Defiance

I am haunted by two things. How I can ever be a part of making the Name of Jesus Christ great in our world, and how can I make even the tiniest ping of a dent in the suffering that belongs to so much of it? The two are not mutually exclusive. I know that. But I cannot escape the inexplicable feeling that I have nothing to offer for either cause. And what frightens me more than failing to meet some part of such immense need is failing to try.

For some, opportunities for "greatness" as it has been defined for us will never come in this life. We will hear the stories of others who have had this opportunity thrust upon them against their will and who have risen to the challenge. And we will wish for such a moment to come in our own lives. And we will wrestle with a fear of not rising to face it as we hope we will, a question about whether or not we will be so bold should such courage be asked of us. But how easily we forget the courage that must come with living each day as it ought to be lived. How quickly we lose sight of the truth that every day is such an opportunity. A chance to turn and face the injustice of our world head on. To let a tear fall with those who weep, to rejoice at the fortune others celebrate. To give beyond what we can afford to, to refuse to worry about providing for our own comfort. To take the path of integrity when doing so will put us at odds with the culture, to embrace without prejudice the culture that would suffocate everything we believe in. To extend a hand and expose our hearts. To refuse to be backed into a corner or beaten into submission by the threats against our pride and social standing when we offer relentless, unmerited love.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are the warriors on the front lines of the battle. It is we who determine the future. It is we who have been given the opportunity and the responsibility to act. If we refuse to rise to the occassion and meet the enemy head on do we think we will be spared? Never. We will become a casulty of the war that envelopes us, but we will have no reason to be remembered, no hope of offering something of value that perhaps only we can. Real courage is encountered on the front lines of daily life where all is routine and nothing seems to be a matter of life and death. Living life like this is the most painful way. We will encounter resistance every step of the way, and we will be broken, and used up, our ashes scattered in each place we stop along the way.

If you don't believe that, and if you don't think being a Christ-follower has any such ramifications, then you perhaps ought to ask yourself what God you are following, and what Bible you are reading. What Jesus offers is not quiet, uninterrupted, successful, "fat" lives, but a radical lifestyle for which we will be persecuted, but from which we cannot bring ourselves to turn because we know that it is the Life blood of Truth that flows through our veins.

But this is real freedom. Freedom for more than pleasure: freedom for life, the fullness of life that comes only with embracing the sacrifice of God and allowing it to echo strongly, passionately in the way we live. We have prayed for God to bless our country for so long, and finally the opportunity for blessing and chance for greatness is upon us. It looks nothing like we expect, but regardless, now is the moment to seize it, to lay down our lives in pursuit of the Kingdom that has come into our daily world and attempts to turn it inside out and upside down.

Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who are consumed with grief for a fallen world. For they will receive comfort.
Blessed are those who submit to the true Authority. For they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who are ravenous with an insatiable hunger and unquenchable thirst for the ways of God. For they will be filled.
Blessed are those who extend unlimited, unmerited favor to others. It is they who receive the same.
Blessed are the innocent who know as God knows and see as He intended them to see. For they will see God.
Blessed are those who promote reconciliation, forgiveness, and who make way for the Kingdom of peace. They are the children of God.
Blessed are those who suffer because they take up their cross daily and follow Christ. For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Are you willing to truly embrace this life with it's heartaches and it's joys? Are you willing to step up to the challenge and live in defiance of the status quo? Am I?

In the meantime, On the mountain.

Cottages on three hundred acres in Tennessee are meant for seasons of rest and healing. Time on the mountain in Virginia is for seeking the face of God and discovering His vision.

Waiting on the Lord and seeking His face brings a certain identity confirmation. Who we are in Him is solidified because we become more intimately acquainted with who He is.

Moses met on the mountain with God. Here He received a vision of who God is, and what He wanted for His people. When he walked down the mountain, Ten Commandments in hand, he had to veil his face so the people could not see the glow on his countenance fade. Like the waning of the moon the reminder of God's glory dimmed as the distance between the present time and the presence of God grew longer.

Because the Holy Spirit now dwells in those who believe in Christ, Paul reminds us that our faces can remain unveiled. When we fix our eyes on Christ we do not receive an afterglow of glory that will fade. Rather, the visible change in us exists, and even grows stronger for the remainder of our time on earth as a reminder of the truth and beauty of God.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish," says Solomon in Proverbs 29:18. My soul withers when I cannot sink my life into fulfilling a vision for it. But God has a vision...that none should die, but all should come to repentance. It is the great work of God in this world that those created in His image should come to bear the image of Christ and then draw others by Christ's radiance reflecting from within them.

Right now, I'm sitting on the mountain, discovering more about who He is so that at the end of the day I can become more like Him, so that His vision will be my vision, so that his love will be my love, so that the light in my eyes will be the spark of the divine.

Walk down this mountain with your heart held high.
Follow in the footsteps of your Maker.
With this love that's gone before you and these people at your side.
If you offer up your broken cup, you will taste the meaning of this life.
- Bebo Norman


Love. Anna G.

Sometimes other people just say it better.

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom


You're the God of this city
You're the Lord of this nation
You're the King of these people
You Are

You're the light in the darkness
You're the hope for the hopeless
You're the peace for the restless
You are

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things have still to be done
In this city

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done here


Let my life light up like the city lights
Let it burn for you in the darkest night


When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should sway
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed his own blood for my soul


Jesus, You are Life and Breath to me


In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sins curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry, to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can every pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand


Be Thou my vision of Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light

Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I in Thee one.

Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of Heaven my treasure Thou art