Going upstream this Christmas

I had the chance deliver the Christmas message at the church I attend here in Park Rapids. I was speaking as a member of the General Board of Church and Society of the UMC, so I'll spare you that half of the sermon (http://fromtheblizzard.blogspot.com for the full spiel).

Scripture: John 1:1-14 (In the beginning was the word...you know, THE Christmas scripture besides the manger story).

Good morning this Christmas! I’m deeply humbled to be able to share with you this joyous morning.
So, today we celebrate the coming of the word and the light into the world. It seems prudent to ask some questions. Why is Jesus called light? What does it mean to follow the light of the world? What does it mean to spread that light to all, that all might be children of God?
I’d like to start thinking about these questions by doing a little imagining. Come with me on a picnic, will you? It’s been winter for awhile here, let’s pretend it’s a warm summer day and we’re heading to the river with some family or friends for a nice afternoon. Imagine you’re just sitting down to a yummy picnic lunch when suddenly behind you you hear some water splashing and the sound of someone struggling. You turn around and there’s a person in the water, calling for help! What do you do? (congregation responds…jump in, throw a floatie). OK, so you get the person up on the beach, safe and sputtering, and you’re tending to him when you hear the same sounds of struggling again. You turn around and this time, there are 3 people, drowning in the river. Now what do you do? (grab a friend or family member and go in, etc.) Alright, so it might be a challenge but in pinch you could probably save the 3 people. But no sooner have you gotten them up on the shore than you turn around to loud shouts to see some 15, maybe 20 people in the water. What do you do? (pray, call for more help) What if before you know it, there are 40 people? (eventually someone says… “Go up stream to see who or what’s throwing the people in the river”).
Maybe you didn’t quite expect that answer. I think often we do feel called, as Christians, to jump in the river and do what we can to save those struggling in the water. But when the water is filled with strugglers, and we are doing all we can to stay afloat ourselves, the situation can seem not only overwhelming, but hopeless. Here is where Christmas comes in. Friends, that first Christmas was one big surprise filled with hope. For Christmas is about that journey upstream.
I’d like to visit once again the story as it’s told in Gospels.
A girl, a virgin who is engaged to be married, is visited by an angel and told she’ll give birth to God’s son. Even though it’s a mortal crime, literally punishable by death, to have extra-marital relations, Mary takes the risk and is willing to be God’s servant. Then when it’s almost time for the baby, Mary and Joseph must travel. There is no room in the inn and they are given shelter in a stable with the animals. The newborn Jesus is laid on a feeding trough, on a bed of straw. The angels don’t announce the arrival of baby Jesus to King Herod, or to the Pharisees, as would be expected; instead the angels appear to lowly shepherds—as Pastor Don explained last night, the “nobodies” of society. In fact King Herod doesn’t hear about the birth until some time later, and only through three foreigners who later disobey his selfish orders. Why? When Jesus could have been born anywhere, to any woman, why was he born to a young virgin, and why were his first hours spent in a strange, harsh place in the company of the lowest of society? Perhaps because Jesus came as a savior for all people, not just the rich and the established. And perhaps because in Jesus’ day, the problem upstream was that to be a young woman meant you had few rights and little importance in society; perhaps because in Jesus’ day, to be lower on the societal ladder was to be considered less than human; perhaps his birth was the first confrontation in a long line of confrontations with societal norms that Jesus found unacceptable. Now, we have an entire Christian year to study the many times Jesus directly challenged a system or institution, be it political, religious, or cultural, that was unfair or unjust. Today, may his humble birth remind us to look about ourselves and identify the areas of our life and areas of society in which we have grown complacent and comfortable with the status quo; Christmas should be a time when we look around to find the areas of our life and society in which we are perfectly happy to worship a child who may as well have been born in a hotel or a hospital. Christmas should be a time when we ask ourselves, “Is it okay that 1/6 of the world’s population is severely food insecure?” Christmas should be a time when we should ask ourselves, “Is it okay that the leading cause of death in the world for ages 15 to 49 is a completely preventable disease?” HIV/AIDS/Pneumonia. Is it OK that here in the cold, wintery state of MN, more than 1,000 people turned away from full homeless shelters on any given night? Is it OK that over half of 20,000 homeless or precariously housed Minnesotans are children? Is it OK that 41% are working part or full time and still can’t make enough to afford rental or mortgage? Christmas, of all days, should be a time when the church confronts the world about these unacceptable realities in the same way that Jesus did on that night so many years ago. For most of all, Christmas should be a time when rather than thinking about how to do our duty by saving one or two people from the river, Christmas is the time when we go upriver. And we go upriver in the name of a God who didn’t send a son to preach that we should help people when it’s ‘convenient,’ but in the name of a God who sent his to be born of a virgin in a stable, worshipped first by the lowest of society.
As followers of that baby in a manger, we must do everything we can to see that the hungry are able to feed themselves; that the naked are able to clothe themselves. And sometimes, this means more than rescuing people from the river—it means going to see why they’re drowning. This Christmas, I pray we do not worship a Christ who might as well been born to a married, experienced mother on a comfortable bed with the help of midwives. Today, let’s celebrate a most unconventional birth and commit again to shake ourselves from satisfaction with the way things are. Let’s worship a Christ child who still, today, gives light to the world by shattering the world’s expectations. And let’s remember that it is us, Christ’s followers here on earth, who must be the conduits for that light. WE must spread the news of his birth; we must share with others the joy of a baby born for all, and we must be living testimonies to the Christmas message of righting what is wrong and speaking out on behalf of those who society would rather forget or ignore.

--Kristina

Break

Sigh. . It is Christmas break, yea for that! I am going to take a break for a few days, it's crazy everywhere. I might catch em up. . . depends on how things are going. Many of you know it's hard for me to be home, and also hard for me just going through the holidays. Keep me in your prayers as i keep all of you. God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

"Two are better than one, for when one falls down his friend can help him up"
Ecclesiates 4:9-10 ( i think. . . )

Waiting

Christmas is suppose to be a time of waiting, that's what the advent wreath is all about right? Waiting for christ to be born. But he was already born. He lived, he taught, he inspired, and fulfilled his purpose through death. So what's the waiting about?

Really i have no answer to that, it's more of a vocal frustration about something kinda obvious. However we all know very well that waiting and patience are things we need to have to get through life every day. I guess i'll use me again for an example. . . I am at college, right now i am waiting to see a friend i haven't seen in months to go hang out. . . also waiting to move into another dorm room. . . and then waiting to go home. Waiting for a kinda important phone call from a friend. . . waiting to finish up some christmas presents. waiting to get out of college and into seminary. . . waiting to find out my purpose in the world. Oh i know i could go on, and i bet some of these ring bells with others.

Patience helps with all of this. The waiting part of advent i find helpful to think about with these things i listed. Waiting is a part of life. But not all of life, realize the things you need to wait for but also - enjoy the moment you have right now. and the next and the next.

