At some point in the high-speed connection of city life, you will inevitably hear someone say to you, “You’re doing too much.”  These are opportunities to check oneself. 

There are a few questions you can ask yourself.  Some are good.  Some are bad.  Some are  ugly. (more…)

Waiting is not one of my strong points.I am not what I would call a patient person. I want to get things done right, fast, and now.This of course works very well for an easy going and satisfying life.I want to be toned up and lose 5 pounds, *bam* done. I want to be done with school, have my glorified piece of paper and be done with all the busy work, *huzzah* done. I want my house to be completely fixed and have nice flooring, and a bathroom that isn’t purple, *bing* done.In my dreams.So, in the midst of being an impatient person, with a life that seldom cooperates (except on the few and far between occasions when the microwave cooks my dinner for me), I have been learning this mystical art of being patient (not that I’m anywhere near being an ‘A’ student).I can’t say that I didn’t see this lesson coming either. When I was 18 and finishing up a Bible study that I had been in for almost 2 years, our leader gave me this verse:

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,for my hope is from him.” Psalm 62:5

So as I sit now looking at 26 in the ever nearing future, I hear – as always – Jesus saying “wait on Me.” Which I don’t think is merely a “hey, sit over there and the Savior will be with you shortly” kind of thing. But it actually hits me as a “wait on Me,” in the serving frame of reference. To wait on the Lord, to serve Him, to seek Him out and ask “what do You want of me today? What should my attitude be like? What words should pass over my lips? What looks should people see on my face and in my eyes? Where is my heart at? And where does it need to be?” Which is sometimes a hard concept to grasp considering that God has no needs.So I will wait in both senses. And fight against my fidgety heart.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

In a season when my Bible has not been read in saintly quantity, small verses have been laying heavy on my heart. 

I look at my lack of Bible reading, I look at my neglected relationship with Jesus, I look at my feelings of inadequacy as I am consistently falling short of where I ought to be with my Savior. And it has recently struck me that it is a faith-issue, not a laziness issue.

Hebrews 11:6 really socks me. What is faith? I have always thought I have the gift of faith. I mean, I believe in God. You can’t talk me out of it.

…because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists…

This is easy for me. I know God is there. I know that Jesus is God incarnate. I know that. I believe it, through and through. Of course he exists. He’s huge, he’s powerful, he made everything, he’s strong, he can do anything he wants, he knows all, sees all, is terrible and awesome, and so on. There is no shaking this with me. 

…and that he rewards those that earnestly seek him. 

This other half of faith makes me want to cry. I am so weak here, so full of doubt. How often do I feel totally alone in my day, like God is off doing his big work in the sky and I am in a dark trench just trying to stay alive? How often do I half-heartedly open my Bible thinking, “I wonder if I will get anything at all today?” How often do I wonder “what is the point?” about prayer, thinking “he’ll hear me, because he knows everything, but he probably won’t say anything back.”

Honestly, despite my confident manner, head-full of Bible trivia and life-long relationship with the Lord, I often feel like God hides himself. Perhaps he does sometimes. But accompanying that thought is the idea in my brain that God is too important to show himself to me, and (more…)

by Mindy Lee Irvine, Mars Hill member at the Wedgwood Campus

I had the great opportunity to sit courtside at a Sonics game last week. I am a sports fan; I enjoy events with lots of loud obnoxious people, because I usually join them in their madness.  I do whatever it takes to get on the jumbotron! And I suppose at this point I feel like I am doing some civic support when it comes to watching the Sonics.

If you are a virgin courtside watcher like I was, you have no idea the perks that come with such an event.  There is a special “courtside seat” entrance.  No waiting in line.  They check your coat.  They check your ID for those who will be partaking in the alcohol perks, and the kind man doing so offers a delightful piece of history as he reads your birth year.  Your ticket is checked a few times by ushers to ensure you are in fact a courtside member, and then you then walk into the arena. 

The loud music the squeak of rubber soles on the court is intense and (more…)

I noticed that our blog has been linking to some “Mars Hill has dangerous theology” blogs. Previous this post, I don’t think I would of ever written about anything controversial, because of the fear of negative comments, fear of challenge and fear of rejection. But today as I write, I’m okay with all of that. The only thing that matters is this: Bringing glory to Jesus.

Women staying home issue: As a mother to be, I am looking forward to being home with my baby boy! If my husband is able to provide for our family without additional income from me, I believe that would be a huge blessing. Mars Hill does not command women to stay home with their kids and give up their dreams, but Jesus does command us to not idolize anything. What is easy to idolize? Power? A degree? Success? Marriage? A man? Your kids? Being a perfect stay at home mom? Natural child birth? How much weight breast feeding can help you lose?

