Browsing Tag

Love

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

DD T-Shirts/Hoodies: Last Chance!

Posted on October 14, 2022

Lots of  you have asked if you can still get a shirt, so we’ve decided to order shirts one more time. You have just four days to order here: https://thecolleyhouse.org/store#!/Digging-Deep/c/20688312 Make your purchase by midnight on Monday, October 17th. This will be the last run and we will not get any extras this time, so please order if you want one! Thanks for loving this shirt! Limited numbers of bracelets, mugs and tea towels are still in the store. (Jessica Weaver, I’ve got your shirt coming! I also have someone’s 5X shirt here and ready to ship, but since that deal was not made online, I’m having trouble remembering who you are. I think the 5X was an exchange, Shoot me a message!)

If you want to see the photos and follow the Israel trip, join the public group Digging Deep in Israel on Facebook. That will be for posting pictures. Don’t forget the Digging Deep podcast will be from the Sea of Galilee at 8 am CST on the 7th of November. That podcast will be about lesson two. There’s still ample time to catch up if you know someone who could use a little comfort this year!

My grand-daughter Maggie, who just turned four, was dusting off the top lid of the kitchen trash bin the other day and her precocious little phrase was “This could use some love.” There are lots of things in my house right now that could use some love. I’m going to remember that that’s what I’m doing as I work in this house today. I’m giving a little love. If you are driving, cleaning, baking, washing, typing, disciplining or changing diapers from a home in view of heaven today, you’re giving love. Have a great day and give love in large doses!

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

ELVES!

Posted on December 6, 2021

It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. I woke up pretty early on Saturday morning, and ELVES (full-sized elves!) were already outside my kitchen window and they had twinkly lights and wreaths and a giant Santa snow-globe, already in full motion beside my driveway. How do elves know these things?!…I mean that I had extra little people frequently visiting this fall…with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads and a mammy that’s got cobwebs dancing in hers. Those elves knew that I had more visiting kids and chaos and less serenity and sanity than ever in my lifetime! And so there they were…James and Darren and Mandie and Hunter and the North Pole remote team, too…Molly and Jennifer and Brad and Jessica. (And maybe there were more. I mean who can accurately assess something so magical as the North Pole’s outreach mission?!)

To say that’s the sweetest thing in my holiday season (maybe, my life) is accurate. There they were out there with their coffee and cocoa (shaken, not stirred) hunting ladders and even hunting a key. (They thought we were not home….Now, what if they had walked in and there we were…in all our pajama glory!?)

And so I was having a party last night. I ran to Walmart after morning worship to curbside pick-up for stuff I really needed for that party. That order was delayed indefinitely. So I cancelled the order and went inside to shop in a chaotic flurry of wall to wall people. Glenn was with me and he cannot find squat in there…. “They don’t have this.” Then I’d go find whatever it was on the very aisle in which he’d been searching.  (I should be a little more charitable. I just realized the Papa shopper could be reading. I love you soooo much, but you ain’t a shoppa’ papa.) We checked out and Papa pulled the SUV to the front and center of the Walmart entrance and I opened that hatch to glass-bottled cream sodas falling from the vehicle…crashing, rolling, splashing out onto that parking lot. It was loud and drew lots of attention. A worker came by and said a naughty word and continued on his way. We began picking up sticky glass and making trash can treks. I had cream soda suede boots and Glenn had little shards of glass in his fingers. 

Obviously, the afternoon did NOT hold enough hours to clean up all the messes I needed to remedy. I left that worship service last night as fast as I could when the last “amen” was said and raced home to cook my nuggets, pour my eggnog, pack more ice on the cokes and make the cider. I rushed in the kitchen door and started (I mean a big time jump!) to find PEOPLE in there just humming right along…there was my sister, Celine, taking the nuggets out of the oven. The aroma of the cider was already filling the house. The cokes were covered. Scotty, her husband, said “We can’t find the eggnog”….Where’s the trash bin?”…”Which door should I use to refill this cooler?”…”Where’s the extra ice?” And all of this, after he’d preached all day and filled all kinds of needs for many  other people through the day. 

