Life, Assumed

When my husband was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, all the doctors involved assumed he wanted to fight it, not succumb to it. Not one doctor asked him if he wanted to fight it; they simply gave him the best possible treatment plan, discussed its effectiveness and proceeded to schedule his chemotherapy and other necessary treatments. His desire for life was assumed. Defeating the cancer was assumed. Treatment was assumed. No one brought up an alternative or suggested he just let the cancer take its course.

Life, assumed.

So, why, then is life optional for the most helpless among us? I recently had a discussion on social media with a woman I don't know, but who is a friend of a friend. This woman was adamant about the necessity of abortion. She actually said it can be done humanely. I stood my ground with her. She brought religion into the discussion; I brought Jesus Christ. She brought the idea of choice and I said we have to choose on the side of life for those who can't choose it themselves. I realized through this discussion that we really aren't choosing life; we are simply wanting life, which was already chosen for these babies by God, to continue. To be assumed. The very fact that a baby is alive should cause us to assume life for that child, even while unborn.

This discussion was borne out of a recent video that shows a Planned Parenthood official talking casually about harvesting body parts from aborted babies. She spoke so casually about this, between bites of her lunch, that it seems she could be talking about having her nails done or grocery shopping.

You can watch the video here.

It's beyond disturbing.

However, it does negate Planned Parenthood's own theory that a baby in the womb is just a mass of cells. She doesn't talk about harvesting masses of cells; she talks about harvesting body parts, which she names.

Just as the doctors automatically assumed my husband wanted to fight his cancer and not let it take his life, we have to assume every baby wants to live simply because they are already alive.

When life is assumed, we protect it.
When life is assumed, we fight for it.
When life is assumed, we want it to continue.

Saving babies is easy, especially compared to the fight for life that cancer patients face. In their fight for life, cancer patients become very sick. They inconvenience themselves to a very large degree, putting up with horrific side-effects of chemotherapy, being poked and prodded (my husband has to give himself shots in his abdomen twice a day), wearing special equipment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and deal with stark changes in their appearance.

Victims of accidents or wounded warriors choose life without limbs or their vision and other losses. On the battlefield, no one stops to wonder if that warrior wants to be evacuated for medical help. This is assumed. Firemen and rescue personnel at an accident scene automatically rescue people; their desire for life is assumed.

All we have to do to keep babies alive is simply not kill them. Easy.

Life assumed is a beautiful thing.
Assume life. For all.
~Tricia

Why the Duggars' Problem will Continue

It's good that the Duggars explained a few things last night in their interview with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. I was disturbed, however, by their minimization of the abuse. A few minimizations I heard included:

When Megyn Kelly asked about further abuse and some touching that took place under the clothes, Jim Duggar was quick to reply, "Oh, that only took place for a few seconds."

Is it only valid if it lasts longer?

The Duggars used minimizing language throughout the interview. This is cause for grave concern. 

He said they talked to numerous families and found out this happens "a lot" in families they know and some have even worse things happen in their family. Strangely, he found a lot of comfort in this fact. To know that "a lot" of families are having sexual assault go on in their midst is beyond disturbing to me. But, if the families they talked to were "Gothard" families, then there is no surprise. This is what Gothard's material has taught all along.

I can't imagine my kids not being allowed to hide together during hide and seek because I feared one would sexually assault the other. Can you imagine? Suddenly, all boys were ranked as dangerous around their sisters.....they said "Boys don't babysit," which is also weird. Am I the only one who finds this weird?

Some people have cried out that Lena Dunham has not been raked over the coals for sexually abusing her younger sister, but Josh Duggar has been "crucified," as one blogger put it. The difference is clear: Lena Dunham has never claimed to know Christ, has never claimed to live by any "Biblical principles" that the Duggars claim to live by. Through the tenure of their TLC show, the Duggars held themselves up as godly people who are the ultimate example of good, Christian living. They hailed themselves as righteous, publicly compared themselves to others and always came out on top. Hailing themselves as righteous is part of their problem. Self-praise is a trap.

