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Sharon Hodde Miller
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Meditation

The Faith and Fear in Mary’s Song

By SharonMeditation, SeasonalOne Comment
Luke 1 is where we find the traditional story of Mary's virgin pregnancy. In this chapter, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and informs her of God's plans. We then...
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December 13, 2009
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Hi, I’m Sharon

Author, speaker, wife, and mom.

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“Your stomach growls when it’s hungry, and so “Your stomach growls when it’s hungry, and so does your soul.” I said this at small group earlier this week, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I wonder how many of us have stopped recognizing the daily hunger pangs of our souls. The fear, the anger, the confusion—we try to feed it with control, or obsessively reading news sites. Or we distract ourselves from it with social media or Netflix. Or, we reframe it entirely. We call it vigilance, or wisdom, or keeping ourselves secure. We rebrand our hunger as fullness, which keeps us from actually filling ourselves with the presence of God.

So I challenged my small group women to pay attention to their feelings this week, the moments of yuck that we have so normalized that we don’t even give them a second thought. Those feelings are coming from a growling soul that is hungry to connect with God. If we can just recognize it in the first place.
A couple months ago I mentioned that conspiracy th A couple months ago I mentioned that conspiracy theories frequently violate the 9th Commandment, and some of you asked me to say more. Here it is, but the short version is this:

Scripture warns again and again that the more we open our mouths, the more likely we are to sin. It’s just a fact. We are lulled into ignoring this by the chorus of amens from people who agree with us, but part of the reason the church is so broken and divided right now is because we have grown so accustomed to lying.

(Image contents on Facebook)
This morning Ike preached about how God takes the This morning Ike preached about how God takes the raw stone of our lives and, like a master sculptor, chisels us into His image. Ike talked about the pain of this transformation, and how we are tempted to flee from it, but that it is beautiful and good.

I think his words are also true of our church. One of the strange things about church planting is that you are supposed to start with a clear vision, but I would bet most church planters have about as much understanding of their church’s identity as a young married couple saying their vows. Which is to say, not very much. Churches start out much more like a raw chunk of rock, waiting to be chiseled. We can’t really know who God will form us into.

This pandemic has been a chiseling time, but the farther we get into it, the more God’s plan is coming into view, and the more our church is becoming who we are. It is a true joy to have a front row seat to this unveiling. I hope that is an encouragement to you church planters who are just starting out—it’s ok if the vision is still coming!—and @brightcityrdu, Ike and I are so proud of you. 💛

📷: @stillbeingmolly
I tweeted this half jokingly today, but in all ser I tweeted this half jokingly today, but in all seriousness, here is a great way to avoid violating the 3rd commandment on the daily: In 1 Corinthians 7:12, Paul clarifies that what he is saying is FROM HIM and NOT GOD, and I think that is a *fantastic* way to preface a lot of the strong opinions we share online.
Our selfie game is not strong. We tried to get a p Our selfie game is not strong. We tried to get a photo with our faces AND the view, but this was the best we could do! (Also, Highlands, NC has not disappointed! What a beautiful place!)
What we see on social media is not the whole of a What we see on social media is not the whole of a person, that is true. But in emphasizing this, I sometimes wonder if we have swung too far in the opposite direction, behaving as if it doesn’t reflect us at all. In Luke 6:45, Jesus says, “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks,” and you better believe this applies to social media! Whether it’s pettiness, name-calling, gossip, fear-mongering, gloating, or old-as-sin meanness, social media doesn’t tell us everything, but it tells us something.
Hey guys. I voted over a month ago, so I’m out h Hey guys. I voted over a month ago, so I’m out here praying specifically for the people in my church. In our church alone, many members will be differently affected depending on today’s outcome, and I love them all, so that is my work today. And if you need prayer, feel free to DM me or leave it in the comments. 💛
This, in my opinion, is one of the least discussed This, in my opinion, is one of the least discussed aspects of holding Christian convictions in our culture. In the early church, the Christians’ convictions never required MORE of others than they sacrificed themselves. They led in sacrifice, which is a reflection of the sacrificial righteousness of Christ.

Conversely, we sometimes hold our convictions in a way that places a *greater burden* on others than on ourselves. We are pro-life, but it is the young, vulnerable mothers and their children that pay the greatest cost. We are pro-diversity, but it is racial minorities who must sacrifice the most to achieve it. Whatever our convictions—about human dignity, racial justice, or human sexuality—we must always ask ourselves, “How am I LEADING IN SACRIFICE for this? How am I counting the cost?” Otherwise, our theoretical convictions will appear to be nothing more than groundless self-righteousness.
This morning I finished our series “The Party of This morning I finished our series “The Party of the Lamb,” and this is what I covered in a nutshell. Many of the factions in our church result from picking one or two of these practices and ranking them above the rest, which Scripture does not do. This hierarchy also misses the *ESSENTIAL TRUTH* that these practices are inextricably connected to one another like woven threads. To pull one out is to fray the entire fabric, and we are seeing that compromised integrity and incoherent theology everywhere right now. Resist the urge to align yourself with a group that only prioritizes one or two of these. Align yourself with Christ, and settle for nothing less.

Sources: Rodney Stark, Larry Hurtado, and Tim Keller

And you can hear the whole message on YouTube or the @brightcityrdu podcast)
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