Words fail. Matthew 25 people I’m writing about will respond “When?…”When did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?…When did we see you hungry and feed you? …”When?”  It’s a million different days and ways and gifts and words and prayers and covert twinkly lights and snow globes and nuggets and cups of cider. It’s the indisputable fact that God’s people are the best people in the world! We had visitors at the party who are just getting to know a taste of what the Huntsville family of God is like. Those visitors don’t know it yet, but they are in for the most important decision of their lives as they start looking at faithful, involved commitment to this family and kingdom. I am so, so, so thankful for God’s people in my life right now and I pray for the chance to get to “pay forward” some of this weekend’s goodness. 

It’s fun to think about elves, but it’s real and powerful to think about the greatest of these…the love of the people of God in times of discouragement.

God is so amazing through His people!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Spikes through Unwashed Feet (…and Bennington, Vermont Update)

Posted on June 4, 2020

Today, a sweet sister who lost her home in a recent tornado brought lunch to our family at my daughter’s home.  She’s living in a rental right now and trying to figure out what all has been lost and what may have been salvaged. She’s not a member of the congregation where my daughter worships. She has an infant herself and she traveled several miles from a nearby town to make the delivery. 

As I explained all of this to Ezra and Colleyanna, I asked them what it is that makes people love enough to reach out and help others even when they are hurting themselves. Even they knew the answer. “She wants to be like Jesus.” 

They are right. He prayed for the unity of His followers in God the Father and Son, when Father and Son were facing at Calvary the great “forsaking” that would facilitate that fellowship (Matthew 27:46).  He washed the disciples’ feet, while the feet through which the spikes were to be nailed, went unwashed at that Passover dinner (John 13:1-17). He replaced the severed ear of the One who came at Him with the sword (John 18:10-11). He was the One, hanging by the spikes on the tree, who said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34). He provided for His mother’s physical care from a hilltop at which no one was providing for His own. He, in the truest sense, taught us to “overcome evil with good,” (Romans 12:21). He conquered the evil one by the goodness of placing himself on the sacrificial altar and rising from the tomb. 

In 2020, we have some extra opportunities to share the goodness. There are, perhaps, more hurting people this year, in our country, than there have been or will be in the current century. We have the light of life in us, as Christians, and it’s a prime time for us to diligently place that light on the outside of the bushel’s darkness and be the city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14,15). That’s what the sweet sister was doing at my daughter’s door this morning. Helping from a place of hurt. Shining through a time of darkness, Reaching from a place of desperation. I want to be more like her in this amazing time of opportunity. 

And, speaking of this, I want to share below a letter I received from my friend who is the preacher’s wife at the congregation in Bennington, Vermont. A while back, I posted about this discouraged group of Christians and you responded (https://thecolleyhouse.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=13175&action=edit). You sent light and sweet fellowship through the USPS and it has made a positive impact. 

Here’s what she said: 

Hello! I just wanted to thank you again so much for that blog post a couple of months ago. Each of our church members on my list received 15-20 cards, and they appreciated them so much. One of our families tried to thank every single card sender individually (a few didn’t have return addresses), leading to one of your blog readers sending the family’s kids some paper and an art set! That same family also is in touch by email and regular mail with at least 3 of the card senders. The encouragement has been phenomenal.

In addition, one of the members on my list, Mitt, was living in a rehab center, forbidden to visit his family, and his family was able to deliver cards to the staff to give to him so he could still be encouraged. He passed away this week somewhat unexpectedly, at the age of 93, a faithful Christian until the end. Alan and Jen, two other people on my list, are his son and daughter-in-law, so an extra dose of encouragement was good to help build them up for this experience too.

Is there any way you can convey our thanks as a congregation? As a footnote on a blog post, maybe? There were so many cards sent that we just couldn’t keep up! What a wonderful problem to have!pastedGraphic.pngpastedGraphic_1.png

Also, please keep praying for our congregation. Out of our group of 30-35 members/somewhat regular attendees and their close relatives, there have been two people with heart attacks, one who was hospitalized with what was expected to be a heart attack, and two deaths (one was Mitt, the other a church member’s mom). Of course, all of these situations are miserable right now because of our continued stringent Covid restrictions (despite having zero confirmed Covid hospitalizations in our entire state right now). I know we share these burdens with congregations worldwide, but as a small group, we don’t usually have so much going on at one time.

Thanks again!pastedGraphic_2.png

So thank you from me, too. What a great time to be His! What a great application for those of us who are studying the compassion and confirming the deity of our Lord in the book of John this month. I love you, sisters!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: Are You Trying to Say “I Love You?”

