Orlando

7 days ago, our country experienced a massacre of unprecedented degree. 50 people lost their lives, 53 more people were injured beyond just the physicality's that result from wounds of such magnitude. I myself have experienced the pain resulting from loosing a loved one to bullet wounds. The psychological devastation alone is almost unbearable. There is no telling how detrimental these lasting results will be for the individuals who were personally effected. The devastation doesn't end with the yellow tape that lines the walls of Pulse night club: there are mothers who are left to grieve for their children, friends whose only peace comes from saved text messages and memories, co-workers who are left lonely because a colleague's desk is now empty. The sinister aftermath continues to ricochet throughout the city of Orlando, the media and ultimately, our entire country and to be honest, I am left with so many conflicting feelings. Not towards the victims and their families, because, as any healthy human response should be, I am in horror, shock and grief over the loss of life and the hate that fired off into the night without any regard for those dear people. But what confuses me- more so what enrages me, are the disgusting slurs, statuses, comments and articles projecting from the mouths of people who claim that they are representations of Christ.

In our Bible study last week, one of our Pearls emotionally expressed her aggravation towards the

attitudes of "Christians" who used this tragedy as their soap box to belittle, devalue and disrespect the lives that were lost that night. She expressed how frustrated she was to see how ungracious, unkind and how cruel people (yes, even church people) can be. Listening to her and the other girls' reactions to some of the obscene and ruthless comments floating around the media is the true tragedy here, because, based on scripture, those who celebrate the destruction of others are misguided in their efforts of representing who God truly is.

According to 1 John 4:20-21, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister".
Various translations of this scripture use the term "neighbor" instead of brother and sister and I find this very interesting. It lead me to a conversation that Jesus had with a religious man in Luke chapter 10. This man, with all of his esteem and intellect, wanted to know the way to eternal life. Because of his pride, we wanted to test Jesus. His question was in front of a large crowd and his words were coated in arrogance. So Jesus simply asked him, "What is the greatest commandment?"

To this, the man answered, "to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself". And just who is our neighbor?

Jesus goes on to tell a story of a man who was robbed and beaten. 2 religious people pass him by, avoiding the man because he did not look clean. They could've helped him, but instead, they dismissed his plight. They overlooked his condition and his tragedy, because they were full of pride and misguided in their own evaluation of themselves. Finally, a kind man passed the hurting person and did all that was in his power to help him. He gave the man his own clothes, paid for medical attention and a place for the man to stay and eat.

"Who was the neighbor to the beaten man", Jesus asked the religious man.

The religious man regretfully admitted, "The one who showed him Mercy"

In response to this answer, Jesus says, "go and do likewise".

I am touched by this story because, if we are to truly be who God has called us to be in this world, we have to be loving and love requires mercy. It doesn't matter if we agree or disagree with someone's life choices. Being a Christian is more than words and songs on Sunday; it's a lifestyle rooted in the one ideology that the term "Christian" upholds... being like Christ! It is our calling to be Jesus in the world (1 John 4:17)- to love as he loves us, to help those who are seeking hope and to have mercy when people, whom God loves, are being mistreated and abused. How in the world can we name the name of Christ, but then celebrate when tragedy falls on people who have been made in the image of the God we claim to love?

The derogatory slurs, comments and hateful Facebook statuses that I have encountered in passing, have been offensive and appalling, especially those made by people who have manipulated God's truth to support their own hateful agendas. One preacher in Sacramento, California, went so far as to say that he wished "they" would all have their brains blown up! How grotesque! ... and in the name of God? Who are any of us to misrepresent our Savior in such a way?  Wasn't it God who tells us that His heart breaks whenever anyone suffers? He doesn't want anyone to perish but for all people to know His love and be reunited in relationship with Him (2 Peter 3:9). How then, as scripture states it, can we claim to love God whom we haven't seen, yet hate our neighbor who we clearly see? We have not been called to speak love in one breath and hate with another breath. This is hypocrisy! Remember, "If we speak in tongues of angels, but don't love, we are nothing" (1 Corinthians 13: 1).

Love does not mean that we have to abandon scripture or deny what we believe in, but what love does mean is that we respect and value all human life and celebrate all people because everyone is valuable in the eyes of God! To love is not limited to only people who are like you. In Christ, we have been called to love without limitation and to love our neighbors as ourself (Mark 12: 31). These are God's commands to His church! Time and time again, Jesus emphasized this truth to his disciples and His disciples continued to proclaim these scriptures throughout all the churches of the 1st Century and into this moment. Those were not suggestions! It was not specific only to that time and place, but for all generations who chose to follow in the name of Christ. "Love one another, as I have loved you!" (John 13: 34). To claim that we love God, much less know God personally, but then reject His commandments to love others and to show good to others is only a refection of the lack of understanding and godly wisdom one possess in their heart (1 John 2:3).

