book report part 5: "Captivating"

this is my last post on "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul" by John & Stasi Eldredge. if you haven't read the other 4 posts, make sure to look for them. this book was excellent! i would highly recommend women to read it.

God really does want you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life, to know where you have come from, and to know where you are going. There is freedom there. Freedom to be and to offer and to love. So, may we take a moment and remind you who you truly are?

You are a woman. An image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are wholly and dearly loved. You are sought after, pursued, romanced, the passionate desire of your fiance, Jesus. You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power. And you are needed.

As a woman who has been ransomed and redeemed, you can be strong and tender. You speak to the world of God's mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. You are inviting; you can risk being vulnerable, offering the weight of your life as well as your need for more because you are safe in God's love. You labor with God to bring forth life-in creativity, in work, in others. Your aching, awakened heart leads you to the feet of Jesus, where you wait on him and wait for him. There eyes of his heart are even upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty.

the song posted below was mentioned in the book. the lyrics are beautiful images of what Christ is to us. please take the time to listen and may God touch your heart by it as He did mine.

book report part 4: "Captivating"

obviously i've learned a lot from this book or i wouldn't be writing so much about it. i just found it to be an excellent encouragement for women. so women, if you get a chance, pick up this book. i think it will show you a lot about yourself and show you things you may have never thought of before.

the next section i wanted to share was on romance. as a woman, romance is part of my dna. God knows that. He wants us to be His bride. here are some thoughts Stasi & John Eldredge had on being "romanced".

A woman becomes beautiful when she knows she's loved. We've seen this many times-you probably have too. Cut off from love, rejected, no one pursuing her, something in a woman wilts like a flower no one waters anymore. She withers into resignation, duty, and shame. The radiance of her countenance goes out, as if a light has been turned off. but this same woman, who everyone thought was rather plain and unengaging, becomes lovely and inviting when she is pursued. Her heart begins to come alive, come to the surface, and her countenance becomes radiant. We wonder, "Where has she been all these years? Why, she really is captivating."

We live for romance. We are wired for it; it's what makes our hearts come alive. God longs to bring this into your life himself. He wants you to move beyond the childlike, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." He wants to heal us through his love to become mature women who actually know him.

What is it that God wants from you?

He wants the same thing that you want. He wants to be loved. He wants to be known as only lovers can know each other. He wants intimacy with you. Yes, he wants your obedience, but only when it flows out of a heart filled with love for him. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." (John 14:21). Following hard after Jesus is the heart's natural response when it has been captured and has fallen deeply in love with him.

book report part 3: "Captivating"

there is a section in this book on healing wounds. all of us have wounds. some are deeper than others. some are more fresh than others. the good news is that God can heal any wound...if we'll only let Him.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach 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 gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1-3

This is the passage that Jesus pointed to when he began his ministry here on earth. Of all the Scriptures he could have chosen, this is the one he picked on the day he first publicly announced his mission. It must be important to him. It must be central. What does it mean? It's supposed to be really good news, that's clear. It has something to do with healing hearts, setting someone free. Let me try and state it in words more familiar to us.

God has sent me on a mission. I have some great news for you. God has sent me to restore and release something. And that something is you. I am here to give you back your heart and set you free. I am furious at the Enemy who did this to you, and I will fight against him. Let me comfort you. For, dear one, I will bestow beauty upon you where you have known only devastation. Joy, in the places of your deep sorrow. And I will robe your heart in thankful praise in exchange for your resignation and despair.

You are the glorious Image Bearer of the Lord Jesus Christ-the crown of his creation. You have been assaulted. You have fallen to your own resources. Your Enemy has seized upon your wounds and your sins to pin your heart down. Now the Son of God has come to ransom you, and to heal your broken, wounded, bleeding heart, and to set you free from bondage. He came for the brokenhearted captives. That's me. That's you. He came to restore the glorious creation that you are. And then set you free...to be yourself.

book report part 2: "Captivating"

we all our wounded. we all deal with shame. in a section from "Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldredge, they discuss "wounded femininity".

As a result of the wounds we receive growing up, we come to believe that some part of us, maybe every part of us is marred. Shame enters in and makes its crippling home deep within our hearts. Shame is what makes us look away, so we avoid contact with strangers and friends. Shame is that feeling that haunts us, the sense that if someone really knew us, they would shake their heads in disgust and run away...

Others seem to master their lives, but shame grips our hearts and pins them down, ever ready to point out our failures and judge our worth. We are lacking. We know we are not all that we long to be, all that God longs for us to be, but instead of coming up for grace-filled air and asking God what he thinks of us, shame keeps us pinned down and gasping, believing that we deserve to suffocate...

Shame causes us to hide. We are afraid of being truly seen, and so we hide our truest selves and offer only what we believe is wanted...we are silent and do not say what we see or know when it is different from what others are saying, because we think we must be wrong...

Shame makes us feel very uncomfortable with our beauty. Women are beautiful, every single one of us. It is one of the glorious ways that we bear the image of God...

You really won't understand your life as a woman until you understand this:

You are passionately loved by the God of the universe.
You are passionately hated by his Enemy.

...There is a One greater than your Enemy. One who has sought you out from the beginning of time. He has come to hear your broken heart and restore your feminine soul.

when i read that, i think of the song lyric, "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world". we have such tremendous power and hope through God.

i stumbled upon this song when i was looking for something else on youtube. i think the Lord showed it to me for a reason. it's called "Praise His Name". when we struggle with our wounds and shame we should look to the One who can help us through...we can "praise the hurt away".

book report part 1: "Captivating"

i am currently reading "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul" by John & Stasi Eldredge. there is so much to learn from this book that i decided to start writing about it even though i'm not finished.

in the beginning of the book it describes the significance of woman when she was created. here are some thoughts that jumped out at me.

It is nearing the end of the sixth day, the end of the Creator's great labor, as Adam steps forth, the image of God, the triumph of his work. He alone is pronounced the son of God. Nothing in creation even comes close. Truly, the masterpiece seems complete. And yet, the Master says that something is not good, not right. Something is missing...and that something was Eve. (Genesis 2:21-23)

She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch. Eve is ...breathtaking.

Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works or art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation? Not an afterthought. She is God's final touch, his piece de resistance. She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill. Step to a window, ladies, if you can. Better still, find some place with a view. Look out across the earth and say to yourself, "The whole, vast world in incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me."

to me that is astonishing! i have always struggled with insecurities and self-esteem. i think most women do. it's not uncommon for women to question their worth. the difficult part is finding worth in what matters...finding worth in God. most of the women i know, me included, have searched for significance and meaning in everything we could think of. we try to get validation from friends, family, men, etc. we try to fill up our days, our hours and minutes with activities so we don't have the down time to think...to see that we really are lonely. after all the striving to be something we're not, our core tells us there is still something missing. that is something we can never escape no matter how many activities we are involved with or how many relationships we are in or how we think we've found the answer in a man/woman. God created us to find our significance in Him and absolutely nothing will fill that void except for HIM.

you know, i think that when God created Eve He had her future insecurities in mind. the Creator of the universe created woman so man and the rest of creation would be complete...God said it was good! what greater validation is there in life?

book report: "To Fly Again"

I recently finished To Fly Again by Gracia Burnham. Here is a short biography found on her website.

For 17 years she and Martin served with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines where Martin was a jungle pilot delivering mail, supplies and encouragement to other missionaries and transporting sick and injured patients to medical facilities. Gracia served in various roles supporting the aviation program and also home-schooled their children--all of which were born in the Philippines.

While celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island, the Burnhams were kidnapped on May 27, 2001, by the Abu Sayyaf Group, a militant group of Muslims. They seized several more guests and took them to Basilan Island, an ASG stronghold.

In the ensuing months some of the hostages were killed, but most were set free. From November 2001, only the Burnhams and one other hostage remained in captivity.

During their 376 days of captivity, they faced near starvation, constant exhaustion, frequent gun battles, coldhearted murder-and intense soul-searching about a God who sometimes seemed to have forgotten them.

On June 7, 2002, in a firefight between the Philippine military and the Abu Sayyaf Group, Martin was killed. Gracia was wounded, but was freed.

This book is excellent. The subtitle is "Surviving the Tailspins of Life". She definitely has survived a major tailspin in her life when she and her husband were held hostage. She shares great perspective on how to view the situations we are faced with in life. One chapter talks about worry. She shares a story of Martin Luther:

"One morning, when he was blue and discouraged his wife appeared (clothed) in black. At Luther's inquiry as to what the mourning meant, she replied, "Haven't you heard? God is dead." Luther saw the absurdity-and so should you. God lives-so will you!"
One dictionary definition of worry is "to torment oneself with disturbing thoughts." The active verb form is interesting, isn't it? Worry is something we do to ourselves. We initiate the worrying. We torment ourselves. What we start, we can also stop. The antidote to worry, as everyone who has ever read the familiar Philippians 4:6-7 knows, is to run to the Lord. "Don't worry about anything instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace..."

What a testimony Gracia has. She was kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists and yet she and her husband were able to praise God through it all. Most of us will never face a situation like the Burnhams. I know we can't even imagine what they went through, but do you think you would react the same way? In our daily lives we do have the opportunity to show God's love to the unlovely. I pray we take the opportunities to show and share the love that God has poured out on us.

book report: "A Table in the Presence"

I just finished reading this book by Lt. Carey H. Cash, Chaplain with the U.S. Marines. It was excellent! It detailed the experience of a battalion of Marines as they went into Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They faced extremely difficult battles with very few casualties. It was amazing to see how God's hand was with them every step of the way, protecting them from the evil one. This is a passage that gave me goose bumps.

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (Psalm 91:11) - that has breathed courage and faith into warriors for thousands of years. I could never have imagined how many men had been clinging to that promise when the rounds started flying on April 10, 2003. But they believe it. And the angels were there. All day I listened to the stories...countless others recalled that they saw waves of RPGs screaming straight for them, shot from point-blank range. Yet, at the last second, the missiles curved wildly, as if they had been batted away in midair. Sailing completely around the AAV's, the RPGs struck buildings that were teeming with enemy gunmen. PFC Timothy Pawloski recalled an RPG that was heading straight for him. The missile was coming so fast that Pawloski didn't even have time to close him eyes or duck for cover. At the last second, when it was only feet from where he was standing, it suddenly jerked upward and to the left. As if it were being pulled by an unseen rope, it split a tree wide open instead of striking the frightened young man".

Can I just say that the visual I get from this passage are angels surrounding these vehicles. I can envision the angels stopping the RPGs in midair and throwing them elsewhere to protect these Marines. It's quite a visual! As Christians we know there is a great spiritual battle that surrounds us every day. Satan and his demons want to kill and destroy as many as they can and they do; however, in the end, God will be victorious over all! The group of Marines in this book saw that there was a "greater power", "God", "someone watching out for them"...many believed in Christ after their lives were saved from terrible battles. There was only one explanation why they were still alive...God!