They openly bragged on their children, effectively creating an expectation that they could not fulfill. They don't get to claim to be "attacked" by people who are only expecting them to live up to the expectations, they, themselves set. When we separate ourselves from the world to the level which the Duggars did, publicly claim that we are above the world, publicly proclaim our own perceived righteousness, we will fall harder when we fall. And the fall is sure because the expectation is faulty.

The world, which has been condemned by the Duggars over and over again, suddenly finds itself doing better than they. There are many, many families in the world who do not claim to know Christ, yet they have had no sexual abuse in their home. This goes for all types of families. The world is confused by what appears to be a double standard.  No one has ever had such expectations of Lena. I, personally, expect her to act like the depraved sin-worshiping person she is and nothing more. She does not claim to be morally or spiritually superior.

This is more than a teenage boy unspeakably satisfying his curiosity about girls. This is a boy who was grounded in Biblical principles instead of the Bible and the gospel. The result? The boy did not know his limits. Following principles instead of throwing ourselves on the mercy of the gospel produces this every time. This is why the gospel is so relevant to every day family life.

Should this abuse have been made public? Absolutely not! I hope the Duggars do sue their county or state or whoever is responsible for leaking juvenile records. Whoever leaked or sold the information was wrong.

The Duggars' problems will persist, however, because they are not willing to deal with the underlying problem of dependence on man-made principles instead of the gospel of God.

Moral of the story: Don't hold yourself or your family up to a standard above anyone else. You are not better than anyone else. And, just don't put your family on TV.  (Am I the only one who thinks it's weird to use a forum you despise to promote yourself?)

~Tricia

Why I Won't Shut Up about the Duggars

Some people are ready to move on from the Duggar scandal, forgive and forget and put them back on the air. There's a petition people are circulating to get TLC to put them back on the air. In that petition, it states, "The world needs more families like the Duggars." No, it really doesn't.

I am not so hasty. The Duggars' scandal is deeper than even the atrocities committed against the young women Josh sexually assaulted. It's representative of a deeper problem within evangelical churches. This article by Lyz Lenz, explains the deeper problem well.

The solution is not going to come from changing policy within evangelical churches. The solution is going to come from women standing up for themselves and no longer tolerating abuse and being forced to protect abusers. Lyz Lenz's article explains how women are blamed and held responsible for much of male abuse. She's right and this is insane.

The solution to stopping abuse within evangelical churches is for women to rise up and stop it.

We are daughters of Abraham. Since when does a daughter of Abraham have to stand down?

We have to say a collective "NO" when it comes to abuse of all kinds.

We are the only ones who can stop this epidemic in our churches.

When abuse happens and we are told to forgive and the abuser gets off with a simple apology, we have to push for more.

As Lyz Lenz said in her article, "Abusive personalities seek closed systems in which to abuse, and the mainstream Evangelical church provides that in spades." And she is right. We women have to reject the idea of a closed system and make the decision that no abuse will be hidden, that no abuse will go unreported, that no abuse will be allowed to continue and that abusers do not get off with a simple apology.

No doubt, God is full of mercy, grace and truth. He is also full of justice. Those who let a sex offender off with a simple apology are practicing cheap grace. Grace is free, but it was not cheap.

We women have power to stop abuse in our churches. It's high time we exercised that power.

We can't allow ourselves to be part of the problem....part of a system that covers up, minimizes and allows this abuse to continue.

Let no one silence you as you speak out to stop abuse. As a daughter of Abraham, no one has the power or authority to stop you from stopping abuse.

~Tricia

Why I'm Not Surprised by Duggar Family Secrets

No, I am not one bit surprised by the recently-revealed-after-a-decade-of-cover-up-sins of Josh Duggar. I am not surprised because he comes by it pretty naturally. He was taught to disrespect women by his parents. His own father, Jim Bob Duggar, has openly admitted that he cannot even hug his own daughters in a normal hug; he has to do a side hug. Have you noticed, like I have, that he only gives side hugs to his sons as well? When asked about this by a producer on their TLC show, Jim Bob smiled and stumbled over his words, finally muttering something about "the front" and "you can figure it out." A side hug testifies to the fact that all women are seen as sexual objects by Jim Bob Duggar. He passed this on to his sons.

