Different Burdens, Different Hearts

If you follow me on Facebook you've probably seen a big burden on my heart.

ISIS has driven Christians from Mosul (Formally Nineveh) and threaten that if they didn't leave they either had to covert, pay a "tax" (AKA give them EVERYTHING they had), or die.

I've been following situations with Christians in countries like Iraq, Pakistan, etc. very closely and it has been breaking my heart. I feel a literal ache every time my thoughts wonder about their living conditions there. 

I've been posting a lot of articles about it and I noticed something. Not a lot of people were discussing it. The only news I've been able to get about ISIS in Iraq either comes from The Vicar of Baghdad's Facebook page, a Facebook page for orthodox Christians, and surprisingly, VICE.

Whenever I posted these stories I would see little to know response from my friends and this, at times, infuriated me. 

I remember when the whole stink with Hobby Lobby happened and how EVERYONE was talking about it. Each person voice one opinion or another.

But I thought to myself "This is different! People are DYING! And NO ONE seems to care!"

My husband could tell something was bothering me. I wasn't my normal, cheerful self.

He asked me what was wrong and I told him "I wish more people cared that people were losing their lives instead of all these piddly first world problems that angers people so much here!"

I was furious with people of my country. With people all across the board. Christians, Atheists, Religious, non religious, democratic, republican, every party in between (including my own) Men, women, everyone.

Anyone who used the word persecuted towards themselves. Anyone who threw the word privilege at everyone else. I was getting sick of the Victim mentality that seemed that everyone in a first world country loves to bear.

My husband had to calm me down.

He said "Baby, you can't make people care. Being angry about it is just going to make you feel worse. God places different burdens on different hearts. If this is your burden, that means he wants you to lift them up in prayer. "

I thought about that for a moment.

I realized then that, like different fields of Ministry, God lays different burdens on different people. Just because I'm more concerned with the Middle East, does not mean that the people who are more concerned with the state of affairs in the U.S. are bad.

Also, it doesn't mean they don't care about what's going on in Iraq.

Most people who've I spoken with, are concern and are sad about it, they just think about constantly as much as I am.

They may be thinking about something else that God what's them to pray for. 

They may have a different burden.

So I lightened up. I'm still following the stories very closely. I post just a frequently. 

I can still spread the news, but I can't get mad if no one comments on it. 

But most importantly, I pray for them.

Canon Andrew white (AKA, The Vicar of Baghdad) said in an interview once, that people come up to him constantly and ask him what can they do to assist him with his work in Iraq.

He says the same thing:

 "Pray for us".

And that's what I do.

Every night, before I go to bed, I pray for him and all those people for safety, food, shelter, and Grace.

Almost every morning, I crack open The Common Book of Prayer and pray the morning Prayer of Peace for them.

I pray for God's wisdom and peace for myself as well. 

Lately it's been on my heart to assist in someway to provide clean water for the Christians living in the slums of Islamabad, Pakistan, but I don't know how. I've pulled up some ideas, but I still don't know how. 

So I pray for God's wisdom to show me how and continue to research.

That's all I can do. Pray, research, and spread the word. 

And that's not little. According to Scriptures, pray itself, can move mountains. So never feel like prayer is meaningless.

Friends and Convictions

There comes a time in every Christians life that you have to truly come to terms, in a matter of speaking, to your convictions.

What do you truly believe in, what's a hill worth dying on, and how to express your convictions without seeming like your judging everyone.


The latter happens to me all the time. I have many friends who are not Christian, and have had friends (and family) who automatically think I judge them.

Why is this? Because I do accept the Bible as complete truth.

and there are some things in the Bible that do nit fit into our modern day philosophy.

an example:

I believe in a heaven and a Hell.  I can not stand by the popular statement of our time that says "If your a good person, you will go to heaven".

This logic, I believe, is flawed.

What makes a person good? I'm sure there are a lot of people in prison who believe they are good people. I'm sure the people that bombed the World Trade Towers considered themselves to be good people.

I believe in the, what would called core values, of Christianity.

1. There is a God and Jesus Christ is his only son.

2. there is no way of coming to the father without going to the son first.


I bring this up because this has come up numerous times.

"You think your better than me because you think your going to heaven and I'm going to hell!"

Again, this logic is false.

The whole idea that Christianity is a way to appear better than anyone else goes against basic scriptures.

It might be the case if I believe I was saved by my works, but I'm not . (Though I do find certain works important, but that's another blog for another day.)

I once saw a video of a street preacher standing in front of a strip club. He was being completely disrespectful, telling ANYONE who went in there they were going to hell.

I could never do that because I don't know what's in a person's heart. I'm sure there are plenty of Christ believing men (and women) who go into these type of establishments on a regular bases. I could make the argument that this is not the environment for a believe, but I can't tell consenting adults what to do. I cold only tell them my views on the subject if they come up and ask me.

Anyway, back to the preacher.

One man, who I believe is the owner of the club, came out and spoke with the preacher. He wasn't looking for a fight, he just wanted to speak to the man. He asked the preacher "Who are you to judge anyone?"

The preacher replied "I have the right to judge because I do not sin!"

Well, Buddy....I could name a sin that you actually do...LYING!


I think there are some Christians that get confused with the instances that Christ said "Go and sin no more". I don't think it means that when we receive his love we stop sinning!


Got Questions.org. Had a good point on this: http://www.gotquestions.org/go-and-sin-no-more.html

The article states:

"When we turn to Christ and receive His forgiveness, we experience a heart change (Luke 9:23;Acts 1:8). Forgiveness is not cheap, and it does not excuse the sin that separated us from God. It cost God everything to offer us the cleansing that pronounces us righteous before Him (John 3:16;15:13). Rather than continue in the self-centered path that led us astray from Him to begin with, the forgiven can walk in God’s path (Luke 14:27). A move toward God is a move toward righteousness, purity, and holy living (1 Peter 1:16;Romans 8:29). We cannot experience the transforming power of forgiveness without being forever changed."

But while we are still flesh, we still sin. We still stumble. I can never say I'm better than someone because 1. I don't know their heart, and 2. I have my own sins to worry about.

That being said I still have my own convictions. If a friend came up to me asking "My boyfriend and I are thinking about living together, what do you think?"

I would be honest with that friend and say I think you should get married first."

But, I can not make those decisions for an adult. They have to make them for themselves.

Which I think is the whole point of Grace. If God wanted to, he could show up on the earth right now and every person would automatically believe in him. There would be no question.

We would be like the angles and the demons. They have no choice but to believe in God because they already know he exists.

We have to believe in by faith not by sight. Which works on our free will. Despite what some pastors may preach on, God wants free thinkers. I don't think it's wrong for someone to question their beliefs.

You have to know what you believe in, not just simply follow blindly.

If you have questions about your faith, ask your pastor or read the Bible, pray, and ask your peers.

One of the things my priest says as the best way to understand you Bible is to pray before reading, read, than pray when your done.

So, back to my original train of thought (Sorry bout the little side trip. Darn ADD)

People often ask me "How can you love someone if you believe there is a chance of them going to hell".

Well, if I didn't love someone because the didn't believe in Christ, I wouldn't be very Christ like.

Jesus did not seek to spend time with believers, he sought out sinners. The ones Pharisees refused and rejected. If I spent  my time with people only in the Church, I wouldn't be a very good Christian. It would make things easier, yes, but my faith in Christ is not about convenience.

To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, if you're looking for convenience, I do not recommend Christianity.

In fact, to not share my faith with non-believers, would be the opposite of love.

That's something even hardcore atheist Penn Jillete understood: