Christian Culture vs Jesus

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I have struggled the past 3.5 years, well a bit longer with American Christianity and the religious/political components. The more time I spend with Jesus, the less American Christianity makes sense to me. I have seen Christians betray the teachings of Jesus to adhere to their political ideology and religious traditions. I’ve encountered unjust and ungodly treatment at the hands of “Christians” claiming their ideology is the will of God.

All of it reminds me of the Pharisees. Mainly because they “thought” they were doing the will of God. They had their traditions and rules. They had their ideas of God. They were political and the expectation was to have a Messiah that came in like a war machine to free them of Roman rule. Jesus shows up in a completely different fashion. He is not involved in their politics. He challenges their religions customs. He calls out their hypocrisy. They are religious. They are political. They neglected what God valued more that their religious behaviors and self righteousness.

Sadly, I have witnessed the same behaviors in the past 8-10 years in what I call “Christian culture.” There are behaviors that have been made acceptable that have nothing to do with Jesus and they are stumbling blocks to evangelism.

I recall church focus on the Gospel of Jesus instead of “Here’s who you need to vote for,” or “If you don’t agree with us politically, you don’t belong here,” or “We will end all contact with you if you don’t vote our party.”

I also recall when people hid their racism at church, at least they used the phrase-“I don’t see color.” Which is not appropriate. I won’t go into why, look it up and do some research on cultural sensitivity. Fast forward to 2020 and Christians became quite vocal about their racism or demonstrated apathy regarding what was occurring in society to black and brown people. I would tell you to go back a few years and look at some of the responses by bible thumping Christians on my social media, yet some of it was so nasty I deleted and blocked people. I’ve also ceased having a public personal profile and removed thousands of people from my “friend” list. Not all removed were problematic, I simply decided it was time to simplify and modify my life .

I want to end on a positive note. There are profound revelations that came out of 2020 and even the 4 years prior. 1. Every person should place their faith and trust in Jesus-not the church. I believed people when they said, “We are family and I love you.” Now I understand that God loves me and I cannot place my confidence in Christians. I am not bitter. I am wiser. 2. Just because two people claim to know Jesus does not mean they can be connected in any way other than a shallow connection at church. 3. More religious people than I realized are racist or simply apathetic. 4. Politics matters more to some people than Jesus or how Jesus told them to treat you. 5. You cannot change the religious/political crowd. It is okay to pray for them and move along. I truly believe the political and religious spirits are antichrist and they were certainly involved in the murder of Jesus.

Shaking that leads to revelation may seem horrible at the time, yet it has benefits. I think every follower of Jesus has a moment where culture is moving differently than the Kingdom of Heaven. Follow Jesus. I am not telling you it’s wrong to vote, be involved in politics. I am stating just as the late Billy Graham said, “The church is unwise to link a political party to the Gospel of Jesus.” It’s not the job of the church to tell people who they need to vote for or they are going to hell (I heard a preacher say this). It is not the job of the church to shun people from God’s house because they don’t vote a certain way. It is not the job of the church to send out “prophetic words” to tell people God told them who to vote for!! The pulpit is not a campaign. Though it’s unpopular, it’s not the job of the church to control the lives of everyone and force Christianity on the world. God let’s people choose who they will follow.

My encouragement to all followers of Jesus is to actually follow Jesus. Treat people the way Jesus commanded you to regardless of their political views. Understand, the way you and I respond to the world impacts their views of God, the church, and Jesus. I don’t care how you vote, who you vote for, and have never mistreated someone because they held different beliefs than I do. Why? Because Jesus told me to love my neighbors and my enemies. I don’t view people who vote differently as enemies, even if I don’t agree with their choices.

The world is seeking an authentic Jesus. I don’t recognize the Jesus that is being promoted in Cultural Christianity. Yet history has continued to show us that people mix Jesus with their ideology and then find bible verses to supposedly authenticate it (examples: slavery, stealing land from Indigenous people, oppressing women and immigrants). My encouragement for people to seek to know God for yourself and please don’t allow modern day Pharisees to run you away from the One who genuinely loves YOU!

Warm Regards,

Erin

Transformation (The Old Must Go in Order to Grow)

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I’ve spent years of my life assisting others via prayer, mentoring, discipleship, free counseling, community service, and friendship. I have served when I was in mountain top seasons and valley seasons. I have loved and served people who would betray me or abandon me for petty reasons. I provided for others when I needed assistance. There are people who may clap for this form of service. I learned that it was depleting my soul. I learned God did not desire I give the best of me away to people who would use, abuse, neglect, abandon, or betray. Despite what Christian culture was teaching, I grew to believe that God loved me more than what was presented to me by Christians.

I had a choice to make. I could remain the same or change. There are typically two motivators for change for humans; reward or pain. I believe pain is the greatest of the two because if the cut is deep enough, it transforms us into someone different.

