One Level Deeper......

God has been really digging deep inside my soul since February of this year.  Book after book my heart takes a journey that peels back the superficial surface, layer by layer, to reveal a level deeper than the prior.  My most recent reading was The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I have yet to come across a book that has stopped me in my passionate tracks as much as this one.  I really appreciate the depths that he went to explain discipleship.  All I have to say is AMAZING! 

Bonhoeffer very boldly classifies grace as either cheap or costly.  In my opinion, this section is the best of his book.  He clearly draws the line between secularized Christians and those who follow Christ.  His definition for cheap grace is “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without a cross, and grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”   Costly grace, according to Bonhoeffer, “is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has.  It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods.   It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leave his nets and follows him."  As he continues to drive his point home he states that “grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.  It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.  It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner.  Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were brought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.”

Revealing isn't it?  I have to admit, I think my heart skipped a beat reading these couple of pages.  What's more amazing is that each section of this book is the blunt force interpretation and understanding of man who truly loved Christ. His devoted attitude oozes out in each section, page after page, point after point. His ultimate goal is to help others recognize how blessed one is to be a chosen believer but most importantly to understand the cost we must all be willing to make and experience for that choosing. To Bonhoeffer, there is no gray line in living a life for Christ. There is no such thing as mediocre Christianity. To not be obedient in living out discipleship (in its costliest form – death) is to not choose Christ.

Regardless of how others might interpret this thought, I believe we desperately need this call in our individual life and the body of Christ today. Because we don’t live out discipleship in the way Jesus intended, we can’t understand or experience all that he extends to us freely. Instead, we go through the motions of doing what other so called Christians do - living out religion instead of relationship with Christ. We hardly ever use the Word of God as a light unto our path - instead we use media, friends, and secular pastors. We don’t live in a constant state of prayer - but one that’s only based on certain events (for dinner and bed time, when we need something, or for religious holidays). Worldly influence has infiltrated our lives and church beyond recognition. We have allowed the body of Christ to become like a shirt barely clinging on to a hanger of a picked through clearance rack. For if we truly understood the magnitude of his love, peace and grace we would all live our lives in Christ to their fullest.  Experiencing his love and grace to the extremes would never allow the need to lessen the value of grace by classifying or living it out cheaply.

Discipleship - Are you making disciples?

Your first question may be what in the heck do those two words mean - disciple and discipleship?  Let me break it down a bit.  Disciple is one who loves God, our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his heart, soul, and mind, and tries to become more and more like him through a life of faith and obedience. Discipleship is modeling and teaching Christians the precepts of the Bible—mainly prayer, doctrine, Christian living, and worship.  As a disciple of Christ, I myself have been discipled by many folk over the last year. If you walked up to each of them and asked "How has it been discipling Linda?” I guarantee many if not all would say they have not.  However, what I want to bring to light today is that even though you may not personally be directly involved in discipling someone or if you think no one is waching, think again!  God is always using His children to grow other disciples.  I realize my understanding of discipleship may not fit the exact defintion of others.  That's ok.  I may grow into that same understanding someday or I may not.  For now, it's right where God wants it to be. To demonstate my point I'm going to list out the people who have been instrumental in my walk over the last year and how they've impacted me. Not one of them has set down to "teach" or "train" me in a one-on-one session or in any formal training session. But, through their walks with Christ, God has used them to teach and train me in some very personal ways.


• Bob Weeks - My pastor. Through his sermons, his home life, and a few e-mail exchanges he has been instrumental in helping me grow in the word of God. God has used Bob on several occasions to answer questions and prayers that have helped strengthen my faith and walk in Christ. Bob influences my life more than what I can write in words here. His love for God and his gift of teaching has helped me know what it means to "take up the cross."  Bob has been so influencial in my life that I hope he and I parnter together until the end of my life.  He will always be someone that I hope to seek counsel from no matter where God leads me.

• Al Davvison - A man of great patience and peace. Al is gifted on so many fronts. He's the type of guy who has many spiritual gifts and all are very obvious when you meet him.  Al is flat out blessed.  However, Al has taught me how to instill patience in my walk. He carries himself in a peaceful way in that respect models how I apire to carry myself. 

