The Measure of Grace

A Heart for One Nation

2008-02-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in forever- almost 2 years now. Life got crazy and there was trasition and then, there was just silence. I got tired of talking. So I just wanted to listen for awhile.

Recently, I have had the privilege to interact with individuals who feel another culture being woven into their lives- almost involuntarily. Another culture, language, food, geographical place. Some have lived -for just a moment- in a place totally foreign to them in the truest sense of the word, so have not. And now, they feel the pull. Is it magnetic? Is it a chatostrophic change in their cycle of life? What does it mean? Why have I encountered dozens of people all with the same call to different countries for one reason? I have seen American suburbia have a passionate desire to walk alongside of orhpans in Ukraine, meet Muslims in Southern Spain, and live life with indigenous peoples in Kenya. How does a red-headed Texan feel so zealous about a little parentless child who speaks Russian, a language she has never before studied or spoken, and yet now, she is compelled to communicate. Why there? Why now? Why them? What a design to watch!

Power in Praying Women

2006-06-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning was the first day that me and some fellow ladies gathered to pray. It was a great feeling to see an idea come to fruition and be manifested in these women sitting in front of me. I admitted to them that I didn't know exactly what our group should look like or the format for that matter, but that I just wanted to see us come together in prayer to be soldiers for our community, churches and each other.

I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do with us; to see Him prove His faithfulness to us through our obedience. We were all very blessed by our time together with Him.

The Promise of Answered Prayer

2006-05-26T16:27:00.000-04:00

As I was reading the unparalleled goodness of Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest today, I was reminded that God is much bigger than my unbelief. I have a dream that I have prayed about since I was an adolescent and pursued (at least in my heart and passions) for just as long. I recall I was much more excited about the potential possiblities that could sprout from this dream when I was younger. As I've gotten older, I have lost a lot of the belief that anything could come out of the dream. Do you think that age sucks a lot of the life out of us? Does it seem to resonate with you that the more birthdays you tuck under your belt, the less you feel you have to offer or the more you feel the time you once had in your palm to pursue the crazy and exciting dreams is slipping away from you. An hour glass couldn't paint a prettier analogy for me. And as I get older, even though I'm only 26, I find my enthusiasm for the potential and my confidence dwindles a little more. Sometimes I can almost hear the sand granules falling- tink, tink.... Encouraging.

I was convicted a bit about my unbelief as I read through Chambers' thoughts. "Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered." Prayer is always answered. Why would a God full of goodness encourage us to pray when it would go unanswered. If we "walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with each other and the blood cleanses us from unrighteouness" and, consequently, our prayers are righteous. When our prayers are the righteous desires of God's heart, then they won't go unanswered. He notes that Jesus said, "everyone who asks, receives" (Matt 7:8). Chambers says, "God answers prayer in the best way- not just somtimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not alwyas immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?" He goes on to note that our inclination as humans is to water down what Jesus said and make it into something commonsense. This is as good as discounting the cost of our salvation and the sacrifice made on the cross. Chambers says, "If it were only commonsense, what He said would not even be worthwile." And we know much better than that- that everything about Jesus was worthwhile: what he said, what he did and who he was. He was God. So if God told us to pray and the He would answer, what are we waiting for. I think it's time to step out in faith, asking God to gives us the desires of HIS heart and tell God yes- that we are ready for him to answer.

The Benefit of a Drought

2006-04-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

I confess, this is a forced entry...only because I haven't felt moved by much since the "Revolutionary" post, which I love so much that I want to post it again. This has been a crazy season in life- it seems many people. I know it has been for me. I have talked to God, I have prayed to him, and I have neglected him. I have had people tell me that my "heart isn't in it" and that I'm not committed, and honestly- that just hasn't served to be encouraging at all, but just the opposite. I see that the people all around me deserve the grace that I should afford them but don't, and I expect the grace that is afforded me over and over.

Monday, we are leaving to go to Ethiopia. When we got back from Mississippi for Easter, it hit me. It hit me like WHAM! I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm going to Africa. I have wanted to go to Africa since I was young. I have wanted to see this place that Joseph Conrad wrote about, that is torn by it's people, that was ravaged by money-hungry merchants and the desperation that is built into the human soul to enslave another. I want to see the landscape and wildlife and see the people and listen to their stories. I want to see God moving there. I have NO idea what to expect. I can only expect the food we've eaten here, some street markets, old cars and nice weather. I can't wait to see this church that Pastor Zeb leads and how the Holy Spirit is moving and alive there. I can't wait to see their zeal. Selfishly, I can't wait to see how it affects me. Today, as I was listening to a popular Christian song, I was struck by the profundity of the Creator. The profundity of how we need him, and when we seek him and find him, the profundity of the emotion and rapture that we feel in our soul...the experience that is God. I realize what I'm missing out on here. I'm just being really vulnerable right now. Pride would have me say- "I know what it is. I know what I'm doing wrong. I've had it before and know what it is, so don't patronize or look down on me." But it's just the place I'm in. I'm a sinner. I need Jesus. I can't do it on my own, and I don't want to. I can't possibly fabricate the experience that is God. I am just dying to have his anointing on my life and feel his power in my spirit. It's the only place I want to be. He has proven himself so faithful to me this past few months. I have an amazing man in my life who loves me like no other man ever has. And I don't feel mushy about saying it because it has all been God, and I feel like I need to share. He has given my understanding of love a new definition. I can't even understand it. God has used him to teach me so much about Himself- how he loves us and redeems us. And there have been a slew of other things.
It is true that every Believer that has ever been or will be will go through periods when the Lord seems to withdraw, and I don't know that I will ever fully understand why. I know I don't like it. But if our lives were great all the time, and the Lord was overtly present at every moment, who's to say pride wouldn't take control of our walk, and I know I don't want that. There is a drought right now in Ethiopia, but I think it is going to be a time of flourishing abundance for our team and the Father shows us new things about himself. I cannot wait.

