After a couple of weeks in Michigan, we pulled into Indiana today. We are basing out of Indianapolis where Jonathan’s one remaining, living grandfather lives. It is a blessing to be able to spend time with him as well as his grandmother with Alzheimer’s. We cherish the moments our boys get to know their great grandfather. I don’t really have any deep thoughts to share today, really I have just more of a testimony. The last couple of weeks have not been very easy financially. Between the funeral of Jonathan’s other grandfather in Chicago, the lack of a full schedule in the Michigan district, and the sheer cost of life on the road/ living by faith, things pile up. I was checking our online banking against the check book registry I keep, and there is a $250 deposit showing up on our online banking that I literally cannot account for. The only thing i can think of is that someone has been sensitive to the voice of God and has allowed him to use them to bless us. In the day of modern technology, God rarely sends actual manna from heaven or has pennies rain on us, but he can use someone to make a deposit into our checking accounts that we find out about via the world wide web. whoever did this obviously wishes to remain anonymous, but to them , if they read this, I say thanks. We all want to experience the blessings of God and have stories of faith to share, but the truth is, to create the environment for God to provide miraculously sometimes it requires discomfort on our parts. I have the personality where I don’t like to ask people for anything. I am a self starter and have always worked for everything that I have ever had. With hard work, perseverance, principles of stewardship, and following God, I have built my life. It is so foreign for me to live on the road at the mercy of others instead of just getting a job, clocking in and getting a pay check that way. God has proven once again that if we will do what he asks for us to do, he will go exceeding abundantly farther for us than we could dream. This is just one of many stories like this that I have since we have walked out in faith to start a church in the Cleveland metro area. Nothing will stop the direction, focus, or vision that God has imparted to us. Not all of our stories involve money, but I don’t want to fail to give God thanks or glory for what he has provided. I also don’t want to miss the chance to say thanks to whoever listened to God. If we don’t listen to his word, he can’t move. We are the hands and feet of his body on earth. Do what he tells you to do!

Yesterday Gentry finally got his first official tooth! He has been teething for a seemingly endless period of time. He got his breakthrough. It is a bottom front tooth. It was barely poking out yesterday and today it is big and shiny and visible for all to see. I guess the endless screaming, moodiness, and diarhea are all explained. He is 9 and 1/2 months, so it is time for his pearly whites to shine through. Everyone is doing well. We are back in Michigan on deputation now again. If you get a minute say a prayer for my sister in law. Shortly after Grandpa Hilderbrand’s funeral, she got a call on her phone that her 56 year old aunt passed away in a surgery with a 98 % chance of survival. Needless to say, the family was not prepared for that loss. She and Matthew Buckland drove late into the night following the funeral to be with her family during this tragic time.

We will be in Indiana in a couple of weeks and we will also be driving to North Carolina for General Conference. Crazy times!

I chose this title because I knew that if somebody were to check my blog, it would catch their eye. The very title of this goes against what everybody knows what I believe to be true. In an earlier posting, I discussed the topic of birth and stretched our minds to think of the possibilities that we may be born predisposed to certain types of sin. This blog challenged Christians to think and compare things in light of the word of God. It isn’t always good, prudent, or wise to dismiss people and lifestyles that we deem sinful. These are the very people that we should be reaching out to the most. These are the people that we need sitting in our churches.

In the process of birth, there is a 9-10 month gestation period. I, for one, was dismayed to find out that we truthfully aren’t pregnant for just 9 months, but our pregnancies are based on 40 weeks, which is technically 10 months. Pregnancy begins when the DNA of a man and a woman meet to form a new, living creature. Perfect babies are not just one day dreamed of, thought of, and created, rather there is a very long, sometimes painful process that occurs for new life to enter the world. There are months of preparation, caffeine elimination, nausea, moodiness, and growth. The growth occurs in both the mother and the baby. Sometimes the creation of human life is even more intense. The simple concept of the “birds and the bees” isn’t sufficient. Numerous couples undergo rigorous fertility treatments, painful operations, and financial devastating tests in order to produce life. Even further yet, many people experience miscarriages,still births, and sometimes women chose to end a life that has begun through abortion.

