Month: June 2020

Christian, Faith, Jesus, Podcast

A Harsh Word or a Gentle Answer.

thegodlypodreview
Picture by Mircealancu

When I think of a harsh word or a gentle answer, I think of Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Anger is defined as a strong feeling of displeasure or belligerence aroused by a wrong. If I look at my own reactions to situations sometimes, I allow my emotions get the best of me and the harsh word will come out before the gentle answer. Thankfully over the years and with much personal growth this occurs less frequently.

Why isn’t the gentle answer our default? Could it be partly the way the world expects us to always win, to get to the top of our field, to be better than everyone else, but if we only focus on that, do we ignore empathy and compassion? Another reason could be you have been taken advantage of in the past and in order to get your voice heard you feel like you need to be louder and speak with force. Either way it is not the way Jesus would want us to respond. Jesus would ask us to respond with love and kindness. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28 Although we all struggle to achieve this; it is something to pray about and work toward.

This week’s podcast I am reviewing is called Rhythms for Life with Gabe and Rebekah Lyons. They are husband and wife who live in Tennessee. Rebekah Lyons is a national speaker and bestselling author of Rhythms of Renewal book. An old soul with a contemporary, honest voice, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety and depression—and invites others to discover and boldly pursue their God-given purpose from a place of freedom. In this podcast they interview Scott Sauls, he is the senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, co-founder of the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work, and an author. He previously served at New York City’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church as a lead and preaching pastor alongside Dr. Timothy Keller. His new book “A Gentle Answer” is based off of Proverbs 15:1 and is a great resource for anyone seeking to engage Christianity in a divided culture. In the podcast they talk about his new book and about how Scott overcame anxiety and depression. Scott says “If you are going through a panic attacks or anxiety there are strategies and resources, people and communities that can come along side you to help you. The cure rate is very high if you are resourced well. Depression is harder to come out of. You can do it with medication or without but always with counseling! Don’t take enough medication to take all the pain away, just take enough so you can think clearly. You will need friends who have walked through it that you can talk to and trust.” Gabe asked Scott to describe to people that Pastors don’t have it all together and don’t have it all figured out. They are just like everyone else. Scott talks about two Pastors who committed suicide when he was in seminary. One of them wrote a note stating “I have been wrestling with depression for a while. I am trying to get help but I know I am going down. When a minister discloses to the people that he serves that he is struggling with depression he will lose his ministry.” Scott makes a very strong point saying “We all have some form of brokenness or form of I am not complete. Jesus needs to make this new for us. Pastors feel like they cannot talk about it.” His point about having friends who are walking close to God to lean on and talk to is so important. Gabe states “The world pits us against each other. You are the voice telling us this is not the way it has to be.” Scott responds saying his book brings gentlness into a hostile environment. “It seems some people have an impulse to judge and punish. This increases anxiety for those who want peace.” Gabe points out “anxiety, stress, and overachieving can be fueled by a culture that says we have to win but Scott’s message is you need to love not win! You don’t lose points from God because you are gentle and kind to people who you think are wrong on certain issues that are important to you. You actually win because you demonstrating His love for them.” This is a good message and I hope you will listen to the full podcast and find areas in your life where you could use a gentle word instead of a harsh answer.

My uplifting piece to the blog is an Instagram video by Carlos Whittaker, it is him talking to his white neighbor about why he painted his white bunny statue black. The video is called “Now For the Hard Part of Ending Racism.” It made me cry in a good way.

Rhythms for Life Podcast with Scott Sauls

Rebekah Lyons’ website

Christian, Jesus, Podcast

Be The Bridge

thegodlypodreview
Picture by April Sylvester

This post is a little different than the rest. I wrestled with the decision to use this topic or not and what I realized is this topic is too important not to talk about. Racial reconciliation, you have heard a lot about it over the last few weeks. As a white Christian woman, it saddens me that this is where we are as a country in 2020. We still have not moved passed the hatred and dehumanization of African American/People of Color. God made us ALL in His image and made us diverse for a reason. He loves us all and calls us to love everyone. Just as the Jews and Gentiles were at odds about who was righteous in Jesus day, it seems today the battle is about the color of our skin.

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. Romans 3:9; 19-20

But are we aware of our sin or do we just not talk about it and when someone speaks disparagingly about people of color, do we ignore it? I have to admit I have been in this situation twice in the last five years and I did not speak up. When I think back on it and my lack of action it makes me sick to my stomach. I said nothing, which means I did nothing, which means I attributed to the racial hatred. I have since repented and asked God for forgiveness but it still weighs heavy on my heart. I am learning to be a better advocate for my friends of color.

The Podcast I am reviewing today is from Annie and Eddie Keep Talking. They interview LaTasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge. Latasha is a speaker, author, reconciler, bridge-builder and leader, committed to educate people on cultural intelligence and racial literacy. She founded Be the Bridge in 2016 to encourage racial reconciliation among all ethnicities, to promote racial unity in America, and to equip others to do the same.

