Did Your Vote Count?

Whatever your political leaning, things sure are interesting. Odd, but it reminds me of the church.

Voters/Constituents = Church Attenders that have a stake in the outcome but don't have a vote that counts.

Super Delegates = Church Members that get to vote.

Closed Primaries = Church Members Only Club.

Platform = A document stating the aims and principals of the party (The Bible).

One of my favorite words: Gerrymandering, this is when they redraw the district boundaries to have an electoral advantage.

Gerrymandering = When those that are against ______(fill in the blank with whatever you want) gather all their family & friends that haven't been at church in ages, but are still eligible to vote, so they can 'redraw' the district and swing the vote.

As Americans/Canadians we are asked to vote for the candidate that we think will best resolve the issues. However when the candidate becomes head of the party and doesn't resolve the issues it's the voters/constituents turn to flip-flop.

Ah yes, another wonderful political term. Flip-flop = a sudden change in position on an issue.

This is my real soap box: I'm tired of people voting for Jesus, then flip-flopping on the issue.

Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in our churches to convict us of the sin in our life? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in our churches to change the lives of hurting people? Where is the Holy Spirit in my life to demonstrate His power to others?

People come into our churches or across our path and we convince them that they should give Jesus a try; so they raise their hand at the end of the service and vote for Him. But when they've tried Jesus and determine it doesn't 'work' for them, they rescind their vote. There are still others that will continue to flip-flop on the Jesus issue based on their circumstances. These are the folks that made Jesus Lord of their emergencies, not Lord of their life.

There are Christians that have voted for Jesus, yet they never bothered to read the platform or sign up for party membership. I'm not talking church membership. I talking about when you are so steadfast and unswerving in your commitment that you'll become a card carrying member of the organization. Your belief in the organization is so strong that you'll do whatever it takes to see its mission accomplished. They voted, but they didn't sign up.

At five years old when knelt in front of the TV while the Billy Graham crusade filtered into our living room and accepted Jesus as my Savior I did more than lift my hand and vote for the best option. I fell in love with Jesus and became a card carrying member.

If true revival brings repentance, what does true repentance bring?

Ellison Research, in Phoenix conducted research for the 2004 September/October issue of LifeWay's Facts & Trends magazine. It reported on the following statement:

"Regardless of what other faiths believe, Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation."

• 88 percent of pastors of Protestant churches said they agree strongly with the statement.
• 96 percent of pastors associated with the National Association of Evangelicals agreed strongly
• 65 percent of pastors associated with the National Council of Churches agreed strongly

When broken down to denominations, those that agreed strongly with the statement looked like this:

• 100 percent of Pentecostal ministers
• 98 percent of Southern Baptist ministers
• 77 percent of Lutherans ministers
• 65 percent of Methodists ministers

You've got to be kidding, not even all the nation's pastors are preaching repentance. I'm so tired of the Super Delegates watering down the platform so it can be voter friendly!(Just in case you missed it: Christians watering down the Word so as to not scare away the lost.)

Let me say here that I am a very happy part of a pentecostal church (Assemblies of God)where the pastor and congregation want to see the Holy Spirit move BIG and change lives~ our own and those of the lost.

The Jesus I know changes & guides my life daily. As a card carrying member:

I want the Jesus I give to others to be so powerful and meaningful there will never be a question of a flip-flop.

I want to see hurting people encounter the power of God.

I want the church and the lost to know that He is God of their impossible.

I want the church and the lost to know they can expect God to change their life and meet their needs.

I want to see voters, constituents & super delegates that boldly believe their platform is true and that it transforms lives.

I want to see people stand up for their beliefs and be counted for Jesus.

I want the Holy Spirit to be so BIG in my life and the life of the church that voter turn out sets records.

Time to sign up for the party membership, not just cast a vote.

Kim Angela

Less of Me

Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.

For all those that claim this as their life scripture, I'm impressed. I would have preferred something a little more upbeat like 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Blessing and abundance sell much better than suffering and death.

Philippians 3:10 is a scripture that we love to quote half a verse, 'That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection', leaving off the bits about sufferings and death. Yet if we could grasp Philippians 3:10 it would revolutionize our life, our family, our church and the world. You might think that's a whopper of a statement, and it is, in terms of life changing. It changed my life.

I remember where I was when I first prayed this passage of scripture.

I remember what was happening when I decided I shouldn't have prayed this scripture.

I know who I am thanks to having prayed this scripture.

My Christian heritage is rich. From early childhood I have been intimately acquainted with God's Glory, His miraculous healing power, the provision God has for us and even the ability to make something out of nothing. As I grew I felt that I knew God, little did I know that I was merely acquainted with the tip of his little finger. It was like saying I knew all about the United States because I'd visited Delaware.

Just after turning 30 I began to ask God for more of Him in my life. I felt that my walk with Him had become stagnant, stale and predictably routine. Missing was the intimate moments with God and the miraculous seemed to have vanished. Then I had an a-ha moment when I made two decisions that changed my life.

1. I was born to worship God. I will choose to worship Him no matter how I feel, no matter my circumstances or situation, no matter how boring the service. After all God is bigger than all those things.

2. I want to have the Fruit of the Spirit be in evident in my life in all things. A Galatians 5 Woman.

I began to pray Philippians 3:10. Lord, I want to have more of you and less of me in my life. I want to become acquainted with your presence and power. Lord, I know that the Fruit of the Spirit can only mature in my life when there are difficult situations that allow it to grow. After all love, joy and peace are easy to have when everything is going your way. I can even recall the road I was driving down when I finally said to the Lord, "God if I pray this prayer and mean it, I know what will happen", referring to the portion on suffering. "God I want to know you, your power and your presence and if I need to mature and die to my old nature to do it, I'm ready."