Pressed for Time!

2006-03-15T08:41:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been able to blog lately. I have been so swamped with things to do for the opening of the coffeehouse today!! And now my computer is about to die, and I don't know where the power cord is. Ebenezers opens today!!! It is going to be so good to see God bring to fruition the fruit of his promise and all the labor of all those who have poured into this dream.

Revolutionary

2006-03-07T22:35:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching a movie about the young Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It really provoked thought about Christ. Che Guevara was a revolutionary who began his journey as such because of the injustice and suffering that he saw in those who were not considered worthy of society's esteem. He was a doctor who worked with lepers in a small leper colony in Peru, who traveled across South America, talking with the indigenous people he would encounter, listening to their stories. He touched the lepers who treated with his bare hands, and he loved them. Because of his sever asthma, he could commiserate with their pain. I realize that this movie was just that- Hollywood. But as I watched how people who he loved were moved to love him and look to him, it made me think of Jesus. Jesus was a revolutionary. I truly believe there are no two ways about that statement. He came into the Judeo world- and threw it off kilter. He pissed people off. He cracked a whip in the makeshift marketplace at the temple and he hissed at them to find the exit door ASAP. He seethed at the Pharisees calling them vipers and troublemakers. He was the advocate for the poor, hurt, unwanted, cynical and bitter. He defined "revolutionary" in a way that maybe we're not used to. He showed love to the loveless and hated anything and anyone that was the antithesis of his message and life-goal. These days there are so many people out there who want to be a so-called "revolutionary". But we forget the love variable of the equation. Without love, it is hatred and futile religion. Without love, it is rigid obligation- not service. Without love, our efforts at serving are empty, our words are propaganda, and our lives as Christians are a farce. I want to be that kind of revolutionary. I was to be so raw and real with those people who hate God because of their hurt and think life is a painful, uphill journey towards more captivity. As I was mulling over these thoughts, I heard this verse: "He is the God who keeps every promise, and gives justice to the poor and oppressed, and food to the hungry. He frees the prisoners, and opens the eyes of the blind; he lifts the burdens from those bent down beneath their loads. For the Lord loves good men. He protects the immigrants, and cares for the orphans and widows. But he turns upside down the plans of the wicked." Psalm 146:7-9 And Isaiah 61:1, "He has sent me (Jesus) to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclain freedom for the captives and release from the darkness for the prisoners." He came to loose the chains and set us free from our sickness. Jesus is our revolutionary hero. When he was around people, healing and playing with the kids and giving advice to those around him, he couldn't get away because they were clinging to him as he was leaving. He was so loved because of the love he showed. Now if we can only replicate the accuracy of how his love was so real and relational. He was real. It was real, genuine love. It wasn't packaged, shipped and bought from a shelf. He saw these people and LOVED who they were. He was the one who announced his sadness more over one lost sheep than 99 that were present and accounted for. What a justifier!! What a hero. And what a historic revolutionary.

A Day Away

2006-03-05T22:51:00.000-05:00

Today a group of us went hiking in Great Falls. I love going there. It is therapy for my soul when the city is has become overbearing, the noise is too much and the busyness of my life overwhelms me. To be out in the woods around running water, the air, the random ducks that are perched on rocks and watching the grace of a kayaker on the swirls in the river- it is all poetry. As I walked next to the water, I could hear the servant's song that the babbling water sings in my favorite book, Hinds Feet on High Places:

Come, oh come! let us away-
Lower, lower every day,
Oh, what joy it is to race
Down to find the lowest place.
This the dearest law we know-
'It is happy to go low.'
Sweetest urge and sweetest will,
'Let us go down lower still.'
Hear the summons night and day
Calling us to come away.
From the heights we leap and flow
To the valleys down below.
Always answering to the call,
To the lowest place of all.
Sweetest urge and sweetest pain,
To go low and rise again."

What a beautiful, dancing image for us to be reminded that it is sweet worship the Lord through serving. It was refreshing to walk next to the water and take some time to speak with the Lord, and his presence there was awesome. As I prayed, the wind would come in strong gusts, and I knew he was there. I haven't felt that awesomeness in awhile, and my prayer for refreshing was answered. Our God is so big and loud- how could we ever survive his magnitude if not for the grace that he gives us by stooping down low to whisper to us at levels we can ascertain. And if experiencing God on that level is powerful and magnificent, I can't wait until the day when it is unfiltered and unplugged! We serve and love a beautiful and amazing Creator who wants to be with us, talk to us and bless us. I want us to be so consumed by that truth, and I pray that he would use us to our fullest abilities and bring our dreams to fruition.

I've been tagged.....

2006-02-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

So, this must be the new blog alternative to email forwards and chains....
Copy and paste the following questions and answer them correspondingly on your blog.