Eddie begins with the question “What can I contribute to the conversation?” LaTasha replied, “You can help elevate my voice. By posting on social media or whatever platform you have has shown solidarity. It is saying I am with you and this is my action to show that. It may not be your story but we are connected so it is my story. It means so much when people speak out for us.” Eddie asks, “This is not a new thing, why has this blown up now?” LaTasha says “It is a perfect storm; you have everyone who has camera with them all the times and social media platforms to post it on. In the last four years the remarks have gone from covert to overt expressions. Plus, the pandemic, people working from home, school is out and more people are paying attention.” This statement from LaTasha was an enlightening to me, “We attach humanity to the behavior of a person. During slavery, for people to consciously deal with it you had to de-humanize people of color. We were considered three fifths of a person and counted as chattel. That narrative was being spoken, and because you were seen as beastly you had to be controlled.” Annie asks “What is helpful for your white friends to do, the next right steps that will feel supportive?” LaTasha said “Educate your white friends. It helps our kids as they are learning and growing. The narrative becomes less scary. Who are you listening to? Make sure you are learning and listening to people of color. Learn the issues and unlearn bad behavior. It is ok if you mess up, just don’t get offended. Own your mistakes and don’t let your pride creep in.” Toward the end of the podcast they talk about how to speak to kids about racial inequality and much more. It is definitely worth a listen. Also, LaTasha has a new podcast called Be the Bridge, I will link to that below too. I know I have more to learn and the next book on my reading list is Be the Bridge.

Here is where I usually put an uplifting story but today I am going to link to an article from the Good Newsletter. It lists out many resources to become more educated about racial inequality and racial reconcilation, articles, books and podcasts, you can find that here.

I’m sorry for the heaviness of this post but it is something that has to be addressed and we as white Americans should not be ashamed to say we have been doing it wrong, repent, and learn the loving way we can help support our friends of color. Praying you have a great week and keep listening and learning.

Annie and Eddie Keep Talking with LaTasha Morrison

Be the Bridge website

Be the Bridge Podcast

LaTasha Morrison’s website

Picture from Jamie Ivey’s website

Christian, Jesus, Podcast

Where to Next?

thegodlypodreview

Welcome to the new website! As you can tell it has a slightly different look to it and the URL has changed to thegodlypodreview.com. In the weeks to come you will see a few more changes. Now back to the blog ….

Do you ever stop to ask God what should your next move be? I don’t mean physically moving your home, although for me and my family last year that was the case. I’m referring to what does He want you to do to serve more in your community, reaching out to someone to begin a friendship, a possible job change, or how to reach your kids more? Most of the time I have to intentionally look to God for answers and to be honest a good portion of my life, probably 38 years of it, I thought I knew what was best for me. Come to find out that was not the case, in the end God’s way has always yielded a better return than mine. In their heart’s humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9 Are you allowing God to establish your steps or do you prefer to take the lead and run ahead of what He has planned for you? I find when I do that, I end up taking 20 steps backwards and then stop and say oh yeah by the way God what should I be doing in this situation? Then I begin to take rights steps forward in God’s perfect will.

The Podcast I am reviewing this week is from Proverbs 31 Ministries. If you are not aware Lysa TerKeurst is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author. She has authored many Christian centered books, devotionals, and Bible studies. I completed one of her Bible studies called Unglued and found it very helpful. Two people that work for Proverbs 31 Ministries host the Podcast, Meredith Brock and Kaley Olson. The name of this Podcast is “What Does God Want Me to do Next” and they are interviewing a young woman who also works for Proverbs 31, Shae Tate. This topic is very relevent to many people and as Shae says “It translates into different seasons of our lives. We reaffirm our calling over and over in our lives. We ask what am I suppose to do and where am I suppose to go?” I like how she points out that “we all need direction and sometimes are afraid of doing the wrong thing but it is best for us to seek God’s call on our lives no matter what season we are in.” Another important argument she made, “God is reconciling us to Him, He is calling us to Himself, so we can help others be reconciled to God. We all have this calling and it comes out differently for each of us through our individual gifts.” Meredith states “God is saying come and be intimate with me and from that deep relationship we will gain wisdom.” This scripture seemed to sum it up:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:8-11

Proverbs 31 Ministries links to a 6-week devotional that ties into this topic called “Thy Will be Done”, you can find it here. Links to the Proverbs 31 website and this Podcast can be found below.

The uplifting end to the blog is this newsletter I started to receive recently. It is called The Good Newsletter and you can sign up for it here. All of the articles are positive but the one I really enjoyed was about a church in Berlin Germany. They invited the nearby Mosque worshipers to worship at their church on Fridays during Ramadan since they ran out of room due to social distancing requirements. How loving and hospitable are the leaders of the Martha Lutheran Church? They are living out 1 Peter 4:8-10. I am praying you have a great week and spend a little time asking God where to next.

Proverb’s 31 Ministries

Proverb’s 31 Ministries Podcast “What Does God Want Me to do Next?”

Lysa TerKeurst website

Pictures from Pixabay