Quiet Spaces

She's A Minister's Daughter

by Kathlyn Fauchon

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23-24) And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27)

My young sister recounted a meeting at the beach with a fellow school girl. The girl, also a minister's daughter, had walked up to my sister accompanied by several boys. Introducing her friends she concluded with, "She's a minister's daughter."

Similar incidents in my life were brought to the fore. I remembered my reactions. I asked my sister how she reacted. In response she said she had hung her head or looked down. Many of my responses had been the same but I commended her. My reasoning for this being that she could quite easily have retaliated.

On the other hand, we did not defend our position, nor did we evangelize. To be frank we had not yet reached that stage in our spiritual growth.

In my late teens I attended a New Year's Eve party organized by one of the mothers. I had spent a half hour or so talking with one of the lads whom I had only just met. I felt easy in his company while he spun wild tales about racing cars. Later in the evening my dad arrived to collect me and a younger sister. Dad always dressed in his clerical suit and back-to-front collar. As I prepared to leave the sister of the boy I had been talking to said he had been looking for me. So I went to look for him. When I found him I observed a stammering, red-faced, retreating specimen of a man. I knew instantly why.

At that moment I consciously experienced pride, self worth, a lifting of the head. I even felt sorry for the wimp whose company I had earlier enjoyed. I began to develop a character-type of whom I'd like to have as a husband. Number one, he had to love God.

Walking as a disciple of Christ I made a misjudgment of living in Christian community. Maybe I thought I'd be safe from ridicule and rejection in Christian circles. Ridicule and opposition come not just from the outside but also from within. Check out Nehemiah and see the various attacks he encountered as he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

The most retched attack I have to this date ever faced came from the Sr Pastor of a church I attended. The attack over a fundamental doctrinal issue left me shattered. As I questioned my stand I clung to Christ. He carried me through. Several verses became my mainstay including Psalm 32:8. At the end of the tunnel I learned that I attend church because I worshiped God, not men. My faith had been strengthened by a notch or two. I still held to the basic fundamental doctrinal truths and I still attended church.

The question is however, do I love Jesus more than I love my own life? Will I ever be put to that test?

As I think about discipleship Jesus style (Luke 9:23 above) I see the word "cross" standing out as it were in neon lights. Jesus spoke this before he suffered the cruel death on the cross. The people who heard this message, what did it convey to them? Did they see Roman crucifixion? Did they think He must be mad and walk away laughing? Why would anyone want to follow someone who presumably meant He would die a criminal's death?

Today I hear from India that, Vellore, Tamil Nadu and Bangalore RSS as well as Orissa, Christians are being persecuted. Their homes and their churches are being burnt to the ground. Pastors are standing their ground and the people are hiding in the hills. With other religious cultures moving into our western countries perhaps there is in store for us this kind of life and death persecution also. Will we carry our cross? Will we behave in such a way so as to cause the persecutors to give glory to God? At Jesus crucifixion a soldier praised God and said, 'Surely he was the Son of God." (Matthew 27:54).

As followers of Jesus this is discipleship, learning from Jesus and encouraging others to do so.

Father God, by Your great mercy and grace give me the courage of my convictions. Help me not to be found wanting. Please give me legs to stand and the will to live for You and You alone. Amen.

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Discipleship

by Teresa Dickhoner

Barbara’s first memory at Grandma Dickhoner’s house took place in the kitchen. Grandma had Barbara standing on a chair at the kitchen table beating eggs. Barbara couldn’t have been more then three years old.

My mother-in-law has always seen little feet in the kitchen as an opportunity to pass on her love for cooking. When I don’t know how to do something in the kitchen all I have to do is ask one of my daughters.

When my dear mother was dying from cancer I became the woman of the house overnight. One major problem was that I had never learned how to cook. Mama was the nervous type who couldn’t stand kids under foot in her kitchen, so I grew up with very little cooking experience. We suffered through some pretty awful meals because my mother never used a recipe either. I had a hard time translating “a little of this” and “a pinch of that” into palatable meals.

What does cooking have to do with discipleship?

Discipleship is teaching with the oven mitts on. One can teach through words alone, but the master teacher knows when to roll up her sleeves and get into the action and when to stand back and watch. That’s true discipleship.

Discipleship doesn’t say, “Let me tell you how to bake a cake.”

Discipleship says, “Here, you bake the cake, and I’ll help you through the steps.”

That is at least the first time. Each time after discipleship helps less and less until the individual can bake the cake all by themselves.

For the Christian discipleship is more than merely showing someone how to come to Christ by faith. It is being willing to invest your time in showing them how to live out that faith. Young Christians need to learn the importance of Bible reading and prayer. They need to develop the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in their own lives.

The encouragement of a hug and a few words after church services each week is a way to disciple. So is leading small Bible Studies where a few ladies come together on a regular basis to study and pray.

The driving force of discipleship is helping others produce Christ-like growth.

Put on your oven mitts and get to work.

~ ~ ~

Fear or Inspiration

by Cheryl D.Robins

I am a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ, but I still feed off God’s disciples, without realization of my dire hunger for life’s appropriate healing lessons.

I have hang-up wounds of fear caused by confrontational condemnation from man. It stems from an abusive past of physical and emotional abuse that used to tear me down and fling me into deep dark pits of shame, with no confidence, low self esteem, and fierce blood pulsating fear. Of course, this abuse was administered mostly by men, so it is them who resort me to these pangs of fearful desperation, more so than callously scary women. Today was a classic example of how God’s chosen men are not abusers, but rather righteous disciples, strategically placed to help heal my wounds.