Four Jobs I've Had
Intern to missionaries in Spain (does that count?)
Staff Assistant at the Mississippi State Capitol
Capitol Hill staffer
bestselling author of "How To Become a Millionaire in No Time!" (I made that one up).

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
Persuasion (it's like the best ever)
Pride and Prejudice
Lord of the Rings (over and over and over)
Napolean Dynamite

Four Places I've Lived
Oxford, MS
Madison, MS
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Washington, DC

Four Shows I Like to Watch (even though I never get to watch TV):
I guess I have to say 24, since Rick got me on it
House
West Wing
Can't think of a 4th

Four Foods That I Like
I love good italian anything
Sushi
Spanish pulpo (octopus- it's really good!)
pancakes

Four Websites I Visit Daily
Tons of Blogs
Evotional.com
hotmail.com
google.com

Four Things I Want to Do Before I Die
I'd sort of like to write a book
get backing to sing so I can travel the world leading worship
learn another instrument
master Spanish

Four People I'm Tagging
Kimberlee Weidenhammer
Dennis Bourne
Carolyn Garris
Chuck Haddox

Life Comes Atcha Fast

2006-02-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

So I was lying in bed last night thinking about how I will be 30 in only 4 years. I remember thinking 30 was a series of light years away. Heck! I remember thinking I would be married and have kids by the time I was 22! I was an ambitious child.

But seriously- 4 years. It goes by pretty fast. And it just got me thinking about the brevity of life, which truthfully has smacked me upside the head numerous times- especially when I came to DC. Life is finite, and we should live it out to the fullest. I guess I just had a mini re-revelation (that being something you remember in a profoud way). Life has just sort of lost it's luster to me. When I first moved here, I had such an eternal perspective on the way things were done in my life, and how I made decision and treated others. Realistically, however, it's just hard for us to maintain that perspective for our selfish nature. Everywhere we are positioned, everywhere we are called, everywhere we live, everywhere we play, worship and work, is one space (think gameboard here) closer to God using us in his plan to bring creation to redemption.

Recently, I was given this amazing opportunity to work in a place that will reach out to people and hopefully allow me to build relationships with the people that come. I know God is teaching me to be more like him, but more than that, I think he will teach us a different kind of wisdom. We are all just empty vessels waiting to be filled, and when we are, everything we have is all his. He has filled us completely and uses us according to his purposes.

So, I guess all these thoughts came from my thought that I'm only 4 years from 30 and 30 is somewhere I thought I'd never be....take that how you will. And let's just be real- we're not gettin' any younger. We'll die one day....to be morbid- death draweth nigh with every passing day. In the instant that the finity of my life was renewed in my heart, so was my desire to be a passionate worshiper of the Lord. I can't wait to see what he's going to do with us. I am burdened for my friends and the ones I love who don't understand this Jesus issue. It is hard for me to find complete happiness and joy in this life knowing they don't feel the joy we feel. You can't really communicate what's at the top of the mountain unless you go up yourself!

Brevity is certain, life is not. Press on. Serve hard.

Click here to see Christian Speed-Dating

2006-02-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

Thank God I've never encountered these people. Which one was your fave?

Rock on, Rob Nation

2006-02-07T14:49:00.000-05:00

Rob's Little Stunt

Rob Nation loves to be our comic relief. He likes to show off his face flab and how flappy it is, too.

Rapper and Capitol Hill Staffer

2006-02-06T17:44:00.000-05:00

My friend, Sameer, writes and raps. He wrote this for me today, and I had to post it! I love it!

This happy birthday's for Stephanie Sage
you're becoming of age
about to turn a new page
leaving the hill in just a few days
it's makes me sad
but I'll remember the good times we had
first met at the white house reception
we'd help each other out when our tour requests got rejections
we chilled at happy hours and at Baja fresh
who cares if we're of different parties
I think we still meshed
it hurt to see you leave the list and now you're gone for good
I'd convince you to stay if I could
but I'm not sure that you would
you have to answer a higher calling
I'm happy for you
even though I'm bawling... :)
your name is like spice
but I'd say you're more like sugar
because you're quite nice

Just when you think you know a lot.....

2006-02-06T16:37:00.000-05:00

You realize you have A LOT to learn! My very talented friend is a graphics designer. I would not even BEGIN to know how to do this. He kindly crafted this (in my humble opinion) piece of art for me today on my birthday. It's one of the cooler gifts I've received! Thank you friend!

Fast Food Service or Fine Dining?

2006-02-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

The greatest way to worship God is through service. We like to put a lot of top tier status on the best way to do X...but I have to think that serving truly is one of the purest and greatest forms of worship. Jesus said that he came not to be served but to serve. He mentioned what we have done to the least of these, we have done to him- feeding them, giving them shelter and serving them with love. If the perfect Son of God can call his earthly ministry "service"- a life that was spent pointing others to the Creator and worshiping him- then serving each other must be the way we best worship him.

With that said, some of us find it easy to "SERVE". We give of our time at events, we give graciously with our money, we bake cookies for the new neighbors, we make "sacrifices". I was recently hired onto a job that is a definite step in a totally different direction from the Capital Hill job that I've been in for the past year and a half. I can't deny that there was some part of me, after the stress of making such a huge decision, that thought, "Yeah!! Now I really get to serve and minister to people." But the fact of the matter is, it goes against everything we humanly are to continually serve one another day in and day out. That is because SERVICE isn't just in the big things. Service is smiling when you really don't feel like it. It's letting someone step ahead of you through the door when you're in a huge hurry. It's scooping food onto someone else's plate next to you even when you're starving. It is a living action that says "It's not about me."

