Wednesday, February 26, 2014

His name is Shishir

I adopted a child last month. Well, more accurately, I started sponsoring him. He is four years old, and his name is Shishir. He is from Asia, and comes from a poor family. I realize there are a lot of poverty stricken families out there. I should know, having known many personally. To be perfectly honest, I have always been skeptical about such sponsoring programs. This one, however, I felt God was laying on my heart. He was calling me to help this child and so... I am.
A man came and spoke in our church at the beginning of this year, and seeing those pictures and videos did something to me. In short, I was moved to do something. To make a difference. It is yes but one life, and such a life of but one small child. But it is one child that can be saved from poverty, and from hunger. It is one little boy who can now live and pursue his dreams. His dream is to become a doctor. His name is Shishir, and I think he is changing me more so than I him. Isn't it funny how that seems to work?

Sunday, January 26, 2014

In Waiting

After today I am convinced more than ever that the Lord wants me to go across seas. Its odd that even when the Sunday sermons have nothing to do with ministry, I still find myself somehow thinking about it. One day, if only the time was sooner. But in anticipation I wait for the Lord's leading. Until then, may I seek to grow closer to Him, and prepare for that which awaits me.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Let us Love

There is a hurting world at our finger tips. There is a desperate heart about to break. There are many hearts about break, many already shattered. Jesus loved the hurting and broken. He befriended the tax collectors and sinners. He loved the unloved. He comforted the betrayed. Those whom others despised He served. And He showed them hope for tomorrow. He showed them there was a tomorrow.
Let us be like Him... let us help the forgotten, the lonely and lost; love the unloved, the hurting and judged; proclaim the Lord's name to both old and young; be the voice for those who have none. Let us have the heart and mind of God.

Falsley Credited to Evolution

I started school Wednesday. Attending the local community college. In truth I love it, except how much they taught evolution. It's especially emphasized in Biology.
There we sit, a book of wonderous things of our world, so delicate yet complex beyond our comprehension, entirely insync and beautiful, and its polluted by "this is the world a billion years ago". "When we came from animals", thats when we lost our mind. No offense, but I don't see how someone can study or even teach science and truly believe there is no God.
They say by natural selection we were evolved into better creatures. Natural selection? Well let me ask you, who did the selecting? SomeBODY someTHING had to have the brains, the conscious mind, the ability to make a decision, in order for us to be chosen. Also, a cell can reproduce indeed, cloning an exact copy of itself. But it cannot create another cell with a different set of DNA or genomes. If the world was really made from a single living organism, a cell, then the world must really be a clump of pudding. Cuz we would literally have to be the EXACT same thing as our "parents".
We aren't however. That is quite obvious. The universe is a complex creation, each species unique with special abilities and gifts. We are the workmanship of a God. We were - human beings - purposefully made, not the biproduct of a world that struggled to form order. When man was created, it was created. Just like that. We were never evolved. Why then do people insist we are existent by sole chance? Do they truly desire to have no meaning to their lives?

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Bound to be Free

Check out this blog! Written by a friend of mine, a sister of mine. Truly uplifting, inspiring, original and beautiful. Love ya Anna! "Set Free to Fly" http://annamangialardo.blogspot.com/2013/12/set-free-to-fly_9149.html

Friday, January 10, 2014

God's Language

What do you think of when you hear people praying in tongues? What do you do? Some find it quite spiritual, and moving. Others seem to hear it only as noisy chaos, the product of a crowd of people pretending to be filled with the Holy Ghost. The Bible talks about speaking in tongues, and indeed one must be careful. I must admit I never cared for it. I was skeptical, and thought only a select few were ever gifted , but the chances of actually meeting such a person was rare and far in between. Hearing someone pray in tongues somehow caused me to build up walls around my heart, preventing me from coming into the presence of the Lord myself. I found myself disturbed. I judged rather than accepted. Even still I am skeptical, but I have come to a revelation that speaking in tongues is not bad. More specifically, praying in tongues is in fact an evolved characteristic trait of a Child of God. I am not saying you are not a Christian if you haven't been given your God language, but that with an open heart you will recieve one. I did recieve mine some time ago. I was not prayed over. I was not annointed or even in a crowd of people like many are. I was alone in my house in a dark room. Everyone was asleep. I was fretful, anxious, afraid and miserable. I had a heavy heart, and it seemed no matter how much I prayed in english my heaviness was not lifted. I was overwhelmed, but couldn't find the words to speak. And then i prayed that God would touch my lips with His Spirit, and give me the words to say. And He did! Since then I have found myself ever drawing closer to the Lord. I feel so alive! The words flow from my mouth. I tell you this not to brag, but becuase I am so overcome in joy in this new discovery i must tell someone. Most of you don't know my name or me personally. Perhaps such gives me a courage I could not else find should I tell those I see every day. I confide in you all in many levels, and I cannot say how grateful I am for your patience to listen. I apologize for not posting often, but how happy I am when I do. May God richly bless you all, as you come into a deeper relationship with Him. May you all find that window into the soul where you can connect with His Spirit. Do not be afraid. Do not hesitate. Wait on the Lord with faith. Do not seek an emotional feeling, and do not force the Spirit to give you a tongue. Let Him lead, and watch as He moves powerfully in you. And please, feel free to share your stories. I would love to hear them =)

Monday, December 23, 2013

College Debate over Creationism

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." This is found in the book of Genesis, chapter two, verse seven, of the Bible.

