Becoming Legendary for Christ

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Lynn

Martyrdom of StephenWhat does it mean to be “Legendary for Christ”?

There is a big difference between what the world views as “legendary”, and what it means to be “legendary for Christ”.  Think about Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky movies.  I suppose if you make a movie and a city erects a statue of you after the fact, you have the right to claim “legendary” status.  Academy Award winning actors and actresses, sports superstars, political figures, Nobel Prize winners could also be considered legendary in the world’s eyes.  We look up to these people, at times we may even idolize some of them.  But the question remains: “What does it take to be legendary for Christ?”

Let’s look at Stephen (Acts 7: 1-60) as his example of a person who truly became legendary.

Stephen is described in Acts as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5) “full of God’s grace and power (and) did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).  When he spoke he had “wisdom” given to him by the Spirit (Acts 6:10).  The religious leaders (the Sanhedrin) were threatened by Stephen and so had him arrested and false charges were brought against him.  While the charges were being read they noticed that Stephen had “the face of an angel”. (Acts 6: 15)  Now, it’s interesting to note here that after the charges were read, the Sanhedrin ask this simple question of Stephen: “Are these charges true?”

Now, I don’t think the Sanhedrin had any idea when they asked this of Stephen that he would answer them the way he did.  Instead of trying to plead for his life (as was expected), Stephen launches into a sermon.  In one online commentary I read, describes the scene as, “One man full of the Holy Spirit faces a gallery of men full of hate.”  They had already decided what to do with Stephen.  Stephen knew that he was going to face a death sentence but he wasn’t interested in defending himself.  He simply wanted to proclaim the truth about Jesus in a way people would understand.  He knew this would be his last opportunity to do this.  So Stephen gives a panorama of Old Testament history.  He certainly did not  instruct the Sanhedrin on points of Jewish history they were ignorant of.  Instead, Stephen wanted to emphasize some things revealed in Jewish history they may not have considered: that God has never confined Himself to one place (like the temple), and that the Jewish people have a habit of rejecting those whom God sends to them!

The greatness of Stephen’s sermon is not only in its content, but in its courage. “He takes the sharp knife of the Word and rips up the sins of the people, laying open the inward parts of their hearts, and the secrets of their souls . . . He could not have delivered that searching address with greater fearlessness had he been assured that they would thank him for the operation; the fact that his death was certain had no other effect upon him than to make him yet more zealous.” (Spurgeon)

“Like a herd of stampeding animals (compare Lk 8:33), yet intent on one purpose, they rush together against Stephen, drag him out of the city and begin to stone him. Throwing him down from a high place, they gather and heave paving stones on top of him until death comes.”  (BibleGateway Commentary)  But take note of Stephen’s final words before he “falls asleep”: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  (Acts. 7: 60)

It is impossible not to compare Stephen’s dying words with that of Christ’s words from the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Stephen wasn’t a superman, but he was a man filled with the Holy Spirit.  He became legendary for Christ.  He became legendary not in his dying but in his living for Christ.  Consider how greatly you too can be used of God as you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Posted in Inspiration & Devotion, Proverbs 16:9 - Journey Thoughts, Scripture Study | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Some Days I Feel My Age, Some Days I Don’t

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Lynn

worlds_greatest_grandma_women_cartoon_photo_cutout-r749f3a5887804aaaadc8e927a6765b09_x7saw_8byvr_512Since becoming a grandmother, I have been receiving a few “Senior Citizen”-type jokes from some of my cyber-friends.  First let me clarify…becoming a grandma does not necessarily mean I am suddenly “aged”.  As I’ve said before, I intend to be a “cool Grandma” (still debating about getting that Harley motorcycle)…but in the meantime, I fully intend to be young at heart (if not necessarily in body) until God calls me Home.  That said, some of the jokes passed my way have been laugh-out-loud hysterical so I thought I’d share them and offer my readers a chance to share a favorite joke or story about aging or being a grandparent.  