Do you think this is Godly? Jim Bob says it is. Think again. Word to the wise: When someone tells you they are godly, they are certainly not. Jim Bob does this in the name of "godliness." Eww.

Jim Bob cannot get through even one episode of the TLC show without making some inappropriate sexual remark and/or innuendo, even toward his own daughters. "Hey, Hey, Hey....."

Clearly, despite his claims otherwise, the man's mind is in the gutter, not on God. I haven't allowed my kids to watch their show in a very long time because Jim Bob is so inappropriate.

So, no I am not at all surprised by Josh Duggar's actions, not shocked by the lies and cover-up. I will be shocked if he's the only one.

The Duggars have set their daughters up for abuse in every way. Abuse relies heavily on unspoken rules. While the Duggars will verbally say that the kids can make their own choices, not one of them chooses anything other than what their parents have silently dictated. The silent pressure is immense. All the boys are taught to disrespect women, even while their parents say things to the contrary. Kids will emulate more of what you do than what you say.

Observations in point:

All the girls wear their hair pretty much the same. (Not unlike the FLDS women in the CO cult.) They learned that from Bill Gothard, one of the most noted sex offenders in "the church" today. He taught them that this hair style is godly and will force young men to look at their eyes and not other parts of them. However, this is not true. Their hairstyle is irrelevant to what young men might or might not notice. Gothard finds this hairstyle becoming, so he stamped it godly and they bought into it.

All the girls are taught to "keep sweet" at all times. They have said this on their show. They claim it's godly to "keep sweet." The FLDS cult teaches the same, exact thing with the same, exact wording. I see a pattern here.

All the girls are required to wear skirts at all times. It does not matter what they are doing, they have to wear a skirt. If riding a horse, wear a skirt. If fighting fires, wear a skirt under the suit. Better yet, alter the uniform to be a skirt instead of pants. They teach that wearing skirts is godlier than other ways of dressing. The Bible does not teach this; the Duggars do because they learned this from sex offender, Bill Gothard. The truth is, a girl is much easier to molest if wearing a skirt. That's why Bill Gothard required it. The Duggars have adopted sexual predator practices that make their girls vulnerable, yet they call them "Biblical principles." Nothing could be further from the truth. Wearing of skirts limits girls; limiting girls keeps them "in their place;" keeping them "in their place" makes them vulnerable to predators.

All the girls are required to wear a smile at all times. On their show, a sign saying something like, "You're not fully dressed unless you're wearing a smile," hanging in the girl's bedroom was shown in more than one episode. No matter what you feel, you smile. This is unbiblical. God does not require us to always smile.

All behavior and dress modifications are put on the girls, not so many on the boys. This is typical of oppressive societies. Not one cult or society of abuse has succeeded without taming the women first. ISIS tames their women by making them wear burkahs and having strict behavioral rules for them, including what time they can go outside, if they can go outside at all. The FLDS tames their women by giving them a strict dress code, right down to their hairstyle, and strict gender roles.

I have no doubt the Duggars will try to make themselves the victims here....all abusers do. This is another mark of an abuser; they must become the victim or their abuse won't work. They will try to be victims, accusing those of us who have our voice about this to be abusers ourselves.

No, Michelle and Jim Bob, we are not the abusers. You are not victims. The crimes known were committed by your son. Your crime is in covering it up, lying to the public about what happened, allowing it to happen repeatedly in your own home under your own roof and not protecting those kids from a predator who lived down the hall. We are not abusers to want justice for these girls. Wanting protection for the remaining kids is not a victimization of you. You have your reward. God is not pleased. Had you not covered this up, had you properly dealt with this from the start, your son might not have to endure what's happening to him now, in the press, in the loss of his job, etc.

