My Life

The Hard Work of Being a Christian Wife

/ SaxophoneWife / Leave a comment

(I wrote this a long time ago, but never published it. Why? Well, that’s for another blog post. In any case, I’m publishing it today. And, I am publishing it without editing or second-guessing or yielding to my insecurities. So, typos and all, here it is for now. Maybe, one day I’ll come back and edit it and make it better.)

I sat down with a woman years ago. She had discovered that her husband was visiting prostitutes. She knew he had returned to drinking, but it was the prostitutes that had brought her to the point that she finally reached out for help.

That’s pretty typical. Wives will put up with a lot of bad behavior, even helping keep their husband’s secret sin a secret, until finally their husband just goes too far. Things get out of hand. “It was one thing when he would do XYZ, but now he’s not doing ABC and I think he might be doing LMNOP. I don’t know what’s going on. I just can’t take it anymore.“

Why Did She Take It At All?

So, back to my question: why do women put up with their husband’s bad behavior at all? Well, what I have heard from wives over and over is that they believe their only option is to endure: don’t complain, submit, hold your tongue. If they do a good enough job of suffering in silence, God will finally award them with a godly husband by whatever means necessary, including divorce. Mind you, they don’t know that’s what they believe; they would never confess that with their mouth. Yet, it’s true: too many women are believing that God is going to honor their passivity. God couldn’t possibly be expecting them to do something about their husband’s error or wrong inclinations. They believe thy just have to keep praying for God to help them endure.

That’s the first mistake Christian wives make. I don’t fault them, though. Most Christian women have not been spiritually equipped for marriage. I don’t know if that’s because it takes a lot of work to teach spiritual truths, or if it’s because – well, no. That’s why. Discipling humans is hard work, and churches just aren’t doing it. If a woman isn’t blessed to have a Titus 2 Woman in her life, she’s in trouble. Satan will be sure her ears are filled with every manner of secular humanist thought out there, counseling her right out of her marriage and her faith.

Is there a place for long-suffering? Absolutely! This is a fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in our life. Just remember that long-suffering is patience, which in this scenario I think we can define as an evidence of our faith in God’s unfinished work. It is a spiritual condition. Instead of walking in patient faith in God, though, wives are white-knuckling their way through a little bit of Hell on Earth.

This is what I think happens to the godly wife full of every good intention towards her husband, whose faith is being worn down with his every transgression: she begins to tolerate his sin. Tolerance is easily mistaken for patience, aka long-suffering. We tolerate his coming home late; we tolerate his ignoring calls or texts; we tolerate his temper or offensive language. We tolerate his making place for boozing and using. We tolerate his unloving attitudes and behaviors. We tolerate his not attending family gatherings, or his skipping church, or his not serving God. Then, before we know it, sin has taken root and established itself in our husband’s life, and consequently in our marriage and family.

What’s A Christian Wife To Do?

Knowing your Christian husband is making wrong choices and not holding him accountable to the Word of God for those choices is the wrong kind of silence. That is not iron sharpening iron. That is not Galatians 6:2. It might make life easier for you in the moment, but in the long run that little transgression (it was just one drink, it was just one look, it was just one time, etc.) will lead him to the brink of spiritual death and your marriage and family to utter destruction.

For the record: a man who confesses Christ is Lord is a Christian. You should not be making allowances for any of the baggage (spiritual, emotional, or otherwise) that he brings with him to your marriage – or picks up after his, “I do.” There is no excuse for sin. Trauma or temperament or lifelong habits may be the cause of his struggle, but they are not to be accepted as a permission slip for sin. Unrepentant sin should have no place in a Christian’s life.

DON’T WRITE THE END OF HIS STORY

Yes, men have free will and they can choose to reject exhortation, accountability, or correction. However, we must not decide the end of his story. Who are we to determine God is done with him?

NO. As long as there is breath, there is hope. So, he’s rebellious to truth. Okay. That’s very bad! However, as a wife we still have a spiritual influence in our husband’s life. We exercise that influence in the spirit, through prayer and standing in the gap. We commit to intercede for him, because that’s what be a godly wife means. Through our tears, we call out to the Father for mercy. In our heartache, we believe by faith every promise of deliverance the Word has given. We cast off fear in the name of Jesus, and put on a garment of praise.

