Gods Tyro

Reflections of 9/11- 10 years later

2011-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Most people on 9/11 can tell where they were at exactly when the first plane hit at 8:46am on that tragic morning, I on the other hand cannot. What I can tell you is I was in school but that is about all I know.

My school was on the Fort Meade Military base, the closest army base to Washington D.C., and we were placed on immediate lockdown on a National Emergency level when word came of the attack. No one knew what was going on and with no news access and administration not telling us a thing, we were left in a state of confusion. Word slowly got around the school from students in computer classes that had searched the web to see what exactly had happened. By 10am the school knew what was going on and parents were coming to get their children in a frantic. I remember my father picking my cousin and I up shortly after 11 and coming home to seeing both twin towers lit up in smoke.

I had no clue the ramifications of those events that day, or any idea of what was truly happening in NYC. It took me several years and a lot of growth to realize not just the implications of the events that happened on 9/11 but also the implications of what going to war meant.

I don’t think a child, even a teenager can fully comprehend death at such a young age or the idea of someone else taking the life of another human being. We read it in books, we see it on shows and I think it numbs us to the concept of what it truly means. 9/11 is now a symbol to me of what it means to come together as a nation, to rise up from the ashes of what we once were and unite against hatred.

It took me years to comprehend that people were willing to jump out of a building and kill themselves than stay where they were because there was no hope for survival. That in the end it was better to end life fast than to go through hell only to still die. It took me years to comprehend what it must have been like for the people on flight 93 to know they were going to die and to say farewell to their families and then in the mist of danger stand up and have courage to fight. And it took me years to understand the dedication, courage and trials that the police officers, firefighters, military, doctors and nurses had to endure on that frightful and tragic day. It takes someone special to place your life over their own, and it isn’t until 10 years later you see the numbers of civilian lives lost, children who have to grow up without their mother or father or both, firefighters, police officers, and soldiers all who lost their lives in the line of duty in order to serve and protect you and I just so I am able to realize just what it means to be an American. How proud I am to say that this is my country and that these are my people that stand up for me day by day to give me the freedoms I have.

Thank you to those that serve, who have served and who will serve for all that you do, all that you have done and all that you will do.

Testimony- Where God Met Me

2011-09-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

I think it's important every once in a while to place down your testimony for others to see. So they are able to see they are not the only ones in the same place and that there are people out there who understand, who are going thru the same thing as well as people who have been thru it and made it to the other side. I hope the below brings hope to the people that need hope and that not only can they understand that they are loved but that they are also worth that love- something I am still trying to this day to accept and understand... <3 Mary

I was never the type that didn't believe in God, I just became bitter and pissed off at Him that my attitude was 'I will do it my own way and do it better than you'. I knew God, but, I didn't want Him. Obviously looking back now I see where that attitude got me. But, what I have learned thru experience is that sometimes God does allow us to make mistakes. Life isn't easy, it's full of twists and turns, and sometimes because of our thick-headedness God allows us to go down a path that He does not wish us to go only so we can see where it will bring us to. I had gone down a path so far and buried myself so deep that the only way out was to seek God's help or continue down a path of destruction. Looking back now I see the scripture 'everything works for the glory of God', whether it was in His plan or not, He will even use what the devil creates to form something good from it.

I stopped going to church when I was about 13 due to church drama and a pastor that was so self-absorbed into what he thought was best for the church instead of concentrating what God was saying was best. When I left, a series of events happened the next several years of my life that brought me into a spiraling downward mess. My Great Aunt, whom was like a grandmother to me passed away and I became mad at God for the way she had to die and leaving me behind. I started to slowly turn my back on Him; skip a few years ahead by age 17 several things had happened in my life: I was sexually harassed by a 26 year old for over a year, blamed by his girlfriend who was also one of my 'friends' that it had been my fault. And unfortunately they convinced me to believe if I told anyone about what had been happening people would blame me. Next, my best guy friend had died and amongst all that and several other things I was suffering with major depression. I found a out thru self-mutilation and popping prescription pills, I had found the physical pain was less than the emotional and of course by now I had turned my back completely on God while struggling with suicidal thoughts/cravings, getting to a point that I had convinced myself hell was better than here.

