30 of 90

    You may have noticed I have posted 1/3 of our 90 day study and they are not coming in daily. Two reasons: I try to complete my personal study first and some days that is all I manage to get done. Secondly, the topics have been a little more challenging than I expected. I have spent several days praying over some of the topics before I can manage to type up a post. I hope you are finding the breaks acceptable and taking advantage of those times to catch up on any of the study you have missed. Hopefully the more laid back approach is also helpful for those joining the study late.
   I appreciate all the comments I have gotten on facebook and through emails. Feel free to add your comments to the blog as well. You may comment on any of the posts and your comments should appear on our comments updates board. I would be more than happy to generate a discussion on the blog for any related topics on recent or past posts.
   Study posts will always begin with the Day of the Study and the title: Such as Day Thirty: How Do I Know I Can Trust You? You should be able to do a blog search on any day that you need. For example, "Day Thirty." There are also links under the study guide for the corresponding study book and bible readings. Other posts will be interlaced as Riders For Christ gets up and running as well as other posts of interests to Riders for Christ and Friends of R4C Ranch.
  I have began "My Riding Journal" on http://riders4c.blogspot.com/ for anyone interested in following along on our journey to Grand Prix!

Day Thirty: How Do I Know I Can Trust You?

Hearing Whispers In the Rain

     There is nothing more frustrating than hearing, "I'm sorry," and then having the same infraction repeated over and over again. How many times do you respond, "You're forgiven," and trust that person not to hurt you again in the same way? Maybe the first time, maybe even the second time but by the third time you are probably starting to wonder if you can trust them. After awhile you are probably questioning the very sincerity of thier apology. Ever felt like someone was just playing a game with you and the apology was just to save themselves the pain of suffering the consequences of their actions.
    It took a few  years of raising four kids to realize that letting a child off the hook for infractions because they were good at apologizing was not enough. One day I lined them up and explained, "if there is an infraction someone will pay the consequence. I will do my best to pick the guilty party, sometimes I may not be right but no infraction will go unpaid." It was amazing how quickly things turned around. An apology without an action to make up for it is empty. No empty apologies accepted, thanks anyway.
    "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel (Phil 1:27)."
    It is difficult to "contend as one" when you don't trust the one you are contending with. Do you know others who claim to be Christians but you find it difficult to 'stand firm together with them in one spirit'? Do you ask yourself, "How do I know I can trust you?" I can imagine that John had a real difficult time believing Paul was a  true Christian. Paul, as Saul before his conversion, murdered Christians and now he claimed to be one. If it was me, I'd have a hard time not thinking Paul was a hypocrite just trying to get into the inner circle of disciples to kill them.
   To stand in one spirit, do you have to trust the spirit you are standing with? How do you know you can trust another's spirit? This is obviously a question of the ages. Ultimately our trust is not in man but in God alone, however, we are called to be discerning and to hold believers accountable. As an apology without action is shallow and empty, so is a spirit without fruit. You are called to be discerning without being judgemental. That is done by examing "the fruit of the spirit that is love, joy, patience, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, gentleness, peace, and self-control."
   When John was called to stand one in spirit with Paul, how could he have known that Paul was not a hypocrite trying to get close to the disciples to harm them? I hope we will explore more about this as we study John's reaction to Paul's testimony but my current thoughts are that he would examine the fruit of Paul's newly confessed faith. Is there evidence of the fruit of the spirit since his claim of conversion?
    What would an examination of your claims of faith reveal?

Day Twenty-Nine: No! No! No!

     "The awesomeness of God's answerless presence." I love this line Beth uses to help us understand the times when God acts differently than we expect or had hoped. Maybe someone you love died of an illness you'd been praying for God to heal, maybe you learn of another war, or see images of a town devasted by a natural disaster. Why is God allowing such things to happen in the world? Sometimes we just don't have the answers.

You knit me together
in my mother's womb

     When I first became a born-again Christian, I sought after God intellectually. I did discover some amazing scientific facts that supported the claims for Christ and even many events that the bible shares. I took a course called the Alpha course which ran scripture proofs though the tests of time. If you every wonder about the proofs for scripture read, "The Case for Christ" written by an atheist attorney whose attempt to prove his own beliefs convinced himself Jesus was the Messiah.

     I was excited that God was willing to show me all the proof I needed that Jesus was the Risen One before I made any committment to follow. 

However, it was the unanswered question that sealed the deal. After Columbine I was angry at God for Rachel's tears. I didn't know Jesus and I wasn't too thrilled with hanging out in church if this was how God treated believers. When evening worship didn't answer my questions about the tragedy at Columbine, I decided to wash my hands of it and got up to walk out. My husband followed me to the lobby and said, "Do you want to get dessert somewhere?" 

     Yea," I replied, "there is nothing left for me here." 

     I stopped at the front doors and peered out into the parking and God's presence engulfed me and I couldn't leave.

     "Or did  you want to go back in?" my husband asked. "I'll take you to Perkins or we can back in whatever you want to do." 

