Halli Hallo!

Nun lege ich mal ein Päuschen vom Lernen des Assistenzprinzip für Menschen mit einer Behinderung ein… Morgen Klausur.

Den Vormittag des vergangenen Sonntag habe ich in der ev. Kirche in Viersen verbracht… Eigentlich hatte ich mich richtig gefreut, aber der Gottesdienst wirkte auf mich Langweilig, verstaubt, dogmatisch und von gestern. Danach habe ich mich noch müder und kraftloser gefühlt als vorher… Schade!
Und dann gings auch noch zur Arbeit… Das war dann noch echt schön und hat den Tag aufgerwertet.
Diese Woche stand und steht noch eine erlebnispädagogische Sequenz an.
Wir waren gestern Nachmittag im ströhmenden Regen Kanufahren. Ekelhaft auch auch lustig! Ich im grünen Militärregenponcho. Hat aber auf jeden Fall gehalten, die Jacke war trocken, die Hose eher nicht. Es war zwar nicht wirklich das optimale Wetter, aber es hat trootzdem Spaß gemacht mit den Jugendlichen. Am Freitag nochmal dasselbe, dann bitte ohne Regen! Muss ich morgen Abend dann noch bestellen das gute Wetter.

Heute in der Schule wurde 2 Stunden vertreten, sodass wir dann ein Fach ganze 3 Stunden hattten…
Als der Lehrkörper dann in unsere lustlosen Augen sah kam nur noch: “Och, liebe Studierende! Sie sehen alle so müde und niedergeschlagen aus, wir gehen mal ne Runde um Block!”

So wurden dann die drei Stunden mit einer Stunde Spaziergang durchs “schöne” Mönchengladbach etwas erträglicher gemacht…

Hannes

Yesterday we welcomed the incoming first year class of law students at the University of St. Thomas and the head of University Campus Ministry said our opening mass. One of the great sources of joy for me is hearing a homily that draws a link that I had not previously considered or that otherwise causes me to think of something in a different way, and, fortunately for me, this particular priest has delivered such homilies on more than one occasion when I’ve been present at a Mass at which he has presided.

The Gospel for yesterday’s Mass was Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus gives him a list of the important “laws” that must be followed, the young man is unsatisfied. I do all that, he says, what else must I do? Jesus tells him to go and sell all he has, give it to the poor and come follow Him.

What Jesus is asking the young man to do is to put Him first. In talking on this theme, the priest linked this passage to God’s request to Abraham to leave his country and his people and go to the land to which God would leave him, where God would bless him and make of him a new nation, causing him and his descendants to flourish. I had never before connected the exchanges between God and Abraham and Jesus and the rich young man, but as soon as the priest mentioned Abraham, the linkage between Abraham and the rich young man made perfect sense to me. Both are asked to give up what they know and what they’ve accomplished on their own and instead to follow God and God’s plans.

What came into my mind as soon as the priest started talking about Abraham was God’s request that Abraham sacrifice Isaac. Many people have difficulty with this passage, wondering how God could ask Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. When we look at the two passages together, however, I think it becomes clearer to us that in neither case does the literal request capture God’s desire. God doesn’t want Abraham to kill Isaac any more than Jesus literally expects the rich young man (and the rest of us) to sell every single thing that he has.

In both cases the real issue is God’s desire that God come first in our lives. That our lives are oriented around our relationship to God our Father and to Jesus. When God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and Jesus asks the young man to sell all he has, what we are invited to ask ourselves is: what prevents us from putting God first? What do we cling to in such a way that we cannot follow Jesus wholeheartedly? That is what we are invited to give up.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying, and giving in marriage–living life as usual–until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:38-39

When we were young kids and teenagers, we thought the Lord Jesus would return at any moment. Why? Because our pastors and evangelists spoke often of living with Christ in eternity, the removal of the Church from this earth, and the damnation of Hell.

Sure, sometimes these sermons would scare our pants off, but the memory of them will be forever sketched in our minds.

