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“AJ, COME HERE!!”

My son AJ turned and put down the rake. Sweaty and tired from his backyard landscaping project, the last thing he expected was to hear our beloved neighbor across the street calling him so harshly. “There must be something wrong,” he thought. And there it was again.

“AJ, COME HERE NOW!!!”

Bewildered, AJ sauntered across the street and saw Kim in her front yard, hands cupped aside her mouth, bellowing, “AJ, COME HERE!”

“Kim, is something wrong?”

Her eyes landed on AJ, and when she saw the expression on his face, Kim broke out in hysterical laughter, hands on knees, almost rolling over into the driveway. It was several minutes before she was able to compose herself enough to squeak out the story. She was dog-sitting, and AJ-the dog had run away down the street.

AJ-the son,  greatly relieved that she was calling AJ-the dog, ran off to retrieve the missing pet.

There’s an important lesson we can glean from this light-hearted case of mistaken identity.

Often, we hear someone calling our name. We hear a familiar “voice” speaking harshly to us.

We “hear” that we’re not smart enough, not pretty enough, not good enough. The voice tells us we’re too fat, too skinny, too tall, too short. We hear that no one cares about us, or that we totally messed up, or that it’s just too hard, so give up.

And we entertain that voice, letting it entangle in our brains or pierce our hearts, mulling over these accusations as if they were true – but they’re not.

Referring to the devil, Jesus said, “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

When we hear these words of condemnation and criticism, we need to quickly recognize that they are not the voice of God who calls us with conviction and compassion. And then we need to combat them with truths of God’s Word – where He calls us His beloved, precious, chosen, child, friend, the apple of His eye!

When you hear those lies and accusations, won’t you choose to listen to the voice of truth? Philippians 4:8says

 ^“Finally, … sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

This is an instruction = “Think on these things” – not a suggestion or a wishful thinking = not “try to think…”

God would not instruct us to do something that is impossible. When you catch yourself drifting into false thoughts, lasso those thoughts – “take every thought captive.”

And the result of applying this Scripture to your thought life?

The verses before and after Phil. 4:8 tell us the peace of God will guard your heart and mind (v.7) and the God of peace will be with you(v.9). Your thoughts are surrounded by the bookends of peace!

” You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in You,
all whose thoughts are fixed on You!”

Isaiah 26:3

As part of his message, our pastor shared that with the Lord, all things are possible. Of course, we need to do what we can, yet trust the Lord to deliver what we cannot do on our own. He then had us write our impossible situation on an index card. Individually, we wrote our cards and laid them at the altar, giving our situations to the Lord.

I didn’t know it at the time, but on her card, my daughter Lauren’s impossible situation was that she had to raise $1300 in the 10 days remaining before her trip to Uganda (she needed to raise $3800 in total.)

With no hope in sight, my husband suggested that Lauren reach out to her college friends and ask them to donate a “virtual cup of coffee” toward her trip. She balked at the idea since many of her friends weren’t Christian and wouldn’t understand her vision of ministry. Plus how many “cups of coffee” could possibly meet the needed $1300 threshold?

After our family Father’s Day celebration following church, Lauren spent 2 hours on facebook, contacting 60 college friends to whom she had not sent support letters, informing them about her upcoming trip. She asked for a donation amount equal to cost of a cup of coffee. 18 seconds after she logged out, she received the following email:

“Prayers are answered, the Mission Team has voted to give you the entire amount. $1,300. If you still need that much, if not let us know what you need. I’ll need your address so we can send the check, or if you prefer you could pick it up at the church office or at my home. Please let me know. Sorry it took a little while but we needed to contact the as many team members as possible.”

The sender: First Reformed Church where Lauren had been invited to share a liturgical dance as part of their worship service last fall. Then twice in the spring, she shared her gift of dance with them again. Knowing that they are mission-minded and that she was short of her goal, a few weeks ago, she asked if she could share about her upcoming trip with the congregation and possibly raise support. The initial reply said that many teens from the church were going on trips and have been doing fundraisers, but they’d see what they could do, if anything. And then she didn’t hear back from them… Until 18 seconds after she logged out of facebook tonight!

Despite giving her impossible situation to the Lord, despite singing “All Things Are Possible” that morning, despite her conviction that the Lord was calling her to Uganda, Lauren doubted. And she wasn’t alone. With so much money to raise in so little time, and with the people who contracted malaria on the recent Uganda trip, my husband questioned whether God was closing a door. This most unexpected email with this abundantly generous gift erased our doubts and confirmed much more than just a mission trip experience.

