Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Reign

The earth hears the rain. It feels it. It knows of its presence. The world can’t help but acknowledge its existence. The rain makes people acknowledge that it is there and forces them to put up with its constant down pour of annoying drips and drops, or take cover under a simple, yet effective, piece of clothe formed around metal bars.
Rain is so harmless…. but can’t be denied its existence. It rains in the east. It rains in the west. It pours in the south, and cascades in the north. It’s so simple, but yet so forceful. We cannot help but try and learn something from the rain.
It’s not a threat in itself, but put a force behind it and it’s a natural disaster worth running away from. How can we not learn from the rain? It’s there. It persists. But by itself, it is harmless. This is how I view the Christian life. We as Christians are nothing but a rain drop hoping for the world to accept and acknowledge what we have to say. Yes we are noticed, but not respected by our passerbyers. They only stop, stare and move on.
We are nothing alone. But send us in, together, surrounded by our fellow brothers and sisters pouring forth in a cascade never before seen! Put a man on the front lines with nothing to fear except the God he serves and you will win a battle. Now put millions of them together in one onslaught and you will win lives.

As they cascade down across the region, they are not there by random chance but by the command of something greater then themselves. Someone I should say, a God with a wrath like the scorch of the sun, but a love as tranquil as calm seas. He stands above us as we make our onslaught on the evils of this world and try to help people realize their original sin. He casts down His wrath like lightning and commands his men and women at arms with the Word like clashing thunder. A storm so strong and glorious, it’s as if the earth stops to listen, and all other noise and commotion, every other occurrence and plan set before it crumbles beneath its presence. That’s what it is like to be one with the Father, a force worth reckoning with.
Yes we all drizzle down from the sky every once and a while putting forth what we have to say and trying to get those wandering people to see the truth, but when we stand with a glorious cloud, a ruler of the sky who won’t take just recognition but demands respect, honor and glory. No one can help but run for cover and wait and listen as the rain pours, and the thunder booms across the valleys and the lightning screeches across the sky.
But what about the first drop? Alone a drop of water is well, just a drop of water, but when it falls from the sky it brings an ominous presence with it. Don’t underestimate the power of any single drop of rain for all it takes is one drop to start a downpour or to make one person at a time look up and stare at the sky.
The first drop, a single drop of rain, is the storm’s runner. It delivers its message so simply and clearly to the people below. As a raindrop is a storm’s runner, we are God’s runners. All it takes is the voice of one man to bring God’s word and to start the tides. It takes only one drop of rain to make a person look up and see the billowing, dark, and monstrous clouds that he failed to notice until the runner finally delivered its message. The runner has come. Were here, waiting, just staring at the sky. We were fearfully and wonderfully made. So let’s sit and listen to the rain.

-Dan Beal

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Insight

my best friend went through a rough time last year, and it was awesome to see her build up from the inside out when she would read these encouraging quotes from one of her devotional books. she would send them to me just to let her know how God was speaking to her. it was awesome to see God at work within her. with these quotes, they encouraged her just to rely on God, put our full faith and trust in His hands and not anyone else's hands.

so i thought i would share some of these quotes and verses with you!


"Take heart. God loves, God helps, God fights, God wins. You shall see. You shall know. The way will open. All My love has ever planned, all My love has ever thought, you shall see each day unfold. Only be taught. Just be a child. A child never questions plans, it accepts gladly"

"When Satan tempts me to dispair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is free, for God, the Just."

"Literally, you have to depend on Me for everything...everything. It was out of the depths that David cried unto Me, and I heard his voice. All is well."

"Loosen your hold on earth, its cares, it worries, even its joys. Unclasp your hands, relax, and then the tide of Easter joy will come."

"So with you now the goal is in sight, you need your final cry to Me. Can you not see by the nerve and heart wreck of the past few days that your race is nearly run? Courage, courage. Heed My voice of encouragment. Remember that I am by your side, spurring you onto victory!"

"Nothing in the day is too small to be a part of My scheme. The little stones in a mosaic play a big part."

"You are being led in a very definite way, and others, who do not serve your purpose, are being moved out of your path by Me."
-Brian Gallagher 

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

"When God measures a man, he puts the tape around his heart, not his head."

You'll never look at coffee the same way again (and as college kids, we look at coffee a lot)

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how thing were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as though just as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about 20 minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter she said, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did, and noted that they weer soft. Then the mother asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.

