Happy Holland

What's Holland, MI got that most other cities don't? Miniature windmills, snowstorms, tulips, and apparently, a whole lot of happy people. When the town was listed as one of the happiest in the United States, ABC News ventured to find a reason for all the smiles. After all, we are talking about Michigan. The answer they found was quite beautiful. Check out the video below:

What a refreshing example of local churches truly playing the role it should be playing within its cities. To bring Christ's love to every home! The Bible is very clear that kind actions alone cannot save the human soul (Ephesians 2:8-9). But in it, God also declares that faith without actions, is flat out phony (James 2:7). Well, the citizens of Holland, MI are reaping what they are sowing (2 Corinthians 9:6): joy.

I Am Second

One of the coolest things I was blessed with last Christmas was a copy of the Glo Bible software (thanks bela) we showed you here. And one of the most interesting things it does is link key scriptures and themes to web video and article content. It was through Glo that I first ran into IAmSecond.com, but since then I've had a few more friends send me some of their videos. Here's one of many, featuring former-Korn guitarist Brian Welch:

Honest stories can be so striking, and IAmSecond.com seem to understand that so well. The simplicity of their videos are so refreshing because they remove all of the "distractions" away and strip the whole thing down to a real person and their real life. Their videos and mission are worth checking out, and I honestly believe that they can impact you and others' lives dramatically. Most importantly, I hope it inspires us to be desperately real with God. After all, He is seeking those who worship Him in "Spirit and in Truth". He's not interested in the "flawless" mask we wear to society. Glad to see so many willing to take the mask off.

Kudos!

Changing Christmas

Traffic jams, shopping stress, mall rushes, visiting relatives, wrapping gifts...too much to do, not enough time. Or money. Has the Christmas season lost it's original purpose? Has the story of Christ's birth been forgotten and replaced with a gift exchanging holiday without real meaning? Ok, maybe that's pushing it. After all, even though exchanging gifts during Christmas is not a tradition originated by the early church, it is one that has always blessed many (check out this Relevant Magazine article for more on that). But who hasn't wondered whether everything we do during this time of the year are really contributing to celebrating the coming of our Savior? While many of us are out buying and receiving gifts, millions of people around the world continue to starve for the very basic needs.

But it doesn't have to be a downward spiral, specially if it's up to the folks from Advent Conspiracy. "It takes a lot of patience to say there's a different way - Christmas doesn't have to be like this," said one youth pastor who joined the movement. The idea is simple: spend and rush less, so you can give gifts that are more meaningful to those you love, and give more to causes around the world. Check out the video:

And the fight doesn't stop there. The group is also hoping that Christians will stop spending so much time trying to force the secular world to remember the 'reason for the season'. As a pastor from Portland explained on this Yahoo article, "Christians get all bent out of shape over the fact that someone didn't say 'Merry Christmas' when I walked into the store. But why are we expecting the store to tell our story? That's just ridiculous." In other words, it's our job to tell the story of Jesus, not theirs. So instead of protesting the world for being the world, let's spend more time being the church we are called to be.

So this Christmas, ask yourself. Are the traditions you are holding on to helping spread the true story of Christmas, or the story of consumerism? Hopefully, more of us will do as the shepherds did after they saw Jesus, and tell all we know about the Savior Christ:

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. - Luke 2:16-18

Holding on to the Silence?

After a week of silence...facing the noise of everyday life can be a bit overwhelming. Anybody else notice the same thing? Depending on what you chose to let go of for a week your story might be different, but I know that I have been hesitant to jump back into the things I let go. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it’s a little weird…I’m not exactly sure yet. But I know I don’t want to be distracted from His presence, because I’ve enjoyed it more than anything. And oddly enough I think after Sunday night most of us kind of enjoyed the challenge.

This song was sent to me a few weeks ago from a friend and with the transition of giving up music and radio for a week this song has been a blessing to listen to. I’ve heard some comments and have experienced it myself that after giving up the radio and/or music and trying to turn it back on after a week was a bit strange. Meaning that after the week of silence, I just as quickly turned off the radio as soon as I turned it on. But this song “I Will Exalt You” by Hillsong from their newest album “Faith+Hope+Love”, has helped me to continue to worship without the distractions of the noise of this world around me. Check it out, maybe you’ll hear it one day at Rooted...and if you dare, try giving up all music and the radio for a week…you might hear and notice some things you never have before.

Good vs Bad Prayer

Yet again, another great look at Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest. This one is from August 28th, entitled, What's The Good Prayer?.

