Tag Archives: church

how to not end abortion

Fair Warning:  This is not the kind of post I typically write. It is not a personal attack on anyone, it is a plea to the Church. I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I claim absolutely no affiliation or allegiance to a political party. My allegiance is to Christ and His Kingdom. This post may make people mad at me. While that is not my intention, I’m ok with it. 

On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court made abortion legal in this country. Since that time, there have been 8 different Presidents in office, 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats. In every election, abortion has been one of the major hot buttons and for some people, the biggest issue that decides their vote. When President Obama was reelected this month, I read statements similar to this one:  “Well, that’s four more years of unborn babies being killed”. Obviously they believe the President can make abortion illegal. He can’t. Only the Supreme Court can do that, and they can only do it if they have a case come before them to deliberate that would end up overturning Roe vs. Wade.

But none of that is really my point, I just needed something to open this post.

Because abortion is a spiritual issue, which brings it into the front yard of not the White House, but the Church. (And we can substitute Abortion with any other moral issue that permeated the airwaves and social media during this election.) What has the Church done to stop abortion? Not to make it illegal, but to STOP it? (Because surely we are not naive enough to think that if it’s illegal, people won’t do it. We’re Christians, not idiots. Right?)

First, we need to recognize that the United States is not our Kingdom. For some, that could be a long process with God. We are the Church. We cannot cast our allegiance to something as fragile and fickle as an earthly nation. We’ve all heard it, read it, and been taught that this world is not our home, but I think we would have a hard time convincing the world of that, given the way we act, especially in an election year. But just to cover the bases, I will say it again. We are not from here. We are aliens here. Strangers. Passing through. Heading home. We need to be less invested in earthly matters and processes, and fully invested in the work of the Kingdom. And I promise you, the work of the Kingdom is not shaking your fist at the government. It really isn’t.

Time is shorter than we think.

It is time to stop fighting darkness with more darkness. We cannot continue letting fear and anxiety and our political allegiances govern our conduct, or our words. We cannot continue to hate the President and blame this nation’s woes on a political party, all in the name of God. We cannot continue to make God a “cause”. He doesn’t need us to defend Him. (Read the 38th chapter of Job.) He is God. We are His Church. We alone have the Gospel that is so desperately needed by a lost world. He didn’t tell us to defend Him, He told us to imitate Him. By living lives of love, not hatred, no matter how justified we want to make it appear. He also told us to reproduce ourselves. Make disciples. Spread the Good News, which offers hope to the hopeless.

We are in a spiritual war, and what is at stake is not our taxes or the unemployment rate or health insurance. It is the eternal destiny of every person we come into contact with either directly or indirectly. That includes our President, whether he’s pro-choice, liberal, Islam, or plays golf when he shouldn’t. God cares about where he spends eternity. Do we?

If I was not a believer, I don’t know that anything I have seen or heard from many Christians this past year would make me want to be one.

Abortion is not a political issue, or a women’s rights issue. It is a spiritual issue. Only the Church is equipped for such a battle. If we live in a nation that is so turned against God and His ways, a nation that is killing its unborn and falling further and further into moral decay, then it begs the question “what has the Church been doing?”. Because all of this is taking place on our watch.

Women are killing their babies because they are lost, deceived and desperate, not because of who is President.

Abortion should break our hearts and make us angry. It should elicit from us a desire to see justice. I believe it has done all of that, but our response has been to look to the broken systems of man to fix what amounts to spiritual terrorism against the image bearers of God. Again, we, the Church, are the only ones equipped to fight a spiritual battle.

What if we did the research and decided to be missionaries to those women who are most at risk, taking the love of Christ, and His gospel to them? What if that demographic became the Church’s mission field in this country? What if we reached them before they become pregnant? Or after. Or even after they’ve aborted?

Maybe if we will do what we were commissioned to do, less women will get abortions, regardless of how legal it is.

Because Christ changes things by changing hearts, not laws.

Go. Make disciples. Pray. Be humble. Believe. Show mercy. Love. Fight the real enemy.

Or…we could just keep doing what we’re doing.

That’s one way to not end abortion.

[Please know that I dearly love the Church, and firmly believe that she has the power to bring change. But not when she has her eyes fixed on earthly kingdoms, wielding carnal weapons of picket signs, petitions and name calling. It is when her eyes become fixed on Jesus, and she realizes that heaven and hell are real, and that what is at stake is not her comfort, but the eternal destinies of everyone around her. We must learn to put down our sticks and stones and pick up the weapons we have been given by God, weapons that are mighty for bringing down strongholds…love, humility, truth (spoken in love, not arrogance), prayer, faith, the Gospel…all mighty weapons that bring destruction to the darkness that is the root of abortion and every other evil.]

Hebrews 11:13-14; Ephesians 5:1-3; Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:11-13; 2Corinthians 10:4

to the church I’m leaving

I had been saved for four years, but had not been in a church yet. My prodigal husband had just returned to God. The service had already started when we walked into a little church, and peered through the closed sanctuary doors. I was shocked by what I saw. People clapping, hands raised, and, *gasp*, two women dancing in the aisle. I had heard about these kind of people, but had never actually encountered them. Like a child at the circus, I was mesmerized. And then my husband very calmly said “This is it. This is the one.”, followed quickly by my own voice saying “Are you kidding me?”.

And so began my life at Christian Fellowship Church of Crystal Lake, Illinois. Now, 19 years later, I am saying goodbye to my spiritual childhood home in a giant leap of faith to Texas. I am smiling at the thought that I am now firmly, unequivocally one of “them”…a hand raising, dancing, clapping, barefoot-in-church follower of Christ. So I want to do my best to honor the community that God used to raise me.

I was enveloped by the women of Christian Fellowship almost immediately. I think they saw “help me” written all over me! I knew nothing of being a Christian, and my marriage (and overall life) was a mess. It wasn’t long before a woman approached me and asked if she could be my prayer partner. My mind said “what the heck is that??”, but my mouth said “Okay”. She taught me to pray. Today, she remains my closest friend, and my prayer partner. But back then, she was someone I didn’t know who took me in, and met with me every week to pray for me. And then one day, after she had prayed, she said to me “Your turn”. I almost threw up at the idea of praying out loud, but I was on her couch and I had just enough manners to know that would have been rude. Thus began my life of pure passion for prayer, because I was taught that if you’re scared, then “do it scared”, but do it. Cheryl, for that and so so much more, I honor you and thank you.

It was here, among these women, that I learned what friendship really looks like. It’s a relationship of grace, forgiveness and kindness. And saying the hard things that need to be said, because of love. It’s laughing so hard you can’t breathe and crying just because they’re crying. When I first walked through the doors of Christian Fellowship, I really didn’t have any girlfriends, nor was I looking for any. Growing up in the world taught me that girls can be mean and true friendship is rare. Growing up in this church has taught me that women are a huge blessing, and their friendship is invaluable. To “my girls”, each and every one of you, I love and honor you. You have loved this woman, and all women, well.

To the ones who remained in steadfast friendship with my family through some very dark years, you’ll never know how much your loyalty has meant. Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your willingness to remain connected to people who were so incredibly broken. I honor your warrior hearts for staying in the battle with us all those years.

We had been attending for about a year when the worship leader approached me and asked me if I wanted to join the worship team. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I loved singing, but even I knew that I wasn’t “worship team” material, and the thought of singing in front of the whole church made me want to throw up. (yes, it is my most common response to terror) I think I whispered into the mic for at least 6 months. But I learned from this worship leader. I learned that worship is not the same as entertainment or performance. It’s more than music and singing. It’s a posture of the heart. Don & Henri Peters, and the rest of the worship team, I will be ever grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to learn about the heart of worship. I honor all of you that hold open the door to the throne room every Sunday.

Through the many changes that a church goes through in almost 20 years, I have learned the meaning of commitment, as I watched people remain in commitment through extremely difficult seasons. I have so much respect for a family who stayed, when leaving would have been so much easier. They stayed through a trial that shook them as well as the church. Your determination to remain in community inspired me to tears. You know who you are. I love you both dearly. I honor your steadfast obedience and commitment to do the hard thing. “I tell you what.”

I learned that I won’t always agree with the decisions of leadership, but that if the decisions are not prohibited by scripture, then I am called to submit. Submission is a hard lesson, but it is an act of obedience that invites the blessing of God. I also learned what it looks like to respond with grace when someone is voicing their opinion about your leadership decisions. I was the recipient of much of that grace. I honor the leadership of Christian Fellowship for their gentle call to submission, and the grace that poured out during my times of stubbornness and disagreement.

I learned that if you stay in one place long enough, allowing your life to become entwined with others, offense will come. It will come to you, and through you. The choices are to leave in search of a mythical “offense free” church, or to stay and allow God to use the offense to teach forgiveness and humility. Offense is difficult to work through, but I have seen the power of God restore love and unity to those willing to persevere. I honor both the offenders and the offended in this church, those who have chosen humility and those who have chosen to forgive. You have unknowingly taught me well what overcoming offense looks like. Thank you.

Through the years of growing in Christ in this church, I was given a place for the gifts of the Spirit to grow and flourish, along with so much encouragement and opportunity to use those gifts. I learned how to do that for others, and how to give grace and room for imperfection. I honor this community for always seeking to notice and encourage the Holy Spirit in one another, and for their willingness to allow people to make mistakes as they learn and grow.

Over the last few months my life has been busy with packing and planning. I have been so excited that sadness had no place to sit down. But now it has pushed its way in and demanded my attention. I am experiencing the pain of leaving all that is familiar, all of the people who have made my life so full all these years. Leaving this state, my house, the evil winters…none of that matters. What has made my heart heavy is leaving the people who have been my family for 19 years. I am trying to allow my heart to feel what it feels, because it’s all part of the journey.  And the pain is teaching me perhaps the biggest lesson of all.

I was made for community. I know that I will never be able to follow Jesus well unless I am doing it in community with other believers. Christian Fellowship Church, I honor you for all of the love, grace, and friendship that have so blessed my life. I honor your commitment to Jesus and to His Church. I want you to know that I value the life I’ve lived with all of you, and the gift you have been to me.

Your sister in Christ,

Karla

welcome to the harvest

In frustration the lawyer throws up his hands and says, “I’d have a great job if it weren’t for all these clients!”.  Of course, the humor in that statement is in the fact that if it weren’t for all those clients, he wouldn’t have a job.

In Matthew 9:35-38, they followed Him through the towns and villages, watching as He taught in the synagogues, preached the gospel, and healed every disease and sickness.  And then Jesus introduced the disciples to what it’s really all about. People. 

“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (v. 36)  The original word for “harassed” meant weary, exhausted. He looked out and saw a crowd of tired, helpless people, and was moved with compassion.  Then He turned to His disciples and basically said “Welcome to the “harvest”. Oh, and by the way,  you should probably ask Me to send help. You’re going to need it.”

But my eyes are continually drawn to “He had compassion on them”.  Them. Tired, worn out, helpless sheep. And as usual, my mind goes to what Jesus did not have compassion on, in order for me to grasp the importance of the real object of His compassion.

His compassion was not for a ministry, or a ministry event. He wasn’t moved on behalf of a vision statement, a fund raiser or a program. The beautiful new building that we’re so proud of doesn’t do it, nor does the sermon preached in that building, (as fascinating as I’m sure it was).

What moves the heart of Jesus is people. It has always been about people. Yes, all those needy people who aggravate us, irritate us, wear us out.  Where would we be without them? Pastors would have no calling. Nor would bible study leaders and teachers. The mercy givers would have no place to put their mercy. The givers…who would they give to? (God doesn’t need your money…people do). Who would those with the gift of healing heal? Who would the evangelists evangelize? On whom would I learn to give grace? Who would I forgive? Who would teach me how very hard it is to maintain true unity?

They were led to the reason for everything. A bunch of tired, helpless, directionless people that Jesus called the “harvest”. And His heart moved at the sight of them.

I guess my final thought is this. We’d have a great Church, if it weren’t for all these sheep, wouldn’t we?