Posted on December 4, 2017

Tonight in this hospital room, this daughter experienced a few very sweet moments. I will treasure them in memory whether my dad and I have lots of future sweet moments in time or not. As today has gone by, my Father who has said precious little, and only in in breathy, labored tones for several days, has become more and more alert. Mind you, what you might think is pretty much asleep all day was still more alert to those who have been keeping this vigil. 

Every time I see his eyes open, I try to go to his side and grab his hand. Tonight he grabbed right back. He even gave me his signature quick nod of recognition. 

Then I always think of everything I can talk about in his one ear that now has a hearing aid. (The other hearing aid was crushed on the floor of the ambulance—and that was another story as Sami chased the driver down and out of the building to try and find the missing hearing aid.) I talked about football. I talked about getting better. I talked about what I was eating and about breathing treatments. And then I told him I loved him. He slowly forced out the “I” and then put his very sore tongue to the roof of his very blistered mouth to make that “L” sound. 

I said “Are you trying to say “I love you?” 

“Yeah” he said. 

That’s all I needed to hear to be okay through this long night. Such a great little present for a this weary pilgrim. But that was not all. I asked him if he wanted me to read the Bible. This time I got a clear “Uh-huh.” 

Before the hospitalization, we’d been reading in Acts and we were ready for chapter seven, so I read the story of Joseph to Him as told by the first martyr, Stephen. I think I was reading so that all the staff out at the nurses station could probably hear. When I got to the resolution part about Jacob going down to Egypt, Dad just drifted back off to sleep.  

I’ll take it. A few minutes of communication is a great source of comfort in this very well-lit, bustling, but yet, very lonely room. It is the best one of today. There are a few lessons in every gift. Here are tonight’s five lessons. 

  1. “Yeah” is easier to say than “I love you.” . That’s true in just about every relationship. Short answer quizzes in families and friendships are just easier.  Sometimes in all kinds of life problems, we have to help each other say those three words. It’s always better, if someone’s having trouble saying them, to assume he means them till you know differently.
  2. You never know the value of healthy communication until you have to do without it. So don’t let days go by—days when you could be talking and sharing with the ones you love. Don’t let those days escape while you pout or exchange the silent treatment or engage in hurtful communication. Especially, don’t do this in your marriage. You will experience deep regret.
  3. Only the people you’ve really loved with agape can appreciate fully the three words when you say them. See, Daddy did not love me just enough to share some material blessing with me (although he certainly worked hard to do that). He did not just love me enough to put up with my inadequacies (although he surely was in the next room during the messy, late- night-studying, bathroom-hogging teen years). He did not just love me enough to build things in the wood shop for Christmas (although there was the doll bed and the cabinet for my tea set during the sixties and the wooden purse, stilts and shuffle board game of the seventies and the marble mazes and rocking horses and graduation banks for grandchildren of the eighties). He, along with my mother, who was also sharing and making and building, loved me enough to give their lives for me, if needed. They loved me enough to pray about inadequacies and to correct them. They loved me enough to build more than toys and purses. They loved me enough to build character. That’s the most enduring home-made gift.
  4. There’s something very ironic about the goal. Heaven is THE goal. Ironically, God has placed in us a very strong desire to keep our loved ones here with us rather than to be completely willing to have them go and be with the Lord. I cannot fully explain that fierce desire to preserve and protect feeble life. But I know it is right to have it. It is right to protect and preserve life, because that defense is innately built into the moral compass of people of conscience. One has to be trained to devalue life. It is not the natural affection of Romans 1: 31 and 2 Timothy 3:3. So I grab that hand and it’s the best when he grabs it right back.
  5. There’s great comfort—always, in all ways— in the Word. There’s an amazing example, for instance, of the application of Romans 8:28 in that ancient account of Joseph in Egypt. We get to look at how a faithful person perseveres when there are family members who are spiteful or friends who falsely accuse or forget about the good things we do for them. We get to see, up-close and personally, how the  faithful react to both poverty and riches. Sometimes, when we are weary, there’s so much comfort that we can go right off to a deep and peaceful sleep while reading the Word. I think I can maybe even do that tonight…right here in this chair. 
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: Bind Us Together

Posted on October 9, 2017

For several days now, I’ve been thinking about and praying for a righteous perspective about relationships…friendships…the sisterhood. Like most areas of living, if we can get HIS view into our own focus, we can get this right. After thinking and maybe even overthinking, I believe the age-old secret to preserving godly relationships is deeply embedded in the concept of agape, itself. And it really seems pretty simple to me.