Blessing through obedience

2006-01-30T12:37:00.000-05:00

If we step up, we step into our destiny, and God releases a greater anointing.

This is something that Pastor Mark said on his blog today- www.evotional.com. I really like what this communicates. We have to step out in faith sometimes to receive the blessing that God wants to give us. That is the reward of our obedience. I know I'm constantly aware and wondering about what my destiny in God's will is and how he will use me. It's really exciting to think about. Pastor Mark is really good about encouraging us to take a risk and step out of the boat. My chief of staff always says, "It's better to make a mistake of commission being proactive than to make a mistake of omission while being retroactive."

Blood Money

2006-01-27T13:29:00.000-05:00

I am intrigued at the events that transpire between Judas and the chief priests that paid Judas to do his dirty work. They take the 30 pieces of silver and, because the money is "blood money" they deduce that they cannot put that money in the treasury. After counsel, they decide to buy "the potter's field as a burial place for strangers." I feel like this holds some kind of interesting significance, but I'm still pondering that. "Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day." It was all prophesied in Jeremiah chapter 19 and Zechariah chapter 11.

A Decrease In Love?

2006-01-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

Matthew 24:3, 12-14
vs. 3 "As [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? And Jesus answered them: .....

vs. 12-14 "'Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.'"

Sad to see it, but we are humanly so weak when it comes to maintaining our love for each other. I'm not sure I would be able to stand against the trials that are to come in the end and see my love for others perservere. It is true that, when the rubber meets the road, we're all in it for ourselves. The truth and foundation of Jesus' good news for the world was to love Him first and follow through with a love for others. It is so enriching and good to love others. It empowers us to serve and to share God's message of salvation, it enriches our walk with the Jesus and it makes us a reflection of God's goodness and the joy that he gives us when we walk in obedience to him. What's more is that when we seek that out, he gives us the strength and ability to love one another AND to continue to love one another even when it's hard to do.

Let Our Eyes Be Opened

2006-01-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

Today, I was reading through Matthew. I was struck by something. In 20:29-34, there are two men who are sitting at the roadside as Jesus and his following are leaving Jericho. It says, "when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, 'Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'" The scripture says that the crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but the men cried out all the more.

"And stopping, Jesus called them and said 'what do you want me to do for you?' They said to him, 'Lord, let our eyes be opened.' And Jesus, in pity, touched their yes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him."

This illustration is so beautiful. I don't know why, but of all the miracles that Jesus ever performed, the ones where he heals sight in the blind really make the chill bumps list for me. To walk in literal darkness, or even a haze, and then to have the Savior touch your eyes and restore sight and then see Jesus on the other end of that sight- it's incredible. Our eyes are, as the famous quote goes, "the windows to the soul".

Additionally, these two men were sitting on a roadside outside of the city. How did they get there, and what were they doing? How did they subsist? They must have been blind AND homeless, if I were to guess. Secondly, they KNEW who Jesus was. I can imagine that the crowd that was following Jesus was saying his name and talking about him within earshot of these two. As they scrambled past the blind men on the dusty road, chattering about this Jesus, these two men were way ahead of some of them. They knew the name Jesus, and they'd heard about him. His name and his works had made the rounds. It's easy for us to grasp the concept of things traveling by word of mouth- but that's because we have cells phones, tv, news, internet, text messages, news tickers, instant message, radio. They had word of mouth, travel by foot. Period. The name Jesus must have been known country-wide, and even beyond.

What strikes me the most about this passage, though, is this:
"'What do you want me to do for you?' They said to him, 'Lord, let our eyes be opened.'" Do you think these men even knew what they were asking? It goes on to say that "Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes...." I see this unfolding. I think that when they asked him to open their eyes, this God who had come to earth to save his people and open the eyes of their heart heard their question and so much more. He heard a damaged and broken people who didn't even understand the extent of their lostness. "Lord, let our eyes be opened." What did Jesus think in that moment? What did the God of this wayward, lost and beloved creation think when he was asked to open their eyes. I believe Jesus had pity for every crippled person he came in contact with- but Matthew says specifically here that he had pity. He wants to heal our sight. He wants to open our eyes. He wanted these people to see him and be healed for more than mere visual impairment. I have a feeling that he wanted to say, "I want you to see more than you know."

What's encouraging in this is that he touched their eyes, they were healed, and they followed him. I think that must be one of the most amazing feelings- to receive sight and see Jesus upon seeing for the first time. I have to believe that these men didn't just receive their physical sight, but for the first time, saw Jesus with their hearts.

The Inner Struggle

2006-01-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

My friend emailed me this scripture yesterday:
Romans 8:37-39 "...We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any other powers, neither height nor depth, nor anythingelse in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It was incredibly timely and encouraging because today I am feeling like a complete failure regarding my lack of faithfulness to God. Just when you think you're doing alright, you slip and fall again. I am kind of results-driven, too, so when I continue to fail at something, it makes me want to quit the pursuit altogether. It's a lot easier to quit and not have to worry about doing it over.

