Black Hole Times

Dear Friends...Something to cling to amidst adversity. I find immeasurable comfort and peace in the reminder that ultimately we are not our own. As a result of this truth, we are called to an understanding that everything the Lord allows us to undergo has implications much more vast than our own vision for what we are entitled to or believe our lives to entail. This concept then nullifies any notion of what we think is best for us when it's motivated out of our own selfish proclivities. This means that Despite the fact that I've experienced some of the most challenging, lonely, grief inducing longings and loss during the past two years...I am HIS and I will cling desperately to him even when admittedly I don't find that it comes even close to easy. BECAUSE...Long suffering produces the opportunity to honestly and truthfully put our faith to the test. God is looking for us to endure and thrive through him and because of him, trusting in HIS ways and HIS plans for our lives. This is a difficult process, a painful gut wrenching process at times. When Jesus talks about taking up our cross to follow him, it is the experience of dying to ourselves. Recently I've felt like my heart has been ripped open and out of it has gushed all sorts of emotions and feelings that have left me feeling like I'm dying inside. I suspect that this is exactly what I'm supposed to be feeling, yet I plead for him to take it away. God is merciful and kind, but will not spare us from his refining fire. I keep telling myself that this is good for me and good for others...even when I don't buy it because I can't always trust my feelings. So trust in the Alpha and Omega because he is infallible in all his ways.

MEL
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Deliverance from the Black Hole
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
09-30-2008

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5b).
A black hole is a place of total nothingness. It's a time in our life when God removes the resources and supports that we normally rely on to feel secure - our careers, finances, friends, family, health and so forth. It is a preparation time.
When you find yourself in a black hole experience, don't just sit and brood. Take stock of your life. Take a look at your relationship with God.
First, ask God if there are any sins, habits, or attitudes that He might be judging in your life. It's important to discern whether the trial we face is the result of God's discipline for our sin?or if it is preparing us for a future leadership role.
Second, when you enter a black hole, don't trust your feelings. Trust God. Your feelings will tell you, "God has rejected you. Abandon hope. He has left you utterly alone." Feelings change; God never changes. Feelings come and go; God is always with us.
Third, remember that your black hole experience is not only intended to refine and define you; it's also intended to influence and change the lives of hundreds or even thousands of other people. Our adversity is not just for us, but others in our sphere of influence.
Fourth, don't try to hurry the black hole process along. Remember, when Joseph was in the depths of the pit, there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't climb out, jump out, levitate out, or talk his way out. All he could do was pray and wait upon the Lord.
Fifth, lean on God. Even when you don't feel like praying, pray. Even when you don't feel like reading His Word, read. Even when you don't feel like singing songs of faith, sing. When you pray, don't just talk; listen. Be silent before Him and listen for His still, quiet voice.
Sixth, be alert to new truths and new perspectives. During a black hole experience, God often leads us to amazing new discoveries. A black hole can be a storehouse of unexpected riches for the soul.

Prayer for Grace

Today's Prayer

Whew! Sometimes, Lord, it seems I'm "in the fire." Things are hectic, I'm bombarded with trials and temptations, and it is not easy. Please help me through the fiery times. I pray that I will emerge a better person, a more faithful Christian, and a living testimony to Your grace. I need Your strength, because I cannot do it alone. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name I come to You, Amen.

D.R. Prep Entry 2

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Saturday, the Dominican Republic Mission's Team met for a time of fellowship and activities to build Team Unity. It had been some time since we connected as a team and it felt good to share a meal and see the faces of everyone on the team. God has been so good to our Team and his provisions are evident! We have had amazing financial support come in on our team's behalf. Thank you again to those who gave out of obedience and for the willingness to give to the Kingdom's Cause. Your gifts make it possible to go and exhibit the love of Christ in Constanza.