While at first, Lauren thought that she shouldn’t have sent out those facebook messages, perhaps bothering her non-Christian friends, she further realized what our pastor had said. That we must do what we can. We ought not to slack in our efforts and claim that we are waiting for God like a deliveryman. The added benefit to her actions is that she now had opportunity to share what the Lord has done and will do in her life and on her trip. Any extra money raised will benefit the ministry in Uganda.

Lauren also learned that although things may seem impossible, God is still at work. Over the course of several weeks, when it appeared that prayers went unanswered, phone calls and emails silently coursed across the airwaves among the members of First Reformed Church. God spoke to people, unseen and unacknowledged, moving their hearts for this girl’s trip.

Lauren’s conclusion:
“It’s Father’s Day, and my Father gave a gift to me.”

Do you have an impossible situation? Can you trust the God of the impossible?

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:27

The first of the sun’s rays had yet to break the long exhausting night. What should have been an hour boat ride now stretched into a 6 hour nightmare.

Jesus had instructed His disciples to board the boat and meet Him on the other side of the lake. All night, a strong wind blowing against them caused the delay. From the mountaintop, Jesus saw them straining at the oars and walked out on the water to them.

Thinking they were looking at a ghost added terror to their exhaustion. But Jesus comforted them immediately, “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.” *

And impulsive Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really You, then call me to meet You on the water.” *

Why, I wonder, did Peter say this?

Why didn’t he say, like I would, “Lord, if it’s You, please come TO ME – here where I am – in the safety of the boat – in the midst of the storm. Come to me here, Lord.”

How often in difficult circumstances do I seek the Lord to meet me where I am, rather than risk stepping out in faith to where He’s calling me?

Why can’t I be like Peter and say instead, “Lord, bring me to where You are, where You want me to be.”

When we take the risk and step out in faith, we can do more than walk on water.

Five years ago, I took a risk and called a friend to see what small thing we might do to help victims of human trafficking. I had no idea that God had bigger things in mind. Justice Network is the product of two Jersey moms who took a step out of their boat.

My daughter asked God where He wanted her to be, and she found herself studying dance ministry at Hillsong Intl. Leadership College in Sydney Australia. It was the experience of a lifetime for her, and now she leads the dance worship team at Hillsong NYC. (Click here for a video of the dance she choreographed to Oceans by Hillsong.)

Stepping out of the safety of the boat doesn’t always mean big things are in your future. We don’t know what will happen.  And we don’t need to know. God knows.

We just need to take one step. Then follow that with one more step.

The Bible says that the Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It’s not like a stadium floodlight that makes the night as bright as day. It’s more like a flashlight in the dark allowing us to see one step at a time.

Perhaps if we could see more, we’d run the other way. But God takes hold of our hand providing peace and the strength to continue forward with trust that He knows the way, and someday we may know too.

How is God calling you to come to him? Are you willing to take just one step of obedience?

Forgive me for sharing a slightly edited version of a post I published last year, but this month is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and we can all use a reminder! 

Most people think (if they stop to think about it) that slavery ended in 1865. Sadly, that is false. Human trafficking (aka modern day slavery) is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. In 2014, by Presidential Proclamation, January was declared National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. By definition:

• Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery involving the use of force, fraud and/or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.
• Human trafficking does not require movement of people across borders.
• Human trafficking can be forced labor, sexual exploitation, or in the case of minors, sexual exploitation without the use of force, fraud, or coercion.

Most people think (if they stop to think about it) that human trafficking occurs out of sight and/or in faraway places. Sadly, that is also false. It happens around the world, but it also happens in our backyards, our schools, our malls, our families. No one is exempt from risk.

And most people think (if they stop to think about it) that there is nothing they can do to stem the tide of human trafficking. This too is false.

As believers, we are mandated to seek justice for all.

… what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice,

and to love kindness, 

and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Of the things that God requires , “doing justice” is in the top three! The Hebrew word here for “justice” is “mishpat.” Mishpat refers to restorative justice – actually seeking out vulnerable people who are being taken advantage of and helping them. And more –taking steps to advocate for the vulnerable and changing social structures to prevent injustice.

Five years ago, I was just starting to learn what human trafficking is. From my story, Somebody’s Daughter, which tells of my journey into abolition work:

I knew so little about an issue that was so big. I was afraid and wondered what we could do. After all, there were just two of us. That phrase “just two of us” reminded me of a Bible story where the prophet Elisha and his servant were facing an army of evil-doers. The servant feared that there were just two of them, but the prophet answered, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  (2 Kings 6:16) I realized that even though there are 29.8 million caught in slavery, there are over  7 BILLION people in the world. And most of those people would be opposed to slavery. IF they knew about it. And if they knew what to do about it.

