Tag: Jesus

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

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

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

Are You Following Jesus or Religion?

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I have been on this kick of decolonizing and deconstructing my faith and what people in my country call “Christianity.” At the root is not a heart of judgement. It is a heart plagued with confusion. What we say we believe has not matched what we are demonstrating to the world. If I notice it, who else notices? I am running into more and more people completely over American Christianity and some have abandoned God altogether.

I will tell you 2020 opened the eyes of many people, myself included on how crazy Christianity is in America. I have never seen people go so insane over politics, vaccines, masks, conspiracy theories, etc…People dumped long term friends over things that will not matter in 5 years. People disgraced and dishonored the name of God for politics. I saw racism spring forth out of white church friends. There were Christians who made a mockery of God’s name.

I used to think using God’s name in vain was primarily about using swear words. It’s not. It’s also about assigning God’s name to things, ideas, and ideologies that have nothing to do with God or for selfish gain. The “God told me crowd ” are some of the greatest offenders when it comes to using God’s name in vain. What they say does not match the character, heart, or person of God.

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions for me since 2020. I have honestly been jaded by church (religious activities). I don’t want to go. I worship at home and fellowship with my biological family. The church I was attending was more focused on getting Trump re-elected than preaching the Gospel. There was more focus on trying to get people into church buildings than addressing the hurting and dying on the street. I recall going out to feed the homeless in lock down and the line to my car was unreal. There are people in my city who eat of the trash and sleep on the cold streets, yet the highest concern was getting back into a building or forcing God to make someone President.

I think I am strange because my main concerns when it comes to my faith are honoring God, helping the poor, sharing the Gospel. We are filling buildings with people who may still be on their way to hell. I am not sure we are teaching people how to have their own personal relationship with Jesus.

When I have tried to mentor or disciple people for Jesus there has normally been some form of conflict that arose with some people who wanted me to simply tell them they were amazing instead of teach what Jesus taught. They bucked any form of correction or anything that held them to a higher standard. Quite a few either left and abandoned the group or picked a fight with me or said God was calling them elsewhere. We have created in America a “Me-Centered gospel,” that promotes calling out the gold in people rather than teaching them they are accountable for their choices. It keeps people immature and carnal. The early apostles never changed the words of Jesus to make people feel good about themselves. Unfortunately we have a pendulum that has swung from intense judgement to anything goes (un-sanctified mercy).

Aside from the priorities, I have heard the most ridiculous conspiracy theories that make God seem like an incompetent loser. We tell people God is all powerful, all knowing, undefeated, cannot be sabotaged, and then pass around these theories on how the social elite can overthrow God’s plans. It is lunacy to me. Either God is who He says He is or we need to just all go home and sit down and be quiet. The same God who saved the life of Moses and Jesus from being murdered before their time, who delivered His people out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, raised up King Saul and then took him down is now powerless against secret societies and those pesky Democrats. It all came off as crazy and as manifested unbelief to me.

It’s puzzled me because I have thought, “Maybe I am following a different Jesus.” I truly have sat with the Gospels and studied the life of Jesus. I have read the bible cover to cover many times and even studied some texts in their original language. What I have struggled with most are the priorities of the modern Western Church vs the priorities of Jesus. The behavior part, well we are all still in process. God is still working on me and I do my best to yield to God. We can only expect perfection from God. The world (people who do not know God) should see something different in a person united with Jesus. Those are His words, not mine.

The Jesus I know is highly concerned about the poor, outcasts, the rejected by society, widows, orphans, human beings being sold as slaves, injustice, racism, sexism, all the isms that seek to subjugate or diminish His father’s creation, the broken hearted, the oppressed, those who are not reconciled to the Father (evangelism is a priority), revealing the Father’s heart, delivering the oppressed, truth telling, service to the world, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, bringing God’s hope to the hopeless.

I do not know self centered Jesus who is mostly concerned with Himself, His rights, pushing Himself on others, bullying, excessive rudeness, doing all He can to make Christians rich and comfortable while asking nothing from them.

I do not know political Jesus who rants and raves that you must support whatever political party He chooses or be doomed for hell.