Our team was exhorted by our Pastor to be mindful of finding a heart of contentedness at all times in all that we do there. He instituted a NO COMPLAINING policy!!! We don't know the exact project assigned to our team yet, so in anticipation and preparation...Andrea led us in a team unity exercise to get us thinking about how we might respond to different situations when we are working in Constanza. It was good to gleam some insight into where our hearts might be in response to the different challenges that will inevitably arise. All that from a game involving tenis balls...Don't ask. I've been searching my heart as of late and I've come to realize that I have the propensity to complain when I'm stressed, overwhelmed with all the responsibility and lack of sleep. Knowing that this is in me...I'm submitting it to the Lord! I want to get real with any area where I could even possibly come across in any other than helpful. I don't see myself complaining about any of the work that is asked of us because afterall, my work background doesn't leave room for that particular disposition. However, I think it could surface by way of expecting too much of everyone around me and perhaps complaining when maybe someone isn't working as hard or behaving in such a way that I would want. So basically not having enough Grace or Mercy toward someone who may need exactly that as God works on each of us at different speeds, in dynamically different ways. I am praying for as much patience, joy, love and mercy in my heart towards EVERYONE I encounter period. It's not easy to confront the areas where we are shortsighted yet God examines our hearts and he deals with us and fixes his love on us.

Lastly, Andrea was kind enough to create an ongoing prayer chain which will cycle through to our return home! How powerful is it to know that there are people around the Twin Cities, the country and the world praying for us???? I think the most impactful thing we can do for oneanother on this team, is to pray continuously for one another! It's clear that the enemy of our souls is trying desperately to deter us whether by discouragement, busyness to the point of selfishness, distractions, fear, insecurity...Inevitably as we do the work of the Lord, we present ourselves as a threat to the enemy and he will do what he can to sully the good things that God's people are instructed to carry out. PRAISE GOD that he is faithful and that we are not only rescued from the domains of darkness, but that we are victors in Christ. I was terribly burdened for the needs of our team and through praying, it is clear that God wants us weaved into him through being weaved into one another through prayer and love. Romans 8:31-39 was particularly impactful to my soul today...especially vs. 37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." To even try and conceive of being MORE than Conquerors in Christ is beyond anything I can wrap my mind around, yet that is what we are! The Love of Christ runs deeper and wider than any depths imagineable. We are MORE than conquerors! So, I proceed in faith, trusting that the bounty of the Lord will manifest itself through this mission trip, through our team...evidencing MORE than a conquering victory!!! I look forward to that!

Please pray for us, please pray for those we will encounter in Constanza and pray for spiritual protection for us, all the while trusting that God is gloried through our utter dependence on him to see us through!

Thanks will all my heart,
MEL

Light in Darkness...

Brothers and Sisters...if you find yourself in a dark place...be encouraged that God would see fit to refine your heart, your mind and your spirit in him. May you embrace this part of your walk with him with a rendered heart, assured that you are being prepared for mighty things! Trust that the light is never far, always near. May he always be your portion...

With all my Heart,
MEL


High Positions
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
09-09-2008

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position" (James 1:9).

Whenever God takes a saint to a very lowly state it is designed to accomplish something only that process can do. Job learned that "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). Job's trials allowed him to learn things about God, himself and his friends that we all needed to know as well. He assumed things about God that he had to recant: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3).
God reveals things in the dark places of circumstances that will be used to reveal something He wants you and others to know. He has sent you ahead to learn these things so that you and others will benefit from your unique experience. God views this place where you receive these truths as a high position. The world views it as a place to be despised.
"He called down a famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true" (Psalms 105:16-19). Joseph was also led to this high position. It was here he was prepared to be the most powerful man in the world as a thirty-year old. He learned many things about God during his captivity that was used later as a ruler over a nation.
So, if you find yourself in a lowly state, realize your lowly state is considered a high position by God that is preparation soil for revealing deep things from the dark places that God desires you to learn.

Dominican Republic Mission Trip

As some of you know, I have been actively involved in FUSION,a Young Adults Community and Alternative Worship Service at New Hope Church (www.newhopechurchmn.org/youngadults). On October 4th of 2008, a team of 14 of us from FUSION will be embarking on a Mission Trip to Constanza in the Dominican Republic, to serve through the KIDS ALIVE organization.

