These thoughts and beliefs are not necessarily the thoughts or beliefs of those who attend The FUSION! My mind is off the wall and sprat-tic to some and may be under the influence of coffee! If you like comfortable and easy then this blog is not for you! If you like to challenge status quo and look outside the box and think what if and is that possible if I try then we will get along well! I love to call all into question that which is and ask the hard questions of why? P.S. No comments will be posted as anonymous! Get a pair!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Heidi's Story

Hey everybody,
Nate’s story has been on our website and now we’re adding mine! Part 1 is this week and Part 2 is next week...they’re pretty long for a blog, but they’re as short for a life story! :) Enjoy!

Heidi’s Story

I had a really great childhood: my Dad was (is) a high school teacher to support his passion: football coaching, my Mom was a stay-at-home-mom full of creative ideas, and I loved my sister & brother.  We lived in a small town in Nebraska and to me everything was picture perfect. My Dad & I would play football in the backyard against my brother & the neighborhood kids, my Mom would sew me stuffed animals and Halloween costumes, my sister introduced me to fashion and when she got her hair cut, I always got mine cut the same way (which probably wasn’t a good memory for her...) and my brother & I would find a way to play together, like when my Barbies talked to their cars: his Transformers.  We watched Saturday morning cartoons and walked 3 blocks all by ourselves to the town Library. Life was simple...good.

As I became a teenager I met God at my friend’s church in a powerful way and I was impressed with the warmth and love I had experienced.  My family had always went to church, prayed before meals and bedtime, and my Mom had read Bible stories to me every night when I was a kid, but what I had experienced at this church was more than dedication: it was passionate, real.  There were about five girls in my class who had a similar God-experience and we were radical for Jesus Christ! We were going to proclaim Jesus everywhere, stand up for our faith, save ourselves for marriage...and we weren’t going to date sinners, we were going to marry pastors!  We were going to dedicate every day to saving our school for Jesus!

About a five minutes later, I was the only one still on that mission...and I felt alone!  I felt betrayed by my group of friends who now seemed to spent their time whispering about me, I felt misunderstood by my family who didn’t get that I was on a mission for God (I had good intentions but I was a little dramatic), and I wondered if I was going to miss out on my whole teenage-boyfriend-experience-thingy.  But no boys were interested in me (could my football-coach-Dad have something to do with that? Hmmmm...).  

On top of that, the relationship I had once had with my Dad was changing.  I didn’t want to play football, now I wanted to talk.  And shop. And Dad, who was so good at rough-housing, didn’t know quite what to talk about with his quiet, insecure, pre-teen daughter...and he sure as heck wasn’t about to go shopping! At the time, I didn’t see how this was an issue for him.  He had always been a great parent so how could he just not know how to talk to me?!  Looking back, I now understand that parenting isn’t the no-brainer that I thought it was...but at the time, it just felt like he didn’t want to talk to me.

Well, I finally did date a guy.  By this time I was so desperate for a friend, a boyfriend...anyone!...that I missionary-dated this guy: I brought him to church all the time and witnessed to him in hopes that he’d get saved.  You can probably see how this is going to end: I didn’t change him, he changed me.  I gave up all my Christian standards one by one and finally sunk so low that I was embarrassed to go back to my church.  So I told God I couldn’t follow Him anymore...maybe when I was older...married...then I’d get my life together and follow Him again.

Well, I followed my boyfriend to a college that’s two hours away from home which was kinda the point: two hours away! I really enjoyed the whole experience: the freedom of deciding what to eat,how late to stay up, putting goldfish in the college fountain and stealing ugly bowling shoes to wear around campus...normal college-y stuff for a naive small town girl.  I had to call home to warn my Dad when I thought that I might not get the best grades... but I got a big shock when I ended up on the Dean’s list!  I had a lifelong love of singing but didn’t know if I actually had a nice voice compared to all the other vocal students...but after tryouts the professor announced to the class that I was the only student with the ability to sing a certain song and I had the talent to go professional! So many things were going well, even my boyfriend asked me to marry him!  But four months before the wedding I felt like I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life: my fiance just didn’t seem to be passionate about me anymore. There was nothing to do but call off the wedding. To make matters worse,  I had recently dropped out of college in anticipation of moving to follow his career, so when the wedding fell through I was left with a big question mark: what was I going to do with my LIFE?