The daughter asked, "what does it mean, mother?" as she drank the coffee. Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

Which are you? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

- posted by Caroline Hoffman 

Saturday, July 30, 2011

How He Loves- John Mark McMillan


How He Loves- The Story





-

I Can Achieve


I can’t convey to you what it takes to lead a life I wish to live. But in my heart, within the depths of my very being, I know what kind of life I want to live. I want to be able to look back at all that I have done and be able to say I have achieved a life only dreamers can dream of. It is hard for me to say that I have done well at anything because I am by far harder on myself than anyone could ever imagine. I’m not good at taking compliments, especially from myself. But when my time comes, when the rubber no longer touches the road but the eyes look to the sky and witnesses the inspiration I have been waiting for. When a man no longer sees the present for he sees the past he has created, the love he has shown, the friendships he has made, and the lives he has changed drastically beyond the vision of his own eyes, I will finally know why I have this intention, this motivation to achieve greatness. I have this passion, drive, overriding desire to witness something no simple man of this world can believe to behold with their own fading vision. The men of this world are losing this desire. They have let trivial and stupid interests take over their minds like money, pornography, sexuality, and envy and many others take hold of the sub-conscious. No longer do men think for themselves for if they did the desire I posses would resonate from the inside out. Sadly I, myself, only feel the slight yet unmistakable touch of this desire. It only resonates when my own fading eyes witness the desire and passion emit from my fellow man. Only then does it respond and bellow from my heart, my spirit. The mind is only as strong as God will let it be, the body is only as strong as you make it, and the heart is strongest when it feels love. But the spirit is limitless. The strength of the spirit relies on the strength of all of these. Don’t let the spirit fail or else the mind goes gray, the body goes limp and the heart feels the cold embrace of loneliness. Don’t let your hearts deepest desire to achieve greatness go unwitnessed.


-Dan Beal 

Friday, July 29, 2011

Verse of the Day

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting
away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our
light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
~2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

Brian Gallagher 

The Jersey Shore Cast & Playboy Bunnie




I got the same old friends
They got the same old sins
I tell the same old jokes
Give the same old grins
But now the jokes sound new
And the laughter does too
Everyday of my life
As fresh as morning dew
-Dusty Springfield


          Fellowship. Food. Fun. I remember those words always being used in accordance with youth group or church events. Flyers would be handed out stressing the fellowship and fun that would surely ensue. And of course, the food part was always thrown in there, because who doesn’t love free food?!
             If I’m being completely honest, I love hanging out with the friends of mine who bring along with them good, wholesome fellowship. On most days, I would rather hang out with my friends who believe that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior than the friends of mine that don’t quite see things that way. There’s nothing quite like arguing free will versus predestination or discussing the shotty theology of Rob Bell’s newest book. Just being in a community of believers is exhilarating, and if you are blessed enough to receive the gift of eternal life; won’t eternity be spent in perfect fellowship? So why not just get used to it? Why even bother hanging out with your ‘non-Christian’ friends? Let’s just evangelize to them; just tell them the Good News and move on. God even calls us to do so; “go and make disciples” and “preach the good news”.

Matthew 9:10 “
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.”
             What in the world do we do with this? JESUS, the man who knew no sin, who was flawlessly perfect, who was God in the flesh, was hanging out with sinners and tax collectors? Tax collectors, the present-day IRS; these guys were scum, they were notorious for overcharging people and keeping the money; Jesus was gathering with these types of people!? Imagine Jesus hanging out with the Jersey Shore cast and the Playboy bunnies. Shouldn’t Jesus (and His disciples, for that matter) be surrounding themselves with better company? After all, bad company corrupts good character, right?
             And so the Pharisees, who are completely astounded that Jesus is in the presence of such low lives, ask the disciples why Jesus is subjecting Himself to this. Jesus, (being omnipresent and all) overhears the Pharisees and says, 
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12)
             WHOA! Jesus just showed them up! Why would a healthy person need a doctor? Why would a clean person need a bath? Why would a millionaire need payment protection insurance? These sinners needed to hear the Good News; Jesus needed to be the Good News to them. I think we are called to do the same thing. I’m not saying ditch all your Christian friends and only befriend the sinners, but make sure you invest time and energy into reaching people, and go beyond just reaching them and eat with them, talk with them, be with them. Be careful not to conform to their ways; be in their world, but not of their world. Establish yourself in the truths of the Bible and in the direction of the Holy Spirit and always rely on God to be your Rock. 
-Christa Coners 


In the Beginning

Recently, I have been reading through the book of Acts and it has once again reminded me of the need for a relationship with Jesus Christ. Peter and Paul and Andrew and all of the other disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and only in that, were they able to do the work of the Lord. They would  go out into the streets daily promoting the name of Jesus Christ and calling on the Holy Spirit to give them strength and guidance. And we too have that power, as followers of Christ ,we too have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we too have been given the power to call upon the name of Jesus for strength. As Christians we have great power to serve the Lord, but we can do nothing until we realize that power.


When reading through the Bible I have come across amazing men and women who had amazing abilities. Noah was able to build an arc, save his family, and start a new generation of people. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Mary conceived a child as a virgin. Paul spread Christianity throughout the Mediterranean world and started the first churches.
I used to think that these people were special, that they were chosen by God because they possessed something that I would never have. But the truth of the matter is there wasn’t anything inherently different about these people. They were sinners and fools just like the rest of us. But they new a secret, they new the true power of the Lord and were able to call upon that power. Only in that were they able to change the world, only through listening to God and calling on the powers He gives all of us were they able to do something extraordinary.
     And we have that very same ability. They were able to change a Corner of their Universe- can we do the same?


1 Kings 19:11-12


The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
   Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.


-Rachel D'Ascendis