Surprisingly, now that we are truly living in the time where Christ’s return (the Rapture) could take place at any moment, the “End Time” messages are few–and in some churches, not spoken of.

World and political affairs are revealing Bible Prophecy week-by-week, yet many of us continue to hear messages about blessings, prosperity, and break-throughs—on this earth—as if life as we know it will go on and on. These sermons cause us to focus too much on this life, engendering selfishness and materialism.

Don’t misinterpret: There is nothing wrong with messages about blessings and money if they are spoken in the “context” of the Lord equipping us to carry out ministry so others will be saved and come to Christ before the Tribulation Period becomes reality.

Sadly, Christ-followers have actually said they were not ready for Christ to come back because of their desires to accomplish and obtain things in this life. Christ suffered, died, and ascended back to Heaven just so He could reconcile and reunite us with God the Father and Himself. So, how do you think this attitude makes Him feel?

We as a people should re-prioritize our thinking and our expectations, study Bible prophecy and teach others. We must ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts of known/unknown sin, that would potentially cause us to loose our crown.

Let’s prepare ourselves daily (through the grace of Jesus Christ) to
“Get Out of Here!”

The Lord forewarns us in Luke 21:28, “And when these things (prophesied world events) begin to come to pass, then look up, and life up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Vs34) And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with . . . cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (Vs36) Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Some things are just hard to blog about. I’ve prayed about the next few blogs and lost friendships and broken relationships are just not easy. Even if you have already been healed from the fall out there still is scar tissue there, and upon reflection of that scar you still feel the pain of it.

The friendship fall out broke me. It hurt me and I was confused. I assumed that since we were all believers that we would follow Matthew 18 which teaches about a brother or sister in Christ who has wronged you and what to do…and following the verse it talks about forgiveness. But it was a hard lesson that no one is perfect and not all believers act the same. I wasn’t sure of what happened, tried to meet with a pastor and it just made it worse. So I had to let it go.

Journal Entry from December 22, 2005
Lord let my broken bones rejoice, Show me what you want me to learn from this and what is your will. What you want me to do? I’m so sad and hurting with this. I know my friend said we are like Jonathan and David…I just never knew I would know how David feels…..

Psalm 51:8

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice

The battle was the Lords and not mine…and I thought things were bad and I didn’t know that they could get worse.

The next 2 months I felt like I was a mom to the guy I was dating, helped him with transportation, find a job ect. It was stressful to me, I didn’t like leading at all. On Valentines day that year he took me out with the small group I was leading, we had ice-cream in the Tysons mall. The next day he went to Florida to skate, asked me to check his email to find out his flight info on the way back. What I found instead were email exchanges with other girls he was hooking up that he was visiting in the area or working with. I was devastated especially since we just had lunch with one of the girls two weeks before this. Called him to confirm….and he confirmed….had his mom call me… told me that this was an existing problem and she encouraged me to break up with her son…spoke to a Pastor here who essentially told me to do the same…I believe his words were to put on my running shoes and not look back…and I kept on thinking I will get back what the locusts have taken away. We can make this work. So for six more months I hide in darkness and shame of my boyfriend continually cheating on me and I found find out about another cheating incident and he would ask for forgiveness.  It was a horrible pattern that broke me, I was miserable and I know it showed, I was no longer at the point were I felt I could lead a small group because of the brokenness I was going through. My counselor and mentor who were trying to pursued me to break things off with him. Finally the last straw came in August… I broke things off with him and told him we could really no longer be friends.  That process broke me, that October through November was one of the most broken yet sweetest time in my life. In my brokenness, I was able to draw near to the Lord, for healing…and He was literally picking me up out of my wasteland and placing me on His high ground and healing me. At that time I felt as though I never wanted to date again…and I just wanted to solely be devoted to the Lord.

I knew that He would never fail, that the more I desired Him above all else, the deeper my intimacy with Him grew.

Lord Your my delight
You never change
(Micah 7:8)
You breathed bright stars at night
(Psalm 33:6)
Given Your life as an exchange
(Romans 5:8)
Your my dwelling place
(Psalm 90:1)
In the shadows of your wings I sing
(Psalm 63:7)
I seek Your Holy face
(1 Kings 19:11-13)
to You my soul clings
(Psalm 63:8)
- written by Jessica West (5/26/09)

to be continued….

     During this week which we observe our Lord’s crucifixion and celebrate his resurrection, countless are the people who have found comfort in the words that Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross:  “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”  (Luke 23:43)  Jesus said this in response to his request:  “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”  I, along with countless millions of Christians, have understood his request as a simple statement of faith and Jesus’ response as reassuring him that he would be in heaven with him that day.  “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

     Mormonism, however, rejects that interpretation.  “To the thief on the cross who asked to be remembered after death, the Savior responded to give him what hope he could:  ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise, ‘ That is to say, today you shall be with me in the world of spirits, where you will be taught the gospel and your inquires will be answered. (See Smith, Teachings, p.309)  Jesus did not lend any credence to a death-bed repentance or (sic) the malefactor.  What Jesus did do was give recognition to the seeds of faith and repentance which were evidenced by a penitent man.  As always, the Lord’s efforts were directed toward offering as much hope as possible to one who would turn from darkness unto that everlasting light.”  (Life and Teachings. . .p. 186, emphasis added)

     The LDS Bible Dictionary says this:  “For example, when Jesus purportedly said to the thief on the cross, ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise’, the Bible rendering is incorrect.  The statement would more accurately read, ‘Today shalt thou be with me in the word of spirits’ since the thief was not ready for paradise.”

     The two different interpretations of this statement is another in a long list of examples illustrating the great difference between Mormonism and Christianity on the most fundamental of all doctrines, namely, how a person will live eternally with Jesus.  Again this Holy Week I will be praising my Savior for the incredible love and acceptance he showed the thief – and he has shown me.

I’d just like to speak for a second and say that,
hum.. I just encourage everybody who hears this album
to look towards Christ and not towards people, because
people allow you to fall away, people aren’t perfect.
Theres only one person thats perfect and thats Christ.

And I see people every day who are looking at Christ
and blow Christ off because something that someone
else has failed on. And its just not worth it, Christ
has blessed me and every other member of this band
more than any other way that I can imagine, or be
spoken.

Just the way everything worked out tonight was
just beautiful. I just pray for each and every one of
you, we wouldn’t sit here and we wouldn’t do this
unless we wouldn’t put the time into it unless it was
trying to touch you, trying to reach your life and I
just ask please just give your heart to Christ, and
allow him to come in and just accept him.

It says, "If you acknowledge that you have sinned
and you ask Christ to come into you life, he will enter
you life just believe that he’s died on the cross for your and
risen on the third day, and Christ can life for you and he
with you? and I just pray that you just give
him that chance to do that, you don’t know what you
missed, you don’t know what you missed until you
haven’t had something and realize that its gone, then
you realize what you’ve missed and what hasn’t been in
your life.

And I just ask you please just give the LORD
a chance to do that and I just hear a lot of people say
that its just, I hear a lot of people say that its just
you know, "Oh? you know, "this some religious
person is trying to force this down my
throat.? well thats not our intent our
intent’s not to force this down your throat. We do
this because we love you and we care for the people
that do hear this.

And I just wish everybody just to
look towards it and give it a chance, and not fall
out. There is hope, you can find it, and Christ is
hope and your never gunna feel a void, your never
gunna feel that huge gap and that void in your life
until you turn and you look at the truth, even though
you may not see it as the truth.

I just pray that God
will reveal himself to you and you can open your eyes,
just as we were in your same shoes and he opened ours,
he opened our eyes eyes.. just… even though it’s
this late you can’t even speak, I just pray that He’ll
please just show you his power. This album goes out to
just, the victims of rape and suicide, child
molestation, people who are broken hearted, people who
just cant handle life anymore and just have to fall on
their knees every night and cry.

