Who really judges us?

Who really judges us? This is a question that is ravaging the church. The world says we the church are judgmental, mean, unkind with all of our words. All of which are true, as a human race we thrive on being mean and tearing others down, it makes us feel better. I agree we need to be Christ, filled with love and compassion, not judgmental. It is not our job to judge, but it is our job to teach what Christ said and to model his life.

Jesus said in John 12:47-50
47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

So, it is correct, we are not supposed to judge. We should find love and compassion and in those things we should kindly teach what Jesus would have said. I have heard these passages taught so many times, but it is always stopped at verse 47, no one goes on. Jesus came to save, his words and commands on the other hand does judge us read vs 48 above. When we reject his teaching for our own selfish ambitions we are judged by his words. We essentially are judging ourselves because we have not obeyed his commands.  Jesus spoke on God's authority, his commands are eternal life. His life does save us and does not judge us. It is the commands He left us with that were given by the Father, this is what judges us. When we choose our selfish ways over Gods ways it is truly our decision that bring down judgment. We are telling God we know best, our ways are better, that he does not understand. We are giving into our flesh and our desires and that is what judges us. We reject his commands, we reject his ways, we reject his plan. In doing this we put the very judgement we are so quick to point to others on ourselves. So who is responsible for our action, only us. Thankfully we are not lost in this judgement. God forgives us, He died so that we may be covered by his blood. Each time we stumble we must repent and we will be forgiven, for this I am so thankful. This is why we must lose our lives to gain it, why we must pick up our cross daily. From this understanding these verses make so much sense.

Sin is sin whether it is gluttony, greed, lying, hatred, sexual, it is all sin. Our job as Christians is to love each other as ourselves, to mirror Christ, but also to live out his commands. We should not judge with our words, but we should speak truth and stand up for God's commands. If our life of Christ judges others is it us judging or the Holy Spirit convicting the path of sin others are following. 
We need to be careful with our words, learn to love and not tear down, we need to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Also we should not be ashamed of the gospel, we should not be ashamed of the holy life-giving words of Christ. As we obey them they give us life, as we disobey them they are what we are judge by. We must memorize them and store them in our heart. It really is living water and the food that nourishes our soul. 

WMI

Here is a post from our family blog as we prepare to head to Africa. Well, here I am sitting in a dark room with a little nightlight and the glow from my computer. I see a sick child laying on a cot like bed on our floor, right next to the bathroom of course and a exhausted husband drifting in and out next to me in bed. He just got done cleaning up from our sick child and now we are just praying that this bug doesn't continue through our family. We are at World Missions Institute where we are learning about being missionaries in a different culture. That really isn't even a good description of what we are learning about. We have had Old Testament Foundations and World Religions by a phenomenal speaker and person, David Shenk, New Testament Foundations by yet again another wonderful speaker and person, James Krabill, we've learned about Healing Ministry, Discipling, Evangelizing, and learning about the Islam faith. We visited a mosque on Friday. That was quite interesting. The muslim people are so friendly and hospitable. The thing we have learned is the Islam faith is closely related to Christianity. One difference is they don't ever know if they will actually enter paradise. Christianity offers a relationship with Christ and promises us a place in heaven. Christianity has hope, whereas the Islam faith is lacking hope. I noticed that all the women were covered except their hands and their face. Their dress even came down to the floor and only when they walked did you see their feet. I just got this sense that it was almost as if women were sinful because of the beauty they have. As though if a man would lust after them, it would not be the mans fault but the woman's fault for not being modest enough or covering herself enough. I feel like the Islam faith is favorable towards men. With that being said, that is only my opinion from observation. I have not read the Qur'an, so I do not know what it says regarding women. It is now morning, I had too many distractions last night to finish this blog. World Missions Institute (WMI) has been such a great experience. We have learned a lot, like I mentioned above, and we have also made great friends. There are 18 kids here and 22 adults. It is so nice to be with such a great group of people. We are all like-minded, we are all leaving everything we know, we are all leaving our loved ones and our church, and what I love is that all our kids are with other kids that are doing the same thing. They have found friendship in commonality. All of their friends are doing the same thing in going someplace they haven't been, and having to learn everything new...language, culture, friends. They are even sharing sickness. :) The sweet thing is that the kids are concerned for one another and pray for each other. This is such a wonderful group of kids at WMI. The kids have a class that they go to while we are in our sessions. Their classes include worship, devotions, games, crafts, field trips, outside activities and so much more. Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) has a third culture kid (TCK) coach that talks with the older kids and gives them a chance to talk about their thoughts, fears, expectations etc. The kids look forward to going to their class and Jada and Lydia get bummed when Saturday comes and they have no class. Some difficulties that have come up during WMI has been sickness. It seems to be going through people quick, which is good. The other hard thing is our washer and dryer have died in our house. The washer never worked from when we got here. It would wash the clothes but not spin them, so we said that God was preparing us for Guinea Bissau. Then the dryer died. We are thankful for these difficulties. When we are in Guinea Bissau, life will not be perfect. Hardships will arise and we will need to adapt, and rely on God. We are thankful for these small preparations. God is good...ALL the time. Here is a picture of our home here at WMI

