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When We Help Others
Maybe we wouldn’t pass up as many opportunities to care for others if we had eternal repercussions in mind.
Glenn Bolander had fallen behind his harvesting schedule because his wife, Carol, is battling cancer. That’s when nearly 100 volunteers from the farming community came to their aid, and a great number of combines harvested the Bolanders’ fields in a little more than five hours. It would have taken Glenn four weeks. When the farmers finished, they shared a potluck dinner together and even set up a meal plan for the Bolanders during this difficult time.
When a Loved One Leaves the Faith
What do we do when those closest to us walk away from Jesus?
But somewhere along the journey from boy to man, he loses his faith. His mother watches and prays as her son gives in to a life of lust, preferring sexual exploits over the “rules” of Christianity.
As time passes, his mother continues to pray desperately as she watches her son become attracted to an alternative spirituality and then join a cult-like religious group.
Eventually, her son rejects this belief-system and becomes a skeptic, eschewing religion for philosophy. She continues to wait and pray.
Living in Jesustown
Choosing comfort over mission is all too easy.
I asked why she was making that decision—except I still had my toothbrush in my mouth, so it was more like, “Eye are ooh baking dat debidon ?”
Kicking Hospitality Out of the Kitchen
Is it really about the “home arts” or something deeper?
I left that night feeling like I must be from another planet.
Well Run, My Good and Faithful Servant
What a personal best looks like
Last year during the marathon, Anne’s knee flared up to the point where she didn’t think she could continue running. I couldn’t bear to see my friend drop out of the race after having trained so hard for six months. For about the last six miles of the course, I kept telling her, “We’re going to finish this race, and we’ll do it one step at a time as slow or as fast as your body can manage. But we will finish, and we’re going to do it together. I’m not crossing the finish line without you.”
26.2 Miles for Water
Why I run
Recently, I made the mistake of going to church. A World Vision marathon recruiter shared stories of African villages that don’t have water. Women and children walk miles every day just to find water. And whatever water they find typically is bacteria-ridden.
As I sat listening to her pitch about how we could run the Chicago Marathon and raise funds to help bring water to the driest places in the world, something inside me rose up and said, “Yes, I can help. I may not be able to pay for a well or a water filtration system, but I bet I could raise enough money for water.”
Once the vision was planted in my brain, there was no turning back. So one month ago I registered to run the Chicago Marathon for the first time. I’ve never run a marathon before. The farthest I’ve ever run is three miles! But I knew God was challenging me to step out in faith to make a difference in the lives of women and children who desperately need the basic necessities of life—something I too often take for granted.
Martha Stewart Is Not Hospitable
Real hospitality is different than we think.
If you ask a group (I’ve tried this, so I know), “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word hospitality?” most people will say, “Martha Stewart.” And that’s just a shame, because Martha Stewart is not hospitable.
How can I say that, you ask?
I watched a Today show segment where Martha was illustrating how to decorate a gingerbread house. Meredith Vieira tried to follow Martha’s directions as they decorated it together. When they’d finished Martha turned the house to display the side she had done, rather than Meredith’s. Meredith asked her why she didn’t show her side, and Martha said, “We want it to look pretty.” Meredith looked offended and said, “Martha!” in a tone of surprise and hurt.
Hospitality is not providing the perfect meal in the perfect home by the perfect hostess. We’ve been led to believe that’s what it is by the Martha Stewart perfection that many of us secretly aspire to. I’d love to be able to turn out food and events that look like Martha’s, but I gave up on that long ago because of time and lack of ability (my gingerbread houses look like Meredith’s, not Martha’s).
You Are What You Eat
Does God care about what we put into our mouths?
A few weeks ago I embarked on a new adventure: veganism. Maybe “adventure” isn’t the right word as much as “challenge” is.
A vegan diet is basically a step further than vegetarianism: no animal products, particularly meat, eggs, and dairy. Many vegans even go to the great length of avoiding fur, leather, wool, down, and any other item made of animal products.
A restricted diet—or any diet for that matter—is not very like me. I love food. I love sugar. I love carbs. I love chicken. And I will gladly ingest some methylcyclopropene if it means chocolate is involved. However, I’ve always had an interest in nutrition and health, and as I began learning about where our food comes from, I realized I needed to make some changes.
Practical Biblical Justice
A review of last week’s webinar
Last week Kyria held its first webinar with Kara Powell on what it means to live justly everyday. Kara is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute and has written several books on justice including Deep Justice Journeys and Deep Justice in a Broken World. Here are some notes from our conversation, which we hope will continue the rich discussion we started last week and encourage those who couldn’t make the webinar to join in.
What is biblical justice?
It is important to use Scripture to define justice. A simple definition for justice is righting wrongs. Justice is linked to restoring shalom or holistic flourishing. It is near God’s heart for all of his followers.
What is the difference between justice and compassion?
Compassion or service is a step on the way to justice. It is giving a glass of cold water to someone who is thirsty.
Justice is asking: Why is that person thirsty? What can we do so that they can get water on their own? What can we do to turn that person around so that they are able to give out glasses of water to others?
There is so much injustice in the world. How do you determine what the best course is for you to take?
The first thing is to pray and see how the Lord leads you. God speaks differently to us at different times about different issues. Then once you know the Lord’s leading, obey. To be most effective go deep in a few issues rather than go broad in many.
