Beautiful Love

A blog about God and His beautiful love + wisdom, family, friends, little people, social justice, photography, traveling, music, navigating adulthood, me, you, living for Christ, and a ton of other random important things in life

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so I haven't updated my iPod in years; I just discovered this was on it yesterday... It's my new favorite song : )

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Things I've Learned

this post will be short and sweet; I PROMISE.

So God has been sharing and revealing a heck of a lot to me recently; some through personal quiet times, other people and other lessons have come the hard way. I just wanted to share some things I've learned (am learning) so far in 2013.

1. I am learning the good side and the value in being vulnerable (aka I'm learning its okay to be "weak"). [ie. when I'm weak he is strong; and the value vulnerability holds in "community"]

2. I am learning the importance of Sabbath.

3. I am learning it's okay to say "no" sometimes; use discernment. Don't overwork, over-commit or overwhelm yourself to the point you're not effectively living out your purpose.

4. I am learning that good Financial Stewardship is hugely important.

5. I am learning that you should pay your parking and driving tickets on time (or simply avoid getting tickets) *learned this one the hard way

6. I am learning that mission work is costly (time, money, resources etc) and requires a lot of faith in God

7. I am learning that walking in integrity is an everyday every MOMENT type of thing.

8. I am learning that I CAN and WILL trust my future to God.

9. I am learning the power of reflection and debriefing.

10. I am learning that SLOW progress is STILL PROGRESS.

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Many people won’t care what you know ‘til they know that you care…

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We are unworthy. Our souls are dirty. True repentance starts by acknowledging those facts. We are defiled and tainted. We are utterly unfit to bear His holy name. But it’s not about our worthiness. It’s about HIS.

Leslie Ludy (Set-Apart Femininity)

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i will forever love this song... yesss, the lyrics are very hmmm, "interesting" : ) 

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In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This Cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My Comforter, my All in All Here in the love of Christ I stand In Christ alone, who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless Babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save Til on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live, I live There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ No guilt in life, no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From a life? s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny No power of hell, no scheme of man Could ever pluck me from His hand Til He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I stand I will stand, I will stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground, all other ground Is sinking sand, is sinking sand So I stand

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Are you in danger of neglecting evangelism in your passion for social justice?

Below is an excerpt from a Relevant Magazine Article entitled; "An Open Letter to this Generation." It stuck out to me because as a person passionate for social justice; serving, helping others and the like... The things stated here are hugely important to keep in mind being that my ultimate goal is to serve Christ and be used as a tool to bring others to him.

You know how much I affirm your commitment to justice for the poor and your rejection of an evangelism that focuses only on the “soul” and neglects peoples’ material needs. I have spent much of my life arguing on biblical grounds for precisely these concerns. But I have also watched some Christian “social activists” lose their concern for evangelism.

Evangelism and social action are inseparable. They are two sides of the same coin. But they are not identical. Working for economic development in poor communities or structural change to end systemic oppression is not the same thing as inviting persons who do not now confess Christ to embrace Him as Lord and Savior. If we only do social action and never say we do it because of Christ, our good deeds only point to ourselves and make us look good.

But persons are made for far more than a good life here on earth for 60 or 100 years. Every person is invited to live forever with the living God. Jesus died so whoever believes in Him may have a better life now and life eternal.

Two other biblical truths are crucial. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and those who continue to reject Christ depart eternally from the living God. I know my generation has some- times said these things in harsh, insensitive ways. Too often we have failed to say with the Bible that God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

But if the Bible is our norm, we dare not neglect its teaching that people are lost with- out Christ (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9). Jesus (certainly the most amazing teacher of love the world has ever known) says more about eternal separation from the living God than anyone else in the Bible (Matthew 25:41; Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50; Matthew 18:8). Surely, if Jesus is true God as well as true man, we cannot act as if He did not know what He was talking about.

Instead, we should embrace His claim that He is the way, the truth and the life; “no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, NIV). For as Peter said at Pentecost, there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).

Of course there are tough questions about things like those who have never heard or eternal punishment. (I wrestle with those in the chapter on evangelism in my Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel.) But for most of Church history, Christians have believed and taught the biblical affirmation that apart from Christ, people are lost eternally. Those parts of the modern church that have abandoned these truths have declined disastrously.

So, gently but clearly, I ask you to wrestle with the question: Do you care as much about lovingly inviting non-Christians to embrace the Savior as you do about social justice? Is there any danger that this generation of Christian social activists will repeat the one-sidedness of the old social gospel and neglect evangelism? Will this generation of young Christians spend as much time, money and effort praying and strategizing about how to winsomely invite non-Christians to come to Christ as you do working for social justice?

-Relevant Magazine

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Lincoln Brewster - Power Of Your Name

Surely children weren’t made for the streets And fathers were not made to leave Surely nations were not made for war Or the broken meant to be ignored

Surely this just can’t be what You saw Surely this isn’t how it should be

Let Your Kingdom come Here in my heart

Surely life wasn’t made to regret And the lost were not made to forget Surely faith without action is dead Let Your Kingdom come Lord break this heart

And I will live To carry Your compassion To love a world that’s broken To be Your hands and feet And I will give With the life that I’ve been given And go beyond religion To see the world be changed By the power of Your name