Starry Night

I enjoy looking up at the night sky

and seeing the beautiful Pleiades radiating in their sisterly clusters of cerulean and dazzling white;

Gazing at comets and meteors streaking across the inky abyss that is dotted by twinkling bursts of light as I lie on my car’s roof late at night

Constellations spell out the story of the world in their entangled webs of silver as 

clouds drift in and out of sight, stretched paper-thin over the speckled blue and black canvas above my head

The interwoven dance of the universe continues on and on,

A source of comfort, calm, and order amidst the chaos and confusion of the world below; slowly swirling and swaying until the sun’s shining cap peeks its head just over the horizon.

Join the Movement

Hey there! I'm Hannah. I'm a Christian. I have been a "good" Christian most of my life. It was my identity. I used to like to tell people how "good" I was, how I kept all the Commandments. I thought that was "Good"...

Then I realized something...I Failed!!! "Christian" was just a name I wore...kind of like a pretty coat over a dirty body...It didn't match my heart. Here's why:

If you were an Atheist or Agnostic or anything else...And if you didn't agree with me...I would disdain you as a person. I feel like a hypocrite! I feel disgusting! And I can't take it anymore! I wasn't interested in being your "Friend". I just wanted to change you. I thought that was my job.

Christianity is about being like "Christ." Jesus loved everyone, First. If they didn't accept what He said, He still loved them. Its not my job to change you, I can't. But its my job to love you. That I can.

So this is an appeal to my Christian Brothers and Sisters, not all but some... stop the Damnation. Stop the Judgment. Stop the "Religism." That's not our business.

It doesn't matter how well you can preach...How many Bible verses you've memorized or how many people "think" you are all that. If you don't have love, you're nothing. Love is not a chore. It's a revelation. The Christ you serve revealed it in its purest form.

Gandhi said: "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians."

Don't be one of "those." This is an invitation....
Start the LOVE...Join the movement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXINEYdnkY

Pass It On!

Valentine's Day: The True Story

       So, today I decided to write about the origins of the popular holiday known as Valentine's Day since the holiday is coming up this week. There probably aren't many people out in the world that actually know the true origins of the holiday of love, as most probably remain in the dark, thinking that it is just a day to give out love notes, flowers and chocolates to the people that they care most about. However, the true story, like many holidays, is not exactly what most believe it to be.

In reality, the holiday started in order to commemorate a martyr that died centuries before our time, around the year 278 AD on February 14th. Valentine (or Valentinus in Latin, a name derived from the word valens, meaning worthy, strong or powerful) a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II. The emperor needed a strong army for his violent campaigns across the land but seemed to have a hard time getting soldiers to join in the fight. He believed that this hesitation was rooted in the soldiers' dedication to their wives and children over their duty to their emperor. In retaliation, Emperor Claudius II banned all any Romans from getting engaged or married.

The priest, Valentine, defied the emperor and kept marrying young Christian couples in secret. Once Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine's defiance of the law and unwillingness to renounce his faith, the young priest was arrested and sentenced to death by being beaten with clubs. When this was unsuccessful in killing Valentine (I have no clue how THAT could be unsuccessful), he was then ordered to be beheaded. This happened on or around February 14th, 270 AD.

There are legends that exist which say that St. Valentine, while incarcerated, befriended the jailer's blind daughter and healed her blindness before being executed. It also says that on the day before his death, he left her a farewell note signed, "From Your Valentine."

Because Valentine risked his life to protect Christians and was willing to be martyred for his faith, he was honored by the Church by being made a saint posthumously (after his death).

No one REALLY knows exactly how the feast day became remembered as a day of love, but some historians think that the pagan festival of love and fertility, the Feast of Lupercalia, was celebrated around the same time of the year as St. Valentine's feast day, from February 13th through the 15th.

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided to put an end to the Feast of Lupercalia, and he declared that February 14 be celebrated as St. Valentine's Day exclusively, almost 200 years after the martyr's death.

As the centuries passed by, the day became remembered more and more by the exchange of love messages, cards and gifts to celebrate love for one another. This probably resulted from remembering how St. Valentine cared for young couples in love and helped them marry in secret.

However it came about, the holiday has now evolved from a Catholic feast day to honor a brave martyr into a day to show a loved one how much you care for them through the exchange of gifts and love notes, much like the note in the legends that was given to the jailer's daughter before the saint's execution, signed: "From Your Valentine."

Jesus is Better video

Jesus is Better by Caleb & Sol

 

I’ve got 5 minutes to convince you of one thing.

Altogether, it’s 13 letters, 3 words, and 1 complete sentence.

And I hope you never forget it.

In fact, I hope it haunts you.

I hope you always remember these 13 letters, these 3 words, and this one complete sentence.

Jesus is better.


You say…Better than what?


I say…Better than everything else.


He’s better than any passing dream you might be chasing after.

He’s better than any worldly ambition that may have captured your devotion.

He’s better than anything that could distract you from doing what you were created to do.

Jesus is better.


He’s better than a 6-figure salary.

He’s better than a 3-story home.

He’s better than a trophy wife, a job promotion, and a Caribbean cruise.

Jesus is better.


He’s better than a starting position on the football team.

He’s better than a lead role in the spring musical.

He’s better than a 4.0 GPA, a college scholarship, and a nomination to homecoming court.

Jesus is better.


He’s better than money, cars, clothes, sex, entertainment, achievement, and popularity.

He’s better than anything this world can offer you.

Jesus is better.



He’s better than any person that has ever walked this earth.

He’s wiser than Gandhi and smarter than Einstein.

He’s more holy than Mohammed and more spiritual than Buddha.

He’s more eloquent than Shakespeare and more creative than Mozart.

He’s more powerful than Napoleon and more compassionate than Mother Theresa.

Jesus is better.


The Bible says…

He’s better than Adam, better than Abraham, better than Moses, David, and Mary.

He’s better than the angels, better than the demons, and better than any prophet, priest, or saint.

Jesus is better!


And there will be times when it’s hard to believe: times when it doesn’t feel like Jesus is better.

The world will hate you. Your flesh will fight you. And the devil will lie to you.

Storms…will…come.


You’re gonna face disappointment, deception, betrayal, rejection, regret, sickness, and death.

You’re gonna feel tired, empty, broken-hearted, scared, and alone.

But don’t forget in the darkness what you learned in the light.

Jesus is better.



He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

He is the Prince of Peace and the light of the world

He is the friend of sinners and the enemy of Satan.

He is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

He is the way and the truth and the life.