I do not know Jesus of the patriarchy, because Jesus shocked the world by loving women, empowering women to speak for Him, listening to women, protecting women, cherishing women, honoring women, and healing women. Jesus came to serve, not be served.

I do not know white Jesus who mainly cares about white people and their desires. He cares nothing for the other 90% of the world’s population nor the billions of people of color who existed before there were any white people. I know brown Jesus from Nazareth who died for the entire world.

I do not know capitalist or American Jesus who values money and profits more than people. Money is not the highest goal of Jesus, it’s relationship with people. Jesus is not a consumer. Jesus does not treat people like commodities. He loved people enough to die for them.

I do not know the Jesus who quotes scripture at people without helping them to understand it or live it out. Jesus enters into the suffering and lives of flawed people to assist them, not harm them.

I do not know nationalist Jesus who only cares about certain nations. God so loved the world! The entire world.

I do not know the Jesus who hates Africans or black people, nor uses them as the scapegoat. God’s first humans were African. Their melanin rich skin was not called a curse. It was called a blessing.

I will keep inviting my heavenly Father to teach me who He is, and I will keep pursuing Jesus of Nazareth-Yahusha. I don’t know who others are following if it does not match the scriptures of who Jesus is. Cultural Jesus can save no one. He’s not real. He is the god made in human’s image, not the Son of God.

I know this post is long, yet I hope it helps someone. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus did not come to establish a religion. He did not come to form a political party. Jesus came to reconcile the entire world to the Father. He came for RELATIONSHIP and out of that relationship we are transformed. Transformed people transform cities. Jesus changed the world starting with 12 disciples. There are supposedly 2.2 billion Christians on this planet. What are we transforming? Loads of people are running away from Christians and it’s because the agenda of Christians does not match the agenda of Jesus. Our agenda needs to align with Jesus, not the current Christian culture.

I leave you with this note I sensed from Father God on New Years. I am not saying, “Thus sayeth the Lord.” I am sharing something you are invited to pray over and test/weigh against the full counsel of God, the character of God, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. God is not mocked. Claiming the name of Jesus is not a joke. He asks for our entire lives. Our lives are no longer our own, they were purchased with a high price.

What I sensed from the Father, certainly test and weigh it.

“You will see a continued dividing line between those united to my heart and those united to their religion. Their festivals and conferences bring me no joy. They have set their faces to be like Israel was; honoring me with their lips while denying me with their actions. I will purify my true church, my people. You will see more clearly who is following my son and who is following their own agenda.

I am not mocked. I am calling those bearing the name of my son higher. I’m calling them into agreement with my son. Some will listen and grow; some will ignore my correction. Those who ignore my correction will notice a tension and struggle upon their lives. My grace abounds upon those yielded to my son. Your nation has polluted the other nations with her greed, sexual immorality, gluttony, perversion, and pride. She must be purified.

I have sown pockets of my remnant in your nation to pray, to preach, to model the precepts of my son. Those who do not have true unity with my son will see tension in the years to come. The idols of America will not save her. Her military will not save her. Her police state will not help her. Her economy will not save her. She will see that I alone am God.

Mankind has repeatedly played the role of desiring idols over my presence. I continually invite my people into relationship with me through my son and to live out of my presence. This is where they will find life, hope, peace, joy, goodness, identity, love and their purpose. Invite people into my presence.

I am tired of man’s religion and systems of oppression. I have watched pastor’s rob the flock while denying them any access to their presence, counsel, and love. I have watched my people in churches suffer in silence and it rips away at my heart. I will purify those who claim my name.

I have given many opportunities to the church to repent and they do not. They believe they are the “Untouchables” due to my promises of mercy and grace. They forget that I am just. I am the God of Perfect Justice.

Your world will continue to try to contain plagues environmental challenges and discord. They have collectively opened the doors to evil and partnered with the evil one. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The world, the earth, the environment responds to spiritual allegiances. Your world has given their allegiance to sin and idols. Behind those idols is bondage, death, destruction. I’m not punishing the world. The world is suffering because of mankind‘s allegiances. They are partnered with death.

Even amongst the people who call themselves the church there are idols. They play the harlot worse than Israel. They prop up their agenda, politicians, festivals, conferences, and services and then stamp my name on their agenda while neglecting what I actually told them to do!