Since our humble beginning, we at Justice Network have our mandate: to raise awareness, work for prevention, support survivors, AND mostly – to let people know that they too can do something about it!

For example, coffee and chocolate are two industries that are notorious for using slave labor. If everyone bought fair trade or slave free coffee/chocolate, the industry would only make slavery-free products. Look for the logo or visit our website that provides lists of all kinds of items that are produced slavery-free.

Of all people on earth, we the church should be the most proactive in spreading the word. Human trafficking is an abomination to the God who came to set the captives free.

Encourage your pastor to speak about trafficking this month. There is a wealth of information online including sample sermons and other resources. Visit global organizations like IJM or A21. Or seek out local resources like Justice Network or the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking in New Jersey.

Edmund Burke who famously said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” also said, “Nobody makes a greater mistake than he would did nothing because he could only do a little.”

Do a little, my friends. Feel free to contact me for information. You can be the difference in someone’s life!

On Friday at the Jersey shore, pods of dolphins frolicked in the ocean so near to shore you could almost touch them. Down the beach, over 50 fishing boats of all sizes clustered off the coast. The stripers were running, and under the bright cloudless sky, everything looked beautiful in the world.

Overnight, the winds kicked in, and the glass patio doors rattled as the rain pounded without mercy. The ocean waves grew white in ferocity. That morning, the sun hid behind the nor’easter’s bleak greyness.

What a difference a day makes.

Life situations can change overnight as well. A phone call from a family member with bad news, a visit to the doctor with a grim diagnosis, a commute into work to be told it’s your last day, so many more circumstances that can alter the course of a life, much less lead to a bad day.

Can there be any good news when the most terrible announcements overwhelm and overtake daily life?

Fortunately, yes.

God is bigger than your circumstances. His plans aren’t derailed when it seems the worst has happened. Sometimes, great disappointments can even be blessings in disguise.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

After every winter comes the new life of spring. Seasons change, but God never does.

The nor’easter lasted a day, and the sun came out after the storm blew through. But more importantly, the sun was there all the time – I just didn’t see it. When I heard the wind and saw the clouds, I focused on them and ignored the fact that the sun was there all along. I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t think about it.

We are engaged in spiritual warfare, and an effective enemy tactic is to distract our focus. He uses busyness, family or friend problems, work concerns, over-sensitivity, self-consciousness, financial worries, even national and local elections, to attract our attention. But when we concentrate on eternal matters, the things of this world dim in comparison. Like looking through the lens of a camera, if our focus is on things nearby, those details in the background are fuzzy. When we adjust the lens, we can bring the background into crisp detail, and the close things are less harrowing.

If we choose, as Paul did, what we focus on and “fix our eyes … on the eternal,” by comparison, we will be able to view our troubles as “light and momentary” AND “achieving eternal glory,” blessings in disguise.

 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 

Seasons come and go, but we will reap in due time IF we do not lose heart:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

Father, I pray for those in difficult circumstances – that You would impart your peace to their troubled hearts, soothe their spirit, and help them to focus on the eternal. Let these trying times be useful in molding us to Your image.

As I write this post, I am barely recognizable. Poison ivy is covering most of my face which is swollen, itchy, stinging, dark red, with weeping sores all over it. I spent much of the past two days researching treatment for poison ivy and kept coming across that word – weeping. Each time I saw it, I remembered God’s promise:

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

I kept hoping that in the morning, the rash, with its weeping and swelling, would be gone. But alas, it wasn’t. And that begs the question: did my joy come in the morning or not? Is my joy dependent upon the presence of or the lack of an annoying rash? In the larger picture, is our joy dependent upon our circumstances? Can we be joyful in the middle of the struggle?

I believe we can. I believe that’s God’s promise to us.

He says that we weep at night, when it’s dark, when our thoughts can be our own worst enemy. But the morning brings light, and those first rays puncturing the darkness help us to see our circumstances in a whole new way.

The Word says “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Eccl. 3:4 

When Nehemiah, with Ezra and the Levites, saw the people mourning over the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem, he said, “’This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, ‘… Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ The Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.’ Then all the people went away …to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”

Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes with the light of dawn, with new understanding of the Word. When the light of God’s presence pierces the dark, joy comes. And His joy is not dependent on the time of day or a change in circumstances. He Himself is our light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

It is indeed possible to experience joy despite our circumstances when:

• we know the One who causes EVERYthing to work together for good (Rom 8:28).
• we know that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:17-18)
• we know the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. … but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like an eagle; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

Will you join me in seeking the Light in the midst of darkness? I can say that though my circumstances haven’t changed for the better, God’s presence lifted my spirit and brought joy.