Jesus is better.


And if you really, truly believe it, it’s gonna cost you.

You’re gonna deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.

You’re gonna help the poor, swallow your pride, and love your enemies.

You’re gonna read your Bible when you’d rather watch TV.

You’re gonna pray when you’d rather sleep.

You’re gonna serve when you’d rather be served.

You’re gonna speak up when you’d rather be silent.

But when it’s all said and done, you won’t regret it.

You’ll say, "It was worth it. Jesus is better."

"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…"Jesus is better.

So my hope for you isn’t that you’re safe, successful, and well-liked.

Sometimes those are the very things that get in the way of you learning the one thing you can’t afford to ignore; that Jesus is better.

So, if being unsafe, unsuccessful, and unliked is what it’s gonna take for you to see that Jesus is better, well then I’ll pray that your life is filled with danger, failure, and persecution.

Whatever it takes;I want you to know that Jesus…is…better.

13 letters, 3 words, 1 sentence, and no question about it.

Jesus…is better.

Journey to Canaan: The Struggle

Hey there!
My posts haven't been as frequent as I had initially hoped they would be but hey, I'm trying here.
So now that I have finished the 504 fast for 21 days I find that I am now experiencing that feeling of coming down from the mountaintop again.
You know that feeling, when you have had such an AMAZING unique experience with God and then, when it's all said and done, you have to leave and trek it all on your own out in the scary world called Reality.
I loved having the resources that were available to me during the fast like multiple chapel services throughout the week, a 24/7 prayer room at the church and that feeling of being "high" on God's Presence and the Holy Spirit. It was this support and the fact that the fast occurred during a time when I wasn't at school that helped me to be able to focus on God rather than the world. I wasn't constantly being distracted by the media and other worldly factors that tried to tear me away from God at every moment.
Now I am back at The College at Brockport, in classes for 5 hours a day, 3 days a week while also working as well on my off days (for the most part).
During the fast, I was able to be constantly surrounded by godly people who encouraged me and sowed seeds of knowledge and wisdom into me for 3 weeks. Now I'm kinda out there on my own to fend for myself it seems.
Of course I know that I am not REALLY alone but it does seem like that when I am not in constant fellowship with believers and reading my Bible all the time. It's like I am a radio on one setting that, if I don't constantly keep tuned on the right frequency, the song will fade out intil it's too hard to hear properly.

This past Sunday, I was at church and my pastor was speaking about Moses and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt after centuries of being kept in slavery. This message gave me a whole new perspective and outlook on my journey after 504. Pastor Pierre talked about the well-known 10 plagues that struck Egypt's population and how Pharaoh kept on reneging on his agreements to let the Israelites go after each plague was lifted, etc. If you know the story, you already know what happens. They were eventually allowed to go and left Egypt together out into the wilderness.

The parts Pastor Pierre focused on was the fact that when they became trapped between the Red Sea and an oncoming army of Egyptian soldiers, they actually had the gall to exclaim "Why did you bring us out here to die? At least in Egypt we had food in our stomachs and could have died with a full stomach instead of starving out here in the desert!" (or something to that effect; my paraphrasing isn't exactly the most accurate).
Even despite their complaining, God still saved them by parting the Red Sea so that they could cross over on the dry land. When the Egyptians tried to follow them once they had crossed, God returned the sea to its watery bed and drowned them all.
In the 40 or more years that followed, the Israelite people kept returning to this idea of regressing back into their old habits wanting to go back to Egypt. They thought that going back to a life of slavery and opression would be better than wandering in the desert as they journeyed towards the Promised Land! WHAT?!?
Now, I don't know about you, but from what I have heard of and read about slavery, it must have seemed PRETTY bad if they wanted to go back there again. They were unwilling to endure hardship and fight to finally arrive at what God had promised for His people.

Pastor Pierre then related this story to our lives today. The congregation of The Father's House has just ended this 21 day fast where people have been freed from various chains of bondage that came in many different forms: a bad relationship, an addiction, bad habits, negative thoughts, suicidal tendencies, etc. We were finally free!
He said however, that many people, even the day after the fast ended, probably went right back into their old ways, or at least wanted badly to do so. How is it that we can go back to such a bad place in our lives SO quickly? Just like the Israelites longed for Egypt as soon as they had left, we also long to return to our own "Egypt" once we have been freed.

A few points to remember in your own "Journey to Canaan":
1. Your focus will become your reality
*God will not contaminate your destination with where you came from. The Promised Land will be better beyond our imagining; it will be so much better that when we look at the old life, it will be a mere shadow compared to life in God's Presence.
*Do not desire where you came from but instead, set your mind on the place you come from, using it as motivation in your journey into a new life.

2. Do Not Forget
*We have a tendency to mask truth with desire. We justify our decisions rather than facing the truth of our own sin
*Don't put makeup on the monster! Unmask the sin in your life
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)
*Don't allow sin to crush your courage to stay out of Egypt
 -If you slip up, don't let it get you down too much because there is redemption for our mistakes.
1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

3. Renewing of My Mind
*It may have taken a short time to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but it took around 45 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.
*Change the way you think so that instead of focusing on the past, you can look forward to the future.
*Just like blood dialysis must be used frequently to keep purifying the blood for the kidneys on a person's body, our soul must also go through a spiritual "dialysis" by reading the Word of God and talking to God every day.
*Don't turn off your spiritual engine or else like a plane, you'll take a quick and dangerous nosedive.
      1) Read your Bible
      2) Talk to God every day. It doesn't have to be formal prayer, but just as if you were talking to Him face to face.
      3) Surround yourself with people who refuse to go back. They can keep you accountable for your choices and actions (even when you wish they wouldn't)
*There is no such thing as "Christian-friendly" for your "Egypt"
  -For example, if drinking is your "Egypt," don't even put yourself into a situation where it will be present to tempt you

Finally, Pastor Pierre addressed how Israel's oppressors were drowned and killed by the waters of the Red Sea after being delivered from Egypt.
In order to be saved from their enemy, they had to first choose to cross through the parted waters to the other side. If they had stayed on the shore, they would have died. If they had stopped halfway through, they would have perished along with the other Egyptian soldiers. They had to go all the way in order to be delivered. I imagine that they even had to leave things behind that would not go through the muck and mire with them that would bog them down on their way across to the other side. It would be hard to leave these things behind because they didn't know what was to become of them in the years ahead. What if they needed these things later on? How would they survive? However, they must have left them behind anyways because they were able to make it to the other side before the waters obliterated the enemy's army that had oppressed them for so long.

