Obedience and vulnerability

So, when I looked up the word 'cry', and found a bunch of different purposes for tears...confession, healing, rescue/deliverance, intercession, prophecy and dicipline....can you imagine crying out to God daily? Like, literally crying?? Tears aren't always bad, that's for sure.
What about times where people don't cry? Where they've numbed out all feeling?
Sometimes when you've been hurt the tendency is to harden your heart so you'll never be hurt again...but the only result of hardening your heart is to turn into a cold, numb, arrogant, beligerant dumb-face who steps over other people to get their own way, increasing the number of hurt-hardened people in the world.
I don't want to be a bully, and I don't want to be one who gives in to the mentality that tears are for 'weak' people. Soft, maybe. But weak? NEVER!
Three teens came to the alter this sunday morning in tears and in prayer. Now, that takes courage! There was no invitation to come, no one railing from the pulpit about various sins that would dash their souls to the pit of hell. We were simply worshipping God, and people were moved by the Spirit, and felt His leading to come forward and do business with the LORD. Now THAT'S obedience. Praise the LORD.

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To OBEY is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" 1 Sam 15:22

please comment.

Here's a question for you....how do you know the difference between carrying someone else's burdens, and dealing with your own?
How do you move from sitting in the muck and emotions of it all, and sifting through all of that to get to the truth of the matter?
When/why do YOU cry?

Confession
"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:9

Accountability/Healing
"But if you confess to one another and pray for one another, you will be HEALED" James 5:16

Salvation/Rescue
"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry [did enter] into his ears." 2 Sam 22:7

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, [even] into his ears." Psalm 18:6

Intercession
"And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines." 1 Samuel 7:8

"The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their cry." Psalm 34:15

Prophecy
"The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All men are like grass, and all the goodliness thereof are like the flowers of the field...The grass withers, and the flower falls: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Isaiah 40:6,8

"So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy." Zec 1:14

Discipline
"Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily." Psalm 86:3

Youth Councils- part two

actually, I don't know what else to write. I just had a part one, so I figured I'd better have a part two as well....the Body is good. Spiritual gifts are to build up the Body....let's start using them! Encourage one another. Call one another. Visit one another. Pray for one another. Love one another.
It might look like driving a friend to work when their car breaks down.
It might look like inviting someone over for dinner, or a tv show, or just to hang out.
It might look like sending a funny e-card over the net.
It might look like randomly jumping on someone who's in one of those 'moody-don't-touch-me' slumps.
Or asking them how they're really doing....and waiting until they answer.
That's what we've been up to around here.
I keep realizing how much I need other Christians around me, and it's good. Uncomfortable at times, but a good kind of uncomfortable.
End of sermon!

Youth Councils-part one

Okay, so anyone who hasn't heard about Youth Councils yet is officially out of the loop.....it was awesome! I thought I would have written on it earlier, but haven't been able to yet. And I'm not sure I'm able to now, either. But if you check out Alberta's blog or Sean's blog or Monsieur Douglas Burr's blog you can get a pretty fair cross-section of the weekend. I'm telling you, the LORD showed up, and it was amazing!
Already, we are seeing signs of the enemy trying to steal kill and destroy what was accomplished this weekend, but the people of Bangor are NOT WILLING to let Satan get the upper hand (Hallelujah!....no, no, it should be HALLELUJAH!! ...that's better.)
There was some serious intercession happening in the morning on Saturday, which I've never really been able to do in a 'normal' worship setting before....always too concerned with what other people are doing, or what they might think of me as I'm doing whatever it is the LORD is trying to get me to do....this time there was no sqashing it, and I had friends in prayer around me who saw that it was good. (Which is always helpful when you're stepping out in something you've never really done before!) The weekend was a real learning experience for me of how much we need the Body (other people who know Jesus) to work together to sort out what He's doing and what our parts are in that.
Saturday night was frustrating for a lot of us, because we didn't allow the Spirit to do what He wanted to do...but Sunday morning there was no stopping Him. God showed up in a very real way, and we did DAMAGE in the enemy's camp...I'm telling you, it was awesome!
We're going to talk through what the LORD was saying on Sunday, so any of you who were there, make sure you SHOW UP on Sunday. We need your perspective, in order to get the best picture of what took place this weekend. Deal? Deal!