In this sense, Josh, himself, is a victim. He was taught that girls are property, that they cannot lead, that he is to be the "family priest," which is completely unbiblical in all ways. So, as a teen, he clearly saw those girls as property he could use in any way he wanted. He is a victim of his parents' twisted Bible understanding. Do you see how far twisting the Scriptures can go? This is one reason I am so completely adamant about studying the Bible without looking at anyone else's interpretation. We all must study the Scriptures for ourselves to see if what we are being taught is true.

You might say that he has apologized and the girls have forgiven him. Ok, good. But, what he did was a felony and what his parents did in covering it up and lying about it was just as bad. More than an apology is required here. Those of us who care about young girls who are abused are livid, not only about the crimes committed against them, but the cover up of those crimes. Where is their protection? They are still living under the same set of silent rules, not daring to go against the silence for even a minute.

Speak for the victims. The girls who were abused might say they are ok. They might tell you they have forgiven their abuser. They are not ok; they are not going to be ok unless they get help and have a voice.

And, yet, Josh has apologized, resigned his position with the Family Research Council and issued a statement, which you can read here. You might wonder why I still posted this blog post since the issue appears to be dealt with. Well, read their statements. Neither Josh or his parents address the pain of the victims in their statements. They talk about how Josh's life was changed with the pretense of counseling he did not receive, but no one focused on the victims at all! Josh talked about how he almost ruined his own life, but did not own ruining the lives of so many young girls. If he had been involved in porn, then he could talk about almost ruining his own life and that would suffice. However, he did not dabble in porn (that we know of), he physically and literally molested real, live young girls!

Their statements also did not address the fact that they lied to us all for more than a decade. They lied to TLC; they lied to police; they lied to you.

Their statements minimized his grave, life-altering abuses to "past teenage mistakes." That wording is so important because you have to remember that it was 1) in the past 2) done while he was a teenager and 3) mistakes, not sins. To call these molestations of young girls mistakes minimizes the sin, thus minimizes the impact on the victims. Sexual sin is always minimized in oppressive situations. And, sexual sin is always present in oppressive situations. The wording "past teenage mistakes" is an attempt to minimize the truth.

Any attempt to minimize sin while not acknowledging pain inflicted on a victim is wrong.

This is sickening.
It has been sickening to me for a very long time.
I specifically prayed for the abuse I suspected to be openly revealed.
God has answered my prayers.
It's time for those kids to be protected.

Josh can certainly be forgiven; I am not without compassion. However, I do not believe his parents are doing what is best for him even now because they covered this up, failed to protect other victims, then lied to us all. I wonder if they are going to apologize for all that. Isn't it a crime to lie to police? What happens to that?

Josh needs real counseling, not just a time away doing hard labor. He needs counseling outside the Bill Gothard world they live in. His victims also need counseling and they need it outside the world they live in. They need to be taught to read and interpret the Bible for themselves so they will have power to overcome this abuse and not be a future victim.

A voice for the victims, whether they are aware they need it or not,
~Tricia

What's Going to Happen to Joe?

Every week, my husband has to go to The Johns Hopkins Hospital and have blood work done to keep track of the effects of his chemotherapy and keep an eye on the cancer, itself. Every three weeks, he goes to have a full day of his chemotherapy, taking usually around 8 hours total. Yesterday was a "chemo day," and we were actually gone for 13 hours due to some delays because of his blood results.

Going to Johns Hopkins gives us many opportunities to meet different people and going to the oncology department gives us even more.

Today, I want to talk about Joe, a man I met in the oncology waiting room.

Joe, not his real name (although it might be his name because I did not get his name), was sitting on the edge of his seat, his wife beside him. I would guess his age to be around 60. I tend to look people in the eye and greet random strangers wherever I go, so I caught Joe's eye, nodded and said, "Hello." He said hello back to me and I asked him how he was doing.

He said, "I could be better."
I said, "I guess that's why you're here. What's going on?"

And Joe told me his story. He has a skin disorder and while it's not cancer, it is treated with chemotherapy, thus landing him in oncology. Joe's skin is uncovered by itself; it has raw patches all over it, leaving him in constant, horrible pain. He has had this condition for several months and it has been getting progressively worse. He said that he can no longer work and had to stop working about a month ago.

