Alisha Sherron

January 15, 2019February 25, 2019

What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?

So today I got mad. And I cried for an embarrassingly long amount of time over it.

Did someone die? No. Did a friendship end? Nope.

A friend and I were arranging my brand new writing space, a room I had wanted for a long time. We began to place my books on the closet-turned bookshelf, and as we laid down the last book, boom. Just like the walls of Jerico, it came tumbling down. It seriously ruined my whole day. Now, what does any of this have to do with God? Not a whole lot, but it has more to do with his nemesis. I let the devil rob me of my joy for a good chunk of the day over something so trivial and earthly.

I told everything that had happened with the broken furniture, how I reacted, and how I still felt about it to one of my church leaders (because we are more like family than anything) and she flat out told me that needed to stop tripping. Nowhere in the Bible does it say it isn’t okay to be mad or upset, but it does tell us that in the end, earthly things will have no room in the kingdom of heaven. God’s word also instructs us not to be anxious over anything, but to instead, trust that everything will work out to his glory.

God is trying to teach all of us something, and for me right now, those lessons seem to be joy, peace, and patience. True joy is found in God, and crying over the little inconveniences of life isn’t honoring him; it’s feeding the enemy.

My friend told me, “Really Ali? You’re going to be this upset over something so small? Is that gonna matter when you get up to heaven?’ With a little attitude, I responded with, “ I’m gonna ask God why he allowed this bookshelf to break.’ She laughed and said, “Then God will say ’Ëœdepart from me, you’re petty.’

God knows our hearts desires, but the unfortunate thing is that Satan knows some things about us as well; he knows exactly what to do to make us angry.Ã‚ I love books, and anything to do with writing, so of course, like the turd he is, he’s gonna go after those areas in my life.

I’m not mad about it anymore, and truth be told I should have just let it roll off my shoulders then and there. No matter what it is that’s got you down in life; bills, a toxic home life, a bad day at work, spilling coffee on your laptop, all of those things, big or small, have no power over us, because we are the children of a God who loves us, knows us better than anyone, and knows what we can and can’t handle in our lives.

Don’t let the devil win. He may know how to attack, but so do you. Make him mad with the way you respond, shake it off, know that things can be fixed, and have an awesome day. The devil can’t win if you don’t play the game.

Thanks, hope all is well!

-Alisha-

July 12, 2018December 21, 2020

I’m White, Privileged With a Message on Racism That The World Is Missing

Racism is a pretty controversial topic, especially in the world we live in today. Among Christians, things can get especially dicey, as the rest of the world’s eyes are just staring and waiting for us to make a mistake.

Remember in Matthew 22:39 when Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself?” Right there, the Bible is directly telling us that to loathe someone based solely on the color of their skin, is a sin. But I didn’t always understand that.

It’s easier to admit to sin when everybody else has done it, but here I am today doing something that’s far from easy; I struggled to love my neighbor as myself. It wasn’t how I was raised, but the environments I was around in every single job situation planted seeds of hate into my heart. I pushed away when God started to deal with me about it. I’d say things like, “I’m not racist. I have diversity in my life. I’m not a hater.”

Yet all the while, I wouldn’t speak up when my coworkers at a freelance writing gig would tell racist jokes, sometimes I’d even play along just because “everybody else was doing it.” I worked for almost eight months for an internet political publication; an environment that was toxic waste disguised as candy. Some of the articles I was assigned to write were satirical and entertaining, but then there was a vast majority that I was told to write, that made ugly and cringy remarks about other races, cultures, and people in general in ways I wasn’t comfortable doing. But like an idiot, I didn’t refuse to do the work; I played along in hopes of gaining everybody’s favor.

After a while, all the jokes and satirical remarks started to become more than just horseplay; I started to really believe the things I was being told and dwelled on how much I didn’t like people who weren’t like me. Still, when God would deal with me about it, I would shove it off and say that “I just wasn’t like that.” That it was all fun and games. I was living a lie.

Eventually, the publication went out of business, and I went on to pursue other writing opportunities. I was upset at the time, but now I thank God that he took me away from all that stress.

