Dee2rites Blog

Tag: Witnessing

  • Sadie and Bethany

    “Therefore…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

    In these strange times where the national news is dominated with stories of terrorists threats of violence and even their beheading of Christians; fears of a deadly virus spreading, and other unsettling news, it is refreshing to see on television young women doing what they do in the grace and beauty of their Christian lives and witnesses.
    Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Sadie Robertson and Bethany Hamilton are doing just that in what could be considered an unusual way. They are each competing in a national network television show and are earning the admiration and respect of millions of viewers as well as their fellow competitors and/or judges.
    Sadie, the 17 year old daughter and granddaughter from TV’s reality show “Duck Dynasty”, is competing on “Dancing With the Stars”. From the very outset, Sadie made it clear to her partner, pro dancer Mark Ballas that she is a Christian and that she would not compromise her morality while dancing on the show. Not only that but that her dad would have a say in approving her costumes. And to Mark’s and the producers of the show’s credit, they’ve honored that request.
    Week after week Sadie has amazed the judges and the audience with her performance. Last Monday it was her turn to do the Rumba, a dance usually noted for its raunchiness and sexuality. But Sadie and Mark proved that it doesn’t have to be that way in order to score high marks. Their performance was chaste and beautiful. As one judge said, it told the story of falling in love. They scored 35 out of a possible 40, in 3rd place out of nine remaining contestants. I can’t wait to see what she does this week!
    Over on another network and on a different night, Bethany Hamilton (“Soul Surfer”) and her husband Adam Dirks are participating on “The Amazing Race”. Week after week Bethany completely amazes us with the way she meets every challenge with dignity and grace, completing challenges that are hard even for teams without any physical limitations, and she and Adam treat each other with such respect as they work together as a team. This last week, Bethany chose to do the Road Block challenge (a task that only one member of the team has to do without any help from their partner.) She had to remove the hair from 3 animal skins, load them on a bicycle and then deliver them to a tanner in order to get their next clue. And did I mention, this was in the middle of a Moroccan market?! She completed it, without complaining or making excuses, and at the end of the night Bethany and Adam finished second.
    Will Sadie dance to the finals and compete for the mirrored ball trophy? Will Bethany and Adam race to the finish for one million dollars? Only time will tell. But whether they only compete one more time, or until the finish, Sadie and Bethany are already winners. They have shown the world what a Christian can look like – letting their lights shine, living their faith out loud and in public. And in a world full of crazies, terrorists and other bad news, how refreshing is that!

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

  • Being Engaged

    “As Jesus landed, He saw a great crowd waiting, and He was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” Mark 6:34

    For my birthday last November, I asked my husband to buy us a membership at the city recreation center gym. Since then, we have been walking on the track 5 or 6 times a week and now we are up to walking about 3.5 miles in the hour we are there. That’s 33 laps around the track, plus 3 or 4 “cool-down” laps. Boring? Not at all. First of all, I’ve got my praise music plugged into my ears, and second, I’m a people watcher. Larry and I both are and we’ve learned who the regulars are at the gym.
    There’s the young lady with severe Scoliosis and her friend who walks with her. There’s the retired Marine with his military hair cut, who runs like a man half his age in his jeans and white tee shirt. There’s a lovely black lady with her curly grey hair carrying 5-lb hand weights and who still out walks me. There’s the older gentleman who was born in India and walks a lap backwards. “Always one lap backward every day. Very good for you.” There is the trainer who is every one’s cheerleader whither or not they are her client. Occasionally there is a very handsome young Arabic man who laps us several times running. I always wonder does he know my Jesus, the One True God of his father Abraham?
    There are many more, but our favorite of all is Matthew and his mom, Rita. Matthew is a young boy with special needs. He’s non-verbal and looks out at the world through thick glasses. Matthew has a surgical scar that starts somewhere in the back of his head and goes down below the top of his shirt. He walks with a slow awkward gait and some days he’s reluctant to walk at all. His mother has to push him and at times seems to struggle to get him out on the track. I can see the frustration on her face as she works trying to get him up and going. But on the days he’s cooperating and walking willingly, I can also see the joy and love on her face as well.
    One day as Larry and I were walking past Matthew and Rita, we slowed down a little to encourage them. Rita beamed a bright smile and said “He’s such a blessing.” A few days later we were leaving about the same time they were and we visited with them for just a few minutes. I told Rita that I’ve been praying for her and Matthew. Her face lit up with at knowing someone cared enough to pray for them. “Oh, thank you! Please do,” she said.
    At church yesterday, our pastor preached on “being engaged” with the community around us. Just as Jesus engaged the Samaritan woman at the well, so are we to become engaged with the people around us. God has been showing me so many people and giving me opportunities to engage them. I don’t know all their stories, I don’t have to in order to pray for them. Will I ever have an opportunity to share Jesus with them? I don’t know. All I do know is I have to be willing and to trust God to open the doors.
    Compassion equals engagement. Over and over in the Gospels it says Jesus had compassion and every time it says that, it follows with what He did.
    “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Matthew 14:14
    “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’” Matthew 15:32
    “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” Matthew 20:34
    “Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed’”. Mark 1:41
    Having compassion for people is more than just having pity or sympathy. It means being engaged as Jesus was.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

