ROCK!!

This past weekend, I had the amazing privilege to chaperon for the ROCK conference with the chapel at A.P.G. The three days there are some that I will remember forever. Right off the bat, the unity was purely formed by the Spirit. The first night we had been there, all the kids and adults were getting to know each other. There were so many different faces and personalities going on this journey together. On the way there, the van I was in was not silent the whole way. Everyone was singing, rapping, talking, and playing GAMES. Yes. Most of these were mind games that were quite a challenge, but it bonded the group so well! After getting settled in at the hotel, we went to the first session. The speaker was Stephen Gallagher, and his talks were amazing. He, being a college professor, uses lots of big words. I was kind of afraid some of the teens wouldn't be able to follow his sermons. But I was most definitely wrong about that. They followed him so well, or should I say, their ears were open to hearing what God was telling them through Stephen.

The next morning, my sister, Imani, and I woke up and watched the sunrise. What a wonderful view of God's love first thing in the morning! Seeing the water tumble onto the shore and hearing it loudly crash. SO beautiful! Through out this second day, the group became more of a family. The cool thing was that, even though we had so many differences between us, there was no fighting going on, no drama between the girls or guys, no bad attitudes, and no laziness. Everyone used their gifts for God to express unity and bring encouragement to their fellow brothers and sisters.

"How good and pleasant is it when brothers live together in unity." (Psalm 133:1)

Our form of transportation was one of the most fun. Every time we went to a session, we had to take the bus. We would wait at the bus stop, sometimes longer than others. While we would wait, though, there would always be a song or a rap or a game going on. This helped there to be few complaints!

After some of the sessions, we would go back to the hotel and talk as a group about our thoughts. What an amazing time this was! The youngest girl, Cammy, said something in one of these times that astounded me. She was asked, "If someone asked you why you're a Christian, how would you respond?" 11-year-old Cammy said that she would say that Jesus loved her so much that He died for her, and that, now, she wants to live for God. Cammy said what many of us know, but not so many of us live out. Her words spoke to me so much.

One of the sessions we went to was all for girls. The speaker was Jenna Lucado, and, I tell ya, she spoke into ALL of us girls hearts. God used her so much! She spoke about how everyone has a "Life Dictionary." She asked questions like this:

How do you define yourself (dumb, smart, popular, lonely, not enough, overlooked, pretty, athletic, fat, "his girlfriend", loved, dirty, forgiven, victim...)?

Who has impacted the way you see yourself?

How would you define what a beautiful "you" should look like?

How do you define your relationships with others - relationships with girlsfriends, relationships with boys, and even relationships at home (full of drama, sarcastic, fun, awkward, loving, stressful...)?

Who has impacted the way you see your different relationships?

How would you define what beautiful relationships should look like?

How do you define your relationship with God (confusing, up and down depending on how I feel, strong, distant, boring, full of life, just okay...)?

Who has impacted the way you look at God?

How would you define what a beautiful relationship with God should look like?

These questions all ate away at us girls SO much. Then, Jenna brought up an interesting point that had never been fully considered in my mind before. She said that the main influencer in a girls life is her father. The light bulb went on...duh! Of course fathers are the main influencer in a girls life! Then she gave many different family life examples that could relate to so many girls in our group. It hit home for me and made me realize how truly thankful I am for my dad. He has helped me SO much. Then, Lucado brought it even farther. She reminded us that no matter what kind of dad we have, not one of them can compare to the love of our Heavenly Dad!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:1-3

That evening at ROCK, two of the girls came to know Christ! The rest of the group in some form or another recommitted themselves to the Lord! Salvation came and unity came! And this is still present among us! Praise God! Unity looked like this this weekend:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47

We all got back on Sunday not wanting to leave our new found unified family. What an Awesome God we serve!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching!" Hebrews 10:25

Answered Prayer!

Wow! My words for this post are going to be few, but a longer, more detailed post will come in the next week. These last few weeks have been such a great blessing! Yesterday, my family found out that they are re-stationed at A.P.G.!!! They will be here in Maryland for another two years. This is a complete answer to prayer! It's truly amazing how God works. The next few years will be challenging, but knowing that my family is staying here brings so much comfort to me.

Thank you, God!

Heaven

What a glorious eternal day of Sabboth to look forward to! How I long for that day! The song, "I can Only Imagine" brings so many questions to my mind about what I will do in the presence of the Holy God. Silence? Dancing? Scream? Sing? Fall?

..........................................................................

But, then, do I even need to know what I will do in His Presence? The peaceful hope of that eternity is so much greater.

Don't even know what else to say or put on here.

The hope of heaven brings so much joy and an even greater longing to live life on earth as God teaches. "To live is Christ, to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21) And what a great gain that will be!

"Here the Christian is always unsettled; he feels that he has not yet attained. There all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God. Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn laborer, only think of when you shall rest forever! Can you conceive it? It is a rest eternal; a rest that remains." ~Charles H. Spurgeon; Morning and Evening devotional

Francis Chan's FORGOTTEN GOD

Reading through Francis Chan's book Forgotten God has brought many thoughts and convictions to me. Although I learned much through the first 6 chapters, the most tears were brought to my eyes by the last. Supernatural Church. Chan starts with an interesting quote by Augustine,

"What the soul is in our body, the Holy Spirit is in the body of Christ, which is the church."