When I first started playing guitar, my finger pads were soft and squishy. Over time, there were callouses that formed. The soft and squishy skin became something rough and able to withstand the pressing of hard strings against my skin. I believe over the years and navigation through challenging relationships with people created callouses on my heart. I still love people, yet I am not soft the way I was. I am no longer bound by toxic loyalty to those who can easily walk away from me. I am no longer giving people dozens of opportunities to reveal they do not care about anyone but themselves. I am no longer giving the best of my time, energy, life, or resources to the entitled or ungrateful.

Pain can be a profound teacher. It taught me to limit the level of access people have to my life. It’s taught me that every person who claims to love me or Jesus is not speaking from a place of truth, even if they believe it is truth. I often wonder if Judas believed he loved Jesus.

It is prudent to understand that love seeks to do no harm to others. Making statements about love is not the same as actually loving. I learned that Christian “nice” is not the same as agape love. I learned politics mattered more to people than I do. I learned that lonely people will take up loads of your time and when they no longer have need of you, they will throw you away or say-“I have nothing in common with you.” Your love and investment will not matter. Their greatest concern is self.

Pain taught me to examine exactly what I desire in people connected to my life instead of primarily focusing on what I can offer others. I learned that selflessness not coupled with wisdom can bankrupt the soul. It is careless to have an abundance of people who have access to us. I also learned there are people like Judas who are willing to sit at your table while planning your demise. Therefore, it is wisdom to pray to God for wisdom regarding every relationship.

My encouragement to you is that you are only stuck if you believe that you are stuck. You can change. I did. You can shift your life from so so and mismatched connections to compatible relationships where you can thrive. I do not believe we were intended to merely survive life. I believe we are destined to thrive. I believe God desires His best for us. You do not have to remain the same. Look at your life and examine what is fruit bearing versus taking up time while lacking substance. Ask yourself if you are the giver while most relationships are with consumers. Look around at your surroundings and ask yourself if you are encouraged, inspired, becoming more like Jesus, growing in a positive way, loved, cherished, appreciated, celebrated, or if you are planted someplace where your roots are drying up from neglect.

One of my favorite quotes is, “If a flower does not bloom, fix the environment not the flower.” There are good people and places. Good is the enemy of great. Do you want great? Or mediocre? Do you desire to grow or remain the same?

I have plants in my home that are currently root bound. They cannot grow past their current environment. Some I placed on the second floor and due to lack of light, they began to die. You and I can shrivel up in the wrong environment and in connections with the wrong people. It does not mean they are bad people, they are simply not the proper connections for our destiny.

Staying where we don’t belong is a choice. Leaving is a choice. The key is we have a choice. If we desire a different outcome, we must make different choices. I’ve made choices to cease listening to the counsel of “Christians” who promote toxic relationships and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I made choices to remove access for hundreds of people to my personal life. I made the choice to cease over investing in people and places that do not value who I am. I made the choice to be someone different, less accessible, and less open to befriending just anyone. To some callouses are bad. I believe they are necessary to provide a layer of protection for us from those who have destructive tendencies. The softest parts of us belong with safe people, not everyone. The most vulnerable parts of our lives are for God and those who are committed to love us, not just people from churches who proclaim love without the fruit of love.

I hope my next book, Relationships 101 assists people with walking in wisdom. I hope you purchase the book and learn from my mistakes as well as triumphs. I hope God uses my story and lessons learned to mitigate horror and trauma in relationships for other people. You are not stuck. You don’t need to live a mediocre life. Settling is a choice! Change your choices, change your life.

Join my business website to be the first to have access to the new book! Empowered-Free.com.

You are also invited to join my April webinar on finding freedom from financial trauma. Unhealed trauma can lead to poor decisions regarding finances. Learn how I doubled my net worth in a short period of time and how you can find freedom in your finances today. Seats are limited…https://www.empowered-free.com/event-info/healing-financial-trauma.

Warmly,

Erin Lamb

The King’s Daughter

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Parable: The King’s Daughter

The King sent his daughter into neighboring countries for diplomatic service. She was not adorned in royal garb. She blended into the crowds. She was there to serve and bless the town’s people. They soon recognized her generosity and made plans for exploitation. They could get their needs met without offering much or anything in return. They offered her what had the least or no value in exchange for her best offers.

They mocked her in private, and some to her face. They gossiped, and tried to sully her reputation. Obviously she was either stupid, weak, or had an ulterior motive. They worked against her efforts to help their poorest citizens. They needed the poor to feel good about themselves, “At least we are not like those people.” Some helped and were generous too. Many were offended by the expressions of kindness.

The daughter of the king kept showing up to serve, give, love. Even when those offerings from her father’s table were trampled under foot.