  • RELATIONSHIP WITNESSING

    “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message)

    Look around you in church sometime, I mean really look at the people who are there. Who do you see? Do you see non-Christians searching for the answers for their lives or believers there to assemble themselves together? More than likely most of them are believers. So then, how are we to get the gospel to those outside who need Jesus? The Bible says how can they believe except they hear, and how can they hear except someone is sent?  (See Romans 10:14.)

    We have to do it outside the church. That’s what Jesus did. He went about his daily life, meeting people on the street and calling them to follow him. He went to dinner with sinners, not so he could tell them what great sinners they were – they already knew that – but to show them God.

    We’re to do the same thing. That’s what the Apostle Paul was talking about in the passage above. He didn’t participate in their sin, but he adapted himself to their circumstances so that he could share the gospel with them.

    The question is how do we do that? How do we show Jesus to the outside world in a way they want to know more? Reciting religious platitudes and quoting scripture will usually turn them off and away from you. Conversations that are great when you’re with fellow believers and Christian friends are not always so great around non-believers. When my best friend and I talk, we have a wonderful time sharing what we’re learned from the Bible and what God is doing in our lives. But I can’t have that type of relationship with everyone.

    The first thing we need to do is to be nice to people. Sometimes we pick and choose how to treat people based on appearance. That’s not how God calls us to be. Jesus went to the outcasts. Probably few if any of the 12 disciples Jesus called would qualify to serve on the staff of any of our modern churches. They were for the most part uneducated and a few of them were pretty rowdy.  James and John were called Sons of Thunder and Peter cut off a man’s ear! Be nice to everybody – the store clerk who can’t make change, the stressed out parents in the restaurant with a screaming child, the dirty day-laborer in line at the convenience store. Show them who God is by being nice.

    Then just be a friend to people we meet. Get to know them and learn about their lives before we start telling them how they need God. Be their friend first and wait for God to open the door for spiritual discussions. It may take months, it may take years.  It may never happen in the way you expect. But never underestimate the impact a godly life just lived openly and honestly in front of someone can have.

    Be sensitive to other people’s needs and their feelings. I’m as guilty as the next person about saying something “religious” because I thought it was what I was supposed to say only to realize later that what I said was not what the person needed to hear at all. What they needed most was for me to just be their friend. Offer help when they need help, and give it without any “religious” strings attached. When we meet peoples’ needs, they have the chance to see Jesus but only if we do it freely and without preaching to them about it.

    Most of all, we cannot hold ourselves out as being better or more righteous than they are.  Arrogant spirituality turns people away. The only difference between them and us is Jesus. Paul said he did not participate in their sin, (“I am committed to the law of Christ”, I Cor. 9:21b) but he accepted them as they were.  We can decline to participate in sin without having to expound on the evils of it. Jesus said to let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no and that is enough. (Matt. 5:37)
    Jesus said we’re to be the light of the world. Light in only noticed where there is dark. During the daylight, you don’t usually notice that a lamp is on. But as soon as it gets dark, that lamp becomes useful. If we’re to be useful “lamps”, we need to get out of the daylight of our church pew and go out to the dark where we’re needed.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ.
    Dee