World Vision Wednesday

Emmaculate Musheini, known as Mama Emma in her village, has five children and is a World Vision community volunteer. To find out more about Mama Emma's work, read this.

Grace and Self-Righteousness

One of the things God is teaching me is that any righteousness I might have comes from him alone. If I think that I am better than anyone else, then I am greatly mistaken.

Frank Viola has a post titled A Farewell to Self Righteousness, that is a reminder that no one's sins are really worse than mine and that we are all in desperate need of God's grace.

Here are a couple of quotes from the post, but you really need to read the whole thing for yourself:

Now let’s put a modern Christian in that room with Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Pharisees. A self-righteous Christian, mind you.

“Um [cough] … Lord Jesus, did she ask You to forgive her? I didn’t hear her say she was sorry for living as a prostitute. How do we know if she has really repented, Lord? Do You mind if I interrogate her for a bit, please?”

Such is the spirit of a Pharisee. And we have not so learned Jesus Christ.


If Mary of Magdala could love her Lord and enjoy His presence boldly, flagrantly, extravagantly, shamelessly, and without inhibition, then so can you. And so can I.

Therefore, the next time you feel condemnation over your past, please remember this one thing: The first person to lay eyes upon the resurrected Lord was a former prostitute.


It's easy for us to look at what other people do and judge them, especially if we feel they have wronged us. Many times we are kept from extravagantly loving Jesus because we look at others rather than allowing the Spirit to show us where we have sinned, and just how much grace the Father has given us.

God help us to extend to others the same grace that God has shown us.

Weekend Wanderings

It has been an interesting week. Softball season kicked of with a tournament this weekend. My girls lost three games, but they improved in each one. There is some potential there and we may have a pretty decent season. We'll see. The weather is beginning to be consistently springlike, and I think the chance of any more winter weather is gone. God continues to remind me gently that he is the one in charge, and I'm learning to trust more.

On to the links of the week:

This is getting to be a problem.
The Forgotten Beatitude Part II.
Many have been guilty of this.
This is kind of expensive.
Becca Nelson is under construction.

Boy, I needed to read this.
This is sad.
John Armstrong on John Piper and tornadoes.
An interview with Ronnie McBrayer about his book.
Nate Pruitt is dreaming.

Good words from Jon Acuff.
Constantly crucified.
Arthur Sido on tithing.
Edification as worship.
Learning to lose.

Just a reminder.
Have you ever been lost?
Hopefully, this doesn't surprise anyone.
Thoughts on shepherding.
Carol Smith Turner writes about her favorite mistake.

That's all for this week. May the Father bless you!

Letting Go

During one of the preliminary races before the Daytona 500, Danica Patrick found herself heading into the wall. Just before she hit, Patrick took her hands off the steering wheel. It was a smart move, and possibly kept her wrists from being broken. Her Indy Car experience may have contributed to the action, as she also covered her head with her hands like she was in an open wheel car. If I had been in that situation, I would have held on to that wheel with every ounce of my strength, trying to keep control of the car. The results would have been painful.

I am learning just how much I hate letting go of control in my life. As a recovering perfectionist, I want everything to turn out right. Of course, "right" means what I want. So, in order to make sure that things turn out right, I try to be in control. At the very least, I attempt to keep my hand in what is going on. Now, this method works pretty well when you're coaching, at least until the players get into the games. Then, the illusion of control sometimes quickly disappears. When you're dealing with people, especially in discipleship, trying to control another person doesn't work. Actually, trying to be the one in charge doesn't really work in most areas of our lives.

One of the things God is teaching me is that my control of my life and the lives of others is ultimately an illusion. God is the one in control. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating a fuzzy "let go and let God" thinking. Nor am I saying that we bear no responsibility for our actions and the consequences of those actions. I do believe that there is much of our lives that is simply out of our control.

This not a reason for despair, however. For the follower of Jesus, the fact that we are ultimately not in control is actually comforting and freeing. Much of the time we worry about making sure that we say and do just the right thing so our efforts will be "successful." If we are listening to our Shepherd and doing what he wants us to do, we can rest and leave the results up to him. We must remember that we cannot fix anyone, we cannot heal, but God can. We can be privileged to be the vessels through which God channels that healing, but even that is out of our control. We must remember that it is not up to us to make things happen. It is simply our calling to be faithful to what Jesus calls us to do.

God helps us to hear his voice, to be about doing what he calls us to do, and to leave the results in his hands.

World Vision Wednesday

March 8 is International Women's Day. Here is an inspiring story of a woman who went from baby refugee to wife, mother, and World Vision staffer.

A Great Example for All of Us

This post, The Forgiveness and Reconciliation Train, is a must read. Any comments I might make would be superfluous. Read the entire post yourself (HT: Alan Knox).

Weekend Wanderings

February has passed. March came in like a lamb here in the sunny South, with a high temperature of 80. We'll see if March goes out calm or ferocious. Pray for the folks who have lost homes and loved ones in the storms the last couple of days. The devastation in some areas is incredible. Hopefully, this is not a harbinger of things to come.

On to the links:

Eric Carpenter on tension.
This encouraged and challenged me.
Bobby Auner has a story of restoration.
The dance toward God.
Unconquerable.

The wilderness of life under the Law.
Alan Knox on communication.
Grazing on Astroturf.
Ronnie McBrayer says, "Don't waste it."
Good question at More Than Cake.

Eat pray love.
Storm at sea.
A nice bit of poetry.
Skye Jethani interviews Rob Bell.

"This is all we can do."
The wilderness of falsity.
Did you sign up for this?
What are we fired up about?

Have a blessed weekend!