I began to think of these things in relationship to our walk with God. I am particularly keen on this subject now for many reasons. One, I have given birth and been pregnant twice in the past 3 and a half years Two, many of my friends are currently expecting babies. Finally and third, we are in the process of starting a new church. Brand new churches are referred to as church plants. I prefer to think of them as nursery’s and birthing wards. The new birth experience is mentioned time and again in the Bible. It is something that God desires for everyone. He doesn’t want anyone to perish in the spiritual sense, but have everlasting life. This can only be achieved through regeneration. I have heard the church referred to as a hospital my whole life. You don’t go to a hospital well, but you go to receive treatment and healing. God is the great physician and the church body is his hospital. If this is the case, then my analogy of a new church being the birthing ward is completely accurate.

I chose to title this blog “God is Pro-choice” because I have seen too many churches never get off the ground, too many established churches stagnate, and too few people fulfilling the great commission. (The great commission being to go into all the world and preach the gospel, to seek and to save those who are lost.) The Pro-Choice argument in the secular world is an argument that women should have the choice when they will give birth and what they will do with their bodies. This is completely incorrect terminology. The politicians are not pro-choice, they are pro abortion. Being pro-choice truly should mean that you chose before you copulated either to use birth control or not use birth control or that you made the choice to remain abstinent or not abstinent. That is where the choice should end. If you chose incorrectly, you should live with the results.

In the spiritual world, many Christians choose to terminate a new birth before it really becomes the baby in Christ that He desires for it to be. When new people come into our churches, we prematurely try to change them and force lifestyles and beliefs onto them. This would be like taking a month old embryo and asking it to ride a bicycle. When it fails to do so and dies, we just judge the embryo and say that it must not have a desire to ride the bike. In the spiritual world we say it must not really be hungry for God. They don’t truly desire truth. It is insane for us to think that new people who have no knowledge of God or his principles should adhere to a certain lifestyle or that they should worship the way that we do immediately after encountering God. These are people who are just gestating in Christ. We need to nourish them, watch our mouths ( I know when I was pregnant I was very careful not to ingest toxins and caffeine), hold them, and allow them to grow at the pace they are capable of. Just like in the natural world, some babies are born premature and thrive outside of the womb at just 28 weeks or so of gestation, while other babies need the full 40 weeks to survive and thrive. We have all seen “road to Damascus” conversions where people find God, change all their wicked ways, serve Him hard core, and are used in ministry almost over night. This is very exciting, however, for the most part, people take time to learn the Bible, learn God’s word, have God prove himself, and have the body of Christ minister to them. Sometimes people that jump in too soon crash and burn, just like some preemies initially thrive only to have developmental delays later in life.

God is Pro-Choice. He is for us making the correct choices. He doesn’t want our churches to commit spiritual abortions and sabotage people searching for Christ. He desires for His church to be filled with healthy, thriving, growing, nourished babes in Christ. He desires for these Babes in Christ to reach spiritual maturity and consequently have their own spiritual births. None of these desires can come into fruition if we prematurely cut people off, judge them, and kill the birthing process before they are ready to be released. People are searching for love, acceptance, guidance, and belonging. If they can’t find these things in the body of Christ, then we are not the Christians that God wants us to be. In addition, as a pregnant mom grows with her baby, we as established Christians should be continually growing in our walk with God as we minister to others and share the bread of life. If we aren’t growing, those around us won’t either. None of us are perfect. We are all on a journey and in need of expansion.

