Angi Does Ministry!

Grace and Apostleship

2012-02-10T12:29:00.001-07:00

Do you friends know that I have a deep love for coffee shops? Really for coffee in general but I so very much love sitting in a busy coffee shop surrounded by people and having an intimate moment with my Savior.

Today as I'm sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops, the Lord spoke deeply to my heart.

"Through him {Jesus} and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ" - Romans 1:5-6

For the glory of God, we received grace and apostleship. Our grace is not one of consumerism, but of service. We were not saved with a "get out of Hell free" card, but with a specific purpose and mission.

We were saved for the glory of God- to reveal his character to the nations (this is the same word -ethnos- as Gentiles in the verse above). We were given grace not for our sake but for "his name's sake".

We were given grace to live as apostles. To live as "one who is sent by authority with a commission".

Then Jesus came to them and said "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" - Matthew 28:18-20

We are sent by the ultimate authority, Jesus, with the ultimate commission, to partner with God in his plan of global redemption.

Jesus thank you for the beautiful reminder that my life is not about me, but about living for your glory. Thank you for giving me grace and choosing me to participate in your plan. Thank you for giving me purpose. Thank you that I know you are always with me, even to the very end of the age. I pray that I use the grace I don't deserve, yet you lavished upon me for your name's sake. For you alone are worthy.

Linking up with my sweet friend Laura

Responding to Fear

2012-02-07T14:58:00.002-07:00

I generally don't consider myself a fearful person. With the exception of heights and moths. Seriously, last year I went rappelling and literally cried the whole way down. Ha!

But generally speaking, I'm not afraid of too many things. God has given me an exceptionally trusting spirit. (Which sometimes plays out in crazy ways. Did you ever read the story of my exploded car?) But just as Warren Wiersbe says "Even the best men are only men at best"

I am not immune from fear. Last year when I was praying about doing college ministry full time I was overcome with fear and didn't realize it. Fear of what people thought, fear of failure, fear of not doing the will of God, etc. The scariest part of all of it though? I didn't go to God's word but relied on my feelings and circumstances. I sought out the counsel of others more than the counsel of God. The Lord in his patience did not give up on me and helped me to see my error. I repented and God's word reminded me what was true - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9)

When we respond to fear by looking to God's word first, instead of our feelings and circumstances, the outcome is totally different.

In 1 Samuel 23:1-6 we see how David and his men respond to fear. David is running from Saul because Saul is crazy (literally) and wants to kill him. David was anointed (fancy Bible word for chosen) by God and Samuel affirmed that when David was just a boy. God promised to send his Spirit to be with David that day.

Through out all his trials, David could fall back on what he knew to be true - The Spirit of the Lord was with him. (Before Christ the Spirit would come and go, but as believers now we know that the Spirit will never leave us if we have identified ourselves in Christ. He is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until Christ returns[Eph 1:13-14])

So when David hears of a problem in God's kingdom, in the town of Keilah, he is moved to action. His first step is to ask God what to do "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?" The Lord responds "Go and save Keilah"

As a leader, the next step for David was to share with his men what God had told him. Upon hearing this plan David's men were terrified. Which is totally understandable! The Philistines are big and scary (remember Goliath?) plus they had the added fear of running from Saul's army who wanted to kill them also.

No doubt this sounded like an impossible feat. Which it probably was if the Lord wasn't with them. But remember "What is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27)

David probably was afraid too. So he again went to the Lord. "Are you sure?"

Sometimes I'm guilty of thinking that God would react the same way I would. Because I would be so dang annoyed at David's doubt. "Uh yes David, just like I told you 5 minutes ago. Go and save Keilah!"

But seriously? I'm not even as trusting as David. When faced with fear in my own life I didn't even go to God's word the first time, let alone a second time! I could surely learn from David!!

So anyways, thankfully the Lord is nothing like me and is patient with our doubt and fear. He again tells David his will and promises him that He'll deliver the Philistines into David's hands. The Lord is always faithful to hear our pleas.

David and his men obeyed the Lord, even though every circumstance was against them. They were outnumbered, under-skilled, and literally backing themselves into a corner (Keilah was a walled city).

Because the Lord is faithful, He upheld His promise to deliver David and his men. They ended up not only saving Keilah and coming out unharmed, but also with a great reward, the Philistines' livestock.

As a leader, I'm challenged by David's quick obedience. His response to fear, not just once but twice, is to go to God's word and then obey what He says.

Lord, make us like David - quick to seek your Word when things get hard. Let us not be ruled by fear or emotions but fully clinging to your promises. We want to be quick to obey you and live out our faith. Thank you for the promise you've given us in your Spirit. Thank you that we can know You're always with us. Help us lean wholly on You, Your Word, and Your Spirit this week.

I want to be an Armor-Bearer

2012-01-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided I really wanted to read First and Second Kings because I hadn't ever read them and God was really challenging me to read through the entire Bible not just the parts I like. So I started reading the first chapter of Kings and then I realized I forgot everything I knew about David. So I decided to go back and re-read 1 and 2 Samuel.

So I guess that's a long-winded way of saying get ready for lots of stuff about Samuel, Jonathan, David and Solomon. I think I'll be camped out in this 'era' for a while now.

So as I was going back through 1 Samuel for a refresher, (I went through it the first time when I was doing Laura's Bible study Beholding Him, Becoming Missional. It remains one of my favorite studies I've ever done. I reviewed it here) I was reading about Jonathan and his Armor-Bearer.

One of my favorite stories in the whole Bible so I was excited to re-read it. And as I'm reading there is this phrase that jumps out at me and smacks me in the face:

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Ummm..... has that been there the whole time? No seriously. I've read this before. I'm sure that wasn't there.

Has that ever happened to you guys? Where you read a familiar and cherished story from the Bible and something totally new sticks out that you've never noticed before? Isn't it the best?

Anyways so this verse (that I swear just popped in last week) challenged the snot out of me. That armor-bearer has to be one of the most trusting people in the whole bible. (uhh.. in case you haven't noticed I've been a fan of the hyperbole lately. Just go with it.)

Jonathan is suggesting that just the two of them go and fight this whole army of Philistines, but first they have to climb over these scary cliffs, and oh yeah the armor-bearer doesn't have any weapons. And to top it off, Jonathan isn't even sure if they will win, he's just hoping that God will deliver them.

That's crazy.

But what's crazier is that the armor-bearer just goes with him. Fully trusting that Jonathan is trusting God.

With his whole heart and soul (in Hebrew this means the seat of emotions, will, mind, and desires) he trusts Jonathan. His hands are open saying "wherever you go I'm right behind you"

God is screaming right into my soul. Challenging me to trust. To trust him. And to trust others.

To say to Him like Ruth says to Naomi "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay"

To say to Him like armor-bearer says to Jonathan "I'm with you heart and soul. Do whatever you think is best"

To say to Him "Not my will, but yours be done"

Linking up with: On Your Heart, Finding Heaven

Loving the Widow

2012-01-22T23:54:00.001-07:00

This might be the hardest post I've ever shared. My heart is out here in the open for you sweet blog friends. Being vulnerable is hard for me. You'll see my pain, bitterness, unwilling heart and ultimately my need for Jesus. Thanks in advance for your sweet encouraging words and prayers. Y'all are the best.

One of the reasons for my extended absence was trying to get things sorted out with my family. Recently my Grandmother fell and was admitted into a rehabilitation center. And with my family nothing can happen without some serious drama.

I won't go into details but essentially I found out about all of this late in the game and when everyone else was tired of dealing with it. The responsibility fell to me.

I became the "family contact" and had to start asking questions like "What's the difference between assisted living and independent living" "Medicare or medicaid?" and "What's the next step?"

The burden of caring for my grandmother fell to me.

Now I want this to be clear, I didn't ask to become responsible. In all honesty I don't really want to be responsible. Heck, I'm only 22. I don't even know anything about my own insurance how am I supposed to figure out someone else's?

Soon after everything happened I was crying and asking God why? Why me? What do you want me to do?

And God faithfully reminded me of his word:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

And I knew. I knew it's my duty, not only just as a family member but as the only Christian in my family, to care for my elderly grandmother. It doesn't matter how I feel or if I want to or not, God's word commands it.

And I'm choosing to obey. I am choosing to glorify God by loving my grandma. By laying aside my own desires and serving her.

I'm leaving my great little apartment and moving into her basement. Hands-on loving.

Don't get me wrong, this is not something I want to do. In fact I really don't want to do it. But I know it's God's will because it's in His Word. I know my purpose in life is to display God's glory and I can glorify Him most in this situation by obeying Him and caring for my grandma.

I can already see that this season (oh yes. It's just a season. I'm not moving in with her forever) is going to test my faith in new ways. I am in desperate need of Jesus to live through me because it's so easy for me to be selfish, impatient, unkind and uncaring. Every day I see my need for Him more and more.

But I've also already seen how God is going to use me in my grandmother's life as well as the lives of her friends. I've already had the chance to share the gospel a few times and it's been less than a week.

I know this will be hard. Maybe the hardest thing yet. But I know it's good because God is good and His word says it's good. And whoever said good things aren't hard?

So precious friends, please pray for me. Pray that my heart would find joy in serving. Pray that I would display the fruit of the Spirit. Pray that I would be a light to my dark family and they would see Jesus. Pray that God would be glorified.

Love you guys.

In my effort to gain a thankful heart:
27. Sweet friends who hug me just when I need
28. A loving church family
29. Wise wise words from my Pastor
30. A healthy and delicious lunch
31. Quelf with friends
32. Conversations that swing from movie quotes to defending the unborn to mice to discipleship
33. Being able to save money by living with my grandmother
34. Family that helped me move and friends that offered
35. A long skype date with my sweet friend who lives in Indonesia
36. Promises in God's word that even the hard times are good and ordained by him

Linking up with:

Hey, you suck at life. But that's okay.

2012-01-20T16:19:00.003-07:00

Remember that time in our lives when I used to blog regularly? Yeah me neither.

I seriously am a terrible blogger. I constantly forget about you guys or get consumed with other things. I so easily discard these lovely blog-land friendships because you're not right here. Pretty much I just suck.

But you know the encouraging part?

Jesus reminds me all the time about just how much I suck. (I know that doesn't sound encouraging but stick with me here...) Like seriously all the time Jesus reminds me how far I am from perfect. I'm far from the perfect blogger. Nowhere near the perfect friend. I continually fail in support raising. I do dumb things in ministry all the time. I'm selfish and proud. I mess up in the same areas of my life over and over and over and over again.

And every time I mess up Jesus is right there with his arm around me saying "You just can't do it, you're not good enough and you never will be"

And then he gently whispers into my ear "But that's okay. I am. I am good enough. I can do it. Please oh please just let me?"

I can't. He can.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Linking up with Laura

Faithful Jesus Bagels {Part One}

2011-12-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite "Jesus" stories happened a few years ago when I was pretty young in my faith. It was Palm Sunday and I was bringing a girl that I discipled with me to church. The sermon was on the character of God (my favorite topic!) and how it was revealed in Exodus 34:6-7.

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth ; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin ; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

I just love this verse because it is the very character of God. How gracious that he would tell us in black and white so we don't have to wonder. We can know for sure that he is abounding in faithful love (lovingkindness), that he is slow to anger (patient) and always tells the truth. We also know that he is full of justice and doesn't leave sin to go unpunished. We don't have to wonder or be unsure about those aspects of His character. But I digress. Back to the story... :)

I had a few hours between dropping of the girl I brought to church and the time I had to meet another friend. Since they were near to each other I decided to just go out for lunch on that side of town so I wouldn't waste all my gas driving back and forth. I ended up at Einstein's Bagels.

So as I was sitting down enjoying my cinnamon sugar bagel and vanilla latte, I pulled out my Bible and journal and had some quality time with the Lord.

A while later a couple came in and I noticed them noticing me. I could tell they were looking over at me and more specifically looking at the fact that I had a Bible out in the middle of a bagel shop.

I seriously felt like someone just kicked me in the gut.

I just knew I had to share Jesus with those people. And let me tell you I almost threw up.

But this was one of those times where I just knew beyond any doubt that God wanted me to talk to those people. Despite my complete and utter fear, I wanted to obey God.

I gathered up some courage, pleading for God to just give me the strength to not sound like a complete idiot and walked up to them.

"Ummmm...." I started. "So this might be the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you, and I want you to know that I don't do this very often, but I just really think God wants me to share this verse with you. Is it okay if I read this?"

"Sure"

So in my fearful and shaky voice I share a glimpse of the character of God through Exodus 34:6-7. As I finished I looked up at the man and his wife eagerly waiting for their response. Let me tell you, that half second felt like 8 million years.
"Wow. Thanks for sharing that verse" the man replied. "Would you like to hear it repeated in Hebrew?"

I think my jaw dropped all the way down to my knees. That was certainly not the reaction I was expecting!

...

Stay tuned for Part Two on Monday!!

Linking up with Laura :)

Faithful Jesus Bagels {Part Two}

2011-12-30T00:08:00.001-07:00

This is Part Two of Faithful Jesus Bagels. If you missed Part One go here :)

...

So in my fearful and shaky voice I share a glimpse of the character of God through Exodus 34:6-7. As I finished I looked up at the man and his wife eagerly waiting for their response. Let me tell you, that half second felt like 8 million years.

"Wow. Thanks for sharing that verse" the man replied. "Would you like to hear it repeated in Hebrew?"

I think my jaw dropped all the way down to my knees. That was certainly not the reaction I was expecting!

"Yeah!" I eagerly answered.

And as this stranger was reciting Hebrew to me at Einstein's I just kept thinking This can not be real. Seriously, this is not happening to me right now. No way is this really happening.

Curious, I asked how he learned that verse in Hebrew and he shared that he was Jewish and learned it as a boy. So then he asked me a hard question: "Why did you share that with me today?"

Seriously God? I kept thinking. This is so dang awesome!

"Well, actually," I explained, "today at Palm Sunday service at my church we went over that verse and I just really thought God wanted you to hear it."

Then something crazy happened. (as if the first part wasn't crazy enough!)

He looked at me a little confused and said:

"Today we went to church for the first time ever"

SERIOUSLY?? OH MY GOSH. You are so neat God!!

My mind was just racing. I couldn't even think what to say next. Actually I'm not really sure what I did say next.

Somehow we got to talking about how the God of the Jews is the same God of the Bible. And that Jesus was descended from Abraham and that he fulfilled many Old Testament prophesies.

I knew that I had another appointment to get to so I just wanted to thank them again for letting me, some weirdo random stranger, share with them. So as I wrapped up our amazing conversation I asked them if there was anything that I could be praying for them for.

The husband and wife locked eyes and looked at each other, then at me, then back at each other. After a few seconds, the husband broke the silence and said

"Actually, yeah there is something you can pray for"

"Sure, anything" I replied eager and confused.

"Could you pray that we get a new life?"

ARE YOU STINKING KIDDING ME GOD?? THIS IS UNREAL. YOU ARE SO NEAT!!!!!

I am still in shock over that answer.

For God to orchestrate a church sermon, my schedule, and meeting at a bagel shop on the same day that the couple went to church for the very first time is completely nuts. And to top it all off, it was the week of Easter a whole day dedicated to celebrating that we get new life through Jesus' Resurrection!

