final days forum

Listening to a Superior Voice

After the Summer of Rage, incivility continues to simmer throughout the U.S. -- on vociferous talk radio, cable news, websites, tell-all books and even in some pulpits. Unfortunately, the nation can't collectively make an appointment with Dr. Phil to explore what ails it, but as individuals we can seek help.

In the film, "Madea Goes to Jail,"  Tyler Perry's Madea resists anger management when she verbally jousts with Dr. Phil and behaves as if her fury is his fault.  The exchange between the two is dead-on because many of us behave with the same ghetto-fabulousness when we wear irritation like exposed skin...And it doesn't matter what neighborhood you come from for this term to apply.

We can roll our eyes and justify our raving, but in the end, anger obscures truth and barricades peace. Think back: hasn't this been true? We sought to hear God amid the crashing noise of of our circumstances, fumed at him as the mountains of life quaked about us, but when does he most often answer us? In the stillness. The prophet Elijah learned this and was privileged to witness how God is no less magnificent when his voice is still and small.

If we want to live like children of God, does that include changing our perspective on anger? Without learning to deal with anger daily, without learning that a quieter voice repels wrath, we will look as ridiculous as the prophets of Baal in Elijah's day. They screamed, hollered, cut themselves bloody and called out to a god who never answered.

Judy Howard Ellis

Is Your Church a Good Neighbor?

Welcome, originally uploaded by alborzshawn.

Let's say your church has been in a certain neighborhood for five, 10 or 15 years. Maybe it's been there for much longer and boasts stained glass windows where long-dead members donated to forgotten building programs. Whatever the age of your church, it has become a fixture in the community, a landmark people can identify.

Your church ministry today may have a popular radio program, TV broadcast or website, but have you studied the impact of your congregation on the surrounding neighborhood? Have you met the people in the houses you rush by when you're late for Bible study? Do you wonder how many neighbors come to your nationally advertised conferences featuring well-known ministry leaders?

Like never before, the tangible impact of the local church is critical. Effective local influence ripples outward to bring national change. The Great Recession has plagued many families and their communities, but has your church worked on the front lines? Have you unwittingly settled for a tepid ministry that lacks transformational power?

As you start your week, how about praying about these questions regarding your church and its influence in the larger community:

1. Does your church offer language courses so that you can interact with people in the surrounding neighborhood?
2. Do you seek opportunities to share pulpits with congregations that are smaller or larger than yours?
3. Is your church building open 24/7 or is it limited to scheduled "ministry" programs?
4. Have you surveyed the surrounding neighborhood to learn how they view your church as a neighbor?
5. Have you used social networking tools to reach untapped populations in your community?
6. Has your church used its grounds for a community garden that helps people buy produce locally and more cheaply?
7. Has your church offered literacy-related activities for youth?
8. Have you offered free leadership and career reinvention training for the unemployed and struggling businesses?
9. Has your church encouraged members to sacrifice one Sunday meal at a restaurant and use that cash to fund a local reputable nonprofit which helps people pay utility bills or locate housing in your area?
10. Does your prayer team pray as a group about local environmental issues that affect your neighbors?
11. Who would feel uncomfortable coming to your church and why?
12. Is your church recognized for its affiliation with specific political views or for its tirelessness in carrying out the mandate of God's kingdom?

What questions would you add?

Judy Howard Ellis

This Broken Vessel Restored Blog Tour with Paulette Harper

Final Days Forum helps to kick off a blog tour for author Paulette Harper who will discuss her new book, That Was Then,This Is Now,This Broken Vessel Restored on various blog, radio and podcast sites on the Web. Paulette's "Devotional Reflections from the Bible" on "The Woman with the Alabaster Flask" is today's featured post:

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

And behold, a woman of the town who was an especially wicked sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment (perfume).

