Tag: ministry

Here's a Daniel and the lion's den coloring sheet. Enjoy! :D

Catchin’ Feelings: A Man Named Daniel

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I’ve been in a love affair with a guy named Daniel for years. He’s accompanied me to church, bible study, Sunday school, and small groups. He’s been my shoulder to cry on when life’s kitchen had the heat on hell and reminded me that there was always a “fourth man” standing in the “furnace” with me. It was his life’s story that reminded me that even in the mouth of the lion, God will save me, redeem me, and elevate me.

All of his heroic stories shaped who I am. I believed what every preacher has ever said about him and I never questioned whether or not the miraculous things that occurred in the book of Daniel were really legit.

Today, I found out that they were not — they’re fictional.

Yep. Fictional, fake, made up, fabricated, imagined.

I sat in the lobby of Candler this morning with my mouth agape and my heart tormented.

“What do you mean, book of historical commentary on Daniel, that the stories of heroism that I’ve held so dearly is fictional?” I asked myself.

I flipped through my bible’s commentary to find some kind of solace, some explanation that would solve this crisis: how could these stories I’ve held on to for so long be fictional? How could something that mattered so much be historically and literally inaccurate?

I took to Facebook and threatened to jump off a classroom table if I had to really accept the idea that the stories in Daniel chapters 1-6 were fictional (Chapters 7-12 are considered Apocalyptic Literature and requires its own discussion!) My embedded theology had been challenged, and though it wasn’t the first time, it surely hit me like a ton of bricks.

I got a little pushback from friends and associates on Facebook, of course.

“The entire bible is made up!”

“Today, it feels like I just learned Santa isn’t real. Why even teach it?”

Another said, “What is the point of seminary? To teach you that the Bible is farcical?”

I had to figure out what was making this break up with Daniel’s heroic stories so tough and where I would go from here — as a seminarian and as a Christian.

The running joke with many seminarians and their friends/families/church community is that seminary admits a Christian and graduates an atheist. “You lose your Jesus in there!”, they say. We gain insight to the historical and literal contexts, so much so, that in some way, what was once an infallible now becomes… questionable.

What, then, do we do? I came to this conclusion (because losing my Jesus ain’t an option) — whether the stories are factual or not does not matter.

The truth remains: God’s sovereignty, power, and desire to have relationship with us is a consistent, irrevocable force.

When we read scripture, we have to learn to separate the facts from the truth. The fact of the matter is, the stories told in Daniel chapters 1-6 may not have happened. Historians don’t even know who authored the book and, as the stories of Daniel take its course, there are some quirky things happening within those aforementioned chapter (like the text switching from Hebrew to Aramaic then back to Hebrew).

The truth is, however, that God’s power is real, that He will go to great lengths to save His (or Her) people, and that no matter where we are and under what circumstances, we can rest in the fact that God is there to save us. Through Daniel, we learn how to live/act in a world that may expect us to live contrary to what our God tells us to do — be and remain faithful to Yahweh is a key theme of the book.

Someone asked me, “If some of the stories in the bible aren’t factual, then what’s the proof that God can do anything at all?”

That, my friends, is a personal thing — what YOU believe God can do based on what you’ve read and understand is your own personal discernment. Knowing the history behind the story doesn’t change what I believe about God; if anything, it enhances it.

It helps me to see God in a new way; it complicates yet simplifies, narrows yet expands, empties yet fills.

In a lot of ways, I feel like knowing that sometimes the story and even the characters are totally made up moves our loving affections away from these biblical personas and to the one who really matters: God.

I know it won’t be the last time that I read something in scripture that really challenges what I’ve thought to be true (I’ll write about my disappointment in Job and my tears shed over Genesis in another post) and it is this level of questioning and critical thinking that I hope will help make me into a really awesome minister/writer/pop culture commentator/praise and worship leader/dancing machine.

I’m still working on what to do with these feelings about my man Daniel; like any love affair gone awry it takes a minute to settle into things. I am glad, however, that God walks us through this process of getting over what doesn’t matter and getting to the root of what does.

On the Chase,

Alisha L.

Here's a Daniel and the lion's den coloring sheet. Enjoy! :D

Here’s a Daniel and the lion’s den coloring sheet. Enjoy! 😀

The Right Moment

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The number 30.

In our world, turning 30 years old holds so much weight. That number serves as the marker of success; we’ve been told all of our lives that there are certain things that should be in place before you turn 30. Owning a home, moving up in your career, getting married and having kids are just a few.

I, too, believed that I was supposed to reach this pinnacle of “success” by the time I turned 30. In reality, I’m nowhere close. I live at home with my mom, I’m technically unemployed, and I don’t even have a prospect for marriage , let alone have someone in the picture to take me on a date. I’m sky-high in student loan debt, and I’m becoming a college student all over again in just a couple of weeks.