So how do we bring glory to Jesus with this topic? If we are convicted that staying home with our children is a blessing and a command… sweet! If our husbands and ourselves are okay with working or going to school while we’re raising our children… sweet. Shouldn’t we support our brothers and sisters in Christ, whichever decision they make as long as it doesn’t violate scripture? And if there is idolatry going on, aren’t we commanded to talk about it and address it in love with scripture? If the Holy Spirit is convicting one of us that we are in sin, shouldn’t we listen while they share [with open ears], instead of immediately attacking each others’ theology?

We all have convictions, some the same and some different. Praise God for sending his Holy Spirit to live in us in our daily lives so we have the opportunity to worship Jesus - individually and together.

I’ve been convicted of sin: Previously, as a covenant member of Mars Hill Church, I allowed myself to be swayed in different directions of so called doctrine or dogma issues. But as I 100% agree and am in line with Mars Hill’s “closed hand” theology, (and as we go through the member renewal process,) I am 100% convicted to start supporting my church family.

Ladies that write for this blog: Thank you for putting your life in a place where others can see it. As we all continue this process of learning more about Jesus and how to be more like Him, I hope we can keep writing about our struggles with honesty.

May Jesus be glorified.

The words of John Piper have often challenged me.  Like a needle bumped, they scritch and scratch across the smooth, party line record of my Christian existence.  

He taught me that longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.  Scratch. 

He taught me that my son’s real problem is not smoking, but rather that he doesn’t see Jesus clearly, and that the sins that distress me will only begin to fade away when he sees Jesus for who He really is.  Scratch.

He taught me how to be a Christian Hedonist.  Scratch.

So it’s no surprise that his words have the power to sustain a resonance from the Resurgence Conference last week.  Namely, that it is good and right and Biblical to ask ”why”, and more astonishing, there should be a “why” to everything we believe.  He bodaciously proclaimed that, “God is not honored by leaps in the dark.”  This is a solid slap on the cheek (face and/or hiney, your choice) of what I call Shekinah Glory theology.

DISCLAIMER:  God’s glory is worthy of study, and I think I understand it about as well as anyone can this side of heaven, so I am not being irreverant or intentionally flip.  God’s glory is magnificent.  As Jonathan Edwards put it:  “The mind ascends to the truth of the gospel by a sight of its glory” (2 Cor. 4:3). 

What I mean by Shekinah Glory theology is that faction of patty-cake Christianity that says, ”I-don’t-understand-and-none-of-us-can-or-ever-will-(or should?)-so-we-just-have-to-chuck-all-of-the-unknown-and-be-content-with-knowing-we’ll-understand-in-the-end”.  This smacks of, “Just drink the Kool Aid, children.”  So whatever reasonable questions our nonChristian friends and family bring, we tell them, “Fuhgeddaboutit!”  Shekinah Glory takes over.

YES there is a whole conversation about God’s mystery and our pea brains fizzing out on trying to understand the magnitude of his thoughts.  But explaining Jesus with a heavy Shekinah Glory bent is whacked in many realms, and as I thought about it, often a copout for putting in the hard labor of Bible study and theology homework.  It’s just easier to roll off, “God knows.” (Disclaimer #2:  Sometimes, that is the answer.)

Piper’s Scriptural arguments were thus:

1 Jn. 4:1  “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Acts 17:23  “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:  TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”

1 Jn. 5:13  “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Acts 1:3  “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs…” 

His point being that there is an organic connection between KNOWING and writing, KNOWING and hearing, KNOWING and reading.  In essence, we can KNOW, and it’s okay (dare I say it’s good?), to ask “why”.   There should be a why to everything we believe?

Scratch.

Here are a few thoughts on walking with a loved one through a season of pain. 

1) There is a time to mourn.  There is a time to weep.  Ecc. 3:4

Some day in the future, there may be a time for advice or a time to try to cheer up.  But respect the time to mourn.  Weep with those who weep.  I have noticed when I am seriously hurting, there are some people that I just can’t have around because their response is to either give advice or try to distract me from my pain.  Instead, I have to walk through my pain, and I treasure those who have the love and patience to walk with me. 

2)  Be quiet. 

Listen.  Don’t talk.  I don’t mean that we need to remain mute when coming alongside the hurting, but take seriously James 1:19, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”  When your hurting friend speaks, you listen.  You listen well and ask follow up questions.  You don’t redirect the conversation away from your hurting friend and toward yourself.  If your friend needs to talk through their pain, listen. 

3)  Don’t pretend the pain doesn’t exist. 

