HATRED

I was watching the John Piper video again that I posted a while back about the prosperity gospel. I just felt the need to get a little jump in my step if you know what I mean. And that will always do it for me I'm pretty sure. I just think he is so dead on with that. I was thinking about my past the other day and I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't trade my trials (as small as they were) for anything.  I didn't have a bad life by any means I'm just saying it was what most people would call ideal. But if one day someone can benefit from the fact that I had no family, except my Aunt, my mom almost killed herself on Christmas this year and called me from jail when I was 15 years old to tell me I'd have to find a new ride home.... if through all of that... which please please hear my heart in this... I am not in anyway trying to have a pity party here... I wouldn't trade those things for anything.. because if one day someone can see just how big God is because, through all that pain, his grace proclaimed through me, BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD. GOD IS ENOUGH. Oh man how I would never trade any of it for an "easy" life. Like JP was saying, I just do not foresee the poorest people looking at the rich American Christian and saying wow God gave you a BMW?? No wonder you love God I'll love him too, maybe he'll give me fancy things. NO!! People don't see a reflection of God in money. It can't happen. People see the real God when , as JP said, in the times when it hurts the most, when your family is shot to death in your home or your little girl flies out of the car windshield and lies dead on the ground, or when you don't have enough money to pay the bills or when you are diagnosed with cancer... it is in those times when you say GOD IS ENOUGH... that is when the world sees God for who God is. I need to examine myself more daily... am I praising the created thing or the creator. If suffering shows just how glorious my God is... then give me trials and give me poverty. Blessed be the name of the Lord. 

The reality of Hypocrisy

So I actually learned something in my Psycho-pathology class tonight (usually it is just a class where people like to talk about their personal lives and argue with each other and nothing gets accomplished). What I learned tonight though was not about addictions, depression or anything of the sort, it was that "Christians" today are giving the name of God a bad bad bad rep.  My teacher was talking about why people who are hurting and addicted don't run to church to get help... people started commenting and then general consensus was that in church everyone has to put on the "Christian" face and make everything look like all is fine whether it really is or not. 

That disturbed me. I hope it disturbs you too. I mean what is it we are really doing here.

Jesus in line with the sinners

At SMIC Pastor Harry is preaching through the book of Mark and the past two Sunday's we have focused on the baptism of Jesus. Yesterday he focused on how one reason that Jesus was baptized was so that he could identify with the people He came to save. I have honestly never thought much about the baptism of Jesus before this but it really is an awesome picture of who our Savior is. He was God yet he chose to submit to the Father's will and get baptized right along with the sinners. I think Luke 3:21 gives a good picture of the baptism. It reads, "Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized..."

Jesus stood in line with the sinners, even though He was perfect. He wanted the worst of the worst to know that He came for them. How awesome is that! It truly makes me marvel at my master that he would leave behind never ending praise and fellowship with the Father to come and identify with me. He felt what I feel, yet remained perfect. Tell me how that does not demand complete devotion. For he does not break off the bruised reed (me), nor extinguish a dimly burning wick (me again) (Isaiah 42:3). 

Blessing and Honor Strength and Glory and Power be to God the only Wise King

Be encouraged.

Be blessed.

Decisions

Ohhhhhhhhhhh decisions. Many to be made.

Rick Burgess - A Father's Heart part 2

This is one of the best gospel presentations I have ever heard. Most likely because it comes from a heart of a father who just lost his son. Rick address a tough issue that the worlds tend to throw in the face of Christians in a time of crisis... "If God loves us then why in the world would he let this happen?"

Rick puts it this way, which is so so true: he tells us to look at it this way. We were all bound for hell, the lake of fire and God in his absolute sovereignty chose to send his Son to this earth. Jesus walked with us, felt with us and ultimately suffered more than any of us, FOR US. He not only endured the physical pain of being a human, but He left perfect fellowship with the Father to come to earth only to have the weight of all of the sins of the people who would come to Him from ALL TIME before and after. So don't even throw the "God must not love us" card in there, because that is the most ridiculous thing you could ever say.

I say Amen to that and to hear that come from a man who just lost his baby speaks wonders for the kingdom of God. So thank you Rick Burgess for being a faithful servant of God and of His kingdom and for setting an example and challenge for many of us to strive toward.

Oh and one last thing, I don't think he said it in this clip but he was talking about how his family is lookin gat earthly things now. He said that Bronner was told repeatedly not to go in the office, but he always would go and take his crayons with him every time. Rick said that the other day he walked in there and Bronners crayons were on the floor, just where they were not supposed to be and he just crushed them into the carpet. Who cares about the carpet he said, his boy is with the Lord now, and that carpet will never be, so who cares. What an outlook. Oh how my heart desires to become like that. 

Be encouraged.

quiet or lazy... what am I?

Let me start off again by saying that I am in bed before 10pm for the second night in a row... Ohhhh yeah.

