What kind of disciple are you?

The religious people in Jesus' day were so against life outside of their box that they were unwilling to be excited about life change with Jesus. How am I stuck in "my-thinking" that I'm not allowing to change my life? Am i a religious Pharisee who is waiting and plotting against the "out-of-the-box" ministry? I pray that i can be a disciple of Jesus, not a disciple of religion.

Christian or "Un" Christian

If any of you have paid much attention to the news over the past week, you have seen how Freedom has made the news a few times regarding some of the things going on here on the weekend during our "Rescue" series. Personally, I would like to say "Thank You" to our church leadership for taking a step to get Freedom Church's name out there so we can show those in our community that the Christian faith is all about love and serving others. There have been so many people out there recently that have showed the world that Christianity is about hate when it isn't.

I read a quote recently that Gandhi once made. He said, "Everybody in the world understands what Jesus was teaching, except for Christians." When I first heard this, it bothered me a little. I wondered why in the world he would say that. Knowing that he was of a different religion, I brushed it off as he was "crazy." However, the more I think about it, why would he or anyone else think anything any different based on the way many live out their faith. There are too many Christians out there today who are living out a "Un" Christian faith.

For example, last week, there were several pastors and churches in the news talking of burning the Koran (which is the holy book from the Islam religion). Now, I agree that those who follow this religion are wrong in thier beliefs, but you cannot make me believe that God would want you to burn the Koran to make them convert to Christianity. Burning someone elses holy book is an act of hate and very offensive. Obeying the comand to make disciples does not give us the right offend people, especially when those offenses are actually keeping us from fulfilling that very commandment. If you don't believe this then I encourage you to Read 2 Timothy 2: 23-26.

If you really and truly want to live out the Christian faith in your life; do as Jesus tells us in Matthew 22: 37-40. In these verses, Jesus tells to "love God with all your heart, soul, and mind" and to "love your neighbor as yourself." Living a life of love and serving others is the way to show others you are a Christian. Showing acts of hate and being offensive is the way to show how "Un" Christian you are.

I encourage you now to take a look at your life and think of what you are showing others. Are u showing love or hate? Do people think you are Christian or "Un" Christian?

Twitter can be thought provoking!!!

Just read a tweet that asked "To what extent is you identity dependent on the praise of others?" How often do we judge ourselves based on how many "way-to-go's" we get? When we don't get them, we are down on ourselves. We think that we are not living up to our potential, or noone likes us. It happens to me a lot. I find myself looking for approval from others. I should seek for Gods approval instead of man's. my identity should be in Christ.

Food for thought, i guess.......

Quote for the Day

Here is an interesting quote:
"At times I think and at times I am" -Paul Valery

How many times does God call us to be, and we are too scared, so we just think about it?
Psalm 119:30 says "I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations." Following Christ is a choice everyday. Today, I am. i hope you will be to.

Vacation

Ok, so we are 29 hours away from being on "vacation." I am really excited about this! To step away from the everyday for a week. to not have to wake up to my alarm clock. To not have to drop off Ava and go to work. To not have to be questioned for every step taken at work......yeah, i'm excited.

Ava is trying to crawl now. How crazy is that!?! She has shown no intrest in being mobile and then all of a sudden, she is trying to figure it out. The dogs will have no chance in a few weeks. She will get them for sure!! She has grown so much in the last almost 8 months. Her personality is coming out and she is turning into a pretty cool kid. (mostly because of her amazing mom and dad, of course). I don't want to blink because i don't want to miss a single thing!

makes me thankful for vacations. We can focus on our family and enjoy what God has blessed us with. I know that i will have this next week to focus on growing together as a family with Dustin and Ava. I am excited about that.

Even if you don't have an opertunity to get away, make sure and take some time to focus on and grow closer with your family!!! before we all know it, time will slip away and we will wish we would have!

My Mission Trip to Jellico, TN 2010

So, this time last week I was finishing up my last day on my mission trip to Jellico, TN. I linked up with an organization called World Servants to go on this trip. It was an awesome experience! It is sometimes difficult to explain how it feels to be on a mission trip. The best way I can describe it is that it's like, when you are on a trip like this, you just know you are in the center of God's Will for your life.

