Tag: The Gospel

Posted in Christian Service, Leadership, Life Inspiration

I’m Leaning a Little Closer to Crazy

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on I’m Leaning a Little Closer to Crazy

From the day the Holy Spirit entered my heart in 1996 it’s been quite the journey. I’ve been on mountains, I’ve been in the lowest of valleys. I’ve seen the shadow of death. I’ve explored the caverns of the recesses of my mind and discovered that there were terrible, vial things hidden in the dark. I’ve dragged them to the mouth of the cave and thrown them off a cliff.  On the outside of my mind, where other people dwell, I’ve been an encourager and a discourager with the same mouth. I’ve allowed people to matter more than He who created me, at which time I would retreat into the recesses of my mind again and as I went back in I’d pick up those vial things from the valley below the cliff. I’d use them for company. Sounds pretty dramatic doesn’t it.

Life is filled with drama.

And I can be a drama mama inwardly but outwardly I try to keep it sane. I don’t want the world to see the crazy that lives within me. But believe me it’s in there. So I went back to the revival to hear “crazy” preach again last night. And I say that in the most respectful way about Sebby Volpe. Sebby is crazy about Jesus. He’s just crazy enough to let the Spirit lead in such a manner that when you leave the service you not only knew that you were in the presence of God, but God had stirred up a little bit of crazy inside of you too.

Sebby spoke on the spirits last night. A subject matter of my heart for months and months and months. I’ve longed to see the Spirit moving in a great way. I’m also aware that not everything that moves is of the Spirit with a capital “S”. There are little spirits out there that can make a big mess of things if we’re not careful. So the scripture says to try the spirits and see if it’s of God. (Paraphrased from 1 John 4:1). And so I earnestly seek God’s wisdom to know what’s real and what desires to deceive me.

A.W. Tozer wrote this:

Now our Lord Jesus. That great Shepherd of the sheep, has not left His flock to the mercy of the wolves. He has given us the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and natural powers of observation, and He expects us to avail ourselves of their help constantly. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good,” said Paul (I Thess. 5:21) . “Beloved, believe not every spirit,” wrote John, “but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1) . “Beware of false prophets,” our Lord warned, “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Then He added the word by which they may be tested, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

And so I lean on scripture to guide me through this haphazard world that seems to go from one extreme to the other on spirituality. The pendulum swings from deader than a hammer to wide open crazy! And I’m somewhere in the middle leaning toward the crazy side because I know Christ ain’t dead. So what struck me about Tozer’s writing was the closing of that paragraph. “Ye shall know them by their fruits” – Matthew 7:15.

So regardless of denomination I look at the fruit of the body of Christ (people I believe to be saved) And upon inspection of the fruit I find this:

SEEDLESS FRUIT

They’re a sweet bunch! But they’re not sowing any new seeds. They are content with our four and no more in their congregations and so they rest on the laurels of those who have gone before.

SOUR FRUIT

Oh they are the faithful! Every Sunday, rain or shine you’ll find them in their place, hanging on the branch. But don’t ask them to move to another limb because that’s where they’ve hung out since their granddaddy brought them to that church and for pete’s sake don’t ask them to blend in with another tree, even if they are apples.

SACRED FRUIT

They put themselves up on a pedestal of righteousness and only affiliate with those who will conform to their standards of ritualistic observances. Your peeling must be the right color and your flavor must be the same. Usually bland.

SEASONAL FRUIT

Also called C&E Christians. Christmas and Easter only. I truthfully don’t think they’re fruit at all.

SEDCUTIVE FRUIT

They draw people into them with gadgets and gimmicks. But often times it’s a flesh thing. There is no fruit inside. And because of that people are convinced there is no such thing as “fruit of the Spirit.”

And then there’s my favorite:

SPIRIT FILLED FRUIT

It’s could also be called the passion fruit. The passion fruit has a tough outer rind with a juicy, seed filled center. It’s a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins that benefit your health. Hello? Doesn’t that sound like what a true Spirit filed Christian should be? I’ve been hurt so many times (many by fellow believers), so I’ve developed a somewhat, though not impenetrable skin. Else I’d have already left the tree. I have however managed in 21 years of salvation to keep that ooey gooey center that makes me love people all the more and have a desire to see souls saved. I am filled with the seeds of the gospel but I’ve allowed life to squelch my desire to sow them. I’m considered to be a little too passionate for the Lord sometimes. How can that be? After everything He’s done for me.

