final days forum

Memo from the 'Man In The Mirror'

Today I am heartbroken to learn about Michael Jackson's death. I'm not a rabid celebrity tracker, but  I remember the boy with the earth-stomping voice who made me giggle and squeal as a girl. (And often as a grown woman too!)

The man Michael Jackson confounded me at times, but his musical artistry was always there, a potent, unmistakable gift. But Michael's unexpected death sends a sober message: What God gives as a gift, release it and work it for the kingdom.

I feel like there was more for Michael to give to the world, despite the disturbing allegations of child abuse and the reports of his unorthodox behavior. But he's gone now, and his life, which will be examined for years to come, will continue to remind me of the explosive and influential  nature of God's gifts.

"You Are Not Alone," "Got To Be There" and "Man In The Mirror" may have hit the pop charts and made my dancing toes curl, but these songs reflect bits of the expansive love God has for us. It may not fit a religious paradigm to say that, but yes, God's love song can be discerned in the lyrics and melodies of Billboard hits. God just has it like that!

But like any public figure with an exceptional gift, we, too, can be thwarted from fulfilling our life purpose. Our personal issues can block us. We can be unforgiving, we can live for years estranged from family and friends, we can clothe ourselves with grudges, we can choose victimization instead of recovery from setbacks, we can be more at ease with our past accomplishments than in the courageous pursuit of new ones, we can wither away in the spirit of complaint, and we can look for God in all of the wrong places.

Ah, but if we would live life with the end in view! Death's touch is sudden and irreversible. Didn't you feel the pain of that today? The King of Pop's voice is silent and we will not hear him deliver that "Michael-whoop" or watch him dreamily moonwalk again.

As people around Texas and the country gather to memorialize Michael's trail-blazing music, may we remember that God's passion for us is not that we finish a life and earn a public postscript. The One who made us for himself  and not for ourselves wants us to finish well -- and that means doing all he created us to be.

Judy Howard Ellis

Will the recession steal your creativity?

This recession is sneaky.

Not content to rob the country financially, this recession aims to nab our creativity. The gift of our ingenuity is the real prize this recession season seeks. The media reports about the lingering misery of the nation's financial loss, but the news shrouds the most lethal weapon -- the underlying lie that we can't get beyond this recession.

Chaos always attempts to trample the resilient order within human beings, that part of us that says: "Wait a minute! The last time I faced this, it actually turned out OK..." or "Whoa! Remember how I actually achieved more after I lost so much?"

When we give up, when we freeze in place because of chronic problems and overwhelming odds, chaos wins.

If you're out of work, you have time to think. If you want to quit a job you're clinging to because it keeps the lights on and that's about it, take time to think. Great minds seize the freedom to conceive dreams and visions and hopes even when their lives are constrained.  Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich  about a Soviet labor camp touched me when I read it in high school because of the gritty survival it depicted. And I'm still amazed by Paul, who wrote inspired words to his friends in Philippi while under what traditional scholarship says was captivity in Rome.

I have not faced a Soviet labor camp or house arrest, but stories like these and the recession itself have taught me this: Chaos may limit circumstances, but chaos can't capture my spirit unless I submit to it.

Because of this recession, much has been lost, but much more is to be gained. The American Express card may be gone, but because of creative thinking during this recession, you may reach the Dave Ramsey sweet spot where you resist all plastic. The house may be gone, but its loss may drive you to build a business that builds you a new one, not to mention houses for others.

What we do now, what we create when we fight worry with work, what we reinvent ourselves to be despite the financial ashes -- will determine how luminously we emerge when this sly recession passes.

Judy Howard Ellis

Photo: Russian writer and Nobel prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn looks out from a train, in Vladivostok, summer 1994, before departing on a journey across Russia. Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after nearly 20 years in exile. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev

From 'Manna for Mamma': Walk in 'uncomfortable faith'

Need inspiration during hard times? Do you have a spiritual hunger you cannot fill? Are you at a painful crossroads? Manna for Mamma: Wisdom for Women in the Wilderness may serve as an an encouragement for you.  Final Days Forum is featuring this book as part of the Summer Reading with Anointed Authors Blog Tour by Tywebbin Creations. 

Author Dr. Vivi Monroe Congress'  book "links the similarities between the Israelites’ journey from captivity in Egypt toward freedom in the Promised Land of Canaan, and the 10 most common experiences women face today during their personal pilgrimage," according to Tywebbin Creations. The wilderness journey is always a wonderful illustration to use to understand our journey with God. Like the Israelites, sometimes we "get" what God is doing, and sometimes, unfortunately, we don't.