God Bless,
~your sister in Christ, Erin~
Luke 2:25-32

25Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."

Hope

Along with the Christmas season comes many things, hope, joy, love, peace. Each week of advent focuses on a different thing, but i'd like to go back to hope. Our lives need hope, we need dreams to go forward in life. Christmas is a great exampe of how God brings us hope. Through Christ we are forgiven and can live again.

Kinda sort thought but still one that we can all apply to our own lives.
Here is one of the best passages outling hope. . .

Isaiah 40

Comfort for God's People

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, [c]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

Christmas

A Christmas devo sent to me, i really liked it. . .
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ, Erin

God so loved the world, He gave his only Son. John 3:16a

In ten words this verse tells us what God is like, who Jesus is, and
how much God cares for each of us and the world.
Without this message our planet and its people would be floating in
space and we would know only that we exist. The book of Genesis
tells us that God created the heavens and the earth. Now in John
3:16 we are told that God not only created the world, but that God
loved it and sent his Son to show how much God cared for it.
This is such a mind stretching idea that we occasionally need a
personal experience to make it sink in.
Henry Carter tells the following story that helped me sense how God
reaches out to us. He is a minister and supervisor of a home for
emotionally disturbed children.

I was working feverishly on my Christmas sermon---the hardest time
in any minister's year to find something fresh to say---when the
floor mother appeared at the study door. Another crisis upstairs.
Christmas Eve is a difficult day for the emotionally disturbed
children in our church home. Three-quarters of them go home at least
over night and the ones who remain react to to empty beds and the
changed routine.
I followed her up the stairs, chafing inwardly at the repeated
interruptions. This time it was Tommy. He had crawled under a bed
and refused to some out. The woman pointed to one of the six cots in
the small dormitory. Not a hair or a toe showed beneath it. so I
addressed myself to the cowboys and bucking broncos on the
bedspread. I talked about the brightly lighted tree in the church
vestibule next door and the packages underneath it and all the other
good things waiting for him out beyond that bed.
No answer.
Still fretting at the time this was costing, I dropped to my hands
and knees and lifted the spread. Two enormous blue eyes met mine.
Tommy was eight, but looked like a five-year-old. It would have been
no effort at all simply to pull him out. But it wasn't pulling that
Tommy needed---it was trust and a sense of deciding things on his own
initiative. So, crouched there on all fours, I launched into the
menu of the special Christmas Eve supper to be offered after the
service. I told him about the stocking with his name on it, provided
by the women's society.
Silence. There was no indication that he either heard or cared
about Christmas.
And at last, because I could think of no other way to make contact,
I got down on my stomach and wriggled in beside him, bedsprings
snagging my suit jacket. For what seemed a long time I lay there
with my cheek pressed against the floor. At first I talked about the
big wreath above the alter and the candles in the windows. I
reminded him of the carol he and the other children were going to
sing. Than I ran out of things to say and simply waited there beside
him.
And as I waited, a small, chilled hand crept into mine.
"You know, Tommy," I said after a bit, "it's kind of close quarters
under here. Let's you and me go out where we can stand up."
And so we did, but slowly, in no hurry. All the pressure had gone
from my day, because, you see, I had my Christmas sermon. Flattened
there on the floor I realized I had been given a new glimpse of the
mystery of this season.
Hadn't God called us, too, as I'd called Tommy, from far above us?
With His stars and mountains, His whole majestic creation, hadn't He
pleaded with us to love Him, to enjoy the universe He gave us?
And when we would not listen, He had drawn closer. Through prophets
and lawgivers and holy men, He spoke with us face-to-face.
But it was not until that first Christmas, until God stooped to
earth itself, until He took our very place and came to dwell with us
in our loneliness and alienation, that we, like Tommy, dared to
stretch out our hands to take hold of love.

PRAYER: Remind us, O God, that you are reaching out to us during
final exams, during the joyous times of homecoming, when we are on
the mountain top of joy and also when we go through the valley of
sorrow and death. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in
thee tonight. We prayer in Jesus' name, who is the only Son you gave.

Yours,
Ron Erickson

taking a step back

as i was trying to finish this up tonight i was thinking. . . hum what to do the devo on today. Couldn't think of anything in particular and was like come on Erin. . . just think. There i found my problem. So often i want something to happen the way i see it, and I forget who I'm working for. I forget who i dedicated my life to. God what do you want?

As i sat back in my chair saying Lord what do you want to share with us tonight i felt called to say that's exactly the problem sometimes. we get so used to doing things and being praised for it we forget where all our strenght, talent, and life comes from. We forget who we are doing it for, who we are living for.

i challenge you to look at your relationship with God with your life. . . and remember to inculde prayer and asking for God's advice when making decisions. He loves us and wants to be inculded, not just talked about and hung out with in alone time, but also brought with us throughout the rest of our lives.

Acts 17:27-28
27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

God Bless,
~your sister in Christ, Erin~

Music

I think music is amazing. Rhythm and melody can unite people of every nation and convey better emotionally than most other languages. Music is also a way we can express emotion, using more than just words but melody enhances the feeling in our souls. This is why i love church music. Old hymns that have stayed with us throught centuries not only because of the nice melody, but the truth that seeps out of them. Here are some of my old favorites:

Be thou my vison, oh Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me save that thou art;
though my best thought by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, the presence my light.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me;
that once was lost but now i'm found,
was blind but now i see.

Jesus loves me this i know,
for the bible tells me so;
little ones to him belong,
they are weak but he is strong.
Yes Jesus loves me.. . .

From thou font of every blessing,
la la la la la la la (oops?)
lord i wander, oh i feel it
prone to leave the God i love
take my heart oh take and seal it
to thy . . . . heart above.

Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

take some time today or in the next few days to make some joyful noise to the Lord, music is a great way to worship.
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Blessings and Being Loved

*Hope you don't mind, Erin, I felt called to share! =D*

1 John 3:14
14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

Romans 8:38-39
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Proverbs 17:17
17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.

I was pleasantly surprised today...
finals are drawing near as the semester is ending, and I'm starting to get a *wee bit* stressed out, not thinking that I'm going to be able to do everything I need to get done, or do it well at all. I checked my mail--and got a letter from home, one from someone in my home-church, and a package full of cookies and candies from my aunt (yum!), all wishing me good luck on my finals. Every college student loves getting mail, so just getting a letter would have helped make my day--but it stopped me short and was just like, "wow, I'm loved." That was just what I needed. To help me see some of the blessings in my life, when I'd been choosing to focus on other things.
Sometimes we get so caught up in what we're doing, what's next on our schedule, and then trying to find time to relax or have fun--unwind, that we forget about God, and the many blessings He's bestowed upon us.
One thing I like to remind myself is that I have no idea what's going on. I don't know His plan at all. And I don't know every little part of it--and I don't catch everything He sends my way. I like to look at my blessings (which are amazing) and think, wow that's probably not even 1/2 of them... Just that I don't see them all, or they don't seem like blessings to my eyes yet.