I’ve heard quotes like these for years:

There is no problem so big that God is not bigger still. There is no issue so small that God does not care about it.

God is so big that the universe cannot contain Him, yet He is so small He can fit inside your heart.

But they’re just words until you see them in action.

This past Saturday, Justice Network (my organization that raises awareness about human trafficking) hosted a food truck festival. It was our first effort to put on an event like this. We partnered with my home church and enlisted co-sponsorship from our state Coalition. But the work of planning, preparing, publicity, and so much more was handled by a small group of six. We called ourselves the “ninja team.” My husband called us the “High Mountain Core of Engineers”.

Throughout the process of creating the event, we did our research and solicited advice (some of which was conflicting and confusing), but throughout it all, we prayed. We prayed for the big things and the small things and everything in between.

One of my “silly” prayers (or so I thought) was a specific prayer for the length of the lines at the food trucks. We needed a delicate balance – lines too short meant that the food trucks would not make enough money for it to be worthwhile for them – lines too long meant that people would leave hungry and dissatisfied. And so I prayed for the number of people on line. Specifically that it would be between 3-6 people at a time.

I felt a little foolish praying for such an inane topic. After all, we were raising awareness about the critical issue of human trafficking – modern day slavery! We were raising money for scholarships for survivors of human trafficking! We were witnessing the church of Christ working like a healthy body should – everyone doing their part like eyes and hands and feet! We were connecting with our community on a level that had not been done before!  So many concerns of such great consequence.

As I looked around that day, there was so much to be thankful for – so many prayers that God was answering.

Including the number of people on each line!

Throughout the event, I continually walked and talked with attendees, craft table vendors, food truck vendors, the band members, and information table representatives. And I kept a watchful eye on the food truck lines. And at no time was any line too long, and more importantly, we had a steady stream of attendees – an estimated 600 people!

Lesson learned!

It’s not the size of the prayer that counts – it’s WHO I’m praying to that counts! Any other way of looking at it is a deception from the devil who would have us think that God assesses our requests with some kind of eternal measuring tool, ranking prayers with levels of importance.

Does Scripture say, “Thou shalt not bother the Lord with requests of small importance!”?

Our Aunt Anna used to pray for a parking space, help going up her steps, finding missing items. Nothing that was of concern to her was kept from her Savior. Corrie ten Boom said, “Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”

And God commands us to bring EVERYthing to Him. This instruction is not a suggestion:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYthing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”Phil 4:6

We may offer prayers to which God says no. Our requests may be inappropriate, immature, self-centered. Our prayers may be off target to God’s will. But, in the eyes of God, there is no prayer too small or insignificant.

Is there anything that you haven’t brought to God because you think (even if subconsciously) that the problem is too small to bother God with? Well, right now, kick the enemy out of your head, and place yourself before the Lord.

BTW – We even made the news! For more info about the event, visit our post at Justice Network.

On Independence Day, there’s a lot of talk about freedom and liberty. Thankfully, we do not live under the bondage that is found in some other countries. But all too often, we live in bondage to fear, pride, depression, anger. We may not have control over these areas of our lives. The answer is surrender.

In Bible times, slavery was common. Slaves had no freedom, but when offered freedom, some chose to live surrendered to their Master, for life with a kind Master was superior to freedom outside that home. These surrendered slaves were called “bond-slaves.” The Apostle Paul often referred to himself as a bond-slave of Jesus Christ.

While unjustly imprisoned, Paul wrote the letter to the Philippian church. In it, he says that due to his being in chains, the gospel was shared with entire palace guard. He sees that his lack of freedom had a greater purpose. He was surrendered.

From Paul’s letter to the Philippians we can discern his answers to the bondages I mentioned above:

You will not have to worry
Phil. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

You will not feel the need to be in charge
Phil 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

You will experience true joy
Phil: 4:4-5 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

You will be free from anger
Phil 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

The Christian life is a paradox in many ways-
-When we are weak, we are strong
-The first shall be last
-You must lose your life to find it
-To live forever, you must die to yourself

And…
-True freedom means surrender to the One who owns you

Happy Independence Day to you.

May you experience true freedom in surrender to the King of Kings!

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36