I don't want to come across ranting and raving, but please, lets' do better and lets truly strive to love like Jesus! We can disagree on important matters and still maintain kindness, gentleness and respect for others (1 Peter 3: 13-16)!  I hope this is an important reminder to all of us who proclaim Christianity: to treat others out of malice and hate is not love.  And if it's not love, it isn't Christ and if it isn't Christ, then your actions are not of God! Instead of anger and hateful words, our response should be to seek ways in which we can offer hope to those who are hurting, pray for others, be compassionate and ultimately, simply show love and kindness.
"They will know you are Christians by your love" (John 13: 35). So will the REAL Christians please stand up? Where is our love? Where is our grace and our compassion? Even God, Himself, is slow to anger! He is patient and long-suffering with all of us, who by nature are all imperfect. Wasn't it God who wanted to spare Ninevah? Didn't He tell the prophet Jonah that He loved the people, in spite of their choices? Wasn't it God who said the same thing about you and me? How then, can we accept His love for us, but then deny sharing that same love with others? We are no better than anyone. In fact, we are every man- all in need of kindness, mercy and love from the Lord.

I want to end this article with a quote made by Kelly Osbourne... It's a shame that this wasn't proclaimed from the pulpits and Facebook statuses from so called "Christians". It's something to think about...

"The tragedy in Orlando devastated me and reminded me that every moment of our lives is precious. Every human is precious. Love hard. Live gracefully, authentically and with conviction, respect, purpose and compassion."- Kelly Osbourne

Love others and be compassionate. Live gracefully. Be Jesus.

~Pearls

Flawed to Perfection

I look around me and I see beauty in everyone. I consider my family and friends- their positive characteristics as well as their less than lovely issues, and I am convinced that, deep down, everyone is loving and kind, in spite of less than admirable choices, mistakes or environments. And I'm sure I am not alone.
It's human nature to argue that our good outweighs our bad, yet even at our personal best, we are at our worst because our "goodness" and our "beauty" is only circumstantial. The sin that so easily ensures us makes it impossible for us to be completely whole, completely perfect or completely guilt free 24/7. We can do good things, say good things, act in a good way and encourage others to do the same, but without Christ, our best has holes in it and leaks out any effort we make to combat our imperfections.
Human nature tells us to excuse our flaws away; make light of wrong doings, compare ourselves to others, explain why our issues are personal and no one else's business... we've all been guilty of the "cover up". In Genesis chapter 3, we see that Adam and Eve produced the first attempt to cover and explain away their sin and man has been doing that ever since. Why? It's because the "cover up" is easier than the confession. It's easy to pretend nothing is wrong or that we have it all figured out. It's easy to excuse our messes or to avoid people who we know have higher standards for us than we do for ourselves. But there is no freedom in the "cover up". Christ has come to take away our shame and trade it for His freedom!

"But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin,

so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ."~Galatians 3:22

Sin is a prison and it confines us when we don't confess. Like weeds, it creeps in and restricts the opportunity for complete beauty to shine through. Confession is the pruning of the weeds which goals are only to hold us back and strangle God's Spirit within us, which is ours through Jesus. But let's be real. None of us go around exposing every internal conflict, mistake or issue. And as Christian women, we often get slapped with the hypocrisy syndrome- we are afraid to expose our problems in fear that others will judge or reject us. But I think it is important for us all to understand that hiding our issues is not strength, it is the lack of it. Maturity is the ability to live humbly before God and before man. Instead of hiding, its more liberating to recognize this is the number one struggle that the majority of us deal with in our lives: how to live a Christ-centered life, despite our spiritual struggles. I know I am not alone in this.


Last quarter, the Pearls completed a study on the book of Esther, and I'd like to share a quote which got my brain rolling on this subject.  "Even those most serious about their pursuit of God and godliness fail to be perfect examples all the time. That's why God is busy conforming us into the likeness of Christ."

To me, this is a sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air! In my weakness and in my struggles to avoid temptation, God has made Christ strong in me! Not so that I can continue to practice things which His word instructs me not to do, but so that I can have the resilience and the desire to say no when such things begin to slither my way.

To be human is not synonymous with hypocrisy. This was a fear that I spent the first years of my salvation trying to avoid and prove; to no avail. It's debilitating for us to deny the reality of our humanity. Christ calls us not to ignore it, but to expose it and to receive forgiveness and grace that only He can give! 1 John 1:9 is a scripture that we have committed ourselves to learn in our Bible Study:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all wrong".

Perfection is not proof of salvation! We each WILL FALL. Let's go ahead and accept that reality now and save ourselves so much stress and worry. Our beauty isn't based on our efforts, its a result of God's goodness. When we live for Him, our lives are immaculate. But when we fall, know that we fall in God's grace! Our flaws are made perfect when we trust Him with all our hearts- The great and the misguided; the struggles and the victories. His loving kindness will catch us each and every time- when we are truthful with Him, with ourselves and with others. He is more than enough for all that we endure and he equips us with what we need, as we need it. We can find trusted mentors, family members or friends to pray with us and encourage us, because this Journey with Jesus is dynamic when we are connected with others. And as we travel and grow, confess and progress, we begin to shine like Christ, in spite of our situation, and that is true Strength!

As we live this life of faith and over come our instincts to cover up, then the beauty that is ours in Christ becomes more visible and exposed. This is the true testimony: not that we are good, but that God is great! We each have our ashes, but God wants to trade them for His beauty (Isaiah 61:3). That is what makes others feel encouraged and motivated to take part in this life of Grace!

One day, we will shine like our savior and we will be free from all of our flaws, but until then...Be bold in your living! Grace is not meant to be covered up, but shared and displayed! His love is continuously perfecting us and that is worth smiling about!
~Pearls