There is a better
way, and we have found it, please don’t give up, there
is a better way.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately…

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Hello WorshipKitchen fans,

I wanted to share a Word from Psalms 57 with you. As worship leaders, every week you stand before a congregation prepped and ready to lead people in to the presence of God, at an hour so early in the morning most musicians wouldn’t dream of being awake. This Psalm represents how God yearns for each worshiper to show up, with a prepared heart, ready to sing, ready to worship. What if each worshiper showed up with these words on their heart and lips. I thought it was a good follow up to the last post of videos from Kari Jobe’s project with people singing through their trials and triumphs. Enjoy

7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,
ready from head to toe,
Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:
“Wake up, soul!
Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!
Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”

9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,
singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

Escucha la Homilía del Domingo 8 de febrero del 2009

flickr: sergis blog

When my husband and I brought home our 10-month-old son, John, from a Russian orphanage, we had a mission: Feed the little guy.

The diapered dude was more than happy to oblige.

“He’s an eating machine,” my husband pronounced at the first of many high-chair feeding frenzies. He raked up food and shoveled it in his mouth, then raked and shoveled, raked and shoveled, removing physical “hunger” from his vocabulary forever.

My little guy’s high-chair experience reminds me of the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in the Gospel of John. A great crowd had followed Jesus to a mountainside. They had hunger but no food. A brave boy offered his lunch: five small barley loaves and two little fish.

Not much. But more than enough.

You probably know how the story goes. Jesus held the bread and fish, gave thanks to God, and shared it among the people. After everyone had their fill, the disciples gathered. . .leftovers! If there were a Jerusalem Journal, this miracle would have been the lead story.

The next day the people looked for Jesus. They wanted more food. He offered them something better: himself. The crowd walked away, very hungry. Without God, they were empty, void, in need. They were still starving.

As someone reminded me the other day, hunger is good. It is a sign of a normal, vibrant life. The feeling of hunger leads to eating which leads to growth. When satisfied, it brings delight.

Most important, hunger signals our true significance.

My husband and my mission to “feed the little guy” was physical and spiritual. John needed more than a baby bottle, banana chunks and Cheerios. He hungered for love, for touch, for someone to believe in him, for someone to say, “You matter.”

Deep down, isn’t this our real hunger? A hunger that only Jesus can satisfy? All around us are spiritually starving people.They try to satisfy their deepest need with counterfeits: busyness, wealth, high-status jobs, sex and stuff. In Jesus, you and I have everything we need. Now.

In him, we are chosen, redeemed, forgiven, blessed. Present tense! Read it for yourself in Ephesians 1. Say it to yourself or out loud: “In Jesus I am chosen, redeemed, forgiven and blessed.”

Now feed this truth to a friend.

Chegamos ao final de mais um ano, e graças a Deus, será igual. Todos nós nos sentaremos ao redor do nosso patriarca, para ouvir a frase:
- “Fulano”, quer presente?
E assim, um a um iremos receber das mãos do nosso Papai Noel o presente.
Há quem não acredite em Papai Noel, mas, para nós, ele existe e sempre estará em nossas lembranças.
Minha família tem uma tradição que se repete por mais de vinte anos, no dia 24 nos reunimos para receber nossos presentes e beijar o Papai Noel, um a um. Todas as crianças já cresceram, muitos já são pais, tem também, as pessoas que se juntaram a nossa família com o passar dos anos namorados (as), amigos (as), sogros (as), todos são bem vindos, e sempre haverá presente para todos.
Pensando sobre significado do natal, sobre o nascimento de Jesus nosso salvador, e tudo que ele nos ensinou, notei que por mais que nossos natais aconteçam ao redor do Papai Noel, aguardando nossos presentes, estamos todos unidos, como ficamos muitas vezes no ano, sabemos que a correria do dia a dia nos afasta, mas, nos amamos, e que graças a Ele, temos mais uma linda noite reunidos e demonstrando o amor que sentimos um pelo outro, quando sentamos ao redor do nosso Papai Noel, esquecemos as desavenças que por ventura ocorreram e nos rendemos aos sorrisos que se abrem nos lábios e o brilho que há em nossos olhos, na expectativa de ganhar nosso presente, mas o verdadeiro presente que temos é a nossa união, compaixão, amor, carinho, solidariedade, este é o verdadeiro espírito de natal e que de uma forma ou de outra, aprendemos a cultivar.

