#savesaeed

Alright so today I come to you all with one simple request:

In July of 2012, a Christian pastor named Saeed Abedini left the United States for what was supposed to be several weeks as he continued his efforts to establish an orphanage in Rasht, Iran. As he was about to return home, he was pulled off of a bus by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and placed under house arrest. He remained under house arrest until September, when he was taken without warning to one of Iran’s most notorious prisons, where he has now been imprisoned for 236 days. He has broken no law, but has been charged for peacefully gathering with other Christians, a crime for which he has been sentenced to eight years in prison. For the last eight months, he has suffered beatings, threats, and torturous interrogations as Iranian authorities try to get him to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Pastor Saeed has stated in a letter from prison that they will never get this from him, and has described the joy that he has experienced as God gives him strength even through these intense sufferings. His wife, Naghmeh, remains in the United States with their two children and has invited churches around the nation to take a united stand in prayer and to call on God for his release.

On MAY 19, 2013, it is being asked that we unite together as brothers and sisters in Christ and pray for Pastor Saeed.  It is requested that we invite churches we know and may attend to share the story of Saeed with the congregation, and to pray ferverently for our dear brother. 

Promote awareness of Pastor Saeed's situation by tagging #savesaeed and by signing the petition @ www.savesaeed.org

You can write him a letter for his upcoming birthday through the website as well, which is encouraged! 

Not long ago, Pastor Saeed wrote a letter for us, the link to watch the video will be included at the bottom of this post. 

Guys, this is very close to home for me, as I go to school with his sister, so I see the effect this has on a loving, devoted family.   He is more than just a Pastor that is imprisoned.  He is a husband, a father, a nephew, a brother.  I'm asking that you take a moment to think about what you would do if this were to happen to one of your loved ones, or even to you. 

Please join in the effort and please lift up prayers with the rest of the world as we intercede on the behalf of Saeed Abedini. 

God bless, and blog soon

Youtube Video - Letter from Saeed:

http://youtu.be/cfBeRICdCcU

From My View

So I thought it'd be cool to share with you guys some homework that I had to do for college, it was super fun to do so I thought you might like to hear it!   To explain it, I had to pick any story from the Bible and tell it from the point of view of someone else in the story, someone who wasn't the main characters.  I encourage you to try this sometime, it's really fun and gives you a new perspective on the story! I wouldn't recommend doing this a lot, but once in awhile it's fun to try.   I hope you enjoy! 

Vantage Point Method

STORY - The Woman (John 8:1-11) 
PERSPECTIVE – A Pharisee

I arose early in the morning with many thoughts in my head, one of which was “today is the day!”. Today is the day we finally catch this man Jesus in a trap, for he certainly cannot sweet talk his way out of this one. It's quite the plan we devised if I might say, to set it up so that we might catch her in order to accuse Jesus. I have to be honest with myself though, I felt a moment of remorse for having set her up for this, knowing full well it could result in her death. But the satisfaction I would have from seeing Jesus flounder in doctrine would make the scheming worth it. So I gathered with the other Pharisees and Scribes and we, in a group, brought the woman before Jesus, and waited for him to answer whether she ought to be stoned or let free, either one breaking some form of the law. As I'm standing there smirking to myself, I see the man Jesus stoop down and begin to scribble in the sand. My curiosity piques and ignoring the crying woman in the middle of the circle I step closer in order to see what he is writing. Confusion clouds my brain as I see my Pharisee brother Matthan's name being written down beside the words “stole from widow”. I look up in time to see Matthan turn around and disappear, along with 3 other men. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I catch on to the pattern taking place, and I realize that whatever Jesus is writing is starting from the oldest and headed down to the youngest of the group, which means I will be next. I have no idea how he knows such deep secrets of ours, but it scares me, and our master plan is now being ruined (once again) by this man. How infuriating. All of a sudden I see my name, and then my deepest secret is revealed before those who are left standing there. In my embarrassment I turn to leave, still not sure how he knew these things. How could a mere man read inside the deepest parts of our souls? Could it be this man Jesus was not so mere mortal after all? I immediately attempt to push that thought out from my mind, but the question nags. Is Jesus who he actually says he is, or is he as us Pharisees claim, simply a man with inexplicable power? I will probably never know the answers to those questions, but I can say with certainty that they will continue to haunt me until I see him dead. After what happened today, I realize Jesus is harder to trap than we thought, and next time, we will have to get craftier. Until then, my mind continues to ponder, against my will, who is this man?