Children and Childlikeness

Joel and Denise come to Bangor today. (Woo hoo!)
Yesterday I learned that Alberta is an amazing cook! We've decided that she should cook more often. Pot roast and squash and mashed potatoes, oh my! (fresh-baked rolls, carrots, gravy and fruit salad, too.)We were so stuffed we went for a walk around her block, and enjoyed the sun a bit before coming back in for peanutbutter brownies and ice cream....so much good food, and good company! I got to try my hand at her mom's favorite computer game, and listen to her dad's military stories, and pet the bunny.
Saturday I went over to the Mackay house and played with Brianna and all the other kids outside....I'd forgotten all the chaos of having a big family, so this weekend was an awesome refresher! Kids are amazing, and I love listening to how they see the world....they grow up way too fast, and somewhere between 6 and 14 lose that spark of wonder for learning and growing. One of my life goals has been to stay childlike forever. (Note that I said childlike and not childish!) Something passed on from my mom that I want to keep. So for those of you who like lists, here's another one:

The TOP 10 benefits of being childlike forever:
10) living in the "now". (an honest sense of wonder and adventure at every one of life's new turns)

9) insatiable optimism and fearlessness.

8) willingness to try new things. (I've always been amazed at how quickly children will pick up new songs, and skills....they see someone else doing it, so they do it...since when did we adults try to make everything so hard?)

7) willingness to forgive.

6) willingness to trust.

5) quest for knowledge. (I bet everyone remembers all those "but why...?" questions!)

4) energy and excitement that never seems to run down. ("again! again!")

3) mountain-moving faith. (God said it. I believe it. Let's live it.)

2) simplicity in thought.(My nephew's a great one for this. When I told him I missed him, he said, "I know." When I asked him how he knew, he said "because I know you, and you like chocolate. Do you want to talk to my mom now?"....what a kid!)

1) simplicity in love, and loving hard. (I've had so many gifts from my niece in my apartment that she made just for me...and they all have a special seat of honor there...except the chocolates, because I ate those!)


I think the last one is the reason Jesus told us to look to the children as our examples of how to live and love. May I be forever childlike. May childlikeness become a contagious desease in the church, that no one can help but to laugh and love and cherish every moment they have with the people around them at any given moment. Amen.

THE CRY 2

Okay, so I just found out about something that is coming to Ottawa, called THE CRY. It's actually some people that are coming to Ottawa...people like you. And me. It's an opportunity for Christians across Canada to come together and pray for our nation.
July 15th, Parliament Hill....BE THERE!!
This is an opportunity to come together and make a stand to our government as ONE VOICE, and I'm telling you, it's gonna be good! (and it's free.)

Even if all you want to do is check out the crazy "Oh Canada" rap at the end of the promo, or watch the event when it's being webcast, get informed on what's happening and be a part of what God's doing with His church in Canada!
http://www.4mycanada.ca/Cry2/CryDetails.html

Let me introduce you...

My friend and warrior Clarice came up with the same question that's been nagging me since I moved in to Bangor...."In big cities, there are people standing with signs asking for food or money, but here we don't have that. The only place I can think of here in Bangor is the soup kitchens. I don't know where else to go." So that's what she does. She goes where she knows she is needed, and visits the people she knows need visitors....and you can never leave Clarice without a word of prayer! She will stop you in your tracks in order to pray with you or for you or for some situation that needs a solution. She is a true soldier in the Salvation Army, busting her butt to see people drawn to the LORD.

It's true. The gospel tells us to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to be a friend to the lonely...but where are they? Where do you start?

Who do you know who is lonely?
Who do you know who is sick?
Who do you know who is hurting?

You may only think of one person, but that person may be the one person Jesus wants YOU to reach out to that no one else knows exists....So, who are they? Where are they? What can YOU do to help? Start with prayer, then when you know the answer, go ahead and DO IT!!

Asking for direction....

Life always seems more exciting when you're driving. Maybe it's 'cause you get the idea that you're going somewhere. I know lots of goood times with friends, when we were driving somewhere together. Sometimes we were going somewhere specific, (the beach, a restaurant, the gas station, a conference, a city, home) other times we were going nowhere in particular, or on the way to our specific destination would get lost along the way.

Since coming to Maine, I've needed to have other people in the car in order to get where I needed to be, because otherwise I'd be lost. I'm still needing to learn how to trust their directions, because sometimes it seems a little different than where I thought I was going in the first place, and I fight with them, trying to convince them that my way's better. But then we get there, and I realize that I had no idea where I was heading after all. (ahem, sorry Bert!)

That's the way I am with God sometimes, too. Fighting with Him on the direction my life is going, trying to force my own way, then finally being obedient and realizing my way would've taken me in totally the opposite direction after all! Slowly, I am learning to ask HIS direction instead of pushing for my own way all the time. Maybe someday I'll let Him drive instead of me....you know, "Jesus take the wheeeeel" and all that. After all, He's the one that knows what's coming, not me!

