Grace-period

Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously. Matthew 10:5-8 The Message (Love it in this translation!) 

Picture from Robert Karwowski's trip to Uganda Katie Davis , a missionary in Uganda, posted this on her Facebook page yesterday: Jesus, bring me ANYTHING that brings you glory.  Katie is an amazing young woman, but I still winced at that sentence (musical though it may be). Right now, I have strep throat.  I have been sick since Tuesday and am still not 80%.  Thanks to antibiotics and analgesia, like ibuprofen and tylenol, I will suffer as little as possible and will recover without complications.  But, it has also left me with the consideration that I am not strong enough to be in some country where cholera and malaria are common. Even in my very comfortable American life, it is a dangerous prayer. What if Jesus asks me to give up my comfortable SUV that lugs me thru the 5 snowstorms we have in a 365 day year so that I can save gas money to give that money to orphans or homeless?  What if Jesus brings me to a job that pays little but where...

Some moments seem too heavy; some days too long.  As youth slips quietly away, so does the silly notion of hoping only in self.  Father, in this new year, RE-new.  Rekindle passions that have died down.  Release us from tethers that we have allowed to bind us.  Restore the vigor to our prayer that we may soar to you.  You are our hope, our strength, our life.  Amen.   Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV)

The "official" statement is: This Sunday is our CHRISTMAS INTERNET SERVICE. We will start at 7:58AM and the ONE HOUR service will be replayed at the :58 minute mark of every hour. In case you were wondering why we are doing this: - To reach more people - To give all our tremendous volunteers a day off - To encourage families to watch the service together with friends, families and neighbors - To give people a “taste of Victory” before they attend. - To stay connected to the “tribe” even when we are all in different parts of the country - Why not? http://www.victorychurch.ws/ My personal take: Long before I actually set foot in a church building, I felt this pull to the Divine.  I had no clue what it was and investigated many "paths to god."  If you are in that same place, what safer way to investigate church than in the privacy of your own home???  Give it a view. Another reason to check it out is that you might be in the place I was a year or so back: ...

Everyone seems to say this has been a rough year.  I think this has been a blessed year: losing my job, starting smoking, getting a new job, struggling with decisions, loving an imperfect husband poorly, quitting smoking, looking at myself more honestly in the mirror... All of these things have seemed so hard, too hard, at one point or another, but they have given me blessings that I don't know if I would have received any other way. When I lost my job, I was blasted with this awareness of being cared for by God.  He played hide and seek (I swear He loves that game!) and left gifts that knocked me over with His goodness and providence.  There have been times during this year that it has been "one day at a time" or just 12 hours at a time, particularly with the smoking. I have also been blessed with some of the most amazing friends a girl could ask for, if she even knew who to ask for!  Again, an example of God putting people in my life that I may not...

Advent is the season that Christians wait in expectation...for a Baby to be born amidst barn animals and for the victorious King to return in power.  Somewhere between here and there, we rejoice that we have not been forgotten.  God hears us, loves us, rescues us. This is actually my favorite season in the year of the Church.  I know Easter is supposed to be.  If it weren't for Easter, we would just be a hopeless, hot mess of sin, but there is something about the subtlety of Advent that grabs me.  I think it is because, as the nights grow longer and the cold gets in my bones and the pressure of doing things "right" (right decorations, right present, dinner done right) increases, there is this Whisper that none of those things matter.  The 400 years of God's silence were like a long, cold winter, but all the while God had a rescue in the works.  This year I was thinking, if that Baby really was the Savior of the world, how could w...

Many people want to hear from God.  They go to church and pray fervently.  Some spend great chunks of their lives meditating to clear their minds in hope of communing with the divine. Still others visit psychics or religiously monitor their horoscopes. I do believe God speaks, but I think the more important issue is: How do we respond when He does?  I mean, I think God speaks in all sorts of ways, just not always as clear as we would like.  Fear, obligations, insecurities make us second guess whether we REALLY heard God say what we think He did.  Or maybe Satan simply hisses, as he did to Eve "Did God really say...."  As our small group has being working thru the old testament, I came across two examples of how I can respond to God when I do hear from Him.  The first is Samuel, and the second is Saul. Samuel is the son of Hannah.  Her heartfelt prayer for a child was answered when she conceived Samuel after...