• Mark Dearing - In 4 - 20 minute sessions with kids (yes, kids) during VBS sports camp, Mark taught me how to lead people to Christ. God used each of his short messages to clear up any doubts and questions that I had. In each lesson certain key points were impressed on my heart in such a way that they are with me today. God used Mark and Paige to help strengthen my confidence by leading my first person to Christ that week. To hold their hands and pray was an honor. So many of my prayers were answered that week. Because of that week, Mark has helped me share the gospel with a homeless biker at Wal-Mart, several homeless folk between here and Louisville and many others. My heart has been a blaze to share the gospel ever since.

• Melanie Dearing- she lives out the biblical role of a woman. She inspires me in my home where I'm most weak. She allows me to visually understand and apply womanhood as a mother and a wife. She is focused on Christ and I love that about her.  Her blog: http://dearingfamilycircus.blogspot.com/

• Tanya Burnette- Tanya latched on to the call God has on my life in just a few short meetings with her. She got my heart and has partnered with me openly and honestly. She is a woman who is firm in what she believes. She sees through all the "stuff". She doesn't live under false pretences (and works hard at that). God has brought us two together to do some great stuff in our community.  I look forward to growing closer to her in our walk with Christ.

• Susan Woodard - A woman of complete contentment. If I ever have the honor to lead Womens Ministry in any capacity, Susan will be called in to teach what it means to live a content life. Susan has helped me see what truly matters in a family and in your life. She was the first person God put into my life to show me it's not about labels, competing with neighbor Joe, having the best of the best, and all that continues on with all that. She has been instrumental in my life in so many ways but this is one of her strongest assets and influences on my life.

• Dusty Williams- He is another one who has wisdom, patience and peace. I truly aim to model my behavior/mannerism as controlled and peaceful as Dusty does. He and Al are my two models in behavior. I've only been around Dusty a handful of times but I have watched him interact and work as a Deacon in our church thousands of times. When I get angry and want to lash out, God uses Dusty's behavior to help remind me "This is my child and your model not the evil flesh that you want to unleash."

• Cathy Weeks - Pastor Bob's wife. Their relationship and life is always in the spot light. I'm constantly looking to her to understand how she handles it all. Her priorities. Her commitment to Christ. Her everything. I have no doubt in my mind that God will have our family serving Him in some capacity. Because of that, I look to her and Bob to see how they handle it to help prepare my family.

• Tami Williams - Because she embodies what I read about fellowship. She invited me in when she didn't really know me. She sought to get to know me when I didn't know but a handful of people. In a sea of hundreds of people every Sunday going every which way in our lobby, it's quite intimidating to try to fellowship.  Not including that I'm an outsider coming in to a small town.  She didn't hesitate and I strive to be that example to others.

• Heather Palacious - Last on the list but first in my book. God has used her internet ministry to witness to my life like no other. She was instrumental in pulling me out of my secular life. She helped show me how to live boldly for Christ. She sent me a bible that began my transformation in huge ways. She has been there for me, whether through text messaging, tweeting, Facebook or her blog, and has helped me to grow tremendously. She lives over +300 miles away. However, she is a great example of how powerful the internet can glorify God. There is so much about Heather and what she does through her internet ministry that has opened my eyes and heart to Christ. I can't even begin to mention it all. The one word that sums up all that she does and has shown me is, "WOW!"  Her blog: http://www.leadhership.net/

As a Christian, as someone who shows up to church on Sunday's, or as someone who claims to believe in God I ask you this - "What kind of images and impressions has your life cast onto other disciples? What kind of examples are you telling non Christians or new believers in life? Is it the same picture Christ paints for us? Does it match up to the word of God? Would Christ be happy with you?"  I would not be where I am at today, in my walk with Christ, if it wasn't for the people mentioned above. If any one of them lived in a false way then I would be living in a false way or set my expectations lower than what God wants. I'm not saying they are perfect and live a perfect life. But with reading the word of God and witnessing that word in motion through them, they have helped shaped my life and my family. They are disciples doing discipleship. You have no idea who is watching, who God is drawing near or how God is using you. I urge you as Christians to read the word of God and live right. Live as close to what Christ instructs for your life (Romans 13 is a good place to start!). You are shaping someone's life. You have a light that is leading others in some direction. Shouldn't that direction be directly pointed at Christ?

