Women in Ministry or Women who Minister?

Hello Loved Ones...

I thought you might enjoy reading this refreshing take on women in ministry. Considering it's such a controversial subject, I love the way that Jamie defines the difference between women in ministry and women who minister. Thanks Jamie!


http://inamirrordimly.com/2012/01/20/women-in-ministry-series-from-woman-in-ministry-to-woman-who-ministers/

Space and God's Greatness

Need a humbling reminder of the greatness of our God? Take a look at these spectacular images by Nasa.
http://twistedsifter.com/2011/11/15-mind-blowing-featured-images-by-nasa/
http://vimeo.com/32001208

Enjoy!

My Father...

Top 11 Gourmet Albums of 2011

The top 11 Gourmet Albums of 2011 as listed by Under the Radar:
http://ht.ly/8d3mu

Two of my absolute favorite albums made this list! Make sure to check out Josh Garrel's Love and War,  and the Sea Inbetween, and also The Civil Wars Barton Hollow.

My Upmost For His Highest

How many times in a day do you hear someone say, "Do you know Oswald Chamber's My Upmost For His Highest? You have to read 12/27... So powerful!"

Pretty much never.

However, today must be a different sort of day, because two completely different people in two completely different situations said the exact same words to me. Sometimes, the Lord is pretty blunt when He wants me to hear something.

"Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory."


There is a specific area of my life that I need to do battle before the Lord. Its fruits have been confusion and fear. I can easily admit that I know this, and that in order to move forward at all, I need to settle this matter once and for all.

Lord, I surrender to you... because my greatest desire and burning passion is to give my upmost for Your glory and praise. I know that with You, victory and peace are possible. You have shown it to be true in every area I have surrendered to You, and you will continue to show it to be true in every aspect of my future. To You be all Glory.

Lifehouse's Everything Skit - Upper Room (Updated)

I have been looking for this video ever since I saw it a couple of years ago at an Easter service. It finally surfaced on fb!

So powerful!

Genesis... The Beginning.

Genesis 1 & Psalm 19

  

It is where the foundations are built. It is where we first learn about God- who He is and what He has done. It is where the building blocks to our faith can be found.

How interesting that the author did not see fit to include philosophic arguments for the existence of God or how He created the universe. How interesting that instead, simple truths are found.

It begins with the Creator. I love the picture C.S. Lewis paints of the creation of Narnia in The Magician’s Nephew. The Lion breathes life into His creation; He speaks life into His creation. You can feel the energy and youthful radiance from this newly created world. It comes from a rumbling in the deep places of the earth, and it can’t help but burst forth in the sweet fragrance and colors of new life. All creation sings and dances with radiant energy. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” (Ps 19:1-4)

God speaks Creation. Creation speaks God. (Chiasm... ahem!)

From what we know of studying Hebrew literature… the story finds it’s entire purpose at the first point of dialogue. From there, the entire depiction of a person’s character is determined by what they say. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw the light was good…” (Ge 1:3)

The entire character of God is brought forth in these two sentences. He is the Creator. He speaks and there is light. He is the one who brings light to the darkness. He is the one who determines what is good.

Now, I should know better than to take a historical fact and read more meaning into it than what is there. However, how curious is it that God’s first words would be “Let there be light” when darkness was about to enter into mankind’s hearts?

Granted, Genesis 1 does not deal with Original Sin. However, it does mention the First Dispensation: Innocence. Man, created by God, was entrusted with the stewardship of innocence right from the beginning. Ever since we lost our innocence there has been a fight over the souls of mankind for it. The Psalmist says, “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” (Ps 19:13)

... recognizing that I cannot fully embrace my destiny as a daughter of God Almighty, without fully embracing my spiritual history, what does this mean?

It means that God is God and I am not. 

Easy words are so elementary and basic… but more difficult to comprehend and truly let sink into my soul. It is much easier to think in terms of me, mine, and my. I would be lying if I tried to say that I wasn’t painfully aware of the decisions I make in this self-absorbed mindset. Instead, if I am to fully embrace my destiny, I must realize that in my beginnings there must be a deeply rooted humility and respect, with eyes fixed upon the Creator. I truly desire to know the fullness of His grace, I want to know every aspect of His character that He desires to reveal to me. This means going back to basics... working it out each overly used statement and cliche, and letting it truly sink into my heart and soul.