My Dear and Darling Fellow Sojourners, I wish I had all the time to be on here this morning that I’d like to take for this post but I am in the midst of preparing five messages for the Life Today taping this weekend. To say I have some work to do today is an understatement and I bet many of you know the feeling. Our schedules are beyond us, aren’t they, Girls? My heart is so impressed with something, however, that it’s about to burst so I’ll at least offer it in the short version and leave it in God’s hands.

So many of us in this community have been freed from big things. We’ve also, thanks to the persistent, sustaining grace of God, learned how to be on guard against other big things. We know that there’s a life we do NOT want to return to and that our joy, our anointing and our profound effectiveness thrive only when we are dancing free in Christ. But it’s occurred to me again recently how insidious the smaller things can be. If our enemy can’t hang us with one big rope, he’ll gladly strangle us with a thousand threads.

We forget we’ve been set free. We keep returning back to that enslaved way of thinking and living and find ourselves in bondage to a host of little masters. Most of these things are not bad in themselves. Maybe they’re even good. They’ve just taken more authority and attention than they should. I’ve had one of those recently. That’s not true. I’ve had a lot more than one but there is one in particular I became most aware of. It wasn’t a bad thing. Not a sinful thing. It had just become too much of a thing. It had the makings of an addiction and, Lord, have mercy, I’m the last person who needs to open that door again. I had lost the ability to be moderate with it. People can say what they want about whether or not we can hear the inaudible voice of God in our spirits but, as I live and breathe, there I was doing that thing again and I felt Him say, “STOP IT.” Not forever because it’s not a bad thing. In fact, a person would be kinda weird without ever doing this particular thing again. The instruction I discerned from the Spirit was to give it up just long enough to gain back some moderation. Would you believe, as silly as the thing was, that the first few days without it were really hard? That’s how I know it had the makings of an addiction. A week later, however, I felt a full release of joy. It wasn’t even a challenge anymore. In fact, it was a praise and a restoration of time and energy and focus that I could lift up to God. It’s been a month now and my date for having it restored is coming up pretty soon. I feel cheerful about it but, mostly, I couldn’t care less. I could live without it a whole lot longer if I needed to.

1 Corinthians 6:12 speaks to those things that aren’t bad in themselves but have the propensity to enslave us. Those things that I’m referring to, in this post, as little masters. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul reframed a common colloquialism of his time. You’ll see it in quotations in the segment below just as you’d see it in quotations in most of your translations. Paul was frustrated with new believers in Christ who were twisting around the whole idea of freedom from religious laws and using a common saying in their culture to support their carnal appetites. He made a distinction that is the difference between day and night in our daily lives if we’re willing to listen.

“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything.

Something may be permissible that has grown out of proportion until it has ceased to be beneficial. It has taken a place of mastery. Authority. We feel enslaved to it. Maybe some of us can actually go from addiction straight to moderation but most of us have to actually stop the thing for a while to give the power over us time to break. Then, if our flesh dies down about it and we can manage to rediscover that beautiful thing called moderation, we can reintroduce it. IF we will employ the strength of the Holy Spirit within us to command it to behave and keep its place. I’ve had a few other things in my life, things that offered no benefit whatsoever, that simply had to be cast out for good. And, after I could get over those first pangs of craving, I gladly said good riddance.

That’s not bondage to me. That’s not a life of denial to me. That’s freedom. That’s where I’m happy. Effective. Liberated. That’s where my arms are loosed to grab hold of all the incomprehensible graces for which I was apprehended. (Phil. 4:12) I don’t know how this speaks to you today but sometimes we in find ourselves in similar places. It’s often not the big things, Girls. It’s that host of tiny masters. Put them back in their place. They’ve grown from trolls into monsters.