"Patience My Child"

I am a very driven person (Trust me, I don’t say this prideful in any way. After a year of self reflection, this is the one thing I know about myself). I believe in part from sports and part how God made me. I always have had to do far and above more work than most others to just get my foot in the door. You may tend to think that driven = energetic. Well it doesn’t. I'm not one of those spunky personality types that never seem to tire. Actually, I'm quite opposite. I can sleep at the drop of a hat. When I wanted to take a good solid undisturbed nap in college I would head to the dollar theater and off I went, 2 minutes in I was already drooling. I remember falling asleep once at Gino's East (my favorite pizza in the whole world) with a group of friends, my head flat on the table. Who does that? In addition to my sleeping, I can actually be quite lazy at times. (No comments needed from my sisters on this!) Regardless, my point is that nothing has ever come easy. If I received anything, trust me, a lot of discipline and training went in to get whatever it was. I worked really hard for all that I got.

You can imagine now that I have Jesus in my life what that must feel like. It's all I can do to not want to go spread the gospel to the ends of the world. I want to rid all evil out of my community and beyond. I want to plow through all the darkness and truly create a united community. I want to live boldly and get beyond topical approaches to truly help transform this world. I want to do all I physically can for Him. To that I am really thankful for Saul/Paul. He too was passionate, driven and disciplined. He too lived a life of misguided passion. But, he turned it around to do great things for the Gospel. He transformed this misguided passion to be a man of great heart and wisdom. His life gives me hope.

With all of that I wanted to share a story with you. A tiny story that is no bigger than the piece of dirt under my nail right now that is probably from gathering fall decorations out in the woods 2 days ago (yuck, I know!) Yes, it seemed at the time to be small. You see a couple weeks ago my heart was very heavy that I wasn't doing enough for Christ. I cried several times that week because I felt so trapped in "life". I want to share today how God can take the tiniest act in your life and turn it into a life lesson. A few months back I volunteered to work at the back to school party that our church holds for our community. As a volunteer I was handed a t-shirt to wear that was to be returned, after washed of course. In getting busy with life that t-shirt laid in the laundry basket for a week or so until I received a friendly reminder via Facebook that the shirts were needed back. After I washed it, I folded and laid it on the counter right beside the door. My point in laying it there was to take it to the church the next time I left the house. Yea, right! You can't miss the shirt, bright lime green and next to door. However, weeks passed and the shirt still lay on the counter. Weeks! One day as Mollie and I were gathering our stuff to head to Seymour something inside me told me to pick that shirt up and throw it in my purse. I really wasn't planning to head in the direction of the church but decided to listen and threw it in just in case I had extra time. As we get out of the car to go into the library that same voice told me to take my purse. “Why?” I said to myself. I don't need it and I'll just have to either drag it around or walk off and leave it as I play with Mollie. But, I grabbed it anyway. A few minutes into our visit I noticed Melanie, my friend and leader at the church who incidentally was the one needing the shirt. We talked for a bit and then that same voice said, "Give her the shirt." It was quite odd really. After I handed her the shirt she said, "You just happen to carry this around in your purse?" I still chuckle when I see her expression on her face as I pulled it out. I’m sure it was the last thing she expected. That my friends is the story of this blog. Pointless? Yes, I thought so to. However, time and time again that story keeps popping up in my walk with Christ. It has been THE strong hold for allowing God to work in my life instead of forcing life myself. That tiny little story taught me a lot about how God works and how I must be patient.

 1.  He prepares us (whether it’s just washing a shirt and setting it on the counter),
 2.  He lines up the way (even when we have no clue that he’s at work),
 3.  In His timing it all works out perfectly for His glory.

"Patience my child, I'm just preparing you" is His voice in my soul. So often God gives me just a snippet of what’s to come just to prepare me but I want to take it and run as fast as I can and to do as much as I can with it. For my driven personality, it’s not all about that. My lesson is to have patience and let God work his magic. It's amazing that when you do have faith through patience and when that day comes – the day where everything works out perfect for Him- how more special and amazing those experiences are. You really SEE and FEEL his love. I have been able to sell my car, furnish my family's closet with clothes and to witness my husband's baptism by stopping to reflect on this tiny story.  Nothing compares to his presence in your life.

A stay at home mom? Are you sure God?

First of all, I truly want to apologize for anyone who has kept looking for new posts over the last few months (I’m sure all two of you have). With God’s direction, I decided to take the summer off to truly be with my kids. I have worked their whole lives (granted that’s only 7 years for the oldest) but this was the first - and probably only - summer God enabled me to truly be with my kids 24/7.  Both of them!  All summer!  Yikes! I would lie if I said it was easy. After all, I have spent 36 years of my life going, going, going and juggling about 50 things along the way. Who else would physically build their first house themselves, get married, have a kid and take a promotion all in one year time? Yes, that was me and that’s the life I was use to. Staying home 24/7 just for me alone was going to be a challenge let alone with sprinkles of a super active boy and a very needy girl. Not including the fact that we now live on a shoe string budget. Go figure, of all summers! It became quite tricky and creative to keep their little bodies occupied. Not to forget what felt like the +40 days of miserable hot weather that kept us hostage indoors. I’m sure I failed miserable with them. However, I was obedient and finished the task. Not sure God will ask me to do that again but nevertheless, right?