What is this miraculous, life-saving water to us in our own spiritual journey?
~Galatians 2:20 says: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
~Romans 6:3-4  "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
~Acts 2:38-39  "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call."

The next step after turning your life around and committing your life to Christ is to be baptized to publicly declare to other believers that you belong to God FOR GOOD. By being baptized, you also symbolically take the same place as Jesus in His resurrection by going under the water where your old life is left behind and you come up again a new person.

You don't have to have gone through a 21 day fast where your soul got an intense spiritual cleansing like I did. Even if you have simply made a decision to turn your life around to live right, you will ALWAYS be tempted to go back, every single day of your life.
I know that it will always be a struggle for me for the rest of my life but I want to be up for the task when it comes to that.

That's why this past Sunday I made the decision to finally be baptized in church this coming Sunday. I held it off for a long time and I feel that now is the time to make that final commitment. People say that when you accept Christ into your life, it's like that is only being engaged in the relationship. You aren't "married" to Christ until you formally declare your true and permanent commitment by being baptized. If that's true then I have been engaged to my faith for too long and I want to take the leap and finalize my "transformation" into who I am supposed to be in Christ. I want to have the boldness to change my world and not just stand back and watch others do my work for me. I'm sick of complaining and going back to old habits.
I want a fresh start. How about you?

True Sacrifice

I am about 2/3 of the way through my church's 21 day fast called 504, for the number of hours in 21 days. At the beginning, I started out by taking things slow, eating fruits and vegetables with a few exceptions. Then I was able to eat just a couple small meals of vegetables and now I have gotten down to drinking water and eating one small meal of steamed vegetables. The first couple of days is always the hardest they say, and it's definitely true. What helped me the most was taking the time that I usually spent eating or using media to read my Bible, pray and go to chapel services offered throughout the weeks. I was also able to use some of my free time to get back to painting which I haven't done in years. It's great being able to let my creative side out every once in a while instead of just taking in information all the time.

Anyways, during the past several days, I felt like God was pushing me farther into this fast. After a while, just eating lots of fruits and veggies didn't seem like enough. I've been trying to live mostly on water and I don't even feel hungry anymore and I still have energy to spare. The first night I worked during this phase, I just prayed "God, if I'm going to get through this night of work, it will be by your grace alone because I can't last long by myself with just water." That whole night and other nights after, I have had plenty of energy to get through my day.

Fasting entails personal sacrifice so that we might die to the flesh and grow closer to God.
Today in church, Pastor Pierre spoke about true sacrifice with the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel.
People may think that they know this story of how God used Elijah to turn the hearts of the Israelites back to Him, but he put sacrifice in a new perspective for me with his sermon.

The story comes from 1 Kings 18.
Israel is ruled by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who, according to history, have some of the worst reputations of all the Bible characters. They led the nation of Israel into pagan worship to the god, Baal. You would think that after CENTURIES of God's signs and wonders protecting them, Israel would have the strongest faith of any nation in history, but nope, they didn't. Israel suffered from a 3 year drought, kind of harsh on an already desert climate.

God protected the few people who stayed faithful to Him out in the wilderness and sent the prophet Elijah to bring Israel back in line with God's commandments.
To do this, Elijah proposed a little spiritual experiment to test the validity of Baal's authority and power. As the leading religion in the nation, they probably couldn't refuse, else they be looked on as cowards.
Sacrifices were to be made to each god on an altar and whichever god answered with FIRE, they would be the true God of the Israelites. The prophets of Baal went first of course, and the sky was silent even though they cut themselves and danced like crazy to get an answer. Elijah must gotten tired of this because he basically said "Enough! Now it's my turn."
He gathered everyone close so that they could see how a sacrifice should be when you want to get God's attention.
1. Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which had been TORN down (in a violent manner).
--You must first repair the place in your life of SACRIFICE and PRAYER. These two things are what the enemy goes after the most because without them we are more vulnerable to attack.
Then, after preparing the sacrifice, a trench was dug in a circle around the altar.
2. Water, a scarce commodity in a long drought, was poured all over the sacrifice, soaking everything and overflowing to fill the trench around it.
--You must sacrifice something that is valuable to you; something that would cost you much to give up (that's why it's called sacrifice, not giving).
--The water also soaked the wood. For anyone who has ever built a fire, you know that wet wood=no fire. How would the sacrifice burn?
Elijah was testing God so that when He showed his power, there would be no mistaking it for a fluke.

Elijah prayed for God to show up in such a way that the people would turn their hearts back to Him.

IMMEDIATELY! Fire came from Heaven that was so powerful that it burned up everything! The sacrifice, wood, all the water and even the stones of the altar!
It wasn't a small flame either, but a GIANT burst of fire.

The people turned back to God that day upon seeing the miraculous sign.

___________________________________

What was emphasized in this telling of the story was not how the people turned their hearts once again, but how we are to give sacrifice out of love to God.

It was said that God requires 3 things of our sacrifices:
1. It should be without blemish; something that you love most
2. Has to be a sacrifice to you and actually cost you something
3. It has to be done by faith in God

If you were to give someone that you love dearly a gift, you wouldn't give them something used and tattered and broken. You would want to show your love to them by giving them a gift that is meaningful to you both, that you spent time and/or money on to get for them.
Don't give God your leftovers from your paycheck after you paid the bills, bought groceries and put away for savings. Give to God first before all of that in faith that your needs will be provided for in time.

I also challenge you to give even more than just your tithe. Maybe not in the offering bucket but maybe by helping someone in need buy their groceries or giving to charity or volunteering somewhere. Do something that stretches you beyond your comfort zone instead of falling into a rut of routine.
As you practice sacrificing and giving of yourself, the idea of generosity becomes more and more easier and familiar as it becomes a part of who you are as a person.

Broken Glass

In life, everyone likes to pretend on the outside that everything is okay when in reality, it usually isn't.
We go through out day, pasting on fake smiles when inside, we know that we are more like a puzzle with missing puzzle pieces.

This was one of the metaphors that was presented at my church during a sermon recently. Everyone was given a puzzle piece (or in my case, a handful of puzzle pieces) to illustrate the object lesson of hope. To us, it may just look like a simple puzzle piece. But to God, or the person who created the puzzle, it is a part of a much larger picture on the front of the box. All we have to do to gain a better perspective is take a step back and look at the picture on the box to see where the pieces all fit.
We have to ask God to give us perspective on our tiny little puzzle pieces so that we can stop worrying about jamming them together the way we want and start letting God place them where they are supposed to be
---fashioned into a large, beautiful masterpiece.