I asked him what the doctors were doing about his pain. He said, "Nothing."
Stunned, I said, "Seriously? How can that be? Why not?"

Joe said his insurance company won't approve pain killing drugs, therefore the doctors won't prescribe them for him! He said he's only at Johns Hopkins now because, even though he has had his diagnosis for a while, the insurance company has not considered his case bad enough for him to see any specialists, until now.

Joe's arms, which I could see, had large, multiple, raw patches all over them. His wife said his back was 10 times worse, so he had to sit forward on his chair. He was wearing a plain, white undershirt and jeans; could not wear a regular shirt or anything binding or chafing.

His wife said, "Something's gotta give. We can't live like this any more!"
I agreed and told them about some essential oils that have given some people with skin conditions relief. I wrote down what oils they need and told them where to get them. I also gave them my writer's business card with my number and email on it. I really, really hope I hear from them. I am committed to praying for Joe every day, even though I don't know his real name.

Is this what the Affordable Care Act is all about? Is this what our country has come to? Joe cannot get help because some insurance professional in a comfortable office has to decide when he gets bad enough?

I am livid. Joe deserves better. Joe needs help.

Oh, and what kind of doctor listens to an insurance professional instead of their patient? What kind of doctor can possibly look at Joe's skin and not be moved with so much compassion that they would do whatever they possibly could to get Joe the help he needs? Are you kidding me?

Are there seriously doctors who can look at someone with Joe's pain and not do something about it?
How can these people sleep at night?
What happened to compassion?

This system is so messed up it's not funny.  Joe's life is ruined. I blame the Affordable Care Act, I blame the doctors who are not filled with compassion, but with fear.

My hope for Joe is that he's finally getting the help he needs now that he is "allowed" to go to Johns Hopkins. I am relieved that he was there and maybe we'll see him again on one of our trips. David has 3 more chemo days to go, so there's a chance we will.

As for David, his chemo yesterday hit him hard and he was late to work because he was so very sick this morning.

If you will, pray for "Joe." I will be praying for him every day.
~Tricia

A Personal Story of Spiritual Abuse (A Glimpse inside The Agape Players)

 

I had been a Christian for just a few short months when I auditioned and was accepted to travel with a singing/drama group, The Agape Players. I knew nothing of the Bible, did not know how to study or articulate anything outside of my own experience, and even that was cloudy.

What I had done before going with the group was memorize Scripture and hear my pastor tell me over and over again that I didn't have to take anyone's word for anything the Bible said because I could look it up for myself.

Finding things out for myself was a completely new concept for me. For me to be considered as someone who could actually know something was a foreign idea to me. All my life I had few choices. I generally felt confused and alone, despite the fact that I had seven siblings. My dad was an alcoholic, very violent and reminded me often how stupid I was.

Finding out I could actually read the Bible for myself and make my own spiritual decisions was beyond my comprehension. But, I watched and listened and learned. And, unexpectedly to even myself, I grew in my faith.

When I got to Tampa, Florida to begin training with The Agape Players, the young man who had taken me to church to hear about Jesus, the young man to whom I was engaged by then, committed suicide by throwing himself off the town's water tower. I was in Florida; I could not travel back to Ohio for his funeral or for any comfort from home.

The leaders of The Agape Players, Rocky and Alice Adkins,  took me to their hotel suite that night and tried to comfort me. All I remember doing is sleeping and crying. The next day, it was practice and rehearsals as usual. But I was undone. Except for my grandpa when I was nine years old, no one I knew had ever died. I had no idea what to feel/say/do/react. I cried inconsolably at times without seeing it coming.

Later that day, the day after I found out he was dead, Alice came to get me and she sat me down and took my face in her hands and told me to stop crying right then and there. She got very close to my face and told me I had cried all night and enough was enough and I was to never, ever cry about this again, nor was I to speak of him ever again. She said I was being ridiculous and disruptive with all this crying and she wasn't going to have it. She said that if she ever caught me crying or talking about him, I would be sent home immediately.