One day the king appeared and found his daughter. “Come with me,” he said. “I have other countries that desperately need what we have to offer. You do not need to to stay where the gifts are unwanted. Pack your things. We will leave today. I did not send you here for exploitation.”

The daughter packed her things and departed with her father. Though the town’s people did not value what was given to them, they were full of rage that the king’s daughter departed. How dare she. She owed them. They were entitled to receive from the king’s table.

They demanded she return. She did not. She and the king took their gifts, generosity, and blessings to other countries. The people in other countries were open to the king’s decrees. They rejoiced that the king chose their town to be recipients of his goodness.

The king’s daughter flourished in her new assignments. She made new alliances and assisted the king in building an empire focused on loving people. The daughter learned a valuable lesson; do not waste your gifts on those who do not appreciate them.

Warmly,

Erin L Lamb

The Peach Groves-Parable

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Photo Source: The Tutu Guru Australia

Parable: Stewardship

There was a wealthy peach grove owner who left his daughter acres and acres of fertile land. Each year the harvest was abundant, more than she could eat or sell. She chose to open the gates to the grove to those from her church, town, extended family, neighboring towns yearly to share the harvest. Some were grateful and respectful. Many vandalized the groves, took way more than needed, threw fruit on the ground, spit on the property, and cursed her for not providing for them year round. The daughter spent weeks to months cleaning up the damage they caused. Her father was deeply grieved by the excessive damage done to his property, gift to his daughter, and the damage to his daughter’s heart.

Local church people encouraged the girl to keep opening the gates because the hungry and needy were in desperate need of love. It was her responsibility to feed them. Though the local churches required money from the town’s people and paid no taxes, they were not feeding the people.

After years of opening the gates and suffering extreme damage, the father locked the gates. He sat down with his daughter and proclaimed, “The gifts and abundance I have given you were not solely to give away. I love and cherish you. It breaks my heart to see you treated this way. You do not owe everyone access to the groves. They were my gift to you. You must manage how you share what I have given you. I am not requiring you to be destroyed in the process of caring for other people. Keep the groves locked. During harvest time, let people know if there will be extra you will drop of what you feel led to give in your heart to the towns. They are not to set foot in the grove. This area is sacred and my gift to you. If they spit on your gift, shake the dust off your feet and do not return to that town. Steward the grove as though it has tremendous value, because it does. You have tremendous value to me.”

The daughter followed her father’s instructions and apologized to him for not stewarding well his gift to her. She kept the grove locked. When she gathered excess from the harvest, she took it to various towns. If they were hostile, entitled, ungrateful or abusive…she shook the dust off her feet and did not return. Her peach grove grew to be even more abundant because she did not spend weeks to months rebuilding what people destroyed. She ceased trusting the local church people who were exploiting the people rather than helping them. She kept the grove guarded! She flourished under the guidance of her father.

Moral of the story: Guard your heart, giftings, resources from God. You do not owe everyone access. Poor stewardship can destroy you! God cares about you and how people treat you. God bless.

Love in Christ,

Erin L. Lamb

CEO & Founder of Lamb Enterprises LLC and Operation God is Love

Empowered-Free.com

OperationGodisLove.org

When You Change the Access to You-Everything Changes

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"Not everyone deserves that much access to you". My sweet sweet ...

I am breaking from the myths about God to discuss relationships. There is a well known quote that reads, “Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.”

Recently I was listening to an apostle/pastor from Africa and he said something that stuck with me. He said, “If you have loads of people around you, you may feel popular. It does not mean you are popular. It means you are careless. You do not place enough value on who you are and therefore, you provide everyone access to you.”

I have lived this careless life. I wanted to desperately love people and share with them all that God was to me. I desired God love through me for other people to encounter His great love.

It sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? To love the world the way God loves us. It’s certainly biblical. Yeshua stated, “Go love your neighbors and love your enemies. Go into all the world and tell them who I am. God show them who I am. Go and be an example of my light and love to the world. They will know my true followers by their love.” Ah, the eloquent and lovely words of Jesus.

These words, if they are not coupled with wisdom and discernment, have the capability to destroy your life. The same bible that tells you to love your neighbor as your self also proclaims that “a companion of fools suffers harm” and “how can two be joined together unless they agree.” Wisdom and love are not separated with God. There were people Jesus avoided until His appointed time because He knew they desired to kill Him. There were times that He separated Himself from the crowds and the people who clamored for space next to Him. He was loving, purposeful, and wise.

I have spent years of my life forsaking wisdom with my attempts to love. I simply showered love on people. I gave people access to my home in bible studies. Some destroyed my carpet, some broke my heart, some betrayed me, and some gossiped. People will tell you that what you are doing is for the glory of God so it does not matter if people destroy you or your things. If they harm you, God will heal and restore you. Here is the part people leave out. God DOES NOT desire you are destroyed in the process of loving people AND you get to decide the level of access people have to you.