"Lord, teach us to pray." Luke 11:1

It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray; I question it. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. "

Ask and ye shall receive." We grouse before God, we are apologetic or apathetic, but we ask very few things. Yet what a splendid audacity a childlike child has! Our Lord says - "Except ye become as little children." Ask, and God will do. Give Jesus Christ a chance, give Him elbow room, and no man will ever do this unless he is at his wits' end. When a man is at his wits' end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get into touch with Reality. Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits' end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

It is not so true that "prayer changes things" as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man's disposition. '

God? You there?

I've learned that during my weakest times, I've been most encouraged by knowing that others get discouraged too. There is a powerful "healing" process from sharing our pain with others who are hurting. Far too often we all walk around playing unrealistic perfect roles, claiming to never doubt, never hurt, never break. When in fact, all of those things happen to all of us. Take the people on the video below. Although they are all typically assumed to have had perfect faith in God, they've had their weaker moments too:

So next time you cry out, "God, can you hear me??", remember you're not alone. What differentiates frustration with hopelessness is the ability to praise God even when He doesn't seem to be there. I don't think David ever finished a Psalm without praising God, even if it started as a cry of frustration (Psalm 13, Psalm 22, Psalm 69). Trust in God, no matter what. But don't pretend you are made of steel. Only those who know how low they are can be picked up:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6

Credit for the video goes to Central Christian Church, in Vegas as a opening video to a message series called Torn.

Rusty Treasures

Just ran into this great series of photography collection by Troy Paiva called Lost America (via BOOOOOOOM).

And like any good art is purposed to do, it got me thinking... Everything we own, no matter how expensive or long-lasting it is, will at some point become junk. You car, your home, your clothes, your furniture, your parent's furniture you've been borrowing for 3 years, your starbucks, your money, your snuggies, your favorite side of the bed, your basketball, your remote... all junk.

The truth hit me even harder when I saw two cars drive by: One was a big black new luxury SUV. The driver was wearing a button up shirt, talking on his bluetooth and looking confident. The second was an older car, with a faded paint job. The drive looked tired and was wearing simple clothes. Our society will quickly rank Mr SUV on a higher level than Mr Blue Collar, but honestly, what has one achieved more than the other? Fifty years from now, the reality is that most likely, both of those cars will be in a junkyard somewhere. Maybe even on top of each other. Hmm.

We live our entire lives chasing material things. But in the end, those very material things can do nothing to prolong our lives, make us happier or secure an eternity with God. Yeah, we talked about all this during the VANITY Series, but it's probably one of the most important truths we can ever remember. That's why Jesus emphasized so well...

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:19-20

So, next time you think of your material possessions, thank God for them, but never let them rule your heart. Instead, seek God above all things and do ALL things to glorify Him. Life doesn't end here...let's live for a never-fading eternity, and not just for a rusting tomorrow.

Quit Sin

You'd think that quitting sinning is easy. Christ made it all possible after all, didn't He?

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." - 1 John 3:9

But what do our real lives look like? Are we still slipping over and over again on the same spot, re-doing the same things we always regret? What are we doing wrong?? Do not panic, you are not alone. In fact, people have been asking themselves those same questions for thousands of years. Read so for yourself:

Click here to read the article

This famous article by Charles Finney, called "How To Overcome Sin" was published in 1874 but is still a real picture of what many of us go through, and is worth the read. Always remember, hope is in Him alone. And what an everlasting hope it is...

"READ ME"

Well it was our first week back to Rooted since our wedding and I must say we’ve missed it and we’ve missed you! But we’ve had an awesome first few weeks of married life!!! Anyhow…last night was week 3 of our “Re-Do” series. Real People. Real Stories. Unforgettable Lessons, and for 6 weeks (3 down already) we’ll been bringing in special guests to share. Last night Pastor Scott & Connie LelaCheur were those special guests and I wanted to recap a little bit in regards to their message. What was on their heart to share, and to really drill into our heads, was that if they could Re-Do anything it would be to have been in the Word more when they were our age.

I don’t know about you, but let’s be honest…with the craziness of life, starting classes, moving away to school, finishing your degree, starting grad school, endlessly searching for a job, losing jobs, working 6 underpaid-over-worked jobs, volunteer work, and squeezing a social life in on top of all that, doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for digging into the Word. But as I continue to walk through developing friendships, relationships and now my married life, I am learning the true importance to communication. We’ll be discussing more of communication soon in Rooted, but until then let’s touch on it for a second in the sense of His Word.