I survived thru a daze for the next several years, basically just not having the guts to end my life until things just progressively got worse and worse in which I just did not care anymore. When I went back to church it was as a 'last request' to my parents whom had no clue my plans to end my life. A man had come to our house to fix a fax machine, in which he told my mom about a church called Horizon (A church that Dave Cowan helped plant back in Maryland) and as she continued to pursue me to check out the church, eventually I did.

I have learned thru my past that not only is God carrying you when you don't feel Him there, but you also don't challenge God either. I remember walking in talking to God silently, telling Him I was leaving the first moment someone put a false facade up- not really caring how you are doing but asking anyways. As I walked in I was blown away by the welcoming of everyone there, but it was not enough for me. I continued to challenge Him silently with stupid things: 'The first traditional song they play about how great God is I was leaving'.-- The first song played was Switchfoot's Dare You To Move.

That was a complete God moment for me. I could not deny that God was screaming straight into my face. I don't know if you have ever actually listened to the lyrics of that song, but there I was, someone ready to just throw my life away, and lyrics that say 'I'm being dared to move, like today never happened, that forgiveness is right where I fell and Salvation was there'.

I mean. Wow. I can't tell anyone what happened next, as all I can say is that day is where God met me right where I was, lifted me out of the muddy hole I was in and placed me back on my feet (though wobbly) still placed me back on them. It was a while before I came back to Christ, even then I was hesitant because of many experiences I had already witnessed and already gone thru but I was open to God for once, and a year later Dave baptized me.

I think the one good thing I've realized thru this though is just because Christ is in my life and in my heart it does not make the road easy, actually, it makes the road three times harder, but what I do know is if I he hadn't screamed in my face, and didn't let me experience those things, I wouldn't be here today.

God has taught me so much in such a little bit of time, grown me in many ways that I can't begin to even place into words, and I think the amazing thing is- I still have so much more growing to do.

So that's my story- or at least a part of it. I just want to leave with one thing, never give up on Hope. Hope is what will get you thru the day, thru the week, thru the month and thru the year. If you have Hope, you have Hope that He can bring you out of whatever you are going thru, you have Hope that you are worth it, you have Hope that HIS GRACE is enough. You have Hope that you are worth HIS LOVE.

Swtichfoot Lyrics (portion of it- not word for word)

Welcome to the planet, welcome to existence.
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
What happens next?

I dare you to move.
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
Like today never happened
Today never happened before.

The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move.
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
Like today never happened
Today never happened before.

Genesis 2- Adam & Eve

2011-06-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

I've been doing some creative writing, and in no way is this to replace Genesis 2 the book, just something that was a fun writing exercise and a new way to read the Bible for me merging two of my favorite things together as well as learning. Enjoy!

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, it was formless and empty and darkness covered it all. But, God spoke “Let there be light” and it appeared, He separated the light from the dark and called it ‘day’ and ‘night’. It was here morning and evening were created. God continued with His creation, making the sky, the oceans and the land and on the third day God produced vegetation; plants and trees that would bear fruit. He continued at work creating creatures of the water, of land and of sky, blessing them so they may fill the earth in time. Lastly, out of God’s own image He created Adam and Eve to rule over the animals. He blessed them and told them to be fruitful and increase their number. After He saw it was good He rested. (Genesis 1)

It was here Adam’s story began…

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Adam could feel something beckoning him from deep inside, he had something filling him up but he didn’t understand it just yet.

Awake and Arise My Child.

A voice in the distance was beckoning to him, but how should he respond? He didn’t even know what he was feeling and yet he knew he was being led to the answer.

“Who am I? Where am I?” The thoughts in Adam’s head were still his own, but could the voice he heard answer him?

Awake and Arise My Child.

As Adam’s eyes opened, his surroundings engulfed him with an indescribable amount of beauty. He had never seen so many wonders before, the colors, the light, the dark, the creatures, it was all so beautiful and it was all so new to him. Adam had no clue where to begin; He wanted to touch, to smell, to see, to hear and to taste everything. He wanted to spend every moment of every day in this foreign land exploring, learning of who he is and what everything else was. The voice had long been forgotten as his hands kneaded the grass he knelt on, the blades tickling him on the palm of his hands as a smile came to his face.
“Your name shall be Adam and you shall take care of my creation.”

