CARE Community Festival (part 2)

Here is a slideshow of the CARE Community Festival. Enjoy!  

 

The CARE Community Festival

I was asked to write a post about this weekend’s CARE Festival so below are some of my thoughts.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories from this weekend as well, so please share yours below.

My first thought is that I am so proud and grateful to be a part of the seven:ten community, as well as the larger community of East Valley Bible and Pan de Vida. It was incredible to see all of you participate in the preparation leading up to the event, flex as the day went on, and serve the people of the 85204 area in a tremendous way. The feedback I received from those outside our ministry as well as what I personally saw in all of you blew me away. The Lord is moving us in a significant way and was evident to me that He is growing our hearts for the people around us. I hope you rejoice with me in what you see Him doing in and through us.

My second thought has to do with something that Tyler says-
that as we seek remedies to social and spirtiual issues we will encounter tension. We encounter tension because there are a million motives and circumstances colliding through imperfect people. This weekend was one example of the tension we are caught in as we aim to seek the “peace of our city” yet those we aim to serve live amongst the fear and complexity of the immigration issue.  So despite the political tension we experienced, I am confident that God began to accomplish this goal through and progress was made towards a more peaceful, healthy 85204.

My final thought is that the investment you made was most fully evident in the hearts of the people you served.  There were many tangible fruits of your investment however, which include:

-kids being able to play with police officers free of intimidation

-mothers (under unthinkable financial pressure) being able to enjoy a free lunch and music as their kids were cared for 

-others that were able to connect with CARE and resources that will provide them with valuable support

I pray you were encouraged by Saturday and are emboldened for more investments in our community like this.  Thank you for all you did to make it come together.

~Danielle

(More photos coming soon)

 

A preview for tomorrow night

We, even as believers, rarely take the time to “unwrap” and experience gifts from God as He intended. We generally pursue gifts in our lives such as relationships, work, and things while neglecting the Good Giver. So, tomorrow night we’ll explore how we can more fully enjoy not only the gifts of God but God Himself. We’ll also conclude the first half of our time in Ephesians (the “roots” portion) and give you a preview of the second portion entitled “walk this way”.  Look forward to seeing you there, Matthew

What does this mean?

This quote is from a 20-something who has traveled thousands of miles, detoured his career, witnessed the death of his brother, and has been severly injured for the Gospel. 

“There are things in this life that are far worse than death…The most horrible and terrifying thing that I can imagine isn’t that I would put all that I am on the line for a cause I believe in and then be called on it. The most horrible and terrifying thing (I can imagine) is the thought that I could spend my whole existence minimizing the risks I take, living ignorantly convinced of my safety, rejecting the purpose I was created for, and then someday wake up an old man and see that my life has passed before me, and now with death knocking at my door realize that in all my years I have never truly lived…”

-Erik Mirandette, The Only Road North

Ironically, right after I read this quote for the half-dozenth time I clicked on our seven:ten Bible Reading of the day.  The last portion of the readings was from the book of Luke where Jesus says these familiar yet powerful words,

“Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

These two quotes point us to the value not just of life but of “living”. And if truly “living” supersedes relationships, education, work, money, taxes, etc. I think we need to answer for ourselves, what does this mean or look like in our lives? 

I’d love to generate some ideas or examples of what this looks like on the blog so please comment below.

I eat beauty like its free…

thanks to eve

i feel like im in the garden reaching for that same tree

in the midst of my sins defeat

i settle and feast on homemade satisfaction

and eat vanity but

reality speaks and lipstick lies

even the color i try and hide behind

it tells me to look beautiful whatever the cost

but before i start that game ive already lost

im left feeling a bit uneasy inside

so i ask “am i beautiful?”

the world lies

it says im not good enough but im almost there

if id just paint my face and dye my hair

and pay attention to what i wear than id be perfect

but i cant find perfection any where

then i here my father speak

he says “child you are beautiful to me

for i have called you by name and you are mine

ive wrapped your flesh and bone up in divine”

and in this moment i find purpose and peace

knowing he is more than ill ever need

and beauty is what he sees in me

cause im exactly who he has made me to be

and that is beautifully complete

beyond christ centeredness

Christianity must go beyond Christo-centrism to embrace Christification — that is, becoming like Christ, through Christ. In other words, “Christified.”   — gary thomas (the beautiful fight)

wonderfully made

This is an entry from one of my best friends Facebook page. She recently lost her baby in a miscarriage, this is her response:

9:39am Friday, Feb 8

I can’t thank you enough… you know who you are. Those of you that have been so encouraging and excited about the news of a new Phillips’ on the way.

I am writing this to you today. I want to express my thanks to the Lord and to you for your love and support and your prayers. We found out today that I did in fact miscarry. WOW! What a flood of emotions!! I sat up for the better part of the morning processing thoughts, prayers, and sadness mingled with the Lord’s voice. HE DOES SPEAK in the midst of scary, dark moments of life.

I am overwhelmed with a feeling of peace and hope and thankfulness. Doesn’t that sound so superficial and strange? IT IS!

This is what the Lord said to me, YES…said to me this morning.

Psalm 139:13-17 ( thank you, mom, for having me memorize this entire passage at a young age… priceless truths.)

” You (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; YOUR WORKS ARE WONDERFUL, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”

It was rolling around in my head all night and it made me think about an article I read the other day concerning the miracle of birth. What a miracle we all are!!