I love you. I’m committed to walking victoriously with you. Let’s remember today that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

A few days ago, I ran to Kroger for some speed shopping when I was overcome by a sudden craving for bacon. I could nearly taste it, burned to a perfect crisp like my Nanny used to make it when we were taking a day off from charred quarter-sized patty sausage. I can fry up some mean bacon. Except for the minor variation of frying mine up in the microwave with a paper towel on it, family members in a blind-taste-test can’t tell a speck of difference. The paper towel that occasionally gets lodged between your back teeth comes out easily with a toothpick after an hour or two of softening. And, around these parts, we always have a toothpick. Motivation mounting by the minute, I flipped through the packages searching for a pound that looked vaguely lean. And just when a sinking soul would be tempted to wax philosophical with that deep, troubling question, “Isn’t lean bacon an oxymoron?,” I came upon a beautiful sight. Right there on the bright, shiny package of a well-known brand: “30% Less Fat!”

Smug with a heart-smart selection of fine meats, I headed to check-out with my lean sliver of wisdom, wishing I could pull a coupon for it out of my purse while everyone else in line froze with awe at my every-womanliness. Darn it, where had I put that environmentally friendly Kroger bag I bought last year when Melissa went light green? Nevertheless, I floated on air to the car, put my cart in the parking lot-slot in case someone was watching, then floored my mini SUV all the way home. I flew into the kitchen with bliss in a white plastic bag.

I grabbed some scissors, cut open the package and pulled out a few pieces, ready to fry them up to my healthy heart’s content. That’s when I had my first suspicions about that 30% less fat. But, I’ll let you be the judge. Here’s a look at the package:

A closer look at that percentage. OK, I realize it’s a bit blurry but it wouldn’t have been nearly as realistic if I’d removed it from the clear plastic. And if I’m anything at all, I’m a realist.

Luckily, I happened to still have a few leftover slices of regular bacon in the refrigerator, so I pulled them out, just in case I was imagining things.

Then, I fried up 2 slices from each package. That’s a toothpick on the left-hand side, so you can measure the bacon to proper scale. Keith and I are more sophisticated than many of our extended family members. We insist only upon toothpicks that come in colors.

So, there you have it. Thirty per cent less fat. Your Siesta-shopping tip for the weekend: if you want 30% less fat, eat 30% less bacon. Sniff.

You learned it right here.

8:15 PM UPDATE: I FOUND MY SPIRAL!! PRAISE GOD!! I am so happy. Thanks for getting into that with me, Siestas!

Y’all, I’m nearly panicked. I cannot find my Scripture memory spiral this morning! I’d already written my new Scripture in it for this round and I’ve seen it within the last twenty-four hours but I don’t know where I set it last! I looked in all the regular places and especially at the console of my car but no sign of it. I have a feeling that it slipped into the floor board and under the front seat but it was too dark to see in there when I was out searching this morning. Of course, I can fill in a whole new one but I WANT THE ORIGINAL. It and I have been through a lot together this year! I always write my address in the front of my spiral in case it ever gets lost and I’m careful to word it in such a way that the finder can clearly see that it’s an emergency. “IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO…!” So, if I left it somewhere, maybe someone will have mercy on me and mail it back to me. Blast. I bet I find it this morning. Lord have mercy, I’m one of those who can even manage to turn Scripture memory cards into drama. Well, there you go.

Here’s my verse for this round. It’s out of The Message and I love it already!

Invigorate my soul so I can praise You well,
use Your decrees to put iron in my soul. Psalm 119:175 The Msg

OK, Siestas, let’s hear yours! I love you guys.

PS. Watch for the announcement of the 30 winners of 2 tickets to the LPL 2010 of their choice tomorrow (Friday) morning!

*Comments are now closed. We will announce the winners on Friday morning. We’re so excited!*

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, AMANDA!!

It is none other than Siestaville’s very own faithful Blog-Master’s big day and we are going to party down! True to form, she has requested that 30 of you get something for her 30th birthday. And since she is my firstborn and it’s such a big year, I’ve decided to give her a double portion of what she’s asked and total the number of giveaways at 60. Amanda loves friends and friendships as much as anyone I’ve ever known so, in her honor, we’re going to do our giveaways in pairs and let friends enjoy them together. Here’s how it’s going to work:

We are going to leave this post open for 24 hours then do a random drawing of 30 commenters (YOU CAN ONLY COMMENT ONCE!). Those thirty winners will each receive 2 tickets – one for her and a friend – to the Living Proof Live event of their choice in 2010. (See LPL schedule on our website for a list of terrific cities.) If you don’t have a blogger identity, no big deal but, be sure and identify yourself in your comment with your first name and your city. You will also be identified by the exact time you commented. Winners will be posted after the random drawing in 24 hours and told how to contact us. WE ARE PUMPED! (Remember, we moderate all our comments here on this blog which means they each have to be approved. That means your comment may not show up right away or may not show up for several hours. I’m spending the day with Amanda for her birthday so I will be away from the blog for chunks of hours at the time. I’ll get right back to it when I can. Please don’t comment a second time until 8 hours have passed and you still don’t see yours. Since this one involves a drawing, we have to keep it fair, Siestas!)