I honestly do have a confession though and one that I hold dear to my heart and that is God has worked deeply in me.  Looking back at my life before S*A*H*P (stay at home parenting) I can see that I was stressed out, angry and very hard core. I had become someone I didn’t even recognize. I was calloused, repressed and irritated at the world. My temper was out of control. I angered easily. Not including the fact that I never really ever decompressed myself. I was always thinking about work and how I could better apply myself. I always felt I wanted more responsibility at work but yet no one would ever give me more?? However, that’s a different post all together. If it wasn’t work that consumed me it was how much housework I had to get done over the weekend, who I had to visit before Monday rolled around, and how irritated I was with my husband’s lack of whatever it was at the time. I was at peak performance 100% of the time with no end in site. Just a little over 2 years ago we sold our first house, moved in with my parents, my mom passed, started building a new house and became pregnant all about a 4 month span. I never really slowed down to deal with any of it. I just kept plowing through one thing after the other. I started having pains in my chest and even though my doctor would never say this, I know she thought “You have to stop!” Everything thankfully always checked out but I do believe it was God giving me warnings. Through the grace of God’s love he told me to slow down and rest. I was being laid off from my job and instead of hunting frantically like most normal people would, I didn’t. I knew way before then that the time was now that I change my life. I had made Jesus Lord of my life and new I had to do things differently. But rest? Really? Me? I asked him several times a day if he was sure he had the right person. I fought it for it a while (and even hid it from my hubby a few months) but eventually accepted and trusted His will for my life. Regardless of our financial situation, it has been the BEST decision of my life (apart from making him Lord of my life). During my times with the kids he allowed me to step out of my body and watch how I reacted, treated and related to them. I was able to watch their reactions in slow motion. I saw that they were treating each other how I treated them. It was hard to be a witness to all the anger, hostility and selfishness. Worst thing is, nothing about how I parented or how I loved my husband was Godly. I wasn't showing or teaching about God in any of it. I didn’t know how to talk about God. My attitude and actions was affecting my kids and my marriage very negatively. I was hanging on too tight to everything but Him. I refuse to look back in guilt because I am so thankful for who I am today. God has repaired my lost, hateful, and angry heart into one that is truly warm, loving, giving and desperate for Him. I now have patience. I now love whole heartedly. I now experience God moments with my kids several times a day. I now attempt to discipline them logically and Godly instead of yelling. I actually see their personalities and appreciate them. I love them and crave more time with them. I am so thankful that He took control.

What I realize most and have learned from God is that He really knew how to change me. He didn’t throw me into another job and say “Goodluck!” He took the only two things in my life that I cared for and protected the most and said, “I know how calloused you are and therefore I will teach you my way and not your ways and I know the only way to do that is through your most precious gifts, your children.” I am amazed at how my life has really grew over the last year, not just within me (again, a future post) but how he made it possible to take me out of my high paying career lifestyle to become a simple at home mom and wife (notice I didn’t say easier). My hubby and I are amazed each month at how we make it financially. I still don’t understand but I’m not wasting my time thinking about it. I trust in Him to provide as long as I stay obedient. Until He tells me otherwise, I will be here at home playing with, feeding, picking up after, disciplining, and cleaning after this Ernstes family.

A few versus that I’ve clung to which helped me trust and not worry are:
MAT 6:33 - “Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants then all you other needs will be met as well.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

1 John 3:18 – “My children, we should love people not only with words and talk but by our action and true caring.”

I urge you that if you don't feel happy in life, if you are not satisfied with all the stuff you've accomplish, or if you are stressed out, angry and out of control ask Him to come into your life and save you.  Put him first, the Lord of your life, and he will show you a much better way to live.

Reflecting down memory lane.......

As part of transitioning my life to follow God I have finally decided to get my master's @ Southern Seminary.  I have no idea where this road will lead me but it's one that for the first time am super excited about.  In honor of applying to the school (for God) I thought I would post the required testimony portion of the application.  For better or worse here it is:

Reflecting on my life to write this for Southern Baptist Seminary has been eye opening to the works of God that I now know were lost through the years. Even the days of when God wasn’t a part of my life, I now see where I have always been a part of his. It is true as the scripture states “God never stops working” and my life is proof of that.


