Category: Sharing the Gospel

Stinky Lazarus

Lazarus had been dead for 4 days.  Jesus hadn’t come in time to heal him and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, were devastated that he was gone.  What a difficult time for them it must have been.  They knew and believed that Jesus is the Son of God and that He had healed and could heal again.  Yet, He didn’t get there in time to heal their brother. 

As Jesus came to the tomb, He told Martha and the gathering crowd to open the tomb up.  Practical Martha’s reply?! “Lord, he’s been dead four days.  He’s gonna stink!”  

“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’” –John 11:40    

He didn’t address the problem of the smell that would come from the tomb.  He didn’t tell everyone to hold their nose and not gag.  He wasn’t worried about grossing out Martha.  He wasn’t focused on practical problems.  He was focused on the eternal one.

How often do we hear someone say they need to clean up their act before they get saved and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?  Maybe we’ve thought about how far off we’ve strayed from God’s path and we feel there’s something we need to do before we can come to God and ask for forgiveness.  Often, we see it as a sensible step…God doesn’t want to see our mistakes.  He must want us shiny and new.  He wants us to see real progress before we can come to the throne of grace.  But none of those thought processes are even close to the truth.

Jesus isn’t worried about what we perceive as a solution to how He best sees us.  He’s focused on the eternal issue at hand…do you believe?  He’s not looking for the dance that leads up to showing your best self.  He’s wanting you to come to Him, stink and all!

When we accept and believe, at that point, we can give the practical issues to Him so that HE can work through us to fix it.  It gives Him the honor and glory.  It shows the world that we aren’t meant to work out those things on our own, rather with God’s help. 

I pray that if there’s something that’s keeping you from God, you turn to Him anyway.  Don’t worry about those “practical” problems.  He’s focused on the eternal solution.

~Erin

The Tarnished Bracelet

I took apart my Pandora charm bracelet this afternoon.  I hadn’t worn it in quite a while and it was tarnished.  The charms attached were dark and dingy from lack of care and cleaning.  It looked old but I knew I wanted to start wearing it again.  I wished for it to look as fresh and beautiful as the day it was purchased.  Each charm represents a moment or a person in my life.  Parts of my story is laid out in those tiny pieces. 

I began to wipe them down with the cloth.  But it wasn’t just any cloth.  It was a polishing cloth that had some seemingly magical ability to take the tarnish away and make it look as if it was brand new!  It was fascinating.  I don’t know quite how it worked, but following the directions, the dullness was gone!  Before me sat my first charm gleaming as if I’d just procured it.  I quickly finished the others, and the bracelet came to life with a cleanness I hadn’t seen from it in a very long time.  It may not have been perfect-looking, but it was so very close.

Our sins can be taken away in the same fashion.  No, it’s not some magic miracle that makes us clean and whole again.  It’s the gift that God gave us through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Isaiah 1:18b says “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Our heavenly Father sent His Son to Earth as the spotless Sacrifice on a cross to cover our sins.  His shed blood alone makes us clean again…as white as snow. And thank you, Jesus, for that sacrifice!  He tells us plainly that the wages of our sin is actually death (Romans 6:23), but because of this generous gift of Jesus on the cross, He agreed to pay the penalty so that we wouldn’t have to.  How great is our God?!

Like that polishing cloth cleaned the charms, His blood cleans our sins.  When we accept salvation and ask Him to live in us we, like the charms, are restored.  Yes, we may have wear and tear, the scars from our former life.  But we are made complete in HIS image. 

If you haven’t yet made the decision to ask God to come live in your heart, please reach out to us or someone you know who is a Christ follower.  We’d be happy to share the plan of salvation so that you might receive the best gift you could give yourself…eternity in heaven!

~Erin

Snack Money & A Mother’s Love

I recently gave my son $5 as he left for school.  He said, “What’s this for?” as he looked at the bill in his hand.  I told him to get something he wanted for school snack time.  It was a treat…not something I would normally fund for his daily school activities.