John 1:16
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
((I like this verse A LOT here))

Romans 15:29
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

Ephesians 1:3
[ Spiritual Blessings in Christ ] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ

Psalm 21:6
Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Ezekiel 34:26
I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.

Proverbs 18:24
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I'm not sure exactly what my point was... Take a moment and think of the many blessings God has placed on you, and know that there are more still. Set some time aside for God during finals... maybe send a card to a friend or family member--you just might make their day. :o)

--holly

Multi-tasking

So I was humbled by God today. One thing I haven't been doing well lately is taking some time for God everyday, time to pray time to study and time to listen. So I have been filling in the cracks of my schedule with my version of God time. When i had to walk somewhere, or today, while i was at work lifeguarding (hehe). So in those moments i say to my self yea! some God time! but today God said Erin, you can't multi task your time with me. You can't get a full experience of me when your attention is not centered on me. You can't just shove our time in the cracks of your schedule, this isn't going to work they way you want it.

So needless to say i was alittle taken back, but awed. God was calling me on my slacking. Not something new to me for the past few days but for God to call me on it. . . wow. I want a more indepth meaningful relationship with my God, i want my life to be focused on him and to live for him and with him in all that i do, but that kind of relationship doesn't come without work. I need to give on my part too.

This just really hit home the idea of scheduling our time. The importance in taking time with God everyday not as another multi tasking activity because you can, but let those moments supplement your devotion or whatever time you set aside ahead of time for you and God.

Alot of us, me included, are very involved in religious activities (for lack of a better term) and do alot of God related work in a day, say write this blog devo, but that isn't me and God time. I have let myself rationalize that time out of my schedule and it is hurting me. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but i wanted to put it out there as something that moved me today.

God Bless,
~your sister in Christ, Erin~

Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Caught in the middle

NDONESIA
VOM recently reported that on November 8th, two girls were attacked on their way to a Christian school. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports Siti Nuraini, 17, a Muslim, died in Poso Kota general hospital November 9th. Her Christian friend Ivon, also 17, remains in critical condition. This incident closely followed the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls on October 29th, and represented a further escalation of violence. The Reverend Rinaldy Damanik, Moderator for the Central Sulawesi Christian Reform Church, and Chairman of the Central Sulawesi Churches Crisis Co-ordination Centre, has been in close contact with Christians and government officials in Sulawesi and has appealed for a stop to the violence. He stressed security officials needed to act promptly to ensure those guilty of the attacks are brought to justice and also to try and prevent further attacks. As reported in the Jakarta Post, Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said the President had ordered security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice and urged residents not to launch revenge.

An international Christian human rights organization is urging the immediate release of three wrongly accused Indonesian Christian Sunday school teachers who have lost their appeal to overturn charges. This means a three-year prison term for the women—Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun. They are currently serving a three-year prison sentence in the Indramayu district of West Java, having been wrongly convicted of "attempting to coerce children to change their religion" under the Indonesian "Child Protection Act." Christian Freedom International (CFI), reports that on November 22, 2005, the three Sunday school teachers lost an important appeal to have their sentences reduced or overturned by a higher court.

Pray God will soften the heart of the judge who will hear the next appeal, giving him compassion for these innocent women. Pray they will be comforted and made aware of the many people who are praying for them. Pray the Lord will minister to the children while their teachers are in prison.

This i got from the Voice of the Maryters, more info can be found at www.persecution.com if anyone wants. This kind of story is not one anyone wants to hear but it happens in countries all over the world today. Some people like the two girls in this story get caught in the middle of these conflicts. There is fighting over land and resources, religion, power, alot of things. These problems are very serious to some, so serious that children are killed. This is a problem.

Some people take this persecution and stand up for the name of Christ through it all. Maryters are found dying for many causes and beliefs. Christian maryters have been documented since the stoning of Stephen by a group of Jews including Saul. Sometimes these people are considered heros and other times insane. I can't really determine what they should be judged as for i don't know their story. I believe one should live out their life the way God calls them and if while living their faith they come into situations where their proclaiming their faith will put them into danger they have to make a decision. I can only say with what i have experienced so far in my life I can not deny my God. This is easier said then done, however it is a decision only an individule can make.

This and many other stories like it pull at my heart and bring the fight for social justice home. First and most importantly i can pray about it. i can also inform others. i can stand up for what i know to be right and true and try to live out my life as God calls me, i encourage you to do the same.

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ, Erin~

Moses

Exodus 3

1Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father--in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. 2The angel of GOD appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up.
3Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?"
4GOD saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
He said, "Yes? I'm right here!"
5God said, "Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground."
6Then he said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob."
Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.
7GOD said, "I've taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I've heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. 8And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
9"The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians. 10It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."
11Moses answered God, "But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12"I'll be with you," God said. "And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain."
13Then Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, "The God of your fathers sent me to you'; and they ask me, "What is his name?' What do I tell them?"
14God said to Moses, "I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, "I-AM sent me to you.'"
15God continued with Moses: "This is what you're to say to the Israelites: "GOD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.' This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.
16"Now be on your way. Gather the leaders of Israel. Tell them, "GOD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I've looked into what's being done to you in Egypt, 17and I've determined to get you out of the affliction of Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, a land brimming over with milk and honey."'
18"Believe me, they will listen to you. Then you and the leaders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him: "GOD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness where we will worship GOD-our God.'
19"I know that the king of Egypt won't let you go unless forced to, 20so I'll intervene and hit Egypt where it hurts--oh, my miracles will send them reeling!-after which they'll be glad to send you off. 21I'll see to it that this people get a hearty send-off by the Egyptians--when you leave, you won't leave empty-handed! 22Each woman will ask her neighbor and any guests in her house for objects of silver and gold, for jewelry and extra clothes; you'll put them on your sons and daughters. Oh, you'll clean the Egyptians out!"
~The Message

I love the message sometimes. This story is one familiar to us all but it has so much in it. So familiar it was referred to in a conversation i had last night with a friend. I was upset, upset with myself and wanted to give up yet my friend urged me to look towards God. I replied to that i wish God would give up on me, notice my failures and leave me for what i am never to become what he wants me to be.

That was not good enough for him. He assured me that God would not give up on me. Look at Moses he said, he didn't think he could do it either. This is exactly the point of this story i would like to emphasize today. Holidays are a hard time of year, so much to do it becomes very stressful. Many of us have finals or whatnot keeping us busy if things begin to go wrong it's hard to be okay with it this time of year. Moses was not in a situation where he felt most comfortable. He ran away from home and was doing something he had never before done with a relativly new wife and baby. As he is getting accustomed to things God comes and says i have a plan for you.