And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears; and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet [affectionately] and anointed them with the ointment (perfume). Luke 7:36-38 AMP

What a heartfelt story of redemption and gratefulness to God. As I reflected on what God has done to bring me to this point in my life, I find myself reminiscing on the state of my condition years ago. Broken, scared but restored, like this woman I had many things that needed forgiving. This beautiful woman received forgiveness from the Lord and her gratitude was shown by her anointing Christ with some costly perfume. Her attitude of thankfulness was expressed by her tears and the kissing of his feet. She affectionately kissed his feet. I believe this to mean that she was so thankful because Jesus did not reject her or even reflect on the fact of her previous lifestyle. She had much to be forgiven for, a prostitute, a lady of the night, an outcast as the Scripture described her.

This story is a true symbolism of how our attitudes must be when we approach a loving, forgiving and merciful God. This woman possessed something of great value and could have been used elsewhere, but she wanted to express her gratitude to Christ in a way only she knew how to do and with what she had in her possession. As we mediate on the state of our condition years ago, last week and even yesterday, know that God has not judged us according to our deeds but has forgiven us according to his character and nature.

What we have in our possession is our worship, praise and thankfulness to the One who would gladly receive all that we can give when it comes from a heart that has been forgiven of much. As I lay before my Father with tears rolling down my face, I was so grateful like this woman for my life that was restored and made whole through his unfailing love.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paulette Harper is an emerging Christian author making her debut with her first inspirational book, That Was Then, This Is Now, This Broken Vessel Restored, a compelling story of deception, heartache and ultimate victory. In 10 chapters she masterfully uncovers the hidden obstacles she faced as the “first lady” and how she eventually broke through those barriers.

A native of Pittsburg, CA, Paulette travels as an inspirational speaker and licensed minister teaching people how to overcome life’s unexpected experiences by delivering a strong message of hope.

Beyond her writing ability, she has a passion to lead people to a clear and precise understanding of how life challenges can become one’s ultimate source of victory by sharing solid, biblical principles that will enable people to find a way out of every trial so they can reach their God-given potential.

For more information about Paulette and her new release, visit: www.bvministry.org or watch the book trailer.

 

SHARE WITH US

In the comment section below, share a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God, for what He has done for you. We can never repay him for what he's done, but we can give him all the praise and glory.

To share your story and fellowship with others, we want to invite you to join the This Broken Vessel Restored Facebook Group.

Choose God's recovery plan

Bad news has become a constant. If you are still watching TV news, you can feel the stress of the nation. Jobless rates are soaring.  Prayer requests are piling up at church altars and online through e-mail and Twitter. The questions are real. Where is the relief when your marriage fails? What is the balm to ease worries about paying the bills? What direction do you take when your child goes "left"? How do you start over when you get laid off and you are only a few years from retirement?

In That was Then, This Is Now, This Broken Vessel Restored, author Paulette Harper offers insight about overcoming hard  times after surviving a broken marriage as a pastor's wife. She will be featured on Final Days Forum on Sunday, March 15, 2009 as part of "This Broken Vessel Restored Blog Tour."

Stop by and show Paulette some love for sharing her story with the world. Final Days Forum will post a devotional she created just for an appearance on this blog.

Here are excerpts from her new book:

"Can you imagine living in the midst of peace when others are not? When drama is present in the lives of your loved ones? When there is such disarray going on in the nations and the world? We must choose to live in this arena at all times in our lives, knowing that the Prince of Peace is living with us."


"For years I depended on man to provide what I needed in the area of finances, spiritual nourishment, and guidance. It was during my most difficult test that God began to show me that He would supply everything I needed to survive."

"I learned that my success and recovery had nothing to do with my bank account, investments, or my job; it was all centered on God manifesting who He wanted to be in my life. Provision was going to be made because of my relationship to the King. My welfare is a reflection of Him, and if I wasn't going to recover from my divorce, He wasn't going to look good. God wanted to be glorified in my life at all times."

Paulette chose God's recovery plan. She survived a painful season of life on his terms, not hers.