Using Your Gifts
Discovering them is one thing; being willing to use them is quite another.
I first heard of spiritual gifts at the church my husband and I joined when our kids were young. We attended an all-day event in which a guest speaker walked us through an assessment to discover what gifts God had built into us for his good purposes.
I was dismayed to learn that my primary spiritual gift was teaching. How could I have the gift of teaching? I was too shy to speak in front of a group. How would I ever be able to teach people if I was always tongue-tied? There must be a mistake, I thought, as I feverishly re-took the assessment. Once again, I scored much higher on teaching than on any other spiritual gift. Okay, God, I bargained, I’ll use this gift, but you’re going to have to grow me. I can’t speak, so I have no idea how you intend for me to use this gift.
Not Minding Our Manners
Real love is more than being nice.
“Genuine love minds its manners.”
So said a church sign that I drove past recently. When I saw it, I cringed.
Sure, the mantra seems nice enough. Living this way is easy, safe, and doesn’t offend others. But is it true? Are Christians simply called to follow the rules, avoid confrontation, and love others by keeping our mouths shut?
Paul told the church in Corinth that love is kind; is not rude or boastful (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). The love we show the world is a mirror of Christ’s love working in and through us. We narrate the redeeming story of Jesus for others, sometimes even without words. Our behaviors, our attitudes, our very lives bear witness to the reality of the gospel. In this way, our outward kindness becomes a powerful tool communicating the love of Jesus.
This profound Christ-like love, though, is richer than our cheap, cultural definitions of “niceness.” It is deeper than minding our manners. It is far better than a superficial smile that doesn’t accomplish anything meaningful or lasting.
Jesus-Style Service
When serving isn’t the feel good, extra meaningful kind
“I am not your servant!”
These are the words I half-grunted, half-spoke to one of my kids yesterday as I got on my hands and knees to pick up the crumpled pieces of dry pasta he’d decided to deposit on the floor rather than the garbage can.
Then a thought struck me: I sure hope Jesus didn’t hear me say that!
Unfortunately, this attitude toward servanthood extends well beyond my feelings about cleaning the floor. Most of the time, serving others just rubs me the wrong way. Sure, if it’s some sort of extra meaningful service project (where you can practically hear the soundtrack of inspirational feel-good music in your mind as you work and you experience a rush of good feelings about how great you are for doing this), then it’s not too difficult.
But what about real service? The kind Jesus talked about? The kind that involves getting no credit? The kind that may not be accompanied by any feelings other than a waging battle against your own selfish impulses? The kind that may even involve serious germs or really bad smells?
Welcome to KyriaBlog.com!
Welcome to the Kyria blog!
This blog is designed specifically for thoughtful, influential women who want more from their faith and who want to make a difference in the lives of others. We strongly feel God's claim on our lives and God's call to exercise influence in ministry to the body of Christ, primarily through the local church.Kyria gets its name from a word in the original language of the Bible. In Greek it means "honored woman." The epistle of 2 John, for instance, is addressed to one such "kyria," translated there as "chosen lady." You may recognize the similarity of this word to "kyrie," which is the masculine form of the same word, usually translated "lord."
We chose this name because, just like the biblical Kyria, we feel it conveys something about the place of women in the life and ministry of the body of Christ, his church. We are chosen, called, and gifted for ministry.
Kyria blog will be filled with content on topics from spiritual formation to missional life to women's ministry to church leadership to hot topics. We'll cover current events, politics, culture, and media—anything that will help you reach out and disciple and serve others better.
Along with this blog, we're producing a free weekly enewsletter (you can sign up here), a weekly updated website, and if you become a member of Kyria ( for more info or to sign up click here), a monthly digital magazine, in which each issue will cover a specific spiritual discipline or spiritual issue. These resources not only will be useful for you in your faith and ministry, but will also offer you a community of women with the same callings, gifts, and passions so you can grow together and challenge, and support one another.
Ultimately, Kyria is a place to be encouraged, challenged, and motivated. We believe in the power of God to change lives and build the church, a powerful instrument of hope and redemption for the world. As women created in God's image, we've been chosen in Christ, called to influence.
If you believe as we do and are committed to making the most of the gifts God has given you, please join our conversations. As Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11: "Let's encourage one another and build each other up."
A Christian Sense of Humor
Did you hear about the so-called Christian group that's protesting the upcoming video game "Dante's Inferno"? Claiming they were from a church in Ventura County, California, about 20 members of S.A.V.E.D. (an acronym for "Salvationists Against Virtual and Eternal Damnation") handed out pamphlets outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center during the Electronic Entertainment Expo last month and held picket signs that read, "Hell is not a game" and "Trade in your PlayStation for a PrayStation." The group also posted a website and YouTube videos.
I should tell you right now: The whole thing is a publicity stunt for the video game company Electronic Arts. Yet two reputable newspapers, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury-News, initially reported this "protest" as actual, factual news. Online posts and blogs on the topic indicate a number of folks are taking it seriously. Regardless of whether they're in on the joke or not, many are offering the same comment: "Can't Christians take a joke?"
Once again, Christianity's been portrayed as laughable. Most Christians will get an earful of jokes, pokes, and even some outright insults in our lives. When this happens, should we laugh it off, express our hurt, or get angry?
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