Adam looked around when he heard it again, unsure where this voice was coming from, the words were not his own. In that moment God appeared and watched his child fall backwards, feeling Adam’s emotion that this child could not yet put his finger on. Adam felt something in his chest pounding and all he knew was whoever or whatever this being was there was only one word to describe Him– Holy.

God took care of Adam in the days to follow and Adam took care of God’s creation. One by one he named the vegetation, the animals and every other living thing that God created and breathed life into.

Everyday God walked through the garden with Adam and taught him the things that he needed to know. He helped Adam understand; He led him as a shepherd would lead their sheep and gave to Adam many blessings. But one day as they walked thru the grounds God had concern for Adam, walking side by side God surveyed His creation and saw it was good but there was something missing.

“I’m troubled for you Adam”

He spoke in a gentle tone to His Child with great concern and as Adam looked up at his Father he was confused. Adam didn’t understand; His Father had given him everything he had ever needed. As he watched his Father for a moment his confusion turned to concern, stopping in the middle of the garden, the sun penetrating thru the trees he saw a Father that was pure and holy.

“Father, what more could you give me? You have blessed me beyond anything I could ever desire, you have walked beside me and protected me. All you asked in return was I take care of your creation, if I have done wrong Father smite me down, turn me to the ashes that I was once before because I would not deserve to live another day.”

God smiled softly at Adam, reaching out He wiped the tears that fell down the man’s cheeks shaking His head at him. “Child, you have done nothing wrong. With you I am well pleased.” He spoke in a soft tone, a hand on Adams shoulder as he turned Adam towards the animals. “Look at my creation Child, you have taken care of them all and they have produced many blessings to me, but they all have one of their own, where is one of your own Adam? How are you to produce as the lion and lioness has, or the birds of the sky or the fish of the water do?” God watched him with intensity as Adam looked around. He knew Adam did not fully understand as his child looked into His eyes. Adam was sure he had the answer that God had been seeking but he was hushed before he began. “I am not like you Adam, you are certainly made in my image, and you are very special to me, but we are not one in the same, nor could we ever be, but I would like to give you someone who will be made for you.”

Adam didn’t have time to speak before he had grown tired, feeling His Father’s arms embrace Him and slowly lay Him to the ground His Fathers voice in the distance comforting Him into a deep sleep. “Sleep my child, and when you arise you shall have another, for I will take part of you to make her.”

While he slept his Father had been molding and shaping Eve, she would be the same as Adam but different in her own way. He took one of Adam’s ribs uniting the two in a bond that would be unbreakable and inseparable; He would be hers and she would be his. As God stepped back looking at his creations He knew it was good, His job for the moment had been completed as He leaned down breathing life into Eve and awaking Adam.

Awake and Arise My Children. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.

Power in His name...

2011-05-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Power is… well, a powerful thing. It can help do great things in the right hands, but it also can do awful things in the wrong hands. Looking at recent events, Osama Bin Laden is a great example of what happens when power is placed in the wrong hands. Bin Laden’s reign of terror lasted two decades; blood was shed in numerous places, people mourned the death of their loved ones, and they screamed for justice that seemed would never come. Then we have someone like Mother Teresa, someone who was cautious and careful with the power that was given to her, knowing it could be dangerous if not used properly. Here was a woman that used that power to minister to the poor, the sick, the orphaned and the dying, who because of her love, mercy and grace was able to bless others while spreading the love of Christ. Mother Teresa is known around the world to this day because of her choice in how she used the power given to her and praised for all she has done.

We as a nation tend to define power in so many ways: by the amount of money someone has, their status in society, the position they hold in their career. We define power as being in control. But how often do we relate ‘Power’ to God? So often we skim over this concept and yet we have proof time and time again of Jesus’ power in God’s Word.

Here we have a man that was born under circumstances in which His mother was publicly perceived as an adulterous woman. That if Joseph and the community wished, could have had Mary stoned to death. He was born into a family that was not of great wealth; a boy that grew up like every other kid. And yet it is this same boy that had the power to heal the blind, heal the lepers, raise the dead, and speak with an authority that held a Power no one had ever seen or heard of before. Here was a man that had the power to forgive your sins.