Thank God for God. Thank God for the Holy Spirit and His kind and loving ministry to our broken hearts. Thank God for tiny mustard-size seeds of faith that cannot be denied. Thank God for prophetic words received over the years, but never understood until that moment when we needed them, when the Holy Spirit suddenly opens our eyes to see that not only was He calling us to a deeper faith and great intimacy with Him, but that He had gone ahead, before we ever knew we would marry this man, and had made provision for the loving support and godly friendship we would need in this hard place. Just look around. Reach out to them.

For me, I didn’t think I could possibly take one more emotional hit, yet here was the Holy Spirit teaching me that in my place of greatest pain, it was still not about me. My marriage wasn’t about having a good husband, but about being a good wife. When it was the hardest, if I would yield my will to God’s and allow the Holy Spirit to use me as my husband’s help meet (a spiritual calling on every wife, FYI), He would meet me in that place and give me all I needed.

A Final Exhortations

Make your requests known to God. Think on those things that glorify God. Have faith for the unbelievable and impossible. Being a biblical wife to a spiritually high maintenance man is very hard. At times you feel crushed under the weight of that calling—and, I am convinced it is a calling. The unrepentant husband will tax you heavily, but remember that your prayers for him are for God to be Master, Lord, and Savior. He is willful and continue to reject the truth, but God is on your side. Make your requests known. Stop him, God! Convict him, Holy Spirit! Have mercy on him! Forgive him! Spare him! Save him!

Don’t stop praying. Ask the Holy Spirit how to pray for him! Pray in the Spirit over him. Reject whatsoever things are unlovely and untrue. Banish the lies of Satan from your mind and remember that Fear is a wicked spirit.

Read Philippians 4.

Forgive him. Again. And, again. There is so much spiritual power in forgiveness!

Love him. Be the hands of Christ whenever you touch him. Bless him that curses you. Do good to those that despitefully use you.

Speak truth out loud, because faith comes by hearing—you’re talking to yourself!

If you need prayer, but have no one else to go to, I will pray for you.

Remember, the Holy Spirit is your Comfort and your Help. Depend on Him. He will be there for you. When I had no one to confide in, no one who still had faith or hope for my husband, the Holy Spirit was there. Bless the Lord!

❤️

How Could This Happen?

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“Oh!”

She had just opened her phone to reply to a text.

“I only saw this now. I’m so sorry.” His voice doesn’t sound normal. She starts to reply to the message, as he calls out to her from the other room. “T was found unresponsive in his apartment!” Emotion is filling his voice.

Her first thought, the first words that come out of her mouth: “Is he okay? Where is he?” She is running down a mental checklist of what they will need to take with them to the hospital, but suddenly realizes what unresponsive means. Now, her mind is flooded. Thoughts race into her consciousness. The computer crashes. T is dead?

Reboot and reload and thoughts and images and words and sounds and so many memories fill up the screen. Tears explode. Questions. So many questions. Who wrote you? Who’s that? How do they know? What time did it happen? Do the girls know? Who are your writing? How could this happen?

“I should write J.”

Just then, J calls. Wanted to make sure they knew. too. He’s weeping. They’re all weeping. She begins to realize how many people are hurting right now—how many people his life touched. How could this happen?

The weight of grief falls so instantly. Grasping the size of this loss is impossible. There was no preparation for this, no opportunity to prepare for how bad it would feel. How could this happen?

God is on everyone’s mind. His sovereignty. His mercy. His kindness. God knows the worth of a life, the impact. The thoughts just keep coming. His first time at The Farm. The light in his eyes each time he mentions his girls. The tears that flow when he tells of God’s goodness. Or, when he mourns those who are still lost in their brokenness and sin. How could this happen?

Emails and text messages, carefully worded, fly away to the ones who will want to know. Their hearts are not prepared to be broken, and words cannot relieve the pain they are about to feel. All week long it’s, “Did you tell…? What about…? Does…know?”

Tears stop and start suddenly. Sleepless nights roll into one long state of unbelief. His best friend. How could this happen?

-cg

Please, click to read about Tom. He should be known and remembered.

John Stamos and a Bout of Nostalgia

/ SaxophoneWife / 2 Comments

Feeling a little nostalgic today, so I’m blogging old school style. Remember that kind of blogging? No one was trying to make money or get a book a deal. People were just connecting to people who shared something in common with them: they liked to put their thoughts and feelings into words. Eventually, you found yourself returning to the pages where you had a little more in common with a person, and then settled in with the people you decided you liked – and they liked you, too. It was a world of its own, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. I’m glad I’m still connected with some of those blogging friends, and they’ve now become real friends. That’s pretty cool.

