I love multiplication!

Well, actually math was never one of my best subjects.  I do better with words. But today, I love multiplication. Lisa, (the woman in the purple shirt), and I have been in a discipleship relationship for the last 18 months.  We have grown really close as we have walked through some tough life issues together.  I have seen the Lord lovingly work on Lisa and on me during this time and it has been an encouraging process that runs two-ways.

We finished today. I hate to see the weekly connection end (though, of course, the friendship doesn't). But since we knew this day was inevitable, I have been prompting her to begin praying for step 2 of discipleship...the one where she becomes the mentor/discipler/leading partner for someone else.

Someday, I want to share Lisa's testimony with you.  She came from a home with a father who was not her hero, to say the least.  And yet, God wooed and called and rescued her and became the Father to her that her heart  longed for.  Her road to maturity in Christ has had its challenges (in large measure due to her earthly father's weaknesses), but she is so teachable and so absolutely committed to being all that she is designed to be in Him.

So today, I wrote her an encouraging note and gave it to her along with a little gift as we sat in Starbucks.  In it, I reminded her of our prayer for the woman who would be her step 2 partner.  After she read the card, she looked up at me and said with a hint of nervousness, " I am having lunch today with Maira.  We became friends on the church mission trip. (See women in the blue shirt and hat above...) Do you think God wants me to ask her?"  

Maira has been in a couple of the women's Bible Studies that I have taught.  She has a beautiful heart to serve. Each week she would get to the morning studies early to put on the coffee.  And, she has been on several of those yearly church mission trips. During the Radical study, she confessed that though she wants to tell others about Christ, she feels at a loss about how to go about it.  I see in her a young woman with a heart to grow and reach out.  She just needs someone to come alongside her and show the way.

So my answer to Lisa's question was, "Yes! Totally!!"  Lisa invited me to come have lunch with them so as Lisa and I ended our meeting, I prayed...that Maira would be like an apple on a tree that was ready to be picked, with no tugging required.

We left Starbucks and drove to Panera Bread. (I like my office space, don't you?) I smiled as Lisa hesitantly laid out the offer and smiled even bigger when Maira responded with, "I can't think of any reason I wouldn't want to!"

Spiritual multiplication.  Yep.  I love multiplication. :)

God's Story

When I set out to write the "God's Story" portion of my personal tract, I figured it would be easy. I have plenty of resources at my disposal and after all, I know the gospel backwards and forwards. Right.  Trying to condense these glorious, eternal, and life-defining truths into 650 words is at least, daunting and at most, impossible. I guess that's why the Bible is 1200 pages, give or take. But maybe these few words will pique some interest or stir emotion in someone who is beginning to listen to the Holy Spirit's call. Certainly, I have the promise that the Scripture that is included will not return void. (Is.55:11)


Again, I invite a response from you. Is the message clear? Have I left out critical elements? I am open to suggestions. 

God's story is the backdrop to all others. 
He is the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe and He was there before it all began. The first verse in the Bible says: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

After creating the stars and planets and solar systems, the earth and seas and every creature in them, He fashioned human beings, male and female, making them in “His image.” The Bible doesn’t say exactly what that means, but to be made in God’s image apparently makes a human unique amongst all of creation with Spiritual DNA, so to speak. The world God created and the relationship he enjoyed with the first two humans was in a word, perfect.

The second chapter of God’s Story is, however, tragic.  Though People were created to enjoy the beauty, goodness, truth, and love of uninterrupted fellowship with God, humanity chose instead to go their own independent way by following self-will instead of God’s will.  As a result, fellowship with God was tragically broken.  This self-will, characterized by active rebellion or passive indifference is described in the Bible as sin and the Bible is clear: All have sinned. (Rom. 3:23)  And, sadly,  “the wages of sin is death.”  (Romans 6:23) 

*Note: Death is used in the Bible to refer to two types of separation...

• a physical death, where the soul (the spiritual part of man) separates from the body (the material part)
• and a spiritual death where man’s spirit becomes separated from God’s.

 Both are a result of sin and neither were a part of God's original design.

This broken fellowship with God, ultimately caused all of created order to become distorted. When sin and death entered the picture, beauty began decaying, goodness turned into depravity, truth became deception, and love became self-centered.

Fortunately, chapter three of God’s story brings hope to the middle of the mess created by sin.
God declared that the only way out would be through the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus Christ. To redeem means to “buy back”. It involves setting free through paying a ransom.

