Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Faith of a Child
Just recently I have realized that the reason that children have more faith than adults is because they have had less time with adults. I know that adults probably don't try to ruin kids faith, but I think it can come across like it at times. I believe that I have more often than not had a child's faith. I believe a lot of things will happen because, oh I might pray to God about it or it looks like everything is just lined up right that it couldn't happen any other way. But parents, or other adult figures, seem to think that if we have that child's faith that we will only end up hurt or broken inside. Mark 10:15 reads, 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." That means that we as Christians need to believe God will provide for us even when it seems hopeless. What I am trying to say is, don't loose that child like faith. It is the mark of the followers of Christ.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Path of the Warrior
Ever since I was growing up as a child I have always been surrounded by the ideals and experiences of overseas missions. My mom along with most of my aunts were all born on the mission field. My Grandpa is practically a veteran in the missions community, so I have always been in that kind of environment where missions is in the air. The idea of being on the front lines of the Kingdom of God was very appealing to me. And over several different circumstances on my walk in life I have been lead me to a place where I feel God has been waiting to bring me. I remember about three times before that I have looked into getting into the mission field. Nothing ever stuck out or looked like it was right for me. Now though, through Operation Mobilization I have found what I have been looking for. OM has a ship that they use to minister to the different forts in Europe. They provide medicine, books, and education to these different ports. In September I am attending a conference for OM and then the following September I plan on going to the front lines. Prayers would greatly be appreciated as I have never gone this far from what I know. All I really know is that I will have to trust God the whole way.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A Victory Won
First of all, this is not in my own words. This was an email my Grandma sent. I just thought that this was such a momentous victory that the media wasn't showing the public that I had to share this with all I could. So without further delay:
Paul Harvey always had a portion of his radio programs called "the rest of the story."Everyone heard Pat Robertson tell of the VooDoo ministered over Haiti and the dedicationof it to Satan. All that was true but this is "the rest of the story" as related by an Americanmissionary [pastor in Haiti.] ghp"February 17th was the one month anniversary of the great Haitian earthquake.
The Haitian President, Rene Preval announced that there would be 3 days ofholiday from work for the purpose of fasting and prayer. This is absolutelyhistoric. Could you image such an announcement from the U.S. President? This morning I saw a young Haitian-American woman, the leader of a workteam, crying because the Americans could not understand the incredibleimportance of this day and wanted to go about business as usual. Remember,it was only about 6 years ago that a former Haitian president called the
nation to come together to rededicate the nation to Satan. In this outpouringof God's Spirit, 101 VooDoo priests accepted the Lord Jesus and turned fromtheir former ways and 3000 Haitians accepted Jesus as Savior.
This was not something insignificant. Whatever the President might have
originally intended, this became a real commitment for the Haitian
people. You could hear the preaching coming from nearby churches. Services were going on all day and into the night.
Around 7:30 am stepped out to go to our destination and were met by throngs of well dressed people headed to various churches. The sounds ofChristian music and worship filled the air everywhere. The next observationwas that there was NO traffic. Port-au-Prince streets are always cloggedand overflowing with bumper to bumper traffic. This morning there wereonly a few vehicles on the roads, a few small buses, some UN and militaryvehicles, and a few private cars. There was clear sailing through town. Thesame was true of foot traffic. Usually the streets are clogged also withpeople walking. Today there were only a few and many of them dressed forchurch. The only place that there were traffic blocks was in front of severalchurches where the congregations had overflowed the buildings and the yardsand moved out into the streets.
EVERYTHING was closed! Not even one business or gas station open. There were no intercity buses running. Whereas the sidewalksare usually overflowing with millions of street venders, only a few werescattered here and there. The huge outdoor market near the wharfwhere thousands work each day and is spread out to cover most ofthe street, was EMPTY.
Where were all the people? They were in churches and makeshift
meeting sites. Every church except Jehovah Witnesses had services
going on, always overflowing into the streets. To the side of broken down churches, services were taking place outside. In
homeless camps, there were services. Everywhere the nation was
gathered to worship and pray. There was not any voodoo, Islamic, orBuddhist services. This scene was repeated in every town and hamletthat was passed during the day.
Pastor Ignace, asked, "Can people still say that Haiti is a voodoo country?" What has been happening and is continuing to happenin Haiti did not happen because of the earthquake. It has been happening
because the Haitian people know how to pray. This is a tremendous
outpouring of God's power as the result of prayer. Twenty years
ago I as a pastor started praying for the Gospel to change the Haitian culture.
