Have you ever wasted time trying to help people make sense of a calling God gave to YOU?
Maybe after prayer and confirmation all we need to do is get to work.
What are you going to walk boldly into that God has called you to do?
Your sister,
Monica
I want to write. I miss blogging. But seasons change and I’m doing more talking than writing these days.
I love sharing the Word and breaking down difficult topics, now I just do that differently.
My days are spent caring for six children on my own, sermon prepping, hosting community events for the church, and in discipleship meetings/calls.
It’s all I’ve ever wanted. And yet it’s SO tough.
“When you know you are called, quitting is not an option. Nothing can deter you.”
So let’s about dreams today.
What does it look like to actually walk in your calling and see your dreams come true?
Defining what you want to do is important.
Understanding what you are called to do is more important.
And knowing you are called will sometimes be the only thing that keeps you going.
There are days I wake up and the enemy is in my ear with a megaphone before I open my eyes.
But his words fall on deaf ears.
I’m deaf to the sound of lies because I’m filled with truth. Still, sometimes the lies seem like they’re coming from my own mind. I am that entrenched in battle right now.
So what do you do when your dreams are coming true but it doesn’t feel like they are?
Keep trusting the Lord.
Keep walking.
Don’t.
Ever.
Quit.
When you know you are called, quitting is not an option. Nothing can deter you.
At least that’s my humble experience today. I hope it is helpful and please keep me in prayer.
I’ll try to pop in and drop a blog post more often now that things are leveling off a bit.
In the meantime, head over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel where I post weekly messages from New Wine Community Church!
Thank you all for taking the time to read what God puts on my heart and letting me speak into you life. I consider it the greatest honor.
Praying for you all as you walk out the dreams God has called you to give birth to.
Your sister,
Monica
Read all about it!
Yes, I know I’m being totally “extra” right now, but it’s also totally warranted!
All in ONE MONTH…
I have been invited to speak (plans changed but you still NEED to check out this conference),
launched our home church,
got an AMAZING coach & new friend to walk with me during this church plant,
shared on the Third Millennial Church podcast about my passion for people and social media,
finished an e-book (I’ll post the link as soon as it published)… and SO much more incredible stuff I can’t even share yet!
So, I’m super sorry I have been out of touch on the blog. Definitely thinking of you all and praying for you every day!
I’ll be back to posting soon about what God is doing in this next season of my life.
For now, check out this timely word on your social media use.
See you on the flip side 😉
Your sister,
Monica Gary
Multicultural. It’s the thing most churches want to be these days, and rightly so.
But it seems we have run into some problems about what a multicultural church really is; and how can you become something you don’t understand?
Let’s start our discussion with what does NOT qualify as a multicultural place of worship.
What it’s NOT:
1) A church that happens to have people of color who attend sometimes
2) A church that happens to have people of color who attend all the time
3) A church that happens to have people of color who are in leadership or who use the facilities to run their own worship service
4) A church that makes use of diverse forms of worship
While some of these things may be qualities of a multicultural church, none of them in and of themselves qualify the church as being truly multicultural.
Being a multicultural church doesn’t just mean that you have other races who attend the church. It means that you honor them by incorporating their cultural ways of experiencing God into the church’s worship experience for the sake of growing together.
What it IS:
1) A church that SEEKS OUT people of color because Jesus seeks them just like he seeks white folks (not seeking them out for the sake of diversifying)
2) A church that RECOGNIZES and VALUES the unique contributions people of color bring to the Body of Christ (utilizing styles like gospel and rap in worship for reasons other than “it’s cool”)
3) A church that knows how to ASK for the perspectives of their ethnic brothers and sisters and actually LISTEN to the response
4) A church that EMPATHIZES WITH and ACTS ON the struggles people of color have in and out of their church lives (not to feel sorry for them but to walk in solidarity)
We live in a time where people need to know the genuineness of Christ more than ever. Everyone is asking the question, “Is this real?”
We need to get real; be honest with ourselves. We can do all the same things and still get it wrong. You can have all the elements and be abusing rather than serving our brothers and sisters of color.
The reality is that the body of Christ is already a multicultural Church. We just spend so much time in our cozy subgroups that we’ve convinced ourselves that we aren’t diverse.
Maybe we should focus more on getting to know the other parts of the Body than trying to make our personal branch of Zion look like the ideal church.