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, never sinned so He was not subject to the penalty of sin and subsequent death.  But, (and this is huge), He willingly paid the ransom for us through His death on the Cross.  God’s Story explains it this way, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Rom.5:6)

The height of God’s story occurred when Jesus rose from the dead three days later, proving that death had no grip on Him. (See 1 Cor. 15)  Jesus' atonement (think..."at one" ment) is God's only provision for our sin. That which kept us from being "at one" with God was removed by His sacrifice.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

When I personally chose to believe in Jesus and receive His payment for my sin, my story and God’s story aligned.
That day, I received eternal life (John 5:24), I became God’s child (John 1:12) and He made me a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Jesus’ invitation extends to you as well. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)

God’s story actually has no final chapter. 
World history as we know it will someday be complete. But God intends to fully restore His rule in the Universe when He creates a new heaven and a new earth. (See Rev. 21, 22) Incredibly, He invites you and me to enjoy Him and His new creation forever.   I am wondering…where is your story taking you?  Will it align with God’s as mine did?  I pray it will.

If you would like to interact further on this, my email address is: cyndisown@sbcglobal.net.  I would love to hear from you.

My Story

Last Sunday, a man from a ministry called International Commission spoke at our church. This ministry takes teams of people from American churches to partner with indigenous churches at locations around the world to do evangelism.  One of the tools that they give each American  is a tract with his or her personal testimony translated onto the front of the tract with the gospel on the inside in both English and the countries' native language. Each team member is trained to share his testimony as well as the gospel using the tract.

As he was speaking, my wheels were turning.  Hmmm. A personal tract....

I help each of the women I disciple to write out their testimony, but honestly, I wonder if they ever really get the chance to share it, at least, in the one page type written form I have them write it in. What if instead, I helped them produce a personal story booklet that would include their testimony in the front and the gospel in the back?  The two parts could be titled "My Story" and "God's Story".

I could think of lots of places where they could leave that with someone...a new neighbor, a hairdresser, a dog-sitter, a flute teacher, the McDonald's or Starbucks employee who serves them every week, a waitress, a bank teller, a band parent, the lady at the gas station convenience store, the dishwasher repairman, the insurance salesman, or just about anyone they have short conversation with.

They could say something like this: "This is my story followed by what I call 'God's story'. I think it's interesting how the two have intersected. Would you take a minute to read it sometime?  I would love your feedback. My email address is on the back..."

I decided to get the ball rolling by working on putting my own testimony into booklet form. Below is a first pass at my story.  And I really would love your feedback! (Next blog, I will share the God story portion of the booklet.)

By most standards, I had a great home growing up. My parents were loving providers. But life still had its challenges. I was a middle child with a very smart older sister who graduated at the top of her class, and a very athletic younger brother who gained a full ride scholarship to Michigan State as a baseball pitcher. I remember craving the approval that I saw my siblings receive and I wondered where I could find it. I went off to college in search of that answer.

One day, at the beginning of my freshman year, I was sitting in my dorm drawing a self-portrait for fun. Someone I hardly knew walked by and commented, “You ought to be an art major!” I impulsively decided that maybe I could find the approval I craved in the arts. As it turned out, I did seem to have a bent for artistic creativity and, occasionally, I found the affirmation I was yearning for. But every new art class put me smack dab in the middle of 30 other students who were vying for the same affirmation and I still had the sense that I just wasn't good enough.

When my professors or fellow students didn’t admire my artwork enough, I began to look for affirmation through a string of relationships. One guy after the other seemed to be telling me he approved…at least until I did something he didn’t approve of.

During the spring of my junior year, a friend, named Jane, invited me to a week-long conference for Christian students held in Dallas, Texas. I hesitated. I was raised in a Christian home with a strong sense of right and wrong and I felt pretty guilty about the way I had been living. I didn’t want a bunch of Christians making me feel worse about myself with their judgmental attitudes. Surely, they wouldn’t approve of me either. But, I decided to go, mostly out of curiosity but also with a small voice in my heart that said perhaps the acceptance I kept chasing just might be found through God.

While at the conference, I began to meet lots of students who seemed totally free to love God and to love me without shame or hesitation. I was immediately drawn to them. And the speakers kept talking about how Jesus was God in the flesh who had come to earth to demonstrate His great love for all people—no matter what they had or hadn’t done in life. I remember feeling wave after wave of warm and unconditional approval from God and from the others who were there in Dallas with me.

On the last night, we were asked to make a commitment to wholeheartedly follow this Jesus wherever He would lead us, saying what He would have us say, doing what He would have us do. Granted, I was swept up in the emotion of the night, but I decided to make that commitment to this God who was holding out His hands in compassionate acceptance of me.

That night’s commitment was tested from day one. I had to go back home and break up with the latest of my temporary boyfriends for starters, but I was beginning to see that God had a different plan for my life. His plan was not based on how I looked or how talented I was or whether I was good enough to gain someone’s approval. His direction for my life flowed from His love and acceptance of me just the way I was. And I made the exciting discovery that it is so much more fulfilling to live to satisfy someone who already approves of me.

I was faced with a choice many years ago at that conference and I chose to follow the God who tells me in no uncertain terms that He values me exactly as I am. And there is so much freedom in knowing that.

Not soon forgetting...

Take a look at this vintage photo! It was taken at a wedding in the 1980's. Carl, me, mom, dad, my sister-in-law Sandie, and my brother, Steve.  Notice anything odd?  How could you not notice.  Steve is, um, tall.