It is this same man that spoke life into everything that we spat on, beat on, publicly humiliated and killed in a slow and murderous death. And it is this same man-whom we killed that three days later took His life back up again after He had freely placed it down in order for you and I to bridge the gap that was between God and us.

We get a small glimpse of God’s power up on the Mount of Olives. Here we have a man who was feared by the Sanhedrin in such a way that they plotted to take Jesus prisoner in the middle of the night. To arrest Him in a place that no lingering eyes other than His disciples and the guards would see. Here was Jesus who never showed anything but love to these people, never gave them a reason that He would be violent, and yet He was feared enough that a mob of soldiers- 600 - were ordered to go to the Mount of Olives with Judas to arrest Him.

It was in the mist of His arrest that the true power of God is shown. The fact that Jesus was feared enough to bring a mob of the best soldiers out to arrest Him, tells us just how much power the Sanhedrin already believed He had, but what happened during the arrest puts the power they knew about to shame. A lot of us miss this in scripture because the accounts of what happened that night are in 4 different books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. However if we dive into two of the four accounts, we capture what many miss.

John 18:3-6

3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Upon Jesus saying “I AM” the soldiers fell to the ground….think about this… When Jesus used His true name and said “I AM” it was then just a small glimpse of Christ’s power was revealed. Men who were trained, strong, ready for the unexpected had fallen-600 of them- all at once.

But this wasn’t the only thing that happened in this moment. If we look at another account, we see something more. A boy…

Mark 14:51

51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Most would miss what is happening here; after all we would just assume this boy had just followed Christ. However, if we do a quick google search we find out that the Mount of Olives is in actuality a cemetery, one that is still used even today for Jews.

So who was this boy? It doesn’t say, but what we can derive from the way this boy is dressed, from the location of this place, that the boy had not followed Christ and His disciples to this place, but that this was the boys resting place. It was this boys burial ground. In the same moment that Christ said “I AM” 600 soldiers fell to the ground and a boy was raised from the dead.

Talk about power.

Eros, Phileo, Agape

2011-04-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

The world defines love in a conditional term; we can love something one minute and hate it the next. We can fall in love as quickly as we can fall out of it. The worldly image of love is everything BUT what the Biblical image is and we lose a lot in the English translation of scripture. The Greek translation has 3 words for love: Eros, meaning physical love; Phileo, meaning brotherly love and Agape, meaning divine love. Combining these 3 types using just the word ‘love’ in the English translation creates a lot of confusion, after-all in Song of Songs the man and woman are not talking about Phileo, brotherly love. It is speaking about Eros, Erotic love, Sexual love. Physical love.

And as we see in 1 John 4:8 it is not Eros or Phileo love that scripture is speaking about but Agape. Agape love is complete, it is non-judgmental, non-erotic, and it is available to every single person. It is wholly perfect, without faults or blemishes. Agape love IS God.

1 John 4:8
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

To truly love God the way He commands us to, we must love our brothers and our sisters. We must love our enemies, love the people that hurt us, harm us and wish death upon us. We must also love ourselves. We cannot love God if we do not love His creation. Because of the many ways we use the word ‘love’ in today’s society, we lose the meaning behind the actual word. We lose our understanding of what real love is.

John 21:15-19

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, a simple yet profound question that we should be asking our selves of. But first we must fully understand the scripture. It is times like these that the lack of meaning in our translation can cause confusion. We can look at this passage and wonder why Jesus would ask Peter the same question 3 different times and ponder the possibilities of those reasons,. However by diving into the Greek we would have the answer before us.

Jesus asks Peter if he AGAPE love’s Jesus, and Peter states he Phileo loves Him. Again, Jesus asks Peter if he AGAPE love’s Jesus, and yet again Peter states he Phileo loves Him. Finally, Jesus asks if Peter even Phileo loves Jesus and it is here it finally sinks in for Peter with Jesus telling Peter what type of death He will have and commands him to still Follow. Yet the realness of this conversation is left lacking in our English translation.

It is the way that we love that distinguishes someone who just believes in Christ to someone who loves Christ. It is picking up our cross daily, willing to die for Him. It is showing Christ and others that we do not only Phileo love Christ but we Agape love Christ.

So, if Christ asked you today, “Do you love me?” How would you respond?