There is the popular minister, who’s name I won’t say here, that I befriended on Facebook. After a week or so, he realized he did not know me. He accepted my friend request because we had mutual friends in common. You know what he did? He unfriended me. He did not have a conversation with me. He did not ask about my feelings. He simply deleted my access to his personal FB page. He had the right to do that, as I am not his real friend.

I, in my unwise attempts to love people, have given people way more access to my life, time, resources, gifts, talents, intercessory covering, friendship, etc…than they demonstrated they could steward well. In return it was not met with some horrible situations. Why might you suppose? Because when you give too much of yourself to other people without limits, you teach them not to value you. People value what is scarce, expensive, just a bit out of their reach.

People disrespect what is common, too available, too generous, and abundance. I say this with the caveat that there are people who appreciate and value what is abundant in their lives. It’s not the normal, sinful nature of mankind to value what is abundant. Look what humans have done to the environment, other humans, and the earth. They have exploited it and other humans.

What is my point? It is unwise to provide everyone access. It unwise to forsake healthy boundaries and limits. It is unwise to provide abundance for people without wisdom. It is wise to have criteria for who has access to your life, information about your life, and who you partner with in ministry or anything else.

Every person and everything you say yes to is a no to something else. Are you wasting your life on people who are not tied to your purpose or destiny? I wasted years of my life fighting battles with people that were absolutely unnecessary. They are long gone. They ditched me and moved on with their lives. They left behind messes they did not clean up because of course that’s “God’s job.” One of the greatest relational lies I have witnessed in western Christianity is, “If you are the martyr in relationships and you are harmed, God is delighted and will fix you right up.” It can take years of soul healing to recover from one bad relationship. I believe God desires we exercise wisdom with who has access to our lives.

My life is rapidly changing because the wide nets I cast to ensure everyone was loved, included, cared for…has shifted to, “Is it wise for me to invest here? Is the Spirit of God calling me to invest in this person or thing, or am I in a mindset of over giving and forsaking wisdom.”

It is not true that setting limits with people means you don’t love them. It is not true that boundaries make you evil and uncaring. What it means is you value yourself. What it means is you value the destiny God placed inside you and it is important to you. What is means is you value your life and desire to make the most of your life. It means you love yourself. God actually desires that you love yourself.

You don’t owe everyone access. Trust is earned. Friendship is a gift, not a privilege. The ability to know what is going on in your heart, life, family, and business is not for everyone. Your story is not up for grabs by everyone. You control how much of yourself, your time, and your life you give to other people. God expects that you and I to guard our hearts. We are expected to guard the access to the most precious parts of ourselves. Don’t look to others to do it for you.

Lastly examine who you have given access to your life. Are they adding any value? Or are they simply taking up time and space? If you look at the 5 people you spend most of your time with, do you desire to be like them. Are you inspired or tired? Are you growing or fighting off unnecessary drama? Are you moving closer to becoming who God created you to be or are you perpetually distracted?

I hope you stay tuned in to posts. They are leading up to the fourth book-Relationships 101. I have learned quite a bit over the years and hope something shared is helpful and blesses you.

Warm Regards,

Erin Lamb

Author & CEO of Lamb Enterprises LLC

Empowered-Free.com

The Spirit of Christmas

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I confess that Christmas does not get as much hype in my life as it does for others. Mainly because after studying the life of Jesus and the Bible it makes no sense that He was born on December 25th. Jesus was most likely born in the autumn/fall season around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles-Sukkot. See the references at the end. I also hated as a child seeing the faces of children who did not receive what they asked for and they tried so hard to be good all year.

Then there were the parents and families I would see stressed out because of all the money they needed to spend on Christmas. Rather than their hard work celebrated, children chanted ” Thanks Santa.” It perplexed me the amount of effort spent on purchasing things and the statement this was the season of Jesus. One waitress I encountered a few years back was working double shifts to buy thousands of dollars worth of gifts for Christmas. I wondered about those who have no parents, no money, and no means to have such an elaborate gift exchange.

Jesus provided a way to engage with the world that did not focus on going into debt, telling little white lies, or adding copious amounts of stress to people’s lives. He said, “Those who are weary, come to me, and I will give you rest.” He stated that the way of His Kingdom was one of love, and that love does not require purchasing expensive gifts, going into debt, nor forced time with family who drive you crazy. I believe the greatest gift is Jesus and no matter the season of our lives there is blessing attached to Him.

I don’t have children, yet if I did, I could see me taking them to serve those without around the holidays so they could see that Christmas is not about them. It’s about God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so whosoever would place their faith in Him would not perish, they could find everlasting life!! See John 3:16. That is The GIFT. God provided a way to Him that is eternal and beautiful.

There is a simpler way to live and I want to highlight a few.