I often need to remind myself of God's faithful character by telling this story. I often need to remember that God works to draw all to himself. I need to remember that his character is true and hasn't changed and we can see part of it in Exodus 34:6-7. And mostly I share this story because it shows that God always gets the glory!

On my way to 1000 gifts:
27. A faithful God and getting to share Jesus in a way I didn't expect.
28. 1100 college students "Tebowing" to get into spiritual conversations
29. Good life-giving conflict resolution
30. Spending great fellowship time with the amazing staff of our ministry
31. Seeing students take steps of faith to do ministry full-time
32. Hearing stories from students of what God did this weekend
33. Dance parties with some of my favorite girls
34. Community for when things get hard and you need accountability and encouragement.
35. Truth speaking sermons.
36. Jumping joyful worship on New Year's Eve
37. An amazing amazing time focusing on Jesus at Denver Christmas Conference :)

Linking up with:

Don't miss Jesus this Christmas!

2011-12-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Advent reading: Matthew 2:1-18

Back to Discovering Advent! Yay! Blogging has been slow/hard for me the last week just because of other crazies in my life. But I am so excited to be back into writing about the sweet little Jesus baby and awaiting his coming.

Today we look at 3 characters and how they reacted to the coming King- The Wise Magi, King Herod, and The Jewish Priests.

Magi - Seeking the King

source

Have you ever seen the Nativity Story? If not, go out and buy it right now. It's awesome. In the Nativity Story, they show the Magi (or wise men if you will) meticulously plotting out their route to go and see the baby King. It's the best picture of their eager planning and anticipation I've seen.

The Magi were Gentiles, wealthy and scholarly, and probably astronomers or astrologers. And most likely they spent years (before Jesus was even born) plotting the star that would lead them to Bethlehem.

They were excited. They actively sought out Jesus. They intentionally went to worship him, sacrificially giving time, talent and treasure to do so.

King Herod - Opposing the King

Source

Herod, the "King of the Jews" or so he thought. Herod was the ruler of Judea, known to most as "King Herod the Great".

Herod and his family were well off, established, and left a lasting legacy. All the "right" characteristics to be successful according to the world. Herod had many building accomplishments including seaports, theaters, warehouses, and temples. In fact you are probably familiar with one of his accomplishments- the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

Yet despite (or probably because of) all of this, Herod was full of pride. He would do anything (including murdering his own wife and sons) to ensure that his place as king was safe. When he heard that the Messiah, the true King of the Jews, was coming the Bible says he was "disturbed".

Herod had no place for another king in his life. He knew that this Messiah would ultimately rule over him, and because of his selfishness and sin, Herod actively opposed the coming King. He ordered murder of babies in Bethlehem because of his fear of Jesus.

Herod's sinful life- a life of pride, selfishness, lies, fear and murder, caused his reaction to the coming Messiah. Herod had no room in his heart for another King, it was too full of himself.

The Jewish Priests - Ignoring the King

Source

What's crazy about these guys is that we don't even find mention of them in the stories of Jesus' birth. Not here in Matthew, or in Luke. The people that you would expect to be the most excited about Jesus' birth are no where to be found.

The priests undoubtedly knew the Scriptures. They knew that a Messiah was coming. I'm sure they could quote Micah 5:2 where the birth of a Savior in Bethlehem is foretold. And yet silence.

The priests were only five miles from the birth of the Savior of the World and did nothing.

My guess- they were to blinded by their religious duties to see the coming King. They were so focused on themselves and trying to be the best on their own they completely missed the birth of the Christ!

If Jesus were to come back today, how would you react?

Would you be like the Magi? Excited and ready to worship? Would you be ready to give up your time, talent, and treasure for the kingdom of God? Would you be willing to risk your own stature (remember they were wealthy and highly respected scholars) for the sake of Jesus? Willing to lay down your life?

Or would you be like Herod? Not ready to part with the idols that rule your life. Is there something in your heart that is ruling as king over the one true King, King Jesus? Are you fearful of what would happen if you relinquished control? Is your selfishness and pride getting in the way?

Or are you like the Priests? So absorbed with trying to be good, trying to do right, trying to succeed in this world that you would completely miss it?

My favorite Christmas song is called "While You Were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns. And my favorite verse compares America to Bethlehem and Jerusalem-

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping?
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay?
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King?
Will we be sleeping?
Will we be sleeping?

Oh sweet Jesus let us welcome you into our hearts! Let us lay down our lives for yours. I pray that we won't be like Herod and oppose you ruling in our hearts. And I pray that we won't be like the priests and miss you completely. Let us not be sleeping but focused on you.

This is a part of my Discovering Advent series where I am actively seeking out Jesus as Christmas approaches. If you want to get caught up you can find the whole series here. To make sure that you don't miss anything else you can subscribe via email or RSS on the side bar. So blessed and thankful to be taking this journey with you sweet friends!

Linking up with these amazing women:

We are THAT family, Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, Internet Cafe Devotions, Good Morning Girls

Is God a Broncos Fan?

2011-12-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have been a football fan since before I could walk. In fact, my birth was scheduled around a college football game (Nebraska vs CU - A huge rival in the late eighties early nineties. Go Huskers!). I remember my mom telling a story of being in the hardware store where they had a random football game on. Someone yelled touchdown and my little ten-month-old arms flew up in the air. My parents took me out of school in February of 1998, and again in 1999 to watch the Broncos Superbowl parade. I will never forget seeing grown men cry because they've waited their whole lives to see John Elway hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Football is in my veins.

But about 3 years ago, something new pumped through my veins- Jesus. The gospel ruled my life. I saw God change me and shape me in ways I never imagined. I was able to forgive people I never thought I could. I made friendships deeper than I had ever known. I saw hope in the face of heart break. I got the chance to deeply and intimately know my savior.

So why am I telling you these seemingly unrelated things about myself? Because I want you to know where I'm coming from. I love Jesus more than anything. But I love the Denver Broncos a whole lot too. I have a foot in both camps. I'm not just a sports writer trying to understand Tim Tebow. And I'm not just a Christian blogger trying to understand football.

Tim Tebow is a phenomenon. He's the number 3 on Google trends right now. The Denver Broncos are a sub-par team that keeps pulling off last minute victories under his guidance. And people are baffled.

There are probably eighty million articles on Tebow. People praise him and people mock him. He is the most polarizing person in professional sports today.

Yesterday, I had the chance to go see Tebow and my beloved Broncos in action against the Chicago Bears. My amazing mother gave tickets to me and my brother Garrett.

Me and my not-so-little brother, Garrett

For nearly 50 football minutes we screamed and yelled in frustration as catch after catch was dropped and balls were fumbled. We were down 10-0 with not much time left on the clock. We were sitting by these two Bears fans, and had a chance to talk to them a bit during the game. At one point my new friend turned to me and said "I'll give you this, with Tebow it's never over"

And sure enough we came back to tie with less than five minutes on the clock. And then after a lucky fumble (which I totally saw coming by the way! Garrett is my witness!) we got the ball back in overtime and Matt Prater saved the day by kicking a 51 yard field goal.

I was screaming my face off. I was jumping up and down, high-fiving everyone in my section and so thankful I had the opportunity to see a Broncos win in real life.

And then I turned to the guy next to me, who I had spent 3 hours getting to know and talking football and said "I'm sorry man, I really am" I could see his utter disappointment in falling to the Broncos hype.

"Thanks. But I have to tell you, I'm starting to believe God really is a Broncos fan after this"

I chuckled and wished him a safe drive home. But then I really started thinking. This is how most people see it. Last night my newsfeed on facebook was flooded with praises to God for winning in overtime. A friend even posted "If God isn't a Broncos fan, why are sunsets blue and orange?", recalling a bumper sticker that's been floating around Colorado for years and recently taken on new meaning.

So is God a Broncos fan? Does he care if one team beats another?

I really really don't think so. God's desire is that He would get all the glory, meaning that people would see Him and His character because of what happens.

That's what he asks of those who follow him, including Tim Tebow, Brian Dawkins, Drew Brees, Albert Pujols, Seth Smith, Trevor Bayne, and me. And maybe you.

God says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do (including play professional sports), do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31- parentheses are mine)

God wants to bring Glory to Himself because He is the only one worth it. He is the only one who is perfect. If anyone or anything got honor and praise before God, it would be like worshiping a dirty germ filled rag over pure silk.

God also gives promises to those who follow him. He says that "with God all things are possible" and that we "can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives us strength"

God honors his promises, both to me and to Tim Tebow and to anyone else that is trusting Jesus for forgiveness of their sins. Not only honoring promises to "work all things for good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose" but also to have eternal and everlasting life - much more important than winning a football game.

So does God have a favorite football team? No. Does God honor and bless those who follow him? Absolutely.

God has more important things to worry about than if the Broncos win the AFC West. God's heart is for those who don't yet know Him. He wants all to come to a saving knowledge of him.

He wants to use those people (like Tebow) to help in his plan. God's plan from the very beginning of time was to redeem the world. He wants to fix the broken- starting with humanity. He wants to extend his loving grace to us, because He knows that on our own we can not be perfect.

I know this grace. Tim Tebow, Brian Dawkins and Drew Brees know this grace. Do you?

If you don't you can. Check out one of these websites or email me and we can talk about what God's grace means to you personally.

If you do know this grace and want to be a part of God's plan to redeem the world go here:

If you want to use Tim Tebow's faith as a conversation starter go here:

My heart bleeds for people to know Jesus and the grace he offers. When that has a chance to intersect one of my other passions I jump up and down. I could probably write a whole book on it.

If you've been challenged, encouraged, or just generally enjoyed today's post would you take a minute to share it with a friend? And don't forget to subscribe over on the sidebar. You can have more stories of Jesus, College Students and Life delivered straight to your inbox or favorite RSS reader.

In the words of Tim Tebow- God Bless and Go Broncos!

On my way to #1000 gifts with Ann

27. Free tickets to the Broncos game

28. Getting to go to church with my baby brother

29. The unusually warm December weather on Sunday

30. A fun rock and roll show with a ton of great friends

31. Excitement over how God is leading in tons of different places

32. Nearing 60% of my support goal

33. Getting to spend a bunch of time with my dear friends Malcolm and Leah

34. Food in my fridge and a roof over my head

35. Friends willing to pray at the drop of a hat

Linking up with:

What if...

2011-12-08T11:25:00.001-07:00

Advent reading for today: Deuteronomy 5:1-22

(side note... Does anyone else love
Charlton Heston as much as I do?)

You can remember 10 things right?

Like I can remember all 12 months. I can probably name off at least 10 blogs. It wouldn't be impossible for me to remember 10 bands I like.

But can I remember all 10 commandments? Not usually.

And even when I can them them all, do I actually obey them all?

Nope.

Just today, I put other things before God. (Not on purpose necessarily but sleeping in sounded mighty fine this morning)

Sure I haven't murdered anyone. But that's not even number one on God's list. And that doesn't matter because one misstep and you've fallen away from perfection.

I am not perfect. And neither are you.

One tiny blemish and we are forever stained.

So what if the story ended there?

What if the Law was all there was?

What if all we had was those 10 commandments and our still sinful nature?

Where would you be? What would you feel?

Linking up here: Imperfect Prose and SomeGirlsWebsite

This is a part of my Discovering Advent series where I am actively seeking out Jesus as Christmas approaches. If you want to get caught up you can find the whole series here. To make sure that you don't miss anything else you can subscribe via email or RSS on the side bar. So blessed and thankful to be taking this journey with you sweet friends!

Stained

2011-12-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

I saw a great tshirt the other day from Candace Cameron Bure (DJ from Full House) that said: "Being Good is not Good Enough"

What a lie that plagues our society! People thinking well I'm not a liar or cheater or murderer, I've never cheated on my spouse, I am good compared to everyone else...

But being good isn't good enough!

My sweet friend Leah has a great analogy that sums it up great:

"If you had to wear one, white t-shirt for your entire life – that grew with you and you couldn’t remove – could you keep it clean for your whole life? If you answered yes, I beg to differ.
I have this one white shirt, that I don’t even wear that often, that I try to keep extremely white. I spray stain remover in the armpits and every place I dribble coffee on it (because it never fails I dribble) at every cleaning. It’s becoming progressively harder to keep it clean and white.

Beautiful Leah on her wedding day

I'm impressed with people who can keep their clothes clean for one full day! I was just looking at some wedding pictures, and how clean and white my dress looked. Now when I look at the bottom of my dress, it looks more like a gray/tan color than white. And I only wore it for one day!
This is how we are with sin. We can try (or not try) to be good people, but we naturally screw up. Just like it is impossible to keep a white shirt perfectly white for our entire lives, it is impossible to go our entire lives without sinning."

I'm just like Leah, I can't even keep from spilling on myself once a day let alone my whole life. And just like I can't keep from spilling, I can't keep from sinning. Have you ever tried to go a whole day with out sinning? I would probably last about 15 minutes with out doing something wrong (putting my own self in front of God most likely)

Our lives are stained. Dirty. Full of sin.

And yet God still loves us.

"But God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8

Christ is the only thing that removes the stains from our lives.

"Though your sins are like scarlet
they shall be white like snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool" - Isaiah 1:18

God promised from the beginning to clean our slates. To wipe the dirt and sin from our lives. He is the ultimate launderer for our dirty white t-shirts.

Advent is a time of waiting and longing. Longing ultimately for Jesus. Longing for his return. Longing for Heaven.

Christ promises that he will continue the good work that he began in us until He returns (Philippians 1:6) He will continue to purify us so long as our eyes are focused on Him.

So this Christmas season, focus on Jesus and allow him to be your source of perfection. Do not rely on your own efforts but rather on Him who is perfect, stainless, and pure.

This is a part of my Discovering Advent Series. I'm taking the month of December to focus on Jesus as Christmas approaches. You can catch the whole series here. If you want to make sure you don't miss any other Advent posts subscribe via email or RSS over on the sidebar. Thanks for journeying with me to see Jesus friends!

Linking up with: On Your Heart, Finding Heaven

Provider God

2011-12-05T10:35:00.001-07:00

Today's Advent Reading: Genesis 22:1-18

It always baffles and excites me to see how God perfectly lines up circumstances, challenges, and struggles with His word. Today was another one of those days.

Support raising is hard. Like sometimes I just want to quit and go and hide in a corner. Sometimes I fail miserably at it. To say that it is my least favorite part of ministry would be a gross understatement.

But alas, that is where God has placed me right now. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants me in college ministry. It is what I was created for. And raising support to do be able to love college students full time is just part of the job description.

So after a hard week, both personally and with support raising, I am thanking God that His mercies are new each and every morning. That last week's failures do not mean failures this week. That today is a new day. Today is a new start.

And as I dive into my Advent Devotional, today, December 5, is titled "God Provides". Oh wow God! The very very thing I need to focus on! No other way than God's amazing sovereignty could have lined up a sweet blogger who wrote a devotional years ago, to my own failures and desperate need for God, with His Word and another sacrifice that happened thousands of years before I was even alive. Only God!

Many of you may already be familiar with Abraham's test from God, if not take a few minutes and read over it again. Even though I knew the outcome, that God provided a ram so that Abraham didn't have to sacrifice Isaac, I never saw the gospel in it until today. I have never been challenged by it like I was today.

Imagine being called to sacrifice the one thing you wanted most in your whole life. Abraham waited his whole life to have a child and yet he was tested by God to sacrifice him. Crazy right?

