You are really convinced that you’ve got all the answers. You’ve really got yourself tricked into believing that you’re 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you’re right, as you say you are, and believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your ‘loving’ god created, yet you stand by and do nothing.
If you believe one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unreachable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That’s equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You’re just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that ‘walk’ signal will shine your way across the road.
Think about it. Imagine the horrors of Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You’re just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you’re right then you’re uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as loving and caring.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Student Life Mission Camp 2010
Some of you know that i recently went on a mission trip with my youth group to Cleveland, Tennesse. And many of you have been asking for details so i thought i would send out a message to you to elaborate more on what God did in my life and the lives of my youth group. First of all, for the actual mission part my youth group was split into two groups. one group went to an appartment complex and did a backyard bible club and the other half (which i was in) went to the YMCA and basically just joined the program. we got assigned to an age group (mine was 5-6) and we played with them from about 11 until 3ish each day. One of the girls favorite things to do was play with my hair. they did many different crazy hairstyles and it honestly wasnt the most comfortable thing for me to do. I honestly would have rather been out there playing kickball with the boys but after a day of feelin that way I realized how selfish i was being! we had come to serve them, not to have fun although those two things can come hand in hand. so for the rest of the week i let them do whatever they want with my hair and even wore it around even though it drove me crazy bc i hate having my hair all over the place. lol Also, something that was really cool was on thursday, the last day with the kids, we got to make salvation bracelets, bracelets that have six different beads and with them put together explains what salvation is. and after we made them i got to stand up in front of them and explain the gospel to them which was so cool! then a little girl came up to me and said, "I want to know more." which thrilled me to death!! so i got to sit down with her and explain in more detail who Jesus is and what he did. and she was really interested and paying attention!! that was definitely one of the highlights of my week! Throught this i really learner what it means to serve and to lay down my wants and desires and put other before me. I also decided to get a Compassion child (through compassion international). her name is Angel and shes 5 years old. Shes from Indonesia and her birthday is in november, close to mine. :) Also, another super exciting thing that happened was befroe camp i had really felt God calling me to reach out to the junior high girls and to help lead their group but i wasnt for sure whether that was just something I wanted or something that God was actually calling me to, so i prayed about it and basically said, "God if this is your will, show me a sign." then on the way to camp i found out that my youth pastor decided to assign me and two other girls to be student leaders, meaning we would be helping out with the junior high girls which was such and amazing moment and answer to prayer!! and chad my youth pastor offered me a job after high school to actually lead the junior high girls class!! God is amazing!! another awesome moment was during worship. I like to go sit by the wall and just have my own worship bc i get distracted at how other people are noticing me and other random things. so one night i was sitting there and i just sat there for a while and watched my youth group praise God. It was so incredibly amazing!! I watched people lift their hands to God and groups praying for each other and hugging each other and i was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with God. I just started sobbing and said "I'm overwhelmed! I'm overwhelmed!" over and over again. I was overwhelmed with the fact that God loves me so much yet i treat him like trash! I dont understand!! he loves me so perfectly, yet i reject him daily! Overall, it was a great experience! I had some really good talks with alot of my friends and got to know their hearts a little better. God is AMAZING!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Maturity
"Maturity is not perfection, its learning how to deal with your lack of perfection in a way that is honoring to the Lord."
Sunday, April 4, 2010
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Hiding Place: God is our refuge
“I don’t know [what will happen], but if God has shown us bad times ahead, it’s enough for me that he knows about them. That’s why he sometimes shows us things, you know-to tell us that this too is in his hands.” (The Hiding Place, pg. 63)
“My sister, though seven years older than I, still had that slender grace that made people turn and look after her in the street. Heaven knows it wasn’t her clothes; our little watch shop had never made much money. But when Betsie put on a dress, something happened to it.” (Pg. 2)
“Will you carry it [my suitcase] off the train, Corrie?” he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
“It’s too heavy, “ I said.
“Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”
And I was satisfied. More than satisfied-wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all my hard questions-for now I was content to leave them in my father’s keeping. (pg. 26)
Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. “Corrie,” he began gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?”
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
“Why, just before we get on the train.”
“Exactly. And our wise Father in Heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-just in time.” (pg. 29)
“Lord, you turn the wheels of the galaxies. You know what makes the planets spin and You know what makes this watch run…You are the One who sets the atoms dancing and keeps the great currents circling through the sea.” (pg. 53)
“There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of his will is our safety-O Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!” (pg. 67)
He hung naked on the cross.
I had not know-I had not though…The paintings, the carved crucifixes showed at the least a scrap of cloth. But this, I suddenly knew, was the respect and reverence of the artist. But oh-at the time itself, on that other Friday morning-there had been no reverence. No more than I saw in the faces around us now.
I leaned toward Betsie, ahead of me in line. “Betsie, they took His clothes too.”
Ahead of me I heard a little gasp. “Oh Corrie. And I never thanked him….” (pg. 196)
And so I struggled on with worship and teaching that had ceased to be real. Until one drizzly, raw afternoon when just enough light came through the window to read by, I came to Paul’s account of his “thorn in the flesh.” Three times, he said, he had begged God to take away his weakness, whatever it was. And each time God had said, Rely on me. At last Paul concluded-the words seemed to leap from the page-that his very weakness was something to give thanks for. Because now Paul knew that none of the wonders and miracles which followed his ministry could be due to his own virtues. It was all Christ’s strength, never Paul’s. (pg. 214)
“My sister, though seven years older than I, still had that slender grace that made people turn and look after her in the street. Heaven knows it wasn’t her clothes; our little watch shop had never made much money. But when Betsie put on a dress, something happened to it.” (Pg. 2)
“Will you carry it [my suitcase] off the train, Corrie?” he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
“It’s too heavy, “ I said.
“Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”
And I was satisfied. More than satisfied-wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all my hard questions-for now I was content to leave them in my father’s keeping. (pg. 26)
Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. “Corrie,” he began gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?”
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
“Why, just before we get on the train.”
“Exactly. And our wise Father in Heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-just in time.” (pg. 29)
“Lord, you turn the wheels of the galaxies. You know what makes the planets spin and You know what makes this watch run…You are the One who sets the atoms dancing and keeps the great currents circling through the sea.” (pg. 53)
“There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of his will is our safety-O Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!” (pg. 67)
He hung naked on the cross.
I had not know-I had not though…The paintings, the carved crucifixes showed at the least a scrap of cloth. But this, I suddenly knew, was the respect and reverence of the artist. But oh-at the time itself, on that other Friday morning-there had been no reverence. No more than I saw in the faces around us now.
I leaned toward Betsie, ahead of me in line. “Betsie, they took His clothes too.”
Ahead of me I heard a little gasp. “Oh Corrie. And I never thanked him….” (pg. 196)
And so I struggled on with worship and teaching that had ceased to be real. Until one drizzly, raw afternoon when just enough light came through the window to read by, I came to Paul’s account of his “thorn in the flesh.” Three times, he said, he had begged God to take away his weakness, whatever it was. And each time God had said, Rely on me. At last Paul concluded-the words seemed to leap from the page-that his very weakness was something to give thanks for. Because now Paul knew that none of the wonders and miracles which followed his ministry could be due to his own virtues. It was all Christ’s strength, never Paul’s. (pg. 214)
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