Today is the perfect day to begin

Cry loudly, do not hold back;

Raise your voice like a trumpet 

And declare to My people their transgressions

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

Isaiah 58:1

Great.

How is that for a fluffy bunny start?  And it's not even TOZER- it's the BIBLE.

Where do I even begin?

So, I started reading Jen Hatmaker's book, Interrupted- which I have owned for 3 years and have been too afraid to read because I knew it would WRECK ME.

Such discernment, such wisdom- it does, it is...EGAD.

But, I love it. I need it- because I can sense that God is doing something.
In this day and age of what truly seems to be Hell on Earth- with everyone yelling and screaming and shooting- there is that whisper on the wind- of God's calling.  And there are people all over the place who are hearing it.  And by jingo, I want to be one of them!
By jingo!  What the heck?  What does that even mean?
I digress.

The whole Crucified Life thing by Tozer was a great prelude to this book. I tell you, our minds know what to do, we know what is right, we know what we should do- but until we have a change in our HEART- it pretty much means DIDDLY-SQUAT.

Jen speaks in her book about the "Cause of our Generation"- and I have been pondering that at length.

What is the cause of our Generation?  I have been hearing the call, the whispering for a few years now.  I keep coming back to Isaiah, over and over again...
Personally, I believe it to be this:

Is this not the fast which I choose,

to loosen the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the bonds of the yoke, 

and let the oppressed go free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into the house;

when you see the naked, to cover him;

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

and if you give yourself to the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted

then your light will rise in the darkness

and your gloom will become like the midday.

Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins

You will raise up the age old foundations

and you will be called the repairer of the breach, 

the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Isaiah 58:6-7, 10, 12

I believe if you have ears to hear, this is what God is speaking to His children.   Much of the "CHURCH" has lost its directive and purpose.  Particularly in the western church- where we have made the Bride into a version of the American dream with Jesus frosting on it.
Gross.

I believe that the ancient ruins- well, I think it's the reputation of the Bride- which has been prostituted.  For years, we (the Church) have allowed apathy, complacency, pride, wealth, greed, un-love, lawlessness and the prosperity gospel to tickle our ears and allow our hearts to grow cold. We "hide ourselves from our own flesh"- we refuse to look in the mirror and see things as they really are- even in the face of a church that is DYING. Our "good news" is no longer good or effective...but we can't see it.  Or don't want to...who knows....

Most of us are not immune, no matter how much we think we are or would like to be.

I think the age old foundations are the care for and love of the neglected, the poor, the needy, the sick and the prisoner- the orphans and the widows.  You see these themes run continuously throughout the old and new testaments.  God's will is LOVE.  Period.

Here are a few nuggets of awesome from Jen's Interrupted:

Away from the fields of war, unborn babies are destroyed in their mother's 

wombs under the umbrella of preference.  Seniors are cast aside in their

twilight years, a burden on our ambitions.  Our teens learn to kill with their words,

repeating patterns they've learned from Hollywood and home. Our veterans sleep

under bridges, forever damaged by trauma and neglect.  The cycles of poverty churn out

unparented children, who act out with violence and confusion.

In the scope of human bedlam, we have maimed the body of Christ.

It's so maddening and overwhelming that Christians pretend not to hear it.

Jesus always fell left of center here, extending grace and healing 

to those well outside His party lines.

Wow.  There is so much.  This message is and has been pummeling me from every side.  Our world is so broken- I don't care what you believe faith-wise, I believe that is one universal truth we can all agree on.  This is a broken place, where strife, violence and unlove rule. Throughout the book of Revelation- we see the issues of our world today revealed and spoken to- losing our first love, thinking we're alive when we are not, being lukewarm- but there are promises to those who overcome.

I was created for such a time as this.  I confess, there are days when I cry out to God and ask WHYYYYY?????  It's all too big, too horrible- I just...can't. 
But I can. I have to.  I have to get over myself.  My pride, my fear, my inadequacy. I just need to do it.  

Do what?  Love. Care. Act.

Because EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS PLANET IS A REFLECTION OF CHRIST.

Man- if we got that in our knowers, really truly believed it in the core of who we are?

What would that do?  How would we treat people?  If we treated every single person with mercy and love- we could change the world.  If we extended the grace and love we wanted to receive- it would be a REVOLUTION.

Do you know that phrase?  There but for the grace of God, go I?  Yes, that one.

It is TRUTH.

We don't know what we don't know. We can judge and point fingers until we are blue in the face- but we don't know.  We don't know people's stories- their challenges- their hurts.
But we could- we could get in their dance space and find out.  We could be friends.

Will it work all the time?
No.  Because people. 

We will be disappointed, taken advantage of, criticized, rejected...

Huh.  Sounds a lot like what Jesus went through, only, you know...without the beating and torture and crucifixion- well, at least for some of us.  Our brothers and sisters in Christ across the globe face martyrdom in a way many of us here in the West cannot even fathom.

Meanwhile, back in Interrupted:

With the resurrection of Jesus and the salvation of humanity,

we are no longer identified by nation, race, gender or any group dynamic.

We don't get to stand behind the shield of church or denomination or political party.

There is no "us" and "them" anymore.  "Us" is the worldwide assembly

of the rescued who have been transformed from hopeless humans to adopted sons 

and daughters of God through faith in Jesus.

As I was pondering this during breakfast, I got just a glimpse in my "knower" of all the beautiful brothers and sisters I have across the globe, across time- standing before the thrown of God.  Frankly, it was overwhelming.  So much beauty, so much wealth- but not as we define wealth- spiritual wealth in worship- it was radiant.  That's the only word I can think of for the glimpse I got- RADIANT.

In our arrogance as Americans (sorry- a spade is a spade is a spade) we assume that what God is doing here in the Western Church is the be all end all of what He is doing.
That's a load of bunk.  Remember this?

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:24

That's us.  Compared to the rest of the world, it is you...it is me.  The fact that you can read this on your computer or your phone tells me that you are rich.  We must be careful.  We must be humble.

We must be willing to let it all go.

It's hard- I am talking about dying to ourselves:

Our reputation, our possessions, our self-righteousness, our positions, US.

In the infamous words of Elsa- we must LET IT GO.

And we can.  We have the power, by the grace of God- to turn the Titanic around, if you will.

It is up to us.
To love, and to care.  And we can!  I promise, we can.

I am starting to step out of my comfort zone- trying to see people as God's image- they matter.
And there is a change happening in my heart.  I have the "feels" a lot more, and I am scared. But I don't care.  

One day- I will stand before the Lord I love, and I will hold and account for my life.  Thankfully, the Judge is totally for me- and He wants me to succeed, He will do everything in His almighty power to help me- which is a good thing- because dang, I cannot do this without help. 

I cannot "love genuinely, without condescension or patronization, pity or permissiveness" without help. I am too broken at the moment to be any good at that.

I am asking God to break and shift my heart, and then to make a way where there seems to be none. 

He is faithful. 

Yikes.

Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and

exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other

with wicked fists. 

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Isaiah 58:3-4

Though God desired the redemption of all nations,

no nation had reason to be attracted to the God of Israel;

all they saw was the constant hypocrisy of Yahweh's people.

His kingdom was stunted because His people were unavailable

to fulfill His objectives.
Jen Hatmaker

Sound familiar?
Um.  Hello.

It's up to us. To love and care and get in there and do the work.  To love and change the damaged reputation of the Bride.  To be available.
I know some specific things that God is calling me to- but how about you?
How is God calling you to love?  To give?  To change?  To let go?  To rearrange your life?
You can do it, I have faith in you- but more importantly- God has faith in you.

Selah.