This morning, towards the beginning of my New Years 21 day fast with my church, I had the unfortunate experience of breaking a wine glass while I was finishing my morning chores. As I grabbed the broom and began sweeping up the pieces, it hit me! I am much like the broken pieces lying there on the floor, scattered everywhere by the impacts of life's ups and downs.
When I look at myself, I tend only to see the pieces, broken beyond all hope of repair. However, God wants to take all of those broken pieces and not only glue them together haphazardly as a distorted image of what I once was, but instead, create a whole new masterpiece even more beautiful than before.

An older Christian movie called "Joshua" explores how life would be if Christ came to Earth in modern time and how he might be received in our day and age. In one of the scenes, one of the female characters also breaks a glass. She even goes on to compare her own life to the broken glass as well. Joshua, the "modern day" Jesus character, says no, that her life can still be beautiful if she would just let it. To prove his point, he later takes all of the broken pieces of glass, melts it down and fashions a brand new glass sculpture out of it so that it is once more something beautiful and worthy of being admired by all.

Anyone can become that new glass sculpture, but only if we surrender to God with all of our being.

During this 21 day fast, I want to be able to pray that as I grow closer to God, my broken, disillusioned life can become new once more in a way well beyond what I ever imagined.

God,
Help me to uncover the pieces of my life that need to be fixed by you. Lead me back on the path of the straight and narrow. Over the past year, I have wandered far away by compromising on things that should not have changed. I know that this process of being molded will hurt as you chisel away and melt me into what you want me to become. I pray that you will give me the grace, guidance and understanding that I will need to see the path that you have set before me.
In Your Holy Name I Pray,
Amen.

A Whole New Experience

Hello again!
As usual, I haven't written on here in awhile. Since I last wrote an actual blog entry, a few other things have happened.

I have finally finished at Monroe Community College, graduating with an Associate's degree in Liberal Arts, only to then enroll at another local college, The College at Brockport for this fall. For a long time, I opposed my parents on the whole idea of going back to school at all; I wanted to take a semester off to either travel or work full time. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, so why go back to school until I knew, right?
I prayed about it for a long time and after reading my Bible, I found multiple passages that spoke of respecting and honoring authority, whether you agree with them or not. It really grated against me because I didn't want to submit to them even though I knew in the long run they would probably be right anyway. To make a long story short, I am now going to Brockport as an English Literature major. Since I am finished with all my liberal arts classes, all I have left to take now are lots and lots of English courses. I'm a little worried I might fall behind with a heavier work load as a college Junior but hopefully with God's grace, I will finish out my degree in two years.

At the college orientation, one of the advisors mentioned a chance to participate in a study abroad program in OXFORD UNIVERSITY! :D I really want to do it since going to England has been a dream of mine for a long time. The program would be for a semester, most likely in the Fall next year, so my goal is to be able to get ready to do that with applying and everything. I'm still praying about it all and if it doesn't work out for some reason, I know it will be a good reason.

But a girl can still hope, right?

So there's that and also trying to balance my job with school as well, but so far my bosses have been pretty understanding of my situation and try to help out as much as they can.

Things people should know about Brockport (or really any College) before applying:

1. Wear good walking shoes if your classes aren't going to be close together and bundle up because the buildings are not connected and Rochester winters can get cold! Also make sure to leave small breaks between classes to get from building to building.
2. Register EARLY because if you don't, there aren't many options left by the time you get there and you're stuck with the leftover classes. I did this and waited until orientation to sign up for classes. Stupid idea!
3. Research the classes and professors so that you aren't surprised by what you get. The site of RateMyProfessors.com helped me out a lot since it's other students who rate the profs that they had already. You can find out who is better than others in easiness, availability, etc. Some of the reviews are a bit skewed by personal opinions but they're pretty easy to spot.
4. Get to school early to find a parking spot. I found out that Brockport doesn't have nearly as much space as they need for students since many students commute from the surrounding areas of Rochester. I have had instances where it took me a good 10-20 minutes to find a parking spot that was nowhere near my classes because I didn't get there early enough.
5. Get involved in clubs or groups or even find a few people to hang out with in your free time, otherwise you can feel a little overwhelmed by it all. For me, I was used to MCC, which was a little smaller than Brockport and I found that getting to know people early on really helps the semester to pass by more quickly.

I wanted to add these notes as a little tag-on piece for new college students, whether at Brockport or really any college, as these tips can apply to any college student who lives anywhere.

Well I hope the tips might prove useful to someone out there that is starting at a new school like I am. Just know that I will keep you in my prayers as you start out on this new adventure!

Blessings!
~Hannah

Part 1



I love listening to this piece of music. It comes in two parts and was composed by Steven Sharp Nelson & Marshall McDonald. Whenever I hear it, I am reminded of my intrinsic desire to travel to new places where the rhythm of the land can be felt vibrating through my bones like this music does to me.

Part 2

 

Hello there!
Yeah...so, I haven't been all too diligent in my goal of writing on this blog very often and since my blog has been gathering cobwebs from lack of use, I thought that I might dust off the old keyboard and get back at it all again. I haven't written in a long while because I have been kept busy with finishing up school, work, family events etc.

Today (well, actually tonight) I felt hard-pressed to write a letter of encouragement to anyone who might read this entry that is going through a hard time. In the past few days, I have encountered many people who just seem to need someone to encourage them in some way or another. I may not seem too qualified to some people to be giving anyone advice on enduring through hard times since my life has been blessed in many ways.  However, even though my struggles may not have been "hung out with the dirty laundry", I still often struggle with insecurities and hardships that may not be visible to everyone at all times.

For the past two years or so, my mom has struggled with back pains and other medical issues; the back pain from a minor car accident in February of 2010, and the other things from her own medical history. She's a nurse and as some people say, medical professionals make the worst patients. She may be in pain all the time but she'll never admit it that she feels weak most of the time, pushing through the pain to keep up an everyday routine. Everyone can see right through the facade, especially me, since I know exactly how she acts when she is in pain. I can tell that she is quickly approaching the end of her rope, growing more and more frustrated with the bureaucracies that run the medical, legal and insurance worlds. Every time I see her in pain, or being frustrated with another doctor or lawyer on the phone, or researching a new type of pain treatment, I wish with ALL my being that I could just take all her pain, frustration and troubles away forever. I know in my heart, though, that God has SOME reason for her to suffer this long, but I just hate not being able to do anything to fix it despite some of the positive things that may have come from the experience so far. Since her pain started, she has been able to meet lots of new people in her doctors' visits, therapy sessions, etc and has encouraged others to keep up the fight with their own pain, giving them whatever advice that she can to them. I also know that in the end, her own fight will become the light at the far end of the tunnel for so many other people later on in life and she will have a greater impact on the world around her than she ever could have without the pain.