  1. Choose kindness during the holidays. I am a proponent of doing this year round, yet if you want a great time to be kind-choose holidays. More people are depressed or commit suicide during the holidays.
  2. Focus on something that helps the needy and unloved in society. Maybe I have some bias because I serve in monthly outreaches to the homeless. Yet, have seen how giving them 1 gift lit up their entire world.
  3. Ditch entitlement and selfishness. It also amazed me that on Jesus’ supposed birthday people purchased gifts for everyone else and some people have horrible attitudes when they don’t get what they want. They feel entitled to something.
  4. Find someone outside your inner circle to love and encourage. As stated the holidays are sad times for plenty of people. I wrapped an abundance of gifts for our homeless friends and my friend Greg brought them coats and boots.

I will state that I am not against the December 25th festivities. Once I get dressed-I am still in pajamas-I plan to head to my parents with a small bag of gifts for my family. They don’t simply receive from me on holidays, nor does Jesus. I don’t think Christmas is about me and getting something for myself. The Spirit of Christmas is to reveal who the Messiah is to a lost and hurting world. It does not matter how many church services or candlelight services I attend if my life does not reflect the goodness, peace, joy, love, kindness, hope, and beauty of the Messiah.

I do not believe Jesus was born in winter or December. I do believe he was born as a sign of hope in a hurting world. He was born in humble circumstances and lived a life of radical love and obedience to His heavenly Father. He made a tremendous impact on the world! He came and He served. He came and He loved. He came and walked in 100% truth. He loved deeply and sacrificed for us, for the entire world.

My hopes for Christmas is the world has a profound encounter with the real Jesus of Nazareth. My prayer is people move beyond worshiping themselves and consumerism to worship God in spirit and in truth. I pray people move beyond seeing a helpless baby in a cradle to seeing the King of kings sitting at the right hand of the Father, standing in full authority and power. He is the Lord over the Universe. Along with that, I pray that you and I reveal Jesus to others via our interactions with them. May they see the light of God through us year round. May our example be, “God is real and God is good.”

May God bless you, keep you, and His face shine brilliantly upon you. Blessing you, your family, and your new year. Shalom.

References:

Feast of Tabernacles https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4784/jewish/What-Is-Sukkot.htm

Jesus was not born in December: https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/biblical-evidence-shows-jesus-christ-wasnt-born-on-dec-25

Myths About God-God Does Not Care About Your Tears

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Image Source: HelpForIsrael.org

Maybe you have heard someone say to you that God does not care about your tears, He’s only concerned with your faith. I heard that growing up and it did something to my view of God. I believed all I needed to do was muster up enough faith and God would be so proud of me. If I was sad, hurt, damaged, or needed to cry-God was unconcerned. He was shouting from His throne, “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps and forge on in faith. Your feelings are meaningless to me. All I care about is you believe what I say.” God was impersonal and cold. God was unconcerned and task driven. God cared about my performance and not my heart.

Guess what? Believing a lie about God damages the way we view God and blocks intimacy with God. My response when hurting was to remove God from my emotions and handle them by myself. I also learned to bury sadness and live numb. I ran across Christians similar to myself who were shamed for crying, shamed for feeling anything but powerful, made to feel inferior because their faith did not change all their feelings. Instead of running to God, there was a wall erected. Their humanity is reduced to acts of religious duty, pretending to have it all together, throwing scripture on every problem.

You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance.-Psalm 56:8 (TPT).

The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one,-Psalm 34:18 (TPT).

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.-Isaiah 25:8 (ESV)

“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”-God (Isaiah 38:5)-ESV.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.-John 11:33.

Jesus wept.-John 11:35.

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.-1 Peter 5:7 (ESV).

There are plenty of scriptures where God responded to the hurting and promised that those who go forth in weeping, would come back with joy. He promised to wipe the tears from our faces. He promised to be close to the brokenhearted. God is not cold. God is not off put by emotions.

God cares about your feelings and my feelings. God also cares about faith. I believe it’s an act of faith to run to God instead of away from Him in times of pain. It requires faith to allow God into the pain versus trying to do it oneself. To turn to God when we are hurting, when we don’t understand, and in grief, is a sign of trust.

I want people to run to God and cry it out if necessary. It does not make you weak or faithless. Jesus had perfect faith and shed tears. I honestly hope one day the traditions of misrepresenting God fall by the wayside and people encounter God as is, not as humans have presented God to be.

God cares about you.

God cares about what damages your heart, mind, body, and emotions.

God is close to the brokenhearted and cares about every detail of your life.

My encouragement is run to God with what hurts you and trust that God cares. My other encouragement is do not ignore your emotions. Emotions are indicators. Process them. Tend to them. Forgo stuffing them. Throwing scriptures at them may not remove them. It may require sitting with God and/or someone training in soul health to process through the pain.