But Abraham had such faith in God, that He would uphold His promise to bless him through his son Isaac, that he was willing to obey God even if it meant sacrificing Isaac. He trusted God's word even when what God was saying seeming way out of left field.

God is the one who fulfills promises, and Abraham knew that. He even believed God could raise Isaac from the dead. (Heb 11:19)

So picture this, Isaac is bound up (willingly trusting his own father and the character of God), Abraham has a knife in his hand ready to slice the throat of his one and only son. Could you imagine what was going through Abraham's head?

"Okay seriously God, now would be a good time to show up! Where is that lamb I knew you would provide? This is the most terrifying thing I could ever imagine... What are you doing God?"

I would be terrified.

And then in the very moment when Abraham is about to kill Isaac, the angel of the Lord shows up!! What blew me out of the water was what He said:

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son" (Gen 22:12)

Abraham's faith was evident because he was willing to give it all way. He was willing to give back to God the thing that he treasured most - his son. He laid down everything on the alter to worship God because he knew that God was worthy of it.

And then God reminded him a few verses later "...because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you..." Abraham's covenant with the Lord was reconfirmed because of his great faith.

The question I then asked myself hurt a little bit:

What things am I withhold from God that are keeping me from seeing him provide? What things am I holding onto too tight to lay down at the alter? What do I need to sacrifice?

Let me tell you friends, don't ask that question unless you are willing to hear hard answers. Maybe it is your job or your house. Maybe it's money or time.

For me, it is my comfort. I believe the single thing that is holding me back, it an unwillingness to get outside my comfort zones.

Especially in support raising.

The thing I most need to lay down at the alter is my own self. I need to trust God beyond where I'm comfortable. Trust him to change me and shape me, instead of doing it on my own strength (which obviously I'm failing miserably at). I need him to pry open my tight grip on my independence and my comfort.

I need to change my focus from me to Him. From "How can I get out of support raising?" and focusing on my needs and my burdens to "How can I glorify God in support raising?" "How can I obey?" "How can I display my faith so that more people will see Jesus?"

Is it hard and scary? Absolutely.

But oh how God provides when we walk out in faith. He provided a ram in the thicket for Abraham and we saw that He is Jehovah-Jireh - The God who Provides.

He is the God who provided for me, the last four months while I was raising support and not sure if I was even going to be able to buy groceries. He is the God who continually proves faithful when difficult situations arise. He is the God who provided His very own Son to die on a cross for the atonement of all of our sins. He is the God who provided a way, provided grace in our time of need.

You are the Jehovah-Jireh! You are the Provider God! Just when we need you, you are there to provide a ram in the thicket. You are the Lord who provides salvation, grace, mercy and love. You, just like Abraham, sacrificed your very own Son, you provided the Lamb. You have not withheld anything from us - even offering your own Son that we might be saved. Oh your grace!

This Advent season, thank God for what He has provided for us. And ask yourselves sweet friends is there something you need to lay down at the alter?

This is a part of my Discovering Advent series where I am actively seeking out Jesus as Christmas approaches. If you want to get caught up you can find the whole series here. To make sure that you don't miss anything else you can subscribe via email or RSS on the side bar. So blessed and thankful to be taking this journey with you sweet friends!

On my way to 1000 gifts:
17. Rich hot chocolate and free Christmas movies on Hulu
18. Willingness from students to take a huge step of faith to lead!
19. Finding a table near a crowded outlet in a crowded Starbucks so that I could blog
20. God's mercies are new each morning.
21. A very generous supporter this week!
22. A sweet friend willing to give up her own seat at a Broncos game so that I can go
23. The provider God, providing everything from money for groceries to salvation
24. Acting out the death, resurrection, and ascension (including the Great Commission) with some energetic little boys
25. My small group continuing on for another semester with a focus on the mission of God. My favorite subject!
26. Excellent finds from Good Will for Christmas gifts!

Linking up with:

Promise Fulfill-er

2011-12-02T14:26:00.001-07:00

Advent Reading Today: Matthew 1, Genesis 3:15

A commentary that I was reading today mentioned that the Old Testament is a book of Promises and the New Testament is a book of the Fulfillment of the Promises. This doesn't mean that there aren't promises in the New Testament, but rather that Jesus is the fulfillment of the multitudes of promises given over the course of history.

For years and years the nation of Israel had to wait and hope for God's promises to come true. All they had was trusting in the character of God to keep the promises that he had made.

Just minutes after the fall of man in Eden, God promises a Redeemer to come. He makes the same promise to Abraham and again to David. Over and over again in the Old Testament we see God's promises of Redemption.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

For thousands of years, waiting on God to fulfill His promise. Trusting, hoping, praying that he will come.

And Hallelujah! Here come's Jesus!

Just as promised. From the line of Abraham and David.

Immanuel- God with us.

Finally, Israel is delighting in the fulfillment of God's promises. God is faithful.

Thousands of years after God promises a Redeemer to Adam and Eve - He is born.

Today in my journey of Discovering Advent, I'm rejoicing in the character of God as a Promise Fulfill-er. I'm taking time to thank God for his faithfulness in my life and in the promises He has given and fulfilled. God is the promise maker and the promise keeper.

After days like I've had this week where it seems like awful things just keep happening and I long for Jesus to come back, I know that I can trust in the holy character of God to keep the promises he has made.

I can trust that someday (hopefully someday soon) Jesus will come back.

That he will restore the earth. That he will redeem creation. That he will redeem me.

Oh Lord I praise you for keeping promises. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you will come again. You are trustworthy and we know that you will fulfill every promises you have given us. Give us patience by your Spirit.

Today is day FOUR of my Discovering Advent series. You can get past posts here. To make sure that you catch the rest of my journey into Finding Jesus during Christmastime you can subscribe via email or RSS over on the sidebar. I'm blessed to be taking this journey along all of you!

Linking up with sweet Laura today:

Waiting turns into Action

2011-11-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes really really awful things happen in the lives of students. Things that you couldn't even imagine. And every time it makes my heart hurt. It doesn't ever get easier hearing about abuse, rape, deaths, bad family situations, eating disorders etc.

Every time that it happens, I long for Jesus to come back. I'm reminded of just how broken this world is. I want it to end and Jesus to come and restore righteousness.

But I have a confession to make, I don't always act on these injustices. Sometimes they are so overwhelming I don't even know where to start and other times I just get lost in my comfort zone. And sometimes I just hope and pray that God will fix it all.

Now don't get me wrong, hoping and praying that Jesus will return and redeem is a good thing. But that doesn't mean we get a free pass.

Look at Simeon in Luke 2:25-35:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts

First thing that I noticed was that Simeon was a devout and righteous man. He had his head on straight. He was one of the few from the Jewish remnant who was eagerly awaiting the Messiah. He knew God's promises to deliver a Savior were coming.

The next thing that jumped off the page at me was that Simeon was "waiting for the consolation of Israel". Clearly he saw the brokenness of humanity and was waiting for it to be redeemed by the Redeemer and Messiah.

This is usually how I feel when I hear about awful injustices around the world and especially in the lives of the students who I hold so dear. I long for consolation and restoration.

But what is amazing about Simeon is that he doesn't just sit around and wait, he is moved to action. He knew God would fulfill his promise to deliver a Savior and he went to the temple where he would be sure to see this Messiah.

His action was motivated by his faith. He did not just wait idly but sought out the Messiah.

Do you just sit idly and hope for the Messiah to come? Or do you move into action?

Oh Lord move us into people of action. Rise up a generation that will not stand for injustice. Make us a nation who moves to seek you in every circumstance. Let us be more like Simeon and seek you first and always. Fill us with your Spirit and let us move as you lead us.

This is the third post in my Discovering Advent series. You can get the whole series delivered straight into your inbox or favorite RSS reader by subscribing on the side bar. Thank you for joining me as I discover the true meaning of Christmas and focus my eyes on Jesus.

Linking up here: Imperfect Prose and SomeGirlsWebsite

Why Advent?

2011-11-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I really wanted this to be my first post in my Discovering Advent series, but I needed to process yesterday. Thanks for your grace :)

The question of the hour, especially from those who don't participate in traditional church liturgy, is "Why should we celebrate Advent?"

I didn't grow up in a church going family, so up until last year "advent" was just a sweet part of Christmas that allowed me to get a chocolate every day.

As I got older and Jesus intersected into my life I began to wonder what Advent was all about. Was it just some staunchy old-world Catholic thing that had lost its relevance or was there more to the story?

So the Internets came to the rescue! I scoured websites and blogs searching for the truth behind Advent. Was it something I missed in the Bible? Was it simply tradition? Was it worthwhile or a waste of time?

And here's what I've come to know- It's awesome.

Advent (comes from a Latin word meaning coming) is a tradition that started somewhere in the third and fourth centuries as a fast before the Feast of Epiphany where all those who has chosen to follow Jesus were baptized. It's unclear exactly how it evolved into what most liturgical churches (Catholic, Lutheran etc.) celebrate today, but from the beginning it has always been about expecting the coming of Jesus.

Here's the top 10 reasons why Advent is awesome:

It allows us to refocus on Jesus for a whole month before Christmas
You get to celebrate Jesus' birth for a month instead of just a day.
You intentionally look toward Jesus' return (the second Advent)
Your eternal perspective grows (see #2)
We're reminded that Christmas is not about gifts, snowmen, hot cocoa or even family but Jesus
We participate in patience (a willingness to endure suffering) with God.
You get to see how Jesus is interwoven through out God's whole story (not just the NT)
You are reminded that Jesus is the light of the world (if you use candles)
You get to anticipate and be excited about the promises God has yet to fulfill
God is glorified in your worship! ( The most important reason!)

So friends, it's not too late to start an Advent tradition of your own. In fact many Advent devotionals start on December 1 (TOMORROW!) I am using a number of great resources as I seek Jesus and discover what Advent is really all about. One of them is from the lovely Ann Voskamp - A Free Advent Jesse Tree Book. Another is from John Piper's blog Desiring God. I'm also going through a devotional series from YouVersion because it's handy and on my phone. You can do it alongside me and find it here.

If you want to catch the whole series Discovering Advent make sure you subscribe on the sidebar. Thank you sweet friends for journeying through Christmas season with me!

Linking up with these amazing women:

We are THAT family, Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, Internet Cafe Devotions, Good Morning Girls

A Desperate Need

2011-11-28T10:16:00.001-07:00

Someone I knew passed away last weekend. Just hours after a family Thanksgiving dinner. After hearing all the details my heart hurts for his family. I mourn alongside his daughters, one of whom just got engaged and won't have a father to walk her down the isle. My heart hurts for them.

"Death Sucks" I whisper up to God. "Like really, this sucks. I hate it when people die."

God ever so gently reminds me of my part in death.

"Stupid sin causing death. But who am I kidding? I can't go one day with out sinning."

And then God reminds me of His part in death.

"Oh Jesus thank you for Grace. Thank you for taking my death. Thank you for taking my sins. I am dead apart from you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you"

In my path of Discovering Advent, I think about how different that situation might be with out a Savior.

A lost and broken world not sure of the grace to come. Seeing only obstacles and only rules. Trusting in their own power to deliver them from sin. Desperately hoping for a better way.

Jesus is not only the better way, he is the only way. The only atonement for our sins. The only way for life.

Thank you Jesus for the cross. For reminding me in the face of death for my desperate need for you. Thank you that You and You alone are the Savior. With out You we are lost.

Thank you friends for journeying with me to rediscover Jesus this Christmas season. If you want to catch the whole series be sure to subscribe by email or RSS over on the sidebar.

Linking up with: On Your Heart, Finding Heaven

Discovering Advent: Finding the Reason Behind the Season

2011-11-27T16:04:00.001-07:00

Christmas time is one of my very favorite times of the year. The weather, the music, the food, the family and the traditions. I love it all. But so often I forget to put my focus on Jesus.

I get wrapped up in ornaments and cookies. And then by the time Christmas day rolls around I'm tired and glad to finally get it over instead of celebrating the day the Savior came to earth.

Wouldn't it be great if we could celebrate Christmas for what it really is? As the day that God returned to earth to win the fight on sin? I want to rejoice in Jesus on Christmas.

I want, and more importantly need, to ready my heart by focusing on Jesus during the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas Day. Taking a page out of Laura's book (and because I so so so enjoyed Not About Me November) I'm starting a new series called Discovering Advent. Each day I will be discovering and posting about a different aspect of Advent and the Christmas season. Each post will point back to Jesus as Savior of the World.

If you would, please join me in setting our hearts on things above and looking toward Jesus. You can make sure you catch the whole series by subscribing and getting Angi Does Ministry delivered straight to your inbox or RSS feed. Feel free to take my virtual sticker and stick it places too. You can grab the code in the side bar.

I am eager to see what God is going to do in my heart this month and can't wait to share with you all!

Linking up with:

Thanksgiving is not about me! (Sharing Jesus at Thanksgiving)

2011-11-22T15:47:00.001-07:00

Just like most of you guys, I have a special place in my heart for Thanksgiving. I have an even more special place in my stomach. Seriously, I love love love food. Carbs and I are BFF's.

But really, I love the traditions and quality time spent with loved ones. Every year I have two thanksgivings. Morning Thanksgiving with my family and real Thanksgiving with my best friend's family.

Thanksgiving 2010

Lexi and I have been friends since we were 13 and I've been celebrating Thanksgiving at their house since I was 15. They are more like family.

Lexi and I 2004ish. Yikes. Look at those awesome braces.

I have so much fun at their house and man does Lexi's dad make a mean turkey. But I have to say, the thing I have been looking forward to the most is the conversation. Every year there are people from all different spiritual backgrounds and yet we still love each other.

I get to share about what God is doing in my life and share the gospel. I get to talk about why I do full time ministry (most people think I'm totally nuts! lol) and get to show the love of Christ through my actions.

Not many people in my family (or my pseudo-family...) are Christians but I get to display Jesus to them. If you're in my shoes, you might benefit from these tools.

How to share the gospel while blessing the food - Evangelism.net

How to share Christ at Thanksgiving - Eternity Impact Blog

This time of year is a great time to bring up spiritual conversations and transition into sharing the gospel. Many people are already focused on thankfulness (a major biblical theme) and Christmas (the birth of our Savior!) and it can be a natural start to a conversation about Jesus. If you need more evangelism ideas, check out my friend Nate's website Eternity Impact and you'll find 137 easy and creative ways to share the gospel!

What does your family do for Thanksgiving? Do you have opportunities to share Jesus during your holidays? Or do you have any neat ideas or stories for sharing Jesus at Thanksgiving?

Focusing on God with Laura at Beholding Glory:

Also linking up with these amazing women:

We are THAT family, Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, Internet Cafe Devotions, Good Morning Girls

My gifts are not about me

2011-11-20T22:03:00.001-07:00

My wonderful friends just after two of us were baptized.

I have the most wonderful small group in the whole world. Every time I'm with them it is such a time of encouragement! We've been going through Ephesians and just started talking about our spiritual gifts.

Now I don't know about you guys, but when I hear "spiritual gifts test" a tiny piece of me dies. It seems like every small group I've ever been in has taken a gifts survey and by now I can just pick out the answers to get the results I want. That was until I took this awesome one called "The Call" (I can't find the website for it now, but if you want to know more just email me) and sat down with a life coach (yep like on Oprah!).