World-renowned surfer, Bethany Hamilton (best known for her biographical movie Soul Surfer), lost her left arm in a shark attack at a young age. Since then, she has gained all-new avenues to share her faith with the world. An awesome quote from the movie is when Bethany is asked if she ever had the chance to change her fate on the day of the shark attack, if she would take it. Her character replies: "No, because I could never have embraced this many people with two arms."  It was this statement that made me think. Maybe we experience hardships because it helps us widen our horizons, look beyond everyday life, learn to appreciate everything that is done for us and help us be in the right place and the right time in order to make a difference in other people's lives.

Maybe you might have one or more issues/ problems that you are dealing with at the moment: family issues, medical ailments or problems, addictions, relationship difficulties, educational issues with indecision or bad grades, etc. Whatever your issues, I want you to know that I will be thinking about you and praying for you often. This may sound extremely cliche, but have hope in the thought that you ARE never alone in your problem(s). Find someone that you can truly confide in that will not judge you for your actions but accept you for who you are, flaws and all. It might be me, or maybe someone else that you have in your own personal circles of friends. It is through mentorship that you can finally try to work through your problems and grow into the person that you are truly meant to become.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."  ~Henry Stanley Haskins

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 
~1 John 4:4 (NIV)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." 
~Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Always keeping you in prayer,
God Bless!

Beauty in the Thorns

Once upon a time there lived

a lowly woman poor.

Her sole possession in the world

A blood red rose of thorns.

Her face now marked with signs of age,

her skin now void of rosy sheen;

her mind became one of a sage,

her body, thin and lean.

She walked up to the castle grey

to offer up a deal:

A room and warmth for her one rose

she held so very dear.

The master sneered and pushed away

the cold and shiv’ring mite;

“No need have I of your bouquet,

“Be gone!” He roared into the night.

“Beware,” she whispered to the wind,

“Regard those that thou dost deny.

For words have power deep within

not seen by nature’s eye.

A rose may have a few sharp thorns,

but true beauty dost lie within.”

In an instant, she transform’d

into a woman fair.

In all the world, no one could charm

with beauty to compare.

Upon his sight of her sweet face,

the master fell on bended knee.

In recognition of his fate,

he begged with heartfelt plea.

“I knew thee not, I did not see

the truth of thy request.

Thy visage did my eyes deceive,

but now, please be my guest.”

In pity she looked in his eyes

But there saw no remorse.

All she saw was his demise,

her voice declared with force:

“Your words have come forth far too late

to save you from your doom.

But Mercy, my dear friend of late,

offers this humble bloom.

“Enchanted are its petals red;

its blossoming prolonged.

It will fade ‘til thou art wed

to one who can perceive beyond.

“Thy beauty I will take from you

as penance for thy sinful deed;

to teach you how to live anew

and act not out of selfish greed.”

At once, his flawless skin grew fur,

his nails turned sharp and long.

His pure white teeth now jagged-edged

displayed his body strong.

The creature’s mouth let out a roar

in anguish and in sorrow.

His sins now were accounted for

in a life of sad tomorrows.

Furious Love Trailer

Post-Fast Post

Hey there!
I know that I said that I would try to add new entries every day of my fast these past two weeks or so, but as with many things in my life, I was not able to keep faithful to that commitment. I chose to try and focus more on drawing closer to God through the experience of this fast and feed my spirit more than my fleshly desires. I feel that fasts are much easier to accomplish successfully when one has free time to spend in God's presence, uninhibited by the worries of a lot of work and school assignments. As I am still on Winter break for one more glorious week, I would try to take advantage of the situation and re-establish my relationship with God for the coming new year.

I decided that one of my resolutions for this year was that I want to witness and experience a miracle in person this year. These past couple of weeks, I have been praying that God would be able to use me in such a way this year that I would be put in the right place at the right time so that I could be a good influence to others and further God's plan for my life as well as theirs. I don't want to waste my life doing the mediocre anymore, but my dream is to be the most effective person that I can possibly be; to have a lasting effect on the lives of those around me.

A week ago yesterday, I had the chance to view an awesome Christian documentary with several of my friends at our weekly Bible Study. This movie was called Furious Love and was created by people who wanted to see what would happen when God's pure and holy love was brought to the darkest spiritual areas of the world. Testimonies were given by spiritual warriors from all over the world who minister to people in places which many believe are inpenetrable by God's Light. Some of the first minutes of the film are of Christian rallies in Africa where thousands are brought to Christ through evangelistic teaching and outreach. The narrator, the director, commented on one of the rallies. He said that it ran much like any other rally out there: praise and worship, a teaching by an evangelist, followed by people flocking to the front to enthusiastically receive Christ into their hearts. However, he said that before the rally had started, he had noticed a tiny white tent off to the side of the field. He took no real notice of it until towards the end when the spiritual warfare broke out as people were prayed for in the front of the crowd. Several people began to manifest demons by shaking uncontrollably, crying out, etc. As they did this, they would be carried over into that tiny little tent to be prayed for away from the crowds to avoid a scene. The narrator then learned that this was the "Demon tent." It was at this rally that he began to fully realize the extent of the ongoing spiritual battle that rages on everyday around us.

The film went on to gain testimonies and firsthand footage of people who would travel to both foreign countries and to the neighborhoods just outside their door to pray for people that needed to hear the news of God's unconditional salvation and to feel the warmth of His all-consuming love. From one Christian woman who had the opportunity to reach out to a young woman who was trapped deep in a Satanist cult and deliver her from its clutches, to a 30 year old young man named Philip Mantofa in Indonesia who pastors a church of 30,000 people and preaches with such conviction that people literally sprint to the front of the room to pray the salvation prayer by the hundreds. 