I have spent the past 8 years helping people with soul wounds process their pain. Every time God is invited to help them, God responds. There is more kindness in God than there is in humans. There is more compassion in God than in humans. God is far better at caring about people than we are. Sadly the religious and humans who claim to know God have grossly misrepresented Him.

Seek God and know that you are loved.

Warmly,

Erin

Myths About God-Suffering & Pain

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One of the myths I have seen passed around about God, mostly from evangelical Christians is if you have enough faith you will never get sick, never suffer, never endure anything painful. Faith becomes this buffer to bypass the impact of sin on this world. I have witnessed evangelical Christians use faith as a crutch or billy club or some elitist badge of pride. “Look at my life and how blessed I am, I certainly have more faith than you.”

I have seen people who believe in this “faith prevents all pain and suffering” as a tool to condemn those hurting or sick, “Well, you must not have enough faith or you must have sinned.” I have also sadly witnessed people who are deathly ill die because they refused any medical care, mental or emotional care. Their faith in God was supposed to do all the work and if God did not heal, they would rather die.

I am not telling you to not believe God, nor to forgo praying for miracles. I am a huge proponent of praying for the sick and have seen God move mountains for people where doctors had lost all hope. I spent years working at the free clinic and my team saw amazing things that transcended my logical understanding. I have seen God raise the dead, open deaf ears, cause the lame to walk, open closed wombs, heal cancer, shrink and dissolve tumors, completely change the life of someone. I believe in healing. I believe God loves wholeness, health, and for us to live abundant lives.

The point I want to address today is this myth that walking with God prevents us from all pain, suffering, hurt, loss, grief, or even pain in the body. People who believe that it does, I question if they have read the full counsel of scripture. Jesus plainly stated that in the world there would be trouble, yet take heart because He has overcome the world. Jesus was beaten and his flesh ripped from His body (that was an injury). They pierced Him, beat Him, whipped Him, mocked Him, and hurt Him physically. Jesus had and has perfect faith. If the one who is perfect in faith was not shielded from all suffering and pain, why do we think we would be? Not only Jesus, read about all the apostles and early Christians who were martyred for their faith in Christ. We have Christians all over Asia and the Middle East today who are dying because they refuse to deny Jesus as Lord. I would say they have exceptional faith to stand in the midst of severe persecution and not waiver in their love and devotion to Christ.

In my Western culture, there are people who think persecution is someone refusing to agree with them politically or losing an election or not getting their way to press Christian beliefs onto someone else. They are not being beaten, jailed, or executed for faith in Jesus. How smug it is to tell someone they have less faith when yours has not been tested to the same level of intensity.

Let’s examine what scripture says…

Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders (spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;  and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].-James 5:14-16.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.-1 Peter 5:10.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.-2 Timothy 3:12.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.-Isaiah 43:2.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.-Isaiah 53:3.

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;-Psalm 34:19.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.-Romans 8:18.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.-1 Peter 4:12-13.

If you are sick or suffering, I would like you to be released from any guilt or shame that it’s simply because you don’t have enough faith. I want you to be released from any guilt or shame if you choose to seek medical care, therapy, counseling, soul healing, or use medicine. Yes, I know that is blasphemy for the “faith healing” community. I will say I have seen too many Christians die early or commit suicide because they could not muster up the “faith” to be well.

I attended a church for awhile and the pastor was diagnosed with Leukemia. He chose to use medicine and believe God for healing. He’s alive today. He was judged by the “faith healing” community for using any treatment other that quoting scriptures and believing God. I will say to those people, when you are up all night in excruciating pain, unable to eat or dress yourself, and you have prayed til you are blue in the face-then you can judge someone. Yet, if you have never had to go through what that person is going through, it may be best to remain silent about their choices of care and pray.

I have lived a pretty healthy life. I thank God for this. I do not believe its because I believe God so well. I think there are plenty of things that come into play with health. The injuries I have suffered in life have been the results of trauma. Someone outside of me did something to injury my body. God did not prevent those circumstances, God did and does walk me through them. I understand agony and getting to the place where you have no words to pray. There are only groans that come to the surface. I cannot imagine what people go through who have chronic pain, 24/7 and they have all these Christians telling them that if they just had more faith they’d be whole.

I am not stating God puts sickness, pain, nor suffering on people either. That is the other side of the pendulum. There are people who think God needs to beat you senseless to perfect godliness in your life or sickness/suffering is some badge of honor. The more they suffer, the more God is refining them. This too is not accurate. Everything we face is not from God. There are things we encounter because we are living in a sinful world with selfish people. There are things we encounter where it’s part of living in a fallen world; pesticides in food that make people sick, pollution, environmental crisis that impacts weather and causes tragedy, humans not caring properly for the planet, humans not caring for themselves, we have spiritual battles with good vs. evil, and we have human beings that make choices that are destructive which set up consequences that are not good.

