Does evangelism scare you?

On Wednesday, I was writing about heaven and asking people what they expect it to be like.  Part of one woman's comment said:

"I'm struggling with a non-desire to be here on earth any longer than I need to be. I know I'm here for His purpose and I don't want to deny Him anything from His design for me, but I find my desire to work here waining. I guess what I really am questioning is why I don't desire to share this treasure with my non-believing friends and people I encounter? I am comfortable to share and encourage other believers, but those that I encounter that don't know or don't care to know Christ...I avoid sharing my faith with them.

For so long I've battled with whether or not I'd offend them and ...

Surviving Spiritual Slumps

Monday and Tuesday's winners announced at the end of this post.

Yesterday I asked 150 people what usually helps them when they're feeling spiritually "dry." A great many listed more than one answer in their responses - suggesting a multi-approach is wise. I thought I'd summarize their answers for us here.

Music - up beat praise music, worship, or hymns - 84

Bible - mostly just reading, though some mentioned formal bible study - 38

Friends & family - godly girlfriends & mentors, husband, mom or children - 28

Prayer - mostly just talking to God, some also mentioned contemplative meditation - 20

Books - devotionals, Christian books - 18

Reflecting - on blessings, on God, or on what God has done in the past - 16

Solitude - retreating, getting alone, spending time in the quiet - 16

Journaling - writing down problems, feelings or prayers; looking thru old journals - 8

Teaching - from sources like radio, TV, sermons, podcasts - 8

Exercise - walking, running - 6

Nature - being outdoors, enjoying or noticing God in nature - 5

Looking over this list I realize most of these deal with getting God's words of truth (back) into the forefront of your mind - Bible reading, music lyrics, Christian books and teachings. Even prayer and journaling, depending on what you are saying or writing. The friends category too (assuming they are speaking truth and godly advice to you and not just providing distractions).

The remaining strategies deal with unplugging from the daily noise and routine long enough to plug back into God and regain spiritual perspective - solitude, reflection, time in nature, prayer. Journaling or exercising could fit here too. Music also as it has the ability to "carry us away" as we close our eyes and listen or sing. I was not surprised that music was mentioned the most - it functions both ways.

I loved the gal who said sometimes she just goes and sits in her dry bathtub for some solitude. And another gal who said the upstairs closet is her retreat place at times. :)

I asked this question for two reasons. First, I really wanted to know your answers, your strategies. And second, I think its important for us to know what generally "works." For you and I to have a go-to plan to implement as soon as we recognize we're drifting into a spiritual slump.

The trick is to recognize it early and react quickly. Too often we make a long, slow decline of it and don't make adjustments until we're dehydrated and near bottom.

These same strategies that pull us out of the slump and bring God back into focus are the very ones that if utilized regularly, keep us from drying out in the first place. It's all about taking the time and making the effort to get and remain plugged into God.

But then you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?

Interestingly though, there are times God takes us through the desert on purpose. He took Moses to the desert. He took the ancient of nation of Israel to the desert. He even took Jesus to the desert. In those times we may not be able to escape the heat immediately - we have to walk the course - but these strategies will ensure we're in tune with God or His purposes as we walk that dusty terrain. And I believe they will prevent us from spending a single extra unnecessary day wandering there.
So if you tend to drift into slumps, or find yourself in a desert now, make a plan and get proactive. Plug into the source of Life and abide there, even if it seems nothing is happening at first in response. Life will flow again.

Winner of the $15 Starbucks gift card for participating in Monday's Devotional Carnival of Love is JENNY RAIN. I so enjoyed doing that carnival and reading the devotions, I plan to do another one on March 15. So stay tuned for that as I announce the new topic.

Winner of the P31 Whirlwind Giveaway "Bread for Life" is OLIVIA. Congrats to her! And thank you to everyone who took the time to answer and enter.

Thankful that spiritual slumps aren't a permanent way of life.

Tough Questions

Here is the question I'm currently asking of everyone I know:

 

You’re familiar with God's command (5th of the Big 10) to honor our parents, which carries with it a promise of long life, right?

I’m wondering what does that look like?

And what if your parents were abusive crack addicts?

And why can’t we really point to people's life spans and prove the long life part?

Heavy, I know. But if you have 2 cents to share on this, I’d love to hear it.

Heard any good teachings on this topic?

Are You Competitive?

Hey y'all. Here is a synopsis of my daily life the last couple of weeks:

writing, writing, writing, writing .... rinse, repeat.

My desk and the floor around it is currently covered in Bibles and books. I keep Pandora open with classical baroque playing because it helps me concentrate. My book deadline approaches, and I had a computer crash a short while ago and lost some of it. So here's to hoping lightening can strike in the same place twice!

Oh and I have a little conference coming up called She Speaks! Will you be there?


OK, so here is the topic I'm pondering today: our competitive nature. I suspect everyone's got one - it just comes out in different ways, about different things, or to different degrees. Do you disagree? And its not always a bad thing, but it certainly can be. You agree with that?

What do you get competitive about?

# of facebook or blog comments you get?
# of followers you have?
# of people in your church?
# of points in your grade point average?
# of dollars you earn?
# of awards you - or your child - receives?
# of people in your audience?
# of compliments on your dinner party, or outfit?
# of miles you ran today?
# of sales you made?
# of pounds you lost?
# of square feet in your home?

So what gets your competitive juices flowing? A game of scrabble? A Friday night football game? A craft exhibition? A Bobby Flay throw down? Bikini season?

Does your competitive nature help you more than hurt you, or the other way around?

A Couple Questions

1) If we were all sitting in the same room together and I asked you if your appearance - how you physically look - was important to you, would you nod your head yes or no? Does how you look affect how you feel about yourself, or even your mood in general?

2) Now let me ask this, do you ever get frustrated with how your husband looks? Does his hair, toenails or fashion sense disturb you? When he looks sloppier than you think he should - like for a holiday or a important family event - do you feel like it reflects on you somehow? Ever feel like if you were more important to him he would make more effort to clean up a little nicer?

I'm preparing the next post in the Why Men Cheat series but I wanted to get some feedback from women on these questions first. So fire away in the comments section, and hit anonymous if you want. As always, thanks for being so honest with me here.