An 80-year-old woman made news after marrying a 4th time. “Tell us about your husbands,” a newsman said. She smiled in thought. “In my 20s I wed a banker, in my 40s a circus ringmaster, in my 60s a preacher, and now that I’m 80 a funeral director.” Astonished, the newsman asked why she would marry men with such diverse careers.

“I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.”

A little silver-haired lady calls her neighbour and says, “Please come over here and help me.  I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can’t figure out how to get started.”

Her neighbour asks, “What is it supposed to be when it’s finished?”

The little lady says, “According to the picture on the box, it’s a rooster.”

Her neighbour decides to go over and help with the puzzle.

She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, “First of all, no matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster.”  He takes her hand and says, “Secondly, I want you to relax.  Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and then,”  he says with a deep sigh….

“Let’s put all the Corn Flakes back in the box.”

A man is talking to the family doctor. “Doc, I think my wife’s going deaf.”
The doctor answers, “Well, here’s something you can try on her to test her hearing. Stand some distance away from her and ask her a question. If she doesn’t answer, move a little closer and ask again. Keep repeating this until she answers. Then you’ll be able to tell just how hard of hearing she really is.”

The man goes home and tries it out. He walks in the door and says, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He doesn’t hear an answer, so he moves closer to her. “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Still no answer. He repeats this several times, until he’s standing just a few feet away from her.

Finally, she answers, “For the eleventh time, I said we’re having MEATLOAF!”

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car — both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself,
“I must be losing it, I could have sworn we just went through a red light.”

After a few more minutes they came to another intersection and the light was red again and again they went right though. This time the woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection to see what was going on. At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red and they went right through. She turned to the other woman and said,
“Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row! You could have killed us!” Mildred turned to her and said “Oh, am I driving?”

Three old ladies are sitting in a diner, chatting about various things. One lady says, “You know, I’m getting really forgetful. This morning, I was standing at the top of the stairs, and I couldn’t remember whether I had just come up or was about to go down.”
The second lady says, “You think that’s bad? The other day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I couldn’t remember whether I was going to bed or had just woken up!”
The third lady smiles smugly. “Well, my memory’s just as good as it’s always been, knock wood.”
She raps the table. With a startled look on her face, she asks, “Who’s there?”

A young man saw an elderly couple sitting down to lunch at McDonald’s. He noticed that they had ordered one meal, and an extra drink cup. As he watched, the gentleman carefully divided the hamburger in half, then counted out the fries, one for him, one for her, until each had half of them. Then he poured half of the soft drink into the extra cup and set that in front of his wife. The old man then began to eat, and his wife sat watching, with her hands folded in her lap.

The young man decided to ask if they would allow him to purchase another meal for them so that they didn’t have to split theirs. The old gentleman said, “Oh, no. We’ve been married 50 years, and everything has always been and will always be shared, 50/50.” The young man then asked the wife if she was going to eat, and she replied, “Not yet. It’s his turn with the teeth.”

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions. How old are you?….”I’m four and a half” ….You’re never 36 and a half….you’re four and a half going on five!

That’s the key. You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number. How old are you? “I’m gonna be 16.” You could be 12, but you’re gonna be 16.

And then the greatest day of your life happens….you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony….you BECOME 21…YES! But then you turn 30….ooohhh what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk….He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now.

What’s wrong?? What changed?? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40…stay over there, it’s all slipping away….

So you BECOME 21, you TURN 30, you’re PUSHING 40, you REACH 50, you MAKE IT to 60 …… then you build up so much speed you HIT 70!

After that, it’s a day by day thing. After that, you HIT Wednesday….You get into your 80’s, you HIT lunch. My grandmother won’t even buy green bananas ….it’s an investment you know, and maybe a bad one. It doesn’t end there …. into the 90’s you start going backwards…I was JUST 92…

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again …. “I’m 100 and a half!”

“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31)

“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.  I am the Lord.”  (Leviticus 19:32)

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Common Ground

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Lynn

Show me the Bullies!I have been a teacher all of my adult life.  (I know, I know, I’ve said that before), but God has allowed me to teach every age group through the years, either professionally or ministerially…from preschool to adult and so it bears repeating.  If for nothing else it lends some credibility to what I have to say next.  Although I have worked with all age groups especially children, my heart has always been and always will be with the teenagers.