Sunday

8:00 wake up, roll over, go back to sleep
9:00 wake up again. Tell Bert it's time to get up. Stick my head back under the covers for a few. (Praying for direction for Sunday morning, getting nothing!)
9:15 Get dressed, brush teeth, make breakfast, keep praying, then it comes.
9:50 Drive to corps in time for Sunday School (just barely!)
10:00 Class. We wrote down lies the enemy's been speaking to us, then wrote down words of encouragement and scripture passages for eachother to build us up and help us battle...we found him using the same tactics on most of us....lies saying we were all alone....how can you still be alone in a room full of people? (Satan is so transparent sometimes!)
11:00 Worship. God was there in victory. It was good. Doug spoke on the redpaperclip.blogspot.com (I think that's the addy)....and how the enemy tends to offer us bad trades, but God's in the business of redeeming and reclaiming those bad trades so we can take back what the enemy stole from us. (I couldn't help but hear Xander's voice in my head through that one! "I went to the enemy's camp and took back what he stole from me....he's under my feet, he's under my feet, satan you are under my feet!")
1pm Meeting thingy. The Army wants to see if putting money into advertising campaigns will bring people back to church, so we're getting some moneys to put into that. Brainstorming, etc. Fun Stuff.
3pm (now) Blog.
Later. Go outside, enjoy the sun, call up some people, maybe catch a movie...I have absolutely no idea.

Saturday

5:45 wake up.
7am grocery run and put laundry in the wash
8am wash lettuce, check blog, call Deb, change laundry over
9:15am go to Curves
10:00am Spiritual Warfare weekend with Doug et al.
11:45am run home to take laundry out of the dryer....still wet.
noon meet Patrick, invite him to join us for the afternoon part
2:30pm head up to put the chapel back in order for sunday
3:00pm Alberta, Clarice and I head over to Acadia Hospital to visit Susan, and find Betty's there too, so we sang together, and prayed together, and enjoyed eachother for the afternoon.
5:00pm made dinner for Bert and me.
7:00pm over to Charlie's for a bonfire
12:30am crash

more Bar Harbor pics

This is I think my favorite shot from the whole day. I call it 'Solitude'.


Here's me walking on water....
almost!

You can't see from here, but Heidi was standing on less than three inches of rock ledge in this picture...tres riskee!

Here's the three of us on Cadillac mountain...yes, this was still before we realized we were lost (see the oblivious smiles in the picture!!)

And, last but not least, proof that Aurora truly has a "SWEET" ride!

Bar Harbor pics

Here are the promised Bar Harbor pics! (I had to load each one individually in order for this to work, if anyone's interested....yeah, yeah, boring info.) Me and Heidi doing the beheaded look.



Alberta donning the stolen hoodie. (You're never getting it back, Travis! Seriously, who wears hoodies in the south, anyway?)


Bert and Heidi praising YHWH on a rock


On top of Cadillac mountain....before we realized we were lost!

Post-Script (addendum to Thursday's blog)

after going home and sulking in front of the tv for an hour or three, got a phone call, actually two. One from my dad to touch base and say 'hi', and one from Alberta, who invited me out for a midnight Denny's adventure. She even drove all the way in town so I could shower first. All I can say is that peanutbutter pie at Denny's is amazing! It is soo luxurious, and sweet, and peanutbuttery, and chocolatey, and whip-creamy, mmmmm I'm tasting it all over again! yah. Good stuffs! Did you know you can eat breakfast all day at Denny's? And in the US, Denny's doesn't cost you $12 a plate like it does in Canada. And I stole Berts' fries. They were better than my homemade ones....but I'm still working on them. They will be most excellent in a few tries! (see? I'm not all doom and gloom. There's always things to be happy about...I just don't always feel the need to share.)

Friday

Today I:
slept in until 10:30 and still didn't want to wake up. Had a bunch of 614 songs in my head on the walk to work, kind of like a familiar arm around your shoulder...very comforting!

spent 5 more hours organizing the stupid craft closet....it looks beautiful now, but I'm told the beauty will probably not last too long with all the hands that go in there from week to week...(sigh!)...pulled out the "Army of the Lord" cd, and listened to the prayers of my friends and missed them...Lord, bring me to the place where I can join them again, instead of just miss them.

Travis called again...good timing, as always.

Went to Subway with Al before Powerhouse.

Hung out in the parking lot with Chazz and Jess and Al until kids showed up for our teen centre, then read a few encouraging words from friends like you....thank you, by the way!

Still frustrated at situations that I am powerless to do anything about. I can research and pray and love hard, but still feel often times relatively useless. I wonder if this is a common thing in ministry. You see so much potential for excellence, then the enemy comes and tries to steal it away, and we sit back and let him. NO NO NO! THERE WILL BE NO MORE STEALING OF JOY IN THIS PLACE! THERE WILL BE NO MORE STEALING OF LOVE IN THIS PLACE! THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US, AND WE ARE GLAD! HE IS THE AUTHOR OF LOVE, AND CREATED US TO HONOR HIM AND BRING GLORY TO HIS NAME AND WE WILL DO IT, BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED AND WE ARE EQUIPPED. Even though we don't always FEEL it, the Lord gives us eyes to see things and hope for things and live for the possibility of the things He has promised, and as we continue to step out in faith, He reminds us "I AM THE LORD, AND I WILL DO IT" so we continue to step forward through the desert, keeping our eyes peeled for the springs of water to gush forth in the midst of the wastelands, and WHEN THEY DO, we rejoice, and run to the water, and are refreshed.

