Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.  But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on the sand.  When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.       –Jesus, in Matthew 7:24-27

Pastor Bruxy Cavey from the Meeting House shared an interesting observation about this passage a couple weeks ago.  He asked us if we noticed what the wise person and foolish person had in common.  Can you spot it?  Here it is: both experience storms.  This week I have been experiencing storms of the mind.  I have been restless and edgy, partially due to disappointing circumstances and partially due to trying to figure out God’s direction and guidance in certain areas of my life.  Have you ever felt like this? Like there is a storm raging in your head?

Storms are inevitable. Just because you are a Christ-follower and have built your house on solid rock does not mean the storms will pass you by.  But like this passage of Scripture says, we can prepare for them.  Below is a song by Aaron Keyes, based on Psalm 62, that has reminded me where I am to take my refuge when the storms rage.  I hope the words encourage you as they have me.

Michelle

I’d like you to imagine something with me.  You’re making a documentary and head out to film a keynote interviewee.  It has taken a few months to secure this interview, and you are pumped to finally meet this person.  You drive for over an hour, go through security, and enter the building.  The interview goes well and everything is caught on camera…it’s a good day!  You return home and switch on the camera to replay the footage, only to discover that the interview is gone.  The memory card is blank and the footage you just celebrated over is non-existent.

If you hadn’t guessed already, this happened to me last week.  This may not seem like a big deal to those who have never made a film, but it’s a tough pill to swallow.  Thoughts have been storming through my head these last few days: how do I tell our interviewee that we lost the footage?  Do I dare ask him for a second interview?  Why are we even making a film? God why did you let this happen?

1 Corinthians 13 says this:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secrets plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Living life without loving people is like making a documentary with no footage.  It is worth nothing.  Fortunately for us, a good friend spent the week trying to recover our lost interview and found it.  But how many people get to the end of their lives, only to find that all of their accomplishments were completely worthless because they did not live a life of love?  That is way more tragic than lost footage. 

How are we loving people this week?

Michelle

Lately I have had it on my heart to write a post about the Gospel message.  Pure and simple.  I know many of you who read No Boys Allowed are believers in Christ, but chances are some of you are not.  Maybe it’s because you’ve been jaded by the church or you think being a Christian is boring and lifeless.  But maybe, just maybe, it’s because you have never heard about what Jesus did for you. 

I was raised in a Christian home, and assumed I was a Christian because I was a good kid and had Christian parents.  I knew all the Sunday school songs, had verses memorized, and was familiar with all the Bible stories and characters.  But in the summer between grades six and seven, I attended a prayer meeting at a Christian camp and my life changed forever. I was sitting there with my eyes closed, and suddenly I envisioned a gift being held out to me.  The gift would only be mine if I accepted it, and I hesitated.  I realized for the first time in my young life that Jesus was offering me the gift of His life and salvation, but I had to accept it in order for it to be mine.  So I did. I made the decision that day to follow Jesus and I haven’t looked back since.  It was the best choice I have ever made!

Here’s the Gospel Message in the words of author Max Lucado:

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us.  Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear.  Here is how it happens.  You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes.  Because of His justice He cannot dismiss your sin, but because of His love He cannot dismiss you.  So, in an act which stunned the heavens, he punished Himself on the cross for your sins.  God’s justice and love are equally honoured.  And you, God’s creation, are forgiven. 

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None of us are good enough.  All you need to do is look around you and see the brokenness of the world to know that this is true.  But the good news is that God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died.  But it didn’t end there: He rose from the dead, conquered death and sin, and offers life and hope to all who believe.  This is SUCH good news!  If we come to Him with humbled hearts, admit that we can’t be perfect, and confess our sin and brokenness, He is faithful to forgive us.  The Bible says that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we are saved.  Saved not only from eternal separation from Him and all that is good, but saved for a life of purpose and meaning here on earth.  I can’t tell you how full my life has been since giving it to Jesus.

No matter how far you’ve fallen, no matter how “non-religious” your background, no matter what you have done, no matter how “bad” you are, no matter how little you know about church, Jesus offers you hope and life in Him.  But you need to receive the gift He is holding out to you.  It is my prayer that you do!

Love you ladies,
Michelle

This week I have been reading Max Lucado’s The Great House of God.  He unpacks a passage from Isaiah 55:8-9 in a way that really spoke to me.  Here is the passage and Lucado’s thoughts on it:

“My thoughts are not like your thoughts.  Your ways are not like my ways.  Just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  Isa. 55:8-9

Make special note of the word like.  God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are they even like ours.  We aren’t even in the same neighbourhood.  We’re thinking, ‘Preserve the body; he’s thinking, Save the soul.  We dream of a pay raise.  He dreams of raising the dead.  We avoid pain and seek peace.  God uses pain to bring peace.  “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve.  “Die, so you can live,” he instructs.  We love what rusts.  He loves what endures.  We rejoice at our successes.  He rejoices at our confessions.  We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, “Be like Mike.” God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, “Be like Christ.”

What a great reminder this is for all of us today.  Let’s live like we believe it!

Michelle

Last week Jay went to Chicago for a couple days, and I got to spend some time catching up with friends and visiting family in Guelph.  It was awesome!  Guelph, with its eco-friendly stores and fair trade coffee shops, was a welcome break from “steel city’s” factories and traffic. 

One evening I was having tea with a friend that I haven’t seen for a while, and she told me about a lesson she has been learning lately: self pity is self worship.  It has a strange ring to it, but I think it is very true.  I have often found myself pitying myself for various reasons.  Here’s a list of things that either I have pitied myself for or seen others pity themselves over:

I’m not as pretty as her
I’m not smart enough to do anything of value
My family is not as loving/fun/adventurous/supportive as theirs
All my friends are dating and I’m still single
All my friends are getting married and I’m still single
My boyfriend dumped me
I’m not making as much money as they are
I’m too tall/ too dark/ too white/ too skinny/ too fat
My marks aren’t good enough

All these things can be painful and are certainly legitimate things to struggle with.  But do we allow them to take over our thoughts and lives? Do they start shaping our actions? I believe that self-pity can lead to negative and harmful actions, like developing eating disorders, harbouring resentment and bitterness toward others, having a bad attitude, refusing to take healthy risks, dressing immodestly to get attention, or just giving up on life.  These actions are the fruit of idolatry.  We idolize ourselves, our comfort, and our pride over the God of the universe, who made us, loves us, blesses us, equips us, forgives us, and believes in us. 

Don’t get me wrong; God wants us to be real with Him.  He understands that there are times we are so broken and hurt we can’t even express it in words.  But I know that in my life, choosing to dwell in self-pity leads to nothing more than regrets and frustration.  God tells us in His word to dwell in Him.  So let’s cancel our pity parties for this week and do that instead, because He alone can provide us with the strength to carry on.

Love you girls!
Michelle