i recently purchased a book called postsecret. this is a book compiled by frank warren in which he asked people to mail him postcards that had secrets on them that they hadn't shared with anyone. the response that he received was amazing. not only did he receive enough post-secrets to create this book, but he keeps receiving them in the mail, so he has started posting them on his blog, www.postsecret.blogspot.com.
the book shows amazing insight into humanity and the secrets people hide. the book is not entirely "clean," but i wasn't able to put it down until i had read through the whole thing. what secrets do you hide? how free would you become if you could let them go?
the article interviews michael spielman, founder of abort73.com, and asks him these three questions: (i'll look at questions 1 & 3)
ieve then" or "how can you believe in something you cannot see?" the bible is full of stories of when Jesus performed a miracle and then the people who observed it did not have saving faith (the feeding of the 5000 is a great example, after Jesus fed the mass of people, he went out on the water and the crowd met him on the other side of the water, they asked Jesus to feed them... they were not asking for spiritual food, they wanted their physical hunger to be met once again. even the disciples who witnessed this miracle still had a hard time believing that Jesus was who he said he was). today we have the bible, the inspired word of God, which is full of God's promises to us, his people. God is revealed to the people through Jesus, Jesus is revealed to us through the Bible (Word of God), the word must then be preached to the hearers (John 1:1)... that is how God's promise is as powerful as his presence.
as always there is much to write... especially since my internet access has been limited. we spent 3 nights in scotland (and the drive there took us around 11 hours, because they don't know what it means to have a straight street), and the scenery is amazing. i saw more sheep since i've been here than i have in all of my life (there are actually more sheep in this country than there are people). we went to the town of st. andrews and i was able to see the remains of a castle and a cathedral, and i was able to see the old st. andews golf course (golf was invented in st. andrews and i was able to actually stand on the course - the picture is of me on the famous bridge on the 18th hole). 
g her passport replaced, thankfully we had to turn in copies of them to the leader of the trip, which will help make the process much quicker and smoother.
. we saw buckingham palace, big ben, westminster abby (the outside, but we will see the inside soon), parliament, the british museum, the british library, rode the underground (subway - mind the gap is what they tell to make sure that you pay attention to the gap between the platform and the subway cart), and ate fish and chips. it was quite an experience to finally get to see everything that i've seen in pictures and on tv. i have uploaded some of the the london pictures as well.
maybe you are like me, and right now you desire to do more
with your life. and i believe that god gives us desires and
passions so that we will focus on preparing ourselves for
what God chooses to do with us today and tomorrow. if we
focus on seriously preparing (through prayer/study/etc)
ourselves for the ministries that God brings to us
tomorrow, think about how we could impact the people that
are in our lives today. a continual pursuit of righteousness
and knowledge won't only change us personally, it will
change how others view God through our lives and example.
a friend of mine and i have been talking about 'reaping and
sowing.' here are 4 principles of reaping and sowing that
she has shared with me.
with keeping those principles in mind, lets look at Galatians
6:7-10.
"(7)Do not be decieved: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps
what he sows. (8)The one who sows to please his sinful
nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who
sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal
life. (9) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
(10)Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all
people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers."
Exegetical Idea of this text: A Man Reaps What He Sows
Didactic Context: Written to the church in
Some Introductory Principles:
Textual Divisions:
Main Idea: The type of seed you sow determines the type of harvest that you will reap.
Main Idea: Your labor for the Lord is never in vain, so do not become weary in doing what God has called you to do.
Main Idea: The harvest always reflects greatly what it is made of. You are always in the process of becoming who God wants you to be, and your spiritual harvest takes time to develop.
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as you can see, what we do today impacts our tomorrows.
the decisions and choices we make will play a part in what
happens later. just as i mentioned earlier: if we focus on
seriously preparing (through prayer/study/etc) ourselves for
the ministries that god brings to us tomorrow, think about
how we could impact the people that are in our lives today.
a continual pursuit of righteousness and knowledge won't
only change us personally, it will change how others view
God through our lives and example.
Jesus shows them his body to prove that he is not a ghost:
1. there are over 150 million myspace users (the number grows by millions every week, so who knows where it is currently).i believe that these 4 verses are a great place to start when figuring out identity. in galatians, we learn that we are crucified to ourselves and that it is Christ who lives in us. that is a very difficult idea to grasp... here is an illustration to think on: too often christians are like mirrors, they only reflect who God is. instead of being mirrors, we must become like the moon. the moon absorbs light, and only after that can it shine. as christians, we must absorb Christ (so that he is truly living in us) to base our identity on Him. the verse in Jeremiah reminds us that we were created for a specific reason and that nothing happens out of chance and circumstance. in Acts 17:26, we see that our true purpose in life is to bring glory to God. lastly, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, we must do everything to the glory of God. a few other verses to consider are: John 15:19b and Ephesians 2:10.
i recently finished reading A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards (click here for more info on the book). it's not too often that you find a book that truly hits you in the gut and will not let you put it down. for me, this is the first book that has done so in a very long time. the book is described as "light, clarity and comfort to the brokenhearted. many christians have experienced pain, loss, and heartache at the hands of other believers. to those believers, this compelling story offers comfort, healing, and hope."
thursday was our longest day... but easily my favorite day off all. we went back into reynosa and did some light construction at a church start that the church we stayed at was working with. while some of our students were working at the church the rest of the students went out to distribute beans and rice to another community. then we held a VBS at the church that evening and had around 35-45 children come. the VBS went amazingly well, and by thursday night most of us were starting to get more familiar and comfortable with communicating through very broken spanish. god blessed us with 2 fluent spanish speaking students who were able to help us communicate with the people we came into contact with. the picture to the left shows you some of the children we had at this VBS. also, while we were at the vbs, i met a 9 year old girl who's name is stephanie michelle... which as most of you know is my name. here
she is...