The moment I explained he could get anything he wanted for snack time, I had a flashback to my own Middle School experiences when my Dad handed me extra money for a treat from the lunchroom.  I had forgotten he did that until I did it with my own child.

It was a small gesture of love.  Much like praying over their sleeping bodies, running your hand over their head as they pass by, cheering for them during a home run hit, or simply making their favorite meal.  A small gesture of a mother’s love.

One of the first gestures we see of a mother’s love is the gentle caress of a pregnant belly. You know exactly the gesture I’m talking about.  The one where a pregnant woman runs her hand over her baby bump. Doesn’t matter if it’s small, medium, or large…that pregnancy belly gets a lot of hands running over it!

The Bible doesn’t specifically speak of mothers running their hands over a pregnant stomach, but I can only imagine that it’s a universal sign of impending motherhood.

When Elizabeth found out she was pregnant, she went into five months of seclusion (Luke 1:24).  In her sixth month, Elizabeth was visited by her cousin, Mary, who had just been told by the angel that she was also going to have a baby. 

“At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” ~Luke 1:39-41 (NIV)

While scripture does not say this, I have a visual of Elizabeth running a soothing hand over her unborn child while he was “leaping” in her womb over being near the mother of Jesus. 

As much as a mom loves her child, imagine how much more the Father loves us.  An unimaginable amount more than we can fathom…that’s how much more He loves us.  It’s more than a pat or some extra snack money.  God’s love for us is so big, He took steps to ensure that we could accept the gift of His mercy and forgiveness, through the death of Christ. 

1 John 4:9-10 states, “This is love, it is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.”

No matter how much I love my child…no matter how much snack money I give him.  No matter how much Elizabeth loved John the Baptist as he was leaping in her tummy.  No matter how much Mary loved Jesus…in the stable and at the cross.   None of it holds a candle to the amount of love our Lord has for us. 

I pray each of us has a week of maternal love, but more importantly the Father’s love.  If you don’t know the love that God has provided through our personal Savior, Jesus Christ, please contact us at the Iron Porch.  Erin and I would love to chat with you about what your salvation looks like. 

~Emily

Family

Last weekend, Chris and I were lucky enough to spend it at Orange Beach with AHERO at their 5th Annual Warrior Hook-up Event.  AHERO connects veterans and first responders through outdoor activities as a means to heal from physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds.  It was a weekend with over 40 veterans getting to know each other, sharing and healing. While neither of us have been in the service, we were fortunate enough to be part of the volunteer staff. 

When the weekend was over and Chris and I were driving home, we were at a loss for words on how to accurately describe what we experienced.  Over and over again, we saw camaraderie and friendships grow.  We saw people bonding over common themes and common service.  More than once, we heard people describe this weekend as spending it with “family.”  It didn’t matter that they weren’t actually related or that they’d only just met; they were joined together because of AHERO and their service to country.  By the end of the weekend, we were fortunate enough to say they were our family, too.

As believers, we are also part of a different family, God’s family.  The Bible gives us clear scripture that tells us who our Father is.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” –John 1:12

“And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,” says the Lord Almighty.” –2 Corinthians 6:18

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba!  Father!’”—Galatians 4:6

Whether your earthly family is right beside you every step of the way or has abandoned you long ago, when you accept Christ as your Savior and call on His name, you become part of the family of God.  You now have a Father who will never leave you.  You do not have to walk alone. 

Not only do you have a Heavenly Father who is there, you have your Christian brothers and sisters who are connected to you, as well.  As members of that family, we should be displaying God’s love to each other.  These men and women from the weekend’s events showed me what that looks like.  They encouraged, they pushed, they challenged, they supported, and they loved.   

Even though the weekend is now over and everyone is back at their homes around the country, we are still texting back and forth, checking on each other, and getting to know each other better.  I pray that each of you see you have family in the body of Christ.

