For Heaven's Sake

I remember reading in a book once that the problem with my generation is that we all know what we're against and none of us know what we're for.

Harsh and a wee bit generalized, but there may be some truth in that.

I've been thinking about that recently and realized how rather silly it is for us to be united over something we're against if we don't have anything to be united over that we're for.

If you're against war or poverty or racism or eating animals or child labor or parking tickets, what are you for in that?

I would say I am against human trafficking, but that's because I'm for freedom. I'm for people being whole and full and human trafficking violates these things so therefore I am against it. But the difference in being for things instead of against them is that you can no longer stop at eradication. This means I can't just be happy if we successfully end trafficking in America (don't get me wrong--that would be something to rejoice over!) because there would still be a whole lot of people hurting from it out there. If I'm for fullness, then I'm not satisfied until those people are restored and healed. Being for means not being satisfied with ending evil until it is replaced by good.

This applies not just to "causes," but to sin as well. It's easy to be against anything and everything in terms of sin, but usually that sort of attitude only yields guilt and condemnation. Come on, what are we for? What is God for?

I would venture to say that God is a pretty big proponent of fullness and joy and life, so as His follower that makes me a big fan of those things too. Then if I'm for fullness, I'm against gossip because it violates fullness. It tears apart relationships and poisons the heart of the one who embraces it.  Instead, I want to embrace edifying words and encouragement, because those go with fullness. Stopping gossip doesn't lead to fullness, replacing gossip does.

Get the picture? If you are only against something and not sure what you're for in that fight, maybe you need to reevaluate your efforts. If your answer to this is--"Because the Bible says so!"--Great--I'm thankful for your obedient heart! But maybe this is a great time to explore the Word more and see what God is for and therefore why the Bible says to avoid the things it does. This might just apply to relationships in your life too.

Praise the One who is the Giver of all good things.

--

Romans 12:21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Isaiah 61:1-3: 
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

5K Race to Raise Funds for Combating Sex Trafficking

"Running to Freedom 5K will be an event in which participants of all ages are invited to run or walk at Saginaw Valley State University's campus to support three non-profit charities.The scenery the participants will view as they run will be one filled with the tranquility of nature, and signs will be placed along the track to bring hope to the sex trafficking survivors. The three charities that the registration fee and donations will be sent to are as follows: Rapha House, Face of Justice, and Trihope; which are all organizations destined to bring awareness and help victims of sex trafficking. More information about these organizations will be presented at the 5K. This event will have a guest speaker who will enlighten participants on what they can do to help the survivors of sex trafficking, and bring a sense of hope to their futures. 

 Please come and participate in this 5K on Saturday, October 24th to bring awareness to the atrocities of the sex trafficking industry, and help to show love to the survivors. Thanks for your time and for endeavoring to participate in this event! Donations for these organizations will be accepted at the race, and t-shirts will be included with the registration fee of $25 dollars if you register before October 9th!" 

-Running to Freedom Team

 To learn more or to register, click here!

Breaking the Bonds of Shame

Shame. It’s the deep feeling of being unworthy, dirty or contaminated. It’s the thing that makes us want to hide away or cover up the truth. It’s that overwhelming feeling you get when someone is looking at you. Really looking at you. When it feels like they can see every flaw, every blemish and you cover your face and hide away in shame.

Shame can stem from what we’ve done or shame can stem from what others have done to us. Most have experienced it at some point in their lives, however some experience shame that is crippling, which they carry around like a cloak, hindering them from truly living the way God intended.

So what can we do with this disabling disposition? Firstly we need to recognize it and its symptoms in our lives and then it is up to us to decide whether or not to travel down the road that leads to freedom. It is our choice whether or not we continue to live under the cover of shame, continually crying out ‘unworthy!’ or ‘unclean!’ to anyone who tries to get close to us. Our other option, like those lepers who were outcasts of society – ‘unclean’, is to seek out the One who can clean us, make us as white as snow! (Matt 8:1-3, Luke 17:11-14, Isaiah 1:18)

A lot of us run into problems when we begin to try and overcome our shame. No matter how many times someone tells us we’re beautiful, we cannot hear it. Encouraging words bounce off us like our hearts are made of stone. We can receive no hopeful words from others. We cannot get over the feeling of always being unworthy. Well, to be frank, you are. We are all unworthy. Romans 3:23 says ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ when we look at us compared to the glory and the splendor of God, we are nothing. We have nothing to boast about. We often try to overcome our shame by finding worth in ourselves! We try to find something to feel proud about. But that’s just it! Pride! Attempting to produce our own worth of ourselves is pride. Looking for self worth of ourselves is just feeding our pride, it does nothing to eradicate shame.