I am seeing God do that work.
The only sadness that I feel today is for our United States. While a nation
that has long been under Satan's domination is turning to God
with total commitment, our nation, founded on God's values has
rejected God and is rapidly trying to forget that His name even
exists. Let us pray for revival. "
Praise God. A new country added to the Kingdom. Praise God.
Paul Harvey always had a portion of his radio programs called "the rest of the story."Everyone heard Pat Robertson tell of the VooDoo ministered over Haiti and the dedicationof it to Satan. All that was true but this is "the rest of the story" as related by an Americanmissionary [pastor in Haiti.] ghp"February 17th was the one month anniversary of the great Haitian earthquake.
The Haitian President, Rene Preval announced that there would be 3 days ofholiday from work for the purpose of fasting and prayer. This is absolutelyhistoric. Could you image such an announcement from the U.S. President? This morning I saw a young Haitian-American woman, the leader of a workteam, crying because the Americans could not understand the incredibleimportance of this day and wanted to go about business as usual. Remember,it was only about 6 years ago that a former Haitian president called the
nation to come together to rededicate the nation to Satan. In this outpouringof God's Spirit, 101 VooDoo priests accepted the Lord Jesus and turned fromtheir former ways and 3000 Haitians accepted Jesus as Savior.
This was not something insignificant. Whatever the President might have
originally intended, this became a real commitment for the Haitian
people. You could hear the preaching coming from nearby churches. Services were going on all day and into the night.
Around 7:30 am stepped out to go to our destination and were met by throngs of well dressed people headed to various churches. The sounds ofChristian music and worship filled the air everywhere. The next observationwas that there was NO traffic. Port-au-Prince streets are always cloggedand overflowing with bumper to bumper traffic. This morning there wereonly a few vehicles on the roads, a few small buses, some UN and militaryvehicles, and a few private cars. There was clear sailing through town. Thesame was true of foot traffic. Usually the streets are clogged also withpeople walking. Today there were only a few and many of them dressed forchurch. The only place that there were traffic blocks was in front of severalchurches where the congregations had overflowed the buildings and the yardsand moved out into the streets.
EVERYTHING was closed! Not even one business or gas station open. There were no intercity buses running. Whereas the sidewalksare usually overflowing with millions of street venders, only a few werescattered here and there. The huge outdoor market near the wharfwhere thousands work each day and is spread out to cover most ofthe street, was EMPTY.
Where were all the people? They were in churches and makeshift
meeting sites. Every church except Jehovah Witnesses had services
going on, always overflowing into the streets. To the side of broken down churches, services were taking place outside. In
homeless camps, there were services. Everywhere the nation was
gathered to worship and pray. There was not any voodoo, Islamic, orBuddhist services. This scene was repeated in every town and hamletthat was passed during the day.
Pastor Ignace, asked, "Can people still say that Haiti is a voodoo country?" What has been happening and is continuing to happenin Haiti did not happen because of the earthquake. It has been happening
because the Haitian people know how to pray. This is a tremendous
outpouring of God's power as the result of prayer. Twenty years
ago I as a pastor started praying for the Gospel to change the Haitian culture.
I am seeing God do that work.
The only sadness that I feel today is for our United States. While a nation
that has long been under Satan's domination is turning to God
with total commitment, our nation, founded on God's values has
rejected God and is rapidly trying to forget that His name even
exists. Let us pray for revival. "
Praise God. A new country added to the Kingdom. Praise God.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Today I attended a friends funeral for their Grandfather. I never met him myself, but I couldn't help but think that I knew him. Over the years I have gotten to know one of there Sons, Garret, pretty good through volunteering at our church youth group. I've gotten to know most of his kids pretty good as well, and they have all turned out pretty strong in their beliefs. I mention this because, like I said earlier, I have never met him face to face before but that doesn't mean I don't know him.
Jesus was called the Son of God, not because He was born of God the Father but, because when you look at the son you see the father. When I look at the Snellen girls I see the same strong faith and friendship that I see in their dad. And when I see Garret and how he is very strong in what he believes and how important his family is to him, I can't help but see that it also came from his father.
Lord Jesus, please be with the Snellen family as they have just lost someone who is dear to them. Though not a permanent loss, it is still a hard thing to bear. But we will meet up with him one day, he just beat us home. So until that day, please help the Snellens through this difficult time in their life. Amen.