I think there are two premises that are required for friendships that cannot be severed. It’s important to remember that BOTH premises must be central to BOTH parties in a relationship. It seems to me that, if they are, you have a friendship that can’t be annulled; a kinship that will never end. If they are not, the friendship is severely compromised.

The first premise is this: I will never intentionally offend you, unless I must offend you to obey God.

The second premise is this: I will never be offended by something you inadvertently do, unless it is sinful, and thus offends God. 

Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but it seems to me, that if BOTH parties in a relationship are willing and able to maintain BOTH of these premises, there will be no end to the “green pastures” through which he leads and protects us. Adherence to the first premise means that I will love you enough to do whatever it is that would keep you safe from insult or injury in my relationship with you, up to the point of offending my Lord. The second means I will love you enough to give you the benefit of the doubt when I am tempted to become offended, unless you are sinning in the offense.

I believe this is Biblical. The first premise is based on many passages, including I Corinthians 10:24.

Let no man seek His own, but every man another’s well-being.

The second premise finds a home in many places, too. Among them would be I Corinthians 13:4-7

Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The first premise makes me pray “Lord please help me to be only an encouragement to this, my sister, and help me never to be a stumbling block to her in any way.  Let me show her always your grace and your light and place my own desires below her needs and desires.”

The second premise makes me pray “Lord, please help me to think the very best of this, my sister. Please help me to be longsuffering enough to know that she loves me and that she would never intentionally hurt me.”

If we both are thinking both ways, we can’t ever lose relationships over things that are less important than the gospel. I believe a great example of this is the relationship of Jonathan and David. Surely Jonathan placed his own desires below the needs of David as he risked his own life in the advancement of David, even against his own flesh and blood (I Samuel 20—premise 1). Surely David must have always been thinking only the best of Jonathan, even as Jonathan died fighting in the army of David’s own enemy, Saul. It is encouraging to see David’s memorial honoring of Jonathan even after he lost his life in service to Saul (II Samuel chapters 1&9—premise 2). 

I hope and believe I can rely on these Biblical principles to guide me to godly relationships…those relationships that can always promote unity and evangelism among and by His people today. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Do You Need to Write this Love Letter?

Posted on February 13, 2017

The following is a letter originally drafted for a woman I met rather coincidentally in a small southeastern town in which I was speaking not too long ago. She was a spirited young woman who made my day by giving me a beautiful cookbook. I had to leave quickly and was unable to study with her at the moment we met. Perhaps the letter below might help another soul somewhere who is yet in sin, or perhaps it might help you as you approach a friend who is coming near to the kingdom. I know I do not always make the most of opportunities to love people in the way that makes an eternal difference. I hope I can do better.

Dear Valerie,

It was really a joy to get to meet you a couple of weekends ago when we spoke in ____________. I am so pleased with my cookbook. Please forward my small donation to the charity about which we spoke. Thanks so much for thinking of me. I love to cook and I love new cookbooks, especially this one with potent reminders of the spiritual bread of life.

I am always refreshed and thankful to meet people who have a zeal for spiritual things and whose lives have led them down a path to a grateful realization that God is so merciful and good. That was definitely you! I know you’re very thankful and amazed by his care and that He has allowed you to overcome so much and come to this good place in your life where you finally have a chance to glorify Him with blessings that he bountifully gives to you.

The burden on my heart now is to be sure that you are in Christ and do have that hope of heaven. I carry this burden with me to every place I speak and I see it in every new face I meet. I just had to write and be sure about this because I am going to stand before the same judgment bar one day that you will and I just want to tell as many people as I can. It’s not that I have any secrets about the will of God that you don’t have. It’s just that the devil is very busy deceiving in our world today through the hundreds of denominations out there all teaching different and opposing plans of salvation. The devil really doesn’t care how religious we are if he can just keep us outside of Christ. He doesn’t care what good hearts we have if he can just deceive those good hearts into accepting false teachings. He doesn’t care how many good things we do for our neighbors if he can just keep us out of Christ. He knows that forgiveness and redemption and all spiritual blessings are found only in Christ (Eph 1:3, 7). So he loves to make people think they are in Christ when they really have not done what the New Testament says to do to be in Christ. I don’t know about you personally, but I love your heart of submission and I want to be sure that I help you if these are things you have not thought about before. I think you are right about something you said to me. When people really want to do the will of God, He can bring people into their lives for a reason. I hope that he can use me in a small way in your life. I am praying as you study the things that are in this letter that you will want to be sure that you have followed his will and that you are in Christ where forgiveness is.

