We were designed to connect. Life is best shared.
I'll title it once I figure out what it's about: So Brian, Kevin, Seth, and I all got hit by a bus today...
It was one of those vehicle collision type scenarios—we didn’t all have a bus hit us as pedestrians, in case you were worried. Brian was driving his own car and I have to say, my admiration for this guy went from like
———————————————————————————>here
to
————————————————————————————————>here
…
So glad my fraternity brothers were okay.
Source: jaredmaas
To Tattoo Or To Not Tattoo?
I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo next year. It’s quite a decision to make, and one that requires lots of prayer, so I’m giving myself a year deadline.
Reporter Matthew Lee Anderson writes:
The Christian faith is in a God whose concern for human bodies is such that He became one in order to accomplish salvation. The most basic intuition of American culture is that our “rights” allow us to treat our bodies how we want, but the Gospel sets forth a startling alternative: “You are not your own, but you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.”
Dirty Girls Ministries presents WHOLE Women's Conference
To my female followers, here is a description of this conference that is tailored just for you:
Based on Mark 5:34a, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole,” this conference experience will tackle tough subjects normally left untouched by the typical women’s conference. Topics that both Christian and non-Christian women struggle with in today’s culture.
We invite women from every age and every life stage to attend.
In addition to dynamic teaching and worship, breakouts sessions will address porn addiction, abortion, human trafficking, child loss, homosexuality, marital conflict, teen purity and more. Even if you don’t personally struggle in one of these areas, chances are you know someone or will meet someone who does. These breakouts are designed to help women to both heal old wounds as well as become educated in areas they may not know much about but are greatly affecting women today.
Source: lifeofacatholic
Avengers Assemble damage to New York would cost $160bn, if real
Reporter Ben Child writes:
The damage inflicted on Manhattan by an army of marauding extra-terrestrials and the superpowered defenders of Earth in blockbuster comic book movie Avengers Assemble would cost $160bn to repair, according to US “disaster experts”.
A Winding and Troubled Road (feat. John Piper)/A Sweet and Bitter Providence - The Joy Eternal
Yesterday was tough. Really tough. I sat in the passenger seat of the car, and put this track on, totally forgetting what beauty and truth it held. As soon as John Piper said, “But along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead, that may even make you feel like you’ve been led to the edge of a cliff, God gives us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good.” I couldn’t keep my composition.
And I burst into tears. Great sobs choked my throat, and disturbed my frame. Through my distress, I managed to somehow get out, “How can I not just cry at that?”
Because the past twelve months have been the hardest time for me in my twenty years of existence. It has been a year filled with sorrow, tears, and disappointment. I have given everything to Jesus. Everything. I quit college because He led me to. I kissed away an internship with Vogue Paris—my sure chance of success in this world. I have sold my most cherished and valuable earthly possessions—my MacBook, video games, half my clothes, everything that was stealing my attention from the Almighty.
And He has taken all this beauty and glamour, and given me rubble and ashes. I am absolutely empty.
Yes. This sure-to-success photographer is now cleaning toilets, cleaning up cat vomit, and doing roughly six loads of laundry a week. This is not how I would have planned my life. And there are times when I feel so low, and so empty, and so exhausted, without any sort of help—whether it be supernatural, or human—and the sovereignty of God is the biggest lie.
I yelled at Him yesterday. Hot tears of anger streamed down my face as I yelled at the God of the Universe. I am ashamed to admit that. But I thought that if anyone was to deal with my anger, it would be Him. I told Him that I wasn’t Paul, and I wasn’t Amy Carmichael, or A.W Tozer, or George Müller. I told Him that I was so weak, and insignificant, and bitter, and filled with so much pride. And sometimes, looking back, my lifetime sanctification seems to be what others make in an hour of any given day.
And then as soon as the anger surfaced, it was quick to disappear. The flesh had won, and I was left guilty in front of Him. I quickly washed my face, and scurried away, not wanting to hear His answer or the promises in His Word.
Yet, He would not let me have the final word. And when this song came on in the car, I wept. I wept in repentance. I wept in bitterness. I wept as I felt my heart wheeze, and break. He is good. And He cannot lie. So when He said that all things would work together for my good as long as I am in Christ Jesus, He did not make that up just as superficial words. He is Light, and in Light, darkness flees, and the truth is vivid.
Two months ago, I prayed that He may teach me to be the man under the stage. For those who are not aware, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, used to preach to his congregation until the Spirit moved. And if nothing happened, and the people puzzled why he kept on going and going, he would yell, “PRAY!” And why did he cry such a thing? Because he had a man that was under his preaching stage praying for a heart to be moved, a heart to be changed for the Lord’s glory alone. And I asked the Lord to teach me how to be that man. That man that had no name, but had huge significance in Booth’s ministry.
And this is how He is teaching me.
Though these past twelve months have been nothing but hard work, they have also been some of the most beautiful, blessed months of my life. Last year was the best year of my entire life because of Christ and what He did. He saved me. So even if this is as far as my life gets—cleaning up after others, and washing the feet of those around me. Even if true servanthood is not about being great, or well-known, or applauded by man but in fact, it is to learn true Christlikeness and His humility; even if I stay in this wilderness for a lifetime, let Him be glorified, and let Him be exalted. For He is worthy. He has never lied to me, or been unfair. He has treated me as His own daughter. Even though I cannot see how life is to pan out, or how this is all working out for His and my greater good, or how I am to be filled with joy within this set of circumstances, I know what is truth, and truth does not depend upon experience. To the God Who is more real than the very air, and Who is more faithful than the rising sun, be glorified.
I mean, I’m alive. Isn’t that a gift enough?
I really needed to hear that tonight.
Source: thesweetermelody
Something I’ve learned as a new 26-year-old: I can’t do this alone.
Phil Wickham’s “Grace” is a good reminder: “I need eyes to be my guide. I need a voice that’s louder than mine. I need hope I need You cause I can’t do this alone.”
I cry every time I listen to this song. It’s a sobering reminder that I’m broken and I can’t fix myself. No amount of superglue can fix me or put me together again. It’s only through God and His grace that I’m alive.
tag. -->