What a great quote to start off with! What an amazing vision of who the Spirit of God is!...and what He should be to us. While going through this last chapter, there were a few points that were brought to my attention that I would like to share:

• "God is not interested in numbers. He cares most about the faithfulness, not the size, of His bride." How often are churches AND youth groups trying to just "reach out" and "bring in more kids" rather than making DISCIPLES (Matthew 28:19) of them? This concern of "size" is found more in youth groups because of the concern of the generation to come. But it kids/teenagers/young adults don't have a REAL and TRUE relationship with our Lord, then how are they going to influence the coming generation. Can I say these things since I am one of those youths? All the more! This generation and the next need the Holy Spirit desperately, not religious numbers!
• "Sometimes I leave Christian events wondering if we resemble the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 more than Elijah, the prophet of God...The prophets of Baal had a loud, passionate worship gathering that lasted from morning till evening. When they were done, they had a great time of fellowship." Does this not resemble some of the "worship services" or "conferences" that many churches/youth groups have or attend?
• "My favorite part of that story comes when it is all over and the prophets of Ball are saying, 'The LORD- He is God! The LORD- He is God!' They didn't say, 'Elijah is a great speaker' or 'Elijah sure knows how to connect with God!' They were stunned by GOD!" When someone preaches, leads worship, or seems like a humble Christian person, shouldn't we come away being amazed by God- not that person?
• "While it is true that we are humans like everyone else, it is also true that we are humans with the Spirit of God dwelling in us."
• (referring to the fruits of the Spirit; Galatians 5:22-23) "Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know? Do you have more self-control than your Muslim friends? More peace than Buddhists? More joy than atheists? If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn't you expect to be different from everyone else?" There are no excuses for us! We are transformed by a Holy God and made holy like Him! (Hebrews 10:9-11)
• We cannot have the fruit of the Spirit without the Spirit. We cannot do it on our own. If it were possible, it would not be written "fruit of the Spirit."
• The church should be a family. A place where anyone can come and be at home, not to be judged by those who think they are holier.

While all these things stuck out in this chapter, the passage that stuck out the most was Acts 2:42-47,

"⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Is this even possible? Never, in all the places I have so far lived, have I experienced or seen a church like this. What an amazing thing! Is this impossible? Brothers and sisters, this seems like a challenge to me. To pray more fervently, like Elijah. To devote ourselves to Loving GOD, not ourselves. To seek the Spirit for His fruit. It is not impossible. Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 18:27)

WHY!

I am literally brought to tears today because of religion. How disgusting it is to me! Why do those who call themselves Christians judge others around them? THEN, when they/we are confronted about it, keep doing it? What part of "LOVE your enemies and PRAY for those who persecute you" don't we understand?

Jesus came here to this earth to save sinners!! (1 Timothy 1:15)

Though we have been redeemed, we (us Christians) keep on sinning because we still live on this earth. (Romans 7:15) So why do we think we are SO much better than those who are not saved. Indeed, we have a promised gift of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. But when Jesus commanded us to "Go and make disciples of all nations" should that make us stick our head up high and live like we are so much better? Of course NOT! Christ Himself hung out with tax collectors and fishermen! Is that any different than the "skaters, goth, preppy, smart, nerdy, weird, emo kids" that there are today? Of course not. So why then, do some of them feel alone and judged by all? Is it their fault that we fail to minister to them and, simply, love them? Oh how my soul longs to just hold them and tell them that Jesus has a greater love for them than anyone or anything here on earth could even express!

Those of us who call ourselves Christians need to start living like it.

How much longer can we go on living our selfish lives with our money and our pride?

How much longer are we going to go on knowingly sinning?

How much longer are we going to watch these beloved creations from God feel unloved by the Children of God?

God IS love. We are supposed to love ALL. What does this love look like? Dear friends, you know like i do that love is Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Let us read, learn, and follow HIS most perfect example!

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." ~Matthew 25:31-46

To people that hate Christians,

i am so very sorry that i have failed to display Christ's love to you. i am grieved by your perception of God due to the way that i haven't lived. is it too late to ask you to reconsider your decision against the Spirit? i hope that you may be able to understand the Cross even though i stand in the way of it's view.

with love,

hannah

Philippians 1:20-21

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

What a wonderful HOPE! That living on this earth is for Christ alone, then when life on this earth is done, there is ETERNAL life. Wow.

This sounds great! But when it comes down to it, I don't live like this. As of late, living for Christ has become a second and living in my desires has come first. In the previous post, I wrote about how the past few weeks has been challenging, and God has been showing me how He wants me to deal with some thing. If only my human eyes would have seen it earlier, because I think as though I have hurt many people around me through my own mistakes this past year. Why oh why was I selfish enough to wait and put off the conviction. How my heart is full of pride.

In this conviction, the Lord has brought me to a place of mourning. He has also brought joy in the midst of my sin. God, how great Your grace is! How amazing Your love is! And though my feet will continually wonder off at different points in my life, how great, then, is His grace all the more.

Now, what can I do but press on and persevere toward a more personal, more intimate relationship with my Lord, my God?

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." Hebrew 12:4-6

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." 12:11

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a CONSUMING FIRE." 12:28-29