Thursday.

Couldn't sleep last night. No one specific in my head to pray for (see Doug's blog) just all over uneasyness through the night. Talked with Doug for hours about 'stuff' and realized we both needed prayer and then went home...what's with that? What happened to when someone needs prayer you pray? maybe that's why I couldn't sleep. Living alone is boring.

This morning: Went to Curves. Worked up a sweat, and it felt good. Sometimes you need to sweat in order to feel like you're accomplishing something.

Lunch: Chatted with Gail. She was really sweet today. No turning me 'off' like she liked to do last summer.

Afternoon: pulled apart the craft closet. It hardly seems like glamourous work, but someone needs to do it. The craft closet is currently all over the nursery floor.

Teens: I had planned to go outside but it seemed more people wanted to veg inside, so that's what we did. The corps got a new couch, so everyone was excited and impressed by the extra seating. The boys played Halo with Doug, and the girls made hemp bracelets and played Truth or Dare. It turned out to be a good thing we stuck around because Travis called, and got put on speaker phone and everyone got to say 'hi'.

Now: I am blogging. it seems like that's all I ever do these days. I am frustrated. Frustrated and tired. Frustrated and tired and bored.....time to get up and do something and find people to be with and do something with, but then again, maybe I'll just run away to Sri Lanka....no, I won't. I know there's a reason I'm here, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. ARGH. Time to get away from computers and tv screens for a while. I'm gonna go find people and be outside.

Wednesday/Blog 150

Mary, Charlie and I got to speak to a group of law enforcement officers today about The Salvation Army. I talked about the global army. They were awesome, and very encouraging.
DOWNPOUR didn't happen last night, yet again. Maybe next week. We did foot spas instead. Very nice. My feet are smelling lovely, and are smooth as butter...plus I found out where all Alberta's ticklish spots were, and Michelle's.

This afternoon we're taking the kids to the bog, and the chapel's being painted so there's no band....so, that's what I'm DOING today.

Kid's memory verse this week:
"And you should follow my example just as I follow Christ's" 1 Cor 11:1

(sidebar)

note to self: stop belittling your experience because it's not as fancy or as 'extreme' or as 'significant' as the next guy. Be yourself. Learn to love the person God created you to be, and if you're not doing what you think you're supposed to be doing, get off your rump and DO IT! ...and don't forget to pay the rent...

Tuesday.

Today I: got a massage (ohh, man, I forgot how great those can be!)
Enjoyed a hot shower (had three days without hot water last week, so still remembering to thank God for that!)
Went out to lunch with Barbara (a very strong woman of God, and a good friend!)
Went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few last-minute items for my prayer-room
dropped in on my favorite lady at Curves
got groceries
checked email
blogged (blogging?? do you have to write in the present tense when that's what you're doing? does anyone really care?)

Tonight I will: make dinner for Alberta and me.
Go to DOWNPOUR and meet some christian young people from other denominations, (maybe one or two who will be up for WINNING THE WORLD FOR JESUS starting in Bangor Maine...maybe one or two who will simply be good friends and prayer-buddies...or dance partners...I wanna learn how to swing dance some day soon.)
drink tea and read my Bible and hang out in my newly swanky prayer space
sleep

Monday.

I'm having some trouble posting any more photos at the moment....Bar Harbor pics will be up sometime soon, though.

We had breakfast for lunch in soup kitchen today. I learned that eggs are pretty near impossible to get off an old pan, and that Patty's a pro at retrieving SOS pads from the disposal unit. She's my hero.

Healing service last night was cool! Mary was healed of diabetes! We will continue to thank God for her healing, and to perservere in prayer for Doug and for Bernie.

Much love, friends.

Your Kingdom Come...

"LORD, we came to you in our distress;
when you disciplined us, we could barely whisper a prayer.
Like a woman ready to give birth wriths and cries in her pain,
SO WERE WE IN YOUR PRESENCE, O LORD.
We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth only to wind.
WE HAVE NOT BROUGHT SALVATION TO THE EARTH;
We have not given birth to people of the world.
BUT YOUR DEAD WILL LIVE;
their bodies will rise,
you who dwell in the dust,
WAKE UP and SHOUT FOR JOY.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth wll give birth to her dead."
Isaiah 26:16-19

"Sing about a FRUITFUL VINYARD
I, the LORD, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that NO ONE may harm it." Isaiah 27:2,3