What’d I tell you. I’m feeling nostalgic. Everything has a little halo around it.

So, how did I find myself here? Well, it was kind of weird and unexpected. John Stamos has published a memoir, so he’s all over Instagram, pumping out lots of reels to promote himself. One of those reels fell into my feed, and I ended up looking at his posts.

Now, you have to understand something about John Stamos. He lived in my husband’s neighborhood. So, in my mind that associates him forever with Southern California, specifically the neighborhood where my husband grew-up. That means memories of the first time I met his folks, and we watched that weird John Irving movie with Robin Williams together. It means memories of the last time I saw Doug before Boston, and I really thought it was really the last time I’d ever see him.

It reminds me of the incredibly awkward Christmas evening the future in-laws spent with their future daughter-in-law, alone, when she gave them the stupidest gift in the history of future daughter-in-law gifts. It’s so embarrassing that I can’t even tell you.

It reminds me of the drive to their place from my apartment in Long Beach—that wonderful California Bungalow design is probably still my favorite. And, when I think about that apartment I think about Doug dropping me off and sitting outside talking. What did we talk about then?

That’s when we sat in his car so long I ran in and grabbed a blanket, because it got cold. No, of course, I didn’t invite him to come inside. Never even crossed my mind. It was too much fun to sit together in his dumb little car.

We fell in love in that dumb car. We fell in love over Rocko’s Broccoli-Cheese Soup. We fell in love over a cases of 20# paper and a Xerox 9500. We fell in love over slices from Pizzamania. We fell in love over long-distance phone calls between Boston and Long Beach. I did see him, again.

As I sit at my laptop here, looking around this spare room of ours, I see so much evidence of who we are today, and who were back then. He’s pretty focused: saxophones, keyboards, his laptop and recording gear, HopeMail envelopes everywhere. Shelves of Bibles and overheads and instrument stands stuck here and there. A slide whistle. And, I’m all over the place. Baskets, balloons, and bin. Art I wish I had more wall space to hang. Sewing. Baptismal robes. Stacks of letters from inmates I want to write back. Mementos. Craft supplies. Christmas gifts. Paper in so many forms. Surprises. NBF work. Bins of bins.

Anyway, as I was thinking about John Stamos and the way he talked about his marriage to his first wife, I got really sad. Apparently he had a lot of issues in their relationship and was very angry at her after the divorce. I watched two clips of him talking about her, and there’s this hurt still there. I guess he had to come up with a resolution to his feelings, though, so in the two different clips he blamed himself for not focusing more on his career during their marriage. He said that’s why the marriage failed. That’s a stupid answer. And, he looks uncomfortable saying it. It’s like, dude, you know you’re lying, and we know it, too. But, the truth slips out in between his twitching and grimacing: he was ready to have a family. He’d achieved as much fame as he needed, and wanted babies now. She, on the other hand, was a star on the rise. She didn’t want babies. She didn’t want to be a wife and mother, yet. He still resents her for that. I am forced to believe he actually really loved her. That made me sad. He’s married now to a little girl who gave me the son he should have had 30 years ago. He struggles to say that famous line people always say when they have regrets, but want to sound like they don’t: “It was all meant to be.”

Like cheese fries.

So, I look around at this room that I used to be ashamed of people seeing – so messy, right? I must be a flawed person. As Snoopy would say, “Blech.” Give me a break. I do a lot of stuff and I live in an 800-square-foot apartment. I love this room. It’s where I meet with God. My desk and chair and laptop work best together right in this spot. I love looking across the desk at my husband doing his thing. Wayfarers’ legit started in this room. It’s all good. It’s our life. It’s who we were 35 years ago amplified by time and God’s goodness. Did I mention the dried flowers? My mother-in-law’s knitting basket? This is what making a life looks like. It’s not messy: it’s full. It’s beautiful. It’s touched with the unexpected sticky note on the wall from a grandbaby. I Love You.

It’s a good life.
A life touched by God’s grace,
A life preserved by God’s mercy.

When I fell in love with Doug, I didn’t know what that would mean. John’s (I think we should be on a a first-name basis by this point) book is called, If You Would Have Told Me. Can’t we all say that about our lives? I mean, what is this life? What is this kind of goodness called? I know life could have taken other turns. There were so many times we could have disobeyed God. Well, I mean, there were so many times we did. I think God gave us just enough chances: infinite. Every day, twelves times a day, and twelve times more.