About 98% of the world of “Christendom” today teaches that all you have to do is pray the sinner’s prayer in order to be saved. Something like, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Thank you for loving me and saving me right here and right now…” The problem with that is it’s just not found in the Bible anywhere. It is true that he loves us and that he is willing to save every last one of us (II Peter 3:9), but as with all of his blessings, his salvation is conditional on our obedience. It really bothers me that the devil uses this “sinner’s prayer” that is nowhere in scripture to deceive so many people into believing that they are saved, when, in reality, they are still in sin.

It is true that belief in the fact that Jesus is the son of God is a prerequisite for salvation. Without that faith it is impossible to please him or be saved (Mark 16:15,16, Heb.11:6). It is true that we have to repent or put away sin from our lives. If we keep on sinning on purpose, we will perish (Luke 13:3). We have to confess that faith in Jesus as God’s Son (Romans10:10). While all of these things are essential steps toward salvation, the Bible nowhere ever says that these things put us into Christ. It’s just not there.

But the New Testament does tell us what it is that does put us into Christ: Look at these clear teachings:

Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

According to this verse, it is baptism that puts us into Christ. Look at another:

Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Again, God just made it as plain as day how we put on Christ.

We can ask the same question lots of ways:

How do I wash my sins away?

Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

When am I forgiven?

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What do I do to be saved?

Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved;

Exactly what saves me?

1Pe 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

In fact, in every case in the book of Acts where people desired to be saved, they clearly were immediately baptized for the remission of their sins(Acts2, Acts8, Acts 9, Acts 10,11, Acts 16). In one case the man actually risked his life in the middle of the night to leave the jail and go be baptized. If he had been caught by his Roman superiors, he would have surely been executed (Acts 16). Each time I read and reread all of these passages, I get so upset at preachers who are reading the same Bible I am reading and yet are willing to ignore these plain teachings about baptism and teach that it is not essential for salvation…that it is just a symbol of your salvation. Romans 6:3,4 teaches us that baptism is the very place where we contact the death of Christ. If we don’t go down into those waters with a heart of submission, knowing that we desperately need his salvation, we do not even come in contact with the death and blood of Jesus!… and that is a scary reality to take to judgment.

The point is this. If I was baptized because I thought I was already saved, then I was not coming to God on his terms. I was not being baptized for the remission of sins like they did in Acts 2:38. I was not doing it to wash away my sins (Acts 22:16). I was not doing it to be saved (Mark16:16). It was not a step of faith if I did it as a symbol that I was already saved. I was putting my will above his. I was saying, “Lord, I was saved without ever being baptized into the death of your son, and now I will be baptized to show that I have already been saved without doing what you said I must do to be in Christ.” If I am a member of a church that teaches baptism is not essential to be in Christ, then I am a member of a church that is misleading people into a false security of salvation.I said all of those things because I could tell your heart was an open one to His will. I am praying as you read this that you will just want to be sure that you are doing and teaching what the Bible (the only word we have today from God) says about salvation. There is no more important subject. I have already been praying for you and for the good things you are doing already. I just pray that now that you have this letter in hand, you will look carefully at these passages in the context of the whole New Testament and be very careful not to be led astray by any person (including me!) I have nothing personally to gain by telling you this, except to know that I will not have to look into your face in the judgment day and know that I was silent about this very important subject. Just be sure the church with which you are working is the church of the New Testament, teaching the same thing that first opened its doors of salvation to the world in Acts 2. If we do what they did on that day, we will be what they were…Christians. But if we become involved in a religion that leads people astray we will be accountable for that, too. Remember, the devil doesn’t mind religion at all. In fact, since he is the father of lies (John 8:44), he loves false religions. Not every one that says “Lord, Lord” (i.e. not every one who is religious) will enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21,22 ), but he that obeys the will of God. I could go on and on…
…And I will, if you have any questions at all with which I might be able to help. I’ve thought of you often and prayed for you. Again, let me thank you for my gift. I hope that this letter finds your heart open to do and teach all of his will. You can be a great minister for His cause to other ladies. So many are searching for these truths and so many are being led astray. Let me know if I can help further.

Because of Calvary!