One of my favorite scriptures that I remember learning in children’s church is Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” Now even as I look back at how fast high school came and went, college came and went, and now in the middle of my career and beginning life as a wife, I am overwhelmed at how life flies by. But despite the whirlwind, God’s Word is stable and will be forever according to this scripture. Really understanding that, is enough for me to desire to get myself immersed into His Word. But always remember just because those HUGE mile markers in our lives come and go, the Word of God will never fade away. The question is, will we abandon it? Will we fade away because of the distractions of “life”?

So just as I found myself challenged last night, I challenge you to walk this path with all of us and let's dig into His Word together! Let’s work on our communication with God by reading His Words to us. Let’s not fade away…

If you are not sure what to read here are a few good choices that Pastor Scott & Connie recommended:

New Living Translation Study Bible (with Hebrew & Greek translation)

Tale of Three Kings
By: Gene Edwards

Facing Your Gaints
By: Max Lucado

Just Like Jesus
By: Max Lucado

This Present Darkness
By: Frank Peretti

Revolution: Story of the Early Church
By: Gene Edwards

The Bait of Satin
By: John Bevere

For the girls:
Beauty By The Book
By: Nancy Stafford

Over And Over Again

As usual, I'm still catching up on my devotional. A few days ago I read July 31st's entry on Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest and it reminded me of the Re-Do series. Check it out:

' "Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect." James 1:4

Many of us are all right in the main, but there are some domains in which we are slovenly. It is not a question of sin, but of the remnants of the carnal life which are apt to make us slovenly. Slovenliness is an insult to the Holy Ghost. There should be nothing slovenly, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God.

Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the external expression of that relationship must be right. Ultimately God will let nothing escape, every detail is under His scrutiny. In numberless ways God will bring us back to the same point over and over again. He never tires of bringing us to the one point until we learn the lesson, because He is producing the finished product. It may be a question of impulse, and again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to the one particular point; or it may be mental wool-gathering, or independent individuality. God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right.

We have been having a wonderful time this Session over the revelation of God's Redemption, our hearts are perfect towards Him; His wonderful work in us makes us know that in the main we are right with Him. "Now," says the Spirit, through St. James, "let your endurance be a finished product." Watch the slipshod bits - "Oh, that will have to do for now." Whatever it is, God will point it out with persistence until we are entirely His. '

Paul Washer Preaching

I received this video in an email, thought I should share it with you guys..

This is truth, God help us be more like Jesus Christ.

Run For Your Life

Hey you guys, I just got an email that had this video attached to it. Hope you enjoy it.



What do you think?

Call Him

My grandparents are in from Brazil to visit my family, and brought this little devotional from their church that is worth sharing. Take your time and read it, cause I took my time to translate it, lol:

Could you imagine what would happen if we treated our Bibles the same way we treat our cell phones?

What if we always carried our Bible in our pocket or purse? If we took it out and looked at it several times a day? If we turned around and drove back home or to the office if we forgot it there? If we used it to send messages to our friends? If we treated it as if we couldn't live without them? If we gave them to our children as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? If we picked it up as soon as an emergency occurred?

On the other hand, the Bible never loses signal. It works everywhere. There's no need to worry about running out of minutes or credits, because Jesus already paid the bill, and the plan will last forever. And the best part: the calls never drop and the battery lasts a lifetime.

"Seek the LORD while He may be found;

call on Him while He is near." - Isaiah 55:6

On it we can find a few emergency numbers:

When you are sad, call John 14

When people talk about you, call Psalm 27

When you are nervous, call Psalm 51

When you are worried, call Matthew 6:19,34

When you are in danger, call Psalm 91

When God seems distant, call Psalm 63

When your faith needs to be recharged, call Hebrews 11

When you are alone and scared, call Psalm 23

When you become critical and defensive, call 1 Corinthians 13

To find the secrets of happiness, call Colossians 3:12

When you feel lonely and sad, call Romans 8:31-39

When you want peace and rest, call Matthew 11:25-30

When the world seems bigger than God, call Psalm 90

Pass this on to your contacts... Maybe one of these emergency numbers can save a life.

We Must Suffer

Ran into this clip by a great group out of San Antonio called I'll Be Honest. It's one of John Piper's messages + some sweet cinematographical video editting. Deep:

John Piper - You Must Suffer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo

Suffering... not one of our favorite words, but according to The Word, something we should actually be happy to go through. Looking back a few weeks within Dirt Heart we will remember that just as the sun is good for plants, so is suffering and trials good to our Spiritual growth... of course though, we must always be constantly drawing life from the Spirit, otherwise these sufferings will destroy us just as the sun destroys a plant with not water. Are you ready to suffer? It is the only way to grow...