My life looks nothing like I thought it would at 30.

But I am in the right moment.

You see,the number 30 is the number that denotes the perfection of divine order, the right moment, dedication. (source)

30 is the indicator that something is beginning when it should, taking its rightful place in the world, a new level of commitment to goals and aspirations.

Jesus was 30 years old when he entered His ministry. (Luke 3:23)

David was 30 years old when he became king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:4)

Joseph was 30 years old when he began ascending the ranks in Pharaoh’s house. (Genesis 41:46)

The years prior to age 30 served as moments where these individuals learned valuable lessons that propelled them into their divine moment. It was the years that came after age 30 that set them apart and created a long-lasting legacy in the earth.

Too much are we consumed with not having all that society says we should have by age 30. What I’ve come to realize is that the greatest opportunity for us to have all that we desire comes after the 30, not before.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about the pressures (socially or self-imposed) that we face as we turn 30. We both agreed that we want the money, homes, cars, career success, and happy love life, and more often than not, we want it sooner than we can really handle it.

The final conclusion was this: God wants us to have all of those aforementioned things, however, acquiring them takes a little longer than what we’d like. Why? Think of it this way: the longer a tree is planted in the ground, the longer its branches become and the deeper its roots grow. God’s process forces our roots to grow extremely deep before acquiring too much — this way, when the proverbial storms of life come, we aren’t toppled over by a little wind and rain. Society’s way of giving us the same desires doesn’t allow for our roots to grow very deeply. We’re like saplings in a hurricane, quickly snapped in two by the weight of our desires.

This revelation has taken the pressure off in many ways! You may look at your life and say, “I don’t have xyz yet… and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen by age 30.” Trust me, it’s okay. This is just a time for your roots to grow deeper!

I’m looking forward to turning 30. I’m running towards it with arms outstretched because I know this is my right moment. I don’t find it coincidental that a week and a half after I turn 30 I’ll begin seminary at Emory University. I’m no Jesus, but turning 30 and entering ministry is quite a parallel. God is so funny.

Those who are reading this probably cover the entire spectrum: successful and happy before 30, still finding your way post 30, and many more. If things aren’t looking quite like you’d like them, it’s okay — let those roots grow deeper and branches expand a bit. You’re in the right moment. You’ll see.

On the Chase,

Alisha L.

Go.

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One of the great things about reading and studying the bible is that you can get new revelation about a story that you’ve heard over and over…and over again and see things in a brand new light.

That happened to me when I was helping Ashli complete a kid’s bible study worksheet and she had to answer the question, “What was Jesus’ first miracle?” We went to John 2 and read the story of Jesus, His mother Mary and some other people at a wedding reception that ran out of wine. (what a travesty!) Mary turns to Jesus and says, “Oh lawd — we’re out of wine! What is we gon’ do?” Jesus turns to her and says, “Ma, that’s not my problem. It’s not my time to do anything supernatural about that yet — chill.”

(Of course, I’m paraphrasing in my own vernacular.)

But Mary, knowing something that Jesus didn’t know yet, took a step in the right direction to put Jesus in the position where He had to operate in the gifting and calling on His life.

“But His mother told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:1-5)

As a result, Jesus performed his first miracle of turning ordinary water into some of the best wine the people had ever tasted.

There are things we are called to do — special, great things that God has purposed in us to start (or even complete) that we haven’t done. Why? Because we’re waiting on something.

That may be the right time, the right amount of money, a word or sign from God, or a good pep talk from our closest friends and family.

As we can see, even Jesus, although He knew that He was here for a special purpose, was waiting for something.

Mary gave him the “go” He needed to go ahead and step out into what would be the most impactful ministries of all time.

I believe that every single person reading this knows what they’re called to do or have some kind of idea. You have that dream, that goal, that thing that’s been nudging you and you’ve just been waiting for a sign or situation that gives you the green light to move forward.

This is your green light. Go.

On the Chase,

Alisha L.

::Perspective::

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It’s been a long time/ I shouldn’t have left you/without a dope beat…blog to read through. –Alisha G.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve experienced sides of life that I hadn’t seen in a long time. When I was pregnant with Ashli, her dad and I lived off of food stamps and unemployment for a long time. I remember sitting in the DFCS office for hours waiting for my caseworker to see me thinking, “this can’t be my life. I’m a Spelman graduate with an extensive vocabulary. I’ve traveled and participated in the better side of life. Why am I here?”

I remember feeling like a statistic, a failure, a part of the bigger “problem” in America. I swore then that I’d never return to that place. It was embarrassing and, quite frankly, I didn’t like being a part of such a social stigma: single mother on welfare.

Fast forward 7 years later… Continue reading →