I love my son instructed my people to love me with all of their being to honor me with their entire lives; to seek first my kingdom, to care for the poor, to fight for for holy justice; to make disciples, to add value, to preach the genuine good news of my son.

Your world must pursue my son to live; seek him and live. Come out of agreement with what does not align with the kingdom of heaven; come into alignment with what my son is doing. This requires those who are called by my name to seek my voice, know my voice, and follow. Lay aside personal and cultural agendas to pursue heavens agenda. We are calling your world to repentance and relationship.”

I am blessing you. May you and I pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

Love in Him,

Erin Lamb

Are We Different or Just Like the World?

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Do we look, talk, or behave any differently than those who do not claim to know Jesus? I ask myself this question, so not picking on anyone else. I will say since 2016 I have encountered countless people who exited Christianity over the church’s obsession with a political party and candidate, over the blatant ignoring or horrible responses to racial unrest (our job is supposed to be justice and reconciliation, not throwing black on black crime stats at people (btw white on white crime is higher!)) or ignoring the pain of hurting people, over the nastiness, rebellion, and vileness that has come out of some Christians over face masks or not getting their way.

The primary allegiance is to be God for a believer, not the earthly country where we were born. Our greatest loyalty is to God, not a flag or nation. Our mandates first come from heaven, not the government. We are Ambassadors of Heaven on earth if we are truly united with God. We showcase who He is, His vision, His character and attributes. We are not our own! We live under the jurisdiction of a Higher Power, the highest power. We reverence God first!!! We worship God, not politicians, not political party, not ourselves, not ideologies, not the church, not ministers, not money, not pleasure, not youth, not marriage, not sex, not keeping up the Joneses, not miracles/signs/wonders, not material possessions. We worship GOD; the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

We are in this world, yet not of this world. We are children of the light, not traffickers of the darkness. We are royalty. We are are seated in heavenly places with Jesus, if we are truly united with Him. We are not led by our flesh or worldly passions. We are led by the Spirit of God who continually bears good fruit.

Those who do not have the Spirit of God in them are NOT the children of God, not heirs, and will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no condemnation (final judgement of God’s wrath) for those who are in Christ Jesus who LIVE according to the Spirit and NOT after the flesh. If you and live according to the flesh (the selfish, self centered, ego, me first, lustful pursuits) we are unwise to think God is going to slap a gold star on us and say, “Good job.” God corrects those He calls a son or daughter.

I ask God to deal with me more than anyone else. God change me from the inside out and allow that transformation to manifest in such a way that it glorifies your Son. He paid the highest price to pull me out of death and into the light. I am no longer a slave, I am God’s friend. I ask God to purge me of limiting beliefs, any false beliefs from growing up in church (some people meant well, yet they taught things the wrong way), and I ask God to help me crucify my flesh so it comes up into alignment with heaven. What does this mean. I ask God to help me to not live out of my ego, out of selfishness, out of the me-centric worldview. You know, the “God bless me and no one else,” mantra.

So my prayer for us today is we cast aside living like the world and live abiding (remaining intimately connected) to Jesus. May we know Jesus for ourselves, know God’s love, and then reveal who He is to the world. God cares far more where people spend eternity than for our comfort. Earth is our temporary assignment, heaven is our permanent home. We live from and for eternity!

God bless you! Seek first the precepts, presence, and knowledge of God.

Warmly,

Erin

Want Better? Become Better!

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I have been more focused on writing about relationships because for the past 6 years I have been doing a process called soul healing with people. I have seen countless clients in toxic repeating relationships. I also had to examine my own life and what I was settling for in friendships and connections.

It’s quite easy to blame other people. It requires maturity and growth to examine our role in the problem. If something negative keeps repeating in our lives, the common denominator is us. I will speak from my own experiences first, then add below the post on becoming better.

I had a bad habit of giving people the benefit of the doubt, allowing people too much access to my life without properly vetting them (this was mainly Christian friendships), and I would befriend anyone-even the people others avoided. I soon learned why people avoided them. 🙂 I over gave to people who did not match my effort, nor valued my time. I introduced my “friends” to each other and eventually they formed their own cliques and treated me like an outsider.