On this trip with me were Christians from various other states. We had people there from West Virginia, Indiana, Virgina, Illinois, and Tennessee. It is always great to see Christians from all over who can come together to serve God side-by-side regardless of their different denominational beliefs. There were a total of about 34 of us there last week serving together. And, the greatest part of it is, out of the 34 of us there; probably about 22 of them were youth. And each of them were so excited about serving God and showing His love to others. This was so inspiring considering the series we have been doing at the Edge has been the "Love Intervention" series.

Let me share a little bit about what we did while we were there. We split off into smaller teams during the week to do several different projects. One of those teams led a Mega Sports Camp for the kids in the community. This Sports Camp helped the kids work on their skills in Soccer, Softball, and Cheerleading while also teaching them more about Jesus. I believe there were over 30 kids at the camp each day all week and they had a blast!

In addition to the Mega Sports Camp, we had several construction projects going on. One team totaly remodeled one family's bathroom that was in bad need of repair. Another team replaced the floor in one family's house because it was falling in.

Now, you might be wondering, so what did u do? Well, I was blessed to be teamed up with a great group of people from the Salvage Yard Church in Indianapolis. Our team completed two different projects: 1. We replaced the insulation in the basement of an elderly couples home. and, 2. We replaced the roof on a home for a single mother and her 10 year old daughter.

Honestly, there were times where I felt like I wasnt doing a lot. I was picking up insulation, holding ladders, carrying shingles, and occasionally swinging a hammer; but it just didnt feel like I was doing enough. It just seemed like everyone else on the team was hammering and stapleing more than I was.

But, the highlight of my week came Friday night. During the worship and sharing time on Friday, the World Servants leader asked this question, "How have you seen God this week?" People started sharing left and right about how they had seen God in the kids they were ministering to and in the families they were serving. I shared how I had seen God in the way those youth were serving God during the week. It was so inspiring. Then, near the end of sharing time; two members of the Salvage Yard group said they had seen God through me during the week. That was God telling me then that He was proud of me. I knew in that moment that God was using me during the week. Even when I doubt myself, God still can use me. That is an AWESOME feeling!

Jesus tells us in Matthew 23:11, "The greatest among you must be a servant." This has been my favorite verse for some time now; but, after being a part of this trip, I love this verse even more. I challenge myself and each and everyone else who reads this to be that servant for God that He wants you to be everyday. You don't have to be on a mission trip to be God's servant. Just let your love open the door to someone's heart so that God can speak to them. It's that easy!

"...but they don't truly honor me." Hosea 11:7b

OK, so.....being a new mom, I have learned to look at life from a different perspective that i didn't understand before. I work with Ava everyday to teach her the skills she will need for life. I hold her hands and try and "walk" with her. (as much as you can with a 6 month old) I enunciate my words over and over to try and teach her how to talk. (by the way, she is amazing at Dada and mama) We get in the floor and roll around and reach for toys and explore the world together. There is nothing better in life than this! When I look into the future, I think about what kind of person I want her to be. I think to myself, "she will never hate me, we will always be best friends, and she won't have a rebellious bone in her body." But I know that all that is not true. Our relationship will falter and she will think I am the most non-understanding person on the face of this planet. To be honest, that scares me to death. When I think about that fear, it makes me want to cry. What if she hates me forever? What if I can't convince her that I understand? What if she turns from me and never finds the love of Jesus? I was reading in my bible today in Hosea 11. If you get a chance, check it out.

God describes his relationship with Israel the same way my relationship is with Ava. Verse 3 says "I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who took care of him." God helps us through this life and He knows best. I constantly depend on "my own understanding" to get me through. How come? when I know that God knows best? Verse 7 really hit me...."For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don't truly honor me." Determined.....wow. Looking back, my actions show that I am determined to not trust God. Determined to get through these problems on my own. I call God the Most High, but do I truly honor God? Do my actions honor God? something to think about.......