Then a very weird thing began to occur on a regular basis and it worked like this: if I was talking to someone, I would suddenly forget a word. I would draw a blank and become mentally paralyzed because I couldn’t remember what “that thing...that thing that’s cold...and holds food... and it’s in the kitchen, what is that called?!” People would patiently wait for me to remember the word...and then politely laugh it off the first time...but the second or third time in a five minute conversation proved too socially awkward for most people so they would then excuse themselves and walk away.  When conversations like that became my new norm, my confidence was rocked. So I made some personal rules about talking: I wouldn’t allow myself to speak to more than one person at a time; I wouldn’t go hang out with people; I quit answering my phone and I spent all my time outside of work alone in my room pretending not to be home so my roommates wouldn’t talk to me. If I couldn’t avoid groups of people I literally ended up with the flu because I was so scared of saying something wrong or embarrassing myself. Replaying socially embarrassing moments kept me awake for hours every night.  But I was safe in my own mind and no one could hurt me if I didn’t open my mouth. Kinda psycho in a recluse kinda way but I was scared...I was mentally hitting rock bottom.

Then a strange thing happened: a woman named Carole from my home church called me and left an intriguing message on my answering machine: she had had a dream about me and some guy I had never met and she wanted me to meet him.  When I finally worked up the courage to talk to her, she explained that she had dreamed that I was in church singing and this guy was acting in the church’s Easter play. Carole was really excited about him--he was a new, radical believer in Jesus. I was instantly disgusted--I didn’t want anything to do with some wussy-religious guy!  But then Carole almost apologetically explained this new convert, “he’s a little rough around the edges...” Rough around the edges!? I perked up...maybe he was corruptible! And because of that I agreed to drive two hours home to meet and go on one date with this “nice, christian boy”! Mooohahaha!

Luckily for me, my life was about to change...

Come back next week for Part 2: Our Story!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Totally Righteous

I'm tired of serving a God who demands that I act right! I'm tired of always toeing the line just to make sure I don't get struck with a lightening bolt. I'm exhausted from working to keep all kinds of little, silly rules like:
-only listen to Christian music
-no rated R movies
-only certain clothes that are modest and NOT cutting-edge style
-no Harry Potter, Pokemon or anything with Dragons!
And then, when I keep all those rules, I get to look down my nose at everyone who doesn't! I get to mentally gloat every time MY prayer time is longer than yours, MY money is properly budgeted, MY children are quiet and behave like adults, MY lifestyle is conservative and would be approved of by others, I'm not offensive to other people--I'm a good Christian!

I'm tired of all these rules just to be acceptable to God--aren't you?!

What if we were running around, obeying all these nit picky rules, spending our lives policing ourselves and everyone around us (even when they don't ask us to) AND WE MISSED THE POINT!!!

My friends, I think that's exactly what's happening!
  I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous (entirely pleasing to God) through faith in Christ.   Philippians 3:9
That means that once we're in a relationship with Jesus, we don't have to do anything to be acceptable to God! Jesus did it for us on the cross!  When we have to do more than believe, we're saying that what Jesus did isn't enough and that's an insult to His incredible sacrifice FOR us!
  Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.“  John 6:29
All of the rules, all of the judgement, all of the feeling like I-never-measure-up...it's all a waste! And it's the same oppressive Old Testament Law that Jesus originally died to save us from!  Our human nature feels the need to earn our own righteousness, but that's a lie! 
Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace.   Romans 6:14
Let this truth sink in! Dare to believe what the Bible says even though this message of freedom isn't always popular among us Christians! If you are doing anything in your life simply because "that's what good Christians do" PLEASE STOP! Ask God to show you the truth! Ask God what He wants of your life and quit following a bunch of RULES!
I end with this writing from the Apostle Paul.  Read this and then go ask God what it means:
You crazy Galatians (insert your name in place of Galatians)! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the Cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. 
2 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? 3 Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? 4 Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! 
Galatians 3:1-4
STOP THE MADNESS--BE FREE!