Jason Westerfield was another such person that was featured in the film as a spiritual warrior on fire for God. Ever since his younger years, Jason has developed a strong level of communication with God, frequently receiving visions and prophecies about things  that have happened and are still to come. He also has been known to have the spiritual gift of healing as he prays for random strangers that he happens to meet throughout his day. In Furious Love, Jason and a few of his associates decide to travel to a Witchcraft festival in Salem, Massachusetts to pray for and minister to people that attend the festival. After praying for several people, they happen upon a group of four young men, one of whom seems more into the occult than his three companions, due to his hooded, velvet red cloak. Jason approaches them, and tries to share his beliefs with the young men. The hooded man asks his questions to Jason about the God Jason prays to and also asks who Jason's medium is to communicate with God. After Jason satisfies their curiosity, the man allows Jason to pray for him, even removing his hood before starting the prayer. To think, even a man who practices witchcraft can sense the respect that is due to the creator of the universe in order to remove his head covering before allowing another to pray for him!

The film's ultimate message was that the church needs to get its head out of the sand and acknowlege that there IS a spiritual battle that rages all around us, invisible to the naked eye. Followers of Christ need to stand up and fight for those who are lost, stumbling around in the darkness of their own sins. We need to become more active in our spiritual fight because the battle cannot be won on its own. The easiest way to combat the darkness is to spread the all-consuming light of God's perfect and holy love. By this, I don't mean to echo the song that says, "All you need is love." What I mean is that by taking the time to notice the situations of the people around us, we can then take time to listen and just be there for them to show that someone actually cares about them. By living by Jesus' example of loving unconditionally, more people can see the true purpose of following Christ: not to live according to the dogmatic rules of religion, but to strain towards a better relationship with God, our loving Father and all-powerful Creator. It was for those who stumble in the darkness that Jesus came to the earth to save, not the religious and righteous people. As His followers, we are to inform others of this truth.

Today, I pray for both myself and for anyone who reads this post: God give us the faith to follow your will and not our own. I pray that today and for all the days to come, that I will have the courage and boldness to share my faith and beliefs with people that are in desperate need of hearing the truth. Let me speak truth into people's lives and let them see You shining through my eyes. I pray for the faith and conviction to believe that the impossible things can happen through me by your power, God. Help me to love BOTH the people that are easy to love as well as those who I do not want to show love towards. I know that by your help, anything is impossible, turning the hardest hearts to soft, malleable clay that can be molded into something beautiful and precious.
I pray this in Jesus' name, AMEN.

"The Daniel Fast"

Hello, online audience. I have finally returned after a long absence from the writing scene. Due to my need to finish out my third semester of college with fairly average grades and staying busy with work, family events and procrastination, I have finally found time during my month-long winter break to catch up anyone who has happened to read any of my previous posts from last year. I used this blog initially to vent my feelings but then it evolved into a way of sharing any of my written works, thoughts and devotions that happened to spring upon me at the moment I started to write. I want to return back to writing in my blog because I have recently decided to take part in a period of prayer and fasting with my church to start the new year off right. It's going to last for about two weeks and if anyone out there decides to take part with me, I'd love to get any feedback or encouragement from you about your experiences.

I am starting the fast today by taking part in what is called a "Daniel Fast." This type of fast comes from the book of Daniel, chapter 1, in the Bible when Daniel and some of his Israelite friends were chosen to be trained to enter into service for King Nebuchadnezzar while captive in Babylon. Daniel was accompanied by other men from Judah: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were all given Babylonian names to replace their given names.

Daniel => Belteshazzar
Hananiah => Shadrach
Mishael => Meshach
Azariah => Abednego

Their Babylonian names are the ones that most people recognize because of the latter three's story later on in the book of Daniel about their trials in the firy furnace. However, these four men started out as regular Israelite captives, plucked from obscurity and brought into the palace for God's specific purposes for each man.

During their training period, the king assigned royal food and wine for the men to eat while they were trained for service in Babylon. Daniel and his three friends decided that since most of the items went against their religion, they did not want to defile themselves by eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. They requested that they would be permitted to eat and drink only vegetables and water for ten days and at the end, be compared to the health of the other men who had dieted differently for the same time period.

At the end of the ten day trial period, those who partook in the vegetable and water diet looked healthier and better nourished than all of the other men who had eaten the royal food. Therefore, the officials allowed them to continue their revised diet after that. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were then blessed by God with greater knowlege, understanding and wisdom which surpassed all the other wise men in the King's service by ten times and were honored for years to come. It says at the end of chapter one that Daniel remained in King Nebuchadnezzar's service until the first year of King Cyrus. 

 By taking part in this fast, I hope to spend more time delving into God's Word to find new insight and wisdom for the year ahead of me. I pray that I can make the right decisions in regards to my future education in the years to come and I also want to pray for the people around me that may need intercessory prayer or encouragement from a friend. Lately, my faith has not received a good diet of God's Word and prayer and I feel I must return to a new and better routine which includes these things.

During the coming weeks, I hope that I can find more time to write in this blog to encourage both myself and others by any insights I might receive during this time of fasting. I may not be sticking true to the Daniel Fast as I am including fruits in my diet of vegetables and water, but I know that the next two weeks will present a difficult challenge for me in enduring the temptations that will arise. Anyone who has done a fast before can attest to this. I hope that anyone who happens upon this entry will take a few minutes out of their day to pray for myself and everyone in my church who is also taking part in this fast. I will try to keep this blog going day-to-day throughout this fast, so try to keep up with the new entries that should be coming your way.

Thanks for reading! 

Shining Star

I watch in wonder. Children playing with ease,
using their imaginations to
transform boxes and sheets into a bright, shining
castle or pirate ship in search of long-lost treasure.
I envy their innocence, only fun in mind,
no complicated problems to bear.

I think back to when a teddy bear
was enough to ease
my child, loving and kind.
I realized I had to work hard to

keep hold of my son; my one treasure,
my bright star shining.

As he grew up, his shining
light waned dim, a sight painful to bear.

He started to treasure

other things that please,

and transformed into

another kind

of person. I could no longer find

the shining

little boy of two

whose feet, bare,

squished in the mud with practiced expertise

as if searching for treasure.

I cannot measure

the thoughts of my mind

when I feel his tight squeeze.

The depth of my pining,

as I gaze at his beloved teddy bear,

his bright light now far from view.

　

One of the hardest things to

do is give up that which you most treasure.

But the pain, though hard to bear,

has helped me in kind.

I see his star shining

as it rises in a different sky with ease.

I resign myself to the change, but it’s hard to

see his treasured innocence left behind;

the only kind thing left now is show that I’m there.