Ask, Seek, Knock

2011-03-03T06:06:00.000-08:00

We are people that are always searching- we lost our keys and we need to find them, we were laid off and need a new job, so we search for one. We are tired of being alone and so we seek out relationship with others. We feel something is missing and begin to seek answers to life's most complicated questions.

The material things, the things we lose on a day to day basis we eventually find them, the job we seek out we eventually get, and the relationships we seek when feeling alone we eventually have. But what about the things that we seek answers to our day to day lives just can't answer? That our friends can't answer?

Matthew 7:7 Christ tells us that if we ask it will be given to us; if we seek we will find and if we knock the door will be opened to us. Now this isn't saying Ask for a 50" Plasma Screen TV and it will be given to you, but our needs will be met thru Christ if we come to Him on a daily basis. The complicated questions in life He will answer in His own timing if we ask Him instead of seeking out the answers some place else that will not be able to give them to us. Time and time again we fail as followers of Christ because we do not go to Him. We try to be perfect but we fail miserably. God does not ask us to be perfect though, He just asks us to seek thru Him, to come as you are where you are in life and follow.

And yet we tend not to do this more often than not. We try to find answers by our own means to life's most complicated questions that no one has the answers to but Him and get annoyed and frustrated in the end when we come up empty handed

I want to challenge you to seek Christ in EVERYTHING. Ask Christ thru EVERYTHING and by doing so you will be given answers that you need to be able to grow. You will find what you are seeking and Christ will continue to open up the doors that are needed for you to be in relationship with Him and walk with Him daily.

Matthew 7:7-12
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Patience In The Lord

2011-02-25T17:46:00.001-08:00

Psalm 27:14

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Wait. Be Patient. Stop... Just. Wait.

We live in a society of "I want it now" - a place where patience isn't understood. The magnitude of Patience and importance of it is beyond our understanding and yet our society continues to tell us that if we can't afford it there are easy payment plans so we can get it now because we deserve to have it now. We teach ourselves through this to be impatient in everything- in traffic, at work, at the airport, in lines and soon we find ourselves saying we don't want to wait on God because we know better than He does. We are impatient people, ones who tell others everyday by our actions alone that we know better than them. That we can handle things better, and yet continue to convince ourselves that we are still patient.

But what do we do when God tells us to wait? Do we obediently obey or do we plow through the course as if we were in a race? It's normally the later isn't it? We tell God that we don't want to wait on Him, that we know better than He does. How arrogant we are to tell the God of the Universe, who was there before even the beginning of time that we know better than He! We have to remind ourselves daily that patience is not only important in our day to day walk with God. But God will call us to wait for a reason; which normally is to help us to grow.

Reflecting back on the Psalm it shows just how impatient we are, the word "wait" is spotted twice in this verse, and it's most certainly not because we obediently obey all the time. Impatience has plagued us since the beginning of time; Eve was impatient to wait to speak to God and instead allowed a serpent to convince her she would be like God with one bite from the Tree of Life. After all, Eve had it right didn't she? Because clearly the tree that had been there from the beginning would not last another day! If impatience hadn't plagued Eve perhaps she would never have been tricked to eat from the tree that God had forbid of. Our impatience continues through the old and new of the Bible and every impatient thought comes with fear. Fear of waiting and allowing the opportunity that you believe in is going to pass you by. But, if we completely and wholly trust that God knows best, that He will take care of all our needs we should not have fear. We should be content patiently waiting for God's movement in our lives so we may grow in relationship with others as well as Him.

We so often want to move forward before God wants us to and by doing so we eliminate Him from the experience. We choose our own will for our life instead of allowing Him to show us His will for our life. Instead of choosing our own will, using our own strength let's wait patiently on the movement of God so it is His strength we are using, it is His will that is being done, it is Him who is making the impact and not us as sinners.

I challenge you to wait patiently for His will instead of going after what we think is best. I pray and challenge you that you will not tell God through actions you know better than He and pray that God will give you the ears to hear what His will for your life is. I pray that God will give you the eyes to see where He is moving so you may join Him in His work. Let's not allow impatience to pull us from our relationship with Christ but "wait for the Lord; be strong", be brave, and be courageous in Him.

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

4 One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.

13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Pray Earnestly

2011-02-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

After Peter was arrested and placed in prison Herod wanted to make sure that there was no way Peter would escape- so 4 squads of 4 soldiers each guarded Peter with King Herod's intention of bringing Peter out for a public trial the next day after Passover.

