Dancing on Prayer

While we were in the hospital with Eden last summer we began to truly understand the beauty of community prayer and experienced God's touch through His people.

One of those moments was when we received this large prayer scroll. This image will be sealed in my mind and heart until I can remember no more. Friends from our faith community had written encouragement and their prayers on this and sent it to us. We rolled it out in the outside play area on our floor. Then we walked up and down reading the notes, feeling God's presence in the prayers.

But Cadence...she ran up and down and jumped and danced on the orange scroll.

It may be taking this scripture out of confidence, but I felt like this was a "red carpet" to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). I am grateful for our community who walked with us with confidence so that we were able to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Experiencing the Holy Week as a Family

Today is the first day of Holy Week, when we prepare our hearts to remember again Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Here are some suggestions I gave to our teen parents and guardians for experiencing this together as a family. The first two are activities at Stillmeadow and the final three are activities you can do at home.

Go through the Stations of the Cross together. They’re open Monday-Thursday from 6PM-9:30PM and on Good Friday from 9:30AM-9:30PM.

Attend the Passion Play together. Remix is going to the Passion Play on Tuesday. Feel free to join us in this!

Read Scripture Together

a. Monday: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 36:5-11, John 12:1-11

b. Tuesday: Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 71:1-14, John 12:20-36

c. Wednesday: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 70, John 13:21-32

d. Maundy Thursday: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19, John 13:1-17, 31b-35

e. Good Friday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22, John 18:1-19:42

f. Holy Saturday: Job 14:1-14, Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16, Matthew 27:57-66

I found these scriptures neatly laid out here.

Have a special family meal on Thursday Night, remembering Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. Read Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 (explanation of Passover Feast) and Matthew 26:17-30 (the Last Supper).

Traditionally the church has kept Friday and Saturday as days of quiet remembrance. Invite your family into quietness. Stay at home on Saturday or go to a park together. Watch a movie at the end of the day. Relax.

What are some traditions that you do?

And I quote...Tom Smail

Tom Smail in The Giving Gift where he explores the personhood of the Holy Spirit. What he says here has vast implications for the unity of missional and cruciform living.

"...think of the Spirit much more personally and creatively as an artist whose one subject is the Son, and who is concerned to paint portraits of that subject on countless human canvases using the paints and brushes provided by countless human cultures and historical situations. On such an analogy the Christological center is fully affirmed and maintained. It is Jesus, the incarnate Son of the Father, and no other that the Spirit seeks to portray. Each portrait is successful and creative, not because it makes of him what he is not, by forming him in our likeness and conforming him to our preferences and predilections, but because it uses ever new cultural approaches and historical situations to bring out more of the infinite variety of saving truth that is in him."

Tom Smail, The Giving Gift, 77

with jesus in the boat you can swim with sharks

As we ate our breakfast this morning Cadence exclaimed, "look daddy! My apples look like boats!"

I replied, "that's crazy!" "No. It's not crazy. It's awesome! Because Jesus was in the boat with his disciples," she retorted.

"Oh yeah..." I say.

With her eyes widening and eyebrows lifted she went on with her story. Raising her arms to the sky, "and the rains came down." Lowering her hands to the ground and lifting them while she spoke, "and the waves came UP!" Waving her arms in circles above her head, "and there were rain clouds sending down water."

"And you know what Jesus did?" She asked excitedly. Without waiting for a reply she went on ending with a yell..."He said to the rain STOP!"

With that flourish she ended her story.

"But what happened after Jesus said that?" I inquired.

"They all fall into the water."

"Who?"

"Jesus and his friends fell into the water and went swimming. And there were SHARKS!"

I love these kinds of stories.

NYC 2011 A World Unbroken

So I get the privilege of leading the Mid-Atlantic Nazarene teens to Nazarene Youth Conference again in 2011. I'm pretty stoked about it. Check out the vid:

I love the theme and am excited to see what God's going to do in the lives of those who take part in this event in Louisville, KY!

Also, the website (www.nyc2011.org) is up and running as well! And you can follow them on twitter and facebook!

www wanderings 02.25.2010

Well, I haven't gotten to post quite like I'd like, but life has been a bit busy. We're moving this week to a place on the east side of York, and we're quite excited to move from our Geico House (see youtube vid for why we call our house this). Yet, we're sad too, because we'll be leaving behind some awesome neighbors...

But I wanted to continue my posting of random links that I have come across that I think are worth sharing.

Global Tacos

I wish I could go to this presentation where a group of students traced all the ingredients from a local taco truck in California all around the world.