This book by this Dallas-based author and columnist "responds to the wilderness conditions in a woman’s life by revealing that Jesus is her manna, available to both sustain and deliver her. Manna for Mamma will inspire women to move in the direction of his promises for her life, already fulfilled and awaiting her arrival," according to Tywebbin Creations. The 10 experiences Dr. Monroe Congress details in her book regarding women include:

• Beauty and Aging
• Dating and Marriage
• Education
• Employment and Finances
• Illness and Death
• The Missing Man
• Parenting
• Position
• Religion
• Self-Esteem

I like this excerpt from the book:

"There is never any benefit to traveling or making decisions apart from God's wisdom. Venturing off from God will only lead to discipline through which He seeks to return us back to the right relationship with Him. Your human insight cannot even fathom, let alone see, what God has in store for your life. The gulf between the way we think and see things and how God sees them is comparable to the distance between heaven and earth. You cannot plan your own life, but you can be a willing vessel by allowing God to demonstrate His power through your wilderness."

And this:

"I offer that any woman who accepts the manna -- the bread from heaven's kitchen-- for herself and her household, confirms by that single action that she is operating in uncomfortable faith and has learned to depend on Him to meet all of her needs. Not only will she pass God's test of faithfulness with flying colors, but she will have earned the right to expect Him to deliver and restore her and to move her from glory to glory in Him."

Uncomfortable faith. What a description! From the human point of view, dependence upon God is so impractical.  Who wants to wait for heavenly supply -- manna -- when sometimes those deliveries don't always arrive just at the moment we want them? But when we walk in uncomfortable faith, we get a glimpse of the Big Picture from God's point of view. And as we allow God to reshape our perspective, his viewpoint becomes all that matters.

Judy Howard Ellis

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Vivi Monroe Congress, D.Min. is the founder of The Grand Prairie African American AUTHOR SHOWCASE and a trademarked columnist, The Voice of Inspiration™.

She has earned and Masters and Doctor of Ministry in Christian Counseling and as a self-proclaimed Literary Servant, her works include: The Bankrupt Spirit: Principles for Turning Setbacks Into Comebacks, The McMillon Family Cookbook: Something to Shout About! and  Manna for Mamma: Wisdom for Women in the Wilderness.

She lives in Dallas, TX with her family. To learn more about this author, please visit her website: www.DrViviMonroeCongress.com. 

A church unafraid of a 'pagan' world

Daniel's Answer to the King by Briton Rivière, R.A.

It is abundantly clear that not everyone in America, let alone the planet, upholds the Bible as a constant, self-evident truth. Not everyone believes what Jesus the Christ said about himself, that he was born to die, that he died to live again, and that he is the son of God.

Being a Christian has always been a spiritual choice that goes against culture. The Christ-based life is counter intuitive because it rests on claims that are first grasped by faith. So why are followers of Jesus surprised when the world rejects him? Why do we feel defensive when the culture doesn't get our God? Or us?

Jesus didn't fear the world and described it as the workplace for his followers. He lived under a Roman regime that was as worldly as they come, but fearlessly, and incessantly, Jesus talked about doing his Father's work. He spoke of his return to earth and his kingdom, despite what was happening in the Roman empire. 

So why did GOP leader Newt Gingrich on Saturday at the Rock Church in Virginia Beach, Va. during the "Rediscovering God in America"  state the obvious? Gingrich is quoted as saying:  "I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history,"  he said. "We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism."

The times are critical, but Gingrich's statement sounds like fear-based politics dusted with religion rather than an authentic display of Bible-based strength. Why should Christians feel defenseless and backed into a corner? Again, the world is our workplace! Daniel didn't get the heebie jeebies when he was in the service of a "pagan" government. He wasn't even distraught by a den of lions! The God Daniel served, though unseen, was bigger and badder. Daniel was a skilled leader in a world that did not worship as he chose.  He didn't run away from that fact. He understood that God possessed all authority. Do we view God that way?

A world with lots of "un-biblical" things happening 24-7 is the world to which God has called every believer. We are not submitting to his eternal purposes by whipping up fear about the people God has called us to serve. Jesus did not live in isolation and he is not directing us to live ensconced in a subculture of only Christian music and neighbors who sport a fish on the back of their Honda.

If we are not stretched by the challenge of serving in the world, if we do not venture beyond our mega-sanctuaries, how will we experience how powerful the Almighty actually is? How will the world?

Judy Howard Ellis

 

Get your read on for summer!

 If you want to meet some great Christian authors and get your summer reading list started, follow the Anointed Authors on Tour, starting on Monday and ending on June 12.