Now, humor a mother for a few minutes while I take a walk down memory lane with one of the most wonderful creatures God ever caused to touch my life. Happy Birthday, Darling! Dad, your Noogs and I love you so, so much.

Anybody want to go to the Memphis Living Proof Live event this weekend but can’t spare the money for a ticket? Thanks to the Siesta Scholarship Fund, we have ten tickets to give away. Please call Living Proof Ministries toll free at 1-888-700-1999 during work hours (8:30-4:30 CST) and ask for Susan or Kimberly. If you want to be there, we want you there. We love you, Siestas!

Lately God has really been bringing that first part of Hebrews 11:6 back to my mind in living, breathing color like on a cartoon strip of a newspaper. You probably know the verse by heart even if you don’t know exactly where it lives: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Don’t dismiss it or yawn past it with over-familiarity because it encompasses the single most important concept of our existence. On most mornings as I meet with God in the quiet before dawn, I say some form of these words: “Lord, I want so much to please you…” Recently, I’ve found myself in a season where I’m having to put very deliberate, focused trust in God in order not to be overcome by a few obstacles and invitations to fear. It’s not a bad place to be. It’s just a very intense place to be. Those seasons never fail to become the most memorable markers on my path with Christ. A few days ago when I was saying those same words to Him (“I want so much to please You, Lord”), I felt like He spoke back. These very clear and unsolicited thoughts formed like a pencil sketch on the wall of my mind: “Beth, you keep telling Me that you want to please Me and I esteem that. It is seeing you exercise your faith with great courage and against emotions and odds that pleases Me most. You’ve had a little break in some areas lately. What do you say we get back to that walk again?”

I’ve even been saying my Five Statement Pledge of Faith again. I bet a few of you could finish these sentences with me:

God is who…

God can…

I am…

I can…

God’s Word is…

I’m…

Nope. Not a bad place to be at all. Just intense. For some of you in Siestaville, really intense. Much more intense than what I’m going through. I want Him and the sense of His presence more than anything in this whole world. I’ve tasted it and there’s nothing in life like it. Many of you feel that same way. This many decades into a journey with Christ, I’ve concluded that the paths where our faith is stretched beyond our circumstances, our emotions, and natural conclusions are the ones where we receive the most vivid divine disclosures. These are the experiences that shape the paragraphs of our life stories. These are what keep us from being the snoozers and reward-losers in the Body of Christ. These are our hikes up the mountain where Jesus is transfigured before us. I am convinced that, in seasons that call for a powerful outbreak of faith, victory is never accidental. We make up our minds to believe God. To make no choice at all is to choose defeat. Fear. Intimidation. Constant psychological warfare.

SO, my verses this time around in our Scripture memory challenge are centered on faith because I find myself there again. I’m not feeling whiny because this is the place the Word jumps off the page for me and my prayer time passes before I’m finished. This is the place I grow. Every other place is where I simply maintain. Don’t get me wrong. Maintaining is not a bad thing as long as we can swing on the Vine to the other side of the road when we get an opportunity to land in a growth spurt. I’m choosing several verses this time because they’re each familiar enough to me to be fairly easy to memorize. I know them by concept and paraphrase. Now I want to know them word for word. If you want, choose just one of them and let it build up your sweet faith. Maybe you’ve forgotten lately that you are a warrior. He is so worthy of this, Sister.

Of Abraham, Romans 4:20-21 NIV says…

“He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”

(By the way, when I recite that one to God, I’ll probably often take it personally and use a “she” for me instead of a “he” for Abraham. After all, his faith walk is over and mine is still very much in flux.)