That may come as a shock to some who know me because I have worked predominantly with children in ministry.  I have been the director of my own preschool and worked on staff as Children’s Minister at my church for three years.  I have been involved in Sunday School, VBS and Missions Clubs for kids for well over 25 years…however, my heart continues to belong to the youth.

After graduating from Seminary in 2007, God took me out of Children’s Ministries and for a while I’ll admit I floundered for a place to serve at my church.  I suppose it was because I just naturally assumed that since I had always been plugged in to children’s ministries before, God would just plug me right back in there again somewhere.  That was not the case however.   Instead, God gave me the opportunity to go where my heart had always been, to work with the youth.

The only thing about that, as much as my heart was there…I had absolutely no idea how to work with those particular youth at that time.  You see, I am trained and equipped to work with children.  Certainly I have worked with the youth off and on over many years, but the youth culture had changed…significantly and I found very quickly that I was totally unprepared and completely intimidated by the millennial generation of youth that I would now be working with.

At my home church then the youth would meet on Wednesday Nights for Wednesday Night Live and that was a time of Worship with a devotional message given by the youth pastor that would be geared towards youth.  Although I knew most of the youth by name (at least knew their little brothers and sisters and parents), I did not have any kind of personal connection with the majority of the young people in that room.  The first Wednesday Night Live I attended, I knew immediately that I was completely out of my element…and being the oldest in the room also set me apart…waaaay apart!

As much as I loved those kids, I had very little in common with them and after being politely ignored by them for the first month, I was thinking that maybe I had heard God wrong when He called me to work with the youth at that time.  At the time I had two teenagers at home myself, but as I watched them mix and mingle with their friends in that room, I was struck by how different they behaved when they are surrounded by their peers…and they were not keen having their mother as one of their youth leaders.  My son called it, “Weird” so understandably I was more than a little discouraged to say the least.

I remember reading in Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” that you must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.  Certainly I had made major adjustments when I attended seminary, and when I worked as Children’s Minister.  When you accept an assignment from God, whatever that may be, God requires…no, He expects that you make major adjustments to join Him.  I knew that to be true with every other assignment God had given me, but I wasn’t applying that reality to this situation.  I was instead making up excuses…I’m too old to work with youth, I’m too square, I can’t find common ground, my own kids don’t want me there….etc. etc.

God used our youth Pastor at that time to enlighten me.  “God did not give you a Spirit of Timidity,” he said. “You don’t have to be like the youth…they don’t want that anyway.  Just be available to them.  Try to find some common ground…but mostly just love them, respect them and never ever give up on them.”

Well, his words caused me to ask God how I could find common ground with those teenagers?   It became obvious that this generation was and still is all about technology, so I asked God to show me how to tap into that.  Within a few weeks, I literally forced myself to complete a self-prepared crash course on learning as much about their music, popular video games and social networking as I could.  I wanted to know what made these kids “tick”.  I had never heard of Facebook or My Space before, and now I was venturing into the computer “unknown” and within a few hours of me getting a Facebook account, the youth were starting to “add me” as their friend.  Amazingly what they wouldn’t share with me face to face at Wednesday Night Live, they were now sharing with me “online”, and God was leading me into a whole new realm of ministry I had never dreamed existed.

I joined music “fan clubs” of their popular music and learned that Christian “Screamo” music is the most foreign language imaginable to my generation of adults but since the teenagers were “rocking out” to it every single day I forced myself to listen to their music…I now have numbered in my music collection alongside ABBA and Elvis Presley,  the Bands: Fading Rebel, Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada and a few more.  I can’t say I found the music particularly melodious, but I was getting to actually like some of it…that alone was a God-thing!  Oh…and for a while I was even addicted to the video game…Guitar Hero….the result: my son and daughter spontaneously said to me one day as I was “rocking out”, “You are the coolest Mom in the world.”  High praise indeed.