I didn’t grow up attending church regularly. I did go to the occasional bible school, youth events and Sunday school here or there, but that was the extent of it. Mom made us get out of bed and walk to the church occasionally. She would attend church sporadically and was a believer, but she never revealed her personal relationship with God to me or my sisters, from what I remember. I am not sure she fully experienced a relationship with Christ now that I think about it. Nevertheless, she believed in God and forced her kids to get some religious education and enrichment through the years. I can see now that during these early years God had planted the seed.

Growing up I was always into sports. I started playing basketball at age 7 along with other sports like volleyball, tennis and softball in my later years. My true love has always been basketball. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t very good at basketball when I was starting out. There are a couple of memories that are truly etched in my mind that seemed to carve out some personality traits in me that I still carry around today. Although I practiced and played basketball a lot during the summers, I did not see much progress in my skills. I think I scored a whopping 6 pts my whole middle school career (yes, that’s 6th – 8th grade). I never got any playing time. I was a true bench warmer – and boy there were some games by butt ached from sitting. Every summer our basketball schedule consisted of area youth leagues in Charleston and Seymour, AAU, camps and off season open gym games and practices. Yes, all of that in just one 10 week summer. The summer before I was entering into the 8th grade I was asked to “not” play with my normal team but to play with the 7th grade teams. Can you imagine the humility and embarrassment? Every time I stepped foot on the court I would not be playing with friends but playing on a team with kids that were a year and grade younger? Wow, that was a blow to my self esteem! To my credit and due to my love of the game, I stuck it out and finished the summer and my 8th grade season but there was bitterness in me. I felt consumed by it. So, I decided to quit putting myself through all the torture and didn’t try out for basketball my freshman year. I remember sitting in home room while all the players were dismissed to the gym for tryouts. Over a period of three days I sat in that room determined to move on with my life. However, it was through the understanding kindness and consideration of one coach- caring enough for me, that helped changed my mind and my life. He didn’t say it would be easy but he promised if I gave it my all, things would work out (thanks Ben Watts!).

Although I did play on the Junior Varsity team my freshman year (while most others made varsity), I dressed a few varsity games and had some amazing moments in those short minutes. My sophomore year I played varsity mostly for defense. Actually, I was basically told to not shoot the ball…EVER! However, by my senior year, through my determination to improve, I was on the all time leading scorers list and had obtained a few awards. Trust me, I worked hard. I stayed late after every practice. I went in early when we didn’t have to. I gave it my all in every practice and game, even when my body was tired and my head told me to stop. I knew by the end of my junior year that I wanted to play basketball at the college level. I had gotten a few offers from other colleges but my eyes were fixed on one place-Judson University in Elgin, IL. Instead of being recruited by that school, I hunted down the coach, sent in player tapes and practically begged to play. He had no idea who I was or what he was getting himself into. Judson is a Division 2 NAIA Christian school. Why this school? I believe it was God’s plan for my life. I visited this campus in my middle school years. From that visit forward this place was etched in my heart. I can’t explain the feelings that I experienced while there. Peacefulness, excitement and happiness were just a few. I visited several other colleges while in high school but there was nothing that compared to what I felt at Judson University. My eyes were locked on this college. So, now all I had to do was convince the coach to let me play. I truly believe God was calling me to a much higher place than a basketball court. I now see the bigger purpose that this college served in my life.

God used my desire and talents for his Glory. I received several awards throughout my career at Judson. Some of my favorites were: Judson female athlete of the year (2 years I believe), NAIA freshman of the year, I made it to the 1,000 pt. club in 3 years and most recently I had the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I prospered on the court most definitely, as a player and a leader. I spent lots of hours in off season training (and I thought high school was hard!). On top of that I spent many hours being mentally and emotionally fine tuned as a leader by Coach Tory Gum. However, above all the worldly honors I received, the most notable honor was accepting Christ into my heart during my sophomore year. I believe Judson helped water the seed that was planted so many years prior.