If you don’t know what it means to have God as your Father, please reach out to me or Emily.  We’d love to talk to you about how you can become a part of the family of God!

~Erin 

5th Annual Warrior Hook-up at Orange Beach AHERO

Giving Up Titles

All of us have titles.  Professor. Mrs. Miss. Ms. Mom. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Ministry lead. Grandmother. Supervisor.  The list goes on and on.

Because I work on a military base at a military museum, I have two titles that cause confusion at work: Chief and Doctor. 

I’m a retired Chief Master Sergeant. In some circles, it is considered rare to see a female Chief.  Less than 8% of Americans have ever served in the military.  It’s less than 1.5% of female Americans who have served.  Within each branch of the service, the top 1% of the enlisted corps makes E-9…or in my case Chief Master Sergeant (aka Chief). I happened to retire after 25 years of active-duty service at the same location I now work as a civilian. As a result, some still call me Chief.

While I was near the end of my career in the military, I earned my Doctorate Degree.  It doesn’t matter if you are a Medical Doctor (MD), a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), or a Doctor of Education (EdD), you’re referred to as “Doctor.”   I happen to have a civil service job, where I am routinely referred to as Doctor Shade.

I joke that I worked really hard to make Chief and I worked really hard to finish my doctoral degree.  However, I happen to really like the name my parents gave me: “Emily.”

And yet, I will give all those earthly titles up for the one title that my heart desires most. 

“Child of the One True King.”

I’ve found that when I disregard my titles, I think of myself more as a servant of God.  A servant does not try to glorify themselves or honor their own accomplishments, but they divert that glory and honor to their master.  In John 8:50, Jesus said, “And I seek not mine own glory.” Four verses later in John 8:54 He continued with, “…if I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father who honors me.”

We see the example of diverting attention to the master through the behavior of Jesus, who repeatedly was asked if he was the Messiah, and yet He continuously re-directed the conversation to the Father. 

Philippians 2:5 -11 (NASB) states, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bondservant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This gives me pause on using my own titles.  Perhaps I should give them up…

The Bible is full of examples of others who don’t give themselves titles.  Moses doesn’t refer to himself as “Prophet Moses.”  We don’t see Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, or John the Baptist call themselves “Prophet.” Paul doesn’t refer to himself as “Apostle Paul.” 

When referring to myself with a title, am I elevating myself past “servant”?  Perhaps.  Maybe this is simply splitting hairs because we live in a society that uses titles to determine status.  However, I’ve truly given a lot of thought this week to my own titles…and how I can become more servant-like. 

What titles are you striving towards?  Which titles are you willing to give up?

~Emily

An Empty or Full Tank

The other day, I was talking to my daughter.  She had let someone use her car and it had come back on “E.”  She was incredibly frustrated because she had an errand to run and wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it to the location and back.

We all know the rules regarding keeping the gas tank full, especially if you’ve ever lived in a state that has difficult winters.  Full tank is best.  When it gets down to a quarter tank, you fill it back up just in case you’re trapped in a blizzard on the side of the road! It happens!

But do we treat ourselves the same way about God?  Sometimes, we’re faithful in our pursuit of Christ, reading daily and studying scripture.  We meditate on His words, we pray, and we’re ready to face each day head on.  We keep our tanks full!

Then a missed day turns to two turns to 12.  The gauge on our spiritual tank is dipping lower and lower.  We’re functioning but without the daily filling up of the Holy Spirit, we become weak and more susceptible to attacks from Satan.

When we miss the daily and focused times set aside for God, we are not only more vulnerable to sin, we also tend to be ineffective at sharing the gospel with those around us.  We end up using what we have left in our tank just getting through the day. 

One day may not seem like much, but Jesus tells us He is the Bread of Life, and then tells us to take the DAILY bread.  When there is even one missed day, it’s an opportunity for that tank to dip down to E and leave us struggling to get to the next stop in our journey.