John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 ” By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” NASU

Here is another check up on the Buckland journey. We are currently parked in Troy, Michigan and we will be in the Michigan district for 2 weeks before we head to Indiana. Our schedule will be somewhat crazy while here. Unfortunately, my husbands grandfather, a Pastor in the Chicago area, passed away from a long battle with cancer yesterday. Due to this, we will be headed to Chicago at some point in the very near future for the funeral and to be with family. Keep all of the Buckland’s in your prayers. We pulled out of Ohio yesterday and we will not be back for a very long time. We are headed to infinity and beyond for now.

Our life has been an insane roller coaster these past couple of days. All of the men in my home have been passing each other some sort of illness. It began with the midnight vomiting adventure that Reese started on Tuesday night. He had 2 colossal throwing up occurrences. While this is somewhat normal for moms of small children, most women have access to a washing machine. I had to strip Reese’s bed and clothes TWICE and give him a bath TWICE in the middle of the night. I hadn’t even gone to bed yet. Jonathan was outside with a super powered garden hose to rinse off all the residue and I proceeded to wash pillows, bedding, and clothes in my bath tub. I didn’t realize how powerful the spin cycle in a washer was until I tried to ring out all the excess water myself with heavy pillows and blankets.

Wednesday night, after church, poor Reese was hit again. This time with diarrhea. This occurred in the church building, in his church pants, and proceeded unto one of the church’s benches. The pastors wife went to a neighboring house to get him some clean clothes. Wow, how embarrassing!

To make matters worse, last night both Jonathan and Gentry began some throwing up episodes. I am moments away from going to the laundry mat. I learned from the first night that I can’t realistically wash heavy clothes in the bath tub. I cleaned them to the best of my ability so that they won’t stink forever.

Hopefully, this blog wasn’t too graphic or disgusting. I also don’t want it to be embarrassing for my family. However, to fully understand the truth of my life, you must know!! In the midst of all this, Grandfather Hilderbrand passed away, and we blew a fuse in our trailer. One thing I have learned in the midst of this all is that I am still blessed far and above a majority of people. I have determined that I will give thanks daily for living in a travel trailer. 32 feet of space with 2 small children and a husband is a blessing far and above what many people have. I still have heat, air conditioning, running water, a roof, and a toilet. Nothing spells christian like someone that can wash vomit out of sheets by hand at 2am and still be thankful =)

How was I born? If a child asks this question, then parents may pause, turn red, and rack their brains on how to answer it. Did the child simply want to know where he came from? Does he want to know how he got there? Does he just want to know how babies go from big bellied mothers into their loving arms? I know that when Gentry was born, Reese didn’t want a full explanation on the facts of life, he just wanted me to repeatedly tell him that Gentry came from my belly and that the Doctor took him out when I was in the hospital. We all know that babies are not literally in your belly, rather in the womb, and that doctors don’t just reach in and get the baby out and everyone smiles and it is all nice, but a (at the time) 2 year old doesn’t require a full scientific study complete with anatomically correct diagrams. Reese didn’t care how Gentry got in my belly; he just said that Jesus put him there. We know that in part, that is true. A baby is a miracle from heaven.

