There's not much point in me having two blogs if I'm just going to repost everything I write on my bible blog onto this one, but I'm going to do it anyway because I'm excited about it!
Luke 19:26 (The Message). Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.
This verse is the moral of Jesus' parable about the rich man who gave his servants money to hold for him. The servants who invested it and made more money were rewarded, but the one servant who buried his in the ground was punished. I'm not sure if I really understand what Jesus was getting at - some of the parables are a bit beyond me - but I take it as a reflection on our lives as Christian. If you are a "safe" Christian, you just go about your life loving Jesus, but you don't get out into the world and spread his message of love and forgiveness. If you are the type of person that Jesus wants you to be, you do everything you can to spread the word about him, even at risk to your comfortable life.
I will readily, though not proudly, admit that I am a safe Christian. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I am not a brave or strong person at all. I'm pretty average on the courage front, even leaning a little bit towards chicken. I don't stand on high things, ride roller coasters, touch bugs, or tell strangers about Jesus. Heck, I rarely even tell my friends about Jesus! I have definitely been a chicken when it comes to following God's wishes. I always have some excuse, but usually the truth is that I'm just plain scared! It might seem to some people that this way would be the most comfortable way to live, and that is the truth! But who really wants a totally comfortable life? For all my fears, I really like adventure! I love to travel and try new things. I can't think of any greater excitement than following God's perfect plan and being his disciple. Think about the prophets. Do you think Moses, Daniel or Paul wished for a more comfortable, dull life? No! Their lives were exciting and fulfilling because of what God did through them. They weren't scared, or if they were, they didn't let it stop them! I want to let God take me on my life's greatest adventures, and with him at my side, who could be afraid?
Lord, you are the king of excitement! I don't want to be a safe Christian and only do comfortable things. I want to have adventures with you! The problem is, I'm scared. I have gotten too comfortable in my own life. I need you to shake things up! Use me for your will! I'm terrified as I'm writing this, but I know that you will give me the strength to do whatever needs to be done. Thank you so much, Father! Amen!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Stuff Challenge!
I am copying this from my bible study blog so you can see it.
Luke 18:29-30 No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!
Jesus has been telling a rich man that the way for him to have eternal life is to give up all of his possessions. Peter, being the suck-up that he always is, chimes in with "We left everything we owned and followed you, didn't we?" Jesus tells him that they will be rewarded for their sacrifice while they're on earth, but even better, they will live forever in heaven!
The issue of material possessions is a hot one in this day and age. We are so obsessed with wealth and stuff. I love stuff. Only a few minutes ago, I caught myself getting mesmerized by a Target commercial! Stuff is a big stumbling block for me. I don't have a problem with money — I can give it away just as easily as I can spend it. It's the stuff I can buy with the money that really gets me. Oh, I know that possessions shouldn't be so important to me. I know I can't take my new shoes to heaven with me. But somehow I always turn back to shopping for a feel-good outlet. Recently, God has been putting this on my heart. One of our scriptures last week talked about worldly things and our preoccupation with them. It was Luke 12:29-32- "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works." I woke up the next morning, which happened to be pay day, and thought, "I am not going to buy anything this month and see what happens." I knew that God had put this challenge on my heart for a reason. I was up for it, but before I could stop myself I started thinking about what cool things I could buy at the end of the month with the money I had saved. Then I heard a very distinct voice in my head say "No. Give it away." I rolled my eyes in disgust at myself. Of course, give it away! What good would it do me to go the whole month without shopping, just to blow it on November 1? So, I made a commitment to refrain from buying all the extras I usually would scoop up this month (obviously, I will need to buy things like gas and food). So far, it has been difficult but I am doing pretty well. Of course, I'm only five days in! I am definitely going to need to do a lot of praying to succeed with this challenge. I can't wait to see what God is going to accomplish in me this month!