That said there are challenges to treading on that “common ground” with the youth.  I have “retired” from leading youth in my church but now as a Junior High teacher I am very plugged in to their world.  At least as much as they want me to be in it.  My children are adults but with texting, SmartPhones, Snap Chat, Twitter and of course Facebook, youth and young adults spend most of their time online and completely immersed in the cyber world.  I shake my head and sometimes weep at what I see posted on Facebook “walls” and status updates.  Cyberbullying has reached a whole new level of insidiousness.  Pictures are posted, reputations are ruined, hearts are broken.

On the anti-bullying website: www.bullying.org cyberbullying is recognized as

“…the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.” – Bill Belsey

“Cyberbullying, like other forms of bullying, is about human relationships, power and control.  Those who bully others are trying to establish power and control over others that they perceive to be “weaker” than them.  Those who bully want to make victims feel that there is something wrong with them, but victims should know that there is NOTHING wrong with THEM.  It is THE BULLIES who have the real problems.

Cyberbullying is different from other forms of bullying in a number of ways.  While bullying is something that is often under the radar screen of adults, cyberbullying is even more so as today’s youth, a group that I call the “Always on Generation”, feel it most often and most intensely.  This generation is increasingly communicating in ways that are often unknown by adult and away from their supervision.

Cyberbullying is also different in that it is a particularly cowardly form of bullying.  Cyberbullies can more easily hide behind anonymity that the Internet can provide.

Cyberbullies can communicate their hurtful messages to a very wide audience with remarkable speed.

Cyber bullying is often outside of the legal reach of schools and school boards as this behaviour often happens outside of school on home computers or via mobile phones.

Victims of bullying are often fearful of telling others about being bullied because they fear that the bullying may actually become worse if they tell.  Victims of cyberbullying are often also afraid to report to adults about being cyberbullied, as they also fear that adults will over-react and take away their mobile phone, computer and/or Internet access.  This something that is increasingly unthinkable for the “Always On” generation as not being online means not being able to socialize or communicate with their peers, and this fear of exclusion is paramount in the lives of most adolescents and teens.”

Recently I became the victim of cyberbullying.  I had someone (whom I did not know personally), send me an explicit and suggestive (obscene) message on my Facebook page, and on another social networking site.  I realized quickly that this was a cyber “stalker” and I immediately blocked and then deleted the message from this individual, (an inappropriate response by the way, apparently it is important you keep documentation of cyberbullying so you can report it).

I told my daughter about the incident, she admitted that she gets messages like that regularly on Facebook.  She just ignores and deletes them.  Now that shocked me!  I was (am) a pretty protective mom and had I known then what I know now my first instinct would have been to protect my kids; to cancel our internet, and take away cell phones to protect them from those kind of cyber predators.  Then I remembered that is punishing the victim (my children) not the bully.  Instead, I have made it a point to be more aware of the threats online and to equip the teens I work with at school on how to be proactive in preventing cyberbullying.  The www.bullyingcourse.com webinar may be helpful for parents and teachers alike, but here are some immediate practical suggestions for you and your teen to find common ground against cyberbullying:

1.  Never give out or share personal information numbers (PIN) etc.  Remember “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  There are indeed wolves in sheep’s clothing prowling the internet for innocent victims.  Adult predators create fake ID’s and pretend to be younger than they are in an effort to “lure” their victims into revealing personal information.

2.  Be careful what you post online (pictures, notes, etc.)  Think before you post!  Is this something you would want your Grandma to see or learn about you?  If not, then DON’T POST IT!

3.  Never send a message to others when you are angry or upset.  Give yourself a “time out” to cool off.  Scripture says:

James 3:5-8 – Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (NKJV)

4.  Never open a message from someone you don’t know.  The old adage of not talking to “strangers” applies here.  Also do not respond to someone online who treats you rudely or meanly.  Bullies want an audience, and they want a reaction from you – don’t give them the satisfaction.

5.  Just like any other form of bullying, if you are cyberbullied TELL SOMEONE!  Tell a trusted adult and then have them refer to ways on how to report cyberbullying at: http://www.cyberbullying.org/pdf/Cyberbullying_Information.pdf
6.  Be polite to others online just as you would offline.  “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, 0 LORD, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19:14).
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