Tag Archives: compassion

Know Your Enemy

24 Saturday Sep 2016

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Black-maned male African lion roaring, headshot, Africa

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him.” 1 Peter 5:8, 9

The enemy is very busy with today’s Christians.

Busy getting friends to turn on each other because their opposing views become offensive and that offense becomes more valuable than the love they used to have for each other.

Busy getting us to one-up each other in sarcasm and rhetoric rather than outdo each other in love, mercy, grace, and kindness.

Busy getting Christians more concerned about issues than souls, more condemning of others than forgiving, more critical of others than prayerful, more determined to make a worldly point than testify of the goodness, faithfulness, and sovereignty of the Living God.

The enemy is very busy with today’s Christians.

Busy inciting fear, hatred, violence, injustice, retaliation, bitterness, separatism, vengeance, murder, and deception in the world, and busy getting Christians to join the ranks in picking worldly sides and buy into it from a worldly perspective, while we completely ignore his handiwork from the shadows.

He’s very busy there–in the shadows, recruiting the same souls for destruction that we should be turning to the Messiah. Recruiting us to rally for a candidate or a cause rather than look with compassion on the lost. Recruiting us to redefine “the lost” and to use our own judgment for determining who’s worthy of compassion and forgiveness. Recruiting us to look at skin or uniform color rather than the soul inside. Distracting our attention away from who and what we really wrestle against.

The enemy has convinced many of us to ignore that in our anger we should not sin, that the very sins we condemn others for we ourselves commit or have committed, that those sinning against us are in need of the same grace and repentance we have been given, that we are to love our neighbors and enemies, bless those who curse us, pray for those who persecute and spitefully use us, and not resist an evil person.

The enemy is busy getting us to live like desperate citizens of a lost world rather than confident children of the Almighty God. Children who have the wisdom that is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

He’s busy getting us so angry that we become unforgiving, and in becoming unforgiving we forget how our own sins ripped through Christ’s flesh.

He is busy convincing us that God is silent. And that if God is silent we should be shouting. At the world. Not crying out to our Father. Together. United.

The enemy is very busy with today’s Christians. He is busy keeping us subjected to the influence of media and away from the instruction of God’s throne. He is busy trying to make us look and feel hostile, sarcastic, furious, forgotten, forsaken, indifferent, uncaring, hard-hearted, and hopeless. He is busy trying to make us look and act like him.

Resist him.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

 

Where is the Love?

07 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by in Faith, Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics

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nearness to God

“But if I have not love, I am nothing.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:2

My mother-in-law gave me wise advice years ago. She told me that when it comes to people you admire and causes you support, if you agree with every single iota of a person’s opinions or an agenda’s position, then you’re not thinking for yourself.

You cannot change the world, play your part in it, or make the difference you were created to make if you swallow every gulp of what your favorite pastor, political party, or network is pouring in your glass. The opinions and reasoning of men are flawed and imperfect because we are flawed and imperfect. Only God and His word are infallible.

I’m not on the bandwagon that cries racism every time there’s a person of color killed by a white officer. Neither do I duck my head in the sand and say “No way this is unjust. They must have deserved it” just because somebody posts a FB photo or Twitter post about the victim that shows disgraceful behavior. I don’t share blog posts that essentially say “I was treated okay, so that other person’s experience must be bogus,” when a person who was alive and well yesterday is gone today and have people who loved them fresh in mourning.

To do so is to show the world how non-objective and hard-hearted you really are; you’ve got your Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative playbook and you’ll die before you break ranks or call an audible. It’s not about being right. Where’s your sense of humanity when you can watch a person die on video and the only thing that crosses your mind is rhetoric, debate, and “what’s a good meme to silence all these outraged people?”

Where is your sadness? Your horror?

Especially if you call yourself Christian?

Even if–in your limited and sorely mistaken opinion–every single police shooting is justified and the victims are wicked, how can you take pleasure in or be so indifferent to death when God Himself takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, when he took a man like the Apostle Paul, who had a murderous rap sheet, and both loved and changed him?