I pray this week that our tanks are filled each and every day with the good news of Jesus and that we are so full we have no choice but to pour the love of God out on others!

Share in the comments whether your favorite daily time with God is in the morning, afternoon, or evening!

~Erin

The Gifts Test

I’m sure most of us have all taken a “Gifts” test at a church we’ve been a part of!  If you haven’t, let me explain it to you; it’s typically a 20-30 item form that gives you statements about your personality.  You  answer them by rating each one on a scale of 1-5 (1 means ‘never’, 5 being ‘always’).  The statements include things like, “Working with my hands is fun for me” or “I pray for the lost daily.”  “Having people over to my house is something I do often” and “I tend to motivate others to get involved” are two others you might see.  Once your test total is figured out, it shows you where your strengths and best areas of services are for you within the church!  This last Monday, the subject of callings, gifts, and ministry was being discussed at our Table 8 Bible Study as we were going through chapter 3 in the book of John.In verses 22-26, we see Jesus and His disciples back in Judea.  John the Baptist and His disciples were also in the same area.   The Baptist’s disciples brought up to John the fact that Jesus and His disciples were baptizing and those people were going to Jesus instead of John.  We pick up at John’s response to them in verses 27-30.  John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.  You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.  So this joy of mine has been made full.  He must increase, but I must decrease.”John clearly tells his disciples that no man gets his ministry unless it’s given to him by heaven.  John was there only to be the ‘friend of the bridegroom.’  God gave him the calling and gift of evangelism to prepare the way, not to be THE one.Often we think about what we’re good at in regards to gifts.  After all, that’s the point of the test.  We see that God’s calling on our lives is usually to use our gifts for His glory and that’s typically why He’s allowed us to excel in them. See example of John the Baptist!However, we have to remember that sometimes God’s calling in our lives is not what we expect or want.  Sometimes the calling or the ministry that’s given to you by heaven is scary and overwhelming.  Please don’t say that, Erin!  But I have to…Look at Moses!  He fought with God on His calling.  He asked God multiple times, “But what if they don’t believe me?”  And God showed Him the miracles he could perform and what to say.  Moses then told God he was not eloquent in speech, he wouldn’t be able to do it.  God tells him, “I’ll be with you and teach you what to say.”  STILL, Moses tells him to send someone else!  Ultimately, we see Moses finally obeying and delivering the Israelites out of Egypt as God commanded.How about Gideon who was called to take his army and defeat the Midianites?  He told God his people were the weakest in the area and he was the “least” in his family.  God not only allowed him to defeat the army but he was also a judge for Israel.I know it’s easy to think that what we’re the best at is what God will call us to do.  But I pray we’re all daily asking God what our calling is from Him so that He can use us in whichever way He desires despite what our gifts test says!~Erin

Doers of the Word

I noticed late last night that I had a large bug bite on my cheek.  I didn’t realize it was really there until my loving husband looked over at me and said, “What’s up with the big zit?”!  He’s such a gentle soul.

I went into the bathroom and stared at if for several minutes.  I poked it a little, looking up close and then backing away as if a different perspective could make it disappear.  But what I was trying to do was figure out if it was a bug bite or indeed a “big zit” resting on my cheek so that I knew what I needed to do for treatment.

Believe it or not, staring in the mirror made me think about a passage in James I was reading last week! We were talking about being doers of the word.

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he is.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” –James 1:22-25

As hearers of the word, we deceive ourselves.  We don’t take the time to see what the word really tells us or how it can shape and teach us.  For hearers, the mirror is only a reflection of what we’re doing in the moment, forgetting what it means as soon as we look away.

When we are doers of the word, we look in the mirror deliberately, using it as correction.  We look with intention and recognize that daily sanctification is necessary to bring us closer to God.  We focus on following the word so that corrective action (the doing) can be taken in our lives where it needs to be taken.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be much more than a hearer.  I want to soak in the word, understanding the application of it within my life.  My goal is to be a doer, to find the areas that are in need of correction so that I continue to daily die to self and be sanctified.  I want to effectually take the message and tell others the gospel and love of Jesus.

