Starbucks and the Heart of God

The title itself is quite an oxymoron, I know. But let me begin by saying, I'm not supporting Starbucks, but I do enjoy a nice Starbucks frappuccino once in a while. However, I'm also not supporting Christians who have nothing better to do with their time than complain about a disposable cup. I have to wonder, are these same Christians praying or sharing the gospel as much as they're complaining? And if they aren't, then quite frankly, I don't really want to hear their opinion on the color of a cup or the lack of holiday spirit.

This month Missions Month at my church here in Peru. Last week for the kick off, the young adults (feels weird saying that as I don't feel that old myself yet) came in at the beginning of the service carrying flags from varying countries and lined up along the walls of the auditorium. My eyes began to water and my throat tightened as I tried to keep myself from becoming a ball of weeping flesh in my seat.

As I sat there, eyes watering and lips quivering, I thought two things.
1. Why am I responding like this? They're just flags.
2. Am I doing enough? Am I where I'm supposed to be or is God calling me elsewhere?

Then, as the announcements ran and the pastor got up to speak, I began to think and respond to these questions.

1. I responded in this way because my heart is broken for this world. The sinful nature of humanity, the downward spiral even Christians are facing, hate for our brethren, judgement that should be left to God, hidden sins, pride...I could go on an on. Each of those flags represent people who are lost and dying. Each of those flags represent nations where missionaries are working to spread the Gospel, and some of those flags represent nations where the Gospel is forbidden, yet God has sent His chosen ones to go and discretely share the Word.

2. I don't think I am doing enough. So, God sent me to Peru as a teacher, but I should be doing more to share His message, too. What's the next step? It's no longer me who decides where God is calling me, but I have to convince my husband as well. What is he thinking? Are we called to be missionaries somewhere? Are we called to be more involved with a missions organization here?

Honestly, I know I'm not doing enough to be an ambassador of Christ. My last blog post is proof of that, and I can't say I've stepped up my game much since that post either. I also honestly believe that if God calls me to be a missionary somewhere, He'll give that calling to my husband as well. As far as being more involved in missions here in Peru, Javier and I have that talk on a regular basis. It's just so difficult with his schedule to both be highly involved somewhere. We're working on it though.

I've spent this week in earnest prayer for missionaries I know and miscellaneous missionaries around the world. I admire them and what they're doing, and I sometimes wish God had given me that call rather than calling me to be a teacher. But then I'm reminded that being a teacher is one of the greatest callings. It allows me to work with young minds, to shape their thinking and to set an example for them that they may not see elsewhere.

Then there's the Starbucks issue. While I'm over hear worrying about the spiritually dead around the world and praying for missionaries in places much worse than where I find myself, Christians in North America are in an uproar over a disposable cup. First world problems at their finest.

Okay, I get it; the so called "Holiday cup" lacks holiday decorations. But, would you say snowflakes and pine trees represent Christ more than a simple red cup does? As a friend stated tonight, "I don't think the snowflakes of years past had anything more to say about our sinful nature and our gift of a Savior than the color red." She also stated that the red color of the cup could be argued that it represents the cleansing blood of Christ spoken about in many church hymns.

Dear Brethren,

We're missing the bigger picture!! Wake up!! Open your eyes and look around you! While you're boycotting Starbucks and tweeting/posting about how awful they are for eliminating holiday decor from their cups, people are being killed around the world. Christians are being jailed and/or killed for their faith. Have you stopped to pray for them, or are you too busy telling everyone how awful Starbucks is for choosing a red design for their cups? What if they used their normal cups year round, would you complain about that, too? At least the cup is red, right? That must stand for something.

Are you worried about seeing your lost friends saved? Are you taking a stand for Christ and speaking out against sin in a loving way, or are you spreading hate to those who believe different than you? Have you stopped to consider that it's absolutely ridiculous to even think that someone who is not saved should support the Gospel or even find it necessary to have Christmas decorations? Why celebrate Christmas if you don't believe in Christ? Yeah, the gifts are nice, but I could buy the same gift for myself if I wanted.

The unsaved have no reason to think, believe, or act as Christians should. They don't know Christ, they don't know His redeeming power, and they don't know they are lost.

It's our job to get off our our high horses, leave judgement to the Lord, and start sharing the Gospel in a way that causes others to desire what we have. It's time to make a change in our thinking, to change our point of view and to put our priorities in order. We need to stop expecting non-believers to act like believers. It's time to stop spreading hate and to quit making Christianity distasteful to the lost. It's time to start making Jesus desirable and attractive. It's time to bring the Kingdom to the people and make them long for eternal life in heaven.

It's time to stop complaining about all the bad, but to be the positive change.

Yours truly,
Jessica


So in conclusion, think about your words and actions, pray for the lost, and go out and share the Gospel. The world is waiting for you!

1 Corinthians 2:14 - The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.


**Disclaimer: I am not perfect, and I have a long way to go before I am. I've written this post as much for myself as I have for you. Accept the challenge.

**Disclaimer: I am fully aware that Starbucks has made comments in the past contradictory to our Christian faith. I fully expect that; it's a company ran by non-Christians. I know that due to these previous comments, the removal of winter decorations from the cup comes as another sign that they are not for Christ. However, I will say it again - it's absolutely ridiculous to think that non-Christians should understand the importance of holiday decor when for them Christmas is just a day for gifts that most of them could by for themselves.

Dear Complacent Christian,

Disclamier: Let me begin by saying this post is a reminder for myself as well.

