I think you think you get it. I think you think that you understand exactly what I'm talking about when I say worship. I think you think, "oh. Isn't that that time after dodgeball during wednesday night church when we all line up and mumble the words to those songs no one actually cares about?"
I think you just don't get it. I think you will never get it until you ALLOW yourself to understand and grasp just how stinking important worship is.
GUYS. LET ME MAKE THIS VERY CLEAR. WHEN WE PRAISE, WE DON'T DO IT FOR EACH OTHER. WE DO IT FOR THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE THAT SAVED US FROM A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH. A FATE THAT WOULD MAKE DEATH LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF CAKE. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND JUST HOW MUCH OF A BIG DEAL THIS IS.
Oh my goodness. Like, seriously I can't even begin to describe to you what it's like when you really, truly, deeply, let go and just praise. JUST PRAISE. Praise him for your family. praise him for being forgiven. praise him for never letting go. praise him for the hard times. praise him for the good times. just praise him.
But Jo, that kind of praise just doesn't exist. maybe it does in some other universe, but not here. not in this world. not in this country. not in Arkansas. not in OZARK of all places. No Jo, that kind of praise doesn't happen here.
BUT IT CAN!!!!!!!!! IT CAN! I'VE SEEN IT. Guys, I've seen that praise. I've grown up with that praise. I know that praise. I've lived through that praise. I WANT THAT PRAISE! And it can happen. I believe that. We just have to stop looking around at the kid next to us hoping they don't hear the quiet whispered lyrics coming through those lips. We live in a world that says "Be unique!" "Stand out!", and standing out seems great at first. Yeah, I get to be different and have attention. But when we come into that youth building suddenly we don't want to be unique. Suddenly we freeze and say, wait. I have to be like everyone else and not sing. I have to wait for someone else to stand up and sing.
But if you're waiting for someone else, just count on waiting for a long time. because at least in my youth group not a whole lot of people care too much for singing. I want us to praise Him though. Because even though we may have the most horrible voices or whatever, God deserves at least our praise.
Doesn't he?
As I write this I am literally on the verge of sobbing. You may think that you understand just what praise is. You may think you understand what I'm talking about. But until you give all of that self-conscience-ness about standing out or whatever the problem is to God? You will never understand. And you HAVE to just figure it out. Because once you understand, it is unlike almost anything else. Anything.
And if you have figured it out?
Praise Jesus, because maybe I'm not crazy when I say all this. Maybe there is more to praise than standing awkwardly waiting to sit down because your feet hurt so much. Maybe there's more. There has to be more. There is more.
The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ-eternal and glorious plans they are-will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, He does. - 1 Peter 5:10&11
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Pray.
My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. - James 2:1
My friends and I have started going up to people and just asking if they need prayer. It's sliiiiightly terrifying, uncomfortable, and hard, but we believe that prayer is so, so, so, SO important. Know why? Well let me give you a little list.
God can't stand pious poses, but he delights in genuine prayers. - Proverbs 15:8
When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. - Luke 6:28
Pray all the time. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. - Psalm 145:18
Are you hurting? Pray. - James 5:13
Hallelujah! Thank God! Pray to Him by name! Tell everyone you meet what He has done! - Psalm 105:1
Could God make it any clearer? HE WANTS US TO PRAY!
But it's hard to rebel against the things the world says are right, when everyone is staring at you differently. When people think you're crazy or weird for going up and asking to pray with them, it's hard for me. Some people don't care, but it's hard for me to do that. Honestly, it's really intimidating. But James 2:1 tells us we shouldn't let what people think of us keep us from living and sharing our faith. We shouldn't let the whispers and stares of the kids in the hallway distract us from what is right. Because I know that God is real, and His opinion of me is what really matters. If God wants me to pray, I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do it the hard way because if I always just stand back on the sidelines asking God to help them with whatever they need, I won't grow. I have to step out of that comfort zone and go up to that girl sitting alone, or the whole table of kids if that's what God asks of me, and ask them personally what they need prayer for. That may not be what God is asking of everyone, but I know that's what he wants of me. So I'll give it. I'll give myself over to him and stop worrying about what people think, even though it's hard. Because when God says in the bible to freely give, I think he wants us to freely give to him too, not just people, even when it's hard. So right now, it's time for us to freely give ourselves to God and his perfect plan. And if freely giving yourself over to God means going up to that table of kids and asking if anyone needs prayer, then you'd better do it, because if you won't be a tool God can use, he'll find someone else who will.
So God, give me boldness. Send me over to that group of kids. I'll go.
Will you?
My friends and I have started going up to people and just asking if they need prayer. It's sliiiiightly terrifying, uncomfortable, and hard, but we believe that prayer is so, so, so, SO important. Know why? Well let me give you a little list.
God can't stand pious poses, but he delights in genuine prayers. - Proverbs 15:8
When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. - Luke 6:28
Pray all the time. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. - Psalm 145:18
Are you hurting? Pray. - James 5:13
Hallelujah! Thank God! Pray to Him by name! Tell everyone you meet what He has done! - Psalm 105:1
Could God make it any clearer? HE WANTS US TO PRAY!