Schools these days teach evolution, and how the world came into being through a series of combustible activity. They speak of how we were dealt a lucky hand in that life on earth was established when a Big Bang exploded in the sky. Indeed, there might have been a big bang, but not by accident. It did not take billions of years, but merely six days (thats less than a week) to complete creation, wrought by a sovereign God with unlimited power. Yet we are not taught this in most schools. Instead, we are told how the world and even the complexity and perfect functioning of the present human body, down to the alignment of every cell and its forming of our organs, can come from the evolving of simpler more flawed creatures. I beg to differ.
The eye itself is comprised of in numerous mechanical pieces. From the hundreds of cells, to the thousands of proteins, to how the eye reacts to light and expands in darkness, to the clarity of the lens and how it can focus from even a great distance, to even how the brain sorts through the information the eye sends, and creates an image for us to understand. This organ is complicated to the highest degree, and could not have developed over time. After all, how did evolution know the eye was needed when there was no telling there was anything to see? It must have been intentionally created. Not to mention that if chance could throw together a masterpiece such as the eye, then why can't we, with our intelligent minds, duplicate that same organ to give sight to the blind?
Do you know of any building that did not have a builder? Do you know of any book that did not have a writer? Do you know of any song that did not have a composer? How about this one: Do you know of any world that did not have a Maker?
Sir Fred Hoyle, British mathematician and astronomer, was quoted in Nature magazine, November 12, 1981, as saying, "The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein."
Why then is this theory of evolution being taught to the future generations? Perhaps because many truly believe it. Perhaps because many do not wish to admit there is a God. It is obvious though, that throughout the world and for thousands of years, mankind have sought for a higher power. They seek something or someone to worship. They seek a dictator, a leader, a judge. The Muslims believe in Allah, Hindu does Buddha, and the early Egyptians gave reverence to a sun God amongst many others. In America, we too seek to worship and reverend something or someone, be it materialistic gain, fame, or a celebrity. The only conclusion we can draw is that we as humans are wired with a like mind, a hunger if you will, to put our trust in something.
Beyond this instinct of ours, there is more in nature that proves that we were created. Take a look at a common number that streams through all of the universe. There are 3,168 furlongs in the Earth’s radius, 31,680 miles in its perimeter, and when you add up the “square circle of the earth”, it totals 31,680 miles. All of these examples of the same number can only mean one thing. There is a common thread tying together all of nature. Further more, there is a fingerprint in all of the universe.
One of the main illustrations of evolution is how we came from monkeys. In truth, we do have similar characteristics to the chimpanzee. To name a few: we share 85-95% of the same DNA, we often eat a common diet, we both use a form of communication (theirs done mostly through grunts, hoots, even screams), and we both love to socialize and show affection be it hugging, giving a friendly pat or even tickling. Yes... even tickling. But one problem still seems to stand in the way of them being our ancestors. If evolution is the refining for a better creature, and we are that better and more accomplished creature, why then do chimpanzees still exist? Why do sloths exist? And why did the Woolly Mammoth become extinct?
There are answers to these questions. The answers do not hide from us, and they are at our grasp. They all point to one explanation. We are not alone in this universe. We have a Creator.
By the power of His words the world came into being. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He molded the mountains and opened the valleys with just His voice. The waters, so deep and untamed, He constrained them about with beaches of fine sand and precarious and lofty cliffs. The seed He folded into the soil, and nursing it with care, it bore goodly fruits. 6 days and the work was complete. And yet as amazing as it all was, the best creation was mankind. The only, in which He breathed life into from His own self.
People will always seek proof and evidence of how the world came into existence. And indeed, as we have seen, there is proof but we often tend to forget the evidence that surrounds us. The evidence manifesting before our very eyes. When we first hold a newborn, or when our bodies fight a virus, or when we find ourselves falling in love for the first time. The things of the heart… emotions… our ever nagging consciousness… even how the earth spins and how we manage to not fall off. WE are that evidence that there is a Creator, and that life is an intentional creation. Not only is life intentional but we, you and me, are beautifully and wonderfully made by a sovereign God. And we have a purpose.