Did you know??? That during intercourse ( sorry…this is not sex ed…) a man deposits several HUNDRED MILLION sperm??? Only about one in ten finds its way into the cervix. After an hour or so, one or two hundred of the original hundred of million sperm approach the waiting egg.

The surviving sperm beat against the clear membrane that surrounds the egg like a halo. As soon as one sperm breaks through the membrane toughens so that no other sperm can enter. WOW!!

The sperm carries the other half of the DNA needed to match the egg’s. Sperm are not identical. They may carry, as the mother’s eggs do, different genes for the same trait ( a gene for blue eyes on one sperm, for example, and for brown eyes on another) * Ever tempted to want a different shad of eye color??? It wasn’t a mistake!!

More important, though each sperm has either and X or Y chromosomes that is carries. If a sperm with a Y chormomsome combines with your egg ( which is always an X chromosome), your baby will be a boy. If a sperm with an X chromosome joins with your egg, your baby will be a girl. * Ever hear anyone think they should have been born the opposite sex??? It wasn’t a mistake!

The moment of conception determines the sex, eye, hair color along with all the other inherited characteristics. WOW!!!! A miracle!!!!!

The fertilized egg divides into two cells, then four, then eight, then 16 and so on. Some 266 days later there will be billions and billions of many different kinds of cells- a new born baby.

WOW!!!!

When I read this and I am reminded of this… in spite of our own personal loss. I am overwhelmed by the significance of these facts. They over whelm me with the Sovereignty and the awesomeness of God. How do people go through this and not know that there is a creator and orchestrator involved? How can I know this about my God and doubt His involvement in even our loss? There are no mistakes, and no error. He is in control. He is perfect. AND SO AM I.

How often I compare myself to others. If I was only… If I had her… Comparing myself to anything or anyone else is a slap in the creator’s face that made me and “knit me together.”

Of all the things I have read this stuck out the most. ” Despite all the advances in biology and genetics, no one can explain how every cell in the embryo knows what to do and what part of the body to become;that remains one of the many mysteries of how human life develops.

I can tell you, my friends. It is not a mystery to me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. His works and His ways are MARVELOUS!

Today, if you are struggling with a low self-worth or self-image issues, stop and thank God for His involvement and His creativity and His Sovereignty in your life.

As I was driving to pick up the girls from school the other day and facing the unknown with the pregnancy I caught a glimpse of my sweet, beautiful precious miracles sitting on the bench, the sun hitting thier beautiful blond hair and as they waved and smiled at me in the car line, blowing kisses at me and waving wildly I cried tears of joy. There will be day when they don’t feel pretty and don’t feel perfect, but I will always remember the miracle of their lives and the blessing of knowing HIM!

Thank you again for your prayers…. God is so good.

annie

Who do you dislike?

So you want to be like Jesus… it might be beneficial for each of us to think about who we dislike and why. Jean Vanier helps us in his book “Becoming Human.” Here are a few quotes to ponder.

“… not all of our dislikes about people are groundless. There are those who belittle us. There are others who awaken latent fears. Still others make us feel anxious and uneasy. Some people want to possess us, so we feel constrained in their presence. Others appear as rivals in some domain or another. All of these various dislikes have one thing in common: they spring from the perception of danger to our sense of self… We may not be imprisoned in anything as strong as hate, but our likes and dislikes create equally high walls of prejudice. Behind them we can act as if other do not exist, or as if they do not belong to our common humanity.”

“Dislike can grow to annoyance; annoyance can blossom into anger; anger can turn to hatred. We have to be careful not to let the seeds of dislike grow and multiply. The words of Jesus and of other spiritual masters apply even to those mildest of negative feelings, our dislikes. To become truly free, to work for unity and peace, we have to work at all these relationships that cause us pain and dis-ease.”

What is it about this……?

watch this video and tell what you think.

Why you should vote tomorrow

Politics, and voting in particular, can appear to have the impact of a pebble splash in an ocean.  It can seem so removed from making an actual impact on your life or the lives of those around that you would probably add more to the world by watching infomercials.  

Yet, voting is an expression of having a voice in society, a voice that many individuals still lack around the world.  It’s also a voice that Americans have fought for and, in some cases, given their lives to provide for us. Voting is a part of being involved in a community (not to mention a state and a nation).

It’s evidence that you care about what candidates are going to pass into law- laws that could change the way you receive healthcare, the amount of money in your wallet, how the poor are cared for, etc.  

Is voting the end all solution? No, but it is an important piece of the puzzle.

The solution Jesus prescribes is to love people holistically. Sometimes that means tutoring a child, feeding the homeless, cleaning up a neighborhood,  giving financially and other times it means casting a vote.

In sum, as Christians it’s our privilege, not to mention our responsibility, to “love (care for) our neighbors as ourselves”. One way we can fulfill this is by expressing our support for policies and candidates that will serve the best interest of our communities, states, nation, and world. 

So on your way to seven:ten stop, vote, and do your part on Super Tuesday.

PS. I know these thoughts aren’t comprehensive so feel free to add your comments below…

PSS. Here are some very basic resources to give you a feel for the candidates… 

Resources*

• Presidential candidates on the issues
       New York Times, brief summaries
• What the candidates support/voted for (grid)
       http://www.2decide.com/table.htm

*I have tried to provide a couple options here to steer you towards general information- seven:ten/I do not necessarily endorse any of the information/candidates provided on these sites.