If you would like to help us to get to Guinea Bissau please click this link to EMM Please be sure to designate your gift to Michael and Karen Baker. Thank you so much for supporting our family and our ministry in Guinea Bissau!! Since we have been here at WMI we are so excited to get there! We only need 17%!!!! Every little bit helps!

What is Christmas all about for you?

I struggle so much this time or year. I enjoy buying gifts for my children but of course we never have any money nor can I keep up with the Jones and what other children are getting. I am then reminded what this time of year should be about(probably should have this attitude all the time), giving thanks for what God did for us, praise his gift, and thanking him for all we have; so easy for me to see and understand, hard to teach to my young ones.
They just don't get why they aren't getting iPods, or Kindles, or Nintendo DS. They assume it is because we are poor (WHICH WE ARE NOT WE ARE SO BLESSED), not because we are choosing to not spend our money on those things. Honestly if I had the money for these things I don't need 5, what happened to sharing.
As I was working on a recent message again I was reminded and amazed by what God truly did for us not to mention the hundreds of prophecies he fulfilled by serving us. It blows me away and fills me with an attitude to serve in the same way and to share passionately what was done for me. I pray my kids see this modeled in my life. Giving gifts is not bad in fact it can be good, but why can't Christmas be about Christ and we just give gifts to our kids throughout the year as there is a need. Why do we have to take every pagan holiday and throw our Christian twist on it.
My prayer this holiday season is that Christmas will be about joy, thanksgiving, celebration, memories, times with family, and the things we will cherish forever. Not the latest toy that two months from now will either be broken or in the bottom of the toy bin.

What does your life say about Christ

As I listen to this podcast from cornerstone I am reminded of the need to crave God. Todd poised the question what does our life say about Christ? As I reflected for a few minutes God pointed out areas in my life that need addressed. In 1 Peter 2:1-3 we are told what to get rid of and what to crave, like a infant who craves milk we must crave spiritual milk. For those who have had children you know that face where a child just wants that milk. Do you am I crave God the same way?
So many times I feel dry or I just don't want to spend time in the word, I realize in those moments it is my issue I am sick. At the end of the day I need a heart transplant, I tell my students almost every Sunday it is Heart Issue, how true this really is, the more I study the more I realize that it all comes back to our heart.
What is inside, what to we worship, where are our idols? If people look at our life would they see something different or do we look like the world?
We all need a heart transplant, we all need to be redeemed by Christ, we do this by humbling ourselves and asking for a new heart and a relationship with him. We then must drawing near to him, so today take a look inward and perhaps it is time to humble admit you can't do it on yourself and you do in fact need God. Draw near to him today. You can't do this by working harder, but instead by being a baby that craves God.

What is your plan?

In a world of planning it can be overcoming. We have counselors, growth plans, growth sheets, and now life coaches. We have notes and checks lists and everything can be done remotely  and wirelessly. It all can become crazy. My caution to all including myself is to not lose sight of Christ. Plans are good, growth plans can be helpful, and goals are not bad. In all this we most be careful that we don't "plan God" right out of our life.