Jesus was called the Son of God, not because He was born of God the Father but, because when you look at the son you see the father. When I look at the Snellen girls I see the same strong faith and friendship that I see in their dad. And when I see Garret and how he is very strong in what he believes and how important his family is to him, I can't help but see that it also came from his father.
Lord Jesus, please be with the Snellen family as they have just lost someone who is dear to them. Though not a permanent loss, it is still a hard thing to bear. But we will meet up with him one day, he just beat us home. So until that day, please help the Snellens through this difficult time in their life. Amen.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Memories
My youth group is going to Snow Camp this Friday, I can not go due to work. But the very fact that they are going brings memories to mind of the first time I went to Snow Camp.
It my first time ever going to a camp in the winter time. We all arrived there by bus, received our team color, green, and headed off to our cabin. In the morning we all had a huge breakfast and started on the planned activities. First off was BARBARIAN!!!!! Oh man! What a game. For those of you who are unaware of what Barbarian is, here is a rundown of the game.
The field is split up into four groups with a circle where the judges are in the middle. Think of a cross with a circle where the two lines meet. In each section of the cross, a circle with five balls in it. Every player has a flag attached to there body. Now that you can picture the field and players, here comes the good stuff. The goal of the game is to collect as many balls from the other teams territory and add it to your own. If you see someone in your territory than you take them down, take their flag, and turn it into the judges for end game points.
Okay, now that you know how the game works, back to my story.
The very first time I ever played Barbarian, we were all having fun, getting some balls, stopping some others from getting ours, we were doing pretty good. From my point of view we had a pretty good defense and a few fast and agile people who would attack. I thought this isn't to hard. And then it happened. All at once, with not so much as a warning, the red team, the yellow team, and the blue team all attacked us at once!!! People were rushing in trying desperately to get the balls out of our territory. We all surrounded the circle, me and another girl, Paige, were busy tackling, blocking, ripping off flags, and just taking our opponents to the ground. Sometimes, I would hold them up and she would take the flag, other times I would take them down and strip them of it myself. And a couple of times Paige shocked me by taking down guys who were three times her size. I didn't know how anybody else was doing until it all stopped. People stopped rushing in on us and started to head back toward the center with the last bit of flags they had captured. We followed suit and went to the judges with a whopping 31 flags and were missing no balls whatsoever!!! It was the best game I have ever played. Score one victory for the Green team.
The next big event was basketball. I didn't watch the game, but I did find out that we won the game. As we also won Volleyball we were the leaders of the weekend in points. We won the Barbarian game with a substantial lead in points, we won basketball and volleyball in what was a close game. And then came the talent show.
First of all, I do realize that this was kind of a jerkish thing to do, but it was funny none the less. We all decided to sing the Lion Sleeps tonight and then go into We Will Rock You afterwards. I had the Idea that we could each get a flag from a different color of team and when we all sang, "waving your banner all over the place", we would whip out the flags swirl then in the air and then throw them on the ground, "We will, we will rock you", stomp stomp on the flag clap, stomp stomp on the flag clap. Of course we invited all the green team up to take part in this, not just our youth group. Ending result, we got booed off stage!!! LOL, oh I could of expected a better response from the other teams. I mean, we didn't care if we lost the talent show, we had already won the weekend whether we won or lost , it didn't make a difference. So we just had a little fun.
Ah, yes, that was an event to remember for the ages. But the fun didn't end quite yet. Just before we left the camp, we all piled in our vehicles, rolled down the windows and blared "We are the Champions" just to end off the weekend.
One of our youth is going to Snow Camp this year and has never gone before. I sure hope that she has as much fun as I did when I first went there.
It my first time ever going to a camp in the winter time. We all arrived there by bus, received our team color, green, and headed off to our cabin. In the morning we all had a huge breakfast and started on the planned activities. First off was BARBARIAN!!!!! Oh man! What a game. For those of you who are unaware of what Barbarian is, here is a rundown of the game.
The field is split up into four groups with a circle where the judges are in the middle. Think of a cross with a circle where the two lines meet. In each section of the cross, a circle with five balls in it. Every player has a flag attached to there body. Now that you can picture the field and players, here comes the good stuff. The goal of the game is to collect as many balls from the other teams territory and add it to your own. If you see someone in your territory than you take them down, take their flag, and turn it into the judges for end game points.