These two men had value in God’s eyes. His Son died for them. People loved them. Meditate on that for a minute and get down off your politically charged social media high horse and let your heart beat blood for a spell.

“But if I have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2

A Little Tact, Please

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in and Other Topics, Faith, Relationships

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argument

Years ago, in a modest California home on a crowded California couch, I sat next to my Great-Grandmother who was visiting with my parents for a few weeks.

Remote in hand, I flipped through their zillion channels for something suitable to watch. It went a little like this:

Click. Pause. Interesting? No. Click. Pause. Seen it. Click. “Bleep, bleep, bleep, get your bleeping, bleep, bleep…”

If there were a record for the world’s worst remote control fumble, I’d have it, because I dropped that thing about five times before I could finally get a grip strong enough to turn off the television. I felt like I’d just been on the receiving end of a hefty slapping session.

I was humiliated to have subjected my Great-Grandmother to that.

In the same way, whenever there is a social or political issue that drives passionate exchange between differing views, I get flustered and humiliated when I see, hear, or read about Christians expressing themselves with insult, crude language, and in-your-face hostility.

Can we disagree with people without name-calling? “Speak evil of no one.” (Titus 3:2)

Can we talk about someone we didn’t vote for without insult? “It is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.” (Acts 23:5)

Can we have healthy exchange without it being a volley of sarcasm and anger? “Let your speech be always full of grace, seasoned with salt.” (Colossians 4:6)

Can we stop being right long enough to be compassionate about another person? “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)

Can we consider that what we say in the name of our Master is a reflection of that very name, and choose to honor Him instead of doling out pieces of our minds at every turn? “Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36)

Can we, as Christians, just have a little tact? Please.

Titus 3:1-15

Blogging for Compassion a Huge Success

01 Monday Oct 2012

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I wanted to update everyone on the Blogging for Compassion campaign run in the month of September. Through the efforts of several bloggers, 3,159 children were sponsored! That is HUGE!

What an amazing testimony to the compassion of many hearts and the awesome work of the Lord.

Many thanks to any of you who sponsored, prayed for, or spread the word about sponsoring a child through Compassion. Your efforts have impacted thousands.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Bring on the Fiction!

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Short Stories, Songs, and Poetry, When Morning Comes, Writing and Pursuing Publication

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It’s been a few months now. I’ve learned to crawl through this blog thing–post a bit about writing, topics related to my book plot, random everyday me stuff, and scorpions.

Now I think I’m ready. It’s time to give my blog knees a break and stand up on wobbly blog legs. It’s time to pull the pages away from my chest, place a few of them gently down on the digital table and push them across to the other side.

I’m a fiction writer. It’s time to start posting some fiction.

Drum roll please…and a red carpet…maybe some long stem–but I digress.

Enter the first two chapters of my debut novel When Morning Comes. Next Saturday I will post a link here to my website at tanaramccauley.com where the chapters will be in PDF format. UPDATE: These chapters were posted as promised but have since been removed in order to comply with the rules of an upcoming contest that I intend to enter. If and when I am able to re-post them I will notify my readers through a new blog post. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Then, to keep that fiction coming, I’ll be starting a series in October called Truth or Fiction Tuesdays. These short stories will be 1500 words or less and will read like fiction, but some of them will actually be based on fact. It will be up to you, the reader, to vote and decide which. I’ll be wearing my sly-as-a-fox hat, so don’t think guessing will be easy. The payoff for your efforts? A giveaway at the end of the series. All who participate will be entered into the drawing. I’ll post more details later.

In addition to these, I’ll continue this month with my Blogging for Compassion campaign with Compassion International for child sponsorship; and I’ll blog other posts that, on their way through my head, stop and rest a while. I may even let you in on a scorpion hunt video we taped when we had visitors (not committed to that one yet, as video has shown me that I talk urgently, loudly, and much too much when there are scorpions involved).