Judy Howard Ellis

Here is the schedule for "The Broken Vessel Restored Blog Tour" hosted by Tywebbin Creations:

Sunday, March 15th

• Paulette Harper
• Final Days Forum

Monday, March 16th

• Mari’s Morning Room
• Written Voices Podcast (podcast)
• Sister Circle Online Radio Show (7:00 pm EST)
• Black Authors Network (8:00 -10:00 pm EST)

Tuesday, March 17th

• Carla Y. Nix
• Linda Beed

Wednesday, March 18th

• The Master’s Vessel
• FIRST Wild Card Tours
• A Peek At My Bookshelf
• Loving Heart Mommy
• Laura Williams’ Musings
• A Joyful Heart Blog
• I Need to Read
• Window to My World

Thursday, March 19th

• Vanessa Richardson
• Victorious Cafe
• Inspiration Station (6:30 PM EST)

Friday, March 20th

• Dominique Watson
• Pam Perry

Saturday, March 21st

• Cookie Aisle
• Worth More Than Rubies (3:00 pm CST / 4:00 pm EST)

Rage: the new normal

Web (HDR), originally uploaded by iChaz.

Everyone is angry. It's not that anger cannot be an emotion that can move us in the right direction or right a terrible wrong. Unchecked anger is what I'm talking about.  Anger without boundaries coats our politics, flavors our school board meetings, and poses as the uninvited guest at family dinner. We are ticked. We mercilessly spew our rage at the driver who cut us off on the highway, the callers who disagree with us on our talk radio programs, and the spouse who just won't do right.

Anger throbs in the hearts of Christians who pummel with the ferocity of hell those who have abortions or choose same-sex unions. The intent may be to bring people into alignment with Scripture, but they use the fist of Satan to inspire the obedience of Jesus. Our anger curdles like sour milk and reeks of rottenness. I have wondered at my own anger and the wrath seething on television programs and throughout the blogosphere. It's like we have supped with the devil and brought home poisoned leftovers.

I don't expect those who do not know Christ to curb their rage. They need God's intervention to see truth. To expect the world to do differently than it does is like expecting Tony Soprano to actually renounce killing forever. You need a revelation from God to follow kindness, peacefulness, and love.

But I do call on the church to check the level of its rage. Not all of our anger is righteous indignation, as Christians like to declare. Much of our anger is the refuse of inner issues left untended in our lives. The Bible tells us to be angry but sin not, and we have not obeyed that instruction. The sun has gone down many times on our anger. We accommodate anger, as if it were an admirable quality, a selling point, or a competitive sport.

In the church of Jesus Christ the Lord, this should not be. Unchecked anger blinds us. Anger obscures the view of heaven and lessens its power in our lives.

Judy Howard Ellis

'The Dark Knight' & the Agent of Chaos (Part 1)

 

Trailer for "The Dark Knight" courtesy of XxjalaldevilxX

Brutal, excecuted with cinematic skill, and obscene in the violence of intimidation that it infers, the message of "The Dark Night" sobers the soul.

As critics already have raved, Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is worth an Oscar nomination. As an actor, Ledger traveled to an unseen realm to achieve a form of artistic expression that reveals the twisted, thirsty and never-satisfied place of evil.

The Joker exists with no rules, no honor. He names himself an "agent of chaos" to the grieving, angry, and maimed Harvey Dent character, skillfully played by Aaron Eckhart. Bereft of his love interest, his handsome face cruelly deformed by fire, Dent is the character that followers of Jesus should study.

On the surface, Dent seems to descend from righteous prosecutor to reckless vilgilante because of the loss of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who was killed while he survived. His descent began earlier in the film, when he could not rest because Batman (Christian Bale), had a close, and enviable, relationship with police officer Jim Gordon (Gary Oldham). Dent also delighted in the humiliation of his enemies -- the criminals he sent to jail -- an always dangerous path to tread.

By the time the Joker informs Dent that he is an agent of chaos who stirs the fears of people, the Joker doesn't seem just like the neighborhood wacko killer. His intentions are methodically satantic as he probes the inquity in Dent, along with the simmering anger, control issues, and flawed sense of justice squirming beneath the surface of the Dudley Do-Right prosecutor image.

