Here's my favore quote of this week:  "...because fat eeeequaaals flaaaavooor, yo'all..." -Paula Deen. I don't need to elaborate, do I?

N E Way... I always forget how wild the week before Holy Week is. It's not so much about the preparations and all that stuff. People always seem to go wild and then somehow it all breaks loose (and we have secular St. Patrick's Day celebrations to add to the madness to top it off this year!). Now, I've had an extremely demanding week. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you name it! I couldn't streess enough how it's so important to make sure that we don't slack off on our prayer regimen this time of the year. The enemy is just looking for a crack to slip into and try to get people to go nuts, mess up, doubt and, of course, give up - especially as we get closer to Easter. I've always asked myself why things go nuts before Easter. Then I thought, well, maybe it's a tradition Satan never got rid off. Hey! The church isn't the only one that holds on to traditions for traditions' sake- even after they are no longer really effective. I mean after all, he thought it had worked back then! Remember, he must have thought it was working great when Judas betrayed his Master, when Jesus got arrested, when the entire mob turned on Jesus (even when a number of those in the crowd had been healed and fed by Jesus), when Peter denied his teacher, when the disciples ran and scattered like the wind, when Jesus gave His last breath on that violent friday...  Satan thought it all had worked out as he had planned- but then along came the RESURRECTION! It was over. God had overcome the powers of sin and death once and for all. Jesus came back to life so that you and I can have it, too- in abundance.... SO, whether you feel like stuff seems to go down the drain, or even if you just find yourself a little more irritable than usual: remember that Satan might think he can get you into Good Friday with a good chance to win you over- but that your life is really in God's hands, you're under the care of the ONE who gives you life again and assurance in the Resurrection of Christ.

"Jesus said...'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives in me will never die." (John 11:25-26) Do you believe this?

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. (Philippians 3:10)

Dont' wait, celebrate Easter ahead of time and year-round!

I can't believe we actually had a day with uninterrupted sunshine! I ended up walking around the block at the corps today just so that I could catch some sun. I figured sunbathing on top of a gigantic pile of snow would have raised too much havoc. Actually, my formerly evenly dark cinnamon pigment is so diluted now that parts of my body might just blend in fine with the dirty snow (I know, TMI...)   Well, this year I discovered that the lack of sunshine really affects me. I've been as cranky as ever this winter. But how can a sun-loving fool as myself survive with only four days of sunshine (more than one hour at a time) in an entire month??? I really need to be stationed somewhere along the sunbelt for a few years. But at least I got a little bit of a fix today. Thank you, God, for reminding me of the importance of direct "Sonlight."

In other news... I'm trying really hard to stay away from politics, but they're too much of an important part of living in the world to ignore them completely. I mean, politics moved a lot of stuff around even during Jesus' earthly ministry. And I'm a diplomat at heart. I have political tendencies in my dealings with people. But I'm heartbroken by politicians, so I'm trying to stay away. One of my fears is that our elections "might" turn into a popularity contest. I've sort of chosen to take an overly pessimistic stand when it comes to elections. I will now just assume we're going to get the wrong person every time and that regardless of who ends up in power we will suffer repercussions of political favors and tax hikes (or tax cuts) to go along with the madness. That way I won't be as disappointed as I would be if I actually had high hopes for anyone aspiring for the presidency or any other elected position in our government (I still might be disappointed, but to a lesser degree, hopefully). Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong supporter of an effective government; I'll root for whoever is in charge as long as they stick to the rules of the land. I'm all about making sure that everything is taken care of properly, but I'm just too grossed out by campaigning and all that icky stuff. So when you vote, please vote based on your convictions and beliefs, not for a persona or to be counted in the popularity contest. Be smart.  The only thing that actually helps me remain calm during election years is that my God takes care of His people.  "[God] rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations" (Ps.66:7)

OK. That's enough for one day. Blessings!!!

The "share your faith" week @ Irving Park came and went. It was interesting. We prepped the congregation(s) with a series on the Harvest. I think that went ok. On the "shared your faith" week, we all walked the streets, we talked, we invited, gave out balloons, haircuts, bus passes, etc. All while wearing our "just because" shirt in front (with "God loves you" printed in the back and John 3:16 on both sides) and simply handing out "this is our simple way to show you God's love" cards along with everything else that went on (don't freak, our cards had our contacts and invitation to come and experience God with us). The family movie night on Wed. and fall fest last night were lots of fun, too. People saw and heard God's Word, we loved and pampered our neighbors in Jesus' name; God was glorified, seeds were planted. We march on, and work harder to win more souls.

However, I'm surprised at how many "hey, we gotta do this more often" comments I heard throughout the week. I told everyone that all we did was go outside our doors, greet, meet, invite people, do kind things for them, show God's love in ways they can see, feel, taste and smell. As far as I'm concerned, it shouldn't have to be much of a change from the kinds of things we do day in and day out as we study, work and play throughout each of our neighborhoods. At TSA we're so used to the blessing of people coming into our building in order for us to do something for them and show them Christ in practical ways that sometimes we forget that we can't just sit in our "fortress of salvation" and wait for the world come in and "meet Christ" at our social services office alone (that's one of the reasons we have a hard time discipling new converts)!  It's like we fall into this routine because sharing God's love through the services we render is just part of what we do, failing to remember that anything we do to show Christ is because of who we are in Him. What we do is related to whom we are: the people of God- and that goes with us outside of our buildings, too!

Overall, the week went really well. People were very willing, they were excited. Of course, there was a pinch of attitudes that I perceived, especially from the "preach-it-from-the-pulpit,-that-ought-to-be-enough" crowd. But sadly enough, showing and sharing God's love in practical ways outside the building was sort of a big change for some people. That's OK, though, we can do this one person, one soul, one life at a time. We kept repeating this phrase all week "it's not about any one of us, it's about everyone else experiencing God's love through us." But I did notice that some people benefited from this experience in that it helped them see their witness in a whole new light. They literally saw that backing their testimonies of salvation with actions of a changed character are way stronger than all the catchiest one-liners taken out of the coolest tracts/sermons they can quote.

There is wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. I believe it.