I’ve told Doug recently that I do believe there are some things that could have been better—gone better—if we’d obeyed sooner. It was not all meant to be, John. God didn’t require all that pain and sin and stress and whatever. We could have made better choices financially, when he was working a “real” job. We could have exercised more. We could have prayed so much more and turned off the TV a lot sooner and put away vain ambitions earlier. I would have gladly skipped all my nonsense years, when I let the Enemy get such a stronghold. So much vanity.

God hears those prayers, though. Those desperate prayers we cry out to Him, those prayer promises we make to Him—vows we can never keep, but sometimes we really mean them.

He looks down on us with mercy, too. He knows what we’re made of, where we came from, how strong (or weak) a stuff we’re made of, and He has compassion on us. I know He had compassion on me.

It was January, 1988. Doug’s grandfather had passed away and he had to go to Arizona for the funeral. It was just a few days, but it felt so long. No cell phones in those days, remember? No text messages, no photos on social media, no long-distance phone calls. And, we were just friends, of course. Co-workers. Hadn’t he just flirted shamelssly with what’s-her-name at the Christmas party, and bought his girlfriend a leather jacket? He didn’t call her as soon as he got back into town, though. “Can we meet at Pizzamania?” He was full of thoughts. Those shorts and his sneakers and his dad’s old button-down. His grandfather Marty was on his mind. He was struck by how much his faith was a part of his life. He admired it, but God had no place in his life. “Would you ever marry a man who didn’t believe in God?”

Well, he believed by the time he proposed. A little baby faith, but I sure wasn’t a faith giant. My faith was more about my religion in those days. I had “a few” things to learn—have to be kind to young dumb Caroline, after all. Can’t hold too many things against her, now that she’s old and decrepit. I mean, it took her long time to learn to pray and recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit and discover that spiritual accountability she had to her husband and that money wasn’t security but security was spiritual intimacy with God.

How did we get here? Was it something about John Stamos? Was it Sunday mornings at home, because we have church on Saturday evening? Was it remembering those days in sunny Southern California that led us to a crooked little house in Massachusetts? Was it thoughts of cups of coffee with my husband and maybe a fritter from down the street? Ah…that makes me remember Winchell’s.

Have nice day, everyone.
❤

P.S. Didn’t edit this. Refused. “Let the mistakes prove it’s real, ” she said with a wry smile.

Passing Time

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We were locked out of our car, waiting in the parking lot of Market Basket for the AAA dude. Took this picture to help pass the time. Or, maybe I wanted to mark the time.

We were on our way to my sister’s house, the Historian. It was a very impromptu family gathering. People changed plans and food was thrown together – hence, Market Basket.

One of the things I’d purchased at Market Basket was an apple pie. The Historian had been very sick the past two weeks, not eating much. I knew she would reject apple pie, if I offered it to her. So, I almost didn’t buy it.

Yet, something in me said, “Get it, anyway.”

So much time was passing, I almost thought we should just skip going. I had work to do. She was going to get to see the littles, and that was really what the day was about, I thought.

AAA dude showed up. Cracked our window, but we got the keys and headed to Maine.

That was the last time I would see my sister alive. I look at this picture and the silly spontaneity in it is gone for me. Now, it’s just the last picture of me on the last day I got to see her alive.

I’m so thankful for that day. So thankful everyone came together. God was so kind to us. The last thing my sisters and I did together was pray. I still don’t like God’s answer, but Psalm 116:15 is a good verse to keep in my heart:

His loved ones are very precious to Him, and He does not lightly let them die.
Psalm 116:15

While it is still hard to believe she is gone, it was six months ago this week. Time passes.

As I sat with my sister that afternoon, she said she had a taste for something. “What can I bring you? I’ll bring you anything you like.” “You know, I wish we had some apple pie. That’s what I’d like. A little piece of apple pie.”

God is good.

❤

The Historian

/ SaxophoneWife / 3 Comments

I have two sisters. I gave them nicknames for social media: the Historian and the Philosopher. I don’t know who I am. I guess I would call myself the Director – it’s what we each studied in college.

Anyway, Jill was the Historian. She loved history and studied history and taught history. She kept history, and she wrote history. And, now, she has made history.

You see, two weeks ago Jill left this earth. Her body stopped. Her breath escaped for one last time. And, we who are left behind will now get to remember her for the rest of our own lives. She is a part of our collective history, unique and unforgettable. Incredibly fragile, yet impossibly strong.

Has it really only been two weeks?

Yes, it has only been two weeks. Actually, it has only been 13 days, and it has been difficult. I could not take time from work, because work can’t wait. So, I keep ushering grief outside. I can’t deal with you right now. Yet, it finds its way into my heart again and again. It’s that gentle gust that passes over the window sill and I hear myself saying for the thousandth time, “I can’t believe my sister’s not here.”

Jill kept saying how much she longed for Christmas to come this year. I’d say it came early for her. That is the great comfort I feel in all of this, that she is with Jesus now. She is with God. She is now fully aware of how much He loved her, and how much she pleased Him. She tried so hard. Now, she knows she succeeded. Her efforts were never needed, because her heart was His and He did all the work for her. That makes me glad. Striving has ceased.

There isn’t much more I will share. I just wanted to be sure there was a record, a historical record on my blog, that my sister is gone. She was, and now is forever. Her gone-ness from our lives is painful and is going to take time to accept, but let it be known that one of the most dear has been delivered. Pain has no victory today. Disease has no victory now. The tormentor and deceiver is forever denied another moment of torture. God said, “It’s time. She gets to win today.” It is a loss for us left behind, but she won. She took the victory crown. I can’t believe my sister is gone. I cannot believe she is not there. I don’t like that I am forever deprived of her friendship and laughter and love, but I would never want to take this victory from her. I will love her forever, and when I see her again she will be so excited to tell me what she’s been doing.

I look forward to that.

The Historian

Jill’s Memorial Page
That Is All For Now: Her Personal Website

P.S. Friends, don’t miss a single moment to love, forgive, and give to the people God has given you – the people you were born to, the people who call you family. We don’t choose these people. so it is easy to neglect them for the ones we did choose, the ones whom we judge worthy and qualified. Don’t make that mistake. Mend fences the ones you share history with, the one who knew you before you were allowed to choose your own people, the ones who still choose you even when you reject them. Had Jill passed at other times in our life, I would not have the blessing of being able to say we were in right standing with each other. We worked through the bad times. You can work through them, too. And, if it’s too late, if that person is already gone, ask the Lord to forgive you for that love withheld, the forgiveness you would not give. Apologize to anyone left – their people. Let them have a chance to offer the comfort you need. If they fail to, forgive them, as well. Leave with a clear conscience. Let the Lord do the rest. ❤

Don’t Be Afraid

/ SaxophoneWife / 6 Comments

The forecast is not good.

The warning is for world-wide famine. Food shortages are already obvious in supermarkets. Products just aren’t there anymore. It is unsettling, and the rising costs of what is there can be rather stressful.

However, we must not live in fear. Be aware. Pray. Economize. Apply godly wisdom to your choices. Just don’t be afraid. God is able to keep us in any storm, Christian. He can provide manna and quail from Heaven and multiply a few fish and loaves to feed thousands! We can trust Him.

Personally, I am not stockpiling. I always store a little extra, but that’s because I grew up in Earthquake Country where having a two-week supply of food and water is drilled into you. However, I’m not trying to survive on this earth. I live, because God wills it. If He wills it, He will provide what I need. My life is in God’s hands. He is God of all creation, and He created me to depend on Him.

“God helps those who help themselves” is not in the Bible. It is not holy writ. It is a dumb saying full of demonic falsehoods. That is not God’s promise to me in His Word. God’s promise to His children is…

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Here’s the key – because every promise of God has a key to unlock it – the key is being in God’s will.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15

You may ask, “Well, how can I know God’s will?” It starts with obedience to His Word. Has you surrender your will to His, you will find yourself in the center of God’s will for you. That is our place of safety and victory. Allow no compromise in your life. Measure yourself by His Word and ask the Holy Spirit to do whatever it takes. When He prompts you to surrender, obey Him.

The days ahead may be very challenging, but if we learn to walk by faith and not fear we will be safe and secure.

❤️

“In One Hour, Everything is s Going to Change”

/ SaxophoneWife / 2 Comments

Here is a sermon suggestion for you from Rev. David Wilkerson, August 5, 2007.

Key Passage: Isaiah 24:1-3

“Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants.

“And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.

“The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word.”

