To be a Christian means to excuse the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C.S. Lewis”

A Proverbs 31 kind of woman

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Scripture shapes us | The Bible is more than a book

" Whereas the church and its related institutions tend to focus on “moral acts,” Scripture is far more concerned with shaping our imaginations, our patterns of thinking, which, inevitably find expression in transformed commitments and practices. Behavior serves as a display case for our deepest commitments. "
-Seized by Faith, Joel Green

Welcoming the Stranger

City Life held a training session on Wednesday about immigration offered by Matthew Soerens. Soerens is the US Church Training Specialist for World Relief, where he assists churches in understanding the complixities of immigration from a biblical perspective.

“Why is immigration policy important to evangelicals? Certainly because we believe what the Bible teaches about treatment of ‘aliens in the land.’ It is also because so many Hispanic, African and Asian immigrants are evangelical Christians who are in our denominations and churches by the millions. They are us.”
Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals


Pasted below are a few of the action steps from the FAQ section on their website: http://welcomingthestranger.com/learn-and-discern/faqs/

How is this affecting the church?

Demographers tell us that immigrant churches are the fastest growing segment of evangelical churches in the U.S. Increasingly, when we talk disparagingly about “those people,” we are talking about ourselves, because the Church is one Body of which each of us is an interdependent part. When one part suffers—as many undocumented brothers and sisters are, as individuals are forced into the shadows and families are divided by current laws—every part suffers (1 Cor 12:12-26).

What should our church do?

We suggest several steps:

Prayer—for wisdom as your church engages with this issue, for immigrants in your community, and for your political leaders

Listening—to immigrant brothers and sisters’ experiences, as well as to what the Bible has to teach us about how to interact with the foreign-born; the “I Was a Stranger” Challenge is a great discipleship tool to help us to listen to what Scripture says

Education—help others in your congregation to understand the issue; some churches have dedicated a sermon or Sunday School class to the topic, or created opportunities for interaction between immigrants and non-immigrants within the church; we have several resources for educating congregations available, including a template PowerPoint Presentation and a small group curriculum

Advocacy—your legislators need to hear the moral voice of churches and their leaders; some churches have created or signed on to a statement in support of immigration reform; others have visited, written to, or called their legislators to share their opinion; you can send an online message to legislators via World Relief’s website

Service—the best way to understand the immigration issue is to build relationships with immigrants, and service, such as through providing English classes, is a great way to begin; World Relief’s offices throughout the U.S. may be able to provide assistance in getting started

Evangelism—While many immigrants bring a vibrant faith with them, others will encounter the transformative message of the gospel for the first time in the U.S. Immigration provides a missional opportunity to make disciples of all nations—right on our doorstep

What should we encourage our government to do?

Many evangelical churches and leaders have advocated immigration reform based on the following principles:

• Securing our borders in ways keeping with humanitarian values, making it much more difficult to enter the country illegally;
• Providing a new mechanism for lawful entry to the U.S. for those who want to work here, making it easier to migrate lawfully in keeping with the U.S. economy’s labor needs;
• Reducing the backlog for family-based immigration petitions, to more quickly reunite families; and
• Providing a way for those already present in the U.S.to earn legal status by paying a fine, paying any taxes due, and making efforts to learn English, avoiding the extremes of either mass deportation or amnesty.

We believe this is the most just, compassionate, and reasonable way forward, especially compared to the other ideas on the table.  Other proposals include:
Mass Deportation—but this would be extremely costly, costing at least $80 billion just to remove everyone plus an estimated $2.6 trillion over ten years in lost economic activity
Amnesty—but “forgetting and forgiving” without consequence ignores the reality that the law has been broken and could send the wrong message or encourage future illegal immigration

Kid City 2012

A few of the things we did in 2012

• Consistently discipled 30 kids, reached over 100 kids
• Spent 88 hours on Sunday mornings with kids, helping them to learn more about Jesus
• Two ministry fairs
• Move to new building
• New scheduling system 
• a TON of new volunteers
• Secret Agent VBS
• New Director
• New Assistant Director
• Kid City Leadership Team Developed
• Multiple Brainstorming/Task Force sessions
• Kid City Outreach Carnival
• Grand Opening of Kid City/ Joyful Birds
• Move to one service
• New Curriculum
• Creation of age specific groups
• Packed up old space
• Developed processes
• New name tag system
• Intentionally secure area
• Kids Choir
• Themed rooms
• New discipline procedure
• Two baptisms
• Three graduations
• Seven adoptions
• Participation in Spiritual Consecration month

24 Random Acts of Kindness for turning 24!

SO, I have pretty great roommates. Saturday was my 24th birthday and it is one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Rachel and Phoebe planned an entire day of surprises. It started at 9am when I woke up. I came downstairs and found two presents under the christmas tree. The first was a journal, that had a note describing what the surprises were. We would be embarking on a day full of serving, doing 24 RAKS (random acts of kindness). The following pages had ideas that they and other friends had thought of. The next present was a large, heavy bag that had 50 granola bars, 6 boxes of candy canes, 5 cans of food, and two additional surprise appointments.

But before we started our adventures, we, of course, had to host our weekly Saturday Morning Pancakes. We made gingerbread christmas pancakes AND s'more pancakes topped with the most delicious syrup around: Currey Farms Pure Maple Syrup. Our friends were all in on the surprise and helped by writing notes of encouragement and signs that we would use later in the day :) 

Phoebe and Rachel had already made the cookie dough for cookies that we baked and packaged before  the pancaked eaters came. This was SUCH a special day. I couldn't wait to get started! So below you will find our list as well as some pictures, I loved this birthday and these people and this community. From the bigger tasks to the small, this was an amazing opportunity to spend a day with friends, making other people smile and spreading Christmas cheer!! 

#1 We handed out 60 candy canes throughout the day, with a smile and warm Christmas greetings!

#2  Holding the door open for a woman in a wheelchair
#3 Our friends helped us write about 30 notes of encouragement that we left on peoples cars.
#4 We picked up trash downtown and everywhere we went
#5 Bought coffee for the next person who would come in line

#6 Gave away 10 bus passes to patrons as they were getting ready to pay for their fares

#7 We did some caroling in the bus station before we left "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" 

#8 Delivered flowers to two patients at St. Mary's hospital in the emergency and critical care units

#9 Sticky notes in random places to make people smile

#10 Saw a friend from church and gave her a BIG hug

#11 We handed out about 50 granola bars as we went, mostly to those in line for dinner at Degage Ministries

#12 Made breakfast for our friends

#13 Wrote thank you notes

#14 Delivered anonymous presents to kids

#15 Returned carts in the Duhtler grocery store parking lot

#16 We made and delivered cookies to our neighbors, meeting some that we had never met! 

#17 Donated 5 cans of food 

#18 Since it was raining we bought an umbrella and gave it to someone who was getting soaked! 

#19 Donated a huge box of clothes! 

#20 Took pictures with a man that we met downtown, his name was Shawn

#21 We held big, neon signs that had encouraging notes up for people to see as they were driving 

#22 Having intentional conversations more then just a "Hey, how are you?"

#23 We made cookies with neighborhood kids and then dropped them off to families in their neighborhoods, while caroling of course! 

#24 Gave a frozen turkey dinner to our neighbor!!

This is our new friend Shawn, he told us that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is to read this book. 

Huge THANK YOU to these beautiful women! I am blown away by your ability to love others and especially me. You are selfless and thoughtful and made this a birthday that I will never forget. You not only made my day but a ton of others as well. I am so thankful for you!!!! 

Abandonment Prayer

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

Charles de Foucald