The pics are from this site.
"Wild Geese Alighting on a Lake"
by Anne Porter
I watched them
As they neared the lake
They wheeled
In a wide arc
With beating wings
And then
They put their wings to sleep
And glided downward in a drift
Of pure abandonment
Until they touched
The surface of the lake
Composed their wings
And settled
On the rippling water
As though it were a nest
"The Peace of Wild Things"
by Wendell Berry
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
"The Cross"
by Amos R. Wells (though in the article it says it is by William Henry Sheppard so I'm not sure)
God laid upon my back a grievous load,
A heavy cross to bear along the road.
I staggered on, and lo! one weary day,
An angry lion sprang across my way.
I prayed to God, and swift at His command
The cross became a weapon in my hand.
It slew my raging enemy, and then
Became a cross upon my back again.
I reached a desert. O'er the burning track
I persevered, the cross upon my back.
No shade was there, and in the cruel sun
I sank at last, and thought my days were done.
But lo! the Lord works many a blest surprise--
The cross became a tree before my eyes!
I slept; I woke, to feel the strength of ten.
I found the cross upon my back again.
And thus through all my days from then to this,
The cross, my burden, has become my bliss.
Nor ever shall I lay the burden down,
For God some day will make the cross a crown!
I'm interested in this because one of my friends/mentors said this really impacted his view of God as a missional God.
The 16 core ideas are:
1. God initiates and advances work in history to accomplish His purpose.
2. God calls His people to join Him in fulfilling His purpose.
3. God's purpose is to bless all peoples so that Christ will be served and glorified among all peoples.
4. God accomplishes His purpose by triumphing over evil in order to rescue and bless people and to establish His kingdom rule throughout the earth.
5. The Bible is a unified story of God's purpose.
6. God's work in history has continuity and will come to an ultimate culmination.
7. The Christian movement has brought about positive social transformation.
8. The mission task can and will be completed.
9. The world's population can be viewed in terms of people groups.
10. The progress of world evangelization can be assessed in terms of church-planting movements within people groups.
11. Completing the mission task requires the initiation and growth of church-planting movements that follow social avenues of influence.
12. Completing the task requires effective cross-cultural evangelism that follows communication patterns within cultures.
13. Completing the task requires strategic wholism in which community development is integrated with church planting.
14. Completing the task requires collaborative efforts of churches and mission agencies from diverse cultures and traditions.
15. God calls His people to embrace strategic sacrifice and suffering with Christ in order to accomplish His global purpose.
16. By participating in the world Christian movement, every believer can find a way to live with vital, strategic significance in God's global purpose.
It is going to be held at Memorial Presbyterian Church Monday nights, 6:30-9:30 pm. (I'm sure exact dates will be coming soon.)
Also, I found the link for Seek God For The City 2009. We read these every morning of City Lights and they are great for helping guide us in prayer for the various needs in the city. Here is a sample page.
]]>I'm interested in this because one of my friends/mentors said this really impacted his view of God as a missional God.
The 16 core ideas are:
1. God initiates and advances work in history to accomplish His purpose.
2. God calls His people to join Him in fulfilling His purpose.
3. God's purpose is to bless all peoples so that Christ will be served and glorified among all peoples.
4. God accomplishes His purpose by triumphing over evil in order to rescue and bless people and to establish His kingdom rule throughout the earth.
5. The Bible is a unified story of God's purpose.
6. God's work in history has continuity and will come to an ultimate culmination.
7. The Christian movement has brought about positive social transformation.
8. The mission task can and will be completed.
9. The world's population can be viewed in terms of people groups.
10. The progress of world evangelization can be assessed in terms of church-planting movements within people groups.
11. Completing the mission task requires the initiation and growth of church-planting movements that follow social avenues of influence.
12. Completing the task requires effective cross-cultural evangelism that follows communication patterns within cultures.
13. Completing the task requires strategic wholism in which community development is integrated with church planting.
14. Completing the task requires collaborative efforts of churches and mission agencies from diverse cultures and traditions.
15. God calls His people to embrace strategic sacrifice and suffering with Christ in order to accomplish His global purpose.
16. By participating in the world Christian movement, every believer can find a way to live with vital, strategic significance in God's global purpose.
It is going to be held at Memorial Presbyterian Church Monday nights, 6:30-9:30 pm. (I'm sure exact dates will be coming soon.)
Also, I found the link for Seek God For The City 2009. We read these every morning of City Lights and they are great for helping guide us in prayer for the various needs in the city. Here is a sample page.
]]>I'm interested in this because one of my friends/mentors said this really impacted his view of God as a missional God.
The 16 core ideas are:
1. God initiates and advances work in history to accomplish His purpose.
2. God calls His people to join Him in fulfilling His purpose.
3. God's purpose is to bless all peoples so that Christ will be served and glorified among all peoples.
4. God accomplishes His purpose by triumphing over evil in order to rescue and bless people and to establish His kingdom rule throughout the earth.