God has been present in so many of our lives and to me it never seems to come at a convienent time. It's always when i'm in the middle of something or i just don't have the time. But God doesn't give up that easily. He knows us, he has a purpose for us and he wants the best for us (to be with him). He is determined (and dare i say more stubborn than even me) to be there for us and show us the path, weather we have wondered or not. He knows us for who we are, not who we pretend to be to others, who we really are. He knows our faults, our constant sins. Yet loves us anyway and has a purpose for us.

I know this time of year can be stressful, but remember to praise God everyday no matter how we are feeling because he always deserves it. He is always calling us like he called Moses, and he knows better than we that together we can do it.

God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Speed of life

Sometimes life goes so quickly it is hard to imagine it's been only 24 hours. I wrote yesterday about how wonderful a day it was but today was one of the worst days I've had in a while. This drastic change can be so hard to deal with. So i just wanted to spend a little time on bad days.

Bad days are inevitable. All of us have them. However they do not have to be that bad. They are hard because everything seems to be going wrong yet we have so much yet to do! How it is ever going to get done is an impossible thought. . . but that's where God never ceases to amaze me. In my despair I am not alone. I find that these days when everything is going wrong and you find someone who will listen. . . all you want to do is vent and feel better, but God speaks. The more he tries the more I argue my points back, however it doesn't take much to see I'm not very well founded.

God never gives up. He speaks through things we experience, friends, even IM's. I had a wonderful friend say to me today "please Erin, this isn't me talking. . . " the insistence of I know it hurts but listen to these hopeful words wasn't what i wanted to hear at the moment. . . but is what i needed to hear. God cares. He always has and always will. The bad days like today i just want to tell him I'm a failure and can't do it, find someone else. But i can see him smiling at me saying you can do it. I'm here and we'll do it together. You can't see it, but it'll be great. I'm not leaving. No matter how hard i try to pursuade it doesn't work.

He won't leave and he has shown this to me again and again through some magnificent friends. They have ever right to leave me. To let me be and give up, but no matter what i tell them they won't do it! Sometimes this makes me upset. I don't want them to see all my failure, but they don't care. They see more than my failure in me, who knows what, but they stay. That's part of God's love in them.

We will all have bad days. But as much as they hurt we don't have the choice of staying there. God says come on, lets rest and wait for tomorrow believe it or not i have a future for you, not for someone else, FOR YOU.

Numbers 14:18
'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him.

God Bless!
*thanx Eric
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Choice

So yesterday was an amazing day for me. Classes were fine but then i had two meeting which were just wonderful.
First i meet with Paul, he is our intervarsity staff worker on campus and likes to meet with the incoming freshman. So we had a bit of a hard time getting together, but we did get together and had enlightening theological conversation. It was wonderful. One thing he said/drew out really caught my attention. He laid out a few steps to what this group believes.
1. God created the world and is the king
2. we as humans decided we wanted to be king (sin)
3. because of this, we die
4. Jesus came
5. he died and rose again, bringing the glory back to God as king

we were discussing how ppl can object to love and sharing things with everyone and it always came back to that second thing. We don't want to give up the power of choice. We want to be king of at least our lives. We don't want to give up that power of choice. We like to be selfish and greedy. . . we like to be comfortable. We don't want to lose that comfort to help the homeless, or feed the hungry, or even fight for peace. We'd rather do nothing.

So does this make sense to anyone else or an i nuts?
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Roots

This is a devotion that wast sent to me. . . enjoy!
~your sister in Christ, ~Erin

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
(Ps. 85:10-12, NRSV)

Christians have too often forgotten that our faith has roots. Period. The roots of our tradition are in the ground, the dirt of the land. The ancient Hebrews, like the ancient Native Americans, lived and prayed with the profound awareness that their livelihood depended on the earth beneath
their feet. Thankfully, the Christian calendar continues to reflect that awareness. The coming of the longer sunlight days beginning with the winter solstice (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) closely coincides with the Feast of the Nativity of the Son of God. The tradition of dipping the Pascal Candle in the font at the Easter Vigil surely must also have agricultural
significance-our prayers to share in Christ's Resurrection resonate with prayers for the renewed fecundity of the earth. It is fun to note how the feast of the nativity of John the Baptist closely coincides with the shortening of the days of summer-echoing in cosmological signs
John's statement, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
The psalm for today reminds us that a right relationship with God does not have merely interpersonal, inter-denominational, and international benefits. Signs of a continually converting and humble relationship with God will produce harmony between humanity and nature. In fact, the word humble comes from the same root from which we get humus, that rich black soil that comes out of the compost heap.

We would do well to consider in prayer today the ways in which our broken relationship with God has resulted in a broken bond with the earth, its soils, its air, and oceans, and vice versa. There is little glory in a tired land filled with toxins and acid rain, scorched from below by radioactivity from bomb testing. What looks down from the sky devoid of ozone but the threat of cancer and global warming? And all this in the name of economic development and progress.

You may e-mail this meditation (in its entirety) to anyone you wish.
Published by the Higher Education Ministries Arena.
The Higher Education Ministries Arena is a program function of the American Baptist Churches USA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.
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Good

What is good?
Genesis 1
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Titus 2:14
14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

But what is good? Are there moral rules we should know about? We are all taught different ethical reasoning. Some children are taught moral and ethical rules like don't be selfish, or don't hurt other people. These seem to all be worthwhile vaules but can we name in a rule everything we should do? Pay your parking tickets. Study for tests. And who gets to make them all up? The ten commandments seem to fall into this categorey of moral rules.

Exodus 20
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

do we live our lives according to rules such as these??
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Cuba

Cuba lies only 90 miles off the Florida Straits and stands as one of the last “champions” of communism. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power threatening Cubans with socialism or death.

Religion: Christian 46.88%, non-Religious/other 35.47%, Spiritist 17%, Hindu 0.21%, Chinese 0.19%, Other 0.10%, Muslim 0.08%, Buddhist 0.05%, Baha’i 0.01%, and Jewish 0.01%

Ideological Influence: Communism

Head of State: President Fidel Castro Ruz

Persecution: In the 1960s, Castro labeled Catholics and Protestants “social scum” and forced lay people and clergy into labor camps under inhumane conditions. Cuba’s constitution was amended in 1992, to guarantee freedom of religion. But today Christians are still imprisoned and churches destroyed. The year 1999 saw many changes in Cuba. Open, evangelical crusades were held for the first time since Castro came to power and were carried on Cuban TV. Applications for registering or repairing churches are routinely ignored.

Missionary Opportunity: Leadership for the churches and teaching materials are still a great need. Foreign missions are restricted to tactful support and occasional pastoral visits from outside the country. The Cuban Bible Society reopened in 1990. Almost one million copies of Scriptures have been printed in Cuba on the Bible Society press, and an additional 150,000 copies are annually imported legally.