I truly wish that from that point forward my life could have been nothing but great times filled with my service to God. However, in all honesty, even though I had the foundation of God in my life and Jesus in my heart, my relationship with Him never really took off. Although I learned so much about Him in college, I lived my life, my way, the moment I stepped off campus on graduation day. I tried to control my happiness and fate. I had a solid career, house, and husband and began starting a family. Every piece of advice that I listened to was starting to take shape. I thought I had executed my life pretty well. In the midst of all of my successes since college, there was always something inside me that said I was on the wrong path. Something deep inside that told me there was more to life than this. Because of that feeling I felt unsettled and I had to figure it out, and try I did. I was always dreaming and coming up with a new path for myself. Anywhere from starting a new magazine, becoming an interior designer and a construction designer (yes, I came up with new names to fit my new path!). I would do research and get so far with each new endeavor, but there was always something inside that didn’t feel right about it. Something told me that the jump wouldn’t make me happy. It wasn’t until the age of 36 that I gave up that control. I felt desperate. I threw my hands up and said to God, “I am yours do as you will.” I have been actively seeking Him ever since.

He has provided me a vision of service that revolves around internet and social media, building up communities and giving back to Him and to the church for His service. In recent months, I have helped a couple of local churches understand the power of promotion and how to use of social media to grow God’s kingdom. God has helped me lay out a vision for each of them and then help them implement it. I no longer have my comfortable corporate job. I have chosen a different path, one that has been revealed to me by Christ. I’ve been working at dedicating this past year to being a Godly leader for my family and following God’s call for me by helping and serving the church. I want to build stronger communities and transform the world by spreading the Good News. Using the power of technology – video, audio, promotional based websites and social media – I believe God is calling me now to a place even higher than what I am living today. It is my heart’s true desire to work inside of God’s world in some capacity, implementing the vision He has provided me. I have the skill set to do what he has called me to do but I desire the education to help support it. I believe today the seed that was planted and watered so long ago is now growing strong and healthy, through God’s calling.

Christ in Politics: How are you behaving?

Is this you?

As things heat up with the “change” of our country and leadership over recent years, this last month I have been on a mission to find Christ in politics. I have been eager to read or hear Christian perspectives on certain topics or their views on today’s government leadership. Every time I turn on my computer or the TV I am flooded with the worldly views. On my browser's home page there is not a minute that goes by where government isn’t mentioned in the top 5 news stories of the day. It’s a quick realization that it’s not easy finding Christian political views. Many articles that I did find claim to be Christian but found myself questioning their intentions by the end - which were definitely not glorifing God. I did run across the 700 Club on a couple of occasions when channel surfing the TV but only to get teaser snippets of political views – seriously nothing more that 15 seconds each. However, recently I came across an article from Dr. Mueller’s blog which was very refreshing to say the least (check it out here if u want: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/04/05/render-unto-caesar-on-paying-taxes-after-obamacare/).

Trust me when I say this, I am not a strong political person. I don’t get into all the debates and arguments. I have opinions and I have morals. I’m not an expert on any one topic. I’m not a right wing, left wing, extremist, or a tea party member. I am wife and mom of 2 who hangs laundry on the clothes line, plants a garden, picks up dog poo from our yard so kids won’t play in it, has an occasional glass of wine and on a good day gets a +2.5 mile run in. I want to raise my kids with a good moral code of conduct (although with my son this has been challenging to say the least) and live a life as close to Christ as I possibly can. So my political mission is simple: How do the government and their decisions impact me as a believer? How am I supposed to conduct myself in public and to my kids when faced with differences with their decisions and their views?

For me the answer came when the Holy Spirit pointed me to the book of Daniel. Trust me, when I opened my bible my first reaction was “I’ve already read this. What could I possible get out of it?” Actually, I wasn’t even thinking politics on this day. It was a crappie day and I was looking for inspiration. But, I rolled with it and read it anyway. About two chapters into Daniel, Dr. Mueller’s article popped into my head (for no particular reason except my adult ADD) which immediately change my reading focus from bored to a political point of view. I then began reading it all over again with a different mindset. Well, here is my interpretation of what the living word presented to me in my life - with Christ as the priority - living under government rule.


Daniel 1:2 – The Lord allowed Nebuchadnezzar (a king who did not believe in God) to capture Jehoiakim king of Judah.

1:3-5 King Nebuchadnezzar ordered to bring some of the captured men from Judah to his place. He wanted descendants from important families, young men, men with nothing wrong with them, men who are capable of learning and understanding, and handsome men. He wanted men capable of serving in his palace. The king gave these young men a certain amount of food and wine everyday. Among these men were Daniel, Hannaniah (Shadrach –Babylonian names), Mishael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abednego).