And one more. It’s a really short portion but it shoots a straight shot and I love it. It’s Isaiah 7:9b NIV…

“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

No kidding. Let’s get back up, Girls. Remember, faithfulness is never passive. It is the active filling of every gap with faith.

You are so loved here. We are honored to take this journey with you.
I love you.

It’s Sunday evening and the sun is just beginning to set. All afternoon I’ve felt waves of appreciation for my pastor, Gregg Matte. Until five years ago, I’d never had a shepherd who was younger than me, let alone one that is YEARS younger than me. I didn’t dread it. I’m not that ridiculous. I just wondered what it would be like. Pastor Gregg pretty quickly won my respect but, over the course of these five years, he accomplished something substantially bigger. He won my heart. I love him. And, maybe more importantly, I just plain like him.

I was just standing in the kitchen, stirring up some chili when I thought how it would be a shame to let this day end without telling him how grateful I am for him. It’s not pastor appreciation day or anything. Or at least I don’t think it is. It’s just a spontaneous wave of thanks and sometimes those are the best kind to relay. I thought maybe a few of you might feel the same way about your pastor right about now. Often we find ourselves on the same page around here in Siestaville so I decided to make it public and pitch the opportunity out here for anyone who wants to participate. Maybe a pastor or two might hop on here and grab some much needed encouragement. Like me, you may have a long list of things you love about your pastor but, for the sake of readability, let’s limit ourselves to five. So, here goes mine.

Dear Pastor Gregg,

Here are five things I really like about you:
1. You never, ever disrespect your congregation by showing up unprepared. We always get all the lesson we can possibly handle in such a limited period of time.

2. You are not afraid of trying something entirely new. You were already great at what you were doing in college ministry before you came to serve us in Houston but you wanted to follow that cloudy pillar of God’s glory and be willing to do something totally out of the box. You’ve been doing that ever since. Bravo. That takes guts.

3. You are a true worshipper. You fully participate in the song portion of our services instead of tapping your foot impatiently until you can get on the platform. Your personal practice of worship is very apparent in your public life.

4. You are hilarious. I’m one of those folks who believes people can be Godly and funny all at the same time. You are proof of that. Honestly, you made me laugh so hard at the end of today’s service I could hardly stand up. I will remember your rendition of “even the rocks cry out” for many years to come. I LOVE THAT YOU DID THAT. AND NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. We could perform a duet some day if you want to.

5. You are married to the most wonderful pastor’s wife on the planet. Kelly, I am crazy about you.

Thank you for loving me and my family, Pastor Gregg, odd as we may be. I just wanted to tell you today that we love you, too.

Forgive.

It’s time to let it go.

That thing’s gonna eat you alive.

Wasting time.

Taking too much energy.

Emphatically, deliberately, bull-headedly – put every weighty ounce of it in the ready hands of God and let Him deal with it.

AND DEAL HE WILL.

Every time you’re tempted to pick it back up again, thank Him out loud that He’s busy handling it and that, once the battle is won in the heavenlies, you’ll see it evidenced on Earth. Prepare to become that evidence.

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:9-14

He forces the point for our own sakes. Otherwise, what on earth would ever motivate us to forgive what seems unforgivable? He is the immortal, invisible Only Wise God. Trust Him with it.

Forgive.

Or maybe it’s just me.

I love you guys so much. Let’s do the brave thing.

PS. I had not yet had a chance to read the comments from the previous blog post (Deeper Still video) because I’ve been so busy with Tuesday night Bible study. I just read them and wait till you see an excerpt I found from one of you and how it goes with this one. You even said that you knew it didn’t have anything to do with that post but you just had to write it. SO WILD. Girlfriend, God prompted you to make the comment so I’d see it and add it to this one. Here goes:

I have been holding onto unforgiveness toward my dad for leaving me as a little girl, and for continuing to hurt me into my present adulthood. I have fake-forgiven him, held onto it with one hand and to my First Love with the other. And let me tell you, the poison that my divided heart has let into my life is unreal…

NO MORE! PRAISE YOU, LORD! THE KING OF KINGS!!

Pretty powerful, huh? SO, anybody else ever “fake forgiven”? It’s time we did the real thing.