And that was that, at least Alice thought so. But, I did cry, at night, alone. And in the shower. And in the bathroom. And whenever I was alone, (which was not often since we even showered together some of the time, in the name of saving water).

Then they put me on "The Diet." I weighed 98 pounds when I first arrived, but had gained 3 pounds and was now "grossly overweight" at 101 pounds. So, I was put on "The Diet" to lose all this gross weight. Because I had been, according to Rocky and Alice, so careless with my weight and gained those horrid three pounds, they decided I should then weigh 96 pounds, losing an additional two pounds in hopes that it would teach me my lesson, so suddenly I was an even worse five whole, gross pounds overweight. This would not do.

Alice took me aside and told me that I was out of God's will because God said that "a false balance is an abomination to the Lord," quoting Proverbs 11:1, and that "a just weight is his delight." and I was not pleasing God at all in being so overweight and He would deal with me if I didn't lose that five pounds and weigh 96 pounds. They had public weigh-ins where many times, the guys weighed the girls and announced the weight out loud for all to hear. Imagine my horror when this guy said, out loud, "Oh, wow, still at 101! C'mon, girl, you have to lose this!" I would hang my head in shame, then secretly eat chocolate.

But, something didn't feel right to me. I could not have told you what it was to save my life, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't know what else to do, so I questioned Alice. She and Rocky had set themselves up as the authorities in my life. They owned The Agape Players, they had all authority over my daily schedule, my diet and what I talked and grieved about. I simply asked Alice why God wanted me to weigh 96 pounds and where in the Bible I could find this information for myself.

And Alice, always filled with drama, began to sing. I felt awkward. She and I were the only people in the room, yet she was singing and that felt odd to me. After she sang, she looked at me very closely and said, "You will not, you cannot, understand these things. You are such a sinner. You are still a sinner. I am not a sinner any more. I have grown to the point of no more sin in my spiritual walk. This is why I am in charge here. This is why God gave me the leadership here. So, you cannot ask questions since you are still such a sinner. You do not get to question me."

Nothing of this felt right to me. I did not respond to Alice when she was in my face telling me all this. I simply sat and listened and quietly determined that I had to find out for myself. Somehow. I had to know if my 101 pounds was really an abomination to the Lord. I had to find out if Alice was no longer a sinner. I had to find out if it was right to only grieve for a day after such a loss as I had suffered.

I stayed with the group for that year, as I had signed on for a year and had to honor that contract. But, I was filled with inexplicable relief when my year was over and could not wait to leave.

Years later, Rocky and Alice had troubles of their own. While they were busy being in charge of us down to our diets and spiritual teachings, Rocky was busy raping some of the young men who had joined the group. He sexually abused countless young men, and Alice knew and hid this sin, all while they were holding themselves up as the righteous ones. The ones who were no longer sinners. The ones whom God had gifted with leadership.

They used their experience and leadership as proof of God's blessings on them, blessings they claimed came from their righteous living. Blessings they claim came as a reward for their obedience to God. Blessings they claim were a result of their own faithfulness.

They were able to keep this abuse quiet even after the group disbanded. A local newspaper in Lake Wales, FL announced their decision to disband, but said, "Officials for the group are not explaining the reasons for the action." Of course they are not going to explain the reasons for the action. They can't bring themselves to say that Rocky Adkins was a pedophile who sexually abused the young men in the group while his wife, Alice, watched and hid the actions.

So, this might be why, when I see people misuse my precious Scriptures and take things out of context to prove some human point or to sell a book, I speak up about it. To this day, others who were involved with The Agape Players are very quiet about what Rocky and Alice did.

I will continue to speak up about spiritual, physical, emotional and all kinds of abuse.
I will speak up.
I realize this is long. Thanks for hanging on to the end.
~Tricia

When Simplifying Gets Complicated

Bill Hybels, in his book, Simplify, talks about living a simplified life, paring down the "overscheduled and overwhelmed web" of our current lives and simplifying things for ourselves. The stated goal is to unclutter our souls. I'm sure Bill has some great ideas on getting organized and living more simply, but I take issue with his use of Scripture as his proof text.