No, the only way to break the bonds of shame is to put our worth, our hope and our trust in Jesus Christ through whom we are justified. Romans 3:24 goes on to say ‘and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ We are to cling to His promise to free us from our sin and shame, and in doing so we can associate ourselves with the One who is worthy! We can rejoice in His goodness! We can boast in His righteousness! If we are in Him and He in us, we now can stand tall and boldly approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) without shame because of what He did for us! We should not fear to be seen or exposed because God has cleansed us from the inside out! We are whiter than snow! We are beautiful children of God! May your heart believe it!

“Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.”

– Isaiah 61:7

Support Group to Start this June

Tuesday, June 2nd, the TriHOPe team will be beginning a 12-week sexual assault support group based on the In the Wildflowers curriculum.

The group will be led by members of the TriHOPe team and will explore several topics, including sharing stories, releasing shame, and healing through God's love and ministering to others. With two out of the three TriHOPe team members coming from backgrounds of sexual assault and walking through the entire curriculum themselves prior to the start of the group, the team understands many of the emotional difficulties and courage that is involved in participating in such a group and is prepared to walk alongside group members in the difficult, but freeing, journey of restoration that will take place over the course of the group. 

The group will meet every Tuesday night from 6-9pm at New Life Christian Fellowship (NLCF). Beginning Sunday, April 26th, informational and enrollment packs will be available at New Life after the service. Packs will also be available via email. All materials, including the $25 course fee (made payable to New Life Christian Fellowship), are due by Sunday, May 17th. Completed materials can be emailed to trihope.mi@gmail.com, placed in the TriHOPe mailbox at NLCF, or mailed to New Life Christian Fellowship, ATTN: TriHOPe, 6115 Shattuck Rd, Saginaw, MI 48603.

Please note: We cannot guarantee a place in the group for enrollment materials and/or fees turned in after the May 17th due date. 

Let the Healing Begin

Healing. This a word with a lot of meaning. In that one word we can feel the pain of the wound, the strength it takes to keep going, the seemingly endless journey to wholeness and so much more. Often we ask why it must take so long for our ‘unseen’ wounds to heal. Wounds such as those received from hurtful words, betrayals or abuse, seem to have an extensive, if not infinite, healing time.

When we compare these types of wounds with those such as a cut or a scrape, we wish it were that easy; if only we could put on a Band-Aid and wait a few days and call it good! But these wounds aren’t just superficial. Wounds like these are deep. Their effects have penetrated deep into our core. Infection has spread to other areas of our lives, and unfortunately it’s not just something that will go away with time and hiding it beneath a bandage. These wounds carry shrapnel that must be removed before healing can truly begin. These shrapnel pieces are things like lies, unforgiveness, self-hatred and shame. And unless they are removed, wholeness cannot be achieved.

 Maybe you’ve tried to remove them yourselves. Seeing your shame and self-hatred, you read some books on how to overcome them and try really hard to think more positively about yourself. You try to believe the good things others say about you. But time and time again you fail. Things can seem hopeless. You go back to hiding the pain and the shame, praying it will just go away on its own. But it never does.

There is good news! Whilst you may not be able to remove these shards of betrayal, abuse and pain inflicted upon you, I know One who can. His name is Jesus. He is a skilled surgeon who can reach into the deepest darkest areas with fine precision and remove those lies that remain inside. The Bible says, speaking of Jesus; “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,” (Isaiah 61:1). Healing our pain and brokenness, bringing us out from the darkness and giving us freedom is why Jesus came, died on a cross and rose again! It was for you and me so that we might be free. Galatians 5 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”.

However, whilst His hands are tender and loving, His instruments are sharp. There is pain in the healing. For it to occur we must be vulnerable and open with Him about our lives and willing to let Him in.

We also must be willing to be healed. This may seem like an obvious choice; of course we want to be healed! But when you have had this wound for most of your life, pain and emotional turmoil is so familiar to you. You can’t imagine what it is like to live without this shadow of your past. You can’t imagine freedom and the unknown is frightening. To be truly healed is to step out into a place you have never experienced before. All of your familiar habits and feelings will be gone. In their place is freedom, joy and peace. It seems so unimaginable, so distant and practically impossible that surely it’s better to just stay where you are? Surely it’s easier to keep pressing on and ignoring the wounds? It may be easier, but it is not better.

In the Gospel of Mark we see a scene of Jesus both forgiving the sins of a man and healing his paralysis. It says: "I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home." (Mark 2:11) The man's response was to immediately get up and walk home. Now imagine if his response had been otherwise. Imagine if he had replied, "But I've been paralyzed for so long, I don't remember what it's like to walk. What would I do if I could walk? It's scary, I'm much more comfortable here on my mat." It may have been easier, but anyone could see that it would not have been better. In healing there is freedom. 