Krisi sent this into awkwardfamilyphotos.com where it was published a few months ago. We all got a good laugh at Steve's expense.  Sometimes I forget how tall Steve is, until I see a photo of him like this.  Today, I am praising God that I have the privilege of referring to him in the present tense. Just last Wednesday, he was seconds and a heartbeat or two from death.

A few days earlier, he had called his doctor concerning what was most likely a bladder infection. Since it was right before the weekend, he was given an antibiotic and told to come in the following Wednesday to get it checked out.  Normally, Wednesdays are Steve's day off and he is home alone doing paperwork.  Instead, after going to the gym to exercise, he drove to his appointment. When he got there, he was ushered into an examination room.  The nurse took his vital signs and left with the usual promise: "The doctor will be right in." She closed the door behind her.

Normally, Steve leaves the door closed. Instead, inexplicably, he got up and opened the door.  And that is the last thing he remembers. In the next moment he suffered a major heart attack. His heart just stopped. And, unless his heart had been restarted in about 90 seconds or less, he would have died.

The nurse heard something in his room (because he had left the door opened) and told the doctor he might want to check on Steve. His doctor found him collapsed on the table and immediately got him on the floor to start CPR.  He called for defibrillator paddles and told the nurse to call 911.  Because of his quick thinking (and the absolute sovereignty of God), the doctor was able to restart Steve's heart and get him to the hospital where they put a stent into his blocked artery.  The next thing Steve remembers is waking up in the recovery room and wondering how he had gotten there!

I didn't even find out about it until he was in the cardiac ICU post-surgery and by that time his prognosis was  good.  Even so, I couldn't help thinking of all the "what if's".  What if...Steve had been driving when it happened, or he had been home alone, or what if he hadn't had a bladder infection?  What if the doctor hadn't come into the room in time, or had a defibrillator or knew how to use it properly...what if Steve wasn't here anymore???

Steve is home now taking a few days off to rest and Sandie is loving being with him.  She said she woke up last night and heard him snoring and thought, "What a beautiful sound!"  (Your perspective on life sure changes when something like this happens, right?) In any case, we are all marveling at the kindness and grace of the Lord.

Psalm 106:7-8 says that the Israelite's "soon forgot His many acts of kindness to them...even so, He saved them..." My prayer for our family is that none of us soon forget!!

Radical Experiment

Last year, I taught from David Platt's book, Radical. 3 times. In it, David challenges the readers to take part in a Radical Experiment.  For one year, we are asked to read through the entire Bible, pray for the entire World,  commit to a small group of like-minded believers, spend 2% of the year ministering in another context, and give specifically and sacrificially to some Kingdom work.

You would think after teaching it 3 times, I would be all in. However, in all honesty, I hesitated making the commitment because commitments require, well...commitment! And, commitments mean consistency and sacrifice and hard work. Not that I am opposed to these things, mind you, but my life is already full of them and it seemed to me that I might just get myself "over-committed". But as the Lord prompted me and I evaluated all the other things that pull on my mind and heart and schedule, I realized I could let other things go, but this was, after all, what I am all about.

Soooo, Carl and I decided to take the plunge last December by sending out a request to a bunch of people we thought might be interested in joining us in our home on Sunday nights for a Radical Experiment Bible Study.  In 2012, we are reading the Bible through chronologically during the week and coming together to discuss it on Sunday.  We also spend a portion of the evening praying  for specific countries of the world as a part of the experiment. Our plan is to add some outreach times and targeted giving as well.

Guess what? I am loving it.  The people God has brought into our home each week are ministering the socks off of both me and Carl. So much wisdom, insight, and laughter. Yes, we missed the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards and I feel the need to keep the house a little cleaner on the weekends, but it is so worth the investment.

Cookie lessons...

Have you ever made a batch of chocolate chip cookies forgetting to add a tiny bit of salt? It seems like such a small thing compared to the rest of the ingredients.  But a pinch of salt brings out the flavor of the cookie.  It tastes even sweeter somehow.

My daughter, Krisi, and I must have been hungry when we were brainstorming a name for this blog, but sweet and salty made sense.  I am in ministry with Priority Associates of Cru Global (Campus Crusade for Christ).  I work as a teacher/mentor/Christian life coach. I love it. I get to spend my time sharing the truth, the "sweetness" of God's word with women who are hungry for it.

And, as a Christ follower, I have been called to be the salt of the earth. In other words, I have the opportunity and privilege of enhancing the truth of God's Word by living it out, day by day.  When I teach what God's Word has to say about prayer, the Spirit-filled life, or rejoicing in suffering, for instance, I add flavor to that truth when others observe it demonstrated in my life.

Sweet and Salty. A pretty good summary of my ministry with Priority Associates. And a pretty good summary of what I want to be recording here in the days ahead; sometimes, how God is instructing me through His Word; sometimes how He is empowering me to live it out.