Okay, now that you know how the game works, back to my story.
The very first time I ever played Barbarian, we were all having fun, getting some balls, stopping some others from getting ours, we were doing pretty good. From my point of view we had a pretty good defense and a few fast and agile people who would attack. I thought this isn't to hard. And then it happened. All at once, with not so much as a warning, the red team, the yellow team, and the blue team all attacked us at once!!! People were rushing in trying desperately to get the balls out of our territory. We all surrounded the circle, me and another girl, Paige, were busy tackling, blocking, ripping off flags, and just taking our opponents to the ground. Sometimes, I would hold them up and she would take the flag, other times I would take them down and strip them of it myself. And a couple of times Paige shocked me by taking down guys who were three times her size. I didn't know how anybody else was doing until it all stopped. People stopped rushing in on us and started to head back toward the center with the last bit of flags they had captured. We followed suit and went to the judges with a whopping 31 flags and were missing no balls whatsoever!!! It was the best game I have ever played. Score one victory for the Green team.
The next big event was basketball. I didn't watch the game, but I did find out that we won the game. As we also won Volleyball we were the leaders of the weekend in points. We won the Barbarian game with a substantial lead in points, we won basketball and volleyball in what was a close game. And then came the talent show.
First of all, I do realize that this was kind of a jerkish thing to do, but it was funny none the less. We all decided to sing the Lion Sleeps tonight and then go into We Will Rock You afterwards. I had the Idea that we could each get a flag from a different color of team and when we all sang, "waving your banner all over the place", we would whip out the flags swirl then in the air and then throw them on the ground, "We will, we will rock you", stomp stomp on the flag clap, stomp stomp on the flag clap. Of course we invited all the green team up to take part in this, not just our youth group. Ending result, we got booed off stage!!! LOL, oh I could of expected a better response from the other teams. I mean, we didn't care if we lost the talent show, we had already won the weekend whether we won or lost , it didn't make a difference. So we just had a little fun.
Ah, yes, that was an event to remember for the ages. But the fun didn't end quite yet. Just before we left the camp, we all piled in our vehicles, rolled down the windows and blared "We are the Champions" just to end off the weekend.
One of our youth is going to Snow Camp this year and has never gone before. I sure hope that she has as much fun as I did when I first went there.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
That was a long tunnel.
Over the past few years, it has seemed to me that my dad has hard a pretty hard time, what with his back, not having a job, as well as other health problems seemed to hit him one after the other. Whenever anyone feels, that you can imagine your in a dark tunnel, no light to be found. And just when you think things can't get any worse, the car gets wrecked. You know that God will provide the way out, but you don't have an idea of when or where you will get back out of this tunnel. Then the unthinkable happens, "is that light up ahead?"
Praise be to God as my dad has found a job in Kitchener at Glencairn MB Church, and is finally out of this tunnel! For the first time in my parents life they will have enough money to live life a little more comfortably and be able to pay off some old debts! Thats a burden lifted, and from what I could tell, Glencairn seems to be a very Family oriented church. So that will also help with the spiritual healing all need when going through or coming out of a rough patch in you life.
Lord, thank you so much for this Blessing you have given my parents. I know that it has been longed for for many years. All the struggles and hardships my family faced was to help us grow into a family who trusts you for provision, and you have provided. Thank You, amen.
Praise be to God as my dad has found a job in Kitchener at Glencairn MB Church, and is finally out of this tunnel! For the first time in my parents life they will have enough money to live life a little more comfortably and be able to pay off some old debts! Thats a burden lifted, and from what I could tell, Glencairn seems to be a very Family oriented church. So that will also help with the spiritual healing all need when going through or coming out of a rough patch in you life.
Lord, thank you so much for this Blessing you have given my parents. I know that it has been longed for for many years. All the struggles and hardships my family faced was to help us grow into a family who trusts you for provision, and you have provided. Thank You, amen.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Homesick for Heaven
Have you ever gotten the the heavy feeling like you have been away from home for to long? Like you wish to be somewhere else, where you will be with your long lost family? Whenever I come into a situation where my beliefs and faith conflict with someone else's, I get this feeling. I have this feeling right now, as I type this post. I get an overbearing sense that i don't belong. As everybody who reads this will probably agree, everyone longs to belong. Mostly we try and find the right group of friends, try and be accepted in you family by believing or following similar beliefs as your siblings. But to no avail, that sense of belonging just doesn't quite fill the need.