God promises us comfort in our suffering and hard times. God promises to be with us. God promises to provide assistance to us. God does not promise we will bypass all pain and suffering while on this planet. This is not the perfected state, that is yet to come. We will all die some day. I know it is a harsh reality, yet it’s truth. Only the soul and spirit are eternal. These bodies came from the earth and will return there. Yes, we pray for divine health and strength. Yes, we pray for help with suffering and pain. Yes, we want the Kingdom of God to come in it’s fullness. Yes, we cling to the promises of God. We must all trust in the one who is LOVE.

God bless you!

Erin

Myths About God Intro

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It’s late and I should probably be tucked away under blankets sleeping. Instead I’m writing to you. I decided to start a new series entitled, “Myths about God.”

A myth is something that may be wildly believed, yet may be unproven to be true.

Myth: “A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal.“

These myths can be passed down from generation to generation without verification of whether the stated myth has any legitimacy. In my walk with Yeshua (Jesus), I have encountered countless people who have repeated something they learned in their church or community about God that I could not validate against the written texts about God, the character of God, or experiences with God. They were passed along as the truth, and people acted upon what they heard from others versus engaging in their own relationship with God.

One of the myths that is untrue I have heard and seen repeated is God requires nothing from us. People mistake “God is love,” for “God approves of everything and everyone is in relationship with God with no stipulations on that relationship.” They mistake unfailing love with covenant relationship.

Jesus was quite clear on what the requirements for family/covenant relationship with God entailed. It was not something to be taken lightly. It cost Him life. A life for a life. This belief that God requires nothing from us, that everyone has the same access to God with no regard for what He stated were His requirements, and that love means unconditional acceptance is dangerous. One, there would have been no reason for Jesus to go to the cross if God had zero standards. Second, it teaches people that God does not care how they live, love, believe, treat others or treat Him. Third, it’s simply false.

God does not just ask for our repentance and faith in His Son, He asks for our ENTIRE lives. God is asking for relationship stronger and more committed than an earthly marriage. Imagine getting married and your spouse tells you, “Don’t expect me to be faithful, spend time with you, love you, care about you, be supportive, talk to you, invest in you. You can do all those things for me, yet don’t expect anything from me.” Would you say you were truly in a loving marriage? Probably not. However, I meet people who treat God as though He should have zero desires for their devotion, faithfulness, and faith.

Since there are people who believe this myth about God, they are content living how they desire to live independent of God. I’ve also met countless Christians who think I am evil for requiring anything from them to say we are in a relationship. How dare I expect them to initiate sometimes, to care about me, to show up, and invest anything. If I loved them, I would be everything they needed me to be without expecting anything in return. This mindset is called entitlement. It’s rooted in pride, selfishness, and deception.

In order to have a thriving relationship, there needs to be two engaged participants. I am not saying that if we have genuine faith in God and do not speak to Him for season or do not give that God abandons us. I am saying it is a flawed mindset to believe that God requires nothing in order to be in relationship with Him. It is not theologically sound. He requires repentance and faith. Jesus told His followers to die to selfishness, pick up their cross, and follow Him. Paul reminded churches that their bodies were not their own but were purchased by God through the sacrifice of His Son.

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.-1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amplified Classic Version).

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not practice what I tell you?”-Jesus (Luke 6:46, Amplified Classic Version).

I am not promoting legalism. I am putting forward it is unwise to tell people that God expects nothing from them for relationship and in a relationship. I would say that God’s love is unwavering, not use the term unconditional. Why? In our society, when people hear unconditional, there are people who think that means that no matter how horribly they behave, there are no consequences. Israel thought this about God and had a rude awakening. God is not a joke. God is to be reverenced. God’s kindness, mercy, and grace is not to be mocked and treated as “He owes this to me.” God owes us nothing.

I am thankful, though at times grossly irritated by, the people in my life who have treated me poorly. They taught me what not to do to God. When I was an intercessor for ministries, people would send me long lists of things to pray for and sometimes treat me like a slot machine. People have contacted me all hours of the day and night with their problems, then excluded me from the joys of their life. I was their help line. There were the seasons of thankless service where people acted as though I owed them my time or they only showed up when they need assistance. One lady even told me at a church that she loved me so much because no matter how poorly she treated me, I kept loving her and showing up for her. God does not enjoy being mistreated, nor do I.

God has feelings. I do too. I realized I never want to treat God this way. Therefore, there are times where I just tell God I don’t want anything except to love Him. There are times I simply listen to God’s heart. I tell God thank you. I help God accomplish His mission on earth. I check my entitlement at the door because God owes me nothing. I additionally take seriously the commitment to God and invest in our relationship. God is not my Sabbath and holiday friend. God is not my part time friend. God is not my crisis hotline and God never hears from me otherwise. God is my every day, full time, love of my life. I cherish God. I love God with my life.

My hope and prayer in this series is that you and I encounter the genuine Jesus of Nazareth and grow to love Him and others more.