But to the point I was reading my dear friend Ree's blog and she addressed somehting that has been on my heart lately so I thought I would repost to see if anyone would give us some feedback. Here it is:

So me and Rach are taking this class together, Psycopathology and Culture. Thought it would be good, but it turns out our teacher, interesting as he is, chases every rabbit trail that is laid before him! I took a few lines of notes, and he covered ONE POINT of his outline...but I digress. Our discussion on psycology, if you could call it that, ended up being a discourse on materialism in the US. It started as a discussion on racism and then moved to entitlement, so that naturally lead to people, particularly this (our) generation having a sense of entitlement and wanting all that the World has to offer. But the general concensus of the class (well, of those that were paying atttention) was that, no matter what your parents gave you, what car you drove, what sports you played, etc, etc, NOTHING satisfies. A few ideas were thrown around, such as parental acceptance and love and notions of "religion".....but no one came forward with What Truely Satisfies.
Which leads me to another thing...I must confess I have been far too shy with proclaiming what I know to be True. I know the Truth, yet why have I not said something? I am not a shy person. I think mostly why I do not say anything in class is that I do not want to come across as the typical, judgmental Christian that no one takes seriously. I believe whole-heartedly that our actions and the way we lead our lives can make an enormous impact on others for Christ's Sake, but I feel proddeed now to make more of a vocal stand for His Name's Sake.
So the question I pose is this: What do you feel/believe is the BEST way to make an impact for God on campus/work/where ever? Please post your thoughts...this is something I'm searching out too!

                                                                                -AMLeveille

mixed emotions

So considering that I am in bed and it is 9:30 I felt and obligation to write a blog since it has been a couple of days. I have not been in bed at 9:30 in months. This weekend was full of mixed emotions for me. First off it snowed. I cannot describe to you how much I love snow. And it has been years since I have seen snow actually fall from the sky. It made me so happy. I went driving around town for a bit, and landed in Linn Park downtown. I was a little nervous at first because Linn Park is the homeless hotel if you know what I mean. But when I looked around and saw no one for blocks, my heart calmed. So I got out and walked around for a while. It was snowing pretty hard at this point so I was debating how much walking I really wanted to do. I mean I love snow and all but I was freezing. But as I stood there I just listened. It was that quiet that only happens when it snows. A wonderful quiet with the ever so light swish of the falling snowflakes. I just stood there and soaked it up. It encouraged my heart as I looked around and saw everything uniformly covered in a soft blanket of white. I thought of how because of Jesus this is how God looks at me. The feeling that I get when I look around and see snow isn't even comparable to the feeling that God gets when he looks at us and sees Christ, "our snow". There were no blemishes, no uneven ground, not flaws. How truly marvelous that Jesus can cover even our deepest flaws and makes us white as snow. And the best part is, He doesn't melt away and leave things uglier than before. Man what a blessing we have received. No words can express the gratitude in my heart for my Savior.

Aaaaanywho... I walked around for a bit and took some pics...look at my facebook album... and then decided to go to my mom and my grandmothers for a bit. Now this was divine intervention for sure. I don't know what made the idea pop in my head to go see them, but when I got there I knew why I had come. It hasn't snowed since my Aunt died ( My mom and grandma live in her house now by the way). So there I was, standing in front of the house that I grew up in, with all the memories of the woman who raised me and took me out day after day when it snowed (which happened a lot more when I was a kid). She wasn't here this time though. I looked up the road and thought of the countless times she drug me up that road on the sled and let me fly down, with much grace let me tell you, and soar across the ditch and come to a screeching halt just before I broke my self on the brick wall. I made my way inside and out the back door. As the flakes came down harder I was in awe of how many memories this house held for me. The house is now on the market by the way so not only was it snowing for the first time since my aunt died but her house, the house I grew up in, is being sold. I am by all means okay with the selling of the house and I know it is too much for my mom and grandma to handle, but nevertheless I was sad. The number of snowball fights that were had in that back yard. Not to mention picnics, Indian endeavors and endless games of tee ball. So needless to say it was a bittersweet moment. I don't usually think of my Aunt often these days, but nothing reminded me more of her than the snow. 

So once that bittersweet moment had passed I headed for the next. Work. It was my last shift that night at Bath and Body. I decided not to work this semester and focus on school and investing in people. I have worked there for over a year and God has shaped me so much through that job. I have never been in an environment where I had to be so careful to represent God in a way he deserved... which I know I failed at miserably a lot of times, but God used me as a light in that place and now I was leaving. I felt unaccomplished in a way. No one came to know Christ, but everyone most definitely knew that I belonged to Him. I spoke truth and planted seeds and I know His Word accomplishes it goal every time it is spoken and that is what I had to rest on.

So this weekend was full of emotional ups and downs for me. My God carried me all the way though. And for that I will never be able to say thanks enough.