1:11 Daniel made a deal with the guard who fed them (the four) to not give them anything but vegetables and water as to not become unclean by eating the king’s food. Daniel promised that the four would be stronger and healthier than all other men. The kind would never know they were not eating his food. Daniel was right and so the guard continue the vege and water feedings.

1:17 God gave these four men wisdom and the ability to learn many things that people had written and studied. Daniel could also understand vision and dreams.

1:19 Over time, king came to find out that none of the young men where as good as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego so they became the king’s servants.

2:12 - 18 – Upon failing of all fortune tellers, magicians, wizards and wise men interpreting the kings dream, he became angry and ordered all wise men to be killed. Daniel hearing of this went to ask for an appointment to see the king to tell him what his dream meant. Daniel then went back to his house, explained the whole story to his friends (the three) and asked them all to pray that God would show them mercy and help them understand the secret to the dream so that he and his friends would not be killed.

2:19 God explained the dream to Daniel

2:37 “O king, you are the greatest king. God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory” (Opening statement of Daniel when explaining to the king what his dream meant).

2:47 & 48 The king praised Daniel and his God saying that Daniels God is the greatest of all Gods. Then the king gave Daniel and his buddies a promotion to rule over the whole area of Babylon and put him in charge of all the wise men.

3:1 - 19: The king then built a gold statue an ordered everyone to bow down and worship the statue when they heard the musical instrument. However, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said no way to the king. They refused to worship any God but the God of heavens. The three men stated “the God we serve is able to save us from the furnace. He will save us from your power.” So the king ordered the three to be tied up and thrown into a furnace 7 x’s hotter than usual.

3:25 After throwing the three men in, the king jumped to his feet and said “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire. They are not tied up and they are not burned. The fourth man looks like a son of the gods.” So, the king ordered the three men to come to him and so they did, with no burns and unharmed. The king then praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.


God allows rulers to become rulers, presidents to become presidents. I bet you all four men in this story could have spent night and day criticizing this king’s every move and decisions. They could have had a bad attitude towards him and all of those that surrounded them. They could have protested. They could have easily started bad mouthing, calling names and giving up hope. They did not. They actually did quite the opposite. They did what was asked of them and worked for the glory of God. Ultimately they served their ruler, one who did not believe in God. This ruler was notorious for always turning his back on God no matter how many miracles he witnessed. They didn’t just live in his land, in a house and abided by his rules…. they actually worked for him. They were on staff. They got promotions! How did all of this happen under such an ungodly ruler? Through their prayers, commitment and obedience to God who in turn blessed them with wisdom and gifts. The only time they put their foot in the ground is when they were asked to worship a different god. They were put into a fire because of their stance. Nothing was going to force them to worship any God but their own. My favorite part of this story is that God was there to protect them all the way through. God never left their side. He blessed them with the skills they needed to serve this ruler and protected them from the torment they received because of this ruler’s decisions.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that president Obama or any other government leader is evil or isn’t a believer of Christ and am not comparing them to Nebuchadnezzar. I am saying that based on TV shows, articles I’ve read, stories on the radio and the conversations on the street 'we the people' have turned all of their attempted change into hatred and evil. Last week I actually saw a guy picketing in our town with a sign on his back that said “Obama is a cracker”, mixed with all kinds of other words. First of all, name calling does nothing to draw me in to understand your point of view. Second, I don’t understand in the least bit what his sign meant. Third, I don’t want to understand what his sign meant. My point in all of this is that even when Daniel and the three were faced with the worst possible leadership they didn’t retaliate with hatred, evil and harm. They relied on God, prayed to God and stood up for God. For me, when it comes to voting and what I believe I will always base my stance biblically. I will not bad mouth, name call or shout profane language when discussing our government leaders. I have to respect the fact that God appointed our leaders; present myself to be as much like Christ as I possible can in all situations, pray for our government, pray for wisdom and trust that God will protect me no matter if the decisions by our leaders are ones that do not agree with my beliefs. We don’t want to be at war with each other. We want to be a body united in Christ.


1 Peter 1:13 states “For the Lord’s sake, yield to the people who have authority in this world: the king, who is the highest authority, and the leaders who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 1:16: Live as free people but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Live as servants of God."

I fully believe Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did just that. If you are struggling finding something in the New Testament to help you live right in today’s struggles then maybe what God revealed to me in the Old Testament will help you out.  Daniel contains many chapters that document steps by which Godly men lived under authority that they most definitely didn’t agree with.