Once you have decided to let Jesus into those hurting areas of your life and let the healing begin, the journey does not stop there. It is more of a marathon than a sprint. There will be days where you feel like you can’t go on, that if you let God bring the pain to the surface one more time, you’ll break apart. However we have a promise from our Heavenly Father, a promise I can testify to, that "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). He promises to be with us, He promises to sustain us and not let us fall; “God is within her, she will not fall;” (Psalm 46:5). There will also be days where you, by God’s grace, have conquered one of the mountains in the healing journey! Praise God! You are to rejoice in every step of healing! Don’t look ahead to how far you still have to go. Instead, look back and see how far you have come!

Finally, there may be times where you feel you are back at the beginning of your healing journey. As if after all this time you have gotten nowhere. However, this is not true. Paul says in one of his letters: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6). God is not going to give up on you. He will continue to lead you down the path of healing if you will let Him. I have often struggled with this very feeling and a friend recently helped my perspective by way of an analogy. Picture a threaded screw. As you trace the path around the screw you continually circle back to where you began, but not exactly where you began, each venture around the screw moves you up just a millimeter. So even though it may feel like you have gone back to where you started, over time you will realize just how far you have come!

I encourage you, whose heart is hurting, to let the kind Savior in and let the healing begin!  

Impossible with Man

I have a lot of work to do today and I can't do it. I read an article in a magazine that came in the mail today about a website that facilitates adultery and it has ruined my day. It isn't the first time I've heard about it, but it has ruined my day non-the-less, or at least my hour.

The worst part is that that's not what ruined my day. I was doing some work on Facebook and saw several other articles and videos posted testifying to the gravity of the depravity that inundates this world and then read that awful article all in a matter of 15 minutes and all without looking to find such instances of evil at work. And so this combination and unsought reminder of the magnitude of evil in the world ruined my day, or at least my hour. And so I couldn't work.

Instead, I started praying. Sort of. I imagined the mass number of people recorded flocking to this anti-marital website and I started crying. I thought of a conversation I had yesterday with someone believing prostituted women choose to be prostituted. I thought of the statistical level of online porn usage and the number of people it has sucked in and devoured. I told God it sure looks like evil has triumphed. I asked Him what He was thinking making all these millions and billions of people who have become so eager to marry themselves to evil and join in its fate.

Then I saw myself here crying and I remembered that I am not the only one. I am not alone. I am not the only one broken by the awareness of evil. I am not the only one whose heart and mind Christ is and has been at work to change into one like His own. Perhaps this awareness does not affect all in the same way, but non-the-less there are others called to be set apart, to see the world through a different lens, to think with a different mind, and to live differently, as ones reconciled to God.  There are others and they are one. They are called the Bride and the creation of the masses with the ability to choose or reject Christ was the only way to have her and He found her worth it. And He has eyes for no other. He is the only faithful One, and by His faithfulness He cultivates faithfulness.

And so my day has been redeemed. He has done what was impossible to do. He defeated death. He ransomed the hearts of men and is actively changing them into His very own heart. I'm not sure which is harder to believe. Both are impossible, but He did and does. And so when I think of people who have asked in the past and without a doubt will ask again if what we at TriHOPe hope to do is even possible, if it's even possible to end sexual assault or to stop sex trafficking or to change the attitude of our culture, I will tell them confidently, "No." It is not possible; it is impossible. With human effort, it cannot be done. On my own I can do nothing. Nothing. Yet I serve One who specializes in accomplishing the impossible.

My faith is not set on the results I may or may not see in my lifetime, rather my hope and my faith are in the One who is faithful and the One who is capable and the One who overcomes. So I will not stop working for His purposes. And I will not stop praying for His purposes. And I will not stop testifying to His purposes. I will fix my eyes on Him who is the Author and Perfecter of my faith and not on the evil that runs rampant because He is the One who triumphs.

So anyway, I'm going to get back to work now.

Psalm 127:1-Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it...

Support Group Starting Summer 2015

This spring the Tri-HOPe team is excited to be putting together our first support group for victims of sexual assault, aiming to start summer 2015. With more than one year of prayer behind us in preparation, we are glad to finally begin building a resource center for survivors and this is the first step.

We will be using the In the Wildflowers curriculum, a program developed by counselor and survivor, Julie Woodley. The group will meet for 10 weeks and together walk through the 10 steps of healing as set forth in the curriculum.

Interested or know someone who may be? Contact us at trihope.mi@gmail.com. More details to come! 

While the group will be open to women at any point in their healing process, it is highly recommended that participants also individually see a licensed mental health professional for the duration of the program. For assistance finding a licensed therapist or counselor, contact us.