It sort of reminds me of when you're taking a math test, and you're working all these complicated equations that require writing out tons of steps (using a No. 2 pencil, of course!); and you just seem to keep messing up, having to erase. Sometimes you write the same mistake over and over out of habit or something. You erase the step and then start over and write again, and maybe this time you get through that step after a lot of concious and methodical intentionality to avoid that same mistake- and you mess up the next line. By this time, I'm usually sighing like the weight of Mt. Fuji sits on my shoulders, and by the time it's a sorry excuse for a finished product, the paper is gross and has erase marks all over and is just the PICTURE of less-than-Eistein-grade handiwork. This is how the slate of my life is. So instead of erasing and re-pursuing and erasing again and coming out on the end looking like a champion screw-up, it just seems better to quit altogether. This is the struggle I have to wrestle with the most. I think that many of my other "struggles" probably stem from this one. So this verse just encouraged me to remember that we are not just soldiers, we are not just members of this "club". We are even MORE than conquerors over the destruction and oppostition that our sin nature throws into our lives. Because we have Jesus, and he was slaughtered over our sin- yes slaughtered. Brutal, but true. His blood was spilled and poured out over the blackness of our gnarled and twisted destiny. And he rescued it because he missed our fellowship- since that was our destiny! It has ALL already been paid for upfront. There is no reason for guilt, no reason for shame or disillusion. We have the freedom to live with joy and happiness since we aren't doomed to pay it forward anymore..........even when we shoddy it up! It is so good to know that we can never fall beyond God's reach.

Crazy: click here to listen to Luke 15:1-7 in the Amuzgo language!

2006-01-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

I was a Spanish major in college. I spent what I consider to be a relatively significant amount of time living with and around the people in Spain (about a year, collectively). It was enough to confirm in me that I loved language- English and otherwise. I like the concept that the pen is sharper than the sword. It deflates the power of muscle over a clever mind. Moreover, Hebrews 4:12 reinforces that words can offer life, specifically those from our Lord: "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

I ran across this translation of the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15:1-7 in an indigenous, Mexican language. I am really astounded at the complexity and chaotic feel of this language. But it is the message loud and clear, and when you listen to it and then read through the story in your language, there's this wild sense of solidarity. God is so bold! He uses the foolish to shame the proud...and I feel that through this. Through the most unapproachable and insignificant things, he is reaching people for his glory. There are thousands of dialects and languages just like this worldwide, but I am intrigued by this one since it was the first one from the list that I listened to.

This is the actual text:
San Lucas 15:1-7

Ncüii jon joo nn'an na cotye s'on cüentaa' gobiernon tsjoon Roma, jndyehan squehan na m'aan Jesús na ndyehan jñ'oon na toninncyaa jon, ndo' mantyi yo nn'an na cotji' nn'an judíos cüenta na conan'tja nan'ñeen nnon Tyo'ts'on. Ndo' nque nn'an tmaan' fariseos yo nn'an na conan'man nchu vaa itsiquindyi jñ'oon na tquen Moisés, tatëvee' ngiohan na itsinin jon yo nan'ñeen. Jaa' jñ'oon jnan'neinhan nacjoo' jon. Jnduehan:

―Tsanva itsijonhin yo nn'an na conan'tjahan nnon Tyo'ts'on, ndo' mantyi icüa' juu yohan.

Ndö vaa jñ'oon na sinin Jesús ndëëhan na tyi'quitso nquii' jonhan'. Itso jon:

“Nin ncüii nqueho', xe na aa m'aan ncüii ciento quinman ntsjuen' juu, ndo' tsu ncüii 'o, ¿Aa chi n'ndyii ya juu joo ninquenn'an ncho'nqui vantjo' ñjen cho'ñeen naijon na cocüa' o' ndo' ngaquint'ue juu quioo' na tsu, ata xjen na ntjii ntcüe' juu o'? Ndo' vi na jndë ntjii ntcüe' juu o' chi ntscüanjoon' juu o' quitya' juu yo na neiin' jndyi juu. Ndo' ya na nguee' ntcüe' juu v'aa, ntsitjon juu nn'an na ya jñ'oon yohin yo nn'an na m'an ndyo vaa' juu. Ngitso juu ndëëhan: Cüineiin' n'onho' yo ja ee juu quitsman tsjuën' na tsu o', jndë ntji ntcü'ë o'. Itsontyichen Jesús: Matsjö ndëëho' na nnda' vaa na itsijonhan' ntyja 'naan' nquii Tyo'ts'on na m'aan quiñoon'ndue. Ncüii ts'an na itsitjahin nnon jon, neiin'ntyichen jon ya na contcüe' ts'on tsan'ñeen jnaan' juu, chichen ntyja 'naan joo ninnquenn'an ncho'nqui vantjo' ñjen ts'an na cotsam'anhan cha'xjen na chuhan' na cotji'han cüenta na tyi'icanhan' na ntcüe' n'onhan.

source: www.laligabiblica.org.mx

Sidewalk Chalk Makes A Comeback!

2006-01-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

I was lying awake way too late last night thinking about what makes us Christians. I was thinking about it more in a nominal sense. "Christian"- according to Acts, first used in Antioch. A follower. A Christ follower. So then I turned to the newer, more faddish term we've accepted in a remedial response to the cultural familiarity the word Christian carries- "believer". And in all this, I just thought...do we really know what we're asking? Do we really know to what we're referring? Is there really a word that can carry the profundity of what it means to come face to face with the Creator and Savior and do that experience justice?

