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Here she is! Kohl's (of Marysville, WA) Super Star of the month of April!
That means Sarah was voted by all the other employees to be the employee of the month! We're SO proud of her!
Also means a little bonus on the paycheck... be sure to give her a pat on the back!
From PastorHacks. Check out THIS LINK for original post. I'm resonating . . .
There are some dangers for the soul of a community surrounding Easter time.
And the soul of a pastor, I think.
I want us to be careful of how we think, talk and act around times like this weekend.
Remember, Little Pastor- Easter is not a marketing opportunity.
The resurrection of the Son of God is not an opportunity to pimp our
programs or build our flock, even under the guise of "concern for
lost". And it's not about me. (Please wait a minute while I
repeat that a few times to myself... ) Heaven forbid we should ever do
community in such a way that our main avenue for people coming to
Christ is hearing the Gospel preached from the mouth of one person,
rather than hearing the Gospel preached from the mouths (and lives) of
the whole community. If, in your community, more people are becoming
Christians on Sunday than during the rest of the week, I think you may
have a problem. . .more here
. . .I would much rather we both explicitly and implicitly communicate a model that looks more like befriending people, enfolding them into the rhythms of our lives, sharing the highs/lows and how our faith informs those with them, integrating them into home groups and movie nights and the big and small events of our lives... and how natural would it be after all that love and enfolding that they become a part of our community, even before they believe? And then... that they believe, having seen it lived and tested and the reality of a life of faith, as opposed to simply a special Sunday morning where the band rocks extra hard and the pastor has a few more funny stories than normal? . . .more here
. . . It doesn't take mailers, banners, and Cirque Du Soleil every week. Just a bunch of loving, welcoming Christ followers. People who genuinely care. People who are seeking relationships with other people, and sharing life with them. A competent all-community gathering where things work well so as not to be a distraction from what God wants to do that morning, sure... but less of a focus on Sunday mornings as the center of community and more of a focus on the community and its revolving around Jesus Himself. (if this got you thinking, you need to read the whole post HERE.)
Thanks to Lifehacker for listing the top meals in the US to avoid:
- Worst Fast Food Meal: McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips with creamy ranch sauce. Chicken sounds healthy, but not at 870 calories.
- Worst Drink: Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie. With 166 grams of sugar, you could have had eight servings of Ben & Jerry's.
- Worst Supermarket Meal: Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie. One pie packs 64 grams of fat.
- Worst "Healthy" Burger: Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. With 1,145 calories, not a very healthy choice.
- Worst Airport Snack: Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll. Packed with 813 hot gooey calories and 5 grams of trans fats.
- Worst Kids' Meal: Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n Cheese. With 62 fat grams, it's the equivalent of 1.5 full boxes of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese.
- Worst Salad: On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef. A salad with 102 grams of fat and 2,410 mg of sodium.
- Worst Dessert: Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. At 1,600 calories, it's like eating the caloric equivalent of three Big Macs.
Original article at NYT from a book by one of their editors
Thanks to my friend Kevin, I've discovered Sara Groves, a singer that's been around a bit but that I've somehow missed. Her lyrics echo the melody of my own heart. The song below, "When the Saints" can be found on iTunes, off of her "Tell Me What You Know" Album.
When The Saints (by Sara Groves)
Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul
I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear
I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side
I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door
I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
and when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
----------
"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" - Heb. 12:1-3 (The Message)
Taking off from Anchorage this past week . . .
Some photos and greetings from Pastor Kevin in Thailand:
Kristos Anestey! . . . . Pra Jesus Song Bpen khun laeo! . . . . Christ is Risen!
Great day here today - helped baptize 9. . . When I led worship at the International Church it was awesome. God is good. . . Thinking of you!
Thought you would like to see these. . . The ones with the flowers in front in the last pic are the ones newly baptized. . .
These have been getting quite a few plays on my iPod the last couple of weeks...
If you have iTunes, click the picture and you can download any of the songs at iTunes... they're all great.
Here's an important report from Pastor Kevin in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He's interviewed and visited a ministry that cares for those enslaved by human trafficking. According to their website (which you can see HERE):
"Human-trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by the means of threat, force, deception, or abuse of power for the purpose of exploitation including prostitution, sexual exploitation, labor, slavery, removal of organs, adoption, or marriage.
In the Mekong sub-region, estimates indicate that anywhere from a few thousand to 200,000 individuals are trafficked each year. Trafficked victims are typically females who come from minority, rural, economically disadvantaged backgrounds and have low levels of educational attainment. These women are often trafficked into prostitution. In Thailand, the expectation that female children are to provide income for their parents is one of the contributors to the high number of women who are trafficked."
"Garden of Hope" ministry provides:
- Outreach to women – building relationships with women and teens in prostitution in the red light areas.
- Outreach to children at risk – building relationships with vulnerable children who sell flowers and trinkets in the red light areas.
- The Garden of Hope International – empowering nationals in border countries to prevent trafficking and exploitation. The have several ministries to brothels along the border with Burma.
- The Culinary Arts Academy – Providing superior training for sustainable jobs in the food and beverage industry.
b. This ministry was the cover story for Christianity Today’s January 2007 issue. Follow THIS LINK.
I'm learning this song by Salvador. Can anyone translate?Salvador - Te Enaltezco Dios
Te enaltezco Dios
Que Tu Espiritu me guie
Levanto esta cancion
Con el amor que Tu me diste
La belleza de esta melodia eres Tu
Ya no yo mas solo Tu,
es lo que quiero en mi ser
Con manos vacias me encuentro,
a Tu puerta estoy
Nunca crei necesitar,
como te necisito Dios
Esta copa que vacia esta, llenala y rebozala
Y al mundo que perdido esta,
muestra la gloria de Tu amor
Asi que cada respiracion,
la respirare por Ti
Mi vida es tuya, tomala,
necesito Tu verdad
De mi historia eres el Autor,
ven toma el control
Escribe en mi alma Tu voluntad,
y en mi corazon
I found this while checking out my usual leadership websites... it's an excerpt from a series that Christianity Today did a few years ago. If Jesus were writing to the church today, what would he say?
"A message from the Son of God, Jesus, whom you call Master and who calls you to follow him.
My churches in suburbia are one of the wonders of the world—there has never been anything quite like them. What energy, enthusiasm, generosity! And you're honest. Hypocrisy has always been a big problem for me, and I don't expect ever to eradicate it, but it is not conspicuous among you. Of all forms of pretense, religious pretense is the worst. Thankfully, I don't find many pretenders among you.
But I do have this against you: you're far too impressed with Size and Power and Influence. You are impatient with the small and the slow. You exercise little discernment between the ways of the world and my ways. It distresses me that you so uncritically copy the attitudes and methods that make your life in suburbia work so well. You grab onto anything that works and looks good. You do so many good things, but too often you do them in the world's way instead of mine, and so seriously compromise your obedience.
I understand why, for most of you have gotten along pretty well in the world—you're well-educated, well-housed, well-paid, well-thought-of; it's only natural that you should put the values and methods that have worked so well for you into service for me. But don't you realize that however successful these attitudes and methods have been in achieving American benefits, it has come at a terrible price: depersonalizing people into functions; turning virtually everything into a cause or commodity to be used or fixed or consumed, doing everything you can to keep suffering at arm's length? The suburban church has a lot of people in it, it functions very well, you can make almost anything happen. But honestly, now, do you think that this is what I had in mind when I said, "Follow me," and then headed for Golgotha in Jerusalem?"
Read the rest of the letter written by Eugene Peterson at this link . . .
Can't imagine. Report said they landed safely the second time.
