Body Care, STAT!

I won’t go so far as to say that medical television shows make me sick, but I will say that I do not find them appealing.  These programs, however, get one fact right: it is vitally important to stop blood loss.  When a patient is rushed into the emergency room with a wound or internal bleeding due to an accident, the first priority is to stop the bleeding.  This is a medical fact within a spiritual context.  Our bodies are created by God with a blood supply that makes body functions possible.  It is a closed system, though, and a loss of blood, however small, is dangerous.  Even a very slow loss of blood, over time, can be life-threatening.

God designed our physical bodies to require an intact and functioning circulatory system.  He designed the Body of Christ—that group of believers we call the church—to require intact and functioning relationships.  It is in relationship that we, as the body of Christ, are able to fulfill His purposes for us.  In his letters, the Apostle Paul repeatedly reminds his readers (and us) that we are all members of one body.  We are to care for one another because what happens to one of us affects all of us.  If one of our members is injured, he or she will not be able to fully participate in relationship as God intends.  It is our love for one another that will manifest Christ to our unbelieving neighbors.  Relationship is the life-blood of a healthy and fruitful body of Christ.

As we desire the Lord to do His glorious work in us and among us, it is essential that we tend to any blood loss.   Blood loss metaphorically occurs when one of us experiences spiritual and/or emotional wounds that are left unbound or when critical needs are left unmet.  It happens every time there is unresolved conflict, hurt feelings that create resentment, estrangement rather than reconciliation, gossip instead of gracious and honest confrontation, excuses rather than confession and repentance.

It is exciting to see what the Lord is doing in His local bodies and to consider our role in His kingdom’s work.  In order to be fully prepared for this, each of us must share the responsibility to keep our church body strong.  Just as it takes an eye or a nerve to recognize a physical injury, I may recognize one need while you recognize another.  One brother may be equipped and called to minister to one need while a sister may be equipped and called to help mend an area of brokenness.  In our relationships, it is up to us to take responsibility for our own sin and selfishness and respond to the sin and selfishness of others with truth and grace.   Confession and repentance, forgiveness, and loving confrontation are all powerful tools that God has provided so that we may stem relational blood loss. 

Just like dealing with real blood loss can be intimidating and messy, facing the metaphorical blood loss of broken relationship can be distasteful.  The alternative, though, is bleeding to death.  I, for one, would prefer vibrant body health, and I encourage us all to join together in seeking to build Godly relationships with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, relationships that reflect the intimacy enjoyed by the members of our Triune God.

A Spiritual Dance

Mother’s Day is usually not a significant holiday in my household.  This Mother’s Day, however, was sweeter than usual.  It was Mother’s Day, 2011, that my family granted my wish and spent the afternoon helping me to begin a gigantic furniture refinishing project: a large, ornate dining room set with eight (!) chairs purchased on e-Bay.

Thus began an adventure that had my husband and daughter making wagers about how long it would be before our cars could go back in the garage.  Little did I anticipate the gallons of stripper, piles of steel wool, and cartons of ice cream that would be required to complete the job.  And since I am an amateur refinisher, there was as much to learn as there was to do.

As the days turned into weeks and then into months, I began to appreciate that there were spiritual lessons to be learned as well.  The Bible talks a good bit about the need for perseverance through trials and struggles.  Although there is no eternal value in our dining room set, there is eternal value in the lessons that God had for me in the 110º  heat in our garage.  As I faced periodic mistakes and unexpected challenges—steps backward—I realized that it was a dance: some steps forward, some steps back.  Although the steps forward were more satisfying, the steps backward were also part of the dance and valuable in their own right. 

Since refinishing furniture gives one a great deal of time to think, I had the opportunity to see how the “refinishing dance” applied to my spiritual life.  It is wonderful to experience spiritual success: to overcome temptation and sin, to develop a more Christ-like character, to become a more loving, devoted bond-servant of Christ.  My spiritual struggles, though, are also valuable: they send me running back to my Lord, to remember that my righteousness comes not by works or Christian performance but by faith in Jesus. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis observes that our failures in pursuing the Christian walk are essential for the development of our faith:

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good....  Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is....  A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later....  The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues is that we fail.  If there was any idea that God had set us a sort of exam, and that we might get good marks by deserving them, that has to be wiped out....  Then comes another discovery.  Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like.  It is like a small child going to its father and saying, "Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present."  Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present.  It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction.  When a man has made these two discoveries God can really get to work.  It is after this that real life begins.  The man is awake now.  We can now go on to talk of Faith....