Creation and Evolution and Christianity

I have been following Ken Ham's blog on Creationism for the past six months but have wanted to read a blog that is more from the other side of the spectrum as well. So I was glad when he posted his response to the Biologos response to his State of the Nation address. I have to admit I did not fully read his response or listen to the State of the Nation address, but I was glad to find a blog with an alternative Christian approach to Creation and Evolution to subscribe to that I may read (when I have time). And Biologos has two Nazarene professors! The reason I care about hearing both sides of this is because this is a hot issue for many of the teens that I work with. It is helpful to be aware of various Christian approaches to these issues.

Slant33

So, I am excited about some of the things I hear that are happening at Barefoot, the youth ministry wing of Nazarene Publishing House, especially the stuff that I am seeing from Chris Folmsbee. He wrote A New Kind of Youth Ministry, which I have yet to read, but also helped with Shaped By the Story by Michael Novelli, which I have perused and used! (Buy these books from Hearts and Minds! They're independent and great!). But I really like Slant33, which offers "three voices, three views" on various topics relevant to youth ministry. It's quick, easy to read and insightful. Go check it out!

Missionary Remodeling

At first I didn't know where Andrew Jones was going with this post, but then I saw the pictures. Check out the remodeling that he has done with his crew that is traveling through Africa. And we thought we were living in cramped quarters! 13 people sleep in and on this! It's cool to see what people give up and go through in order to bring goodness to the world.

www wanderings 02.17.2010

Lent:

It's Ash Wednesday. If you'd like a scripture guide through the next forty days, you can go here to join what many Christians around the world are engaging with. There are some quality prayers and artwork links as well (the pic on the right came from there). If you're at Stillmeadow, I'd recommend the FaithForward Guide that we are using for our community. We gave it out on Sunday and it's available at the welcome desk.

Stillmeadow's on Twitter!

Our church is checking out what it looks like to be a presence on twitter. We'll see how this goes...but it could be fun. If you want to follow, click here or just go to www.twitter.com/stillnaz.

Child Soldiers and American Slave Trade:

Learned from Project AK-47 (follow on Twitter) that one third of the world's child soldiers are in South East Asia. They say "100,000 kids are carrying machine guns" in this region.

Then Relevant posted a study which showed that Ohio is a major hub in the US for human trafficking. Ohio is our neighbor state! 1000 Americans are forced into labor or the sex trade and "800 immigrants are sexually exploited and pushed into sweatshop-type jobs" just in Ohio! Check out what Doma is doing to protect these people.

Some www wanderings...Francis Chan and Children Labeled 'Bipolar' 02.10.2010

So, I really like Francis Chan. He's the pastor of Cornerstone Church (cool website, btw) in CA, and author of some cool books including an interactive one called Crazy Love (check it out at Amazon, but if you're gonna buy it new, but it from Hearts and Minds). But I don't get to hear him often. Last I heard him was at Nazarene Youth Conference 2007 and that was a blast.

But I stumbled across somebody's sermon notes from his session at Verge2010. My favorite line: "Be courageous – Biblically. Erase what you’ve seen everywhere else – and just go to the Bible. Don’t just go around to other patterns – to tweak what other people are doing. Have the courage to read the Bible and do what it says."

I also heard that Flannel (the guys who do Rob Bell's Nooma's) is putting out a new series featuring Francis Chan! I'm looking forward to these and will most likely feature them in our Sunday morning format with our teens!

In other news: the diagnosis for children who show symptoms of bipolar is being reconsidered. It will be interesting to see how this plays out...In between all the posts on this crazy winter weather, I found this post.

WILAS (What I Love About Snow)!

So, I went to Florida last week and missed "Snowmaggedon" (check out the other names suggested for this), but arrived in time for this week's crazy storm. I know some folks aren't too keen on the abundance of snow, the coldness that accompanies it and the treacherous driving conditions that it provides, but I am a huge fan of snow! So here's a quick list, not in any order of What I Love About Snow:

Most of the time it's edible.

It's like a blanket.

You can make an igloo with it.

It can be formed into a throwing object.

It's flakes travel miles just to land.

It melts into icicles.

It can shut down entire cities.

It makes people drive slow.

You can sled on it. (And make ramps with it!)

Snow Angels!

It floats to the ground.

Snow Forts!

My sister tells awesome stories!

So, while I've been away from the blog world, my sister has joined and is lighting it up with her stories. She tells of her experience in Cambodia in a way that makes you feel like you're there with her, or at least wish you were. Her descriptions of life in Cambodia are vivid and easily evoke the imagination. And her stories of the "little knee-highs" that she teaches range from hilarious to heart-wrenching. Somehow she always finds a way for the stories to connect with her growing faith, and I love it.

I love her most recent post on following trucks through traffic.