Beyond the act of conception and birth, the question of birth has been a huge debate in the media recently and has been for a while. The debate has been raging as to whether or not people are born “gay”, born “alcoholics”, and more recently, as to whether or not people are born with a “cheating” gene. I recently saw a news review stating that scientists are telling us that monogamy is not possible for some people; they are just wired to cheat. Tyra Banks, a talk show host, recently wanted to test relationships for potential cheating and whether they will go the distance. Couples went on the show citing that when they got married, they actually reduced the amount of quality time they had together, arguments began, and issues like washing dishes, crumbs on the floor, and making the bed became make or break sources of contention in the relationship. In the “infinite wisdom” of television and talk show hostdom, Tyra gave these couples 24 hours off of their commitments and sent them out on dates with other people to see if they had feelings for others and if they remained faithful. The audience, Tyra, and the wife were just so shocked to see that in the video that followed the husband, he kissed the other girl he was on a date with and was making sexual advances towards her. What kind of world are we living in? If these people really were concerned with their relationship and testing its longevity, the absolute last thing you would want to do is take 24 hours off and date other people. In marriage, life is just life sometimes. Sparks don’t fly 24/7. There are poopy diapers to change, dishes to wash, and beds to be made. How you divvy up this responsibility is up to you. The Bible doesn’t list for us the specifics in roles of husband and wife. People traditionally think that the Bible backs up their idea that men work outside and women do 100 % of the child rearing and household chores. I don’t find where the Bible is so specific about this. The Virtuous woman in proverbs took care of her family and took care of household responsibilities, but she also worked with her hands and was business savvy. The Bible speaks of her buying a field, planting vineyards, and considering whether merchandise is good or not. It sounds as if her husband and children trusted and honored her because she gave her all to everything that she did and did it all with excellence. She and her husband had boundaries worked out and divided marital responsibilities to where it pleased them both. Being business savvy as a woman and knowing how to help provide for your family is a very Godly thing. This being said, when marital problems arise, you need to go back to the drawing board and consider what the values and goals of your marriage are. The answer is not to seek solace in the arms of another. The answer is not that my “cheating gene” got in the way.

In our society people want to make excuses for every type of sinful behavior. We just simply say, “We are born that way.” Many Christians deny this fact. We want to say that homosexuality, alcoholism, and adultery are a choice. While this is true, I want to play devil’s advocate and state that I agree with society. I believe that we can be born with a propensity towards lust, greed, drugs, alcohol, and violence. I do agree that some people fight with homosexuality and some don’t. You are either born with this leaning, or you had a home environment that pushed you that way. I am not by any means condoning sin; I am just setting a stage for Christians to learn how to deal with people better than we have in the past. Don’t write people off and be rude, mean, and unaccepting of them if they battle lust, adultery, homosexuality, anger, and other types of outward sins. We need to accept people where they are at, get to know them, and invite them on the Christian journey with us. God loves everybody. If we spew hate and unacceptance from our pulpits and congregations, we will never be a light to our community.

This is not to say that these issues are not sinful. They are. However, why should we treat an unsaved adulterer any differently than we treat an unsaved homosexual. It is almost as if we have categorized sin, especially sexual sin. We were all born into sin. The sins that we deal with may be different person to person though. You may struggle with covetousness and materialism but feel justified because it may not be as obvious as the sin that the alcoholic struggles with. Our brains and genetics are wired towards sinful behavior and activities. I don’t think that too many people would choose to be homosexual or choose to be alcoholics if they were given the choice and knew the end result of their behaviors.

Here is proof that we are born with “genetic mutations”.

Ps 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.KJV
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. KJV
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. KJV
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. KJV
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.KJV
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. KJV
1 Cor 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. NASU

We all have the ability to commit sin. The Bible talks about not judging because we could also fall into temptation. With this in mind, we need to treat all people the same and treat them with a spirit of love and acceptance. It is not in our power to change people or to free them from the sin of their choice. Our job is to lead them to Christ and give them the opportunity to be born again. Like Jesus said to Nicodemus, the same is true for the 21st century church. We need to lead people to a new birth of both water and spirit. The spirit has given us the power to overcome. We have the power to become whatever we want in Christ. The power of the Holy Ghost gives us ability to not just witness and feel good about ourselves, but the power to overcome any sin that we have in our lives. We have the strength to turn our back on whatever “genetic mutation” that we were given in our fleshly birth.

The good news about this is that we can be born again!! The birth from our mothers brings us into this world and exposes our flesh, but the birth through our heavenly father is with incorruptible seed!! We are born again and have newness of life. All can drink from the water of life. It flows freely to everyone. It is not just for people who live good, moral, clean lives before they come to Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit working in us is not to reform us, but to transform us. All of us have the ability to do a 180 degree turn in our lives. We just need a spiritual birth. We need to die out to our flesh and our natural instincts. This doesn’t happen in one “come to Jesus” moment, but Paul instructed us to die daily.