Father God, I have read your words about not letting the things of this world take precedence over you. Then I heard it straight from you. I will need your help to accomplish the task you have given me. Thank you for not giving up on weak, material, human me. I love you so much. Amen.
Luke 18:29-30 No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!
Jesus has been telling a rich man that the way for him to have eternal life is to give up all of his possessions. Peter, being the suck-up that he always is, chimes in with "We left everything we owned and followed you, didn't we?" Jesus tells him that they will be rewarded for their sacrifice while they're on earth, but even better, they will live forever in heaven!
The issue of material possessions is a hot one in this day and age. We are so obsessed with wealth and stuff. I love stuff. Only a few minutes ago, I caught myself getting mesmerized by a Target commercial! Stuff is a big stumbling block for me. I don't have a problem with money — I can give it away just as easily as I can spend it. It's the stuff I can buy with the money that really gets me. Oh, I know that possessions shouldn't be so important to me. I know I can't take my new shoes to heaven with me. But somehow I always turn back to shopping for a feel-good outlet. Recently, God has been putting this on my heart. One of our scriptures last week talked about worldly things and our preoccupation with them. It was Luke 12:29-32- "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works." I woke up the next morning, which happened to be pay day, and thought, "I am not going to buy anything this month and see what happens." I knew that God had put this challenge on my heart for a reason. I was up for it, but before I could stop myself I started thinking about what cool things I could buy at the end of the month with the money I had saved. Then I heard a very distinct voice in my head say "No. Give it away." I rolled my eyes in disgust at myself. Of course, give it away! What good would it do me to go the whole month without shopping, just to blow it on November 1? So, I made a commitment to refrain from buying all the extras I usually would scoop up this month (obviously, I will need to buy things like gas and food). So far, it has been difficult but I am doing pretty well. Of course, I'm only five days in! I am definitely going to need to do a lot of praying to succeed with this challenge. I can't wait to see what God is going to accomplish in me this month!
Father God, I have read your words about not letting the things of this world take precedence over you. Then I heard it straight from you. I will need your help to accomplish the task you have given me. Thank you for not giving up on weak, material, human me. I love you so much. Amen.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Another new blog!
I know, I already have so many blogs that I don't even use! But this new one is for my daily bible study that we at The Bridge staff have started. It is an intensive program that uses the SOAP method developed by Wayne Cordeiro of the New Hope Church in Hawaii. SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. We use a scripture journal (or blog) to study a passage every day. My bible blog is http://www.thebookforrachel.blogspot.com The goal is to have a new post every day. Some days, if I can't get to the computer, I journal in a notebook instead of my blog. I am excited to gain more knowledge and insight into God's word and hopefully develop discipline that I can use in other areas of life. Yay!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Latvia in Pictures
Me, my uncle Bob, Anna, James, Mitchell and John Carl
Our amazing group! I didn't know any of them, other than Bob, before the trip, but I consider myself blessed to have been included in their merry band!
WHAT?
A Worship Workshop for leaders of the Latvian United Methodist Church. We spent four days teaching the workshop and spent the rest of our time in the Baltic States traveling and sightseeing!
Preparing for Worship. I sang! I was very nervous at first because everyone else in the band is a very talented musician, but during our time there the Lord gave me more confidence. By the end, I may not have been singing better, but I was certainly singing louder!
WHERE?
The workshop was at Wesley Camp -- near Liepaja, Latvia. Only a ten minute walk from the Baltic Sea!
The Alabama group with our new Latvian friends! I would tell you their names, but there's no way I could spell them correctly!
Later, during the sightseeing part of our trip, we spent a few hours at the Hill of Crosses near Siauliai, Lithuania. This monument to Christianity possibly began as early as the 1800s, but it gained more significance during the Soviet occupation, when the Soviets tried to remove the crosses, even bulldozing the hill three times! The Lithuanians and other Christians always came back to replace the crosses, and today there are more than 200,000 crosses on the hill!
Mitchell placed a cross for his church in Tuscaloosa, and we had a mini-prayer service to consecrate it.