It was at a church conference that God started to deal with me again. I realized that though I wasn’t as “extreme” as people you might see online, I was enabling it, writing and promoting it, and thinking those thoughts. God told me that he did not call me to be a hater, and during the altar call I ran, fell to my knees and poured my heart out to Him and told him how sorry I was. I know that He has forgiven me, and restored me to a place of love rather than hate.

I’m telling you all of this because I know I’m not the only one who has struggled in this area. I didn’t like the person I let the world turn me into, and God didn’t either. God has commanded us to love, not hate.

Today I am not the same person I was when I began my pursuit of writing. God took away the ugly sin and created a beautiful testimony; one that I will not shy away from. Am I ashamed of all the ugly things I published during my first writing gig? Absolutely. But it is a reminder of who I was before God totally transformed my mindset. I am no longer addicted to outrage, hatred is not in my heart; instead, God’s love has completely and totally transformed me.

God wants to deal with you about some stuff too; stuff that may not necessarily be easy to admit to yourself that you’ve done. But once you’re honest with both yourself and God, and ask for His forgiveness, it will radically change your life.

May 19, 2018May 19, 2018

What To Do When Your Best Friend Leaves The Church?

I have a best friend. That alone is a shocker statement, as a lot of people I’ve come in contact with have fickle or fake “friends” that they maybe talk to once every two weeks. But my best friend and I talk to each other almost every day and see each other at least once a week. If we know that plans are going to change and we won’t see each other when we normally do, we try to plan a different day to hang out just so that we won’t have a week without physically seeing each other. Texting is great, but I wanna see her reaction every time I say something stupid that I think is funny.

Both of us had gone to the same church, and that’s actually where I met her. We both served in the Youth Group, and we both attended Bible study together. But one Friday night, we were out shopping for our Easter dresses when she broke the news to me; she and her family would be leaving the church. Three more Sunday’s and she wouldn’t be the first person who greeted me at the door. Three more Sundays and we would no longer serve in ministry together. Three more Sundays before I had to wonder, “is church just going to be super lonely now that pretty much the only one I talk to isn’t going to be here anymore?” Obviously, that’s not what the church is about, but for that entire time before the final Sunday I was missing her, and she hadn’t even left yet.

She and her family are starting a new church, and so entering a new season means leaving the old one behind. I understood that, and of course, I wanted her to do what God called her to do, but that didn’t mean my heart wasn’t broken. Eventually, the day came when neither she nor her family was there to give me a hug just before service. Honestly, walking through the doors knowing that things would be different was gut-wrenching. I didn’t want to talk to new people, I didn’t want to pretend that I could just move on so easily, but somehow I got through that first Sunday and sure enough, I and her went out to celebrate her bother’s birthday right after the Pastor concluded. It’s not like she’s moving away, this is just a new season and she’s doing great things for the Kingdom.

If something like this has happened to you, I’d encourage you to read the book of Acts. This book has a lot of instances where Paul had to leave people that he loved and considered family in order for him to go where God was calling him to go. It’s okay to mourn the changes ahead, but just as God’s Word says, “In your anger do not sin,” in your sadness, do not sin. This is a difficult time for your friend too. He or she does not want to leave you, but obeying God’s call for their life is first and foremost. Encourage them, talk to them just as much as you normally would. Especially in an era of Facetime and social media, there’s no reason why you still can’t be best friends.

Be grateful to God for the new opportunities; for you and for them. Change is hard, but in time, things will settle into place. It’s okay to make new friends at church, and you never have to stop being someone’s best friend just because God took them in a different direction. God works all things together for good.

May 2, 2018

The Awkwardness of Witnessing at Work

Telling someone about God is not the easiest thing in the world. I don’t understand every single thing about Him, I mean, he’s God. I can’t answer you when you ask me how in the heck He was there before there ever was a beginning; my human mind can’t comprehend how that’s even possible. I can’t tell you why bad things happen to good people, I can’t tell you why we are always at conflict with other countries when an all-powerful God could just say “Stop being stupid” and we would all just get along. I don’t have the answers to the world’s toughest questions about God, all I’ve got is faith based on the knowledge that I do have. I do know that God answers prayer, I do know that He gives me peace and strength, and I do know that before God, all I ever did was sit around, get fat off of junk food and feel sorry for myself.