I pray this week that we recognize ourselves as doers of the word!

~Erin

The Welcome Mat

I recently saw an ad for a mat that said, “Delivery person: Were Rachel and Ross on a break?” 

Yes, with an arrow to the right.

No, with an arrow to the left. 

Of course, there was a doorbell video of the subsequent deliveries being placed on the right or the left of the mat. 

As a ‘Friends’ fan, I found it humorous.

A welcome mat on the front porch often gives insight into the character of the people who live there.  In most cases, it’s a reflection of their personality.  I’ve seen “wipe your paws” or “Welcome” or the homeowner’s last name.  My current welcome mat simply has a bee on it. 

What is the purpose of the welcome mat?  To simply wipe your feet before entering the home?  Or is it more complex?  Perhaps it’s the true welcoming gesture into someone’s home and their life. 

Inside those homes, we often find lonely women who are completing the mundane chores of life. Folding laundry, kissing boo-boos, making dinner, paying bills, and raising children.  They could be single or married.  Mothers or Grandmothers.  Career-focused or school-focused.  All walks of life and all ages of women…who may be lonely despite their welcome mat at the front door.

The psalmist tells us “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.” ~Psalm 25:16

How can we combat the loneliness we see in ourselves and in other women?  We can dust off our own welcome mat and invite others into our space.  Who cares if you have toys on the floor or unfolded laundry on top of the dining room table?  Let those who are lonely see that they aren’t alone…and that we can stop pressuring ourselves and others to feel as though they must present a perfected picture of their home. 

As women, we don’t typically need to see perfection.  Rather, we’d like to see genuineness.  And in that genuine interaction, we see the ‘realness’ of one another.  We aren’t waiting to judge…we simply waiting to be invited in.

Perhaps the world needs more welcome mats. 

Even if they make a joke about Rachel and Ross being on a break…

~Emily

Become Forgettable

In the New Testament, there are five mentions of a man that you may be unfamiliar with.  I wasn’t familiar with him.  Honestly, I had read his name often but did not recognize his significance.  He’s mentioned in Acts 20:4, Ephesians 6:21, Colossians 4:7, 2 Timothy 4:12, and Titus 3:12. 

His name was Tychicus. 

And he’s quite forgettable within all the narrative of the New Testament. 

He appears near the end of Paul’s mission work in Ephesus.  He had been selected to deliver several letters for Paul.  He was with the former runaway slave, Onesimus, when he converted and went to Colossae.  Could he have witnessed the riots that started with Demetrious the silversmith whose business was impacted by Paul’s sermons on idol worship? Possible. Could he have been Paul’s scribe for some of the letters in the New Testament?  Possible.  Could he have been trusted to deliver more letters than we know? Also, possible. 

Throughout the second half of Paul’s ministry, Tychicus was likely present for nearly every significant event.  Yet, he was in the background.  He became forgettable.

We live in a society that demands we are remembered.  Social media imprints, how we dress, High School reunions, our speeches and volunteer work, board meetings, medals and decorations with a few promotions thrown in…all ways where we strive to be remembered.  We are seeing the creation of “mini-celebrities” in an effort for all of us to be remembered in some capacity.

Even within the church. 

Some leadership structures allow Pastors to have celebrity status.  Others create titles for ministry leaders that lead to elevation of status.  Social media platforms embellish ministry work or community impacts.  Slowly, we become enamored with our own voice and status and forget about the voice of the One we should be most reliant on. 

Yet, the church needs more servants like Tychicus.  Ones who want the Gospel known but don’t care if they ever are.  The ones who do seemingly tedious work in order to advance the Kingdom, but aren’t seeking their own recognition.

This week I’ll be praying that each of us can be more like Tychicus…that we become forgettable.

~Emily