“Each of the children rescued by KIDS ALIVE have come from desperate situations. Our children were once street children, abused, neglected, HIV positive and living with AIDS, and still others were orphans or abandoned children. There are still so many children that are victims of war, disease or poverty.” (for more info visit www.kidsalive.org)

We will be working with KIDS ALIVE ministry to primarily accomplish a specific construction project. In addition to the Team's construction project, times of interaction with the Kids Alive children will be included as part of the Service Team schedule.

September is a CRAZY, Head spinning kind of busy month for me. I think I have 4 days where there isn't something scheduled. I find myself trying to distinguish between the many hats I find myself wearing as of late. With the "BUSY"ness of life and the task oriented events and meetings that have come up requiring planning and coordinating, I confess that I haven't had a lot of intentional pause and prayer time to be preparing for this mission trip let alone anything else! There's something profoundly wrong with that picture! I'm so remiss that only now just 1 short month away, I am setting out to be more overt about preparing myself physically, spiritually, mentally! I have committed myself to cleaning up my diet, building up strength and endurance by working out and setting aside separate times during the week to pray for my team members, myself and the kids we will encounter. I want to be sharpened in every sense so as to fully experience and accomplish ALL that God has for us. I don't do this of my own accord of course, I'll get nowhere without the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the compassion of our savior to meet me every step of the way. I find immense comfort in knowing that ultimately God is at the helms of this ship and we can rest assured that his sovereignty will sail us into the harbor of his choosing while anchoring us to all that is good in him.

If you could be praying for me and the other team members, I would be most grateful! This is what I asked of my friends and family in my letter of support:

1. Concerning PRAYER SUPPORT: “The Prayer of a Righteous Man is powerful and effective” James 5:16. “The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:5-7. So, please commit to diligently petitioning for our team’s protection, our health and that we would be obedient to all that God would ask of us.
Also if you could continue to lift us up in prayer regarding team unity, submission to the leadership of our Pastor Bryan McWhite as well as the leadership of KIDS ALIVE, we would be most grateful. Lastly I’d ask that you would consider asking for God’s miracles to be prevalent and that above all…in all we do, we would honor and glorify God through the labor and the relationships we will be building with the children and staff!

Nature Walks...Communing with God.

I had lunch with a number of ladies a few weeks ago. It was nice to see faces that I wouldn't normally see during the week and it was a time to just share and encourage one another. Some laughed who needed to laugh, some just needed reminder that they are loved and cared for. It was good (incidentally we have made it a Wed. tradition). I opted to walk the 3 miles home after lunch which I was entirely unprepared for. It was HOT out and I didn't have my sneakers on...I had on very flat leather sandals. Despite the not so great planning on my part...it seemed like a really intentional way to commune with God in prayer, in scripture and in taking in his scenic creation along the way. It was a connective, refreshing time indeed. God met me in multiple ways as we walked together and I was comforted deeply. I read from 1 Peter Chapter one as I started my trek home. I paused, meditated, asked the Spirit to speak it into me and unearth anything that needed his light shined upon. It was good. It was necessary and because it was was just that...any sacrifice forsaking comfort was my pleasure, my joy! As I was walking along, I stopped providentially in front of an open field. It was covered in wild flowers and tall grass encroaching onto the sidewalk as if to notify the tamed and subdued of it's feral presence. How befitting was it to come upon this field and arrive to verses 23-24? "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." We're on this earth but a brief time yet the imprint that we leave behind has Kingdom effects that we must give account for one day.

Isn't it baffling to think that we are the very conduits, the very vessels for God's sovereign plan? "Why choose me Lord?" I so often ask. Yet we are set on a course that God has predetermined. He knows our deepest desires, our needs. He knows what will sustain us and what is good for us. "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His Glory" (Ephesians 1:11-12). As I continued on my quest home I was desperate for a little reprieve from the sun so I found some welcome shade underneath a tree. As I opened my supplemental reading I came across one of God's Promises to me in Psalm 84:11 "For the LORD GOD is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." It was sweet to the very core of me. Our God is never far...he is close to my heart, he resides in my spirit and it is well in my soul. May your time with the Lord be rich and abundant! May you always break through the doldrums of a routine that is even tempted to be void of communing with our Lord!