❤️

I’m a Terrible Avon Lady

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

I started selling Avon when I was a teenager, and I’ve sold it off-and-on over the years. I really do like their products, and really don’t like buying make-up in a drug store or department store. I just am not real keen on selling anything. Until I run out of something and need to replace it, I forget I even have a website.

None the less, I do have an Avon website. If you like Avon and don’t already have an Avon lady, check it out. The catalog is available online, and there are lots of sales and promotions. If you have questions about something, let me know.

Hope you’re all having a good Spring so far!

❤

You Are Not a Hippopotamus

/ SaxophoneWife / 2 Comments

I read something from a medical doctor who has gained much popularity in recent years. I think the respect he’s received is well-deserved—as a physician. However, he’s wasn’t writing about medicine. He was writing about spiritual things. In fact, he entitled his post, “A SPIRITUAL CALL TO ACTION.”

Now, I can get behind a spiritual call to action, but I’m not looking to a medical doctor—no matter how much I may respect him as such—to lead me spiritually. Yes, a pastor might be bi-vocational, or retire from medicine and later answer a call to pastor—I know a man just like that. Well, that is not what I am talking about here. The doctor I am talking about isn’t even a Christian!

Of course, you might not be able to tell that from reading his call to action. Without godly discernment, it all sounds pretty good—even godly.

This concerns me a great deal.

Let me be clear: I believe God can raise up anyone He pleases to lead His people. The Bible is full of such examples. However, a man or woman God uses to call His people to revival is going to affirm biblical truth, with or without a degree from seminary. They are going to have a testimony of faith in Christ, and they are going to give glory to God.

I believe many Christians are being led astray by men and women who are saying things that sound biblical and rising up and being given a national platform by political Conservatives in conspicuously and in unexpected places, shouting to the people that they have the answer to the troubles in the world today. That message right there is an evidence of the Antichrist spirit. And, I see it everywhere.

The answer is stronger men!
The answer is healthier women!
The answer is more children!
The answer is resistance!
The answer is protest!
The answer is voting red!
The answer is unity!
The answer is division!
The answer is emotional healing!
The answer is to question everything
The answer is financial independence!
The answer is in my book!

That step is found in 1 John 4:1-3

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”

God has given us a simple test to apply. What do they say about Jesus? Do they confess Christ is God? Born of the flesh? Consequently, are they saying the answer is repentance and surrender to Christ, a life of obedience to God’s Word? Or, is the answer found in a policy or leader? If the hope they are extolling comes from this world, than it is certainly of this world and no hope at all.

Oh, he’s not of the Anitchirst. He’s a good man! This is God’s test for your sake, so that you will not be led astray. You see, these false teachers and false prophets are very convincing. They will even say some things that are true! Look, read it for yourself. Here is a bit of what he had to say. His words in quotation marks are exactly what he wrote.

  • “To merit divine help, humanity must observe God’s laws.”
  • “Accept the one true God.”
  • “Reject false gods.”
  • Accept the Ten Commandments.
  • “This is a war against demonic forces…false gods, murder of the unborn, desecration of marriage and gender, codifying immorality into law, theft, baseless hatred of fellow man.”
  • “Let’s start a world wide movement of reconciliation with God and our fellow man.”

That’s a pretty good message, right? Maybe, some disagree with a point here or there, but I think most Christians would say, “This is awesome! This is what we need. Count me in, too!”

Well, it is the last sentence in his call to action that brought me to my computer this morning. The good doctor ends with this final statement:

“The world WILL be redeemed through simple acts of goodness and kindness.”

Folks, those are the kinds of words that should send us all running and screaming at the top of our lungs. Anyone who suggests that the world can be redeemed by any means other than the blood of Jesus is not of God, and therefore has an Antichrist spirit. These individuals are to be exposed.***

This is a very dangerous and growing trend in America. Many are rising up in the name of Jesus, calling you to “action.” They preach a false gospel of good works and justice and restoring our nation. They look like righteous men and women, but they are speaking lies. Oh, they are very good at what they do! I have entertained a few of them myself for too long, trying to make myself ignore the things that just didn’t feel right. So, I know. I understand. We are always hoping for someone who will validate us, or at least someone who won’t mock us. A styrofoam cup of weak “church coffee” with a friend is better than a mug from a world class barista that we have to share with an enemy.A I get it. It’s just not safe or good. It is in fact very, very dangerous.