My boss came to me today with dictation on his voice recorder for a legal document, and before he left, he suggested it was “urgent’. Listening to his recordings are not straight forward as firstly, because it is a new job, I am getting used to his tone and pronunciation of words, and of course his use of legal terms which I am not familiar with. I have not worked as a legal secretary before so I’m in a new world of ‘legal’ vocabulary.

It was approximately twelve fifteen in the afternoon as I reached the closing statement of his letter and realized that he had expected this letter sooner than I had finished, as his closing statement was requesting a reply from the receiver before lunch time. It was bordering lunch hour and desperate fear emerged into my blood stream. The sweat started to flow from every possible gland as my mouth went dry and my blood started pumping at a rate faster than any can count. I quickly printed out an unedited version of two full A4 pages of typed dictation. I ran to his office asking him to please read through and check the document as I attempted a return to my desk for editing. The office computers are networked making it possible for him to pick up any work that I have done from his own computer, which he proceeded to do after inquiring after the saved file name.

My blood began to pump faster, seemingly thickening with every beat, causing pain in my head and neck. He found it as I started apologizing for not editing yet. With an unusual calmness I was not expecting, together with softly spoken words, he stated that he had pulled it up and would sort it out. I walked out with fearful thoughts racing through my head. Was he going to shout at me in the privacy of his office or would he march out and humiliate me in front of others? Would he decide that my probation period should be cut shorter and I leave today? What would he call me? Would he throw something at me in fury? What was he going to do, was all I could think. I could not even pray as my mind crowded itself with thoughts of the worst kind.

Then it happened, he called me into his office. I clumsily walked in, my face obviously revealing desperate fear. He summoned me around to his side of the desk, so that I could look in on his computer screen. I stood behind him as he carefully and kindly went through the edit process with me, indicating how he likes his formats and document outlay. He then suggested that I need not worry about editing too much if I was not sure, because he wanted me to learn his way and would help me in any way I needed. I listened, acknowledged, and then returned to my desk.

Almost immediately, I returned to his office and said, “I just need to let you know that my lack of editing before printing was initiated by sheer fear of your anticipated anger. I was expecting you to scream and shout at me and I therefore behaved in an incompetent manner. I know how to edit but when I realized the time factor, fear took over, rendering me useless. Previous employers behaved very differently to how you just have, causing consequent wounds which have left scars that recklessly split open without warning. As each day passes with this job, I am finding reason to praise God for this placement, for which I thank Him and you, and I pray that nobody wakes me up from what seems to be a wonderful dream”.

To my utter amazement, he smiled and apologized to me, admitting he had actually rushed this and did not realize the time in it. He conveyed again I should not worry, he would sort it out. He reassured me that screaming and shouting was not his office or life protocol. I walked away, praising God for this job and the God driven environment he has abundantly blessed me with.

My boss and his associate are Christian men with Christian attributes, and even though I am a Christian myself, I am ending each day at the office, realizing that they are not only my new bosses, but amazing disciples, bearing the fruits of the spirit in ways which is helping me grow a new confidence around men. I am learning that they are not like the abusers of my past, but rather men who are righteous and God inspired disciples.

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. (Matthew 21:6)

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Father of . . .

by Kathy Tierney

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV)

The word picture is strong….take each thought prisoner, go to the interrogation room where the guards, the warring angels of the Lord stand ready to wipe out the enemy.

The questions begin with where did you come from? Are you here to spy on my mind so you can take information back to the enemies camp? Or better yet, are you from the flesh where sin lives to be awakened by you and your evil ones? Have, you Mr. Thought come from an outside influence because of where I have allowed myself to walk, talk, visit and play?

What's that you say? You liar, you couldn’t be from The Father of Truth and Light! You are clearly from the father of lies. Nothing you brought is in harmony with His word, His truth.

You are a captive, a prisoner of His power. You are no longer allowed to stay and play where The Spirit of Christ lives to keep my mind free to be His servant.

If allowed to rest here too long you would take root and permeate my thoughts until, with my emotions you will conceive, growing until my whole being will bring forth sin.

And so the story goes as we walk through this life as His children. Sifting through the subtle lies of the adversary is difficult. Perhaps becoming more aware of where any step we take begins is helpful.

Many young women I have taught, encouraged and comforted feel helpless in this battle for the mind.

Many are imprinted with the consequences of their own choices and those of others. These choices have painfully carved out who they THINK they are. These thoughts have taken them captive to the obedience of lies and abuse.

The first thing I ask these women, I counse, to do for their homework is to make a list of the lies that have held them captive. They are to make two columns with one heading that reads, father of lies and the other that reads Father of Truth.

The instructions are as follows…when you begin to feel guilt, shame or that you are a wrong bad person, ask yourself WHO would be behind it. These thoughts/feelings are to be listed under father of lies. The next step is to write down what the Father of Truth would say to you in place of the lie.

This has become a practice in my life's battle for Gods truth to reign in my mind and keep me free to choose His will and way so that I might be used for His glory. This is isn’t a simple trick and we need each other in prayer and fellowship so that we might be one in the battle to practice righteousness.

I have recently been asked to storm the gates of heaven in prayer for two who are battling depression.

My prayers for them are that they realize the enemy wants to take their thoughts captive. Please Lord, in the Name of Jesus and by the Power of the Holy Spirit I ask that we all see your truth clearly through the fog of lies. Amen and amen.