Stay tuned, chime in, and get ready for me to bring on the fiction!

From My Heart to God’s Ear…In a Letter

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Heavenly Father,

I want to praise You and give You thanks for who You are and all that You do.

As I think about child sponsorship and what it has become for me, I really want to just thank You for using such a ministry to bless my family when we thought it would be us being used to bless others. I know through Your Word that You have a heart for the poor and that You have made them rich in faith. That You would use me and take my intention to help with their physical needs, then turn it into love and feelings I never thought I could feel for someone I’ve never seen, I’m amazed.

I’m blessed by every letter, truly Father. Knowing that these precious children pray for us, it humbles me and makes me want to cry sometimes. To have one mother write to tell me she’d make sure her son wouldn’t waste the opportunity sponsorship has given him, You know what that did to me.

Parent to parent I know her heart, and it touched mine. I want to be able to do more, and I pray if it’s Your will, You’ll enable us to. Let it be lavish, LORD! And thank you again for the many letters we get. Please keep them coming. And help me to write each child regularly also. Speak to my heart specific things to pray for them. May they know You, love You, and grow strong in You as they mature. And Father, if You are willing, I pray that we get to meet them all one day. I would love so dearly to hold them close.

For the children who have yet to be sponsored, especially those who have waited for months, move someone’s heart to sponsor a child today. Even if it’s just one, Lord. You pick the person, and match them with the child You’ve intended, and let Your blessing fall down on that relationship and flow through it.

Your ways are perfect, even when we don’t understand them. And I praise You for pairing the poor in flesh but rich in faith, to the poor in faith but rich in flesh, and then revealing Yourself through these bonds You’ve built. You are wonderful and worthy of praise. And I ask, in the name of Jesus, that You would match a child with their sponsor today. I love You, and I thank You for it.

In Jesus’ name…Amen.

Have Compassion…Sponsor a Child

09 Sunday Sep 2012

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Have you never had the urge to Sponsor a Child? I won’t pretend to know why the average person is turned off by the countless child sponsorship advertisements. It could be the depressing feeling one gets when they see such poverty and despair. Or the assumption that their efforts will most likely not make a difference.

It might even be the flies.

I can’t stand flies, even if they’re swarming around some other person on my television. So the desire to focus one’s attention in a more positive, fly-free direction is understandable.

But there’s another side to it. Though the hunger and poverty are real, I want to focus today on the positive aspects of sponsoring a child. Simply put–the children!

My family and I sponsor three children in three different countries. Because we have two daughters and one son in our home, we sponsor two boys and one girl to even up the playing team. And I can tell you from experience, our lives are better for it.

Our sponsor son in Rwanda is a mellow, direct little fellow. He writes what he means for you to hear. No fluff. Good stuff.

Our sponsor daughter in Bolivia is mature and soft-hearted. Her sweetness is felt in every letter we get from her. And over the years my heart aches more and more to just squeeze some of this love into that girl one day.

Our sponsor son in the Philippines is a happy, energetic, bold, charismatic, HANDFUL! Every picture has a different pose which says “It’s me again!” and “How you like me now?” He keeps us the busiest, since he once wrote to us that he “checks every day to see if he has any letters.” He also has burrowed his way deep into our hearts. There’s nothing like having a little boy who’s never seen you tell you “I miss you” in a letter.

Our sponsor children exist beyond the pictures and have become an important part of our extended family. We love them. And love beyond the boundaries that were drawn in your natural family is nothing short of a blessing.

Better still is the knowledge that your sponsorship drastically improves their quality of life and their ability to enjoy it as children.

I challenge you to look beyond whatever preconceived notions you have about child sponsorship, and just experience the adventure of sponsoring a child. Write the letters, let them know you’re interested in them–what they like, what they care about, what they do; and they’ll quickly pop up out of their shy little boxes to show you how much more they’re interested in you.

Then watch a love unfold and grow that you never knew was possible.

Visit the Compassion website and Sponsor a Child today.