You go to church on Sunday {when you feel like it}, but you seldom touch your Bible otherwise. Maybe you even have multiple Bibles lying around your home collecting dust. {I know I have a few!}

Considering today is Independence Day here in the USA, I can't help but be grateful for the freedom I have to worship the Lord, when I want, how I want, and where I want. I don't have to worry about being taken to jail for listening to Christian music with my car windows down. I don't have to fear that I will be killed if someone catches me walking into my church on Sunday morning or Tuesday evening.  I can take my Bible outside on my patio and read with a cup of coffee while enjoying the morning sunrise and songs of the birds, and my neighbors aren't persecuting me for it.

Do you know how many people around the world would give their right arm for the opportunity to attend church without fearing for their life? Do you know how many Christians around the world attend church in secret for many hours a week knowing that if they are caught they may face imprisonment or death? Do you know how many people around the world are begging to hold the Word of God in their hands maybe even for the first time? Check out this map entitled World Watch List Countries {Click on the link, I dare you.You may be shocked by the widespread "suffering" of our brothers and sisters.}

Our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, particularly in the 10/40 window, are those people! Many of them have little, living on less than $2 a day. Many of them are separated from their families, suffering from disease and/or malnutrition, and are mocked and taunted for their faith, yet they still praise Jesus. Many of these Christian brothers and sisters sneak to "church" on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday {whatever day they may decide on}. They congregate in homes, they congregate in small, unmarked buildings, they congregate in secret not IN a church but AS a church. They passionately pray about everything, have deep desire to follow the Lord, and long to see their lost ones saved. Their Bibles {if they have them} are their most prized possessions.

*Another Disclaimer: I do believe that these secret congregations probably include those of mediocre faith, but overall I do believe the vast majority are deeply committed believers.*

If you are living in a nation or state where you are free to attend church when you want without fear of severe persecution or even death, consider yourself blessed. However, I also believe that the easy manner in which many of my friends and family attend church has made us numb to the true demands of the Bible - to give up everything and follow Christ. {How much do we truly sacrifice to follow Christ here in the grand 'ol USA?} We've become content simply attending church, checking it off our list first thing Sunday morning and putting God on the back burner until the following week. Some of us may pick up our Bibles as time permits, and we bow our heads before meals. Yet, how deep is our true faith? Do we trust God with every aspect of our beings or only with the things we can't do on our own? What are we doing to see the lost save? Do we risk our lives for the sake of the cross?

Read 2 Timothy 3:12-17 {below or click the link}.

12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

When I think about my persecuted brothers and sisters my natural instinct is to feel sorry for them. However, more and more, I'm realizing that feeling sorry for them probably isn't the best response. I'm jealous of them. I'm jealous of their deep passion and commitment. {You'd have to be deeply committed to attend church in their situations.} I'm envious of the unity and willingness of the congregations to help one another out and to pray for one another. They are blessed because of their suffering and endurance, and I long for the deep faith they have due to their persecutions and full dependence of God to carry out His will for His glory.

Romans 5:3-5 says, "We glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Now, I don't think this suffering here explicitly means persecution, but it definitely hints at it. Our persecuted brothers and sisters have hope. They have hope and faith that God will protect them against the wills of Satan. They have hope of what's yet to come. They long deeply for that day when Christ returns and His people are brought into His eternal presence. They live for that, and they persevere because they trust with their whole being that in the end it will be worth it.

Ask yourself, "How deep is my faith, really?" If day in and day out you were mocked for you faith would you keep believing in God? If you had to attend church in secret knowing you could be imprisoned or lose your life if you were to be caught would you keep going? How important is your Bible to you? If your house caught on fire would you grab it with your other "special" belongings or would you leave it behind to burn? Are you willing to share the gospel with the lost at the risk of being made fun of or cursed at? Are you willing to live out the gospel, say no to sin, and be the odd man out even when your friends are pressuring you otherwise? 

I think it's time for those of us who aren't persecuted for our faith to reexamine our commitments to the Lord. Are you seeking Him with your entire being, or are you content checking church off your list on Sunday mornings, leaving your Bible to collect dust through the week, and fitting in with the crowd rather than speaking and living truth? Are you daily in the Word and on your knees in prayer or do you only participate when you have extra time? We need to be daily on our knees, in communion with our Creator developing a deeply committed relationship with Him.

Let me leave you with this from Matthew 24:36-41: But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

How well do you truly know Him? How passionate are you really? Are you ready for His return?


*If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior or have questions about faith, please do not hesitate to ask me. I would be happy to discuss what I know with you or lead you to others who can help. All comments are moderated, and I will not post anything that I feel should be kept private.*

Filled & Wanting More

My life is filled with blessings.

My mind is set at ease.

Yet, I find my heart heavy.

And I'm falling to my knees.

Jesus, I need more of you!

I cannot do this on my own.

Each day I'm reminded of Peru,

It is my other home. 

I have nothing to complain about. My life is wonderful, and I am blessed beyond what I deserve. Yet, tonight I find myself with a broken heart wishing I could be there (Peru) serving the people who became like family. An 8-year old girl was killed outside one of the main ministries I helped with in Peru, my church there has been robbed twice in the last month, and another friend emailed me seeking prayer as he's become involved in drugs (again). This news breaks my heart. I feel so helpless here wishing there was more I could do there. 

There are good things happening in Peru, too. A dear friend of mine recently went on his first official mission trip to an area in southern Peru. Reading about his experiences reminds me of my own past feelings and accomplishments from missions experiences. I have been a part of ministry from afar as I witness my friends reaching out to others and expanding the kingdom of Christ through the group Hearts United. I have seen my friends' faith expand and their knowledge of Christ deepen as they are forced daily to stand for Christ and say no to temptations. 

I'm enjoying my life here. God has provided for me in ways I never imagined possible. I know that for this time, I am right where God wants me to be. Yet, not a day goes by that I don't ask God to take me back to Peru. I know this day will come, however, I'm just not sure when.