Sebby Volpe makes people uncomfortable because he tills the soil when he comes to town!

The world is looking for a tree that bears a fruit that has passion and power. It’s called the cross of Jesus. But they’ll never see it unless we become passionate about our purpose. I’m leaning a little closer to crazy this morning!

Posted in Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

Can We Get Back to the Altar?

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on Can We Get Back to the Altar?

meet shari

It was a mistake turned into a moment of clarity. I was listening to a sermon where in the preacher mentioned a song he’d been listening to and got a sermon from. It turned out not to be a Christian song, or a Christian artist. Not that a preacher can’t listen to any genre of music but it was early morning and I wanted to hear from God and this snafu bothered me and sent my mind wandering. So in order to get me reigned back in I typed “Christian music” into the search bar of my apple music. The first song in a long list of the “A” list music was a song called “The Gospel” by Ryan Stevenson, a contemporary artist. He had me hooked in the first line of the chorus:

“Can we get back to the altar?”

My friend Anne and I had spent much of the evening at our Bible Journaling class last night talking about the altar. Or to clarify, the emptiness of the altar.

More of the lyrics to Ryan’s song are:

To the captive, it looks like freedom
To the orphan it looks like home
To the skeptic, it might sound crazy
To believe in a God Who loves
In a world where hearts are breaking
And we’re lost in the mess we’ve made
Like a blinding light, in the dead of night
It’s the Gospel, the Gospel that makes a way

Aren’t those amazing lyrics, and how true! The Gospel is the only things that makes a way through this ever so consuming world we live in. And the altar… oh…. it’s that place of refuge for me. It’s where I go every Sunday, not out of religious piety, but because every Sunday or service I still feel as though I’m the captive, the orphan, the skeptic. I need to feel the love of God and it’s in that place that I feel it. So to see and empty altar breaks my heart for God.

So why doesn’t’ the church get back to the altar? Why is it so taboo to go there? I once heard it said that there are two reasons you should go to the altar.

  1. Because you think you need it or
  2. Because you think you don’t.

I know I need it. I have issues. My family has issues. My world has issues. There’s always something I can talk to God about. And I know out of the many people sitting in the pews behind me there are others that feel the same. So why aren’t they meeting me there?

It’s purely speculation but a few possible reasons may be:

  1. Because we fear Judgement

I told Anne last night that one of the hardest hits and the greatest pains I’ve ever received was the feeling or witnessing of the judgement of fellow believers. Not accepted in my weirdness that I call Shari. Or, seeing someone else looked down upon because they didn’t quite measure up to standards of humanity. And I believe that many don’t go to the altar because they don’t want the eyes in the back of their heads wondering why they’re there. I’ll tell you in advance… I’m a sinner. That’s why I’m there. And for many other reasons, but I got there by not caring who stared at the back of my head, because inside my head, at that altar, is where I’m not judged. Not one time when I’ve gone to the altar have I felt judged by God. Only loved.

2. Because we’re Jaded

The world is such a wicked trickster. It wears us out and wears us down to when we finally make our way into church we hear… “it’s hopeless, there’s no point, it won’t fix it.” And we buy the lie. Or we hear “Nobody else is going, why should I?” It’s almost as if we feel that going to the altar is making us the sacrifice. And the skeptic in us believes that the altar is no longer a necessity in life. It’s an Old Testament ritualistic notion, and that’s the biggest lie of all.

3. Because We’re Sitting Jake

Meaning: everything’s awesome! The altar is for people who need Jesus to help them out of trouble, right? You could better stop that sentence at “the altar is for people who need Jesus.” And everyone needs Jesus. Sitting jake one day may find you sitting in puddle of tears and despair the next day. Life can turn on a dime.

The altar can certainly be anywhere you are but I’ m speaking of the lack of time spent at the altar of our churches. It used to be when we’d go into a service, we’d start at the altar. And I can tell you first hand it made a difference in the service and ushered in the presence of God that could be physically felt. But that practice is long since forgotten. It perhaps takes up precious time and someone might miss 10 minutes of their favorite show, or Sunday pregame conversation.

God honors the altar. And we’re missing out on one of the greatest blessings by not making it a priority in life. One of the seeds missing from the harvest of our church is the seeds not sown in prayer. We could reap so much more of the goodness and the glory of God if we’d sow on our knees the seeds of a grateful, repentent  and humble heart.