Friday, June 14, 2013

SEE YOURSELF HIGHLY FAVORED

The sweltering Egyptian Sun blazes down on the bustling market. The distinctive scent of aromatic spices wafts over the countless rows of merchants calling out there wares and treasures brought hear from far and wide... Everything, from the intricate creations of precious metals to livestock, has a price in fact, a slave can be yours for 20 pieces of silver...
Amid this hustle and bustle in the main square by the fountain stands a young man of about 17 years old, his neck and his hands bound firmly with coarse ropes. From the rope burns across his wrist and around his neck, you can tell that the merchants have not been kind as they hurried to reach the market in time to put their prize on display...The young man is dazed from so many days off walking. His legs keep buckling beneath him, his arms are weary from the constant tugging and his mouth is parched from the dry desert winds. He is in a foreign land where people speak in an incomprehensible tongue. With nothing to his name, not even a loincloth to cover his modesty, he is bound and displayed, completely naked. In a short while he would be inspected like an animal against his will, and sold into a lifetime of slavery.
- Joseph Prince, Unmerited Favor


I spoke this past week on being Highly Favored and most people would say the young man described above does NOT look HIGHLY FAVORED!  We could all agree that if that's favor, I don't want it! But the Bible says God Himself called this young man, Joseph, a successful man! (Genesis 39)

Joseph was so successful he wound up in JAIL! 

20 So Joseph..was there in the jail. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. (Genesis 39:20-21)

Why did God ever call this guy successful or favored?! Didn't God see what was happening to poor Joseph? Didn't He care that this innocent man was IN THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE?

Maybe you're in the fight of your life like Joseph...if you can relate to getting one raw deal after another then there's good news for you: Joseph's story took an incredible turn and he went on to be second in command over the nation of Egypt!  And just like Joseph, God calls YOU successful and favored!  

God's favor isn't based on what you've done or even your circumstances, it's based on what Jesus did on the cross! Jesus paid the high price for your FAVOR, BLESSING, RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS and more when He died on that cross! There's nothing you need to do to get these things.  Because of Jesus, God went ahead and gave them to you! And even if you do something stupid, you still have them!  If God's favor was based on your own hard work and achievements then His favor would only be temporary but David says, "His FAVOR lasts a lifetime" in Psalms 30!  

When you're in the fight of your life, begin to look for God's FAVOR! Choose to see where God is blessing you! Maybe all you can see is that you seem to get a good parking spot wherever you go. Thank God for that parking spot, as insignificant as it may seem, and soon you will begin to see more and more of these "coincidences" happen for your good! Because it's not just believing for the sake of being positive, it's believing what God promised YOU! Believe what God says! God can work with your belief: it's called faith and faith is what you "see" spiritually. 

God knows your circumstances. God cares for you and wants the best for you! Sometimes God works quickly, sometimes He works slowly but either way He ALWAYS has a plan for your life and that plan is called HIGHLY FAVORED! So take the first step into this world of blessing:  begin to see yourself as highly favored...because you are!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

You're Blessed--Now What?

We say we live in a blessed nation. We say our children are a blessing.  The Bible says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. My family feels blessed when I'm under the influence of caffeine. And can we just say "blessed" in a single syllable or do we have to say "bless-ed" in two syllables, olde-english style? What's all this blessing about?

God has clearly stated some radical promises for all who believe in Him: they will become great, be honored, have a certain brand of celebrity associated with their name, and everyone on the earth will feel the benefits of just being around these people! (Genesis 12:2-3) Pretty incredible! That's where I want to live!

I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly bursting with joy and rainbows and lollipops first thing in the morning...I need a little reminder of just how bless-ed I am!

It's my sneaky suspicion that we all need that reminder. So where do we find this? In the morning news or out of an equally-groggy family member's mouth?!? Yah, sounds stupid...but that's what we do! Actually, it would be helpful to study "blessings" in the Bible. So like a good pastor, I've studied it out for you (thanks, Google) and here's some stuff for you to say to you that lines up with what the Bible says about you:

God supplies all my needs (Philippians 4:19)
God gives me what I need when I need it (2 Corinthians 9:8)
I am a generous person and God is generous to me (Luke 6:38)
I am content and emotionally stable (Philippians 4:7)
I don't need to fear or worry, God gives me strength and help (Isaiah 41:10)
God will make something good out of my life (Philippians 1:6)
God sees the good in me (Jude 1:24)
I am difficult to offend (Galatians 5:1)
I appreciate people and they appreciate me (Isaiah 58:10)
Jesus put every answer I need inside of me (James 5:17)

Did you notice how good you feel after reading that? I have about 40 of these that I say to myself daily. I encourage you to start with these and add any other promises that encourage you to be all that God made you to be!

Bottom line: Don't exclude yourself from what God has included you in!  Don't let your feelings or some momentarily thoughtless friend or, worse yet, an enemy tell you who you are! BELIEVE what God says about you! Believe you're BLESSED!