I don't usually blog on Sundays. I barely have a moment to sit down at all to be honest. But, I have a few minutes before bed time and I wanted to share something I heard from the Lord this morning. And it had nothing to do with the message at church today (which was great, by the way). It was actually an accident on my part.

Have you ever turned to the wrong book or chapter during a sermon and didn't know it? Well... it happened to me today. And for some reason I didn't catch it, because I was too wrapped up in the passage. We were asked to turn to John 14:16. Instead I turned to Luke 14:16 and read this...

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

“The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

It caught my attention enough for me to read a little before this to find out why exactly Jesus shared this story with the people.

Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

This was definitely something I needed to hear today. Being in ministry, sometimes it seems that we are giving all the time and we deserve "one area" in which we don't need to. Most of the time that area is in our friendships. Josh is better at it than me, but I tend to avoid a friendship if I feel it is becoming too "needy" or "clingy." It's sad to even admit that.

But reading this passage this morning reminded me of what it's like to truly serve others and live in humility. Most of my friends don't "need" me. They have great jobs, spouses, family, talents. I would probably need to plan a couple days in advance to schedule myself into their lives. But, Jesus calls us to do the opposite! He says our house should be full of the needy. Not just a party with our dearest and best. He wants us to invite those who are less fortunate, who have obvious disabilities, who can give us nothing in return. And if we are honest, sometimes the only people we surround ourselves with are people who make us look good. Not people who we can bless. The Lord convicted me that I can be serving in a "ministry" and not really ministering.

And I got all that from turning to the wrong book. :)

Since my husband has gotten back from Egypt, we've had several discussions about the persecution of the church. Not just the Egyptian church or American church, but the church as a whole. The day he left, a riot broke out in Cairo, Egypt leaving nearly two dozen people dead. Mostly Christians. It scared me silly to think Josh would be there the next day. Working with a church, nonetheless. All I could do was cling to the Lord and pray for His will to be done... and to please please please, bring Josh home safely.

And safely he returned. With maybe a slight case of jet lag.

I loved to hear the excitement in Josh's voice as he shared with me of the Egyptian's faith. And how 14 came to know Jesus as Savior during the week he was there. The fact that they made this decision to follow Christ, when just a few days prior fellow brothers and sisters were slaughtered in the streets, unsettled me.

Do we have that same faith here in America? Are we willing to follow Jesus at the cost of our lives?

Josh helped me think about something I never really thought about before. The American church is not persecuted. We may be rejected, but we are not persecuted. We have no idea what it's like to be the only person standing in the middle of a group of angry people with weapons, asking us to renounce our faith or die. We have never seen our families or children or brothers and sisters killed in front of us, because we are followers of Jesus.

Now you may be thinking, "Well, thank the Lord I was born in the land of the free!" And you'd be right. We should thank the Lord for that wonderful privilege. But are we really experiencing the cost of being a disciple of Christ if we do not encounter rejection or persecution of some kind?

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." - John 15:18-20

A servant is not greater than his master. If Jesus suffered, can we be greater than our master and escape suffering?

This week, I took a stance on a very debated topic. In fact, I'm sure there are many readers of this blog who would probably chastise me for the stance I took on this issue. It's becoming so sensitive, that I've decided not to even address it on this blog (for now). I tried as kindly as I could to use the Word of God to correct and inform others of why this specific issue goes directly against biblical teaching. The bible was thrown out early on and exchanged for emotions. And you really can't argue with emotion.

All that said, I faced rejection this week because of the Word of God. But I will not be surprised in a few years if this small experience of rejection now, turns to persecution. To avoid that, I am sure the American church will slowly begin to accept the issue in an effort to keep the peace. After all, isn't that what living in freedom in America is about?

But is this biblical? Are we to keep silent on issues that go against Scripture?

We'll avoid persecution if we do. But then my question is, are we really a servant of Christ?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Do we believe this as inspired by God? Do we teach based on it? Do we reproof/rebuke all things that go against it? Do we correct others that are misusing it? Do we live rightly by it? Do we truly know it?

Only when we can answer yes, can we do any good.