What we can only assume is Herod was at rest knowing there was NO WAY that Peter could escape- but there was one thing Herod didn't count on and it was the power of prayer. Scripture states that while Peter was in prison the "church prayed earnestly". The NIV loses great impact with this context, it is not just a simple prayer that the church- the body of Christ were doing but they united together in prayer and prayed WITHOUT ceasing, never stopping, with great passion and great urgency for Peter. They knew they were powerless, that there was absolutely NOTHING they could do to help Peter, but they knew who could. So they did the greatest thing they could- uniting together in faith they called on God to help Peter and it was in this that God answered, sending an Angel to guide Peter out of jail and back to them.

In life sometimes we are powerless and there is absolutely nothing we can do to help or change the situations in our friends, our family's or our lives but prayer is always the key. Placing your faith in God who can do anything! He alone runs the universe so we must be confident and remind ourselves that if God can run the universe than He can most certainly run our lives.

But sometimes our prayers do not reflect our faith, we lack the passion, we simply just go through the motions and pray what we THINK God wants us to hear instead of praying from our heart. Sometimes we are focused more on the problem or situation instead of God. We see life from a limited viewpoint but God sees the big picture, if we really and truly believe that God can do anything and that He will take care of us, that we trust that His purpose is more important than what we want, then we need to pray with passion. With purpose. And leave the results up to God-trusting He has it all under control. It will be then we will see miraculous and God moving things happen.

I want to challenge each of you to stop praying what you THINK God wants you to pray for and start praying with passion, with great earnest, with your whole heart- allowing God to hear what it is that is on your heart and not what you think God wants to hear from you. Let's stop going through the motions of prayer and unite as one church, one body of Christ and pray for God's movement in this world, for Him to show us exactly where we need to go when we need to be there and allow Him to guide us into the places of the world He needs us most.

Acts 12: 1-19

1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Ghandi

2011-02-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

Ghandi once said "I like their Christ but I don't like their Christians"

What does this say about us as followers of Christ? Clearly we are not doing things right if this is the perception people have of followers of Jesus. A Pharisee had asked Jesus what the greatest commandment of all was in order to trap Him in His words, but God saw through this and continued to state the following:

Matthew 22:37-39

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."

Why are these two the greatest commandments? Simple: How can evil be done if love exists? It is within this commandment that we are not following Jesus' law, afte rall if we were to Love our neighbors as ourselves would Ghandi have any reason to state what he did?

Jesus' followers are suppose to be people of love, people who serve and care and yet it is more common to see a "follower" of Christ that is more cynical and judgmental than the other.

So how do we fix this? We start at the heart of the problem- Our hearts. We need to be more involved in peoples lives

The Awe Factor of God

2011-02-16T19:21:00.001-08:00

If you get a chance, google "The Awe Factor of God" by Francis Chan - it is a video that is part of his first book called "Crazy Love" which I highly recommend, it will not only leave you with a amazing view of the love of our Father but it will leave you changed in a better way than you are now.

Time and time again we put God in a box, that He is only able to do this much, or that much, when in reality there is no box for God, we shouldn't even begin to try to consider making a box for Him because it is just utterly impossible to place a box over a being that created EVERYTHING. Consider this: If He created the world, He created you and I, He was there before and will be there after, don't you think that God has no limit? That He can do anything He wants to do? And yet what He chose to do was to save you and I, who by our human nature still tries to force this God into a box that can't contain Him.

But if you are still adamant on God being in a box take the idea Francis Chan brings to the table called the "Awe Factor of God". If we take a view of the world, at 10 Kilometers you would be able to see the Curvature of the earth, continue upwards to 100 Kilometers at this point you'd be 1/4 of the way to the space station (You'd be considered an astronaut if you made it here). Continue forward to 100,000 Kilometers, you have no left the earth and are 1/4 of the way to the moon. 1 Million Kilometers you can barely see the earth and have just barely past the moon. 100 Million Kilometers you FINALLY pass the sun and cal see all the planets in our solar system.