Now if you're anything like me you would be beyond skeptical of some random life coach telling you about your personality and spiritual gifts, but seriously this was legit. Geri, the life coach, was so encouraging and edifying and really assured me that it was okay to be who I was and that was how God made me. I was able to finally get over my bitterness and hardness of heart to really see who God made me to be.

It made me see spiritual gifts in a whole new light, truly as gifts that the Lord has given me. And so I began to function more in the areas God gifted me while intentionally growing the areas where he did not.

But tonight, I had a whole new realization! God showed me his body through the different giftings and how they can be used to edify one another. I always knew it was great to have people who aren't alike to round out the body of Christ. That there needs to be all sorts of people to grow the Church. But I guess I always saw them as tiny little isolated islands. The evangelists would share the gospel, the hospitable would make them feel welcome, the pastoral and teachers would exhort and teach, and the servers would clean up after.

Every "gifting" just kind of doing their own thing apart from each other. But through the wise words of an amazing woman in my small group, I saw how we needed to function intermingled in order to grow.

How you can show leadership within the context of serving, and how you can be merciful and compassionate while standing firmly on truth.

Which makes so much sense! Especially when you think of the context in which God placed the spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4. Paul talks about the body growing and building itself up as each supporting ligament and joint does it's part. (4:16) Ligaments and joints aren't just hanging out in their own little world but joining together two different parts of the body, just as our spiritual gifts tie into each other.

What I saw and felt tonight was a time of encouraging each other in the gifts God has given us. "Jen, you're so good at teaching and shepherding!" "I can really see that God has given you the gift of hospitality, you're so quick to open up your home and serve people!" "It's neat how God has used your gift of evangelism with what you do"

What a blessing to be able to see the body of Christ functioning as he intended-

...joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Eph 4:16)

Linking up here:

I can't believe Not About Me November is almost over! If you've been encouraged and want to hear more don't forget to follow or subscribe there on the right. Or if it's your thing you can grab my button (virtual stickers! Remember when trading and collecting stickers was cool? Glad it came back in a grown up version!) I'm so blessed by all of you!

Saturday Scripture

2011-11-19T12:10:00.001-07:00

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-
he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you-
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-
he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

My Bible isn't about me.

2011-11-15T23:50:00.001-07:00

A while back I was reflecting on all the different facets of God's character and was really wishing I had a master list going. So I started writing them down.

This was great except I really wanted to see them in the context of scripture. So I started writing down different aspects of God's character on the top of my Bible

Our whole purpose in life is to know God's character and proclaim it to the world. So it helps me focus each of my quiet times on who God is so I can better share his glory. This small trick works for me!

Linking up with: Beholding Glory, We are THAT family, Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, Internet Cafe Devotions, Good Morning Girls

God's promises are not about me

2011-11-14T17:01:00.001-07:00

God promises so many great things to us. Things like-

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you - Psalm 32:8
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from unrighteousness - 1 John 1:9
"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" - Jeremiah 29:11
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus - Philippians 4:19
If you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved - Romans 10:9
God has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" - Hebrews 13:5b

But these promises are not about us. They are intended for us but they are not about us.

What I mean is that God's promises are more than just blessings for us. They are another way for us to see the character of God.

God doesn't promise to teach us just so we'll learn, but to show us that He is the ultimate teacher

God doesn't just forgive us because we need it, but because He is slow to anger and quick to forgive. (Ex 34:6)

God doesn't provide for us simply to bless us, but to show that He is the Provider and that He holds all the resources of the world

And the reason that we can trust any of God's promises is because His faithfulness is unending. He keeps His covenant because of His love. He keeps His promises because if He didn't then He would no longer be God.

Sometimes I get so selfish about God's promises. I throw a fit like a two-year-old who isn't getting the candy in the grocery store.

"But God!" I whine "You promised you would provide for me! Where the heck is my support?" {insert crying and screaming and kicking here}

And in the midst of my self-focused plea to God I forget that He doesn't promise to provide for me just so that I'll have enough money, but so that I can see more of Him. So that when it all comes in I will see that he is faithful, loving, gracious, the one who ordains and arranges, and the Ultimate Provider.

God's promises are good! But they are not purely intended to bless us, but rather to reveal the One Who Blesses.

Lord thank you for the promises you give in your word. Let us see you through them.

Linking up here:

Also! Did you notice over on that sidebar? Yep, I finally caught up to the game and made my own button!! So feel free to stick it where ever you want like a tiny little virtual sticker :)

My Tattoos are not about me.

2011-11-13T15:00:00.001-07:00

Alternate title - The Majors and Minors (sidenote Major/Minor by Thrice is a great album!)

Steven Covey says "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing".

For Christians the main thing is Jesus. Or at least it should be.

But so often Christians get so wrapped up in theology that they forget the main thing- Jesus. They forget we live in a world where there are literally BILLIONS of people that don't know him.

These "arguments" between believers can be one of the biggest distractions from people coming to know Christ. If Christians spend all their time debating each other over things that are not the main thing then who is going to tell all those non-believers about Jesus?

The "minors" distract from what God has called us to do- display His glory and tell people about Jesus.

One of these minors (in my mind at least) is tattoos. I know there are a lot of people, probably some of you that read this blog, that think tattoos are wrong and would never get one.

That is perfectly okay. One can be a Christian with or with out tattoos. We are called to be beacons of light in a lost world. We're told whatever we do to do it for the glory of God.

And my tattoos are for the glory of God. I have two tattoos on my feet -

19,340 is the height of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Isaiah 52:7 which says "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news" (sorry I have weird looking feet lol)

I got these shortly after I got back from Africa, which the first place that God really started working in my heart. You can read the whole story of God's goodness here.

And Isaiah 52:7 reminds me that our true value comes from God and he finds beauty in those who share the gospel.

So whenever someone asks me "What are those random numbers on your feet?" I get to tell all about God's beautiful pursuit of me and what Jesus did for me on the cross.

I have another new tattoo on my wrist that I'm sure will get me into sweet conversations too.

This is the Hebrew word "checed" meaning faithful love. It is one of the words that God uses to describe himself to Moses in Exodus 36:4. The key passage of God's word that most embodies this word is Psalm 136. That's the one where every verse says "His love endures forever" - that enduring love is checed.

Two of my dear friends Kaylee and Tina also have awesome God-glorifying tattoos.

This is a picture of us and our lovely un-inked friend Danica. Clock-wise from top: Tina, Danica, Kaylee and me. I love these girls a whole lot!

Kaylee and Tina both work at Best Buy and have conversations nearly daily about their tattoos:

One of Tina's many - A story of Good and evil

Kaylee's wrist - agape

While they're selling computers and sound systems they get to tell of God's redeeming work in their lives. They know that even their own bodies are not about them but about bringing Glory to God.

Even though we all love our tattoos, we know that they are not about us. They are about Jesus, the one and only, the life giver and our redeemer. Even redeeming the practice of tattooing from something that thousands of years ago was intended for idol worship into something that would be used for God.

I consider it a blessing to be able to share about the character of God through my body. And ultimately I pray that it will be useful as a tool to bring others to know God.

Redeemer God, thank you for the freedom you bring in Christ. Thank you for sending your Son to die in our place that we might partake in this freedom. Thank you for placing me in a society where I can use my tattoos to glorify Your name. Lord would you continue to use us and our tattoos to tell people about You. We love you so very much.

Linking up here:

My sin is not about me

2011-11-10T09:56:00.001-07:00

So often when we sin the tendency is to look back at ourselves and only see our imperfections and to become discouraged.

I know frequently I look at myself and think "Oh man I just suck. Why can't I ______?". Sin has this way of distorting our vision and reminding us of our failures.

We become what we focus on. So if our focus is on our failures and regrets, it just opens up this door for sin to rule. It's like an unraveling sweater.

The sweater might start out great but you walk by something and it snags. At first there is this tiny string, but the more you pull and pull and pull the sweater starts unraveling. All of a sudden all you have is pile of yarn on the floor and you're standing in the cold with out a sweater.

It's the same way with sin, at first it might be something small like sleeping in instead of having a quiet time. But the more you focus on the sin, the more your focus becomes about you and your shortcomings instead of the mercies of God.

Nehemiah 9:26-31 shows the "big picture". Israel was caught in a sin cycle - they would sin, plead to God for forgiveness, God would give them a righteous judge to guide them, and then as soon as the judge died or left they quickly forgot God and were consumed with sin again. (You can read the whole story in Judges)

Four times in this passage Nehemiah talks about the character of God during these times of sin.

From Heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. (9:27)

And when they cried out to you again, you heard from Heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time. (9:28)

For many years you were patient with them. (9:30)

But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (9:31)

Through out their sin, the character of God did not change. God is still merciful and gracious even when we sin against Him.

What if when we sin, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and discouraged, we focused on the character of God? If in our sin we turned away from our self-pity and turned to embrace the Creator?

What if we turn our focus to him like Nehemiah did in 9:17 "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love"

Or like David in Psalm 51? "Have mercy on my, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions."

When we shift our focus to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and trust him to fix us it will bring God the most glory. To focus on Him is our only hope of leaving our own sin cycles. Let's trust God to be the one who repairs our unraveling sweater and to knit it together by His spirit.

Oh Lord it is so easy to focus on our own shortcomings. I confess my self-focus in my sin. Lord lead me into your glory. Let us focus on you the grace giver whose mercies are new every morning. Thank you for being the one to repair us.

This is my third post for Not about Me November over at Beholding Glory. It has been such a blessing and such a great way to focus my heart. Have you written any NAMN posts that you've linked up to Laura? I'd love to read them! Leave the links in your comment and I'll make sure I swing by. You can find my other two posts here:

Dating is not about me.
My Birthday is not about me.

If you have been blessed by what God is teaching me and how He is working in the lives of college students, make sure to subscribe either by email or by reader. You can do that up top on the sidebar :)

My Birthday is not about me

2011-11-03T11:25:00.004-06:00

Source

Today is my 22nd birthday and I can not take any credit.

With so many friends writing on my facebook wall, sending me sweet texts, taking me out for dinner, etc it would be so easy to think this day is all about me. Easy to inflate my own pride and think this is all happening because I'm so great and people love me so much.

But the truth is, that any good thing that my friends see in me is because of Jesus. Apart from Him, I am mean, selfish, rude, arrogant and prideful. Through His spirit living with in me, He enables me to be loving and joyful, patient and kind, bold and encouraging.

All glory and praise be to God Almighty for twenty-two amazing years. Thanks be to Him who created me, sustains me, provides for me, loves me, teaches me, shapes me, and most of all saves me.

Source

Linking up here:

Dating is not about me!

2011-11-02T15:29:00.000-06:00

Sometimes being single is great. But sometimes, I feel a little isolated. Like I'm on the outside of this great thing that everyone else is a part of.

Ever since I was a little little girl, I've wanted to be a mom. I cared for my baby dolls (and later my baby brother) and even wrote in a Dr. Seuss book about my future hopes of mother hood. The more I learn, the more my heart for adoption grows. I've told people (quite often) if my circumstances were different (not 22, single and broke) I would adopt eight kids.

Loving on my baby brother

And I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be married (obviously since I want kids lol). I think of how God designed marriage as a way to reflect himself to the world. I see how it can grow and change people in ways that singleness can not. I sometimes long for that person to whisper to in church or to give me directions when I get lost or to help me out in difficult circumstances.

The other night God gently reminded me while I was talking to a guy I like, that my value is not found in whether or not that guy asks me out. How like God to encourage me in the midst of a situation tempting me to believe something false.

The next morning in my time with Jesus, I was continuing to process God's gentle reminder of where my value comes from. I had this little voice in the back of my head (who sounded an awful lot like Laura ;) ) that it's Not About Me and lightbulbs started going off.

More like fireworks actually. Something clicked.

Dating is not about me.

Being single is not about me either.

Actually, my relationship status (no matter what it is...) is not about me!

Seriously, it was like this huge weight of responsibility just flew off my chest. It's not about me. It's not about how I look or what I say. It's not about whether another person accepts me or rejects me. It is not about me.

Dating, singleness, marriage; they are all good things. All of them can bring glory to God. Dating is not about us. It is about bringing glory to God by displaying his passionate love for the world. (Check out Ephesians 5 if you don't know what I'm talking about)

No matter where I'm at in my relationship status it doesn't matter because it's not about me. I can't tell you what freedom this brought me when it FINALLY clicked. Now let's just hope it sticks... :)

Linking up with:

Good Morning Girls, Word Filled Wednesday

Not about me

2011-10-31T13:20:00.002-06:00

So often we are tempted to believe that it's what we do, or how we act that determines our standing with God. When in reality it is all about Him and His glory.

I've been so blessed by Laura who has taught me from early on in my walk with God that we exist for the purpose of bringing God glory.

Over at her blog Beholding Glory, Laura issued a challenge. For the month of November, leading up to Thanksgiving to blog about why it's not about us.

I am eager and excited about preparing my heart for thanksgiving by focusing my eyes on the Lord, the author and perfecter of my faith.

And God showed me a neat place where I realized I wanted it to be about me, but it's really about HIM. I'm so excited to share it with you!

So what do you say? Will you take the challenge with me? You can find out more about it here on Laura's blog. Don't forget to grab the button and tweet about it with #notaboutmenovember!

Can't wait to hear what God does!!

Relevant in College?

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

Hanging out with college students all the time I see all the latest trends. I can define hipster and scene without flinching. I know about all the latest iPhone and could probably tell you why some people say android is better.

Staying relevant to college students seems like a good idea when you're doing college ministry. Changing and adapting to fit their lifestyle. More technology less 'old-fashioned'. Striving to be relevant in a college culture that is always seeking out the new thing.

But when taken too far, the truth leaves. When trying to hard to 'stay relevant' with Christianity, you push the truth right out the window.

God's word is always relevant. The truth of salvation is always relevant. The need for salvation is always relevant.

I've had the pleasure of sharing the gospel with all kinds of people on our VERY VERY liberal campus. And I can tell you, that I can only recall a couple times when people were offended or put off by what I said.

I remember having a conversation with a girl, who by all outside looks would not be interested in the gospel. I might have passed right by her, but the student I was with stopped to talk. She was a philosophy student and was so eager to hear about Christianity from real Christians because she hadn't met any before. There in the lawn of our crazy campus we shared the gospel. It was relevant to her life even though we would have thought other wise.

Linking up here:

Compassionate Savior (I love technology!!)

2011-10-27T14:54:00.002-06:00

College ministry thrives in technology. Facebook, twitter, blogs, text messages, tumblr, etc. For me this is a blessing! I love facebook! Obviously, I love blogging. I would much rather send a text then talk on the phone. I like that we thrive in a technologically savvy world.

I get to have conversations with people I wouldn't normally talk to. I get to keep in touch with students I've only met a handful of times. But one of my favorite parts is the conversations that come out of technology.

People are often more bold over the internet than they would dare to be in person. This allows for true opinions and hard questions to come out. If you're friends with me on facebook then you'll probably get to see this debates happen first hand over my statuses (although not as often as they used to!).

Today, I ran across a blog of a student from another campus. A friend of a friend. And he is searching for truth. Asking how can a loving God allow evil? Why does God save some and not others? Questions that we all have entertained at one point in our walk with Christ.

And by the blessing of the internet, I got to share truth. It excites me so very much when I get to share the love and truth of the Bible. And were it not for blogs and facebook, it wouldn't have happened. I want to share with you my answer, not for my own glory but for God's.