1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

a hard thing to imagine. . . dying. But to give up your life consentually. . . for God?
I can say i would, but words don't count for a whole lot.
Prayer for those who have to make those kind of decisions.
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Focus

One of the things that I love about a certain friend of mine is how focused they are. They know their spot in the universe is to work with God in whatever he has planned and is totally intune and comfortable with that. I think sometimes life is so hard because we lose this focus. We lose this idea of living our lives for God and becoming more like Christ.

It's hard no doubt, but no doubt worth it. To not worry constantly but to give up our worries in prayers and trust and know he is taking care of not only us and the ones we know and love, but everyone. It seems to me to be an undescribable lifestlye. Undescribably wonderful, and free.

Philippians 1:20-22

20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Rest

as excited as we all get sometimes it's always important to rest
even during finals yes!
sleep in important

maybe this is lame, but i'd like to stress the importance of taking a Sabbath (and a bit hippocitical)

Genesis 1
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

schedule time to rest, enough time to sleep to be healthy (like at least 6-8 hours)
time to rest during the day whatever resting may be for you. ..
read a book,
watch a movie,
take a nap,
but stop from all responsibility
get away from the computer!
jurnal
something
it's important
for serious

God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Joy

Psalm 4:6-8
6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 16:10-12
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, [a]
nor will you let your Holy One [b] see decay.
11 You have made [c] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.


John 16:20-22
20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Romans 15:13
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christmas is a season of joy however it wasn't this that brought my mind to it today. Today is my 19th birthday. I have been having a rough couple of weeks however this day was amazing. Last night was good and today was better. I have dealt with stress and the normal business of life. However i can't stop smiling today. My friends surprised me with everthing from 5 cards or decorating my storage locker to just being there. My parents sent me flowers and it has just been a wonderful day full of love.

i've tried to keep in mind recently that there is a time for everything however the third chunk of scripture i posted brought this again to my attention. There is pain in life, even in the good things there is pain. . . but there is also joy. College may be tough and i may struggle with things but there is joy in my life and blessings overflowing.

God has been ever present in my life and that thought alone is comforting, but feeling his presence also brings joy to my life. I know this entry was a little more personal but take it as a bit of a testimony. I know that everyone goes through hard times in life, or even hard days every week, but remember the joy we have as christians. . . remember the blessings we have in the shape of God's love, especially when shown through friends.
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Truth

an important issue. I recently did a speech about the media and one of the biggest problems with mainstream media is it's not truthful. I find that with many things in life. But why is it an issue? Truth is a huge thing for most people. If someone you trusted lied to you on purpose you would be hurt. If you are caught in believing something untrue you can be hurt by your misconceptions. Truth is just as important when talking theology.

How you do determine truth? Well i really think it is up to every individule to understand what they believe to be true to them. There may not be any absolute truths however i think there are some universally accepted truths. The belief that all humans have basic human rights. Beliefs like that. . . are not totally accepted everywhere but many places. When i'm confused about something, if it bothers me i talk about it. . . i seek out more information from everywhere i can get it. From the bible, from friends, from anyone who will talk to me. Then i pray.

I think it is essential to living life to seek out the truth and i encourage you all to never take something simply because someone said it and believe it, especially if it bothers you a bit. Seek out truth, seek out understanding, you'll be enlightened and it can be a wonderful experience.

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Revelation 3:19-21
19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Time

Time. . .
probably once of the most precious things we have. One of the best gifts to give or receive is someone elses time spent with us.

Think of all the things you spend time doing in one day . . . in one week. . . in one month. . . or one year.
how often you see or talk to some people, how often you eat, how often you sleep, how often you study, how much time you spend in class or in meetings, how much time you work. How much time do you spend on you? How much time do you need? and then how much time do you spend with God? The most important thing though is NOT quantity but quaility. Especially during finals and holidays we all get stressed and tired. Remember to schedule sometime for you and God everyday. When you take the time to slow down and look around God has a million and two miracles right under your eyes. It is a beautiful world and full of wonderful things to see and do.

The other thing i wanted to touch an alittle bit is patience. Or God's time. . can be kind of hard to wait for, but patience is a virtue and as hard as it may be, it can't be rushed. The holidays are a hard time to be patient. To see old friends, to get home, to be done with semester. . . a lot. The first advent candle was lited last week sunday representing patience. Here is a verse to hopefully help alittle bit. . .

Psalm 62:7-9
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

God Bless you,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Interview with God

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.
“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”

“What questions do you have in mind for me?”
“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”
“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”
“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”
"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”
“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”
“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”
“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”
“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”
“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”
“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”
“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.
"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here... always.”
-author unknown
www.interviewwithgod.com

Perfect Love

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:15-19).

i love this verse. . .

God Bless you
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Gratitude: a spiritual discipline

Consider this an addition to Erin's gratitude post.
A friend mentioned: "Thanksgiving has been transformed into routine. It's like the general public perks up and thinks, 'Gee, it's Thanksgiving...time to cut the turkey and give thanks that I'm not completely screwed.'" At the thanksgiving eve service where i attend church, what I heard during coffee time in reference to the sermon was just that--and the phrase "attitude of gratitude" used during the sermon seemed to mean we should try to remember to look on the bright side and when life gives us lemons, thank God for the lemonade recipe. This disturbed me.
The Abstract/summary: If we were really in an attitude of gratitude i think we'd get sick of thanking God for all the stuff in our lives, because spiritual disciplines transcend the religious and carry us into the becoming, the becoming more like Christ and more like who God created us to be. at that level of being there's no need for "thanks for the turkey and the opportunity to go to this great school and my friends and my family and the football team," because we're past that and simply living thanks for a) our love of and from God and b) our love of and from our neighbor and the beauty of humanity (God's creation).
When we inhale and exhale that love we won't take stuff for granted, because we'll be so aware of what our neighbor is grateful for (what our poor neighbor, our injured neighbor, our sick neighbor, our lonely neighbor, our hungry neighbor, our numb neighbor are grateful for) that gratitude propels us into service, and service shows us the real meaning of gratitude is, like i said, not all the stuff we have but appreciation of God's love and the beauty of humanity. and that's the root of all that really matters in life, as we seek to love God and love Jesus and love humanity.