You are my portion, everything
I need is in You



   Angrily I turned away from the doors, brushing past him, I said, "I can't leave." God had given me a choice that night, with him or without him. I got no answers about Columbine other than the knowing that God was sovereign and even though I couldn't intellectualize what was going on in his allowing that tradegy, He did. God didn't cause the tradegy, he just didn't stop it for reasons beyond our comprehension. But He knew the hurts and tears and thoughts of every person that tragedy involved or touched through it. The Holy Spirit greived with us. 

   It is during these times, when God offers no answers that we can sometimes feel his Presence the most. I saw the wonderful testimonies that Rachel's tears did to restore the faith of many of our youth just like Rachel had said she was called to do in her notebook. Like Beth Moore so eloquently put it, in the end "we crave far more than explanations the unshakable conviciton that He is utterly, supremely God."

Day Twenty-Eight: Do I know you?



For You are our Peace

        Christians are often stereotyped with the idea that if you do not believe the same as them then they want to send you to hell. This may have started with the idea that James and John presented to Jesus about the Samarians. They wanted to call fire down from heaven due to a small infraction. But Jesus had other plans, he arranged for John to be an ambassador to the Samarians. And this is the part that non-beleivers don't understand about Christians: we are being tested in our faith and God is leading us to overcome our prejudices and love the people he loves especially those that could easily be our enemies.
      As a Christian, it is easy to walk our your faith among those who agree with you, but walking out your faith among those who don't believe is a bit more of a challenge. Walking out your faith among those who want to challenge your faith or even attack you for your faith, that is what Christians are called to do. Not to convert others, that is the work of the Holy Spirit, but rather to grow you in your faith and discipleship and go our and share God's love through Christ.
     It doesn't take long to know who shares your faith and who doesn't, even among those who claim to be Christians but don't back up their beliefs with their actions. Not saying that we all back up our claims with action 100% of the time. However, some say they believe Christ died for them but clearly their lives do not show any signs of change. You can't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit without seeing some kind of change from your unbeleiving life. It is a constant journey to grow in your faith and become more like Christ in every part of your life. If nothing is changing, then it begs the question of who or what you are following.
     Relationships and relations are some of the most difficult challenges God gives us. How do we deal with people who don't think like us? Who don't believe what we beleive? And even those who attack the beliefs we hold most precious? Curiously those who don't beleive in Jesus have the same questions. Why do you think the topic of tolerance comes up over and over and over? Its like the world is shouting out "Why can't we all just get along? Why can't we all just have it our own way?" The answer is simple no matter what you believe: You can't beleive you are right and at the same time beleive someone who believe some thing that contradicts with that is right, too. But you can appreciate their search for the truth and believe in the promises of Christ who says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Seek me and  you will find me." That promise is for everyone no matter what they believe right now!

Day Twenty-Seven: Muzzles into Megaphones



Offer the Living Water

      I often think back on the time when my daughter brought back a children's picture bible from the playground in our apartment complex. She was so excited that a group was meeting there and they gave her a free book. I on the other hand was upset that someone was trying to indoctrinate my daughter into their religious beliefs without my permission. What was I afraid of? Looking back I think I was more afraid of not knowing, whole heartedly what I truly believed so that I could pass it along to her.
      The day I became assured of my faith I was no longer afraid of the beliefs of others. No longer was it my belief I was proselytizing but now it was the Truth I was walking out. Interesting that our passage reading for today talks both about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and about preaching the good news. How do you know when to keep quiet and when to share your testimony without the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
     Have you ever called someone up and never gotten a chance to tell them why you called? Maybe they are so excited to hear your voice that they begin sharing their own good news with you and forget you called them. You wait for a good moment to "change the subject" but the opportunity never comes. You don't want to interupt so you just listen. Eventually you get a break, "I almost forgot the reason I called was..."
     Sharing the good news is not about preaching but rather sharing what you believe to be true. People do this all day. I listen to what people beleive all day. So there is usually an opportunity to at least throw in my two cents worth of what I beleive. I know it's worth a lot more than two cents but I don't often get more than a few sound bites. I love it when those sound bites come inspired by the Holy Spirit.
    When you share your testimony about Christ you may get a few questions thrown at you? Some questions  are genuine questions but others are only meant to trip you up in an attempt to make you look foolish for what you believe. Other responses may be more aggressive such as harrassment or chastisement.
    It is amazing that the same patterns of Christian persecution keep coming back around. Interesting when almost every other religion is tolerated but there appears to be an intolerance for the Christian faith. What are they afraid of? When it seems doors are closing and people are careful when and how to share their faith, God opens doors of opportunity to reach out to the hurting with testimonies of your faith. Even in countries where Christians are being killed for their beleif in Christ, God is opening doors of opportunity to reach out to the lost who need him.
   Do you feel like you can practice your faith fully unafraid of persecution?  Has God used that to open up doors of opportunity for you to share your faith with others?