Then, as I read the title of a picture where I got the name of this post, I was reminded that we are simply "Homesick for Heaven". We know deep down inside that we don't belong here on Earth, that this is a temporary placement until Jesus comes to take us home. So next time you are feeling like you don't belong don't beat yourself up trying to find a place to belong. You already do belong, just not on earth.
Remember, the next time we see Jesus won't just be a visit, we are going home.
Praise God.
Then, as I read the title of a picture where I got the name of this post, I was reminded that we are simply "Homesick for Heaven". We know deep down inside that we don't belong here on Earth, that this is a temporary placement until Jesus comes to take us home. So next time you are feeling like you don't belong don't beat yourself up trying to find a place to belong. You already do belong, just not on earth.
Remember, the next time we see Jesus won't just be a visit, we are going home.
Praise God.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Concept of War.
The Concept of War, I have found, is usually looked upon badly by the Christian community. All people tend to think about when the topic of war comes along is murder, rape, assassinations, and torture of troops and/or civilians. Don't get me wrong here, I also agree that that is bad. But people, Christians especially in my opinion, tend to forget that there is a more serious war going on that we tend not to pay attention to. Which is strange considering, we're in it!!!
In 1 Peter 2:10-12, it says, "11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us". There are a couple things that caught my attention in this passage. As "aliens and strangers" we are, or should be, foreign to the world. And since we are foreign, people should see us as different, right? Does anyone reading this know what generally scares people the most? Lack of Knowledge. People have always feared what they didn't understand. In Bible times people were afraid of deep water because they thought that monsters or evil spirits lived there. So if we are foreign to the people around us, we should not just be blending into the background. In fact, we should be causing people to feel a little discomfort from doing things so differently. And when two opposing ways of life occupy the same area, there will be conflict.
Similarly, when peter tells us, "to abstain from sinful desires, which WAR against your soul" we can gather that when we give into our sinful desires, it poses a conflict against our soul. So just as we will probably cause some uneasiness in the people around us, the people around us can have just as much of an effect on us. This constant conflict is part of this war I am describing.
So, now that we have established that we are indeed part of a war, what should we do about it? Well in Matthew 28:16-20, the Great Commission, it says, "16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age".
I want to focus on a few things of mention. First of all, what is a disciple?
On thefreedictionary.com the definition of disciple is "One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another" and comes from the Latin word "discipulus" meaning pupil. So we are supposed to be pupils of Jesus and teachers of others. Others who want to join God's Army are to be taught by others by those who have experience to share. But, as we are called to be pupils as well as teachers, we who have more experience aren't in high rank over the new follower, but are in ranks with them. That is what it means to be a disciple. That is what the family of God is supposed to look like.
I have joined the Army of The One, have you?
In 1 Peter 2:10-12, it says, "11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us". There are a couple things that caught my attention in this passage. As "aliens and strangers" we are, or should be, foreign to the world. And since we are foreign, people should see us as different, right? Does anyone reading this know what generally scares people the most? Lack of Knowledge. People have always feared what they didn't understand. In Bible times people were afraid of deep water because they thought that monsters or evil spirits lived there. So if we are foreign to the people around us, we should not just be blending into the background. In fact, we should be causing people to feel a little discomfort from doing things so differently. And when two opposing ways of life occupy the same area, there will be conflict.
Similarly, when peter tells us, "to abstain from sinful desires, which WAR against your soul" we can gather that when we give into our sinful desires, it poses a conflict against our soul. So just as we will probably cause some uneasiness in the people around us, the people around us can have just as much of an effect on us. This constant conflict is part of this war I am describing.
So, now that we have established that we are indeed part of a war, what should we do about it? Well in Matthew 28:16-20, the Great Commission, it says, "16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age".
I want to focus on a few things of mention. First of all, what is a disciple?
On thefreedictionary.com the definition of disciple is "One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another" and comes from the Latin word "discipulus" meaning pupil. So we are supposed to be pupils of Jesus and teachers of others. Others who want to join God's Army are to be taught by others by those who have experience to share. But, as we are called to be pupils as well as teachers, we who have more experience aren't in high rank over the new follower, but are in ranks with them. That is what it means to be a disciple. That is what the family of God is supposed to look like.
I have joined the Army of The One, have you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)