Oh, my, my, my. It is a HAPPY BUSY DAY at Living Proof. We launch our community-wide, interdenominational Tuesday Bible study this very night. We feel like this is the prime thing God ordained this ministry to do. We are discipleship freaks so, as much as we love going into cities and doing weekend events, our highest calling is to walk with a group from Point A to Point B to Point C in a particular book of the Bible or subject matter over a course of several months. We are PUMPED.

Very early this morning while I was at my breakfast room table working on my notes for tonight, I got a call from Melissa who sounded like she was in the first grade. She was on her way to orientation for her second Master’s program (Th.M. in the area of Biblical Studies). Her classes will have her in at least four different books of the Bible so she’s all set for an intense semester in the Scripts.

Amanda will be right there with me and the rest of our hardworking staff as we launch Bible study so that covers the 3 Moore girls. What about all you marvelous Siestas? You may not be starting your Fall Bible studies this week but we surely do hope you are planning to engage in a Bible study of some kind this semester and, hopefully, sooner than later. All our enemy needs is a little time with an idle mind. Around Siestaville, holding each other accountable to the healthy pursuit of Christ is a big priority. So, here’s your chance to sign on the dotted line! What are your plans for Fall Bible Study? In your comment, give…

Your first name or blogger name
The Bible study type (BSF, Precept, etc.), name or subject matter
City and State
Specify solo or group

I always love these kinds of posts. They build up our faith and remind us that a very powerful community of active Christ-pursuing, Scripture-poring sisters is out there. We have different personalities, gifts and styles of worship in Siestaville, but we are of one Spirit and one Body. Let’s celebrate it!

My Dear Sisters,

The information I am about to share will only involve those of you who have attended a couple of recent events because I never shared it on the blog. At the same time, this is the most public forum I have for making a public statement so, with your cooperation, that’s the purpose of this post. At the Albuquerque Living Proof Live (July 10-11) and the Greensboro Deeper Still (July 31-Aug.1), I told a story and read an excerpt from a biography entitled “Hannah” that, unknown to the author, was a stunning fabrication. We just had it confirmed last night.

I would never in a million years knowingly mislead the people I have the privilege to serve. In a ministry of this kind, you can imagine that we’ve had many fraudulent stories come through the ministry and most of them never make it to second base. For extenuating reasons beyond what we can share here, this particularly well-crafted one got past us. We did not stumble on the book or the message. We were very much pursued – not by its author but – by its contriver.

I am so sorry, ladies. We would like to do everything we can to offer recompense for our mistake. If you purchased the book based on hearing me tell the story, we want to cover your costs. If you will send the book to us at the address below, along with your name, the event you attended where you heard the story, how you got the book (for instance, Amazon, bookstore, etc.) and how much you paid for it, we will without hesitation send you a check covering that amount. If you happen to still have a receipt or documentation (for instance, from Amazon) stating the amount you paid, if you wouldn’t mind including it, that’s even better. We did not distribute the book nor carry the book on our list of resources but we still feel responsible for those who purchased it. We want to make sure that we bear the expense for our mistake instead of you. Here is our ministry address:

Living Proof Ministries

12131 Malcomson Road

Houston, Texas 77070-2381

Again, remember to include the requested information so we can keep our accounting ducks in a row. I know that you must really be curious and you may be tempted to call or email for more information. We must leave it at this because the story is in constant flux. Based on how things have transpired over the last five days, I fear that the moment I told you one thing, another would surface to contradict it. In order to guard ourselves against perpetuating any further misinformation, we are wise to stay with the most basic facts as we know them. The woman’s story was a lie. That’s what we know. For that same reason, I think we better leave the comments closed on this one so that we don’t raise more questions than answers. Since attention was sought at the disposal of truth and integrity, the best thing we could do is limit the attention it gets now. Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation.

Well, my dear Siestas, as you can see, we’re still living and learning around here. We want to believe, love and trust so badly as we serve the public and we want to be highly discerning without twisting off in the flesh of cynicism. The enemy is often very good at his job. You will never waste a prayer on us.

God is so faithful! So worthy of our absolute devotion! So entirely believable!
Thank you for your patience and support. I surely do love you.
Beth