CAPTURE COLLECTIVE

Serve Together 

[doctorswithoutborders]

Photo by Martin Zinggl/MSF

Deddeh has recovered from Ebola and celebrates her joy. Out of solidarity she has decided to stay in the Ebola treatment area to take care of Elijah, a three-month-old baby who lost his mother to Ebola and has also been infected. Deddeh is now safe from contracting the disease.

[thisiscapture]

And this is love...

[hellohandlettering]

[thisiscapture]

Life moves to quickly to not be involved and loving our local communities. Do not let excuses run your choices. Take the risk.

Capture Collective

[thisiscapture]

Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed.

1 Peter 1:13 --

1. Prepare your minds for work. 

2. Practice self control.

3. Fix your hope on the gifts that come in being joined to our precious Redeemer. 

[thisiscapture]

On December 15, Capture was given an opportunity to Celebrate Christmas in a home for the elderly here in Santa Barbara. We went with the intention of loving, blessing, celebrating, and sharing the joy of Christ those who may not have loved ones near, but all of us walked out of the home feeling so much love and blessing in return. It was a true joy.  Take time out of your day to reach out to those who may not be celebrated all too often. Every day isn't a holiday, but we can still celebrate one another and the truth that the Lord has fearfully and wonderfully created us.

[thisiscapture]

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

C.S. Lewis ―

Through what lens are you looking at life?

Be confident in your roots and pursue Truth. By it, you will know love, joy, peace, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, and mercy. Receive these things by faith with the expectation to share them freely with others. 

[twloha]

Where you’ve been is not where you are, and where you are is not where you’ll always be. Let go. Look ahead. Move forward.

[Design from Melody Hansen]

[thisiscapture]

Each stumble or slip is an opportunity to grow and mature. Take heart, you are being shaped. Sometimes the poking and prodding hurts, but in the end you will be transformed into someone infinitely more beautiful than before.  

[wearesevenly]

Pain is real, but so is HOPE.

via http://www.facebook.com/pages/p/155710974494314 (via svnly)

Life can be a storm, but find hope, rest, and great courage in knowing that God is in the midst of the storm with you; He is breaking and molding you for your own good and for His great glory. 

But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7: 7

[sryyyyye]

[thisiscapture]

soniaruan:

Today, I'm attempting simply to enjoy the "little things" in life… I have a warm home, a bed to sleep in, a drivable car, a job that enables me to live, a beautiful city to look out upon, a bible in my hands, a family whom I cherish, a Savior who died to set me free.

Far too often I overlook these blessings. I take them for granted by considering them small, overly familiar, or unimportant. Yet these people, activities, and beliefs have shaped and molded me into the person I am and the person I will become in 10, 20, and 30 years. The more I ponder, the more I believe that they are not so small after all.

Don't take for granted the "little things" in life today. After all, they very well may be big things. 

[thisiscapture]

Austin (on the right), a high school senior from Santa Barbara, aids a 99 year old woman in constructing a ginger bread house at the launch of our newest local ministry project, Celebrate.

Here is a brief description of the need for this type of local ministry project:

There are countless reasons to gather together to celebrate throughout the year. For many of us, holidays and special occasions of any kind are things that we love because they allow us time to celebrate with those whom we love -- our families and friends. For others, holidays and special occasions are a difficult time of the year because loved ones are not near.  CELEBRATE exists to bless those who find themselves isolated or alone on these holidays or special occasions. We want to find people who are worth celebrating. We are encouraging Christians to go out into their cities and to lovingly insert themselves into the lives of the forgotten, the lonely, or the discouraged. There are lots of people to love and bless during the holiday season. It’s our job to find them and share the love of Jesus with them. 

Stay tuned for more information on this specific project that will be posted at the launch of our new webpage.

[faithisbeingsureofwhatwehopefor]

[thisiscapture]

Considering this today: Who are you and what are you living for? 

Live with intention.

[unapologetically-human]

It’s as simple and complicated as this: If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging.

Brene Brown (via internal-acceptance-movement)

One of the most difficult things is believing rightly. Believing rightly that you are loved and believing that you belong. Don't allow this culture to cause you to believe you are unloved or that you do not "fit in". You BELONG to God, as his daughter or son, and because you belong to him you are dearly loved by him. 

Today, simply believe. 

[thisiscapture]

“We must now examine this question. How do we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only-begotten Son–not for Christ’s own private use, but that He might enrich poor and needy men? First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that He has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what He has received from the Father, He had to become ours and to dwell within us. For this reason, He is called ‘our Head’ (Eph. 4:15), and ‘the first-born among many brethren’ (Rom. 8:29). We also, in turn, are said to be ‘engrafted into Him’ (Rom. 11:17), and to ‘put on Christ’ (Gal. 3:27). For, as I have said, all that He possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with Him. It is true that we obtain this by faith.”

–John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.i.1.

This excerpt that has gripped me and, I assure you, there will be many more to come.

As of late, I've been doing quite a bit of reading the Institutes of Calvin and authors inspired by his theology. This quest for truth was spurred on by a yearning to go deeper in my belief of actually being "joined" or "united" to Christ.  If Christ were actually physically inside of us, how different would our ministry and lives look? Wouldn't loving and sacrificing and practicing selflessness with others look so much more organic and necessary in life? It would be a natural flow from the nature of Christ inside us.

This is becoming more clear: Christ must be in us (we must be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh) to really truly love and "enrich poor and needy men". 

[jesus-our-everything]

[thisiscapture]

Don't doubt the work God is doing in and through you today. Sometimes life is tumultuous, but God is good and he is at work. Open up your eyes and see the good things the Lord might have you do in order to change the lives of those around you. 

[vineyardfullerton]

Grace. A Gift Of Tender Mercy When It Makes The Least Sense Almost nothing can penetrate the emotional armor worn by those who have been beaten down by the morality of the righteous. Almost nothing. Jesus, the only thoroughly righteous man knew the secret. He knew the only way to penetrate the sheath of calloused emotions was to extend grace. Grace has to be the loveliest word in the English language.  It embodies almost every attractive quality we hope to find in others. Grace is a gift of the humble to the humiliated. Grace acknowledges the ugliness of sin by choosing to see beyond it. Grace accepts a person as someone worthy of kindness despite whatever grime or hard-shell casing keeps him or her separated from the rest of the world. 

Grace is a gift of tender mercy when it makes the least sense. ― Charles Swindoll 

[thisiscapture]

Thankful

I was thinking this morning about the definition of thankful. What does it mean to be thankful.

Being thankful is to be pleased, aware, or appreciative of a benefit. It is to be filled with expressive gratitude. 

What a beautiful thing we get to experience in practicing thankfulness. Better yet, we have the opportunity to be thankful each and every day...because each circumstance thrown at us provides an opportunity for growth and gratitude. Thankfulness is a discipline; to meet the joyful and sorrowful situations with gratitude is no simple task. Yet we are called by God to be thankful and to meet each and every new day with thankful hearts. 

We do have much to be thankful for. Count your blessings not just on Thanksgiving or not just today, but everyday. 

[abigailbadu]

[thisiscapture]

When we really get down to the nitty gritty, this is the crystal clear truth.

[thisiscapture]

We had an amazing time last night at the Aleph Stoke Tour event. So thankful for Red and Vanessa and their amazing ministry, Aleph. 

Thank you to all of the artists, bakers, musicians, and decorators that gave of their time and talents to make last night possible!