Jesus is always concerned about the heart, and so should we be. Where your treasure is, there your heart is. Time is currency more valuable than money. Where are you investing your most valuable resource?
I hope this perspective serves to stretch you in the way you do and view church.
Your sister,
Monica
*last photo I snapped after fellowshipping with my sisters at Antioch Baptist Saturday morning. See my Instagram for additional photos and video 🙂
I’m kind of heated that I even have to write about this, but I’ll do it anyway because I love you all.
Feel free to get mad and then get over it because I’m about to speak ACTUAL truth and it won’t feel good to some of you.
There is no “your truth.”
“Your truth” is only real insofar as you speak what is real to you… but that does not make it truth. Those are two different things. There is only one truth. When everyone can just have “their own truth,” that is called relativism.
Relativism is a worldly concept and opposed to the gospel.
If the body of Christ continues referring to our human perceptions as truth, we will be misleading the world and setting a horrible example.
I’m not going to touch on specifics because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we stop just repeating crap that sounds good and start believing things that are Biblical and holy.
The body of Christ doesn’t exist to make everyone feel good and condone peoples’ (and their own) “version of truth.”
So here’s the real truth:
Every one of you reading this is a sinner.
You probably already know each of those sins in detail and have been doing them for a long time. Even us Christians. That is truth.
Part two: there’s a way out.
Jesus died so that you can be forgiven and find freedom from those patterns of sin.
Now here’s the hard truth:
You don’t get to walk around claiming the second part without knowing the first. If “your truth” discounts the fact that you are a sinner, it’s not truth at all. It is a lie from the enemy that’s been coated in pumpkin spice flavored, pop-culture lukewarmness and it is meant to destroy the witness of the church.
I pray to God we start taking this title of Christian more seriously or drop the act if we aren’t willing to go all in.
Sorry y’all but you can’t have both worlds. It’s Kingdom or bust.
With loving admonishment.
Your sister,
Monica
“This, then, is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people have loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” John 3:19-21
We have all criticized this man. Verbally or in our mind at some point. We would be foolish to never have wondered what is really up with him.
I have been an outspoken opponent of his ministry. Viewing videos made by other naysayers and dissecting them for inspection. I have shuddered at some of the misspoken words that have come from his wife.
But it doesn’t matter what I think. We all know the old saying about opinions.
What really matters is what does Jesus think?
I’ve only got partial information about Osteen because I’ve never met the guy. The best intel I have is from a trusted source (my own pastor) who is amazed by Joel’s heart for the lost. If that really is the case then we should stop badgering the poor man (haha, sorry I can’t help but laugh at the irony in what I just typed).
But seriously. For sake of argument, let’s assume that our worst fears about Joel Osteen and his ministry prove to be true.
Worst case scenario, what would Jesus say about him?
Let’s look at the book of Mark. Chapter 9, verse 38-40 says this:
John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
“Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name who can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”
Notice the disciples were complaining that the people were not following them.
They had removed Jesus from the equation or He wouldn’t have had to remind them of the awesomeness that His name was being preached!
Jesus is far more concerned with us finding freedom than He is with how “right” our theology is.
He knows that in Him we find freedom so that relationship is always paramount to everything else.
A right relationship with Jesus will correct any faulty theology over time. Nevertheless, none of us can say we have it all figured out; “it” being a sovereign, Holy, incomprehensible God of the universe. (Please email me if you do because I would like to meet you, Jesus!)
Jesus says leave Joel be. Let him preach because, even if the worst suspicions are true, our Lord is being glorified and people are finding freedom and eternal life!
Is my opinion of a man’s bank account more important than your salvation? God forgive me that it has been. How arrogant I was.
God will hold every teacher accountable for how he has stewarded what was given to him in this world.
Our job is to love one another and be one. That includes the preachers we love to criticize and (let’s be honest) compare ourselves to.
Every preacher of the Word thinks he/she would be the best steward of resources like Joel has if we were blessed with them. We judge our hearts more capable of handling wealth than men God has chosen to bestow it upon.
I’m not declaring that you should start trusting every pastor that preaches the gospel. I’m simply saying we should trust God and be about our Father’s business instead of publicly calling foul every time we disagree with someone.
I’ll be doing exactly that today. Preaching through blogs and Instagram and phone calls… whatever it takes. Personally I’m glad someone like Joel is utilizing that massive platform to point to Jesus.
Your sister,
Monica