Because I so deeply believe in His compassionate heart for the lost, I want you to see what God has taught me. Enjoy!

Hi,

This is one question that constantly baffles people and I think for good reason. It's hard to understand why a seemingly good God would allow some to suffer while saving others.

I don't claim to know the mind of God or to know His motives. But fortunately I do know His word which reveals His character. Our whole purpose in life is to know God, to know His character and then to proclaim that to the world around us. The more we know the character of God the more we display it.

So the question becomes, how do we see the character of God in hard situations? God intends for people to suffer sometimes. He intended for His own Son to suffer on the cross. Why? Because it brings Him glory. So when people suffer God allows or intends it to bring Himself glory. This is different in many scenarios, in terms of the how. But always it is for God's glory. A truth to stand on is Romans 8:28 that "all things happen for good". This isn't our definition of good but rather God's- to bring him glory.

We also know that by allowing suffering to go on that God is showing the world compassion, another aspect of His character. Rom 8:18 says that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed, that is Heaven. Second Peter 3:9 says the Lord is patient because He doesn't want any to perish but all to know Him.

Jesus is patiently (by the way, the word in Greek means a willingness to endure long-suffering) waiting to return because He knows when He returns, there aren't anymore chances to know God. That's the end.

The longer that God allows the pain and suffering of this world (including death, destruction, etc) the more time people will have to know God, to fulfill the purpose they're created for. To understand this is to see a compassionate side of God and His heart to know the world.

But the reality is that at some point all of us will have to face death. Whether, like in your example, it is in a tragedy, or if we're spared from that tragedy and it's when we're old. all of us will die. We will all have to face God at one point and stand before Him. We will be forced to look at our lives to say if we were innocent or guilty and all of us will have to say guilty. We've all fallen short of the standard of perfection that God demands.

However if we've chosen to take the perfection that Jesus offers on our behalf, then despite our guilt God will see the innocence and perfection of Jesus Christ cast onto us. Completely forgiven and justified.

God's desire is that all would be like that. God's desire is for all mankind to be saved. And because His love for us is that great, He gives us more time in this broken and suffering world so that more people will come to that knowledge.

Ryan, I admire your search for Truth and I believe the longer you look with an open mind the more you will find. I encourage you to ask hard questions and to demand answers. God encourages it too. He says in Jeremiah 33:3 "Ask unto me and I will tell you great and unsearchable things you did not know". He wants to show you answers and wants you to ask Him things. Keep looking, it's out there :)

All my best,
Angi

Linking up with:

Life giving

2011-10-16T01:14:00.000-06:00

Being in the midst of raising support and being away from campus it's easy for me to forget how much I love ministry. When I do get the opportunity to invest in students I am so revived. Ministry is so life-giving to me and encourages me so much.

I often times feel isolated in support raising and Satan uses it to discourage and distract me from the mission that God has put forth. It's a vicious cycle, I lose sight of the mission of making disciples which causes my walk with God to falter; the less time I spend with God the more isolated I feel; the more isolated I feel the temptation of distraction and sin grow; the more I am distracted and sin the more I lose sight of what God has called me to do.

But through God's abounding grace he continually reminds me of the cycle. He gives me small glimpses into ministry. I get small opportunities and see God come through and am reminded of His call on my life.

I'm reminded and convicted of trying to do it alone. I see how God has created us to live dependent. On my own I am weak, but in His power I am strong.

Oh Lord your grace is so overwhelming. When I need you most you are there to rescue me. Thank you for the blessing of doing ministry. Thank you for girls who ask hard questions and who are seeking after Your will for their lives. I pray you would guide them. Thank you Lord for showing me my dependence on you and on others. Lord please enable me to walk in your Spirit to raise support and do ministry. Thank you for calling me to college students and giving me such a joy to see them seek you. God you are so good to us. You bless us beyond words. I love you so very much.

Soul Reviver

2011-10-14T11:47:00.001-06:00

God's word is so good. Just when I thought I was down for the count His word lifted me up. His word is grace. The privilege we have to read it, to know it, to learn from it, and ultimately and most importantly to see and behold the character of God through it.

I pray sweet friends that you will indulge in God's word today. That you will drink deeply from the life-giving power and more clearly see our Creator. May your souls be revived by our Great God.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trust worthy, making wise the simple

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The ffear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:7-11

Sharing with my dear friend Laura today,

A bunch of silver in Satan's palm

2011-10-11T18:54:00.000-06:00

Ezra is maybe one of the craziest people in the whole Bible. Okay maybe not, (Jeremiah was legit crazy, I think he was bi-polar! lol) but he has a crazy amount of faith in what God can do.

In my amazing small group Bible study, we were talking about how faith is essentially the same as our confidence. Dave, one of our incredibly wise leaders put it like this:

For me, faith is in many ways synonymous with confidence. When I say that my faith is weak, I might as well say that I am lacking confidence in Christ. So we ask, how confident am I in the claims of Christ? Do I have enough confidence to associate my name with his family? Am I confident enough to trust my eternal destiny to him alone? Furthermore, am I confident enough in Christ to tell my children, my siblings, my parents, my cousins, my friends, my coworkers to replace whatever they currently place their confidence in with the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Ezra was certainly not lacking confidence in God. Confidence that God would protect him and the people that were entrusted to him. He put all of his faith and confidence into the character of God and His word when He said "The gracious hand of God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is on all who forsake him" (Ez 8:22)

Let me back up a little and give you the introduction :) Ezra was a scholar and a teacher. We know that he devoted himself wholly to the study and practice of God's laws and also to teaching them to others (Ez 7:10). This is pretty impressive considering he grew up in Babylonian captivity and didn't have as much access to God's word as priests before him did.

Ezra also had a boldness I admire. Ezra 7:6 tells us that he received everything he asked King Artaxerxes for. What did he ask for? To be allowed to return to Jerusalem, and to bring the remnant of Israel with him. Which in itself is so crazy!! God moved the heart of two Babylonian Kings to accomplish his will. That's crazy. Artaxerxes not only allowed Ezra to do as he asked but he financially provides for the trip!

This is where the crazy title comes in... :)

So here we find Ezra, a nerdy scholar (this is a term of endearment! promise!) in charge of leading over 1500 men plus all their wives and children and a whole bunch of money. On their journey they had about 29 TONS of silver, 4 TONS of gold, 20 bowls of gold weighing about 19 pounds each, and some polished bronze. Today would be worth approximately $196,401,600.

ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX MILLION DOLLARS. That is a ridiculous amount of money.

Okay, but here's the crazy part (seriously, it gets crazier!)....

they didn't have any protection!

Can you believe that? All those people and all that money being led by Ezra, who had no experience, on a four month journey through land filled with their enemies and bandits.

That is how crazy Ezra's faith is. He said in that he wouldn't ask the king for protection because he knew the hand of God was on his side (Ez 8:22). He was so confident in the character of God that he risked everything to trust Him. He had faith in God's promise to "have his gracious hand on all who look to him" that he would walk right through enemy territory trusting God the whole way.

The verse that describes their journey says that "God delivered us from the hand of the enemy" Literally from the palm of the enemy. Satan had Ezra, all those people and all that money in the palm of his hand, but God protected them just as he said he would!

Oh Lord, you truly are mighty to save! Thank you for showing us that you are a God who protects, that you are faithful to keep your word, and that you deliver us from the hand of the evil one. Lord give us faith like Ezra. Let us put all of our confidence in you. Allow us to trust you with big things. We long to tell others of how you came through for us! Let us glorify you.

Sharing with these great ladies: Women Living Well, A Holy Experience, We are THAT Family, Word Filled Wednesdays

Hope in the Faithfulness of God

2011-10-05T13:12:00.000-06:00

You guys already know that I LOVE reading the Old Testament, but let me tell you I am having so much fun right now! I've been reading Ezra/Haggai/Zechariah because they're all written in the same time and place. It is so neat seeing the same thing happening from different perspectives. All of the books tell of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.

Each book is so unique in the perspective that it takes. Ezra is the historian, Haggai the prophet who exhorts the remnant of Israel, and Zechariah who tells of the Glory to come. All working together to provide a complete picture of what is happening.

In the first 3 chapters of Ezra, we learn that Cyrus, a Persian king, issues a decree that allows the remnant of Israel to return to Jerusalem. After 70 years of captivity, the Israelites are returned to their home land to rebuild what has been destroyed.

Can you imagine the elation? Finally, home again. The unity of the body is in full swing. Everyone is glad to be home and they all "joined together in supervising those working on the house of God" (Ezra 3:9)

And then "With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:

"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever"

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid." (Ezra 3:11)

Yet in the very next verse we learn that many of the older men (priests and Levites) who had seen the former temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation being laid. They had seen the beauty and grandeur of the temple that Solomon built. In their eyes, there was no way this measly (in comparison) temple could stand up to what they thought God deserved.

The prophet Haggai understands where they're coming from:

"Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you know? Does it not seem to you like nothing?" (Haggai 2:3)

And offers hope through the Word of God. He tells them to "Fear not" and to "Be strong and work, For the Lord is with you"

Haggai tells them of God's promises and his faithfulness.

"I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty... 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house"

How gracious of God?! To remind them in their time of sorrow of the hope that is to come! And how true is it? The temple was filled with the glory of the Lord when Jesus came! He proves faithful again and again.

And even though the old men were weeping, they were later comforted by God's word and his promises. God continually reminds me that His word alone is where we find hope. In times of suffering and heartache we can trust in the promises He gives.

Just as he promised to Israel that through the trial of rebuilding the temple His glory would be revealed, He promises that we too will see Glory revealed.

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18)

Oh Jesus, faithful Jesus, thank you for the promises you give us in your word. Help us to hold firm to you the hope-giver.

Trusting others

2011-09-28T15:55:00.000-06:00

One of the biggest lies I'm tempted to believe when I'm raising support is that I'm begging for money. Growing up it has always been ingrained in my head to work hard and provide for yourself. I've had a job since I was 15 and have been paying my own way (mostly) since then.

When I decided to quit my job and pursue ministry full time that meant having to trust that other people would provide for me. It took all the "power" out of my hands. I was clearly no longer in control of my destiny. But that's actually the way that God wants it.

He asks us continually not to trust in ourselves but to trust in him. Not to walk our own paths but trust God to lead us. He asks us to surrender control of our lives and let him be the one controlling us.

I love football. Like a whole lot. Sundays are church and football. Always have been :) So if you're not a football fan, let me tell you how devastating it is when one of your star players gets injured and is lying on the field. If they've torn an ACL or broken a leg bone they are out, usually for a whole season. But just because they are ineffective and can no longer play, you can't just leave them out there on the field.

Someone has to help them off. On their own they can't even move.

Support raising is showing me this all the time. Just as I can not be good enough on my own apart from Christ, I can not do ministry on my own.

When people generously give they reflect Christ. They show some of the very characteristics of Christ. They're generous, gracious, enabling, sacrificial, humble, and tons more.

It is humbling to put yourself in a position where you must trust God to provide. But God desires humility

But the humble will inherit the land... (Psalm 37:11)

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom (Proverbs 11:2)

Humility and fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life (Proverbs 22:4)

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12)

Raising support is a picture of our desperate need for Christ. It reminds me that on my own I am not good enough. I can not sustain myself alone. Only through humility and trusting in Christ do I have any hope of life.

Mutually Encouraged

2011-09-21T16:06:00.000-06:00

Today I had the privilege of catching up with a dear friend of mine, Cassie.

As you might guess from my T-shirt, I met Cassie at our Crush Fear Project this past summer. I haven't talked much about Crush Fear but it is seriously such a great time of growth for many students. We expose and conquer personal fears, relational fears, physical fears, and ministry fears. By the end of these two weeks in beautiful Durango, Colorado it seems as if a completely different group of students are leaving than the ones that arrived. The experiences foster deep connections and friendships (and even a few relationships!) and cultivate a heart for God and ministry that lasts and multiplies. (Read more here)

Raising support has been really hard for me this time. I've faced challenges I didn't think I would face and trials that almost take me out of the game. But through it all God has been so gracious to me. He reminds me daily that it is Him who I need to rely on, not myself or my supporters. That without Him, I'm lost and incapable. That on my own I fall short. But that with Christ in control of my life, all things are possible. That if he is leading me, I will be encouraged. And that His grace is something that never runs out.

And on top of all that, God in his unending mercy, keeps encouraging me just when I need it. And today, just as I was starting to feel overwhelmed I got a sweet message from Cassie. Just her saying hello brought such a huge smile to my face.

Then beautiful Cassie told me a story about what God was doing in her life and how He was using her. I was beaming. I saw an incredible woman of Christ, yielding to him in an area of her life where it was hard. Doing something challenging to bring glory to God. Through her example, people will see Jesus. Which is the very purpose that we're created for.

At the end of the very brief chat, we were both encouraged. Romans 1:12 says that we are encouraged together by each other's faith. We're mutually encouraged by seeing Christ in each other.

What a blessing it is to have fellowship that is mutually encouraging! When you hear from someone who is following Christ and taking steps to make him known, it encourages your faith. As brothers and sisters in Christ one of the best things that we can do for our faith is share stories of how God is working.

Hebrews 3:13 tells us to "... encourage one another daily... so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (emphasis mine)

When we have true fellowship with other believers (not just hanging out, but relationships that reflect the character of God) we are encouraged! And we encourage others, which the Bible says will guard our hearts from being deceived by sin.

I am so thankful for the encouragement Cassie brought me today. Without even knowing, she blessed me so much. At a time when life (support raising) was difficult, God brought sweet, silly, spunky Cassie to me to encourage me and build me up. What a generous and gracious God!

Oh Lord thank you so much for Cassie. Thank you for bringing her into my life and for raising her up in to the woman of God that you desire. Thank you for enabling us to have fellowship and encouragement even though we are so far away. God, I pray you will continue to use Cassie to glorify Yourself. What an honor and privilege we have to serve a mighty God such as you.

I am friends with a famous person! (Alternately: A really great Bible Study)

2011-09-13T20:08:00.000-06:00

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" Proverbs 13:20

Friends, let me tell you how seriously blessed I am! I have the great privilege of learning from a truly truly wise woman on a regular basis. Seriously, Laura Krokos is one amazing woman! I could probably tell you 8,000 stories about her kindness, generosity, boldness, bravery, heart for the lost, compassion, or how stinkin funny she is, but it would take me years.

But I really want to tell you all about one of the best things about her! Her wisdom.

Wisdom isn't the same as knowledge (knowing the right thing). It's knowing the right thing, and how to use and apply it.

If you sat down with Laura for any length of time you might hear her say that she has an awful memory. But Laura knows more scripture than anyone I've ever met. She has whole books memorized and is constantly memorizing new verses. But she doesn't just keep them up in her head, she uses them! She encourages and teaches others with them.

Okay and another thing, Laura is the queen of tools and diagrams. I literally have tons of diagrams, pictures, and explanations of things from discipleship appointments with Laura over the years. She has this huge bank of knowledge of how to explain everything from living a Spirit-filled life to how to be most effective accomplishing the task that God has given us. She has tools on everything! Seriously.

But what makes it so amazing is that Laura has the wisdom to use the right tool at the right time.

I probably (most likely) would not be who I am or where I am without the guidance, love, and support of Laura.

Do you want to know one of the very coolest things about Laura?

SHE WROTE A BOOK!

