. With gladness she submits because she understands that voluntary submission is her very strength. Because it is the thing asked of her by her Creator, it is the thing which assures her of fulfillment. It is the task assigned her which, willingly performed, actually strengthens the husband in his weakness.”

“The strong-willed person wills against himself, chooses that which he does not naturally choose, refuses that which he would naturally choose. Many men protest that it is not their nature to dominate. Many see their wives as superior to them in intelligence, strength of character, physical endurance, or spiritual perception, and use this as an excuse to let them lead. The roles are not assigned on the basis of capability. They were determined at the beginning of Creation to be a man’s role and a woman’s role and again, we are not free to experiment, tamper with, or exchange them.”

 “The more womanly you are, the more manly your husband will want to be.”

Elisabeth Elliot

“A woman who carries herself like a lady is far more apt to be treated like a lady.”

Leslie Ludy

“We all need to add more nobility to our behavior, more majesty to our language, more elegance to our presentation, and more sacred decorum to our bearing.”

– Leslie Ludy –

“If our culture always expects young women to be playing with their sexual power, always at the ready for the advances of anyone, this means they never have the right to say ‘no.’”

“Our dignity is in our secrets. If nothing is secret, nothing is sacred.”

Wendy Shalit

“Her heart was a secret garden, and the walls were very high.”

William Goldman

Love is a Cross

Love.

We throw around the word a lot. For years I have told my family and other girls that I love them. Often, it’s not something we think about when we say. And this year, while being at college and seeking to pour out myself for the hurting and broken around me, I’ve said over and over that I love these precious people.

It’s quite easy to say. But it’s very different when this love is required to act and must be worked out in the practical everyday life.

You see, love looks like a cross in practical, everyday living.

Henry Scougal says, “Love is the most valuable thing we can bestow, and by giving it, we do in effect give all that we have…Perfect love is a kind of self-dereliction, a wandering out of ourselves; it is a kind of voluntary death, wherein the lover dies to himself and all his own interest, not thinking of them nor caring for them anymore, and minding nothing but how we may please and gratify the party whom he loves.”

So, I can say that I love the hurting, broken, and lost. But what about when this love requires that I give up my perfectly planned afternoon to help someone in need? What about when it requires getting less sleep because someone needed to talk or God asked me to spend more time in prayer for their souls? What happens when this love requires giving up “my” possessions, “my” money, “my” time, “my” plans, and “my” sleep?

This is when true love is proven. I don’t love people because I have compassion toward them or hurt when they’re hurting. I love them when I’m willing to lay down my own life, my own plans, and my own agenda in order to show case Jesus to them. The mentality He has been working in me is that I have no time of my own. So, when someone needs something, I’m available. When I have the opportunity to give of what I have been blessed with, I’m available. There is not an allowance in my mind for the “what about me…or how will I be taken care??” thoughts. I am absolutely convinced that if Jesus calls me to it, He will take care of my every need.

So, it’s not enough to just say I love people. In fact, that means very little until it is lived out in everyday life. However, it’s imperative to remember that this is utterly, completely, and wholly impossible. I have no love for others in and of myself. I must have His love. I must let Him give me His heart for those around me and rely wholly upon Jesus’ grace in order to serve those around me.

They will know us by our love.