10 Good Reasons to Read God's Word...

I am reading a book by Stormie Omartian called, "The Power of a Praying Woman." If you haven't read her stuff...please do. Her approach to writing is simplistic, but the content of her exhortations and her testimony are drenched with gravy goodness that is God's Word. I found this list to be incredibly practical.


TEN GOOD REASONS to READ GOD'S WORD
If you have trouble being in God's Word every day, here are just a few of the many reasons to read the Bible that should inspire you:
1. To know where you are going. You can't forsee the future or exactly where you are heading, but God's Word will guide you. "Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me" (Psalm 119:133).

2. To have wisdom. Knowledge of God's Word is where wisdom begins to grow in you. "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7).

3. To find success. When you live according to the teachings of the Bible, life works. "This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

4. To live in purity. You must live a life of holiness and purity in order to enjoy more of the Lord's presence, but you can't be made pure without being cleansed through God's Word. "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word" (Psalm 119:9).

5. To obey God. If you don't understand what God's laws are, how can you obey them? "Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep your Law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it" (Psalm 119:33-35).

6. To have joy. You cannot be free of anxiety and unrest without the Word of God in your heart. "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the hearts; The commandments of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 19:8).

7. To grow in faith. You can't grow in faith without reading and hearing the Word of God. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

8. To find deliverance. You won't know what you need to be free of unless you study God's Word to find out. "If you abide in My Word, you are My Disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).

9. To have peace. God will give you a peace that the world cannot give, but you must find it first in His Word. "Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble" (Psalm 119:165).

10. To distinguish good from evil. Everything has become so relative today, how can you know for sure what is right and wrong without God's Word? "Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!" (Psalm 119:11).

The Worship Service (TGIF)

May you encounter Jesus even in the small and quiet moments of your walk!

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The Worship Service
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
08-08-2008

"This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed" (Lam 1:16).

Angie and I walked into the worship service. I pushed my Mom's wheelchair into the room among many, many others. This was no ordinary worship service. This wasn't our first time. The organizer recognized us and asked if we would assist in handing out the songbooks.

About only 20% of the participants could actually use them. For most of them it sat on their laps. "Why does life have to be reduced to this?" I questioned and prayed silently to the Lord. "If Jesus walked through this room, how many would He restore?" I continued to ponder. You see, Angie and I were in a dementia and Alzheimer's elderly care nursing home unit where my mom resided. A few chairs over sat the father of my older sisters' longtime best friend. Next to him was my brother-in-law's grandmother.

They were all once successful people - doctors, lawyers, business leaders, and stay-at home moms. They had, at one time, lived in fine southern homes. But they now lived in one-half of a single room. Some patients could recognize their loved ones, others could not.

The service began with singing. Only a few voices could be heard among the patients. A simple message followed. Then, something remarkable happened. The speaker said they would now close with a well-known song. It began this way; "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Suddenly, the voices in the room got louder. Patients that were not singing before were now singing. I looked over at my mom. She was whistling the tune. I looked over at Angie; tears were streaming down her face.

Yes, the presence of Jesus was walking through the room. But it wasn't in the way I thought He'd come. Sometimes the presence of God can show up in the smallest and simplest acts.

He ventured forth to bring light to the world...

Please take this article with a grain of salt. I apologize ahead of time if anyone gets offended. It's very tongue and cheek and it made me laugh. I credit this to my giggling new friend and coworker Annamarie!!! If you want to see more articles, go to www.drudgreport.com where it is said the most reporters go here to be in the know!!! LOL! "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." I don't know who said that, but it's one of my favorites because it's so true! Have a great and fruitful weekend my friends!

Mel

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece

The "New" Beijing

I read this in the Arts section of the New York Times today. Have a look-see! I think it's extremely important to have an awareness of what's going on in the world around us as believers. Our Faith, our pursuit of Biblical truth should be pervasive in All areas of our lives, including Current Events! :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/arts/design/27ouro.html?ex=1374552000&en=c9e8429ab3f57a38&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink