Head over to Substack for my latest post:
All You Need is Love
Click over to Substack for my latest post.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about an old Rob Bell video called “Bullhorn.” Maybe you remember it. For about 12 minutes, Rob berates a man with a bullhorn he saw standing outside an entertainment venue. Mr. Bell says the guy is yelling things like, sin, and hell, and death. And then to Rob Bells horror, the guy has the audacity to say, “Jesus.”
As Mr. Bell leans in closer to the camera, he says he wants to talk to the man. To tell the “Bullhorn Guy” that nobody is listening. And that his message isn’t working. And that he, Rob Bell, doesn’t understand what all the condemning and the converting, (that’s right, he says “converting”) has to do with Jesus.
Which then leads me to think about our country. About the overall decay of our once great Christian nation. Especially about the dramatic decline we’ve seen over the last 12-15 years since Rob Bell made that video. And that leads me to want to ask Rob Bell a question. So here I go, Mr. Bell, where’s the fruit of the passive gospel message you and your peers have been preaching?
Because, I don’t think your message is working. You see, our kids are really hurting. All the depression, drug addiction, and pornography are destroying them. At an earlier and earlier age, more and more predators are pounding on their tender hearts. And the amount of evil they face daily is inescapable.
Which leads me back to the bible and the God I find there. How all the way back to Genesis, when a nation went down a path like ours, God kind of sent a bullhorn guy. And they had names like Jonah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John. And for the most part, those men stood alone on a street corner shouting the same message as Rob Bell’s, “bullhorn guy.” Repent, for judgement draws near.
And in all those stories, shortly following the bullhorn guys message, many a nation fell. Only a few repented and drew near to God. But when they did, God kept His promise and He healed their land.
My heart longs for sermons about the table turning Jesus. The Jesus who will not tolerate abuse. And I long to fight against this evil like the early Christians who brought down the Roman Empire. Which then makes me wonder if maybe more of us need to pick up a bullhorn and love folks enough to tell them to repent, for judgement draws near.
I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of watching young people get destroyed by evil men and women seeking their own sinful desires. Especially when Jesus really is the only answer.
So, pass me the bullhorn because the message hasn’t changed in thousands of years. There is a hell, and God has a lot of wrath, and judgement is coming. So repent and turn from your wicked ways. Then follow Jesus, so GOD can heal our land.
For years I hesitated to tell how I sat on a doctors table waiting to have an abortion. How I felt like God came in the room and urged me to leave. How it felt as though He said, “Ellen, I promise, if walk out everything would be ok.” How I got dressed and left.
I hesitated because I never wanted a woman who chose abortion to feel like God treated me differently by speaking into my heart and not theirs.
But that all changed one weekend when I attended a Care Ministry conference where my roommate was a woman I’d never met. That first night, she shared with me how she came to be a volunteer in our churches Abortion Recovery Ministry. She told me how for years she was depressed and could not figure out why. Then after years of medication and therapy, she found herself sitting in the group she now helps facilitate. And as a part of the group therapy, she named her baby and had a memorial service for her. That’s when the healing began that eventually set her free from her depression.
Hesitantly, I shared my abortion clinic story with her. And her response was, “I heard that voice too, only I ignored it.”
That’s when I realized there was nothing special about my encounter with God. That He speaks to all of us in those kinds of situations. Only we tend to chalk it up to conscience, or intuition, or a gut feeling. But God is consistent and He loves us all. But we tend to cover our ears and build walls around our hearts to keep out our creator.
A few years ago, I posted a pro-life message on social media. In it, I declared how grateful I am for that gentle voice that told me to leave that clinic.
Only, that message triggered a few of my pro-abortion followers who then attacked me and called me names. How dare I be insensitive to those who have had abortions.
But I stuck to my story, and the story told to me by my roommate at the conference. I stuck to what I’ve seen and heard from others who regret their abortions. Because too many women have been deeply wounded by the lie that an abortion affect them for the rest of their lives.
I can’t get in the weeds to defend my pro-life views as well as I can just tell my story. And perhaps that’s the best way to share the gospel.
There we were, two strangers in a hotel telling similar stories with two very different outcomes. Both stories showed that regardless of what choice we have made, God continues to nudge us to invite Him into the discussion. And when we do, He not only changes us, but uses our story to reach others.
If you have a story like this, please put, “God nudged me too and it changed my life” in the comments. I will then pray for God to use your story to share His Gospel.
#abortionhurtswomen #tellyourstory #godisgoodalways #godhealsbrokenhearts #chooselife
Several years ago, on a visit to my mother’s grave, I called my aunt from the cemetery because it always touched her that I went. I wasn’t sure she’d know it was me since dementia had taken much of her short-term memory. But I made the call anyway.
After the hello’s, I told her where I was. “Oh honey,” she said. “I can’t think about that right now. But don’t go away. I want you to hear this. Are you listening?”
“Yes, Aunt Jeanne Marie. I’m listening.”
“Ok, I want you to understand this.” Then she paused and I heard her draw in a deep breath.
“Honey, you are loved with the simplicity of a child’s love. Do you know what I mean?”
The words fell gently on my heart. Their tenderness indicative of their deliverer. And years of my relationship with this beautiful woman flowed over me as I was reminded of how blessed I am to have her in my life.
You see – Aunt Jeanne Marie spent a lifetime living out Philippians 4:8. From a young age, she chose to focus on what was true, noble, and right. And she filled her heart to the brim with stuff that was pure, lovely, and admirable.
So, at 89 years old, what came out of her mouth was the overflow of years of what she took in. And in spite of the wear and tear on her mind, her heart couldn’t help but live out Luke 6:45 – For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
When I’m faced with a crisis, I wrestle with God. And in the wrestling, I shake my fist at Him and ask WHY? After my temper tantrum, I sit down and think of my aunt. Which inspires me to rummage through the ashes in search of something beautiful to offset my rage. I know my heart will never be as full as hers. But because of her, I’m determined to stay in the search.
What crisis of yours did God turn from ashes to beauty? How are you filling your heart?
From this side of the fence to yours
#wearethestarryeyed
Eradicate the Counterfeit Life
Losing. Grieving. Mourning. Loving. Living.
A topnotch WordPress.com site
Just another WordPress.com site
Life's Lessons Learned
Slipstream 