I tell people about God because I want them to know Him like I know Him. I want them to know what it feels like knowing that God comforts us in the storm and protects us from harm. But how do I convey that in spoken form? How do I describe a feeling that’s unlike any other? Most of the time I fail, and then things get awkward.

“God loves you. I know you may not believe in him, but he believes in you!” Cringe. Why did I say that? I used to work at a Fast Food joint, not Hallmark. She turned right around to face me and said, “Alisha, I don’t NOT believe in God, I just don’t go to church. Who told you that I was an atheist?” Ummm awkward! What’s even is worse is the fact that I ratted on my friend and said that she did it. I really didn’t think that through, I should have had more coffee before I decided to open up my big mouth cause for the rest of that week everybody was making fun of how ignorant I was.

I had another situation where I was trying to witness to someone and I just went right along with their answers so that I could seem relatable. Big mistake. “Yeah,” he said. “I just don’t know if God is real or not. He could be, but he might not be. I just don’t know, so I don’t believe.” I told him that I was right in the same boat as him, which was a lie. I told him the cliche line of “too many things have happened to me for me to not believe,” and the cringe continued. No, my grade A witnessing skills did not make this person desperately want to give his life to The Lord. I wasn’t being truthful, I believe in God and in no way do I have any doubts. There was a time I didn’t, but not now. I don’t know how I thought lying just to seem relatable would do anyone any good.

I haven’t mastered the arts of genius witnessing tactics, but now I’m realizing that the best way is to live by example. People are going to notice I’m different, people are going to be curious on their own, and then I can tell them what I know and be honest about what I don’t know. Witnessing isn’t about obnoxiously asking them if they want to learn about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it isn’t about making people feel weird or uncomfortable, it’s about leading people to God on their own terms. Let your light shine for itself, people will notice, and when they do, they will find a love like they’ve never known before.

April 20, 2018July 22, 2020

I’m an Atheist and I Feel Like I’m Smarter Than Religious People

It used to be that teens and young adults would say, “Yeah I’m an atheist, I’m all about facts and science, my parents hate it, but they’ll just have to get over it. This is who I am.”

Now tell me, how in the world are people not finding any facts within a book that’s sixty-six chapters long? Not to mention study Bibles, have you seen those things? They are humongous and full of extra historical context and Biblical meaning. Young people (myself included) once claimed atheism because we were trying to seem dark or edgy, we really didn’t actually think we were atheists, we just stopped paying attention to God!

Our God is not social media, our God is not whatever is trending on Netflix, our God is, well, God.

Now that we have grown out of that phase, not caring what people think of us, we see more and more people millennial age or younger that are labeled as the new “kings of cool” because they profess Jesus as their savior. Our God is not social media, our God is not whatever is trending on Netflix, our God is, well, God. People on social media platforms have started arguments in which they claim “God is not real,” only to have Christians boldly proclaim the opposite. Despite either getting shunned or ganged up on by trolls, those sticking to their guns are seen as the rebels to those lurking and watching the back and forth action.

Hollywood knows where this is going too; with big films like I Can Only Imagine and Paul Apostle Of Christ making waves in the movie business, it’s only a matter of time before the mainstream media hypes up its popularity. Or, they might just try and ignore how much people like these movies and do their best to cover it up with something worldly, you really never know with them.

It’s trendy right now to be politically incorrect and against the current culture because people are sick of doing what they always have done; it’s not working for them anymore. The vast majority who are sticking to the norm, are seen as “sleeping sheep that just need to be red pilled.” The same goes with following God; people want more out of their lives than just the day to day, they want a life with purpose and meaning. They know God can give them that.

So if you see a bunch of people saying they’re “atheists” just to be cool, tell them that they need to check out social media more often, the rebels are the Christians.