Michelle's Shell

* I wrote this article for the haystack.tv blog and am just reposting it here!  You also read the post at  http://www.thehaystack.tv/confusion-perfection-and-christianitys-s-word/ “But sometimes I just don’t know how much I’m supposed to do and how much God’s just going to do!” I was genuinely complaining to a friend because I was genuinely frustrated. I mean yeah, I understood the whole salvation by grace thing – in concept at least – but I also knew that after this accepting Jesus’ “justification” thing came this other thing: Sanctification. Oh that “s” word… I’d heard it described as the work of a lifetime – the process where after the “come as you are” saved but grace event, we are to change, to struggle, to fight sin, to eventually become “perfect?” “Look Shell, they say we’re saved by grace, but you know that’s not all. After that you’re supposed to dress a certain way, give up certain things, become a vegetarian….  So whatever. I guess I’m going to hel...

Well, the year has ended and so must this “choices” blog series!   But as we end one chapter and begin another, I ask: What do you want this next year to look like?   New year’s “resolutions” abound: “I will lose weight this year.”   “I will exercise five days each week.”   “I will spend more time in daily devotions.”   And short-lived as these “resolutions” may be (most lasting 30 days, if that…), we at least WANT to do better! But deeper than these goals, I believe we have hopes and dreams for our year that, while we may not verbalize or share them, are there in our minds and strongly on our hearts: “I hope I meet the person I’m going to marry this year.”   “I really want to make something of myself this year and prove that I can do it.“   “I wish that this year God would show me what I’m supposed to do with my life and how to do something meaningful.”   “I just want to finally be happy and fulfilled this year.” And while...

Merry Christmas!   I don't know about you, but I grew up loving Christmas.   The lights, the songs, the festivities, the snow (yes, it was the north!) and of course, the presents – gotta love the presents.   And every Christmas Eve my brother and I would gather around with my parents and read about the baby Jesus, born on Christmas – compete with small donkey clip-clopping to Bethlehem, bright angels bursting through the night sky to sing to shepherds, and Joseph and Mary, full of wonder.   As I’d sit there listening, colorfully decorated house, family all around, the world seemed so bright and full of hope.   It was easy to see why Christmas is known as the season of hope. But my “hope” seems to have gotten a little more… realistic… over time.   I’ve come to realize that Christmas brings out not only the best but also the worst in people – including fights over mall parking spaces and gaudy commercialism.   The joy of receiving present...

Desire.   There are times it seems like almost a dirty word.   Desire can be as innocuous as craving a sandwich, or as consuming as the deep passions of the heart for love and companionship.   It can be as passing as a fleeting thought or as enduring as the chains of our strongest addictions.   Yet desire, by its very nature, is empty.   It represents a void unfilled, a longing unmet, and hope yet to be realized.   Without fulfillment, desire can leave us hollow, searching, or enslaved. So I used to flee desire.   Let’s be honest, more often than not my desires have seemed to be for the selfish or unholy rather than the righteous.   I long more for my own attention and enjoyment than the salvation of my neighbors.   I long for my “needs” to be met more than to meet the needs of others.   Desire reveals the selfishness of my heart.   And so I may try to run from it.   Squelch it.   Label it as “bad” a...