Let me tell you....be sure you are ready before you pray that one.

For the next three years life went along comfortably. My love relationship with Jesus grew through my worship and I began to see some of the old nature (pride, anger, etc) grow smaller. Then God kicked it up a notch. Please remember that God doesn't have bad things to give out, but sometimes bad things do happen to us. This is prime time to allow Him to work in us, teaching us to rely on Him and display His nature.

In a span of 24 months I:

1. Had kidney stones 3 times.

2. Got a divorce because my husband decided he'd rather live an alternative life style.

3. Ended up with $19,000 worth of debt from the marriage.

4. Discovered I had elevated calcium levels causing the kidney stones; elevated due to one growth on my parathyroid gland and one on my thyroid gland.

5. The two growths were wrapped around and pressing on my vocal chords causing me to lose my voice. My voice would give out after fifteen minutes, and singing was out of the question.

6. The required surgery called for them to cut my vocal chords, which could result in damaging my voice and losing the ability to sing.

7. The non-profit company I run was hauled into court by disgruntled parents charging that we were abusive and neglecting their adult children. This one made the AP news wire with a national story about me allegedly abusing our clients.

Now, ask me about the fellowship of his sufferings.

All were situations that I had no control over and could not fix despite my own efforts. I had to rely totally on Him to see me through. One of the many prayers I prayed during the 24 months was, "God, whatever lesson I'm supposed to learn through all this please let me learn the first time through." They were difficult times. But God was there.

Would I choose to live those 24 months again? No. But I will never regret living those 24 months and wouldn't change a thing. You see in those 24 months when it seemed that everything was crashing and burning, I worshiped Jesus no matter what it looked like. When it seemed that the situation couldn't get worse, yet is did, I met every moment with the love, joy and peace of the Lord. A lot of the old me died during those 24 months; the new me is thanks to Jesus.

Three years have passed since the end of my 24 months. Looking at it through man's eyes you'd say that all things resolved. I'm a debt free, happy single woman that owns two homes. My signing voice is richer and stronger than before the surgery. As their case fell apart the lawsuit was dismissed and the disgruntled people left the agency. The company is more prosperous than before the trouble began, receiving an award from the state for quality programming.

Looking at it through God's eyes, it was Him that brought miraculous resolution to every situation. I am not the same person that started this journey eight years ago. I have been transformed through the death to me process. There is less of me and more of Him.

Three Sundays ago I stood in the choir loft and prayed, "God I need to know you more, whatever the cost. God I do understand what I'm saying and what that might means, and I want more of you no matter what comes my way."

Stay Tuned. God isn't finished with me yet.

Kim Angela

Lessons From the Bag Lady Part 2: The Blue Honda

Dorothy is real and the story is true.

My parents read the Bag Lady blog after it was posted. They informed me that I hadn't remembered the story quite right. Here is the amended version.

That night as my Dad helped Dorothy gather her bags she turned to him, handing him a white envelope saying, "The Lord told me you needed money". Dad thanked her and put the white envelope on the table and drove Dorothy home. When he got back to the house he opened the white envelope. Inside the white envelope Dorothy had given them the thousands they needed, within $80 of the exact amount.

While Dorothy, the bag lady, saved our home and business property, which we still own, it didn't stop the bankruptcy. The next few years were difficult as our family struggled to regain our financial footing. There would be more white envelope moments from what the world/church would call the unlovely people that my parents had helped over the years that came at just the right moment.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

While Dorothy taught me many life lessons another white envelope moment taught me a God lesson.

The Blue Honda

My grandfather was a man of many colorful words. One of my favorite quotes was apropos to our family situation after the bankruptcy. "Being broke isn't embarrassing, it's just inconvenient." Gone were the work trucks, gone were the fancy luxury cars, leaving us with one beat up truck that would leave you on the road. Being left on the road in the middle of winter in Canada is not a good idea.

After a youth outing on a Saturday night my Mom had no way of picking me up as my Dad had our truck at work. Very Inconvenient. The pastor's wife, a good friend, offered to give me a ride home. At home she came in and had tea with us. Sitting in the living room we began to discuss the vehicle situation, actually the lack thereof. During the conversation she turned to my Mom and asked, "If you could have any car you wanted what would it be?" Mom replied, "A Honda because it's good on gas". Adding my two cents I said, "And I'd like it to be blue."

After church the following morning my Dad was standing in the foyer chatting with Charlie, a retired friend. Charlie asked my Dad, "We've noticed Darlene & Kim walking to church (we lived 2 blocks from the church) and hadn't noticed her car in the parking lot." It had been a car you couldn't miss, a big black four-door Lincoln, a mafia type ride. Dad explained that times were a little tough and the car had gone in the bankruptcy so we were walking. Without even missing a beat Charlie replied, "Kay and I are leaving tomorrow for Arizona and we'll be gone the entire winter. I'll just drop off the wife's car for them to use this winter."

An hour before Sunday evening service Charlie & Kay arrived at our doorstep with keys in hand. A wave of emotions overwhelmed us, there sitting in our yard was a blue Honda.

There are two types of people reading this blog.

• Those that are in need of a white envelope moment.


• Those that can supply a white envelope moment.

If you are in need of a white envelope moment, He has heard every prayer and cry of your heart. God knows exactly where you live!

If you can supply a white envelope moment open your heart to hear the Lord is telling you to do. A bag of groceries, $5, a gift card, a thinking of you card in the mail; it doesn't have to be thousands it just has to be something.


What was my God lesson? We need to listen to the prompting of the Lord; we may be God's answer to someone's prayer.


Lord, create white envelope moments.


Kim Angela