The expanded version: (note: --> approximately means "which leads us to think")
Thanksgiving rolls around and we're told to be thankful-->we should be in an attitude of gratitude-->OK so we always try to think about what we have to be grateful for-->start the list...dang it, we have a lot of stuff, everything from i'm thankful i woke up this morning to the sound of the birds to i'm thankful i didn't get in an accident on my way to church to i'm thankful i'm home for thanksgiving to i'm thankful for the bountiful food i'm going to eat, i'm thankful for health, i'm thankful for education, etc. etc.-->wow, i have a lot to be thankful for. --> i wonder about all those people in the world who don't have as much to be thankful for-->like i can list a laundry list like in 10 seconds; how'd i end with so much good stuff in my life?-->i'm starting to feel guilty...in a world where a billion people are food insecure, 37 million of them in my own country...in a world where we can stand by an watch as 400,000 are murdered in acts of genocide...in a world where children are prostituted and women are sold into slavery and rich white men declare war and young soldiers become killers and victims...i sure have a lot to be thankful for and i feel guilty because a)i have all this and b)my life still sucks sometimes and i can't help it --> guilt is never productive if it's not channeled into action immediately, so i begin serving others--> an attitude of service develops --> i discover that just because the poor people smile and have something to teach me about life doesn't mean it's ok that they're poor --> i discover that we're all human --> i discover that God suffers --> anyway i realize lots of things and my attitude of service --> and i come full swing back to gratitude, to being so grateful to God for what should have always been the foundation of my existence: God's love for humanity and my love for humanity --> now i don't need to say, 'thanks for the birds God,' (though i do because they remind me of God); i don't need to say 'thanks for this church, God' (though I do because the church is especially great), etc...i say thanks but i don't need to be reminded to say thanks because deep down, what really makes me who I am is love of and from God and love of and from neighbor, and that's what i'm really grateful for.

Relax!!

Take the next few days to chill out, read a good book, take a bubble bath, make time for a nap, and smile alot. Life is good, enjoy it!

God loves you
God Bless,
your sister in Christ,
~Erin

Gratitude

Mark 8:6
6He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.
Acts 27:35
35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.

Remember to give thanx. . . i'll add to this soon!
God Bless~Erin~

Tired

not that we don't all get this way somedays and yes this is one for me. . .
but here's the awesome thing!
Unlimited energy comes from God. .. if he needs us to do something for him, he will make it possible.

Isaiah 5:26-28
26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations,
he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt is loosened at the waist,
not a sandal thong is broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp,
all their bows are strung;
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

many of us are beginning to look ahead to finals. Maybe it seems wierd, but i'm thinking the key to staying calm and doing well is to keep that relationship going with God.
Today ( or any day, once a week, once a day. . . ) i challenge you to find a significant amount of time that it's a sacrifice to you and be with God. So many ways to hang out and pray with God. . . candles, fingerpaints, crayons, jurnals, music, whatever helps you. . . do that.
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Stress!!!

I know this isn't only a problem i deal with. . . urg! that unneeded stress in life! AHHHH!
What is God's view on stress? Well. . . lets see if we can piece something together. . .
here is a devo i found on it



In today's world it is virtually impossible to avoid stress. Almost everyone is carrying some amount of it, in varying degrees. Many find it increasingly difficult to simply survive in the world we live in. In desperation, people are seeking relief for their problems through any remedy they can find. Our culture is inundated with self-help books, therapists, time-management workshops, massage parlors, and recovery programs (to name just the tip of the iceberg). Everyone talks about returning to a "simpler" way of life, but no one seems to even know exactly what that means, or how to attain it. Many of us cry out like Job, "The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me." (Job 30:27).

Most of us are so used to carrying the burden of stress, we can scarcely imagine our lives without it. We think it is simply an unavoidable part of living in the world. We carry it like a hiker trudging out of the Grand Canyon with a huge pack on his back. The pack seems to be a part of his own weight, and he can't even remember what it was ever like to not be carrying it. It seems that his legs have always been that heavy and his back has always ached under all that weight. Only when he stops to rest for a moment and takes off his pack does he realize just how heavy it really is, and how light and free he is without it.

Unfortunately, most of us cannot just unload stress like a backpack. It seems to be intrinsically woven into the very fabric of our lives. It lurks somewhere beneath our skin (usually in a knot between our shoulderblades). It keeps us up late into the night, just when we need sleep the most. It presses in on us from all sides. Yet, Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt. 11:28-30).

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Zion

The bible is so full of symbolism it's incredible. One word that has always intrigued me is Zion. It's a mountain or a city. . . seems to be referred to as a place. . . but what is it really? Does it symbolize anything? Possibly the group of believers or church? (city. . . ) I really don't know but it is an interesting question.

Here are a few verses I found about it. . . if you have any more insight. . . please share!

Psalm 2:6
6 "I have installed my King [a]
on Zion, my holy hill."
Psalm 9:11
Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

Psalm 74:2
2 Remember the people you purchased of old,
the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

2 Samuel 5:7
7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David.

Isaiah 51:3
3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

John 12:14-16
14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt."[a]

1 Peter 2:6
For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin
prayer request for safe holiday travels and safe hunting!

Yemen

Yemen was the site of the great cities of the Queen of Sheba, who traded gifts with King Solomon.

Religion: Muslim 99.94%, Christian 0.05%, and Jewish 0.01%. Islam is the official religion, and the legal system is based on Shariah Law.

Ideological Influence: Islam

Head of State: President Field Marshall Ali Abdallah Salih

Persecution: Christianity was strong by 400 A.D., but was almost completely wiped out by the Muslim conquest in the seventh century. It is illegal for non-Muslims to proselytize and for Muslims to convert to Christianity. It is dangerous for Yemenis to become believers due to social pressures.

Missionary Opportunity: Yemen is one of the world’s least evangelized countries. Through radio broadcasts, tactful evangelism and other factors, perhaps 100 or more Yemenis have trusted in Christ. Most Christians are expatriates, many of whom are Ethiopians. Others are Westerners and South and East Asians who work in secular jobs or serve with a humanitarian NGO that is permitted to minister in the country. A church in Aden was restored to Christians for worship and wider community service. There is also a need for Yemeni Arabic, Soqotri and Mahri Bibles.

Ask believers will fix their eyes on the joy of Christ and of making Him known.
Verse Reference: Hebrews 12:2

great site with awesome links if you are at all intrested in the persecuted church
www.persecution.com

and if you just want to help those suffering in the world check this one out
www.thehungersite.com
buy your christmas gifts free trade!!
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Youth

A topic that does concern those of us who are young. . . young in age and young at heart.
a few verses to start
Psalm 103:4-6
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
Isaiah 40:29-31
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
1 Timothy 4:11-13
11Command and teach these things. 12Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.

Youth. . . being young. . . what about it? So many times i remember telling people my age shouldn't affect things. Yet in many cases it does. Being too young we are not permitted to drive a car or drink alcohol. These are rules created by those older than us without our consent yet for our benifit. Okay. . . i can handle that.

There is a certain respect level that seems to accompany age. . . but not only age singularily. . . also demenor. For respect isn't necessarily given to the old homeless man on the street however is given to an older gentleman encountered in say a public building. So age is a factor in how we treat people mainly because of the fact that it is assumed as you get older you become wiser.

This is true. . yet sometimes we fall into the trap of believing that young people can do certain things which older people can not or vice versa. In these vereses God says no, i call who i want when i want them. All grow weak and all can be strengthen in him. It is not ours to decide that we are too young or too old.

