Christina Speaks

  This is not how it’s supposed to be. Though He has allowed it through the practice of free will, This is not what the Lord intended for His people. Death and violence have become commonplace and expected. Hopelessness and fear abound throughout our country. Yesterday, many parents struggled to put their kids on a bus, or drop them off at school. Others will never take their kids back again. The evil one specializes in fear.  He knows how to infiltrate our hearts and minds through the words and actions of others. His influence is strong. Because it is so easy for any of us to fall prey to his purpose (1 Peter 5:8), it’s important to stay armored up. Instead of working ourselves up into a frenzy of fear by focusing on all the horrific details, let's set our eyes on the God of peace. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about s

Oh friends. . .  Are you feeling the heaviness of this world? I don’t really know what the right thing is to say today. I can’t believe it happened again. More death at the hands of an 18-yr-old kid.  I want to encourage you, but within that, as my sister-friend expressed to me last night, we need to take time to grieve. It’s okay to grieve. It’s important to grieve the loss of life.  However, we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to the darkness and hopelessness of that which we grieve. It’s easy to feel despair during these times. I have to remind myself that none of this is brand new. These are issues Ecclesiastes talks about in the Bible. It’s nothing our Creator can’t handle. “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” -Ecclesiastes 1:9 It feels as if evil reigns. That’s how it feels, but I want to remind you that this is not the end of the story.  Jesus says in John 16:33 “. . .In this world you will have trouble. But take hear

The other day a friend mentioned something of my bravery when speaking about racism.  I had never considered that sharing my feelings was brave, but it made me wonder. Does what I’m sharing require bravery for others to do the same?  I realized that maybe it does. I also realized that many Christ-followers equate speaking truth about difficult or potentially controversial subjects with some kind of persecution.  We in the United States know nothing of persecution.  I don’t fear a person arguing with me, not liking me, unfollowing me, or believing what they choose to about me. I fear the words found in Matthew 7:21-23. “I never knew you. Depart from me.” How can we sit back and say nothing when God calls us to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)? I found an interesting breakdown that I’d like to share with you.  PeaceKEEPERS don’t want to be the cause of discomfort. They tend to view it as harmful and not beneficial. They often limit their self-expression because of this. PeaceKEEPERS tend to

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:18‬  I’ve been contemplating this scripture.  Looking at this verse as well as the verses before and after it, I believe it’s saying that if you are in the Lord, and understand His perfect love for you, there is no reason to fear judgment or punishment when loving others the way we should.  How many times have we not loved someone/people enough to stand up for what’s right? How many times have we not said something when we should have? How many times have we held back our opinion because we didn’t want to be subjected to the judgment of others? We say we love this or that person, but have we shown that to be true? When I think of how much the Lord loves us—what He sacrificed so that one day we could live in His presence. . . I stand in awe. Why is it often so hard to give so little? It is time for us to look deep inside at the

The other day we talked about empty vessels and the evil that often fills them. Today I’d like to share from the perspective of a person of color. First of all, one of my feelings that surprised me is that I have no anger toward that 18-year-old kid. I tried to find it. Shouldn’t I be mad and feel justifiable hate for someone who would have taken me out if he had the chance? Well, all I can see in him is evil. Yes, he chose what filled him up, but when I look at him along with many of the teenagers I work with each day, I see that he’s been bamboozled by people who should have cared enough for him not to hand him a burden so disastrously heavy as hate. Along with his actions came trauma. Trauma for the victims and their families, but also a trauma that Black Americans have tried to heal from for centuries.  I know it’s hard to understand. I didn’t understand it myself for a long time. Whenever people are killed for simply existing as they are, it creates an existential crisis for those

It's been a while, so I must apologize for the absence from this blog. To catch up, you can find my thoughts through writing here:   https://www.facebook.com/christinacustodiospeaks I felt the need to make sure to communicate during a difficult time, and want to cover all the bases.  For the last few days, I’ve been thinking and praying about what to say concerning Buffalo. Maybe you have no desire to talk about it. I understand that. I don’t really want to either. But if you’ve been here for a while, you know this is where we lovingly work out Jesus stuff. Maybe you are not even sure what all there is to talk about.  Well, let’s figure this out together. I’m not ready to share all of my thoughts and feelings, but I would like to ask something of you before we discuss this further. Please do not stick your head in the sand when it comes to talking about such difficult things. Please ask God to open the eyes of your heart and allow you to see where and how you can be a part of the c