This was the view from our hotel room in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania. A beautiful and interesting city with very little nightlife. :-D
One of the most unusual and disconcerting characteristics of the Baltic states is the daylight. In the summer the sun doesn't down until 11 PM or midnight, and then it "bounces" right back up! Our schedules got very mixed up because of this. I think I took this picture at around 10:00 PM!
One of the most special parts of our trip was meeting Ceara Randall, the newborn daughter of missionaries Dan and Courtney Randall. She was only ten days old when we met her! She is such a precious gift from God. Her parents' blog is linked on the side of this page.
Some more favorite memories from the trip:
Nocturnal Eyepluckers (aka storks)
Kefirs (think liquid sour cream). Delish! :P
Mitchell's "tuberculosis"
Anna thinking John Carl's foot was a pigeon and nearly upsetting the restaurant table
A much-needed fancy steak dinner
Staying up late chatting about past, present and future
Singing at the orphanage in Siauliai
Getting lost in every city we visited, made fun by the boys and their goofy accents (Hello, lady!)
The Angels, "WhiteBread" and the MultiLux
Being street performers for a few hours and making about $2 (if that)
Adventures on Frankfurt, Germany's public transportation system
Getting to know new friends and having new experiences
I've written about the Who, What, and Where. What about the WHY?
WHY ELSE BUT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?
It didn't hurt that it was super fun, too!
Want to see more pictures? Try here and here.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Latvia!
Hi! Quick note to say that I'm going to Latvia on a mission trip tomorrow! I'm going with my uncle Bob Bentley and a team of young people from Lester Memorial UMC in Oneonta. We're going to be doing a Worship Workshop at Camp Wesley. I'm sooooo excited! It was a spur of the moment decision for me, as I have only known about the trip for about 10 days! My bosses are amazing and worked it out so that I can miss two weeks of work for it! I get back on July 3, and then the next day I head to Camp Sumatanga to be a counselor at Sr. High Week 2! I'm going to be tired but super blessed by the end! Please pray for me and the team as we travel and minister. Hopefully we will share God's love to many people in Latvia!
Thanks!
~Rachel
Thanks!
~Rachel
Monday, June 1, 2009
A plethora of onomatopoeia!
Man alive, I have not updated this blog in forever! I apologize to my dedicated readers (insert un-ladylike snort of disbelief here). Sooo many things have happened since the last time I wrote. I'll give you an update about the good things first, before moving on to family troubles. Ready for the good news?
*Dum da da DAAA!* (That's my attempt at writing a trumpet fanfare phonetically)
I GOT A JOB!!
*And the crowd goes wild!* HHHHHHHHHAAAA!!
(I don't know why I keep attempting the onomatopoeia. It's obviously not working)
More to the point, I got a job that will actually help me with my calling. I'm the new Children's Minister for The Bridge UMC. It's a new church plant in Huntsville. It's a part time job - Sunday morning and Tuesday nights - but it will grow as the church grows. I wish I could put aside my worldly and selfish wants, but since I am not the thriftiest girl, working just a part-time job isn't going to cut it for me. So I'm also working full time at Latham UMC in the daycare and preschool. I started at the daycare this week, and I'm loving it! Tomorrow will be my first Sunday at The Bridge. I met many of the church members at a cookout on Tuesday; they seem like a close, caring group of people. I'm pumped to get started!
I moved back to Hartselle to live with Mom and Dad, and we're all adjusting to being under the same roof again. There's something comforting about being back home! :-)
This post has been sitting as a draft for over a week, so I guess I should finally post it!
*Dum da da DAAA!* (That's my attempt at writing a trumpet fanfare phonetically)
I GOT A JOB!!
*And the crowd goes wild!* HHHHHHHHHAAAA!!