Feliz Natal!

And they shall name him Emmanuel.”

Wow…. what a privilege… what an honor… what a call… what a life…. given to us even in this time and age. What a promise . It is not just a promise in human terms. It is a promise which is made for the entire world for eternity. And still being kept word by word for those who believe. Yes, it is only for those who believe. But it is open to all…. rich and poor alike, haves and have nots alike, capitalists and socialists alike, layperson and clergy alike… wow… The eternal promise… where I feel the presence of God in every single moment of my life as I breath, as I walk, as I think, as I write, as I smile, as I cry, as I sleep… It is so hard to fathom this idea. No, it is not  idea… rather I would call it ‘the feeling’. No, is it just a feeling? The more I think of this promise it becomes more alive in my heart. The  more alive it becomes in my heart, my heart beats fast… I am gasping for air… I have tears in my eyes… it is so hard. It makes me cry… cry out loud with joy. Help me God to understand  your promise of being with me till the end of time.  And I do believe Lord you are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Yes, a feeling of awe and wonder goes through my veins… oh … no…. it is so hard. It is so hard for my human mind, my finite mind to grasp it.  So hard to grasp the infinite truth of this promise with my human mind. But still I believe you Lord. I know that you are with me… I believe you are Emmanuel. I believe you are with me… with me… with me… till the end of time… for eternity. Let me cry  with joy in your presence…Lord. Please let me… cry with joy. Be with me Lord…!!! ♥

 

Weekly E-note to Life Connection Church in Euless, TX

Dear Friends,

I am really excited about a few events that are coming up at Life Connection Church.  If you have been around me for very long you know that I like to point to this passage of Scripture;   

Bigfoot turned out to be a hoax. Look into Jesus.

Not that this is a surprise, but it turns out the recent discovery of Bigfoot in Georgia was a hoax. I read somewhere in the last week someone saying that Bigfoot is like religion in that it is something that exists in legend but is not real. But that’s just not the same. Consider: What would it mean if Bigfoot indeed exists? What exactly does the existence of Bigfoot mean in our lives? Anything?

Now consider Jesus. What does it mean that Jesus exists? Plenty. There aren’t many people who are saying that Jesus didn’t walk in this world around 2,000 years ago. Many argue about what kind of man he is and what impact his life should have in our lives. And, more importantly, what impact does his death and resurrection have?

In the Bible, in Matthew 28, it talks about Easter Sunday when Jesus arose from the tomb after being dead three days after his crucifixion. It says:

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So, there is a lot riding on it. John Piper lays out how important:

If this is true, if this is real – that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead (verse 6), and that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (verse 18), and that he will be with his disciples to the end of the age (verse 20) – if this is true, then nothing is more important in our lives, nothing is more crucial or more urgent or more needful than believing it and becoming a follower of Jesus. I know it’s a big if – if this is true, if this is real (you may believe it or not) – but if the premise is true, wouldn’t you agree with the conclusion? – nothing is more important for everyone in this room than to believe in him and be his follower.

That’s it. Nothing is as important. Not my family. Not my health. Not my job. Not what’s on TV. Not my retirement. Nothing. I will live on with or without Bigfoot being real. I cannot have life without Jesus because he not only did he die but he also rose and lives now. No one can live without him.

I’m asking God for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
I’ll study at his feet.

ps27/4