Seriously! How cool is that? One of my dearest friends is a published author! It's like I'm friends with a famous person! Hahaha :)

But really, the best part about this? It means that you can benefit from all her amazing wisdom too! Laura wrote one of my favorite Bible studies called Beholding Him Becoming Missional.

Every time I pull it out, I feel like I'm sitting down and having coffee with Laura. It's a "come along and let's do life together" Bible study which makes it so welcoming. If you like Beth Moore (I love her and sort of wish she was my mom) then you'll love this study too. It's a 12 week study that has different challenges and stories each day. I know a bunch of womens small groups have gone through it and I'm hoping to go through it with some awesome girls next semester! :)

As Laura walks through First Samuel, you get to see and understand the text, (Laura was one of the first people that demystified the Old Testament for me!) and then see how it applies to your life.

It's rare that a study combines learning and application so well.

But I think my very favorite part of the study is all the cool stories that Laura tells. Stories of God's power and faithfulness. You can sneak peak at one of my favorites on her blog here.

I think one of the coolest things about living right now is we have the ability to learn from wise people when we're nowhere near them. We have blogs and the internet, books and e-readers, sermons, podcasts, etc. It is truly amazing! Which means that YOU can walk alongside Laura too!

You can have the privilege, just as I have had, to learn from such a wise woman of God! You can read her blog Beholding Glory and buy her Bible study Beholding Him, Becoming Missional: Awakening to the mission through the study of First Samuel here or here.

Remember how I was saying how generous Laura is? All the proceeds she gets from the book (100%!) go to organizations that rescue women from sex trafficking. Laura and I saw the horrors first hand in Cambodia. Laura cares more about honoring God, and having people know Him and His glory, than getting money from the sale. That is seriously impressive to me.

Anyways, I probably don't need to tell you again how much I love Laura but I will. She really is one of the most amazing people I know. I hope that you all will see that too through the incredible Bible study she wrote.

Do you guys have someone like Laura in your life? What's your favorite Bible study?

All my love,
angi

PS I'm linking up with these awesome women!

We Are THAT Family, Walk with Him, Kelly's Korner,

Do you really believe in Me?

2011-09-13T09:56:00.000-06:00

Sometimes there are things I know, and things I know. Head knowledge and heart knowledge. And today I'm trusting God to take something that I know (head knowledge) and turn it into something that I know (heart knowledge).

(Note: I'm processing as I type, so it might be a jumbled mess. Please bear with me. :) )

God has been nudging at me for a while now to repent of something*, to turn from my own actions and follow Him. I've known (head knowledge) for quite sometime to confess and repent but it's taken me a while to really understand. I've tried on my own strength to change. And it's worked for a day or two, but somehow, someway, my old self always creeps back in. On my own, I'm not good enough to change.

I try and fail over and over and over again. And the worst part? I'm discouraged, tired, and ultimately defeated. And sometimes it feels like this thing is so entwined into my being that I can't ever change. And that's where God met me today.

I'm telling God all of these things, and the still small voice of God asks "Do you really think I can change you?"

This wasn't a sarcastic challenge from God. He didn't mean "You're so far gone, there is no way I could possible help". Not at all.

No, it was a challenge to my faith. Do I really believe the God of the universe is powerful enough to change me? Do I really believe that he could lead me into repentance (a true change of heart and actions)?

And the honest answer?

I don't know.

In my head, the answer was "Of course! You're the God of the heavens and the Earth. You set all the stars in place and know them by name! You've healed lepers! You've made the blind see, the mute talk, and the lame walk! Of course you can change me!"

But in my heart... "I don't know God. I don't know if you can change this. It is a part of me and it always has been. I don't know if I can see myself separate from it. I just don't know."

Then I started thinking, I wonder if the lepers that Jesus healed could see themselves with out leprosy. I wonder if the blind men could ever imagine being able to see again. So I looked it up. I went to God's word. And that's where things really started clicking.

I landed in Matthew 9. And there it is like a blaring siren in my face:

"... the blind men came to him [Jesus], and he asked them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?'

'Yes, Lord' they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said 'According to your faith it will be done to you' " [Mt 9:28b-29]

Seriously? The very thing God challenged me with right there in scripture? Jesus had asked the blind men if they really believed He could change them? And then they said yes?

You have got to be kidding me.

But nope, there it was. Jesus asking, the blind men answering, and a tiny little word that means a whole lot: Faith.

It says they were healed according to their faith. They were healed because they truly believed that Jesus, the Son of David (Mt. 1:1; 9:27), the promised Messiah, could make them see again.

"Well duh." I thought. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest. If they didn't believe that Jesus could heal them do you think he would have done it? No way. So if I don't think that God can change me, and help me turn from my sins then is he going to? No way.

Two other things stuck out to me in the passage. The first I hinted at a little earlier, the blind men knew Jesus and his rightful place. They recognized him as Lord. (Mt. 9:27)

Was I giving Jesus his rightful place in my life? Was he Lord over all, or just over everything but this?

Turns out, I wasn't letting Jesus have authority over me. I wasn't trusting him to save me from that sin. As far as this goes, he was no where to be found. Oh Jesus, I need your grace here! I need you to be in control of my whole life, not just parts of it. I need you to be Lord over this. Obviously, I'm doing a sucky job by myself. Please please come in and take control!

The other thing that stuck out to me about the blind men's faith?

Their persistence. They first met and called for him outside but when he doesn't answer them, they follow him inside. They keep asking Jesus to heal them. Jesus commends those who are persistent like the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-31, the friend who constantly knocks in the parable in Luke 11, or the persistent widow in Luke 18.

This road of change, of healing, is not going to be easy. I must persist. I must keep asking God for his grace to help me walk through it. I need to be persistent in prayer and seeking God's help. Not because God forgets or can't change me instantly, but for my own benefit. Because perseverance produces character, and character produces hope (Rom 5:3-4)

I realize that trusting in God to truly change my heart and my attitude will not be easy. It will hurt. But I know my only hope for a true repentance (change in actions and attitude) is Jesus. I must cling to him and his word. Because in the end it will all be worth it, because HE is worth it.

(Sorry this was so long. If you made it all the way through you deserve a cookie or something! I'm thankful for you)
*I'm keeping this silent, not because I'm ashamed or don't want you to know, but because I think we all have a "something" that God is calling us to turn from. If you're reading this and a certain "something" keeps coming to your mind, it might be your "something".

Thanks for listening as I verbally (typingly?...) process. I truly value you.

All my love,
angi

Expiration Dates

2011-09-06T16:41:00.001-06:00

As the weather has begun to cool down everything in me wants pumpkin. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice lattes, if there is pumpkin in it you can bet I'm craving it. So I adventurously decided to make some homemade pumpkin spice syrup for coffee (oh it's good. I used this recipe). I pull out one of my 4 cans of pumpkin leftover from last year (since I'm sort of a hoarder) and flip it over only to see this:

If you can't read that it says "BEST BY APR 2009".

Yep April of 2009. That's over two years ago that this pumpkin expired. Seriously, who keeps a can pumpkin for two years after it expires? Another can that I'm pretty sure I bought last year expires in 2013. So that I means I probably bought this dang pumpkin in 2006.

I have had this can of wonderful delicious pumpkin for 5 years and up until yesterday didn't use it!

yes I still used it... it smelled fine and I didn't want to waste it after I've held onto it for this long! :)

In the 5 years that I've had this dear can of pumpkin, I've moved twice and I know for a fact that I've baked pumpkin bread at least 10 times (twice a year). So why the heck haven't I used this can?

I honestly can't tell you (apart from bad can rotation on my part. lol). But I've found other stuff like this. A bottle of really awesome soap from a couple Christmases ago that I wanted to save for something "special". And a jar of really nice and expensive salt that I've probably had longer than the pumpkin but looks barely used.

What ever I'm cooking with the salt just never seems "special enough" to use my prized salt. (I know that sounds silly, but seriously if you tasted this salt it would change your life!) But then again, if I never use my salt, or soap, or can of pumpkin it will just sit on my self for years (literally) wasted. It's money wasted, self space wasted and in the case of my yummy salt, joy and taste wasted.

I think we have a tendency to do this in our spiritual lives too. We hoard things (gifts, time, talent, money, skills, etc) waiting for "just the right time" to use them. We think "Oh, I'll just keep putting my 10% into this little fund and it will grow and someday I can bless an organization with a million dollars!"

Initially this seems like a great idea, I mean who wouldn't want to mail a HUGE check off to your favorite organization? Heck, what organization wouldn't want to receive a HUGE check? How fun would it be to drop a load of 100's in the offering plate at church or stick them in the cookie jar of someone who really needs the help?

It would be AWESOME! And God would totally use that huge check and stack of 100's. But don't you think that God can also use a five dollar bill?

Think of the woman in Mark 12, she only gave two pennies but Jesus praised her!

"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she gave out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on"

When we "store up" our treasures in our banks and coffee cans and under our mattresses we're not giving God all we have. We're not being faithful with what God has given us. And when we begin to think that God can't use our small gift as much as He could use a big gift we strip God of all HIS power and put Him into a box of what we think that He can do. That is idolatry, not thinking of God as He truly is.

Plus, it's not stamped on the bottom of our feet, but we all have expiration dates too. And since no one knows the day or hour when Christ will return, we could end up with a bank account full of money that we "planned" on using for God's glory but never got around to it. I highly doubt that we'll get to heaven and be face to face with Jesus and he'll tell us "You know, I really think you should have kept more money."

So hurry up and use your time, treasures, and talents for God before you end up like my sad little 5 year old can of pumpkin!!

Amazing Love how can it be?

2011-08-26T00:25:00.000-06:00

Oh God your love for us is unbelievable!! Lavish, radical, unchanging, and unending.

The coolest thing about being in God's word (and world for that matter) is seeing His character revealed. And oh man, He has been showing me stuff right and left in Colossians 1.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:13-14)

1. God rescues us.

So here we are living in the dominion of darkness, living in a place where Satan is ruling, living in death because of our sin. And then God in all his love reaches down into the pit of darkness to rescue us, to save us. Jesus risked his own perfection and willingly came down to live on earth (the dominion of darkness) just so that he could rescue us. He did that you he could rescue you. He is our Rescuer and Savior

2. God transfers us.

When Jesus rescued us by his blood on the cross, He didn't just leave us stranded. He brought us into the kingdom of light. The word here is translated brought, but a much better translation is transferred. The word was historically used to describe the deportation of a population from one country to another, specifically in wars. Jesus is taking us from one country (death and darkness-Earth) to another (light and love-Heaven). It literally means a change of situation or place.

Jesus reached down into the depths of darkness to change our situations. To rescue us and bring us into a better place, a place of light and love. The verse says we're brought into the "kingdom of the Son he loves." You and I can know without a doubt, if we allow Jesus to rescue us, that where we're going (Heaven) is full of light and love.

3. God redeems us.

In Jesus we have redemption. We posses it, it belongs to us. So what is redemption? (Besides one of those church words that people throw around.) It literally means "a releasing effected by the payment of a ransom" or "liberation procured by payment of a ransom". It means freedom.

It doesn't mean that Satan was holding us ransom and Jesus came in and gave him 3 million dollars or anything like that, but rather that Jesus met the holy demands of God's law and still took the punishment that we deserve by hanging on the cross. The ransom he paid was to himself. He poured out his own wrath onto himself therefore paying the penalty of death that we all owe because of sin. Because of this we become a whole new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).

Through the cross we are FREE and redeemed.

4. God forgives us.

Redemption and forgiveness go hand in hand. The Greek word for forgiveness (aphesis) means the cancellation of a debt owed, as if it never even happened; a release from bondage or imprisonment. On the cross Jesus cancelled every debt we owed (and will ever owe) so that we will never again be enslaved.

Forgiveness, past and future, is not a license to continue sinning but rather an encouragement for obedience. Confession of our sins and forgiveness allow for fellowship with God since sin is what separates us from God in the first place (Rom 3:23; Isa 59:2). We can really only appreciate fellowship with God if we understand forgiveness. And when we're walking in fellowship with God, we're able to better seek His will for our life and understand the glory of His character. (There is a great video on walking in fellowship with God here and more resources here)

Oh Jesus you are so good to us!

He just keeps heaping grace on top of grace onto us. Not only did Jesus reach down into the dominion of darkness, but he desires to bring us into his kingdom and change our situations. He came into Satan's territory to rescue us, to rescue you and to rescue me. And then on top of that, he forgives us as if we never committed any wrong and redeems us, liberating us from our enslavement.

It reminds me of one of those infomercials. You know the kind.

"You get these awesome chefs knives and a special garlic crusher, and an orange peeler. And wait! You also get this handy jar opener, and it's all for the low low price of $19.99!!!! Buy now!!!!" Except here's the catch with Jesus...,

There is no catch. Seriously. You get it all for free. You get the rescuing, the transferring, the redeeming, and the forgiving all for the low low low price of nothing. That my friends is grace. Getting something we surely don't deserve for absolutely nothing. We give nothing and get Jesus. We get all his amazing love and grace if we just let him into our lives. If we allow him to rescue us.

Oh Jesus how can you possibly love us that much? How can you love us enough to die on a cross? To rescue us? We surely don't deserve the grace, forgiveness and redemption you give us, and yet you still give it to us. You still give it to us abundantly and lavishly. You are beyond good.

I'm linked up here:

Oh hey! (Life updates)

2011-08-25T14:45:00.000-06:00

Oh my little blog how I've neglected you! Life has been so so busy since being back from Cambodia! Being thrown right into raising support to do full time ministry (YAY!!) and settling into my new apartment.

Cambodia was AWESOME. Like seriously I can not say enough good things about that country. I am head over heels in love with those people over there. I saw HOPE over there in a way that I did not think possible. True hope that only comes from Jesus.

Even though it was emotional and I initially didn't even really want to go (how God changed my heart) it was one of the very best experiences of my whole life. The very best part was truly seeing the restoration and transformation that could really only come from Jesus.

Here's just a glimpse of what we did there:

And oh man, I can't even tell you how much I love those people. I love seeing God working in their lives. I wish I could take each and every one of you out to coffee and tell you ALL about it! :)

But other than that, I've jumped head first into raising support to be on campus full time! I talked a little about it here if you want to know more about how I ended up doing ministry full time. It has been so fun but such a huge challenge to trust God with providing for me. But in the end I just keep learning about His grace! If you or anyone you know, want to hear more about what full time campus ministry looks like or how you can be involved financially just send me an email and I would LOVE to tell you more about it! (Telling people about what God is doing on campus is one of my very favorite things!)

I have put blogging back into my schedule (how did it fall away in the first place??) so you can expect me a lot more!

I can't not say.

2011-07-17T17:39:00.000-06:00

With every fiber of my being I wish I didn't have to write this. I wish it weren't true. I wish I didn't see and experience it. But it is true. It did happen. And so I must say something.

God has been breaking my heart for these girls caught in the sex trade in Cambodia for a while now. The more I learn the more my heart weeps. Yesterday on facebook I shared a statistic that Don Brewster, the founder of Agape Restoration Center, shared with us:

In the Karaoke bars in Siam Reap, Cambodia you will literally find thousands of girls that can be purchased. Of course it comes with a cost. A beer - about $5. A bunch of grapes - about $4. An hour molesting a girl (anything but sex- petting, groping, kissing, exposing yourself, and a number of other forms of sexual abuse) costs a mere $3 USD.