This is particularly important when it comes to the death of a loved one.  Don’t ignore the person who passed on in an effort to distract your friend.  They are missing their loved one, and you can’t ignore them anymore than a big white elephant standing in the room.  I remember meeting at a restaurant the parents of a friend who had died unexpectedly a few weeks before.  We all talked like nothing had ever happened, and I regret to this day that I ignored the elephant in the room.  I wish I had said simply, “I am so sorry for your loss,” and then given them a hug.  I, of course, had no idea what to say.  But I realize now that saying NOTHING was even worse.

If your friend just lost her child, let her show you the hand made blanket she wrapped him in.  If she’s having problems getting pregnant, love her enough to check on her about that specifically.  If her father died unexpectedly, don’t avoid mentioning the beauty of the deck he was building for her before he died.  Whatever the situation, don’t feel you have to do acrobatics to avoid the elephant in the room.   If talking about their loved one fits the occasion, then do it. 

3)  When the time comes, speak the truth with love.

Support and encourage your loved one with the truth of God.  But remember that speaking truth alone is not necessarily loving.  If that were the case, Paul would have no need in Ephesians 4 to exhort us to both speak the truth AND speak lovingly.  So point your friend to the character of God in loving ways.  The way you say things and the empathy you show have power to minister grace to your loved one according to Paul’s instructions on language at the end of Ephesians 4.  In times of pain, there is hope in the fact that God is sovereign and in control.  But there is also questioning and pain.  Wrestle with your loved one as they struggle with the sovereignty of God in the midst of their painful circumstances.  Don’t cop out with easy answers. 

I hope that is helpful food for thought.  I don’t claim to be an expert on this by any means, but these are ideas that have been on my mind through times of my own pain. 

At what age do you cross the line from being a swinging single with (often naive) notions of finding the man of your dreams to a world-weary veteran of singleness?

How do you find joy and peace in singleness after the death of your youthful assumptions of how your life would look at this stage?

Several women asked for teaching on these questions in the surveys from the women’s retreat at Semiahmoo this month. While a half-day teaching from a year ago won’t completely answer the burdens and concerns mentioned in the surveys, we want to highlight what is already available on this subject for those who may have missed it.

Maturity in Singleness, part 1
Deacon Amy Lockman discusses the emotional, physical and spiritual battles faced by single women who are over 30 (or close to it!) and what a biblical response to these pressures looks like.

Maturity in Singleness, part 2
Wendy Alsup, deacon of Women’s Theology, speaks on the importance of being in community with women in varying stages of life.

By Trisha Wilkerson, wife of Pastor Mike Wilkerson.

For a few years, I have talked about a woman named Margaret. She is a fictitious woman I’ve made up, trying to understand the Martha and Mary story in Luke 10. I jokingly call the blend of both Martha and Mary “Margaret,” assuming that there must be a gal that is both a hard worker and a worshiper. My tag line in the Margaret story has been: “Sure, Mary had it right–setting at the Lord’s feet listening to his teaching–but hey! JESUS had to eat!”

But I am starting to grasp that Margaret isn’t the answer. I am starting to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her.”

Martha:

All of my Christian life, I have heard about the differences between Martha and Mary. Often it is suggested that Martha is the stressed out sister concerned about tasks. She can’t relax because “there is much to be done.” Martha works hard but seems to lack the peace and worship that goes with working heartily unto the Lord. When God himself is a guest in her home she can’t even handle (more…)

The most amazing gift I received this Christmas was a hugely humbling dose of grace that God gave me through a new project that I timidly took on and saw Him work in an amazing way.

Before you read further, I have to provide a disclaimer about myself: I hate sales, selling things, and convincing someone they need something they really don’t need. I hate waste, inefficiency, and clutter. My strengths are helping people determine what they need and then go after it in the most conservative and efficient way possible.

So knowing that, you can understand why I was really resistant when my flight attendant aunt emailed me to say that she was going to send me a bunch of pashmina scarves she picked up on some recent travels would I be interested in starting a small side business and selling scarves? No way!! I cringed at the thought of meekly peddling scarves among friends and clients . despite the fact that I knew I would be offering them for such a great price half of what a quality luxury pashmina scarf costs at a high-end department store.

Ironically in the same week that I got my aunt’s email I also heard from a friend who had recently been on a mission trip to India and spent time providing free eye and dental care in the House of Hope mission compound. As I spoke with her she passionately shared about a wonderful program she learned about during her trip.

I was reduced to tears as she shared the story of dozens of women who attend a sewing micro-enterprise school in the House of Hope compound where in six months they learn the valuable skills needed to begin their own sewing. At the end of the program they are given a sewing machine and business advice and return to their village to grow their business and support themselves. She told me the personal stories of several women who had been widowed or abandoned and left to make a living by prostitution or who eventually died or were killed because they had no way of earning a living.

My heart cried for these girls (more…)