5. The Bible is a unified story of God's purpose.
6. God's work in history has continuity and will come to an ultimate culmination.
7. The Christian movement has brought about positive social transformation.
8. The mission task can and will be completed.
9. The world's population can be viewed in terms of people groups.
10. The progress of world evangelization can be assessed in terms of church-planting movements within people groups.
11. Completing the mission task requires the initiation and growth of church-planting movements that follow social avenues of influence.
12. Completing the task requires effective cross-cultural evangelism that follows communication patterns within cultures.
13. Completing the task requires strategic wholism in which community development is integrated with church planting.
14. Completing the task requires collaborative efforts of churches and mission agencies from diverse cultures and traditions.
15. God calls His people to embrace strategic sacrifice and suffering with Christ in order to accomplish His global purpose.
16. By participating in the world Christian movement, every believer can find a way to live with vital, strategic significance in God's global purpose.
It is going to be held at Memorial Presbyterian Church Monday nights, 6:30-9:30 pm. (I'm sure exact dates will be coming soon.)
Also, I found the link for Seek God For The City 2009. We read these every morning of City Lights and they are great for helping guide us in prayer for the various needs in the city. Here is a sample page.
]]>Blogs of interest:
10 Links a Day
Cake Wrecks
You Covered Me -Donald Lawrence
I could have lost my mind
Wanted to give up so many times
But God was my anchor
A consistent way maker
Yes I'm grateful, God covered me
Well the enemy came against me
Attach my body and my ministry
But what God ordains
He will maintain
I'm grateful, He covered me
You covered me
Hand of protection was all around me
If not for your grace and your mercy
Thank you Lord, you covered me
I felt so many times
But your love divine
You touched this soul of mine
And restored me
You covered me
Hand of protection, all around me
If not for your grace and your mercy
Thank you lord, you covered me
You covered me
Hands of protection around me
Your grace and mercy
Covered me
I could have lost my mind
Wanted to quit many times
But God, what you ordain
I'm a witness, you will maintain
You covered me
Hands of protection around me
Your grace and mercy
Covered me
You can listen to it here- (it's the first song)
I got the lyrics here.
Here are others that are encouraging:
"I Understand" by Smokie Norful
"Never Could Have Made It" by Marvin Sapp
The pics are from this site.
So, this is a fun paper happy video...
Finally, in my randomness post I just watched Evan Almighty... cool movie... but I'm not 100% in agreement with how we change the world --- random acts of kindness. Thankfully, God is very intentional in what He does and He wants us to be, too... but it is a good movie for discussion (like this, for example) and the animals are cute!
Oh and I'm super excited about the weekend. Sarah and Kirk and family plus Chioma and me are going to Chattanooga, TN for a Urban Worship Symposium/PCA Urban Ministry Seminar at New City Fellowship Chattanooga. I'm pumped to fellowship with other musicians and learn more about leading worship. Plus, I've never been to NCF Chattanooga and finally am getting a chance to go!
One more thing. I love free stuff, as many of you know. I found RFT has a free stuff section on their website.
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I had a lovely time at the Fesival of Nations this weekend. I helped out at the IRWP booth, ate some yummy food: Indian, Iisraeli, Argentinian and had some wonderful Thai Coffee. I meet a lot of people, many potential English tutors. I also got to hang out with some friends from church and enjoy some Polynesian, Filipino, and Korean music and dance.
I also visited a few different booths: COCA, Field of Plenty, Christian Friends of New Americans, Mitrata-Nepal Foundation , City of St. Louis Refuse Division, and Lead Safe St. Louis. I bought a few Wheat Bio Coffee packets as well. I also found a DVD about Jesus in about 16 different Middle Eastern languages from All Nation's DVD Series!
Oh and I got the website for another festival! There is going to be a South Asian Heritage Fair on September 7th.
]]>Pouring In
Scuba Cat
So this week I drove four elementary kiddos to their first day of school. We talked a bit about the excitement of the first day and of being a little afraid too, though they didn't really want to admit to it. It was one boys first day of school ever- he is 4. It made me think about when I started school and how scared I was - getting on the bus, having my sister and brother walk me to my class.
As we were driving, we saw multiple police cars, a young-ish guy in handcuffs, and a police officer searching this guy's trunk. The older boy commented that they were looking for a weapon in this guy's trunk and explained this to the younger boy.
So this is what these kids see as they go to school. It makes me think of what I saw... a field, maybe some of our neighbors and a tractor or two.... never a guy getting arrested and having his trunk searched. Plus, these were not the things my other brother and sister were explaining to me as I went to school for the first time.
]]>Love Letter From God (another version)
I got a free one of these from somewhere cause I know I didn't pay for it. (Maybe I got it from when Julie and Randy moved downstairs...)
I don't really know how to use it but I think it looks really cool. I went to my trusty google search engine to help me out. One of my common phrases lately has been, "just google ___________ ".
So I found out what is: a stove top expresso machine
and how to use it.
untitledsb2.bmp
(from here)
I also saw a link as to how to get cheaper coffee at Starbucks.
untitledbc3.bmp
(from here)
there is so much good stuff here! I see I directions for making my favorite Bosnian coffee!
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