These girls (90% under 16, some as young as 6 or 7) are encouraged by their security guards to be more forceful so they will get the men to actually by sex. That's where the money comes from.

Latest estimates of the sex trafficking say that it brings a revenue of $32 million dollars annually. Which is more than the revenues of Google and Starbucks combined.

And up until yesterday, these had all been very sad statistics. I started crying when I heard an hour with a girl was less than a beer. I knew I had to act when I heard that there were more slaves in the world today than when slavery was legal. But up until yesterday afternoon they were only stats.

Yesterday afternoon, I saw the face of the sex trade. I looked into the eyes of a depraved man caught with a young girl. These things are no longer just statistics to me. But I have seen the face of a young girl who in one way or another was enslaved. Trapped, either by a pimp or her family and forced to have sex. We saw the injustice happening right in front of our very eyes and had to confront it. So we did. My heart was racing, I was physically shaking and nearly in tears. Unfortunately there was nothing we could have done to rescue that girl that very moment. So the second the elevator doors closed to take us to meet our team I just started weeping.

This is a sad story, but I can't NOT share it.

God's heart breaks for those girls and even that man more than mine ever could. Seeing just a glimpse of the character of God makes every tear worth it..

HERE!!

2011-07-14T18:28:00.000-06:00

So we made it!! All 13 of us and our luggage made it safe and sound to Phnom Penh, Cambodia!

Source

But the one thing that people kept asking us on the plane was "Are you excited?"

Well... no. Not really.

Maybe people are at a loss for words when you tell them you're working with women rescued from the sex trade. Or maybe it's like "how are you?" an expected question when you tell someone you're going out of the country.

But the truth is, I'm not really excited about what I'm going to see. I'm not really all that excited about looking into the eyes of a twelve year old girl who has had her childhood and innocence ripped away. I'm not excited about facing the reality that most of the people I talk to in Phnom Penh are affected by sex trafficking.

But the thing I am excited for? God.

Seeing Him work in the lives of people. Seeing Him reveal His heart to us. Seeing God restore and redeem all the hurt and pain and suffering.

A passage we read as a group yesterday was Jeremiah 32-33:16. It's uncanny how similar it is to what is happening here in Cambodia. The one thing that encouraged me the most and that I can cling to is the entirety of God's redemption. God's promise to Jerusalem in Jer 33:6-9:

'Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.

The hope that God gave Israel is the same hope that He gave you and I. And the same hope that we want to bring to the people of Cambodia. Hope of healing and peace. Hope of forgiveness and restoration.

The hope of Jesus Christ.

How I read the Old Testament

2011-06-29T10:02:00.000-06:00

I think a lot of times people get bogged down in the history of the Old Testament. And lets face it, it can be crazy confusing at times! So I'm gonna share a helpful way that I read the Old Testament.

1. Pick a book

Don't just randomly open the Bible and start reading. This is no way to get into God's word. Our God is a God of order. There's a reason that he put the books and chapters in a specific order. Plus when you read the entire book and not just random sections you get to see a bigger picture of God. Now who doesn't want that?

I'm reading Exodus right now, but Judges and Joshua are my favorites!

2. Read a chapter or two.

As you read, mark down things that jump out at you or things that are confusing.

3. Summarize or Paraphrase what you just read.

This helps me really understand what I just read. Often times in order to summarize things I have to read it 2 or 3 times in order to really understand it. Don't worry if you have to also!

4. Look up what you read.

Of the verses that stuck out to you, pick a few things and look them up in a commentary or background guide. Or look up the words in a Bible dictionary or lexicon.

Hear me out, this doesn't mean that you have to go out and spend $50,000 on a collection of books that make you look like a recent seminary grad. If you have an extra fifty grand laying around and want to then by all means! Go for it! (And send me a few books while your at it!) But if you're like me and live on a limited budget that doesn't include a $700 commentary on a single book of the Bible, there are TONS of great free resources online!

My very favorite Bible tool is BibleStudyTools.com

What's great about it is that you can create an account for free and save notes and things you've "marked" in your online Bible. There's tons of different versions and you can see the words in original Greek or Hebrew. If you don't use this, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you start. It's so great. (PS they don't know me, I just really love them!)

If you can afford a commentary, or just want one in a book form, I have the Wiersbe Commentary. You can buy it here.

5. Find principles that are true

Now look for some principles that stick out to you which are universal. Things like God's character, our sin, eternity, money, relationships, etc. One of my observations from Joshua 22 came from verse 20. "When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin"

A principle that God showed me was that my sin affects others.

6. Process what you read

Talk to God about what you read. Ask Him why He brought those principles to your mind. What is true about God and mankind from what you read? What would you be thinking or feeling if you were there?

7. Apply what you read

How does what you read and the principles you saw relate to your day-to-day life? How do the principles you saw affect you on a Thursday at 2pm? How can you respond with an action step to what you read? What is a goal you can set or something you can trust God for based on what you read?

This is how I read the Old Testament. Especially the history books like Judges, Joshua, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, etc. Someday I'll blog about how I read the New Testament (it's mostly the same but there are a few differences!)

So this is what works for me! I'm linking it up here at We Are That Family

Well I guess it says 'nations'....

2011-06-21T13:16:00.000-06:00

When Laura and I first started thinking about taking some girls overseas this summer I was anxious to say the least. Even though I've traveled a ton, I've never served overseas. I was not super excited and started selfishly looking for reasons I couldn't go.

I have to raise support, I want to go to Crush Fear, I'm not capable of leading, my heart is for college students not those in sex trafficking, I don't want to go to Asia

Some of these were valid, but most were just excuses. I started justifying the lies in my head verbally to others.

Well I want to go, but it just doesn't seem like I should with everything going on. I think I should focus on what God has called me to do (with college students) and just focus on support raising.

How crazy is that?!?! Here's what I was really saying to others:

Well I know God tells us to go to all the world but I don't really want to go to Asia so I'll focus on something else.

So then I started bringing it to God (why I didn't do that before... I don't know!) and He started convicting me of my heart towards the world.

Therefore go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS...

Is Cambodia a nation?

Well yeah...

So should you go?

Well yeah...

So then why are you making excuses?

I don't know! Okay, I'll go!

So in the beginning stages, I was going but was not at all excited. I had no desire to go to Asia at all and was nervous and insecure about leading a trip. But as I began to obey God in His command to go to the world, He began to change my heart. I started to learn more about the organization we're going with and the desperate need for people to go. I heard Laura talk about girls like Elizabeth and God began to break my heart. God began to show me His heart through His wonderful word. I was genuinely excited about how God was leading us!

As God convicted me of my disobedience and I repented (a 180 degree turn from my way to God's way) He began to actually give me a heart to love these women and a desire to go. When you and I become obedient to God's will we begin to get God's heart.

Thank you God for leading me into obedience. Thank you for showing me your heart for the broken and the captives. Thank you for leading Laura and I to Agape so that we might glorify you. Please use Your Word to comfort those enslaved by the sex trade and use us to love them as you would. Please continue to bring in all the support for the girls going and use in to accomplish your perfect will in Cambodia

Future Plans

2011-06-20T13:13:00.000-06:00

I can't tell you all how much God has blessed me by doing college ministry this past year. I've got to see people come to know Jesus personally, take huge steps of faith, devote their time, talent and treasure to serve the Lord and see God provide for me in tons of ways.

I can't begin to explain the joy I have in doing ministry. I get giddy just thinking about the fact that I get to do this for as long as God has planned!! A few weeks ago at our Crush Fear summer project (read about it here and here) I had my official interview to join full time staff with Master Plan Ministries and I was accepted! This was a serious answer to my prayers begging God to let me serve Him in this way.

For months now, one of my biggest prayers was to be able to serve God full time with Master Plan. I remember begging God

"Oh please God, just let me do ministry. There is nothing I want more right now than to do ministry full time. Please Lord. If this doesn't happen, I know it'll be okay but You're going to have to pick up the pieces of my broken heart. There's nothing I want more God."

God tells us in his word, that if we ask according to his will it will be given to us. And oh, how He is faithful! He answered my prayers just as He promised. And not only that, the prayer He answered gives Him so much glory and gives me so much joy! How could anything be better?!

Like I said earlier, it's hard to explain the joy that one gets from serving God full time. I just smile thinking about it! The only way to share all the things I'm thankful for is a list! I'm linking it up with A Holy Experience

I'm thankful for:

Getting to talk about Jesus whenever I want!!!!
Hanging out with awesome college students all the time
Going to CAMBODIA this summer!
All my amazing supporters and their faithfulness
Having a front row seat to seeing God come through in student's lives (and my own!)
Seeing students like Aaron and Korina get married and devote their lives to serving God
The stinkin awesome staff that I work with in Denver (check out Laura's blog!)
The joy I get from just walking on campus
Getting to serve in the same ministry that brought me to Christ
The freedom that comes in college ministry (something I wanted in a job even before I walked with Christ!)

Man, God is so good. I can't believe I get to serve Him!! I'm now on the awesome journey of trusting God to bring in the financial support for my future ministry. I am so so excited about raising support for full time college ministry! God taught me so much about Himself last year, I know He'll show me so much more this year too! I would love your prayers! If you would like to know more about what I do in ministry or how you could be financially involved you can check out my Donate tab or email me at angipratt@hotmail.com. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on how God is working!

angi :)

Are you sure?

2011-05-16T08:32:00.000-06:00

In Exodus 4, God tells Moses to go to the Pharaoh and ask for release for his people. So off go Moses and Aaron to see the Pharaoh in Exodus 5. They ask Pharaoh just like God told them, and just like God told them the Pharaoh says no. But then something happens that God didn't warn Moses and Aaron of, their people get punished. Made to work long and hard gathering straw to make bricks. The Hebrew foreman are even beaten when the quota is not met.

It's not long before Moses starts to receive some flack for talking to the Pharaoh in the first place. A foreman approaches him and says "May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us" Ouch. Those are fightin' words as my grandma would say. It seemed to Moses like this couldn't have really been what God meant for his people.

Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.

Sounds like one of my temper-tantrums. Here's how it would have gone down if I were Moses:

So God, this surely couldn't have been what you meant to happen. You obviously don't see these people down here and they're suffering. How could you have intended for us to suffer? All I did was do what you told me and now it feels like you're punishing me. The worst part? You're not even helping! You got us into this mess, why haven't you rescued us?

Moses did exactly as God told him, yet he found himself questioning God and questioning his calling. Yet, God is so patient with him. "You'll soon see my plans unfolding." He comforts, "This is exactly what I planned for. This is happening so that all will know I am God, the Lord of the whole universe. It will be obvious I rescued you and your people" (the Angi paraphrase of Ex 6:1-2)

God knows we don't always understand His ways or the plans He has laid before us. He is patient in our times of doubt and discouragement. Yet, just as Moses sought God in his doubt, we must also respond to doubt by seeking God and continuing to do what He's called us to do.

This reminds me of a story from one of my favorite teachers- Lee Strobel in one of my favorite books The Unexpected Adventure. The story starts with Lee Strobel feeling the Spirit leading him to share the gospel with a man at his work. He obeys and excitedly shares all about Jesus with this man only to be cruelly shot down. "But God," he thought "I know you were leading me there. I was so sure that was what you wanted. Why didn't he put his faith in you?" Discouraged, Lee continued on in his walk with Christ.

Years and years later, as a pastor of a church, a man came up to him and thanked him for bringing him to Christ. "Oh no..." Lee thought. "I've never met this man in my life. How do I not remember sharing the gospel with him?" Confused, Lee asked the man to explain. "Years ago, you shared the gospel with a man at work. He was super rude and shot you down. You didn't know then, but I was just out of sight fixing the tile on the floor. I heard everything you said and surrendered my life to Christ right then. Since that day, I've gotten my life together and attend church regularly with my family" Lee was stunned.

Sometimes we don't see what God is doing. But just like Lee Strobel and Moses, we must not let our uncertainty stop us from doing what God has called us to do.

I'm linking up with Laura for Reflection Sonday

This time last year...

2011-05-14T08:20:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my dad a couple weeks ago about how I was anticipating the end of the year. He looked at me funny and simply said "It's only May...?"

I think for the rest of my life, I'll always be on the 'school' schedule. Start of the year is August and May is the end of the year. That's just one of the greatest parts about doing college ministry.

But really, I can't believe this year is already over. I'm so thankful to God how much he has grown me this year. I'm getting ready to take a big step in my ministry- applying for a full time staff position. It is so so so exciting! This time last year I was just trying to figure out if doing the internship was right for me. How cool God is :)

I thought it would be fun to remember where I was at one year ago. Here's an excerpt from my journal entry from last year:

"I met with Kelsey yesterday, and she is going to be my first supporter! PRAISE GOD!...My prayer is that I will continue to persevere with courage and boldness, that I will continue to walk by faith and constantly be trusting God. I walso pray that the Spirit will be guiding me and I'll display the fruits of the Spirit and not the desires of my own self. ... My job description is simply the Great Commission! How awesome! But in order for the light of Jesus to shine through, I must be less so that He can be more."

(The only thing your missing is my nearly illegible handwriting and the countless cups of coffee I have in the morning)

Where were you one year ago?

He is Risen!

2011-04-24T07:31:00.000-06:00

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

The grave is empty. Christ has risen just as he said.

Rejoice! He is risen indeed!

Reflections the night before Easter

2011-04-23T22:28:00.000-06:00

Tonight symbolizes the last night of waiting.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Risen King.

But tonight we are waiting, hoping, praying.

We wait in quietness and stillness.

Here is a peek into my heart tonight:

so i sit here waiting
   waiting for your return
praying oh God to see
   to see you draw lost sheep like me

i sit here waiting
   in the midst of shattered lives
Jesus, we don't understand
   please give us a glimpse of your sovereign hand

so i sit here waiting
   waiting for your return
YOU are risen indeed
   but when will you come back for me?

i sit here waiting
   my heart knows you full well
Lord, i long to see you
   o please, dear Jesus, come back soon.

The Sweetest Death Ever Died

2011-04-22T12:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of hanging out on campus for our Spring Fling. Every spring all the student organizations gather and set up table to tell people what they're all about.

We used the Soularium and the Perspectives cards to get into spiritual conversations with people. This is one of my favorite things to do on campus (I'm noticing I say that about a lot of things. Truth is that I just really really love my job!!) because you get to have conversations with students that you wouldn't normally reach.

At one point in the day I was talking with Sam and Brian. Sam is a student that sits with us everyday during lunch and gets to hear the gospel many times through out the week, yet has not surrendered his life. Brian came over to check out the pictures and try our survey.

The three of us bantered back and forth talking about relativism, absolute truth, morality, and the deity of Jesus. While I enjoy conversations like this, many times the students (especially Brian) are just looking for an argument, so I try to avoid them if I can. But since it was fairly slow we had a chance to chat.

At one point, when talking about the deity of Jesus, Brian asked me what the point even was. Why did Jesus have to die for our sins anyways?

After I explained our sin-nature and the wrath of God, I mentioned Mark 10:45:

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"

"Wait wait wait..." Brian stops me, "The whole point of Jesus' life was to die?"

"Yes Brian" I explained the gospel some more.

Thank you Lord Jesus, for dying the sweetest death ever died. For thinking of me in your moment of agony on the cross. Help me die to my own flesh today and every day. Thank you for the cross. I love you.