He said, "In my experience, a handful of key practices are vital to keeping my soul clutter-free. These practices help me overcome the barriers that keep me from living the life "to the full"  that Jesus promised in John 10:10."

Oh, my. On this, Bill Hybels is wrong.

John 10:10. In this verse, Jesus said,

" The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." 

Jesus is not talking about an over-scheduled, overwhelmed life that has too many appointments going on. He's talking about quantity of life. The context of John 10 is the Good Shepherd. Jesus said He is the Good Shepherd and repeats in the context that He is the Door of the sheep....that anyone who enters by Him will be saved. He said that thieves come only to steal, and to kill and to destroy...and that's when He says He has come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Abundantly here means quantity. He came that we might have full quantity of life. What is full quantity of life? What is abundant life? Eternal life. That's what Jesus is talking about. Eternal life.

No over-scheduling, overwhelming busyness or anything else can take this away from you. There is nothing that can keep you from living life "to the full" because life to the full is not something you can control. It is the gift of God. It is eternal life. It is the fullest quantity of life.

Life gets more complicated for me when someone misuses Scripture to prove their point. This is tantamount to spiritual abuse because

a) it teaches the reader that they might not get what Jesus promised. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus promised abundant life with no strings attached. It is His gift.

b) it teaches that Jesus is inconsistent in His gift because simplifying life is really a first world issue and my brothers and sisters in Christ who barely make it through the day because they live in a refugee camp also have abundant life.

c) it minimizes Christ's accomplishment on the cross because it reduces Him to Someone Who is there to make our lives uncomplicated.

d) it minimizes the suffering and persecution going on around the world today. Look at our brothers and sisters losing their heads for their faith right now! If you think they can simplify their lives on earth, you are wrong, yet they have abundant life because even once they lose their heads, they are still alive.

In Christ, you have abundant life. Period. No exceptions. But, believe me, if you truly live for Him, your life will not be uncomplicated. Living for Him means you will have conflict in life, will be pushed to the edge of your faith, will be tried and tested and made to stand against others if you're going to follow Him. It means you're going to have enemies and a drive to tell others about Him so they can avoid hell, and, believe me, that's complicated. Living for Him means you put others first, even if that means you have to fill your calendar.

Look at the lives of Jesus' disciples in the New Testament. Not one of them got away with an uncluttered, uncomplicated life once they began to follow Christ. Most of them were martyred. Many others were threatened. Many others were imprisoned. Others risked their lives again and again for the sake of the Gospel. Yet they had abundant life....because they are still alive. Their lives are still abundant, more than 2,000 years later. That is life to the full. That is life abundant.

So, please don't fall for this lie that an uncluttered life is an abundant life. Bill Hybels has no business redefining a portion of Scripture to sell another book. If he had left my God out of it, left my precious Scriptures out of it, it might be a good book on organization and simplification. But, instead, he misused Scripture, redefined God's own Words and used them in an absolute wrong way. This makes his teachings null and void. This is spiritual abuse.

In Christ, our souls are not going to be clutter-free, either. Clutter-free living is not the route to peace. Jesus is the only Route to peace. He will give peace because He is peace. You cannot earn His peace or bring it on yourself by following some man-made steps until you feel it. It is there. It is Him. He earned it on that cross. You cannot earn it or get it any other way.  John 14:27; 16:33 and Ephesians 2:14 are just a few verses that tell of His peace. There are so very many more.

Just reading Amazon's 20% free portion of this book complicated my life because I became driven to set it straight and point out this gross error.

Don't allow yourself to be sucked into the idea that you can live a more abundant life through simplification. Instead, throw yourself headlong onto the Savior and watch His peace rule in your heart through His eternal promises. You will stand amazed.

Stop reading "Bible study books" and start reading, really reading, your Bible.
~Tricia