(I don't know why I keep attempting the onomatopoeia. It's obviously not working)
More to the point, I got a job that will actually help me with my calling. I'm the new Children's Minister for The Bridge UMC. It's a new church plant in Huntsville. It's a part time job - Sunday morning and Tuesday nights - but it will grow as the church grows. I wish I could put aside my worldly and selfish wants, but since I am not the thriftiest girl, working just a part-time job isn't going to cut it for me. So I'm also working full time at Latham UMC in the daycare and preschool. I started at the daycare this week, and I'm loving it! Tomorrow will be my first Sunday at The Bridge. I met many of the church members at a cookout on Tuesday; they seem like a close, caring group of people. I'm pumped to get started!
I moved back to Hartselle to live with Mom and Dad, and we're all adjusting to being under the same roof again. There's something comforting about being back home! :-)
This post has been sitting as a draft for over a week, so I guess I should finally post it!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Minor Miracles
A few posts ago, I talked about my friend who just lost her dad. I wanted to share a story from that situation and what it meant to me.
I went to church with her only a couple of days after her dad had passed, and we attended the young adult class at her church (that used to be my church in high school). The two of us were the only people who attended the class that day, besides the teacher that neither of us had met before. He left the room to pick out the video for the lesson that day. My friend and I were just talking, and she mentioned that she didn't feel like she was doing a good job of grieving. She felt guilty because it hadn't really sunk in that her dad was gone. The teacher came back in and gave us two videos to choose from. They were lessons from the Nooma series (which are awesome). My friend read the summary on the back of one of the dvds and simply handed it to me without a word. It was a lesson on dealing with grief. The Sunday School teacher had never met my friend or me and didn't know that she was going through a loss. He just happened to pick that video out of 15 others (of course, we know it was God that guided his hand)! We watched the video, and the man in it said so many things that were amazing for Katie to hear. I'm paraphrasing, but he said "you may have lost someone two weeks ago or two days ago (her dad had died on Friday). You may be feeling sad, angry, or nothing at all. I'm here to tell you that whatever you're feeling, it's ok. God is going to be with you, and He's going to heal all of your hurts." We were so amazed at how God had given us that message, and it touched my friend deeply. She took the dvd home for her family to watch.
Before Chrysalis, I never really noticed God actively working in my life, but since I felt him in that weekend, I am seeing Him all over the place. It was incredible to feel the Joy of the Lord in the middle of that sad situation, and I consider it a minor miracle that He could bring comfort to my sweet friend in that time.
Make sure you watch out for God in the little moments of your life!
I went to church with her only a couple of days after her dad had passed, and we attended the young adult class at her church (that used to be my church in high school). The two of us were the only people who attended the class that day, besides the teacher that neither of us had met before. He left the room to pick out the video for the lesson that day. My friend and I were just talking, and she mentioned that she didn't feel like she was doing a good job of grieving. She felt guilty because it hadn't really sunk in that her dad was gone. The teacher came back in and gave us two videos to choose from. They were lessons from the Nooma series (which are awesome). My friend read the summary on the back of one of the dvds and simply handed it to me without a word. It was a lesson on dealing with grief. The Sunday School teacher had never met my friend or me and didn't know that she was going through a loss. He just happened to pick that video out of 15 others (of course, we know it was God that guided his hand)! We watched the video, and the man in it said so many things that were amazing for Katie to hear. I'm paraphrasing, but he said "you may have lost someone two weeks ago or two days ago (her dad had died on Friday). You may be feeling sad, angry, or nothing at all. I'm here to tell you that whatever you're feeling, it's ok. God is going to be with you, and He's going to heal all of your hurts." We were so amazed at how God had given us that message, and it touched my friend deeply. She took the dvd home for her family to watch.
Before Chrysalis, I never really noticed God actively working in my life, but since I felt him in that weekend, I am seeing Him all over the place. It was incredible to feel the Joy of the Lord in the middle of that sad situation, and I consider it a minor miracle that He could bring comfort to my sweet friend in that time.
Make sure you watch out for God in the little moments of your life!
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