And finally you can not talk about youth without visiting 1 Timothy. . . don't let your being young keep you down! Young people are amazing! Stay strong in your faith and know that you are just as important as anyone else in this world to God, and you don't have to wait until you are older to serve God. . . but he will use you, even as a youth/young adult.
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Xdrodinary love

This is a story I heard first as a junior in high school at a prayer meeting. It was a momentous day in my life and the story, one of those not widly known, is one of my favorites because it gives me a great comparison. So I encourage you all to read the story of Hosea and Gomer in the book of Hosea. . . but the story in short hand goes like this. . .

God told Hosea to take a prostitute as a wife and have children. So Hosea takes Gomer as his wife and they have a son. Soon after they have a daughter, and following that another son. After this time Gomer leaves Hosea for other men. God tells Hosea to go get her and love her as God loves his people. So Hosea goes and buys Gomer and tells her that she is not to be a prostitue anymore or intimate with any other man and he will live with her. (mind you this is after they have three kids and she just leaves. . . he finds her and brings her back)

Now that is the very shorthand version. Imagine your brother/sister or a close friend who beings to date someone who is widely known as permiscous. Most of us won't be to encouraging about that. . . whatever happiness they bring our loved one is not probable to the hurt that we can see down the road. Then getting married!!! You can just predict the unfaithfullness to come. Not smart right? Then they have children. This just seems to be a bad situation. Can't they see the person they are with is a prostitute? Then like predicted they leave and your loved one is stuck with three kids. Soon to find their spouse in bed with someone else! and not just one someone else either! If we had reached this point this is the end for most of us. . . thats enough. But no. . . Hosea not only seeks her out but buys her back. He takes her back into him home and says you are not going to do this anymore but live with me.

Drama? Yeah. Another time i heard this scripture presented with a scene from Mulan Rouge. Towards the end where Satine comes to Christian and tells him she doesn't want to see him ever again. That she chooses someone else. ( i apologize for not stating the whole story .. most have seen it just ask and i'll explain) Too see how she refuses him and his maddess of non understanding. He knows there is something wrong. . . he loves her. . . not as a prostitute as a person. . . how can she choose the Duke?

This story represents Isreal (or the people's ie. us) relationship with God. We are the prostitute. The rest of the book goes through and talks about the things Isreal has done in "adultery' against God, things such as following other Gods, lying to him, murder .. . it's all very symbolic. But it gives an illistration how we treat God. Yet even greater. . . his xdordinary love. To take us back, to BUY us back after commiting adultery over and over again. I don't know how he does it, but am i greateful. . .

Hosea 11
God's Love for Israel
1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more I [a] called Israel,
the further they went from me. [b]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

War and Peace

This is what the UMC book of discipline in the social principals says about war and peace.
In other words this is what our church says about it!

War and Peace


We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as an instrument of national foreign policy, to be employed only as a last resort in the prevention of such evils as genocide, brutal suppression of human rights, and unprovoked international aggression. We insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them; that human values must outweigh military claims as governments determine their priorities; that the militarization of society must be challenged and stopped; that the manufacture, sale, and deployment of armaments must be reduced and controlled; and that the production, possession, or use of nuclear weapons be condemned. Consequently, we endorse general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2004. Copyright 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House.

So question. . . what about this??
matthew 24
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Matthew 10
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her motherinlaw—
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[e]
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mark 9:50
50"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Luke 12:51
51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.

Matthew 5:9
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Here are some verses that confuse me. . . how can Jesus say. . . "i have not come to bring peace to the earth. . . " and then also say. . . "be at peace with each other."??

Wonderfulness

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes we have bad days, or bad weeks, or bad years. . . but God gives us wonderfulness in little packages to make us feel loved and see his beauty in the little things. Here is a peom a friend sent me a while ago. . .


Today, when i awoke, I suddenly realized that this is the best day of
my life, ever! There were times when i wondered if i would make it to
today; but i did.
And because i did, I'm going to celebrate!
Today, i'm going to celebrate what an unbelievable life i have had so
far: the accomplishments, the many blessings, and yes, even the
hardships because they have served to make me stronger.
I will go through this day with my head held high and a happy heart.
I will marvel at God's seeming simple gifts:
the morning dew,
the sun,
the clouds,
the trees,
the wind,
the flowers,
the birds,
Today, none of these miraculous creations will escape my notice.
Today, I will share my excitement for life with other people
I'll make someone smile.
I'll go out of my way to perform an unexpected act of kindness for
someone i don't even know. Today, i'll give a sincere compliment to
someone who seems down. I'll tell a child how special they are, and
ill tell someone i love just how deeply i care for them and how much
they mean to me. (That's you Cameron!)
Today is the day i quit worrying about what i don't have and start
being grateful for all the wonderfil things god has already given me.
I'll remember that to worry is just a waste of time because my faith
in God and his divne plan ensures everything will be just fine.
and tonight, before i got to bed, i'll go outside and raise my eyes to
the heavens. I will stand in awe at the beauty of the stars and the
moon, and i will praise god for these magnificent treasures.
I will thank the almighty for the best day of my life.
and i will sleep the sleep of a contented child,
excited with expectation because i know tomorrow is going to be the
best day of my life, ever!

Not to say there won't be bad days. . . for without them how would we appreciate the good? just that God has a plan for us. .
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

and God has everything handled, even if we don't feel him there with us. Most of the time i find it is just me walking around with my eyes closed not seeing God's wonderfulness. Ignoring his creation, ignoring the blessings of friends he has showered upon me, ignoring his outstretched arms waiting to hold me. He is there, he is there in the sunrise, in the wind, and in the e-mail from an old friend. He is everywhere. Next time you're feeling down, alone, or just stressed out take a look at the things around you. Take a walk. Open your eyes and let God bring you a piece of his wonderfulness.
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Heaven like a Vineyard

Matthew 20

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.

"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

* i think this speaks for itself*
God Bless!
~your sister in Christ, Erin

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates came into being in 1971, when the Trucial States, until that time a British protectorate in the lower Persian Gulf, became a loose confederation of sheikdoms.

Religion: Muslim 65.45%, Hindu 17.00%, Christian 9.25%, Buddhist 4.00%, Other 2.50%, non-Religious 1.30%, and Baha’i 0.50%. (Religious figures are estimates.) Islam is the state religion with a Sunni majority and a small Shi’a minority.

Ideological Influence: Islam

Head of State: President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan

Persecution: Only foreign Christians have freedom to worship and witness. Christian education and witnessing to nationals are severely restricted. Few believers have opportunities to openly share their faith.

Missionary Opportunity: Several Christian medical agencies are allowed to operate and show eager to learn about the gospel in private and who enthusiastically receive Christian materials.

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ, Erin

Turkey

Turkey, when under the Ottoman Empire, was for centuries the guardian of the holy places of Islam. In the 20th century, the number of Christians in Turkey dropped significantly, and the influence of the Muslim faith is rising.

