New Wardrobe

Lately I have been so enthralled in the Message version of Colossians 3. I always seem to stumble upon it when I'm just flipping through. Hope you get as much out of it as I have! Or more :D

* So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursure the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with things right in front of you. Look up, be alert to what's going on around Christ-- that's where the action is. See things from HIS perspective.
Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life-- even though invisible to spectators-- is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up too-- the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is just about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with His label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear LOVE. It is your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ- the Message- have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives-- words, actions, whatever-- be done in the name of the Master Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. *


That's just the first half of the chapter. It grips my heart every time I read it. Especially the part about letting the former things of us be gone for good, irritability included! Ouch.
I just love the analogy of the wardrobe. Love is our all-purpose garment. It should be worn in sunshine, wind, rain. No matter what's going on in our lives, we should never forget to add Love to our outfit.

Update: I am NOT going to Bolivia. Crazy, but true. God has given me an amazing opportunity to take a weekend off and see Hillsong United, then laze around a lake for a couple days. I feel like it's an answered prayer for rest and also for renewal. I don't think there's a worship experience better than Hillsong! So thank you for saying some prayers for me-- God has answered in His own wonderful way!

Busy doesn't begin to describe...

...the past couple weeks! Can you believe I've made it this far without blogging? That should tell you something.

We had an amazing Easter. From being at the church every night til almost 10, to our Egg Hunt on Saturday, new service Saturday night, and the big Sunday Morning services, we were pretty exhausted. But it was so fun! We launched our 3rd campus last night, which I did not attend because I'll be doing our Small Group down here. It has surely been a whirlwind. I actually will have to take a break from this because we have our Allies (bible club thingy) with the school here at our church.

I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing my friends' pictures in their blogs, so I'll add a few too! If you have Facebook, I pretty much upoad all of them to there, but I'll add some here anyway.

It overwelms me to try to update you on everything up to now, so I'll share some tid-bits on a personal level of my readings and studies.
We've begun our Sunday series on the Holy Spirit. I know this will be good... pray with us that these young ones (and parents that sit in) will experience Him in a fresh way; that understanding will take the place of any fears or doubts about the Spirit's role in our lives.

I am leaving for Bolivia in about 6 weeks. I spent most of my weekend fundraising for the trip. I am trusting God for a full financial blessing, and I will be faithful to do my part in that even on my days off!

Hmm, let me see.. I've been reading Beth Moore's study on John- the Beloved Disciple. I LOVE it. She is so gifted in communication. I bought 2 of her Bible Studies, but haven't finished my other one yet. I am excited to begin those, though!

I feel really close to Him right now. Amidst all the crazyness lately, it's like I've been all the more hungry for His Word, strength, and power in my life. Praise God! I need it so much. And you do, too! I pray that you would see that. I just taught our small group and allies lesson about "Spiritual Belly Buttons," and how we will never have such a thing because we are not meant to be cut off from God. He is and will forever be our only life-source. We can do NO good thing apart from our Vine.
Alright, I'm done with my rambling. I must figure out how to make a form for Kids Camp. Back to work! Here are some pics: hope y'all enjoy!

Our Breakfast with the Bunny egg hunt. Great fun :)

Me, Kailey, and Lauren at our friend Meg's wedding in Auburn. Valentine's Day!

Having a blast at our Girls Sleepover in March.

Ju-Ju and Emmy- sweet girls!

Typical Sunday morning service- this is the part where they get candy, so they are really excited ;)

Arthur Blessitt- who knew?!

So I'm a little peeved. I have never heard of this man, Arthur Blessitt. Have you? Yesterday, while lounging by my friend's pool, we were discussing what we could do that night since we had it off. She mentioned this movie, The Cross, and asked if we wanted to go see it. I thought, "Hey, if it's about Jesus, count me in!" None of us really knew what it would be about except a man who carried a cross across the world. Interesting, eh? I thought so.

We sit down in the theater (only a few other people were there- go figure, all the others must have been at Fast and Furious. LAME!) The movie begins and honestly, I was like, Who is this guy? Not in the quizzical, wonderingly way. More like, he's wearing a denim shirt with darker jeans, he looks kind of like a hilbilly, and I'm not so sure this is going to be worth $8.50.

Lord, please forgive my judgements.

I totally fell in love with this man! He's 68, and still to this day carries his cross from the 60's around Sunset Blvd in LA handing people stickers that say "God loves you," and meeting people where they are. It was so simple, so humble, so powerful.

It's basically a documentary of his life. He has carried the cross to ALL nations- yes, you read that right, ALL NATIONS. And not by boat, not by train, he has WALKED across the world with a wooden cross over his shoulder.

There is no way I can explain to you the power of his life and testimony- please, please, PLEASE go see his movie. I will share one of the most touching stories for me, I don't want to give too much away!

He was walking through the junlge in Panama. I forgot the name of it, but no one has ever made it through alive. God miraculously saved his life many many times, so he had no fear about this country. His two friends who were going to help with supplies and filming bailed out a couple days before they were to enter the jungle. I would be P.O.'d, to put it litely. But this sweet, sweet man said that he so enjoyed the company of Jesus- He was all he needed. And the only person who spoke English!

When he came upon a certain village, he felt the Holy Spirit tell him to do a drama of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He obviously could not speak the language, so he started to stretch out his arms and make motions. He pointed to the cross, he pointed to himself and the people, and he pointed to the sky. He began to weep and pray that these people would somehow, by the power of God, understand what he was trying to communicate. As he looked out into the faces of the people, he saw that some were also weeping. He walked over to the kids and said "Je-sus!" and then moved their mouths to form His name, and soon they were all saying, "Jesus! Jesus!" and the adults caught on, too, and Arthur left that village hearing the name of Jesus being praised and proclaimed!

Now that made me cry.

It is moving, it is challenging, it is beyond inspirational. His main message, though, is not about the cool things that He saw happen, or the crazy and wild places he survived. He says that he did not go into places like the Panamanian jungle so that he would have a story- he went because there are PEOPLE in there.

Wow.

By the end of the movie he just sits by his cross and sobs. His heart, his love for this God, is so overwelming. He says that all he hopes to be is Jesus' donkey- a man humbled by grace, used for the purposes of God, made low so that Jesus may be glorified and lifted up.

It is a message that convicted me to the core, and made me fall on my face because my heart is so unpure and self-seeking.

If you, like me, are nothing more than a sinner saved by grace, who loves Jesus and wants to follow Him with everything in you, then you will be so blessed by Arthur's story.

I will even give you $8.50 to go see it. And that's a promise!