I had to become better and be a better steward of my heart and life. No one else will do this for you! God won’t force people to love you, care for you, invest in you, or value who you are. YOU MUST LOVE YOU! You must decide to look at your weak points and become better. I promise when you focus on becoming the best version of yourself, loving yourself as God does, setting better boundaries, getting your soul healed, you will attract better people and tolerate less nonsense from people.

I started a quest of becoming better, wiser, and a better steward of myself. My life drastically changed. I don’t have a plethora of people I call my friend, yet the ones I do are A+ instead of F- or wishy washy.

I hope the post from my Facebook (FB) author page (facebook.com/erinlambauthor) helps and blesses you.

FB Post from 12/18/2021:

I meet people frequently who cry out for God’s best without actually asking God to help them be the best version of themselves. They want a Rolls Royce life with a dump truck mindset. They desire high quality friends without being a high quality person. They want the best, yet truth be told they are not working on their issues, soul wounds, attitude, selfishness, greed, lust, irresponsibility, or lack of wisdom. I love what Dr. Myles Monroe said, “God does not give you everything you ask for. God gives you what you demonstrate you can steward well.” If you desire better options in life, I highly recommend the following:

1. Looking at what you bring to the table. Would you want to date you, befriend you, trust you, hire you, be best friends with you, be in business with you? If not, work on you. Ask God to help you be better.

2. Examine your mindset. Our thoughts direct our path. If your mind is a swamp, ask God to clean it out. Swamp thinking: critical, constantly negative, deception, self loathing, shame, hatred, laziness, victim mindset, lust, perverted thoughts.

3. Examine if you love and accept you. Desiring personal growth and development is not self hatred, it is love. It is possible to have flaws and still love oneself. If you and I do not love ourselves as God does, we attract and/or seek out people who won’t love us either. If you examine your relationships, the ones you chose, they are a reflection of how you feel about yourself.

4. How do you manage or appreciate what God already gave you? If God gives you a person or gift, how to do care for them? Don’t ask for more or His best if you don’t take care of what you already have.

I want to give you a personal example. People have told me to buy a bigger house. I do not need a bigger house just to be fancy. A bigger house is more square footage to clean and upkeep. I know what I can handle. I know my schedule is loaded. At this point in life, I do not need a massive yard and mega mansion. I can put more money towards helping the poor.

I will give you another example. What we do not take care of breaks down. Take care of your body, soul, and spirit. I found myself in a season where I was just irritated by everyone. I had neglected rest and self care. Client loads started slowing. It was good because I needed to recoup. God does not give us more than we can manage well.

Be better!

  • Read books.
  • Renew your mind.
  • Deal with your toxic mindsets and behaviors.
  • Get 360 feedback; ask friends or family how you can love them better.
  • Deal with poor views of self; you attract how you feel about you.
  • Address poor boundaries.
  • Be a person of integrity and honor.
  • Talk to people rather than behind their backs.
  • Invest as much as you take, if not more.
  • Don’t be a leech in people’s lives.
  • Deal with the lies you believe.
  • Get your soul healed.
  • Eat right and exercise.
  • Give thanks for what you do have!
  • Take care of and appreciate what you have!
  • Ask God to help you become better!
  • Develop your skills.
  • Invite God into your weaknesses.
  • Aim to be the best version of you!!

It’s not about perfectionism, as there is no perfection outside of God. It’s about excellence and growth. The more whole we are on the inside, the better opportunities, relationships, and connections occur. Focus on becoming the best version of you and the right people and opportunities will chase you! I have been blown away by the opportunities and people I have met since I started changing myself. Obviously God is a tremendous part of the transformation, yet I had to make a decision that I was tired of being sick and tired of bad friendships and drama.

I will tell that the quest for my own soul healing, personal development and growth, meant some people walked out of my life. Some vacated without any warning and a few said they had nothing in common with me anymore. I bless them and it was for the best. I think if they had stayed in my life, I would not be on the same trajectory. They did me a favor. God upgraded my life and continues to do so. Destiny people don’t disappear, and God withholds nothing good (Psalm 84:11).

Cheering for you and I pray you put as much energy into loving yourself as you do loving others.

Love,

Erin Lamb

CEO & Founder of Lamb Enterprises LLC, Empowered & Free Merch, and Operation God is Love

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