Satan, like the Joker, wants us to settle for surface change in our lives. Surface righteousness is an open doorway for Satan to generate destruction as an agent of chaos.

More tomorrow.

Judy Howard Ellis

Links courtesy of msn.com, wikipedia.com

Speaking from the heart, not the head

Honesty flowers, originally uploaded by net_efekt.

An extraordinary spoken-word poet, Karen Thompson, once told me that I was a good writer, but as I performed, my poetry flowed from the head, not the heart. The words stung, but I got it and I'm still getting it.

Karen is the leader of the Speakout, a poetry group in Denver, and she is loving and straightforward. In simple words, she showed what we all must learn in life -- that authenticity is the golden key for genuine conversation and the currency for lasting relationships.

Her words intially were hard to hear because of the mask I cultivated as a journalist. Journalists are taught to focus on others, and to step away from themselves so as not to color a story with our opinions. This is an ethical aim when it comes to fairly conveying a fair news story, but it's a lousy way to cultivate a well-rounded life.

My natural reticence since childhood to share too much about my private life didn't help. While I don't advocate reckless sharing of inner secrets -- trusted friends are in place for that -- my church, Colorado Christian Fellowship, trained me to strive to for emotional accessibility when I interact with others. CCF, and specifically, my care group leader, the elegant-in-powerful-love Betty Rice, encouraged me to follow God's lead and go deeper, to face the hidden, broken places, the places that get patched up, but never healed. God wants better for me (and you). He wants me clear-headed, flat-footed, ready to share the truths I've learned, and armed with the force of his love and acceptance. His friendship, his cleansing, his peace, empower me to be present in every relationship, for God is never about hiding from the pain.

Thinking I knew all this because I had seen personal growth -- I was surprised, painfully so, when I did not share my heart when speaking this weekend at my girlfriend Cynthia's birthday party in Dallas. It was a milestone year for her and her husband, Leroy, did it up. He asked me to speak, along with other precious friends of hers, and I choked.

I could barely sleep that night. Memories haunted me. Cynthia walked with me during some of the darkest emotional nights of my life when I was single. She and her husband were a loving couple who knew how to befriend and encourage single people while displaying the beauty of married love in Christ Jesus. Cynthia was patient, wise. She didn't point fingers, quote cliches and condescend as the wife taking pity on the never-married woman. She tutored me for marriage. And when I did marry last year (to a powerful truth-teller, no doubt!), she was there again, supportive and excited about what God had done, just as he said would.

Why I choked at the party and failed to detail those times of sitting at her table, chattering away and eating her mushroom rice like I'd never had a meal before or eating her cinammon rolls like they were manna, still stumps me.

But I will move past it. One day I probably will write about how Cynthia mentored me to always believe the best is yet to come. One day I will write about her as the friend I love! For now, may I not neglect to practice the God-lessons Karen, Betty and CCF taught me about transparency, lest I neglect to drink fully of transparency's infinite grace.

Judy Howard Ellis

'Expelled': God, fairies, angels, and hobgoblins

God has a wonderful sense of humor.

The zany stuff in my own life is evidence enough (that's another post!),  but I think He laughs because He loves to wrap Himself in mystery, He loves the chase of hide-and-seek. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is the glory of kings to search it out" (Proverbs 25:2).

His actions are unhurried, confident, focused. He doesn't feel pressured to reveal everything right away because finite folk throw tantrums when their brain freezes from wrestling with the unanswered. Questions from the Bible may keep us up nights, but they never make Him bat an eyelash. We may squabble about where Cain's wife came from or whether the earth is old or young, but God seems to stand near us listening -- simply taken by our processing the deep things that lie within Himself.

With the debate about intelligent design, He is His most enigmatic, and, seemingly, the most amused. Scientists who never would tiptoe near a theological thought may cling to Darwin like Saran Wrap, but God is near to them. God leaves gaping questions, drops tantalizing clues and is inexplicably drawn by expressions of faith. Faith that reaches for Him, even in the darkness, unlocks His heart, if not His secrets.