Religion: Muslim 99.64%, Christian 0.32%, and Jewish 0.04%

Ideological Influence: Secular state with Islamic influence

Head of State: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer

Persecution: The constitutional guarantee of religious freedom has not been fully upheld. Instances of discrimination and harassment of religious minorities are many, but there has been a distinct improvement since 2000. Many politicians, the police and the growing Islamist movement are hostile to anything Christian. The ancient churches survived until the beginning of the 20th century, but since then have been decimated by massacres (Armenians), severe persecution (Assyrians), and emigration (Greeks, etc.).

Missionary Opportunity: Turkey is the largest unreached nation in the world. The Christian population has declined from 22% to 0.32% since 1900. Few of the 66 million Muslims have ever heard the gospel. A Turkish Protestant Church was legally recognized recently, and there is increasing openness on the part of the authorities to recognize Turkey as a multicultural, multireligious country. Missionary work began in 1821. All expatriates have long lived under the threat of police harassment and expulsion from the country, but earlier expulsions were quashed and declared illegal in three court cases in 1992.

1 Thessalonians 3
7Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

God Bless!
~your sister in Christ~Erin

Seeking

Ask, Seek, Knock

7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

The theme for convo this year. . . yeah i'm at senior high convo! this will be my first time staying the whole weekend.
I love this scripture. . . for we forget that relationships go two ways, that we must also add to our relationship with God by seeking. We need to continually make that effort, we can't just sit back and wait for God to do his magic. Keep strong in your faith, read, pray study. . . seek.
God Bless
~your sister in Christ, Erin

The Race

Ecclesiastes 9:11
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

We all run the race of life. Parts are a short sprint, as we run energetically towards the prize, but we do not always have the energy to keep up this sprint every day of our lives, i know i don't. So how do we deal with the times where we are jogging or scarcely seem to be moving? That's the best part, we don't struggle alone. . . we have a running partnet through out of all our life.

1 Corinthians 9
23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

We live our lives for the sake of God, that's all. That's all i have to live for. We train and we run, we can't stop, life doesn't stop. . . it keeps going and we keep going with it, don't let the hard parts of life keep you from winning the race.
God Bless,
~your sister in Christ

Quiet

Take a substancial amount of time to be quiet today. As much as you would like, depending on who you are
Take time to listen, to be quiet, to calm your soul and hang with God...

Psalm 131
1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

1 Peter 3
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

on a personal note, i find the best i sleep is when i fall asleep hanging with God, praying or just listening. . . like falling asleep in the arms of a loving parent, safe and warm. . .

God Bless!
your sister in Christ ~Erin

Proverbs

Proverbs is a very cool book in the bible. It is a book of wisdom, many of it what could be called "common sense wisdom" but still a great place to learn. Here is alittle commentary on the book of proverbs from biblegateway.com (where i get most of the scripture i post, it's a free online bible)

The use of the Proverbs.

The lessons here given are plain, and likely to benefit those who feel their own ignorance, and their need to be taught. If young people take heed to their ways, according to Solomon's Proverbs, they will gain knowledge and discretion. Solomon speaks of the most important points of truth, and a greater than Solomon is here. Christ speaks by his word and by his Spirit. Christ is the Word and the Wisdom of God, and he is made to us wisdom.

Here is one of my favorite chapters
Proverbs 17
1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet
than a house full of feasting, [a] with strife.
2 A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son,
and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests the heart.
4 A wicked man listens to evil lips;
a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.
5 He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.
6 Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.
7 Arrogant [b] lips are unsuited to a fool—
how much worse lying lips to a ruler!
8 A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.
9 He who covers over an offense promotes love,
but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
10 A rebuke impresses a man of discernment
more than a hundred lashes a fool.
11 An evil man is bent only on rebellion;
a merciless official will be sent against him.
12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his folly.
13 If a man pays back evil for good,
evil will never leave his house.
14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
the LORD detests them both.
16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool,
since he has no desire to get wisdom?
17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge
and puts up security for his neighbor.
19 He who loves a quarrel loves sin;
he who builds a high gate invites destruction.
20 A man of perverse heart does not prosper;
he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.
21 To have a fool for a son brings grief;
there is no joy for the father of a fool.
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
23 A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice.
24 A discerning man keeps wisdom in view,
but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son brings grief to his father
and bitterness to the one who bore him.
26 It is not good to punish an innocent man,
or to flog officials for their integrity.
27 A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,
and discerning if he holds his tongue.

God Bless!
your sister in Christ~Erin

Name of God

interesting topic that many people get very worked up about. . . so let's explore it alittle =)
Exodus 34
4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
[a] 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 6:3
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, [a] but by my name the LORD [b] I did not make myself known to them. [c]


Footnotes:

Exodus 6:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
Exodus 6:3 See note at Exodus 3:15.
Exodus 6:3 Or Almighty, and by my name the LORD did I not let myself be known to them?
Exodus 15:3
3 The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.
Exodus 3:14-15
14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [a] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, [b] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Footnotes:
Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for LORD sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.
Psalm 83:18
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Acts 8:16-17 16(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Acts 19:4-5 4Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 22:16 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord

So the question is what is God's name? God? LORD (which in Hebrew sounds like Yehweh)? I AM? Jesus? I read a wierd thing on it. I think it is a word problem. We want to give God a name because that is what we are used to, labels, but God is not something we are used to and understand. He is unconcievable. He is more than just the good charateristics we know of him. . . he has a soul like us.

who are we? god's children. . . yes. . . more than our names, more that our interests, more than our characteristics, there is a little something more. Our souls. So i have read arguments about the name of God, but honestly, does it matter what we call him as long as we live with him? For a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. . . and what parent would ignore or punish a child for misunderstanding how to say their name? Interesting topic. . .

God Bless!
your sister in christ~Erin

Oman

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said declared, “Oman in the past was in darkness...but a new dawn will rise.” While Qaboos was able to increase the country’s wealth, another darkness persists: the darkness in the hearts of Oman’s people caught in the clutches of Islam.

Religion: Muslim 92.66%, Hindu 3.00%, Christian 2.54%, Buddhist 1.20%, non-Religious/other 0.40%, and Baha’i 0.20%. Ibadi is the state religion. The Sultan has consistently opposed fanatical Islam since his reign began in 1990.

Ideological Influence: Islam

Head of State: Sultan and Prime Minister Qaboos bin Said Al Said Persecution: Churches and church activities for the expatriate communities are permitted, but proselytizing Muslims is forbidden.

Missionary Opportunity: The Christian population consists almost entirely of foreign workers, with perhaps no more than 20 indigenous believers. There are four centers where Christians of over 30 denominations or languages meet and where services in many languages are held. The Reformed Church in America has had a good witness in Oman since 1890, when Samuel Zwemer began his work. Their hospital, clinics and missionary workers have been incorporated into the government health services. Christians also have a strong presence in the education and business sectors.