In closing, God is asking for our whole heart!

Sincerely,

Erin

Performative Christianity

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I’ve spent time this past week listening to people who used to go to church and an atheist talk about their experiences with Christians and the organized church. I listened and I cannot state I disagree with their assessments. One talked about the extreme hypocrisy of Christians who got drunk and partied with him, who behaved no better than he did who put on an air of superiority and self righteousness. Another talked about the church’s obsession with former President Trump and forcing their religious beliefs on the masses with political control. She stated her mom left the church after 13 years because all they talked about was money and Trump. It wasn’t about Jesus, the poor, the Gospel, or loving one’s neighbor. I sat in a room with people who decided to divorce themselves from organized religion and they vowed not to go to anyone’s church. I told them I was done with religion too. I just want God.

There are people who say that you cannot know God outside of organized religion or membership at someone’s church. I disagree. Jesus met people outside the synagogue. He invited people into faith and relationship outside the Temple. Jesus never performed an infant baptism into a church. He did not push religion upon people as the Pharisees did. He invited people into relationship with the Father. He broke down the barriers the religious set up between the people and their Creator. He built a bridge, not a wall.

Am I anti worship gatherings? No. A healthy community of people seeking to know God, love God, love their neighbors and enemies is a blessing. A community of people centered on relationship with God is a gift. Sadly many people I have encountered have not been in Christ centered communities. They have been planted in religious entertainment centers that focus on raising money, entertaining people, becoming the biggest/ most influential church, celebrity and performative Christianity, controlling people, politics, and/or putting on masks to appear good while not having genuine love to offer.

Am I anti followers of Jesus voting or involvement in the political arena? No. It is not the role of the church to use the pulpit as a campaigning tool. The purpose of the worship gathering is to glorify God, point people to God, assist people in knowing God, and caring for one another. It is not campaign headquarters. I tell people, vote how you’d like, however do not put the Lord’s name on your party or candidate. There are Christians who did this with Trump and it cost the church millions of people. The small strand of respect people had for the church was disintegrated. I meet people who’ve vowed to never trust the church again.

The atheist who spoke on Christians this week had thought provoking comments. She said, “Something is wrong with you if you need a book to tell you to be a decent human being who is good to people. I meet Christians who state they are good because they are doing what will please Jesus. They are not good on their own. They do it to bypass judgement from Jesus and hell. So, they are not genuinely interested in loving you or being kind. They are, out of obligation, doing what will make them look good to others and make Jesus happy. I have met some of the cruelest people who claim to be Christians and maybe they need the bible because I cannot imagine how evil they would be if they weren’t afraid of hell. I don’t need the threat of hell to keep me from doing evil to people.”

What she explained was performative Christianity. It is performing or pretending to be something that pleases God without it flowing from the overflow of the heart. It’s not sustainable. I cannot tell you how many fake nice Christians I have met in my lifetime who knew all the right things to say, yet the fruit of their behavior over time was manure. I have also encountered in the evangelical space the ones who want so badly to be the one to see the most miracles or lead the most people to Jesus. Jesus was moved with compassion to heal the sick and did what He saw the Father doing. He was not performing or pretending. He was not keeping tally so He could pat Himself on the back. He lived out of the overflow of intimacy with the Father. He was a walking blessing, not a performer.

Performative Christianity is the bedrock of the Pharisee. Jesus said this about them, “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”-Matthew 23:1-7. He also stated, ““Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, 39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”-Mark 12: 38-40.

If we removed heaven and hell from the equation, would we be good to people? Would we serve God and love God? Would we help our communities and even our enemies? When all the fear of punishment is removed, who are we? Do we love Jesus and our interactions flow out of the fruit of God’s spirit? Or are our actions just like those of the Pharisees? Fake and phony, a religious act done to try to win the favor of God and approval of people? Honestly, only God knows the heart of every person, yet it was worth pondering. The religious mindset produces performance and self righteousness. Genuine relationship with Jesus of Nazareth produces the fruit of God’s Spirit. Unfortunately people are encountering more modern day Pharisees than people overflowing with God’s Spirit.

My encouragement is seek God for yourself. Center worship gatherings on Christ and what God wants to do, not the programs of man. Abide in Jesus of Nazareth who is not a politician. Focus life on knowing God and making Him known. Understand the way Christians behave does reflect back on God’s reputation. I have had some wonderful experiences with people who claim to know Jesus and an overwhelming amount of heart breaking ones that left me with trauma, scars, and wondering how God allowed these people to claim to know Him.

I will keep sitting with those who have PTSD over their experiences with professing Christians. I will keep seeking God for my own healing from the damages done by those who claim Him. I will keep praying for the entire world to have a genuine revelation of who Jesus is!

Dios te bendiga (God bless you)

With warm affection…

Erin Lamb