God bless, and blog soon 

Crunch Time

Hey ya'll!!  I have a prayer request for you all today, I'm just simply asking that as I get prepared for my midterms that you would please ask the Lord to bring things back to my remembrance.   I'm feeling rather pressured, stressed, and inadequate.  So I would appreciate all the prayer warriors out there to just lift me up real quick this next week when you think of it!!

Thanks you guys,


God bless, and blog soon (promise, I will blog for real soon)

In God We Trust

The words "In God We Trust" surround us as Americans, our very country was built on this foundation.  But sadly has become a sort of quote to most people, instead of a nugget of truth we can live our lives according to.  I know for me, it is easy to throw the words out of my mouth, but then hours (or even minutes) later start worrying about my next meal, or my financial situation. 

Oh me of little faith.  It says in Luke 17:6 So the Lord said,  “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." 

This verse so clearly jumps out at me, because it makes me evaluate my life.  It isn't how big my faith is, it's the object of my faith!  Jesus is showing me here that my faith could be as small as a MUSTARD seed, and it doesn't matter, all that matters is where I am placing my trust!! Am I placing it in Jesus or in my own supposed power?? 

After talking with a friend tonight about how it feels sometimes like God's will is distant from us, I had a lightbulb moment (and ya'll probably laugh cause it's sorta obvious, I know..) 

Ready? here it is:  when God is delaying in telling us His will, He's asking us to trust Him... whoa.  I know.  It's a simple revelation, but a powerful one.  God spoke to me SO CLEARLY and like bonked me over the head with this concept!  When God isn't showing me His will, that doesn't mean it's because I have to "this this one into my own hands".  Gosh no!  It means that I need to learn how to have faith that it's all gonna work out, that I need to trust that Jesus does know better then me! 

It isn't easy, but I'm growing in this even as I write about it, God is continually showing me ways in which my faith is failing hardcore.  But even though God is showing me that, He's also reminding me of the Grace that He gives me when my faith does fail.... what a God we serve!!!

So in light of what I just wrote, I am going to try to change my thinking habits.  "In God We Trust" is no longer going to be a platitude I spout off when I'm feeling spiritual, but rather a truth that my thoughts will be centered around. 

God bless, and blog soon

Dare to be a Disciple

Disciple: a learner (follower) of Christ.

We all know Matthew 28:19-20 which says: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; .." This is a very well known verse among believers.

Here's something I didn't really think about or realize: in order to make disciples, you yourself must BE a disciple!! So many in the church in these days are full of "godliness", knowing what to say, when to say it, and where to be. But they aren't really disciples of Christ! Think of it this way....how can I teach you how to swim, if I don't know how to swim? That's illogical! I can't teach you to swim unless I know how to, and it's the same with discipleship. We can't teach others and make disciples if we ourselves aren't first disciples of Christ.

But be warned: it isn't easy to be a disciple of Christ. Rainbows and butterflies aren't present 24/7, we don't live in expensive mansions with a crew of servants, you aren't going to be loved or even liked by everyone. Salvation is free, but Discipleship will cost you everything.
It isn't the most appealing thing to people, but it's the most wonderful thing you could EVER experience. Following Christ will take you places you never thought you could go, will enable you to be bold, will help you do things you never thought possible. But more than all of that, you get to be intimate with JESUS! You get to spend time with Him! Sweet, precious time with the One who created you then died for you then rose again for you.

Okay, and yet we don't want to sacrifice anything for His sake? Sounds selfish to me. If someone jumped in front of a car for me, sacrificed themselves, but the doctors were able to revive them..yeah you're right, I'd probably ignore that person too. I'd probably pretend it didn't happen, and I definitely wouldn't owe them anything.

Right? WRONG! Any person in their right mind wouldn't do those things I mentioned; we'd talk to that person right? Thank them for what they did, see how we can repay them, right? You see, with Jesus, we owe Him everything. But He washes it away, and only asks that we do one thing: follow Him.

Take up your cross, and follow Him daily (Mark 8:34). Become a Christ learner, a Christ follower, THEN obey the Matthew 28 command: go into the world and make more.

Do you Dare to be a Disciple?


God bless, and blog soon

Gospel Genealogy

Genesis Chapter 5 Genealogy

             Hebrew                    English

Adam	Man
Seth	Appointed
Enosh	Mortal
Kenan	Sorrow
Mahalalel	The Blessed God
Jared	Shall come down
Enoch	Teaching
Methusaleh	His death shall bring
Lamech	The despairing
Noah	Rest, or comfort

On the left side of the table is the Genealogy list.  The right side ("english") shows the meanings of the names. 