Jesus Christ, our bridegroom, wants to dance with us, to celebrate His work in us as we rejoice in spiritual growth and persevere through failure, trials, and struggles.  We need not fear failure nor hide in embarrassment when we fall short of God's best for us.  Learning to dance is an awkward process, but it can bring great joy as we encourage one another and depend on our Lord to lead.

New Perisseia Series: Communication

Once upon a time, the PSAT exam consisted of two sections, verbal and math, and the score on each section contributed equally to a student’s total score.  When boys consistently and significantly outscored girls, the politically correct College Board decided to give double weight to the Verbal section in order to give girls, who usually have stronger verbal skills than math, an advantage.

It is commonly understood that women are more relational than men, and correspondingly, better communicators.  Fortunately, men and women are not in competition in the body of Christ, and success in the Christian life is not about exam performance.  Perhaps not so fortunately, women are not perfect communicators.  It is my experience and observation that we women sometimes fall short of fulfilling God’s desires and purposes for us by failing to communicate effectively.

Perisseia, Windsor Chapel’s women’s growth group, will spend its Spring term investigating the many components of communication.  We will learn how communication is God’s gift to us: a tool to build relationships that bless us and others and prospers God’s work in us and through us.  Communication 101: Building Relationships that Please and Glorify God, an eight-week series, will begin Thursday, April 19, 7:00-8:30, in the Chapel House.  All women are welcome.  No commitment or preparation is necessary.  For more information, please contact Cindy Bills (clbills@verizon.net; 609-275-8557).

The Wisdom of Wall Art

"Honesty is the Best Image"
                           Christina Lim


"When in Doubt, Tell the Truth"
                        Cynthia Alvarez

Love One Another

The little-known prophet Micah wrote a familiar passage of Scripture: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” I would like to extend Micah’s question and ask us at Windsor Chapel: What does the Lord require of us? Jesus proclaimed to His disciples that they were a city on a hill, called by Him to be a light to all who have not heard the Gospel (Matt. 5:14). That light is powerfully described in Jesus’s words recorded in the Gospel of John: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So, then, if Windsor Chapel is indeed the body of Christ and is to fulfill its God-ordained purposes, we must love one another. There are many facets to this calling; I would like to focus us on one particular element. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives these instructions: We are to lay aside falsehood; and we are to speak truth to one another in love (Eph. 4:17, 25).

“Speaking the truth in love” is certainly worthy of our attention. Too often, we are not very good at this skill. I would contend, however, that speaking truth is a skill that we can learn by applying God’s truth to our hearts and our lives.

Our ability to speak truth in love to one another depends on our relationship with our Lord and Master. If we are operating from a position of insecurity, we will find ourselves nudged into the “Compare and Compete” game. Our pride will make it difficult for us to affirm and encourage a brother or sister because the “what about me?” voice gets in the way. If we are secure in being the object of our Master’s delight, we will be able to eagerly “share the love” with those we encounter.

But what happens when we have something challenging or unaffirming to say to someone? Again, there are two points of departure, each with a different outcome. If we are insecure and playing the Compare and Compete game, we will be pleased to speak our truth without love because it makes us feel good about ourselves. This is destructive to a relationship and completely counter to our Lord’s desire and intent.

Now we arrive at a particularly challenging point. What do we do when we are trying to maintain a secure identity as a bond-servant of Christ and we have a relational issue with a brother or sister, or when we’re hurt or concerned about the words or actions of a brother or sister? It is my observation that we rarely speak the truth in love to the other party. Sometimes we stew in silence, or withdraw, hoping to be pursued. Sometimes we leave a ministry or even a church. At our worst, we gossip or make negative comments about the other party to others.