The Big Picture

Wow... incredible image & message. Via Hillsong United.

Knowing & Doing

Yesterday's devotional from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest book turned out to be a great compliment to Rooted's current study of the Parable of The Sower, aka, the Dirt Heart Series. As we realized that hearing the Word of God and not doing anything with it is just as much of a waste as a planted seed that doesn't produce fruit (Matthew 13:11-17), Chambers' also noted the importance of doing what you know. To him, just knowing is like a boat that never leaves the harbor...

"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." John 13:17

If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and you will get your eyes open. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbour bar, full of delight, but always moored; you have to get out through the harbour bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more. Revise where you have become stodgy spiritually, and you will find it goes back to a point where there was something you knew you should do, but you did not do it because there seemed no immediate call to, and now you have no perception, no discernment; at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-possessed. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to go on knowing.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you work up occasions to sacrifice yourself; ardour is mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfil your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is a great deal better to fulfil the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "To obey is better than sacrifice." Beware of harking back to what you were once when God wants you to be something you have never been. "If any man will do . . . he shall know."

How To Pray

This one is a re-post out of Pr Carey Robinson's tumblr, who most of you probably know from Zion's youth camps a few years back. Pretty cool reminder on how to pray, based on Jesus Christ's own instructions. Sweet design too...

It's Spring!

Last year, almost around this exact same time of the year, I was driving home from work and was stopped at a stop light over by the Big Beaver and Coolidge area. While I was stopped I instantly began to recognize the color change and the spring season sprouting, almost like I saw it transform before my eyes. I always knew that the colors would change from the ugly browns, to a fresh green, and that the dried up soil would become moist again. But as I was looking around my eye began to catch the very vibrant hues that I never took time to notice before. I saw neon green tiny sprouts on the trees, the breathtaking fresh fluffy white buds on the trees, the small low sunshine yellow bushes that peak through all the other greenery and last the long whispering branches of lilac purple colored trees that peered through the brown trunks of the other trees.

Well again this morning as I was driving to work, I was stopped at the corner of Adams and University, and I looked at the huge empty field by Oakland University which is surrounded by a forest of trees. I began to see the smallest of the trees sprouting their little green leafs, even before most of older, taller, aged trees, that look as though they have been there longer. But I knew right away the larger trees would be sprouting soon enough as well. But I was really taken back by the beauty of even just one of the smallest trees peaking through…and I began to think of my weakness and lack of experience, or simply just insecurities. I began to feel probably as though David felt when he was told he would be King. But then I realized that if the smaller trees that were suppose to sprout first, never sprouted, would the others trees still sprout? Would the older trees still have purpose?

So I’m not sure where you are today, but I think I realized that despite my “roles” or “insecurities” I am still called to be the one who sprouts with a fresh neon green color….and to be the Light of the World. So always remember that the age you are at right now, our young adult generation, is full of strength and inspiration to teach and plant new seeds for the younger ones and even more so, to inspire as well as learn from the older generations around you. HAPPY SPRING!

The Spontaneity Of Love

The VANITY! Series has come to a close. What a great journey it has been! And after 12 weeks of deep diving in the book of Ecclesiastes, we were left with an important question that is not touched so often: do we really love the Lord our God? Last night I was catching up on my current devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers, and ran across his thoughts on loving God:


" 'Love suffereth long, and is kind . . .' 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of mathematical certainty in Paul's category of love. We cannot say - 'Now I am going to think no evil; I am going to believe all things.' The characteristic of love is spontaneity. We do not set the statements of Jesus in front of us as a standard; but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard with out knowing it, and on looking back we are amazed at the disinterestedness of a particular emotion, which is the evidence that the spontaneity of real love was there. In everything to do with the life of God in us, its nature is only discerned when it is past.

The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally, it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we do not love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, it comes naturally. In looking back we cannot tell why we did certain things, we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God manifests itself in this spontaneous way because the springs of love are in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 5:5.) "

Go Outside

Just a reminder that today is Earth Day. And although we should never worship nature itself (Romans 1:24-25), we should always thank its Creator for His amazing masterpiece. Try it! If you observe His creation long enough, you won't be able to come up with an excuse to not praise Him (Romans 1:20). So put your cell phone, laptop, TV remote and XBOX controller down and in the words of Robbi Seay, "go outside, and praise the God who mapped the stars out in the sky".

click here to hear Go Outside, by Robbie Seay Band