Asia and Chocolate

Going Deeper

Amazing!

I just got back from a day and a half of some of the best teaching I've ever had the privilege of sitting under.

Deeper Still Conference with:

Priscilla Shirer

Beth Moore

Kay Arthur

It was absolutely incredible. And the WORSHIP, lead by  Travis Cottrell, was honestly the best worship experience I've ever known in this country ... I wept every time we sang. And there is nothing like hearing 25,000 women sing acapella worshipping their God.

Some nuggets I personally took away from the weekend.

From Priscilla's talk on God's Anointing (I Chronicles 14:2-11):

• When I feel ill-equipped, I must remember Whose I am and that God's call is more than what I can do on my own. And it's ultimately that way for His glory.
• Even after David was anointed he went back to his "menial" job ... and during those years he learned everything he would need for the future.
• I have an enemy. When the enemy finds out that I'm anointed, he will come out against me in full force.
• The anointing guarantees access to God.
• Prayer is the most potent weapon we have.
• When we pray, God in his humanity can sympathize, and yet in His diety can do something about it. At best, our girlfriends maybe can sympathize.
• God is the God of BREAKTHROUGH - and my next breakthrough will come in the are of food addiction/self-control.
• David always inquired of God before dealing with the enemy, even if the answer seemed obvious.

From Beth's talk "How do we cooperate with God to get to glorious transformation?" (II Samuel 6-7):

• David thinks he's going to build a house for God, but God says he will build David a house. When we think we've done something for God, He will come back and do something amazing. He gets ALL the glory.
  • I Peter 2:4-5 - WE are the spiritual house, living stones
• God wants to do something in my life that makes Him show up.
• His calling will require more than I can ever do. All the time. I'm not looking for a tweak, but a transformation.
• When you pray the Word over people, you transfer the burden to the Word. The Word even transfers over spiritual seed (since the New Testament).
• We have to move past our personal devastation with God.
• The greatest calling of my life will be on the other side of the pain. If I let the enemy hold me in that place, I'm stuck for life.
• We've got to return to whole-hearted obedience.
• If I'm not with Christ, the enemy is ready to take my passion away for his purpose. I was made for holy passion.

Kay's talk on Crossroads (II Samuel 11-12):

• Sin is never done undercover.
• Sin will cause the enemies of God to blaspheme Him. And God is so holy that He will not try to defend Himself by covering your sin. The greater a leader that falls, the more publicity his sin will receive.
• The grace of God is favor, power and previous.
• If you're breathing, it's not over for you. Grace is still available.
• Stop moaning about your past and God will use it.
• God's grace is David's life was that even after his many sins, God allowed Solomon to build the house that David longed to build for the Ark of the Covenant. This was the son born from David and Bathsheba. THAT is grace.

There was so much more than what I can begin to fill on this page. I had really no idea what I was getting into when my mom asked me if I wanted to go to this event. I just said yes and decided to go even though I didn't feel well and would rather have stayed at home and rested. But I'm so thankful that I went and relished in the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of the Holy Scriptures and and the testimony of God's goodness, faithfulness and grace in the lives of three women who are going deeper still.

(Picture: Mandisa from American Idol helped lead worship this morning ... great testimony of faith!)

A worthy cause ...

I was blog hopping earlier today (although should have been working) and I ran across an blog referring to an article about Operation Christmas Child. The Daily Mail article says that the gift-filled shoeboxes Samaritan's Purse distributes to children around the world are being stripped of all evangelical or Christian-related items. Some people are calling it bizarre or politically correct. And those people don't know what they are talking about.

Nothing gets my bloog boiling faster than ignorance in this area. Just recently I met a lady who proudly told a story about going into a LARGE country in Asia and throwing tracts out of bus windows. Her team would travel through a different area every day, littering the ground with tracts. They made sure to be gone within 24 hours in order not to be caught. Good intentions, sure, but smart? Absolutely not! The local government is not going to like these religious pamphlets scattered through out their city. But don't think for a minute that they won't find someone to blame. You know who will be blamed???? The LOCAL CHRISTIANS!

So, I'm thankful that Franklin Graham's organization thinks of the culture and how to correctly build relationship that will last for many years, instead of just popping into a place and spewing a message. I know that in this country you must, must, must meet the physical needs first with NO AGENDA except to love the people. They will see the difference, trust me. There is a huge difference.

If you tried coming into this country shouting your message, passing out tracts or other popular spread-the-message tactics, do you know how fast your butt would be on a plane home? Faster than you could say, "can I share the four spiritual laws with you?"

I'm not dogging those methods. I've used them effectively in the past, though always in western cultures. And culture changes everything.

Just because SP doesn't put a gospel message in a shoe box, does not in any way mean they are bending to political correctness. They are being wise and meeting the physical needs first, which will build a relationship in order to show people the love of Christ for years to come.

Getting off the soap box now.

(I encourage you to participate this week and pack a shoebox ... )

HT: Christian Marketing Sucks

Water is absolutely essential. Without it we cannot be clean and we cannot accomplish even the basic necessities of life.

More times than I care to remember, my house here has been without water. No problem, right? Wrong. You cannot cook; you cannot clean. And dirty, hungry people are not happy people.

I have been frustrated all day because I couldn’t figure out how to get the water back on in my house. After much prayer and fasting (cause I couldn’t cook) I got the water back on about an hour ago. I feel like a new woman after taking a shower and brushing my teeth. Dinner will be made very shortly.

I think this feeling is, on a small scale, the feeling one gets when receiving Living Water. It’s no wonder that Jesus is the Spring of Living Water, and that when I have Him I will never thirst again. I will never hunger again. I will be completely clean, white as snow.

I cannot imagine the true frustration and despair someone goes through not having Living Water. It’s absolutely essential to everything we do.

Salamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri

Well folks, it's officially the end of Ramadan, the holy month in the Islam religion where people fast during the day. It's over and there is much rejoicing ... outside my window. It's 11:40 p.m. and there are prayers coming from the mosques, fireworks and celebrations galore! It started at 8 and it's still going strong.

(Note: the colorful thing in the floor is made out of rice, yes, rice)

month of fasting

It's Ramadan again, the holy month of the Muslims, which includes fasting from dawn until dusk. (Fasting, or sawn is one of the five pillars of Islam.) For me it's a month of eating behind closed doors or windows, hearing celebrations at night due to the breaking of the fast, water merchants on all the roads on the way home from school each day, sleepy students who have been kept awake at night by noisy neighbors, a sleepy driver who hasn't eaten all day and spent the night eating instead of sleeping, and more.

It's like Christmas, except for the Muslim, and there is no Savior of the world to celebrate. It's weird being a Christian in this environment because I still eat during the day, although I try not to eat in public or in front of my driver. I go to Starbucks and see a sign that says, "happy fasting" ... though I wonder why someone who is fasting would set foot in a Starbucks. There are curtains on all of the restaurants as to not tempt those who are fasting. It's just a strange time or traditions and beliefs that mean nothing to me and that I don't understand.

It reiterates the differences between Christianity and Islam. Read more about that here.

on the eve

do you think when …
you see me walking
white skin, blonde hair
war?
i hear your laugh
but I cannot see your
smile
hidden
trapped
do you want out?
covered
in black
not between us
but our people
the eve
of the anniversary
i remember
Circle Park
tuesday morning
bombs?
buildings collapsing
people jumping
crying
questions
the wound is still
There
still fresh
five years
what do you think
when you look at me
blonde hair
grey eyes
white skin
cause when I look
at you (honestly)
i see
war