Now just to 10,000,000,000,000,000 Kilometers and you no longer can see our planet, no one even knows we exist and the Sun is just another star amongst a few here and there. Jump to 1,000 lightyears away an the sun is no longer recgonizable - it is just another star amongst a cluster of stars in our milky way. Continue on to 10 million lightyears and our milky way is now admist a few other galaxies in the universe, the Sun? the Planets? No one even knows their there. Jump to 100 Million Lightyears and our Milky way disappears amongs the cluster of thousands upon thousands of Galaxy's. The Universe doesn't stop here, but our telescopes fail to go past this point.

So next time you try to put God in a box think about this, for a God that created all of this, created a universe that seems never ending, maybe, God shouldn't be placed in a box, maybe we are showing our truth belief in God if we try to place Him in such a box to begin with. So continue to consider if God created the world, created you and I, if He was there before and will be there after, would such a God have a limit? Don't you consider that God can do anything He wants to do?

Doubting Thomas

2011-02-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

When Christ had appeared to His disciples after He had risen, Thomas was not there. The Bible tells us upon Thomas' return the disciples told him the good news, and shockingly Thomas' response was not one of rejoice.

John 20:25b
"But he said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it."

I can just imagine the look of disbelief these disciples must have had towards Thomas, after all Thomas had seen the miracles Christ had done, he had been a witness to the things Christ preached and Thomas saw time again and again the scripture that was fulfilled by Christ and yet Thomas still doubted.

We can relate to Thomas though can't we? After all we live in a society that in order to believe you must be able to see it, must be able to touch it, must be able to explain it.

So how do you explain a God that lets His own Son die, be beaten and tortured by the same people this "God" wants to save and forgive. These same "people" that deny who Jesus is even after He has risen. How do you explain something that sounds so absurd yet marvelous at the same time? Simple Answer. YOU CAN'T.

We can't explain why God loves us enough to allow His Son to be tortured and killed- but He does. We can't explain why God wanted to show mercy, grace and forgiveness to us who are unworthy of it- but, He did. And we can't explain why God wants an intimate relationship with each and every one of us- but He does.

Like Thomas, we doubt time again and again. And God shows Himself every time. We must have faith- even the faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, so imagine what we can do for God's purpose if our faith is as big as the mountains!

I challenge you during your points of doubting to have faith- to know the Lord our God will come thru for you in the end. It may not be the way you thought but He will show.

John 20:29
"Then Jesus told him, ëBecause you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Beauty & The Beast

2009-04-21T17:28:00.001-07:00

Beauty and the Beast is an interesting story, which we can all relate to. A story of someone that cared and loved the Beast for what it was- Ugly, Angry, One who lays in his own self-pity. I could go on with the charteristics of the Beast, but what had happened? The Beauty loved the Beast enough in the end that changed the Beast, making him a Beauty as well.

But I wonder, what would have happened if the Beauty never existed? If the Beast was left to wither in it's own self-pity? Or better yet, what would have happened to the Beast if the Beauty did exist but just didn't care? What would have become of the Beast? It's interesting to think about what could have happened over what did happen. Lucky for us the Beauty did care for the Beast, the Beauty did love the Beast, changing the Beast into a Beauty as well.

So what's all this talk about Beauty and the Beast? It's just a Disney fairytale in the end isn't it? Or is it more? Was there a message lying there underneath all the fancy artwork that Disney produced without realizing they were doing such a thing for us?

Who do you relate to the most? The Beauty or the Beast? There is a part inside of us that is always Beastly, always ugly. Sure, there was a time that this was not the case, that pureness was there, that true Beauty existed in us. In the Garden of Eden existed Beauty until the day the Beast inside came out, and it only grew more Beastly as time went on.

So the Beauty (Jesus) was sent to save each of the Beasts, to transform the Beast like in the story into a Beauty themselves. Though the real life story of The Beauty and The Beast is much more than the Disney movie could ever interept. A Beauty, that loved and cared enough for the Beast to change them to a Beauty themselves, taking the Beastly qualities that we carried and was punishable by death upon the Beauties self and carried them for us, dying in place of the Beast so we could have a chance of being a Beauty as well.

He becomes the beast, so the beast may become the beauty. Jesus changes places with us, takes the curse off of us and puts it on himself. Like Adam and Eve, we were under a curse but because what Christ went thru that curse has been lifted so that we may have a chance of becoming a true Beauty thru him.