A Gluttonous Society

Another word that comes to mind along with gluttony is overindulgence. Have you ever over indulged on something in your life? How many of us has had some type of food in front of us that we just couldn't/didn't want to stop eating it when we reached full capacity several bites ago. I'm sure we all have said "I can't stop eating this."  I have and it's because either I don't eat that particular kind of food very often and I wanted every piece of it or if it's something like pizza where I don't ever feel full no matter how much I eat. I literally can eat a crap load of pizza (really too embarassing to put specific amounts here).  What about shopping?  I LOVE to shop.  I used to love it so much that I wanted to be a buyer for Target.  Matter of fact, I used to fly to New York once a year to shop for three days. I never overinduldged.  I bought clearance everything.  Yeah right!  Just the shear act of buying a plane ticket to shop (in my life) was overindulding and I hadn't even step foot outside the door yet.  Have you ever over indulged on an item of clothing, perfume, purse, shoes? Yep, I overindulged the whole trip. Honestly, when I think of either areas of my life I feel sick to my stomach. I feel sick of all that waste.

You know what's even worse than actually 'doing' the overindulging? Not batting an eye about it. No moral flags being waved anywhere in my mind. I never even had the tiniest ounce of thought in my small pea brained mind that either was an unnecessary act. To think I could potentially save someone’s life, feed a family of four for months, or help my struggling neighbor make a house payment with the money that I spent on the flight alone. I had the attitude, "I want it and I will have it." How many of us have bought the high end model car with the thought "I've worked hard for this so I deserve it." (Jeeze-O! I have to stop with the examples.) My life has had its far share of gluttony. I would have to confess to God for the rest of my life on all my life's selfishness. My stomach feels sick thinking about it all. Not only do I feel sick about overindulging but I feel as though I’ve had massive blinders on to all the needs of the world. Actually I have a name for those blinders. I call them me`goggles (pronounced me goggles but said real fast together: megoggles). I used to get out of bed every day walk into my life with me`goggles. It was me this. Me that. Me. Me. Me. Me`goggles are very tricky. You are born into this world with them. Don't believe me?  Walk into a room full of toddlers.  It comes naturally for us to want it all or want what others have, me`goggles.They become such a part of who you are that you can't feel them on your eyes. Matter of fact, they never break or scratch. You, in your physical self, can't remove them. Only person who has the kind of strength to remove is God.

I am just one person living in this society. Do you know how many others out there that have me`goggles on and don’t realize it? That's what scary. We as a nation over eat, over spend, over educate (getting too caught up in all the titles), and over work ourselves. We are vastly becoming a gluttonous nation. Quite frankly we are already there. Not only is this happening but on top of our sins we are slowly stripping out every ounce of God that our country was founded on. We started on this journey with God and we are slowly leaving his laws and teachings out. We are crazy if to think God has not blessed our nation and many others. He has and in big ways. We have become so blessed that we no longer realize how overindulged our lives truly are. We have become somewhat comfortable with that and want more for ourselves. Don't misunderstand me. Everyone is different hands and feet for God. If you give back to God and to your neighbors as Jesus and his apostles teach us then you are one step in the right direction. Do you truly give? Do you give with a joyful heart? Lift up your neighbor? Are we doing all that we can each and every day? Do you attempt to make a difference with what lies ahead of you at the grocery store or in your community? We are each individuals. If we each do our part in giving then as a society we can make huge dents in the sufferings many of our neighbors face today…not tomorrow.
A couple of verses that help remove my me'googles to replace them with Jesus goggles are:

          • 1 Corinthians 8:8-9 - "I am not commanding you to give. But I want to see if your love is true by comparing you with others that really want to help. You know that Christ was rich but for you He became poor so that by His becoming poor you might become rich."

          • 1 Corinthians 8:13 - "We do not want you to have troubles while other people are at ease, but we want everything to be equal. At this time you have plenty. What you have can help others who are in need. Then later, when they have plenty, they can help you when you are in need, and all will be equal. As it is written in scriptures, "The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little."

I truly don’t want to be a part of or help contribute to gluttony. I want the world to be a better place for myself, my children and your family. I have not perfected my giving or overinduldging.  I'm still learning lots about it. However, each day I try to give something even if it is an encouraging phone call or praise to someone else who did make a difference.  How can you put the spirit of God back into your life? What can you give today? What can you cut back on to help make a difference somewhere else? Challenge yourself. You'll be surprised by His blessings!