I'm just frustrated, I guess. Sometimes, I just want to look at someone point blank and ask what they believe. I'd like to get to know them. But I'd like for them not to say yes to my question just because that's the thing they have grown up with, are familiar with and cuddle at night when they're falling asleep. It's almost like we need a secret handshake or something. Back in the day, they used to draw fish in the sand. I think we should all just walk around with sidewalk chalk in hand (or pocket)- for just such an occasion. I think I'm starting this new wave. Everyone go buy sidewalk chalk- the big fat kind. But I get the pink one!

The Great Throbbing Heart of Humanity

2005-11-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

This is one of the beautiful songs of worship on Selah's "Greatest Hymns" album. The second half of these lyrics belong to the sweet song "I Need Thee Every Hour," written in 1872 by Annie Hawks. A homemaker and mother of three, she later recounted the story of how her words were penned. "One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, 'I Need Thee Every Hour,' were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me."

She took them to her pastor, Dr. Robert Lowry, who was also a gifted poet and musician, and he gave her words song and added the chorus. Sixteen years later, Annie's husband died. Some years after, she said, "I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity. It was not until long years after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, that I understood something of the conforting power in the words, which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace."
May the Lord use us to give out to others sweet serenity and peace.

When I think I'm going under, part the waters Lord.
When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea.
When I cry for help oh hear me Lord, and hold out your hand.
Touch my life, still the raging storm in me.

I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord.
No tender voice like thine can peace afford.

I need thee, O I need thee.
Every hour I need thee.
O bless me now, my Saviour. I come to thee.

I need thee every hour in joy or pain.
Come quickly and abide or life is vain.

I need thee O I need thee.
Every hour I need thee.
Oh bless me now my Saviour. I come to thee.
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessèd Son.

Big Al!

2005-11-21T19:34:00.000-05:00

A shout out to my girl Alison, whose birthday was 2 weeks ago. You rock my face off, gurl.

What is going on inside my head?

2005-11-15T03:01:00.001-05:00

The realization that things are never what they seem and you really may try to plan your steps, but God knows your path. Scary and disconcerting, reassuring and encouraging all at once. Confusing, really. Let's just be real. Who can say in all honesty that we alone can trust God if not for his mercy in our lives? Which kind of makes it this weird, ring-shaped, cyclical fun house. Fun house? Well, that would work since a fun house is scary for fun..... Random mirrors that distort shape and make us giggle. Crazy, loopy things that make us trip.

Today was strange. It was quiet, but there's this buzz in my heart. A hum. I was reading The Magician's Nephew today- the first one in the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. As Digory, Polly, the Witch, et al, find themselves in a secret and obscure world the Witch calls "Nothing"- they just wait. They are standing in Nothing. They feel their feet in a boggish substance. All of a sudden, they hear a voice that is low and resonating. It gets louder and then there are other heavenly sounding voices, and then there are brighter stars than any they've ever seen, and suddenly, there's a sun rising over the horizon. There are hills in the distance and then a lion, pacing slowly back and forth. He's the Singer, and with every song, a new creation springs forth from the ground- trees, flowers, water.

That's what the hum feels like- the Voice. The Singer is creating things in my heart and in my life. This buzz on anticipation and promise; steady and solid. I don't understand it comprehensively, but it's a hum, and it's something I've never felt before. It feels foreign but completely real and at home there. I am anxious to see what it brings. I cannot wait until the Singer does his work and shows his majesty~

Utilizing Our Circumstances

2005-11-07T17:11:00.000-05:00

I was reading My Utmost For His Highest this morning. For two years, I read it daily, and then finally set it aside after having read it twice through. After about a year of not reading it, I decided to pick it up again. This scripture is encouraging for times of struggle, but I find it appropriate for those of us who have been filled with joy and satisfaction in seeing the Lord move and work, too. I just thought it compelling what Chambers is saying here: We are compelled to take responsibility as believers to pray without ceasing, utilizing our circumstances in order that we might be used to touch the whole world. Moreover, the clincher for me was this picture he paints at the end of “the lives of others left in poverty and ruin”. It is poverty and ruin without Christ. I have been SO excited and encouraged to see God preparing us!! I have totally been privy to see Him equipping our lives and our service to one another- it is so awesome. We are so blessed!

He is doing very big things in and among us. We should stand ready and be encouraged!

“The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances”

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God….” Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way, God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession- utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then, as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, “…but the Spirit Himself makes intercession” in each of our lives (Romans 8:26). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

What a wonderful God......

2005-11-02T18:23:00.000-05:00

I am in awe and astounded at what is going on in the lives of people all around me. From every direction, there is hurt and confusion and frustration. There is discord and jealousy. There is pain and a crying out to God that is so loud- my heart hurts for these. And yet, my heart just praises our great God. How great he is!! How faithful he is! I have been subjected to what feels like arrows flying from every direction. For 3 solid days. I have discord in a close friendship that I don't understand. I have friends who have asked for prayer for mothers who are sick, close friends who are very ill, one who has a very unsettling and hostile work environment. I am burdened for the lost all around me who I love so much, and I am moved by the Love of God that I feel so strongly in my heart and life. I don't understand why the Lord has brought me to this place, but I understand now the joy in trial. I understand with my heart! I understand his peace that passes my very own understanding- it is just there and that is all I can say! It surrounds you like a big cloud. How amazing it has been to wait on the Lord and sit and pray about situations and ask him to guide your hands and words. Like and artist who takes your hand while you're holding the brush and guides your strokes- it is a beautiful and amazing experience. The mosaic of emotion that comes out on the end is strength, courage, maturity and reliance on the Father; his faithfulness proved and his answers brought to fruition in your own life. How amazing it is to walk with him in obedience. Even through his faithfulness, he brings sustained trial, and we consider it a joy to be found worthy of such a high calling- to go through such a hard time. God finds us capable of handling such a time. I see this time of trial around me as God breeding us and raising us up to prepare us for a time of great things, great glory for his name. He is equipping us even now through these trials and tears and pain to use us for the glory of his kingdom!! What a wonderful Maker.

