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Social Justice Goodness Exposed
When it comes to helping the poor, how often does doing-good result in tangible, long-term good? Rarely, according to Laura Seay, a professor at Morehouse College. In the July/August 2013 issue of Fast Company magazine, Seay describes a phenomenon of goods-giving (known as dumping) to impoverished communities as “just treating one symptom of a much deeper problem, and treating symptoms is not a cure.” In reference to Tom’s Shoes, which donates a pair of shoes for every pair sold, she says, “The shoe seller goes out of business. He can’t send his kids to school.” In strange fact, Tom’s Shoe disbursements haven’t been as damaging as expected to local economies…
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2013 Graduates: You CAN Trust God
Your future is pulling you into new directions You feel the joy and stress of things not known The where, the when, the who, the whats? So many questions! And all that you’ve learned in its varying importance Registers one thing supreme above all: God’s plan for you through Christ Is safe in His hands and way beyond human control. He leads, you follow, like a lamb imperfect. You’ve been grafted onto His vine eternal and can trust that fruit in its season will come. You can rest in His promise that as your roots dig into the land, He is faithful. He promises, “Abide in Me, let…
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Carjacked by Fear and Shame, Part 2
It is my great pleasure to welcome guest blogger, Elizabeth Pierce, to Tree Thoughts. Elizabeth recently joined my favorite online community, Your Writer’s Group, and has blessed us with her wisdom, gentleness and humility. I’ve asked Elizabeth to share with us her thoughts about Christian Rest as Part 2 of “Carjacked by Fear and Shame” because rest is the natural and normal state for every Christian. Binsey Christian Rest by Elizabeth Pierce “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28 (NIV) We live in such a fast paced society, where the goal is to be quick, efficient, effective, productive and accomplished. When we are immersed in this kind of society,…
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Carjacked by Shame and Fear, Part 1
Once we are in Christ, shame and fear remain the two most powerful, tyrannical drivers to action. They come, they push you into the passenger seat and they drive you to a dry place. But you know what breaks my heart dear Beloved? It’s that these two carjackers, shame and fear, are often used against God’s Beloved by God’s beloved. May I suggest some ways to identify the carjackers of shame and fear? 1. Examine closely how the sermon, book, song, etc., makes you feel in Christ. 2. Do you feel an inward sense or urge to do something in order to gain God’s favor or acceptance? 3. In the doing of the work or…
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Seasons of Growth: Honor the Process
We don’t honor the abiding process Impatient to be important We choose to winter in ego Frozen in shame-driven self-promotion Instead of thawing into the flow of let-go Abiding is resting into the process Of living inside the vine Trusting God’s sacred goals Of sacrifice for others Fruit in its season, life for another
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Shelter-In-Place Faith
Homeland Security uses an interesting instruction to citizens when their region has a developing and dangerous situation: “Shelter-In-Place” I like this term, a lot. It suggests a faith-filled waiting–the perfect life-code for those who follow Christ. “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart.” Psalm 27 “THE expression, “Wait on the Lord,” does not mean so much a rendering of service to the Lord, as a waiting for the Lord, a waiting before Him, to see what is His will for us. We do not understand that it has the thought of ministering to the Lord, as a servant would wait on his master,…
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Our True Fortress Is Not Ourselves
Truly my soul finds rest in God; My salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2
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Being Salt and Light Without Guilt
Have you ever experienced a sigh of shame when you hear or read Christ’s words about salt and light? “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that…
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The Baptism of Water
If I asked you, “What are we washing off with the Baptism of water? What had been added to us that needed to be washed away?” You would answer correctly, “What was added in the garden! The deadly knowledge of good and evil!” Yes. We’d all agree, evil must be washed away. But can I ask you to consider that the knowledge of good must also be washed away? John the Baptist cried to the so-called goodness experts, “And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax…
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Social Justice Burnout
In 1986 I was 26 and very busy serving the needs of the teen moms in our rural county. This younger me, the one sure of the answers, the one full of confidence and the one who possessed a small bit of talent had founded Bethesda Pregnancy Services and I was proud–of myself. My calling, as I called it, had begun much earlier when I gave my first ever impromptu speech as a high school freshman. My impromptu subject? Abortion. I had just five minutes to prepare but I knew exactly what I would say because I’d been pondering the abortion debate from a young person’s perspective. I mounted the…