Final Days Forum will feature Dr. Vivi Monroe Congress on June 10. She is the author of several books, including Manna for Mamma: Wisdom for Women in the Wilderness. Dr. Congress lives in Dallas, Texas. You can visit her website:  www.DrViviMonroeCongress.com. 

 The Anointed Authors on Tour consists of seven award-winning, bestselling authors of Christian fiction and non-fiction publications with a commitment to write and/or publish integrity-based literature, touring as a testament to the power of using gifts and talents for God's glory.

Over the next two weeks, plan to meet Kendra Norman Bellamy, Tia McCollors, Vanessa Miller, Michelle Stimpson, Shewanda Riley, along with Dr. Congress. Each of these authors have current and upcoming book releases that are must-reads for your summer reading list!

What Would Jesus Wear?

Our Lady Immaculate and St  Philip Neri Catholic Church in Uckfield in East Sussex, England this week revealed a new sculpture of Jesus. Sculptor Marcus Cornish fashioned a 21st century image of Jesus -- with mustache, beard, short-sleeve shirt, and a hip pair of baggy jeans. The jeans are not a loin-hugging, Abercrombie and Fitch version but they look like those of a contemporary man. The sculpture's only "fashion" elements that are remotely familiar to traditional depictions of Christ are a halo and bare feet.

Ah, a Jesus for today. Basic Galilean wear might work among money changers and fishermen, but they apparently aren't a fit for a world shaken by a crippling recession, global warming, widespread famine, wars and rumor of wars.

Fashionistas everywhere might be celebrating the Jesus makeover, but Father David Buckley gave a serious reason why Our Lady Immaculate wanted the sculpture. He told the Telegraph: "You are always looking for new ways to enrich people in the experience of Christianity and it is good people can be open-minded to appreciate it," he said.

"On the continent you often encounter modern representations of Jesus but it is not so common over here. We wanted a figure of Christ not in suffering but dynamic and welcoming.

"We felt this design summed up the spirit and activity of Christ perfectly and I think it speaks for itself."

The sculpture is intriguing and is a bold shift from traditional images of Jesus. And Father Buckley has a point; the Jesus of biblical stories is a figure who makes himself accessible to people from every station of life. But is a sculpture the primary way to convey the accessibility and power of Jesus' love?

The image may annoy Christians who think it belittles Jesus, but how will it affect those who can take Christ or leave him? Art is a powerful vehicle to share meaning, but will those who view the sculpture heed or miss the message of Jesus?

Art is one facet of an overall effort by any church to share the truths about Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection. But a sculpture can't ensure that a family has a place to sleep when they lose their house to foreclosure or kiss the brow of someone in hospice care.

Those who sincerely love and follow in Jesus' steps can do that. The fashionistas are only good for the runway.

Judy Howard Ellis

Why churches should join forces

Wolfville Baptist Church in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the oldest continuing Baptist church in Canada. Photo by Bill Porter

What if neighborhood churches attempted real, stand-up-and-mean-something collaboration? Like sharing office space or the resources of a benevolence ministry? Maybe one sacrificial church can point a donor toward a needy congregation instead of swelling its own coffers. Others could share administrative staff, pricey computer software or a production studio. Three or four could start a credit union and host job fairs and offer career counseling.  Another team of churches could collectively provide temporary housing for people who've lost their homes.

Certainly this kind of cooperation is happening, but what if local churches made this kind of community-focused work the high-profile norm?

Call me an idealist; I accept the charge. Churches often operate in mini-spheres of particular doctrines, administrative structures and purposes. Fifty zillion bureaucratic, legal, business and cultural reasons argue nonstop against cooperation, but if a congregation claims the name of Christ and no other -- they are his. We will be held accountable for how we treat the sheep and shepherds of God's earthly pastures, even if we say:

"We were unequally yoked theologically. Not about Jesus. Just other stuff."

"They allow women to preach."

"That church is in a bad neighborhood." 

"That church is not like us."

"They speak in tongues."

"They don't speak in tongues."

"Their choir doesn't sing our kind of music."

"They can't be saved. They don't vote the same way we do."

"We can't work with that pastor. He's arrogant."

"We've got our own faithful tithers. Let them get their own."

Beyond steering clear of spiritual leaders and congregations corrupted by greed and other sins, and definitely beyond linking arms with leaders who are sketchy about who Jesus Christ is -- where authentic agreement about Christ emerges, ample opportunity exists to express cooperation laced with supernatural power.

The church is as effective as we are loving. People who do not share our convictions can sniff out phony affection like rain before a Texas storm. Unexpected and undeserved grace grabs their attention -- without a single placard raised in protest or one sarcastic segment on talk radio.

Judy Howard Ellis