Amazing Love Indeed

2005-10-20T18:22:00.000-04:00

As I was typing an email to my friend a minute ago, I told him I was playing Amazing Love tonight in community group. As I typed that out "amazing love".....I thought- it is amazing. It IS amazing. He restores us to whole again. He makes me beautiful, spotless, lovely. Thank you God for your faithfulness- to pursue, to unclinch our little fists, to calm us to love and trust you. Thank you for your unfailing, never-changing, amazing, live-giving, UNFATHOMABLE love. By your wounds we find healing. You make something beautiful out of all our suffering. What we've lost to the world and seems far beyond redemption- you can take the pieces and make us whole again. At your voice all creation falls to its knees, you calm the storm with one swoop of your mighty hand and you raise from the dead this empty shell. You turn winter into spring.

An Empty Vessel that Needs to Be Filled

2005-10-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

Last night, I reflected on God's goodness to us, his faithfulness to always follow through. He has given us everything that we need. Sometimes we feel like God dangles a carrot in front of us, only to jerk it away. We discussed in my Wednesday night ladies' group that sometimes it may seem that way because of our expectations or wrong perspective of who God is and what it is that he is doing in us. God NEVER dangles carrots in front of us. The Enemy does, however....and he is the ultimate deceiver.....even disguising himself as the Good Guy.

Psalm 84:11 says "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Like I said on Wednesday night, God wants to give us the extras that we are asking for, the abundance, the excess. He's not just in the business of giving us the bare minimum we need to get by. If he does give us the bare essentials, it's for a purpose and a season. He's not into bare bones unless it's intended for our blessing and his glory. We are like the little kid in the grocery store with our parents begging them to buy us that gumball or piece of candy. And God says, "sure, I want you to have that; I want you to enjoy life." He just doesn't give in every time. Then why would we have reason to appreciate when we actually do get it......and appreciate him for giving it to us?

The time of waiting (the in-between gumballs) is one of the hardest things I think humans have to endure. But I also think it must just be one of the best times ever! We WAIT on the Lord. We are practically forced to trust him! And if we don't wait, giving into the temptation to control our circumstances and plan our own way, there are repercussions. Even then, we still learn! Psalm 84:12 goes on to say, "Oh Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts you!" We are blessed by waiting and trusting. We are blessed to believe him blindly. He blesses us. I couldn't think of anything better than to have the Creator of all time and space and beauty and love pour out his blessing on me.

This morning, I was reading a prayer by Martin Luther that spoke to me. I have almost unexplainably felt a little discouraged this morning at the prospect that maybe things are going to happen the way I'd like for them to. The prayer says, "Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love might go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt, and am unable to trust You altogether. O Lord, help me."
We need to be filled. We need to be strengthened. We need to love. We need trust. We can't do any of this by ourselves, alone, and God stands ready, waiting for us to ask. He freely gives, and we are ultimately blessed by these humble and selfless prayers. I am praying that the Lord would fill me to overflowing today to the glory of his kingdom. I am praying that I can be a better servant. I pray for joy and peace!

From Southern Baptist.........??

2005-10-03T18:39:00.000-04:00

My pastor and I have been talking some about seminary. I have been attending an Assemblies of God church called National Community Church. Having grown up Southern Baptist, this is an obvious and significant shift from what my home church may have expected and even from what I could have predicted 5 years ago. I used to think that an Assembly of God church was a little over the top, a little bit flambouyant and ridiculous- even fake. But having come so many miles from the time when I thought that, I now am able to see that that is the farthest thing from the truth. Having done some reading on the Assemblies of God website, I see that many of the things the church is known for, such as speaking in ancient, unspoken languages (called tongues), gifts of prophecy, and excessive worship are misunderstood. They say, "The gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation, and other spiritual gifts bring the church immediate challenge and confirm Bible truths." This is one of the most important clarifications. The gifts are to only confirms God's truth and word in our lives and only to edify his church and bring glory to his name. And how can worship really be "excessive"? The whole thing is, having grown up in a place where anything "too charismatic" was uncomfortable, of course that kind of worship of God would be viewed as excessive or flambouyant. But that is just how we have been designed to worship our Creator, the God who has saved us from death and destruction.
In reference to spiritual gifts: "Believers are urged to ask God for the baptism in the Holy Spirit to further empower them for Christian service." Being "baptized in the Holy Spirit" is a well-known characteristic of charismatic churches. But this, to me, serves to explain it perfectly. To further empower them for Christian service. I have understood that it makes for a much deeper relationship with God- but this explains how it edifies the body completely. To empower us for service. I also appreciate that they clarify that, even though people are encouraged to worship as they are led, and the service is a myriad of individualism, they emphasize the importance of order and not chaos. This is a widely misunderstood part of AG. They say, "In everything, a flow of worship should be evident and, despite the spontaneity and excitement, a certain properness and order."