In his new movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," actor Ben Stein tackles the cultural wars that have ensued in the debate about intelligent design. The satirical documentary opens tomorrow, and if the savvy trailer is an indication, this could be a quality film. The part I'm look forward to watching is Stein interviewing someone who says God is as unlikely as fairies, angels and hobgoblins to be the Creator.

Now that makes me smile.

Courtesy of Expelledthemovie on GodTube.com

Jesus + 'The Bad Seed'

Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle, as I wrote yesterday, teach principles that view Jesus as a spiritual supplement. But many Christians live out the principle of Jesus-as-supplement every day.

We may have invited Christ into our lives and now have a relationship with the Father, but our self-efforts wither the vitality of the union. We inwardly believe lies about what Christ did for us. What the crucified and risen Jesus did was incomplete, so we tack on the same nefarious Jesus+X equation:

• Jesus+my efforts to be absolutely perfect=a good relationship with God.
• Jesus+my refusal to wear makeup =a good relationship with God.
• Jesus+my snubbing those who does not know Him= a good relationship with God.
• Jesus+my church attendance=a good relationship with God.
• Jesus+my cuss-free, drug-free, illicit-sex-free efforts= a good relationship with God.

You get the point. (Even people who think they know Christ practice such as equations, but let's concentrate now on those who really do.) Christians are God's own, but this devilish thinking reeks in the eyes of God. We do not take into account God the Father's commitment to make us whole. We ignore the work of the Holy Spirit to create wholeness in us a little bit every day.

Our efforts to reach perfection without relying completely on Jesus remind me of the pigtailed girl, Rhoda Penmark, in the 1956 film,"The Bad Seed."  Her outward perfection is jewel-hard, a manifestation of a polluted heart.

("The Bad Seed," courtesy of Shasta018 on YouTube.com.)

Rhoda's corrupted heart led her to kill others. When we believe the crucified and risen Jesus is not enough, that He is only a spiritual supplement, that we do not have to surrender to God's work in us to reach His standard of perfection, we cut off ourselves from heaven's bounty. For as Paul says in Galations, the life we live in the body, we must live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

The "perfection" we seek to obtain is merely bewitchment.

More tomorrow.

Film link courtesy of www.imdb.com.

Jesus, the perfect supplement?

Jesus Christ is the must-have supplement for today's made-to-order religious practices. He is used like a healing herb or a trace mineral. Mix a tablespoon of Jesus into your daily religious smoothie and you're good to go. Jesus flavors any religion, belief system, principle or spiritual practice on earth. He is the binding agent, the innocuous role model for perfectly executed belief.

He's a very cool additive only when you peel away the messy crucifixion, that blood-as-sacrifice-for-sin stuff, His statements about being the only way to God, and that wild notion about resurrecting bodily. But for those who prefer their Jesus tame, the Jesus who taught about blood and sin is passive aggressive and His Daddy is a cosmic control freak.

For example, the crucified and risen Jesus doesn't flow with Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, author of the "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose," and other self-made faith practices today. Faith is self-actualization, consciousness and an untethered spirituality that says: We have seen god and god is us.

(Courtesy of : lsim13 from YouTube.com.)

I'm a huge fan of Oprah and the way she embraces mass media to supply forums for a variety of people, interests, and ideas. Hosting a global webcast featuring Tolle is a brilliant use of today's technology and further proof that she is a master storyteller and entrepreneur. She has her fingertips on what matters so much to so many.

But "A New Earth" and other books that turn away from the crucified and risen Christ reveal not the greatest story ever told, but the greatest lie ever believed.

Long before Oprah became a beloved media personality, she was a person with a question. Oprah herself has said that when she heard a minister talk about a "jealous" God, she was disturbed by that description. The God she knew was loving, so how could God be jealous? Her question was real. Her curiousity was normal. Did anyone in her former Baptist church share with her about what a "jealous God" meant? Did one of the "mothers of the church" put her arms around her and explain the full story about the God of All Love?

Whether they did or not, Oprah's question was left to take unruly root.

More tomorrow about this.