And her post on what some of her kids say is hilarious.

And her first post on traffic is great!

So if you have a heart for good stories and international (for us US citizens) mission work, subscribe to Susan at http://misskfeldinpp.wordpress.com.

Keep up the writing, sis.

Thoughts on and for Haiti

Much has been written and has yet to be written about the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti and the beauty of the responses to the needs that have come out of this crisis.

90999

I am curious to see what future commentators will have to say about the impact of technology on donations. The ability to donate $10 through your phone bill is ingenius. It's as easy as texting "Haiti" to 90999. What about those of us who pay our bills with credit? Or what about those kids who did it without asking their parents who pay their bill? I'm not suggesting that it's immoral, just curious.

Dear Pat

When Pat Robertson made his famous remarks that this earthquake was an act of God against the Haitian people because of the nation's pagan history the Twitter world went crazy. But I think this mock letter from Satan to Pat is worth reading. Thanks to Byron Borger at Hearts and Minds for bringing this to my attention.

Ethics of Disaster and Looting

I had never considered this an area of study, but this post on NPR by Anita Allan is a good intro. This may answer my questions in the 90999 section. Even if you don't read the article, the slide show by David Gilkey (the NPR photographer, not the shirtless model you'll find when you google his name) is provocative enough.

T-Shirts for Disaster Relief

Threadless is one of my favorite sites on the internet, and once again they prove why. Check out the shirts they're selling to benefit those in need in Haiti. Now buy one for yourself and one for your friend. Shirts, ink...all donated so the proceeds can go directly to Haiti relief with the American Red Cross.

How it happened...

Some people are curious how these things happen. Check out this brief explanation of the scientific reasons.

Let us continue

In prayer and support for the victims of this tragedy. God's heart is breaking with those mourning and is rejoicing at the response of goodness to his children.

Back in the swing...

So, it's been too long since my last post. 8 months, actually. Much has happened in life...many new thoughts, some new friends, a crisis or two, some faith-challenging and growing experiences. But my friend Doug (of Eikon fame) has encouraged me to get back into the blogging world.

Since I am taking off a semester at NTS and don't have to be on Moodle (a free version of BlackBoard) this spring time, I should have some space for adding thoughts to this wonderful thing deemed the blogosphere.

In my time away I have spent too much time listening to music on Pandora. Yeah, it's been around a while, but once I figured out how to design my own station, I was set.

I've also enjoyed downloading free indie music singles from Stranger Dance. My sister in law showed me where to get a free download of Devotcha's How it Ends, once there I got turned on to the music of The Dodo's, Bibio, MGMT, Passion Pit, J. Tillman, and more. Good stuff for studying...very chill...folkish...

Prayer may reshape your brain...hmmm

"The more you focus on something ? whether that's math or auto racing or football or God ? the more that becomes your reality, the more it becomes written into the neural connections of your brain," Newberg says.

This may sound obvious, but read the article for more.

Check out the rest of this article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104310443&ft=1&f=1001

What Jesus Thought of Humanity

?In all Jesus? contacts with people never did He show a condescending attitude or think of man as ?mere man.? To him they all seemed savable. His deep respect for each person no matter who he might be, how evil he might be, what his response was to Jesus, did not show a hint of a ?superior complex.? The very anger He displayed toward some, the whip He wiled in the Temple, all said in effect, ?You are My equal. My anger shows My respect for you. Now, be the man you can be and ought to be.? He never forced himself on anyone. He did not call any man to Him under false pretenses?promising an easier yoke than would be the case. He called men to die with Him. He tried to push back all self-deception and faced men with what they were in themselves. He made people think for themselves?and think honestly. All this is Jesus? estimate of man.?

Mildred Bangs Wynkoop A Theology of Love 128.

listening...

it does the soul some good

Salvation: Deliverance, Restoration, Recovery

Wesley's definition of salvation: "not barely, according to the vulgar notion, deliverance from hell, or going to heaven; but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy, and truth."

From his "A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion" Works 8:47

Go there

This is a blog post from a word document. I'm just trying it out.

Facial Reactions

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/26/bitter-disgust-brain.html

Here's an interesting study done that shows that people have the same physical reaction to morally and physically disgusting things.

What does it say that our faces react the same way?

Holy, Holy, Holy

It is "holy, holy, holy" that the angels shout -- not "loving, loving, loving."

Certainly he is loving, but it is a dangerous love. The kind that breaks the bow and shatters the spear. Yes, John said "God is love," but he is also perfect and just.

To stand in awe of him is to recognize his holiness in all its glory -- spiky, gentle, strong and sturdy.

check out the funny dance moves!

Check out the new kids movement in the middle. Silly bizilly!