This poem is a sort of variation on another poem that I had posted a few months ago. The older version was an idea I had had back in my high school years. This version was an adaptation from that one to be switched from an open form format into what is called a sestina format. This is a 39-line form of poetry characterized by six stanzas with six lines filling each stanza. Another important aspect about this form that makes it unique from the rest has to do with the last word of each line. The last words from the 1st stanza are "repeated" throughout the rest of the lines in a certain pattern. The word from the last stanza line becomes the first word in the next stanza. The first word becomes the end word in the second line of the second stanza. #5 becomes #3. And so on. For example:

1st Stanza

1

2

3

4

5

6

2nd Stanza

6

1

5

2

4

3

3rd Stanza

3

6

4

1

2

5

 Anyways, the words can be "changed" through slant rhyme or words that sound somewhat the same but have different meanings. The purpose of using this form is to talk about something that changes but still stays the same in some way. In my poem, I was showing how children have to grow up, but for the parents, they still think of their child as a little kid and remenisce about their days of innocence in the past. I hope you enjoyed it and didn't get too bored by my quick little poetry lesson! :)

All We Have Is Time

The sands of time blow past us; rushing wind

We grasp at moments, years gone by before.

There’s nothing we can do but look behind

And see all that was missing and more.

Like sticks in a river, each endeavor

drifting past on the rippling waves of time;

left to remember moments forever

from when they were in the peak of their prime.

As the quicksand consumes the unprepared,

does time catch those people who, smiling,

fall into its trap, distracted and snared;

their actions betraying and beguiling.

So all we have is the time that is here;

good friends that we have; loved ones near and dear.

　

　

Living The True Christian Life

Lately, I have been contemplating and mulling over a few different topics. One of them is this: Why is it that men and women aren’t living the way that they should be? I see Christians all the time that live like hypocrites (no offense). They go to church, Bible studies, Christian conferences or retreats and spout Bible verses at others like a water fountain.

But later, I might see some of them surrounded by non-Christian friends, criticizing other people behind their backs, swearing or talking about some sin, crime or offense that they had committed recently.
many times I see this and think: “How can you call yourself a true Christian? Why aren’t people living out the Bible verses they read and recite every day? Are we not the hands and feet of Christ? Shouldn’t we be echoing the words of God through our actions, not just our words?"

However, I know that not everyone is perfect. I myself often have trouble resisting the temptation to do the wrong thing even when I know what is right. Even so, this is no excuse! These verses say that there are other people out in the world that look to us Christians as examples on how to live a righteous life. Looking at us, they must be thinking, if even the Christians aren’t living right, then why should I?

I especially felt I should write on this topic after listening to a podcast of a sermon given at The Father’s House church here in Rochester, NY. Pastor Pierre talked about that week’s theme verse from the Bible. It says:

“Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message!” (1 Thessalonians 1: 7-8, The Message)

This passage talks about how true Christians shouldn’t need to spread the message themselves across the world; their lives should speak out for them! We are the message! We should be echoing God’s words by how we live out our daily lives instead of giving into the temptations of the world.

I also listened to another podcast sermon from The Father’s House on purity as well. The guest speaker started off by talking about pigs and how this animal is so unclean that God forbid the Jews from ever eating or even touching them and then the speaker gave the audience a few reasons why this occurred.
In the Old Testament it says:

“And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.” (Leviticus 11: 7-8, English Standard Version)

By the time he finished giving his “pig fun facts,” I felt like I never wanted to eat bacon or pork ever again. That’s how dirty pigs are. They eat garbage and any other nasty thing one could think of and roll around all day in the mud. Yet we still eat their meat. The speaker also mentioned that pigs have way more bacteria in their meat than cows or any other meat animal do, just because of their gross, disgusting lifestyle. Nasty!
The Bible story he used to get his message across is that of the man possessed by a legion of spirits, or demons as depicted in the gospel of Mark:

“They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.”
(Mark 5:1-20, NIV)

In order for the man to be delivered of his demons, Jesus had to send the demons somewhere else. The only creatures unclean enough to contain all these demons were pigs. Also, notice that after the pigs were possessed, they couldn’t be rid of the demons by being cleansed or blessed by a Rabbi or something. Their unclean nature had to be drowned from them in a lake and be killed. 

This story is relevant to us and our own sin nature. We can’t get rid of the stench of sin by taking a shower or doing good deeds, we must be washed in the supernatural blood of Christ and be forgiven of our sins by the only One capable of doing so: God. Our sinful nature must be “killed” by the repentance of our sins and turn our lives around to begin living righteously. We are as unclean as pigs. Yes, us! We are born into a sinful world and from birth, we become more and more sinful and corrupted by evil as we grow older. We can be distracted from God’s plan for our lives by other things of this world. We allow these things to get in between us and God and we are blinded by our own sin. I think that this is what God meant when He gave us the commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) God didn’t mean for us to be drawn away from Him by becoming attached and devoted to temporary things of this world. He wanted to have a loving, honest relationship with him, uninhibited by sin.

Your “idols” might be things like: money, television, books, work, friends, family, cars, music, school, a significant other, travel, fame, an illness, etc. It doesn’t have to be a carved or graven image to count as an idol. It only has to become more imortant than spending time in God's presence. Anything can become a diversion from our true calling set before us by God.

What we need now is to depend on God to help us in our daily lives to resist these temptations and distractions and ask him to help us keep our gaze fixed on Him, to never let anything cloud our vision of what we are supposed to do with our lives. I hope that you will see the truth of this message and work harder to live like Christ called us to live: set apart, holy and devoted to God’s purpose. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NKJV) If we are living for God, things in our lives will begin coming together the way that they’re supposed to be. It might not always be the way we expected, but then, we can never truly see the full portrait of how our lives are supposed to play out; only God can know that for sure.


God, I want to pray every day for people that I might know or hear about who aren’t living the way they should (including myself). I ask God that He would clear away the dust and shadows that cloud their vision, that they might see the beautiful future that God has in store just for them, should they accept it. I pray that they would find strength today and every day afterwards to be able to stand firm in what they believe and become an example for others that are watching them as an example. I pray that they wouldn’t be afraid to admit that they are a Christian and that yes, they believe in Jesus on faith, not only by what they can sense with their human senses. Also, I hope that they choose commit their lives to living the right way instead of giving into the influence of their peers and those around them that might think that they are weird or inferior by doing so. I also ask God to bring many people into their lives that can serve as an encouragement to them when they feel down and that can keep them accountable to their actions. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN!

May your own life begin to reflect the glorious light of Christ through your actions

so that all may see and glorify the Father in heaven!

God Bless You!

Silent monks performing "The Hallelujah Chorus"

I don't think that this is the original but I always enjoy finding humorous videos to post here or on Facebook. Enjoy!

Gianna Jessen Video- An Abortion Survivor

I love this video because it's so inspiring. Gianna Jessen is a woman whose mother wanted to have a late-term abortion back in the 1970's. She had a saline solution injected into the uterus that was supposed to kill the baby by burning it inside and out. The mother was supposed to deliver a dead fetus within 24 hours but instead delivered Gianna, an alive baby that was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy due to the lack of oxygen to her brain during delivery.

She tells her testimony in Victoria, Australia though she is an American. Her story is so encouraging for those who are pro-life in the debates concerning abortion. She is a born-again Christian who isn't afraid to talk about her faith even when it seems she'll be persecuted or ridiculed for her beliefs.

I hope that someday I can live up to her example and be able to be as couragous with my faith as she was in being a witness for Christ. Though I don't seem afraid to profess my faith in writing, I still get nervous whenever I even contemplate getting up in front of a crowd to talk about myself. I hate speaking in public because, like most people, I get too nervous that I'll do or say something to embarrass myself. I look up to her because despite her diagnosis, she had beaten the odds placed against her to do the near impossible. She survived a procedure that should have left her disfigured and killed her and now lives as a profound testimony and professes of her unwavering faith in God. I hope you enjoy the video if you haven't already viewed it before. The first video is Part 1 and the second, Part 2. Youtube didn't happen to have the whole speech in one whole video at the time.

Before The Morning Video

My Favorite Quote

This is my favorite quote as used in the film Coach Carter. The quote is from Marianne Williamson.

The Story Of Your Life

Is this the end?
Or only the beginning?
The second chance
You never thought you'd get

The question is
Will you do something with it
Or spend your days
Lost in your regreat

This is the story of your life
You decide
How the rest is gonna read
This is your chance between the lines
To redefine what kind of legacy you leave
This is the story of your life
And it's a story worth telling

Breathe in deep
Feel your heart still breathing
Let's go see the reason you're alive
Oh, you are here
and love is up to something
So take your fear
and leave it all behind

This is the story of your life
You decide
How the rest is gonna read
This is your chance between the lines
To redefine what kind of legacy you leave
This is the story of your life
And it's a story worth telling

This is the joy
And it's the pain
And all the pages in between
Your finest hour
Your weakest moment
It where you've been
It's where you are
It's where you're going

This is the story of your life
You decide
How the rest is gonna read
This is your chance between the lines
To redefine the kind of legacy you leave
This is the story of your life
Go tell the story of your life
Cause it's a story worth telling
It's worth telling

Is this the end?
Or only the beginning?

Barrabas video

Barrabas

The following is a transcript of a track called Barrabas from the singing group Caleb and Sol Drexius' CD called Afloat. I liked it so much that I thought I would post its words on my blog here for others to read. I thought that this was also good for the Easter season coming up soon. I hope it helps you resurrect your own Easter spirit like it did for me.

This is the link for the Youtube video for the track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toEdT0VEHKI

*******

There was once an evil man. He was an insurrectionist, a rebel, a murderer, and a notorious prisoner. This day, however, he would face justice. He had committed crimes worthy of death, and now he was going to be a victim of crucifixion—one of the most vicious forms of capital punishment known to mankind. Death on a cross was only for the worst of criminals.

Partly due to the cold night, yet mostly due to inexpressible fear, Barabbas shivered uncontrollably as he lay face down in his prison cell. He was in utter despair. No hope. No defense. No answers.

In the distance he could hear people shouting; chanting, even. He thought he heard his own name mixed in with the barrage of yells and screams. But there was one name he heard without mistake: “Jesus”.

Barabbas had heard of this man, although some even called Him the Son of God. Supposedly, this Jesus was a worker of miracles, and He even claimed to be God in the flesh. One of Barabbas’ old followers had joined this “Christ” group a couple years back.

But he had known Jesus and His followers to be rather peaceful. Why would there be such violent shouting now? As a painful reminder of his own impending doom, he could vaguely hear the crowd shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Still gripped with trepidation and terror, Barabbas heard something that made his stomach twist and his heart stop: shaking keys – the sound of justice. The very next moment, his cell door was swung open and the soldier yelled at him to leave immediately.

But Barabbas couldn’t move.

“Come on, you criminal, get out of here. You’re free.” But his own guilt wouldn’t allow him to believe it. “They’re going to kill Jesus of Nazareth in your place.”

With a thousand questions racing through his mind, Barabbas quickly lifted himself to his feet and hastily walked out of the prison and into the streets of Jerusalem.

A guilty man set free on account of another. Is that justice?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a scandalous message.
It’s a shocking revelation.
It’s a prophetic declaration.
It’s a transforming proclamation.
It’s a soul-saving truth and it is the power of God for all who believe.

The Gospel is a message about God:
The Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is perfect in all His attributes, blameless in all His ways, righteous in all His judgments. He is all powerful and all knowing. He is strong, mighty, holy, just, wrathful, vengeful, and jealous. He is caring, patient, compassionate, merciful, gracious, loving, and forgiving. God is good.

The Gospel is a message about Man:
Created in God’s image—created good: yet fallen, disobedient, rebellious, corrupt, proud, wicked, evil, sinful, unholy, unrighteous, ungodly, guilty, helpless, hopeless, lost, condemned, separate from God and destined for eternal punishment in the torments of hell.

The Gospel is a message about Jesus Christ:
The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The anointed one of God who saves. Born of a virgin; killed on a cross; resurrected on the third day. Beloved by the Father, yet smitten by Him for our transgressions. Perfectly innocent, yet punished by God for our wickedness.

Jesus Christ is the only way to forgiveness. The only way to reconciliation, restoration, and redemption. The only way to eternal hope and true meaning and real purpose. The only way to lasting joy and enduring happiness and endless pleasure. The only way to salvation. The only way to heaven. The only way to God’s grace.

The Gospel is a message about you:
What will you do? What will you do?
Will you examine your wicked heart? or will you persist in blissful ignorance?
Will you open your mind to the truth of God? or will you disregard your guilty conscience?
Will you surrender your life and your plans and your future and your hopes and your dreams and your desires and your thoughts and your actions and your words – all to the Lordship of Christ? Or will you continue to deny His total call/claim upon your life?
Will you trust Jesus or will you reject His love?
Will you repent of sin? or will you proceed in vain self-righteousness?
Will you be set free or will you live in the bondage of evil?
Will you receive grace or will you face justice?
What will you do?
What will you do?


A guilty man set free on account of another. Is that justice?

No. That’s grace.