There are many excuses for not speaking the truth in love: I don’t want to create conflict; I don’t want to hurt feelings; it wouldn’t be “nice;” it wasn’t that big a deal; it was my own fault; I am making too much of it. Some of these statements may be legitimate, but they do not excuse us from the Lord’s command to speak the truth to one another in love. The aforementioned excuses are usually an attempt to protect ourselves from the stress of potential conflict or pain of ruptured relationship.

So once again I return to the foundational importance of having our identity and value secure in Christ. It is from that foundation that we can relinquish our desire to protect ourselves and prosper God’s work among us by speaking the truth in love. Certainly God does not call us to be “sin police” and be on perpetual “patrol.” It is not our duty to point out every weakness or detail every error. Each of us, however, has the privilege of being a brother or sister to other believers. If we truly care about one another, and if we truly desire to grow in Christ, then we will take the risk of speaking the truth in love and also welcome such words with thanksgiving. As we reach this level of intimacy and trust, our relationships will truly manifest the love of Christ and we will be a beacon in our world.

Living By Faith

"If you can't find God where you are, you won't find Him where you're going."


                                                            Pastor Andy Straubel
                                                            Windsor Chapel

To Be or Not To Be...Proud

My theoretical philosophy of life, as I often share it, is simple and Biblical: my life is not about me; it is about Christ working in me and through me. I am, to my very core, the product of God’s glorious and purposeful workmanship. My value rests in Christ’s finished work on my behalf. I need not earn anything or prove anything. Although the Day of Judgment is coming, I need not fear a performance review. The obedience I offer enables me to partake in the very nature of Christ and participate in His kingdom’s work. Success comes not from working harder and longer but from abiding in Christ and bearing the fruit He enables me to produce.


In Matthew 11, we read that Jesus proclaims that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Why, then, do I sometimes approach church life and ministry with reluctance, and if I’m honest, outright dread? The answer is both easy and painful: I will not be able to experience the easy yoke and light burden of a life in Christ as long as I am living for myself and by my own strength. My negative emotions are most often linked to a fear of not meeting expectations. Although this makes hiding in a hole quite attractive, the solution favored by God is rather more demanding: I need to live with my identity and value grounded firmly in Christ, which in turn requires me to give up my pride.


Back in the Garden of Eden, we see Eve as the quintessential do-it-yourselfer. As she engaged in the discussion with the serpent about God and His rules, she ignored the option of including her mate or even God Himself in the conversation. At least part of the appeal of the forbidden fruit—to become wise like God—was that it would make dependence on God unnecessary. She could do it herself. Pride.


Pride, by its nature, creates a focus on self at the expense of everything and everyone. Once Adam and Eve took the fruit and ate, they experienced fear and shame and became preoccupied with covering themselves—at the expense of the nearby fig tree. When confronted by God, they were quick to protect themselves by denying responsibility and shifting blame to someone else. Their pride—our sin nature—has created a fallen world in which identity and value are measured by how our performance compares to that of someone else. C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, puts it this way: “Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature.”


It is my pride that makes me uncomfortable when my picture is taken for the church newsletter. It is my pride that makes a writing opportunity feel like a pop quiz. It is my pride that encourages me to “do-it-myself” in my Christian life. A do-it-yourself Christian is unable to abide in Christ and live as a contented bond-servant. When I choose that mode, I worry about being good enough and meeting expectations, both of which are contingent on the opinions of others. And I can improve my chances for success by being sure to be better than the person beside me. Before long, I find that I am serving a tyrant—me—and looking at others with a spirit of competition rather than love.


The do-it-yourself Christian life follows the law of diminishing returns: the more we do and the harder we try, the less we will know Christ and the less we will be able to love. The only antidote is that offered by Christ: to deny self and follow Him. Making that choice means that I see my life wholly in the context of Christ’s Lordship. My life becomes one that is about Him, working in me and through me. Not only does that bring me genuine peace and joy, it equips me to love others and participate deeply in relationship. It enables me to offer enthusiastic encouragement and receive help as I need it. Please consider this an invitation to join me in the lifelong struggle to relinquish pride and abide in Christ. May we encourage one another in this endeavor.