If I have learned anything in 32 years of life, that about time I have a plan God changes it. Sometimes majorly and sometime just little tweaks. So it all comes down to a heart issue are you willing to let God run and direct your plans or are you so stuck on your goals and plans that you stop listening to God.

Today resolve to let God plan your life don't let it become a crisis that slows you down enough to listen. No matter the good or bad the praise or hardship if God is directing our steps he will be glorified and it will work out for good in the bigger picture

sometimes there is no bow

I was reminded last night as I told the Bible story what a disney culture we really have. What do I mean by that, well that there is always a nice, clean, or happy ever after ending. As I told the story I was told it was scary, mean, and not nice. It was recommended to dumb it down. I sat there shocked. Really dumb down the Bible, that is the last thing we need to do. We have been doing that for far to long.

Instead I think we need to remember in life sometimes there is no neat ending, sometimes what happens just does not make sense. Some things we just can't complain and put a nice neat bow on it. We should not be surprised by this the Bible is full of stories that don't make sense and so is life. The one thing I do know is that God promised if we following him will not be easy. Persecution always follows kingdom proclamation. If you want an easy life do not talk about the Bible. I also Know that God promises to take care of us and that in the end no matter what if we follow him it will be worth it.
The Bible is full of amazing, unique, mind blowing stories of God showing his power to the world. Some end with great endings and some do not. In fact all but one apostle was killed for his faith, there is no bow there from a human standard, but from our spiritual nature there is nothing better.
So I think it is time to let God's word be God's word. Please stop dumbing down the stories, if there is no happy ending be okay with that, maybe there was and we just don't know the whole story. God has a plan and in the end there is a happy ever after for all of us who love him and follow him.

Who has forgotten who?

I hear a lot that God has forgotten me or won't forgive me. I have come to wonder how many times it is reversed where it is actually us who forget God. We stop believing he loves us and will always forgive us. The Lord has promised us in the old testament and reminds us in Hebrew 13:5 If we obey him he will never leave us or forsake us.
If we obey him, oh how we forget that key part. God may correct us or even punish us, as any good father should do to children he loves. We see this example several time in the life of David, but he never left David. He does this because he loves us, and his mercy and grace in this is far better than what we deserve.
I think far to many times those of us who claim God left me or doesn't love me have in fact walked away from him first. We have decided too many times that the ways of this world are better and more satisfying.  We forget God or how much he loves us, we stop obeying him and his commands, and then when things get bad and we are not rescued we instantly blame God. Instead of taking responsibility for our part in turning away from him to chase a path that leads to death. Proverbs 16:25 reminds us of this truth, there is a path that may seem right to US, but that leads to death, because it is not God's path.
1 John 2:15-17 again reminds us that the love of the world does not come from the father and those who love the world cannot have the Father's love in them. All these things will pass away, these desires will fade, but the man who does the will of the Father will live forever. Amazing how all the Bible always works together. going right back to the promise if we obey him he will never leave us or forsake us.

So I again ask the question who has forgotten who? Who has left who? Who has truly forsaken who? Is it God breaking a promise, which has yet to happen or is it us falling in love with the world and chasing things that will give us only gratification in the short term.
Lastly lets us not confuse or father correcting us as leaving us. I need me father's correction and at time rebuke. In those times as much as it may hurt I never feel abandoned if anything I feel loved and wanted instead of shame. I know my Father loves me enough to correct me. I know left to myself I will follow the path Proverbs 16:25 talks about, I will follow the path that leads to death.
So next time you get ready to say God left you do a heart check, look to see if it is you who walked away first. Own it if you have and humbly ask for forgiveness. Brokenness and humility bring us closer to God, not pride and self assurance. Again look to David how many times did he seek God's forgiveness and it was always granted and he was always loved never forsaken. Don't' let your love for anything but God and pride convince you that God left you, instead take a look inside and see if it was you who started walking away for the path God has marked out for each of us.