Now get this.....    if you read down the English side of the table, it spells out the Gospel!!!  Try it! 

Man Appointed Mortal Sorrow, The Blessed God Shall Come Down Teaching, His death shall bring the despairing rest/comfort.  

THAT is something man couldn't have created, definitely a work of God as He divinely orchestrated the writing of His Word.  

God bless, and blog soon

Seminary or Cemetery?

 The question often posed is whether you are going to seminary or cemetery.

Seems a tad morbid, doesn't it? Yet the question remains. Are you attending seminary or cemetery? When I first heard this question asked (or often just simply stated as a warning) I laughed it off and simply ignored it, not understanding. But now being enrolled in a theology school, I understand exactly where those critics who said such things were coming from. Let me explain...

When I first came to school, the excitement and joy were bubbling over inside me! Think about it... I'm taking classes in the BIBLE!!!!! How cool is that?! I get to study my favorite subject all day for 4 months. I couldn't wait to sit down and do homework, I was raring to go classes, I was up early and spending time with Jesus.

Then things got a little crazy... I started getting overwhelmed with homework, my classes seem to drag on, and I can't seem to get enough sleep anymore. Somedays I even wonder if I will get to eat because I'm so busy between school work and my service in the community (it's considered a class you must take, for those of you who don't know why I can't cut that off my schedule). Just at the beginning of the week, I was so excited to get to my serving opportunity Then it turned into just another thing I had to do on my list. That's it. Not as a great opportunity to show God's love, but rather just another chore that I had to get through quickly because I “don't have time for this” and I need to get homework done.

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.

I can say with conviction that I know exactly where those critics came from in saying “don't go to cemetery”. It's so easy to get caught up in the WORK, that you forget who you're doing the work for! I had forgotten why I was here, what the purpose was for me to be studying the Bible. It's not because it's the “Christian thing to do” to go to Bible college.... it's because it's something I love to do, study God's Word. I love it! But sadly, as of late, my joy has been gone. The joy of homework was replaced with complaining about how “I'll never get this all done in time”, the excitement for classes has been replaced with counting down the minutes on the clock til it's over, and the “Mary-time” with Jesus has been thrown out the window with more sleep taking it's place. What a sad, sad thing to admit. Yet, it's true.

I don't want this post to sound like Bible College is just going to zap your joy. Because that is FAR (hear me... FAR) from the truth! But what I do want this post to be about is honesty, and honestly I have allowed my joy to be zapped because I forgot how FUN it is to just study God's Word, and to spend time with Jesus!!! It's so stinkin fun, I can't stress it enough. I just forgot that in the past week, and all these things turned back into rituals, into excuses to gripe and complain. That's so wrong of me. It's the wrong perspective. Seminary is just that. Seminary. “Cemetery” is for those who did what I did, which was forget the real reason I'm here. I'm here to serve God, to serve people, and to grow closer to my Creator. I'm not here to complain, gripe, and serve myself. I let myself fall into those thoughts and the result was a stressed out me, who didn't have enough time in the day to study God's Word, who didn't have enough time in the day to sit at God's feet in the classes, who didn't have enough time to do community service. Anybody else the problem with that picture?? Please tell me you see how hypocritical that is?

I understand why people said to me “Don't go! It goes from Seminary to Cemetery!”.

I also now understand what type of people they had to be to experience that.. they had to be like me, the person who turns a relationship into a religion, the person who let's the little things turn into opportunities to complain versus opportunities to exalt my Father.

Seminary doesn't have to be Cemetery, and I now realize how wrong I was in my thinking lately! The Joy of the Lord is MY strength, and from now, on I'm going to draw from His well of joy instead of drawing on myself for weak little strength.

I praise the Lord that He took me to the woodshed and said “What in the world do you think you're doing Daughter? I have blessed you in allowing you to devote to my Bible completely for FOUR MONTHS STRAIGHT, and you have the guts to complain that things aren't going your way? You feel dry Daughter? You feel stressed Daughter? You feel angry, you feel sad, you feel spent Daughter? Well, have you even tried going on a walk with Me to ask Me to help? Or were you going to let it continue until you are so joyless you're dead?”

Don't lose the Joy of the Lord, it's one of the best things God gives us. I realize that now. I realize I can't finish Bible College without Him, because I have not the strength. I will die. With Him though, I'm triumphant and I can say to those critical people

“You went about it the wrong way! You died in Seminary, but not because of constant Bible studies. You died in Seminary because you forgot the most important part of Seminary... JESUS.”

God bless, and blog soon