It's 4:31am...

So, Thursday was a long day. But for the first time in a LONG time, I felt like myself again. I didn't even realize how lost I had become. I actually spent the day with my friends. What a concept huh? I had become so secluded in my hurt and my drama that I was embarrassed to spend time with the people who mean the most to me. I realized something very important about myself... I am great at emailing, I am great at myspacing, I love to keep up my now 3 web sites, and I love my ALONE time!!! I have become a total introvert! What the heck? This from the girl who was Ms. Extrovert in high school and involved in everything! Ms. I have tons of friends in college and spend all of my time out and about, Ms. I did youth ministry for 5 1/2 years and loved every second of it...Now, I have just wanted to be alone. Hmmm... (Deep thoughts at 4:30am, gotta love em') What has changed in me? Why am I so different now? I don't think it is necessarily bad, but definitely different!

So, last night, I was home by myself because my husband works 13 hour days on Thursdays, so after watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition- After the Storm, and shedding many tears over the newly re-built little league field that was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma, I decided to turn off the TV (What a concept?!?)
I went to my stacks of boxes of books that now lay with dust all over them from when I had an office and worked in the church. I knew what I needed to do... I pulled out the compilation of short writings by Mike Yaconelli. If you don't know who he is, He is one of the most passionate, crazy, real Christ followers I have ever met! Unfortunately, he tragically passed away in a car accident a few years ago. So, I started reading...It was like my heart caught on fire again! I didn't realize how dark and dusty it had become. I LOVE GOD! I LOVE HIS CHURCH! And, I have a deep passion to remind the church of how God intended it to be. No more Corporate church! That makes me sick! We need Jesus! We want Jesus! We are desperate for Jesus! Screw all the programs, Screw all the hipe and the professional look and feel of polished productions! We NEED Jesus! We WANT Jesus! We are DESPERATE for Jesus! I NEED Jesus! I WANT Jesus, I am desperate for JESUS!

If you like me have a passion for church change! Please don't let that fire be extinguished! Let's talk and share with one another and keep praying for the revolution! We are the ones we have been waiting for!

May God use our generation to change the world, maybe one last time!

More thoughts to come at a normal hour of the day. Thanks for reading!
Kristi

All Suffering Soon to End...

So, these experiences just keep coming to my door, LITERALLY! I had just gotten out of the shower this morning and was enjoying catching up on my alone time by doing dishes, laundry, making the bed, etc. (You know my favorite hobbies, NOT!) And, knock, knock, knock...I open the door and it is two very nicely dressed young women my age both carring their bibles. Of course, they were wearning skirts, because pants are of the devil! Thankfully, I have my cross on the front door in honor of the Lenten season, so, they knew what they were getting themselves into!

She asked me about the cross and about my faith. I was happy to share (as my dog kept looking/jumping up their skirts) She then told me that she believes that we are living in the end times and that the war in Iraq is the ultimate symbol of that. OH did I have a response to that! But I kept my big mouth shut. She opened the bible and read from Revelations 21. About how the suffering will end. She basically wanted to make sure that I was right with God, so that when the end comes, that I would be saved.

You know what, I don't believe what Jehova's Witnesses believe. However, they believe so much in their faith that they go around door to door and try to share it with others. I appreciated her honesty and her realness about her life and her faith. She left me with the cheesiest brochure I have ever seen, entitled, "All Suffering Soon to End" with a cartoon drawing of two people sitting in a field with a moose behind them. Huh? I don't get it! And when you open it up, it tells you that we are living in the end times and that we should repent! Interesting read for sure!

I think there is a lesson in this for me and for all of us who call ourselves followers of Christ...

My passion for God must spill over into everything I do, everything I say and to everyone I meet! I must not be judgemental! I must love people for who they are and right where they are! I absolutely do not believe that door to door evangelism works, but I do believe that God has called us to love others into a relationship with Him. As I evaluate my own heart for others today, I am saddened with my lack of passion. How about you?

May we be a generation known as the friends of God! May we be the generation that changes the world! Maybe one last time... (TNL roots, I can't escape from the vision placed on my heart when I first came to Christ...www.tnl.org)

AMEN...

Help Wanted!!!

HELP WANTED...
Must be willing to work 80+ hours per week, must be willing to sacrafice your family, Wages= $2 an hour, must be willing to spend own money for job supplies and outings, masters of divinity required! Job responsibilities will include: build relationships with every person you meet, save their lives, administration, programming, graphic and web design, clean offices, accounting, teaching, playing music, writing curriculum, interior decorating, multi-media design, babysitting, dealing with teenagers, planning and leading all events and trips, creativity and passion a must! Must be available to work Christmas and Easter. Little or no vacation time will be allowed. You will be on call 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You will submit and report to a group of people who are merely volunteers and do not know what is going on in your job. You must have the utmost integrity and have no sin in your life at all. Honesty about struggles in your life will result in immediate termination. To apply, please contact your local church!

Well, I have not ranted in a while, just my thoughts on ministry in general today. Take it or leave it. I know that God calls us to ministry for Him, and I love that, but I think we might have mis-understood His call. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Gay Marriage in my mailbox

Well, for starters, it has been WAY too long since I blogged! I have even had some threatening phone calls about it! (Just kidding, my friend Jeff has been disappointed, ha ha ha) But anyways, I am sure you are intrigued by the title, so here it goes...

So, last night I came home from a LONG, CRAZY day at work, and stopped by to pick up my mail. A daily habit I have come to enjoy! Inside my mailbox is this beautiful, large envelope, addressed in calligraphy. Hmmm... I take a closer look... It is addressed to Lisa Hunter. Well, my name is Kristi and my last name used to be Hunter, and there is a big yellow sticker on the front of the envelope placed by the post office so that it would be forwarded to me from the address I lived at over 10 months ago. WEIRD! So, being the naive girl that I am, I go to open it thinking that it is probably a wedding invitation that has gotten lost in our fabulous mail system and that I could save the day and get it to the person it really belongs to. So, with great excitement, I tear through the white, linen envelope and found just what I thought... A beautiful wedding invitation. It has lovely, maroon flowers on it, and is very formal looking, so I keep reading... John and Michael (WOW, a girl named Michael? I thought in my head, that's odd) invite you to join them in celebrating their civil union!!! OH NO! I am now in quite the predicament! I wanted to be the hero and save the invitation from being lost, and now, I am holding in my hand an invitation to a GAY MARRIAGE! OH NO! My first response was shock. I am so ignorant that I have never seen something like this. My second thought was "What on earth do I do now?" I ran in to the bedroom, woke up my sleeping husband and showed it to him. With blood pressure rising, I knew what I had to do. WWJD? (ha ha ha) So, I grabbed my cell phone and called the long distance number to John and Michaels home. I ended up speaking with Michael and letting him know what had happened. He was very, very nice and very appreciative, and now, I am going to put it in a new envelope, pay 39 cents for a stamp and send it on its way, so as not to prevent this Lisa Hunter from attending.

It is amazing how you find your heart responding to situations such as these. My ignorance and prejudice came shining through when I opened that envelope. I had prepared myself to hear the voice of a flaming gay man on the other end of the phone line. WHO AM I TO JUDGE????? I sin, just like them. We are equal, we are no different! God loves them, God loves me. I don't deserve that, they don't deserve that. This is the beauty of the Lord! I thank God that I had an opportunity to grow today in my faith and my heart for God and ALL of his people!

It's Great to be back!
Kristi