Taking action

2011-04-18T10:34:00.001-06:00

One of the greatest parts about my job (if you can even call it that!) is hanging out with a bunch of awesome college students every week at our weekly meeting. We have a live worship band, a sweet talk, and lots of fun time to just hang out.

Amber, Me, and Jessica at our weekly meeting

Last week, I gave a talk about taking action on injustice with interactive stations where the students could actually do something! The idea came from one of our students after being a part of Passion 2011 and seeing the Do Something Now Center.

God's word is so clear on how we should act towards injustices. He clearly tells us to do something!....

Continue reading over at Eternity Impact...

Glory in Death?

2011-03-26T22:24:00.000-06:00

The other day, a friend and I were discussing how the old and new testaments relate to each other. Specifically dealing with the law and how it should be understood with grace. Which is so awesome because I've been reading 2 Corinthians lately and Paul addresses this very issue in chapter 3! I love when God does stuff like that!

In 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, Paul discusses the glory of the new covenant of grace.

7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

We know that through the law, we are aware of our sin and death (Rom 3:20) and that through grace we have eternal life (Rom 5:17;20-21). So then Paul argues if there is glory in what brought us death, how much more glory is there in what brings us life!

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul describes some of the deficiencies of the Law:

The law cannot justify the lost (2:16)
The law cannot give a sinner righteousness (2:21)
The law cannot give the Holy Spirit (3:2)
The law cannot give an inheritance (3:18)
The law cannot give life (3:21)
The law cannot give freedom (4:8-10)

Grace is what its all about people! I love the picture of grace Paul paints in Ephesians 2:4-5 "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you are saved". Through the law we are dead but through grace we are alive! The glory of the law is to show us our death and separation from God and our desperate need for a Savior.

The glory of the "ministry that brings death" is that it continues to show us our need for Jesus.

Jesus, we need you more than we need air. Thank you Father for giving us the law and showing us our death apart from you. Most of all we thank you for grace. Jesus, thank you for the cross and the grace that you give us. Help us to walk daily in your grace. We need you more and more every day.

Why I love NASCAR

2011-02-20T20:30:00.001-07:00

source

Trevor Bayne, who turned 20 yesterday, became the youngest ever winner of the Daytona 500. One of his first reactions was to thank God for his race and his team. When asked what he's going to do with the prize money (expected to be over 500,000 dollars!) he told ESPN and all of the world that he was going to give it away to his friends who are missionaries in Mexico working with an organization called Back 2 Back that serves orphans!

How cool is that?! And what makes it even cooler, the guy he beat (Carl Edwards, who's also a believer) did nothing but honor and uplift Bayne in the interviews following the race. Instead of being bitter or angry, he honored him and again mentioned B2B ministries and how the served many in Mexico. I can not think of a better example of seeing God's character and the brotherly love of Christ in action.

UPDATE! Trevor Bayne on I Am Second! Check out here.

Hope you all had a great Sonday! I'm linking up with Laura for Reflection Sonday here

Giving the best part of yourself

2011-02-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

While I was reading my friend Laura's post about Abraham and how he was so eager to serve God he ran to obey God, (seriously a 99 year old man running!) all I could think about was that he was giving God the best of himself. Even though he was tired and probably had other things to do, he still served God!

This reminds me of what some of our students did this past Saturday night. Seven amazing college students used their Saturday night (a prime time when you're 18-25!) to serve the Lord! Three of these students formed an evangelism team to help share the Gospel on and around our campus. For this month's evangelistic outreach they planned to take some coats they had gathered and pass them out along with Knowing God Personally booklets (see a video how to use them here and buy them here) and PB&J sandwiches to the homeless population around downtown Denver.

I just can't believe how they would be so quick to give up a Saturday night (it was even one girl's birthday!) to serve others and serve the Lord. Talk about giving the best of themselves to serve God! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to get a picture, but here is a picture from a different outreach we did this past semester:

We were going through the dorms and collecting trash while sharing the Gospel! It was fun to say the least!

My friend Nate has an awesome blog where he shares all kinds of ideas on how to share the Gospel and get into spiritual conversations. It's called Eternity Impact and you should definitely check it out!!

The mysterious man with a sword

2011-02-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

In Joshua 5:13-15, Joshua is just hanging out on his way to Jericho (where the Lord promised the Israelites land) when he looks up and sees a man holding a sword. My first reaction would be "Who the heck are you and where did you come from?!" I imagine most of your reactions would be similar and so was Joshua's. He directly asks this mysterious man "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

(I know this is Zorro, but it's all I could find...) source

Now I could go on for a few paragraphs of why that's a sweet question to show Joshua's leadership and character, I really want to get to the mysterious man's answer! The mysterious sword yielding man says:

"Neither, but rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD"

...

What?!? You, this mysterious, sword-holding man, are telling me you came as the captain of the Lord's army? You've got to be kidding me. Get outta here you crazy head.

(Note, this is what I imagine my reaction would be. Good thing Joshua's is better)

Seriously. Good thing Joshua's is better. He fell on his face in reverence! He knew this was the Lord! And this is the most exciting part, it is highly likely this passage is talking about Jesus!

(source)

JESUS! Isn't that so stinkin cool?!

And Joshua immediately asks how he can serve him. What a great example! Jesus responds by telling Joshua to take off his sandals because he is standing in a holy place (really, it's holy because Jesus is there). Joshua immediately obeys and removes his sandals.

I love this passage so much because it is a reminder that we really are playing second fiddle to a much bigger and better God. No matter whether we are working a 9-5 job or tasked with leading the nation of Israel like Joshua, God is, and always will be, the ultimate commander. Let me tell you, this takes a lot of pressure off of my own life! When I'm yielding my life to God and living in surrender to Him, it's so freeing knowing I'm not the one calling all the shots. I have someone to fall back on and someone who is way way way smarter than me leading me to do what is best.

I imagine Joshua felt the same reassurance when Jesus came. He knew that God would fulfill his promises and knew to obey God. I really admire how quick Joshua was to recognize and obey the Lord. He didn't waste one second of his precious time with the Lord of the Universe, but purely worshiped Him, served Him, and obeyed Him. He took God's word to heart and obeyed it. Joshua is trusting in God's word (Joshua 1) to guide him as the leader of the Israelites.

Oh Lord, let us be so quick to recognize you in our own lives. Give us faith like Joshua to be quick to see your presence in our lives so that you might get the glory. Let us worship your Word and obey it. God thank you for being the commander and captain of our lives. Thank you for giving us freedom by trusting in you and your name. Jesus you are so good to us.

Imitators

2011-02-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today while I was meeting with Laura, my mentor and friend, we were talking about spiritual multiplication that has been happening around us. One of my greatest joys in doing college ministry is having front row seats to what God is doing in other people's lives.

When I first started doing ministry (as a student, before doing it full time) I had the opportunity to meet with Amber. The growth I have seen in her is just incredible. She got involved through a Bible study at the dorms. One of her friends invited her and she started attending on a regular basis. The first time I met Amber was after she came to our large weekly meeting and I borrowed her computer to run sound! Even then she was so generous!

She is now leading that same Bible study that she attended over a year ago. What is the coolest about that study is that it has been led by 7 different women over the course of 4 years with each woman training the next on how to lead it!

This is exactly what Paul is talking (and bragging) about in his first letter to the Thessalonians!

"You became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1:6)

The people we work closely with will begin to imitate us and will replicate the things that we do. Paul reminds us (as leaders) to be above reproach, faithful, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. (1 Tim 3:2-3)

I'm so thankful for the women who poured into my life and encouraged me. I'm thankful that they were Godly women and taught me to walk with Jesus.

Do you have a mentor? Are you mentoring anyone?

What God is doing!!

2011-01-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

Ever curious if God is moving in the hearts of college students in Denver, CO? Short answer- HE IS! Here are some updates from the fall semester!

Our Wyoming trip was successful! We went to Wind River Reservation and got to share with tons of natives! We held a dinner and gospel presentation for the community and 5 people heard the Good News of Jesus Christ for the first time! We are excited for the partnerships we made and hope God will lead us there again in the future!
We saw 4 students come into a personal relationship with Christ this semester! Would you continue to pray for J, AH, T and AM to grow in their faith?
Over the semester we held many successful outreaches including:

‘Does God Exist?’ debate where 200+ students attended and heard the gospel
Friday Night Dinners – an open forum for students to ask questions about Christianity. Around 30 students attended every night.
Soularium info tables – we engaged hundreds of students in spiritual conversations and the gospel was presented to many different students
Two retreats with over 50 students attending
Three nights of prayer with over 50 students praying for over 12 hours to see God move in our campus and in the world

Hope God is doing big things in your life as well! Please let me know if there is anyway I can be praying for you! Leave a comment or email me at angipratt@hotmail.com

Prayer Night

2010-12-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

About once a month or so we have a Half Night of Prayer where we gather at someone's house and spend time talking with the Lord. I am always so encouraged by people giving up a Friday or Saturday night to pray!

There were six of us total and we got to pray about our campus, our government, church leaders, and the world. We prayed for our president, the persecuted church, believers on our campus and around the world, and for Jesus to be known by many. We praised God for his Faithfulness, for our salvation, for His character. I love spending intimate time with the Lord along with so many students.

Every time we have a prayer night God shows me something cool. And this time is no surprise. He actually reminded me of a few things that have been weighing on my heart heavily for a while now and encouraged me in them. I'm still processing so I don't want to share yet but I think God is going to do really cool things through it!

Dang, prayer is really awesome!

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:14-16

Hello Blog, how I've missed you!

2010-09-24T09:20:00.004-06:00

Oh my goodness, where did my summer go? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting down in a Starbucks with Laura setting my budget and starting to raise support to do full time ministry. And now, I am almost done! Praise God!

All of my support for this year is committed! I seriously can not even express how exciting this is! God is so faithful in what He calls us to do.

I am so eager to start working on the campus and building relationships with students! My main target area will be the Regency Student Housing. I am not entirely sure when my first "official" day on campus will be (I am still waiting on a few checks to come in before I can start) but man am I excited.

I do get to go on our awesome retreat this weekend, which I am beyond thrilled about! The coolest things happen at retreats. I think about numerous different students (myself included) who have had their first quiet time alone in God's word at retreats. I think about Z, who told me at the end of our last retreat "This changed my life, I really needed to put God on the throne of my life". I think about T, and the first time she came on a retreat with us she told me "God hates me, there is no way he could love someone like me". One of her recent facebook statuses was "Grace. My favorite word. Simply Beautiful"!! God changes lives at retreats!

I am so excited to be a part of what God is already doing on Auraria campus and in the lives of students there!

Would you guys please pray with me?

Pray that the rest of my support checks come in soon so I can start working on the campus full time
Pray for the Regency. That God will be preparing hearts and minds to receive Him and will raise up laborers for His Kingdom
Pray for the Retreat this weekend. That God will move in student's lives and they will grow closer to Him. Pray that our conversations will be full of God's grace and salt and will cause people to draw nearer to Him (Col 4:2-6)

Be careful what you wish for!

2010-08-18T10:58:00.003-06:00

About a month or so ago, I was volunteering at Heaven Fest and camping out with some friends and students. I had my car next to our campsite but left it unlocked on the day of the festival. My friend Hannah was so concerned for my car and the stuff I had in it. She was worried someone would steal it or break in or something. But after reading the Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn I had a real different view on money and material things. I told Hannah that if someone really needed it that bad they could have it, it would be one less thing to distract me from my relationship with God.

Fast forward to last night, I went over to my friend Kaylee's house to get in some quality work out time and hang out. I ended up staying the night over there so we could wake up and get in an early morning work out. We kicked some serious butt, and I was heading home to shower (PS if you want a great workout the Wii Active is sooooo fun!!). I walked out to the street and in a state of near disbelief couldn't find my car. I stood there for a moment dumbfounded and then it clicked. I saw the shattered glass on the side walk, my car was missing, and oh yeah... Kaylee lives in the sketchiest part of Denver. See ya later car!

Through calling the police, my dad and the insurance I was really calm. I just kept thinking about Psalm 89:11-

"The heavens are Yours, and Yours also the earth;

You founded the world and all that is in it"

My car didn't even really belong to me, there is no reason to worry about it. I knew somehow God was using this for his glory. Romans 8:28 promises us that everything works for the good of those who love God.

I was thinking about a friend of mine who grew up in a bad part of Colorado, got involved with a gang and ended up stealing a car. God really used it to impact his life, and not too long after that he surrendered his life to Jesus. He is now working to do full-time ministry and is so sold out for the Lord. I just kept thinking and praying that something amazing will come out of my stolen car too. (I also prayed the would find all the Knowing God Personally packets and copies of the New Testament that I keep in my car just in case!)

Though I'm not sure if I will ever see my Jeep again, I'm sure I will see Jesus again. And Jesus is way more important than a car.

UPDATE: So the crazy/awesome ending to the story- I spoke with the Denver Police (who are awesome!) and turns out they found my car! It was crashed into a ditch and then torched. It literally exploded. I never had the chance to see it as it was being investigated. But oh man is the Lord faithful and wise!

I had been trying to sell another car I had that I had gotten for my 18th birthday for over 6 months. But since it's a classic car (1974 Mustang II) it's kind of a unique market. But the Lord in his infinite wisdom knew I would need it down the road! I am blessed to still have transportation.

He continues to remind me to stand on His word for truth "You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions" Hebrews 10:34

The Lord is good!

AN EVEN NEWER UPDATE: Oh guys the Lord is the best!! I just heard from my wonderful mother that she wants to bless me with a new car. She called me and said "Angi, I think you need a reliable car to do ministry effectively. I want to help you buy one." Oh Lord I'm just blown away! This is so neat to finally (months and months later!) see how the Lord used the whole circumstance for His Glory!

Learning to Love the Process

2010-07-06T20:47:00.000-06:00

Whenever you take a huge step of faith it always puts you in a position to be attacked, especially if you are not clinging to God's promises.

I think I had a real idealized view of what it would look like to raise support for full-time Christian work in the beginning. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that was where God was calling me and so I thought the funds would just fall into my lap. When that didn't happen I started to doubt my calling. I started to give up. I began to believe the lies that Satan was telling me- that I wasn't good enough, that people didn't care about ministry, that I didn't belong there etc. What I realized was happening was that I began to question God's character and heart instead of my own. How crazy is that??

Hebrews 13:8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" God's heart is not going to change. In fact his heart CAN NOT change. See, the problem was definitely in my own heart. I was listening to lies and deceptions instead of the truth from God's word.

When I began realizing all this, I broke down. I spent an hour or so crying in a Chipotle to my support coach. She encouraged me and gave me the tough love I desperately needed. I needed someone to tell me I was listening to lies, to tell me that I needed to put in the work to expect any results and to tell me that she wasn't going to let me give up. I was so beat down by my own fleshly desires to be lazy and not try that I couldn't see the bigger picture. Laura helped me to see that the lessons I was learning were vital to campus ministry. Learning about faith, idolatry, money, trust, work, and holding strong to God's word. All these things are essential to staying strong while doing campus ministry. And this process, this hard, scary, painful, huge process is something I need to go through to learn these lessons. Laura challenged me to learn to love it. To ask the Lord for strength and to show me how to love where I'm at.

Is the process still hard? Yes. Is it still scary? Yes. Do I still get discouraged? Sometimes. But the whole point is that I'm learning, and learning to love it.