A Faithful Father

2005-10-03T17:11:00.000-04:00

Psalm 119:105

"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Such a simple verse with a beautiful concept. God has continued to bring this verse to light for me as I have been brought to a place of worship. What better place to worship than one where you can know God is guiding you every step of the way. He is so faithful to us to hold us up and be our provision. I get a visual picture when I read this- sort of like you may have had when you were little and someone was reading Red Riding Hood to you. She's walking down a really dark path, in a scary, thickly wooded and pitch black forest. She's carrying nothing but a lamp in her hand. It's soft yellow light illuminates only the few nearby tree trunks and her scared face. But it's that light that leads her to stay on the path and not into the woods. It's that light that keeps the scary things in the forest away. It is that light that is her one source of protection. It doesn't allow enough light for her to see far ahead down the path, but only to see the necessary steps she has to take right now to get there.

How just like God- to give us this illustration. For those of us who are sometimes virtually paralyzed by fear, his Word is our perfect compass, protection and guide. Sometimes, hopelessness or impatience that I will never get to my ultimate destination, that I will never see the end result I have been dying for, can really cause me to start listening to the scary sounds coming from the surrounding woods, but God calls us to walk in the light as he is in the light, and then we will have fellowship with one another (1 Jn 1:7)- so that we aren't walking that path alone, but together.

A Handbreadth

2005-06-15T22:12:00.000-04:00

Psalm 39:4 and 5-"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!"

As I think on life's tosses and turns, ups and downs, I am reminded of the Lord's EVERLASTING faithfulness to His children. He is the King and we are his royal priesthood and children!! And it is true that our life is a mere breath among God's infinite, unimaginable wisdom and plans. I am humbled to speechless. I want to continue to be humbled. I want to be reminded of I am nothing and life here on earth is nothing. We are like the grass that whithers. Why not cling to the Lord ever more over this lofty knowledge??!!

Oh, Lord- Find us faithful to your service and the calling you've placed on our lives. Find us righteous and blameless in your sight, thanks to your son Jesus. Use us ultimately to fulfill your efforts to bring people to yourself. You are infinite.

(1.) Man's life on earth is short and of no continuance, and that is a reason why we should sit loose to it and prepare for the end of it (v. 5): Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth, the breadth of four fingers, a certain dimension, a small one, and the measure whereof we have always about us, always before our eyes. We need no rod, no pole, no measuring line, wherewith to take the dimension of our days, nor any skill in arithmetic wherewith to compute the number of them. No; we have the standard of them at our fingers' end, and there is no multiplication of it; it is but one hand-breadth in all. Our time is short, and God has made it so; for the number of our months is with him. It is short, and he knows it to be so: It is as nothing before thee. He remembers how short our time is. It is nothing in comparison with thee. All time is nothing to God's eternity, much less our share of time.

A New Song

2005-06-15T16:05:00.000-04:00

All I can say is wow. Just when I'm complaining and can't see anything good about anything- WHAM- God shifts my attitude. He really does put a new song in my mouth, and I am so undeserving of his grace and mercies. I am very grateful for my coworkers, especially the ones who are so encouraging. It really makes me not want to leave this office. Granted on some days, I am so discouraged and stressed. It moves me to want to drop everything and walk out. But I realize how grateful I am and should be for the things the God has provided for me here at work and in my neighborhood. I have AMAZING Christian friends who love me and I love them, and we support each other. It is awesome and amazing the way we show each other the Love of Jesus Christ.

I wonder about the outcome of a lot things sometimes, but I trust God, and I'm laying this on the altar. How painful it must have been for Abraham to lay his only son on an altar to SACRIFICE HIM TO THE LORD!!! HIS ONLY SON- THE ONE HE'D BEEN WAITING ON THE LORD FOR!! Wow. And God called him to give him back to God in a bloody sacrifice, and of course, Abraham was found faithful in that call, and God spared him. He is merciful. I admit, sometimes I'm like, "God, isn't that kind of mean?" But he knows what he's doing, even when it seems like a mean joke. He wants to give us good things and work miracles in our lives.

Incomprehensible

2005-06-11T12:17:00.000-04:00

Without a doubt, life is one big struggle. Without each other, it is an even bigger struggle. Without God, it is impossible. And without Jesus, non-existent.Last night at Covenant Life Church, in Gaithersburg, MD, I went to hear Jeff Purswell speak on the deity of Christ. The point he made that if there had been no Jesus, there would be no us, no world, no anything, was profound and interesting. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", John writes at the beginning of his gospel message. "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it." As I pondered this scripture, I wondered about what it means. Is this to say that only through Christ, even in the beginning before there was anything or anyone or any sin, that God could only fulfill his "promise" (which was not even yet a promise to us since there was no need for one) to us through his "promise" and fulfillment of that through Jesus. So, he did all that under the authority that he had given to the lifesaver Jesus through who manifested himself and his forgiveness??? So, it sort of helps to define and understand the scriptures about infinity regarding his deity, his love, his forgiveness, his "election", etc. We cannot wrap our minds around this. "How wide and how long and how deep is the love of Christ" and "he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" and "he is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End". Wow!!!

We cannot fathom God’s depth and we cannot comprehend his wisdom! "Who can counsel the Lord! Who can understand his ways?"