Honestly, I didn’t expect the wolves to come out of the political, public policy, and media world. Yet, I could name a dozen people right now who are not only speaking in the name of God, but being invited into churches to “preach.” These are not men B called and anointed of God to preach His Word, and they are not preaching a message of salvation, consecration, or sanctification. They are preaching a political message infused with misinterpreted and misapplied Scriptures. They are all preaching their own call to action based on their own set of values and worldview.

The politicization of faith in our country right now is deeply troubling, and I pray anyone who reads this will stop and ask the Holy Spirit to search their hearts. As Christians, it starts out feeling good, because we really want to be in the company of like believers—that’s human nature. So, when a person with a public platform mentions God or Jesus or church, we feel good. More importantly, we trust them more. We ignore everything about their life that does not bring honor to God and focus on the good, because we can’t really judge their fruit—we don’t know them! We have no relationship with them. We know only what their public relations firm and social media manager wants us to know.

However, we can judge the message. And, we must. If we find them pointing to anything or anyone other than the Word of God or Christ, we need to remove them from our lives. We really do. It doesn’t matter how much you admire them or trust them. This is an Antichrist spirit. We must have no fellowship with darkness.C Does that we mean vacate the political realm? No. It only means we stop looking to political solutions for the spiritual problems of the world. Look, you can remove all the sexually vile books from your school or public libraries, you can stop the wicked sex ed classes in your schools. This is not a secular problem, though. This is a sin problem. As parents, you are meant to be a guard at the gates of your home and your heart. If you are still watching movies with sex scenes or story lines with characters who are committing sexual sin, your kids don’t stand a chance.

I’m four hours into this, so it’s time to get ready for church. And, that leads me the most important thing I have to say: When there is a lack of leadership, it is natural for us to look for someone to follow. So, who do you follow? Who is your shepherd? There is the Good Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, but He gave us men and women to lead us on earth. These shepherds are the godly men and women who have dared to answer the call to pastor. They have dared to carry the burden of your spiritual growth. One day, they will stand before God and give account for the sheep in their care.D

Are you under the care of a shepherd, called of God to lead you in the truth of His Word? I look at churches today and I see too many empty seats. Even in very large churches, I see empty pews.

I talk to Christians and hear one excuse after another. If you aren’t in fellowship with other sheep, following a shepherd called of God, good luck. Might as well just send your children into the woods right now to be devoured by the wolves before they reach the age of accountability. I’m serious. That’s harsh, but there are Christians reading this from home this morning. Oh, sure, they turned on the TV. They’re listening to a good sermon. Bully for you. That is not what God’s Word says.F

Sure, some pastors are unworthyE , and all are imperfect, but God called them to protect us from the wolves. If we were hippos the wolves wouldn’t stand a chance, but Jesus didn’t call us hippopotamuses. He called us sheep. We were created to be pastored—in relationship with a shepherd and the sheep. It’s simple. It’s where spiritual safety is, too. If you are of sound body, you need to be with the flock.

OK. I gotta go. I love you and pray for you!

❤

A Proverbs 15:17 says, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.”
B So far, yeah, they are all men.
C “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11
D Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.”
E Don’t stop going to church, because you had a bad pastor. Find a new one!
F Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

I Forget Myself

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

Can you relate?

I don’t understand it, but on my last birthday I decided to embrace blue again—it had been my favorite color for so long, but somewhere along the way I dropped blue and embraced red. I like red. I love red! But, I’m not red. I’m blue.

It’s really stupid and unimportant, but I’m kind of discovering that I surrendered some of my identity somewhere along the way. I don’t know when or where, but looking back at myself years and years ago I see someone else. I see someone who looks more familiar to me than the person I see most of the time in the mirror. I kinda miss her.

I mean, she’s A LOT like me today—but not.

It’s weird. And, this post is definitely going make me sound like an annoying, self-absorbed, nincompoop, but it’s Saturday. Who cares? It’s just that I don’t want to feel like I’m putting on a costume everyday. I have no desire to revisit the past, and I’m totally in love with my life today. I’m blessed beyond measure! No complaints. No dissatisfaction here. I just don’t want to fail that girl in the pictures. I don’t know that I have, but I kinda think I’ve let her down in a few places. I took her for granted.

I dunno! We’ll see what happens. I’ll let you know. For now, I’m just thinking out loud.

❤️

First year as The Saxophone Player’s Wife.🎷❤️