Who's in Your Herd?

There are some places on this planet that should be safe. A mother's womb should be a safe place. A child's bed should be a safe place. Families should be safe and so should churches. Unfortunately, many are not. So many of the tragic stories I hear at women's retreats are tales of violations of one or more of these sanctuaries. The natural response of the human heart to repeated betrayals of trust is to withdraw from relationship, the scene of so many crimes of the heart. There is something tragic about a group of women, many of whom are in a self imposed exile, converging to try to grow in their relationship with God from their place of isolation.

I spoke to the combined women's groups of Leduc and Beverly Alliance Churches this past weekend. Everyone looked pretty "put together" but my experience has taught me that appearances can be deceiving. Saturday night I spoke on God's desire for us to be plugged into relationships with Him AND His body - that in fact, we can't be all that He wants us to be unless we are. We become prey for our enemy who, like a predator in the wild, targets those who drift from the herd. I concluded my talk by showing a video filmed on a South African Safari. It shows a baby water buffalo wandering from the herd and being attacked by a pride of lions who are later joined by a crocodile. (You know you are having a bad day when lions have you by the nose and a crocodile's got you by the tale!) The tug of war is on but the lions eventually win the prize. Then amazingly, the herd of water buffalo returns. They surround and fight off the lions. Almost unbelievably, the calf survives and is saved and enveloped by the security of the herd. After showing the video, I gave the women the opportunity to come out of exile and choose someone to share their secret struggles with. I was so encouraged to see little groups of women walking, talking and praying together - becoming that safe place for each other that we all need to reach our God-given potential. Seeing so many women choose community over isolation, taking the risk of trusting again, or maybe even for the first time, was the highlight of a great weekend for me. Growing to be like Christ- in community not only keeps us safe from the enemy; it makes us dangerous to the enemy!

By the way, who has your back? Who's in your herd?

You can check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Warts and All

A young man named Rob approached me as soon as the service was over, eager to tell me his story. He was attending Sunwest Church for the first time and had only been a believer for a year. I was a bit surprised at the enthusiasm with which this single young man approached me since my message had been a challenge to parents on Mother's Day. In my talk I had told the story of God inviting me to pray for the healing of a Plantar's Wart on Kendall's foot when she was four years old and how God miraculously healed her foot three days later. The wart had simply fallen out. I knew it was God's doing since He had so clearly told me to pray for healing. Until Sunday morning, I had never heard a similar story. But this young man had experienced almost exactly the same thing. He had struggled with the wart for nine months when, as a brand new Christian, he sensed God asking him to pray for healing. Rob was very excited to tell me that his wart had fallen out three days later while he was in the shower. What was God telling him through this? Maybe that he was on the right track? That he was where he was supposed to be that Sunday morning? That God cares about even the details of our lives!

Having spoken that morning on the legacy we leave as parents, I had the opportunity to talk and pray with parents and others in whose lives God was working . On Friday and Saturday, I spoke at a women's conference in Olds. All in all a very busy and productive weekend!

Going Hungry For a Good Cause

I like food. I like food a lot! There has to be something pretty significant happening to convince me to miss a meal. This past weekend, however, I willingly gave up food for 30 hours with a group of 40 plus students in Debolt, Alberta. The students were participating in the World Vision 30 hour famine. The goal is to get people to sponsor you to go without food for 30 hours. The money that is raised goes to help kids who don't have access to clean water and food in third world countries. Most students are idealists. They want to make a difference in the world and the students of Debolt did so by raising a few thousand dollars.

Not only were they making a difference in the world, but God was at work making a difference in their hearts. My role in the weekend was to speak to the hungry students Friday and Saturday and then speaking in church on Sunday.

A number of students indicated that God had been speaking to them which is always cool. At the end of the event one young man came to me and said "I have been wanting to speak with you all weekend. After the first session I wanted to tell you it had really impacted me. Then I wanted to tell you the same thing after the second session. Then I felt the same after the third session. This is just what I needed this weekend."

Sunday during the communion time a number of students publicly indicated that they were going to follow Jesus no matter what. A huge number of the parents publicly released their students to fully follow God's call on their lives.

Not only did some students help fill some hungry bellies in the third world, but God helped fill some students' hungry hearts!

More Than a Passion for Fashion

Within the first few moments of arriving at the Westview Baptist Women's Retreat at Pioneer Lodge, I met a woman who had heard me speak before. She said, "I don't remember anything you said but you were all dressed in pink. Even your toenails were painted pink." I jokingly responded that I must be far more depressed now, since I was dressed that day head to toe in black. Now, I like to look as good as the next woman. But the thought that the only impression left on this lady from our previous encounter, years earlier, had to do with my outfit - that was a discouraging way to begin this retreat.

It was a small group and I had the opportunity to sit down with a few of the women one on one and hear how God was using my talks to intersect their stories. Four communicated that they had entered into a new relationship or new depth of relationship with Christ. And before I left, the same woman who greeted me with the fashion commentary approached me again. She said, "Every word you spoke this weekend was for me. Each of your talks directly addressed what is going on in my life. God used you to speak to me."

I don't really care if this woman remembers me or my wardrobe the next time we meet. My prayer is that she remembers the specific ways God spoke to her. That He knows what's going in in her life and cares enough to address her needs personally - even through a speaker with a passion for fashion.