But it's hard to rebel against the things the world says are right, when everyone is staring at you differently. When people think you're crazy or weird for going up and asking to pray with them, it's hard for me. Some people don't care, but it's hard for me to do that. Honestly, it's really intimidating. But James 2:1 tells us we shouldn't let what people think of us keep us from living and sharing our faith. We shouldn't let the whispers and stares of the kids in the hallway distract us from what is right. Because I know that God is real, and His opinion of me is what really matters. If God wants me to pray, I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do it the hard way because if I always just stand back on the sidelines asking God to help them with whatever they need, I won't grow. I have to step out of that comfort zone and go up to that girl sitting alone, or the whole table of kids if that's what God asks of me, and ask them personally what they need prayer for. That may not be what God is asking of everyone, but I know that's what he wants of me. So I'll give it. I'll give myself over to him and stop worrying about what people think, even though it's hard. Because when God says in the bible to freely give, I think he wants us to freely give to him too, not just people, even when it's hard. So right now, it's time for us to freely give ourselves to God and his perfect plan. And if freely giving yourself over to God means going up to that table of kids and asking if anyone needs prayer, then you'd better do it, because if you won't be a tool God can use, he'll find someone else who will.
So God, give me boldness. Send me over to that group of kids. I'll go.
Will you?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
To know God and make Him known.
Wow. what a week.
This past week was Ozark's spring break, and lemme tell ya, it was something else. I went with a group of kids to Dallas Texas to do an outreach to the city.
God was there.
He was there in everything we did. There were moments that some of us were so overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit that we couldn't help but weep. Thinking about it makes my heart beat fast and gives me butterflies. Let me just share a few stories.
Thursday we went with Hilltop Church to some apartments to knock on doors and ask if we could pray. Maddi and Tyler went to a door and knocked, and a woman with a 1 year old child opened the door. This woman had been living with a man for two years and had had a child with him. Little did she know that he had had AIDS since 2001, and had been hiding it from her. She asked for healing, not only her body, but her heart. Can you imagine the opportunity God gave us to minister to her?
On friday we went to inner-city Dallas to hand out water bottles and ask if we could pray with people. As we were heading over to set our waterbottle-filled coolers next to a lamppost, a woman caught our attention. She was sitting in a power wheelchair waiting for her bus. We had not said anything to her, when she said, "Y'all are here to talk about Jesus, huh?" We looked at each other like, woah, how does this woman know what we're here for? "I can tell," she said, "Y'all are shining with Jesus."
WOAH. Isn't that like the one thing every Christian wants to hear?? A woman who had never seen us before knows just by looking at us that we were Christians. That's an honor to me. "I can tell you're gonna feed me some goooooood food. the best kinda food. food for the soul."
These are just two of the incredible stories from our outreach that I experienced. We also got to fellowship and minister to the Burmese refugees staying in Dallas: the Karen people. I have never experienced a more loving, compassionate, beautiful people. They shone in a way that makes me want to do this for the rest of my life. I had the opportunity to play with the kids while we taught English classes to the adults/teens. It was just a really eye opening time for me, to see kids so full of love for each other, and for me. They had only just met me and they latched on in a way most kids don't do. It was different than anything I've felt while working with kids.
My last story is one that isn't my own, but is one of my favorite examples of the week of how compassionate and personal our God is. Caleb, a boy in our team, spoke about how it seemed scary to think about hearing God's voice. He felt like it would be a terrifying experience to hear our creator, and I really couldn't agree more, haha. He has trouble sleeping in unfamiliar rooms, and so one night he woke up very early in the morning. Suddenly he heard Tyler Combs (another boy in our team) say "Caleb." Caleb sat up and looked at Tyler, who was asleep. At this point, Caleb felt a little worried and lay back down. "I'm here," Tyler's voice said to him. Caleb immediately prayed that God would let him go back to sleep and stop hearing voices, as it would be SLIGHTLY terrifying to hear voices talking to you in the middle of the night. Haha. So the next day Caleb was sitting in the basement of the Church we were staying in, and heard Joseph's voice say "Caleb." Caleb looked at Joseph, and said "What?" Joseph looked at him like he was crazy and said "I didn't say anything." It was then that Caleb realized something. God was using voices that Caleb was familiar with to speak to him, because being the great God that he is, he knew that Caleb was afraid of hearing God's voice. Some of you may think, Oh, no Caleb was just hearing things. But if you were on this trip and had seen God work the way he did, I think you might think a little differently. I believe whole heartedly that God was using more familiar voices to speak to Caleb. I've seen what He can do, and I believe that this was God.
This week was life changing. I have cried, laughed (A LOT), come to a lot of realizations, and begun to see what God has in mind for my future. I've decided that after high school, I will most likely be doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With a Mission (YWAM). I think that God is calling me to be a missionary for him. Wherever that takes me, I'm not sure of. But of one thing I am sure: I am absolutely head over heels in love with my savior Jesus Christ. He has set all of our hearts on fire, and I can't wait to see how he works through all of us. We've decided as a group to begin an outreach type thing to our community. We know that God's opened a door that satan will try to close, but we're committed and ready for our Jesus to do His work.
"We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us." - Colossians 1:9-12
"Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity." - 1 Timothy 4:11-12
"I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food- catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on the truth and chase mirages. But you- keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant." - 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Keep the word moving, guys. God's coming back soon. Be ready. Allow God to use you to make others ready.
And after all, if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
This past week was Ozark's spring break, and lemme tell ya, it was something else. I went with a group of kids to Dallas Texas to do an outreach to the city.
God was there.
He was there in everything we did. There were moments that some of us were so overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit that we couldn't help but weep. Thinking about it makes my heart beat fast and gives me butterflies. Let me just share a few stories.
Thursday we went with Hilltop Church to some apartments to knock on doors and ask if we could pray. Maddi and Tyler went to a door and knocked, and a woman with a 1 year old child opened the door. This woman had been living with a man for two years and had had a child with him. Little did she know that he had had AIDS since 2001, and had been hiding it from her. She asked for healing, not only her body, but her heart. Can you imagine the opportunity God gave us to minister to her?
On friday we went to inner-city Dallas to hand out water bottles and ask if we could pray with people. As we were heading over to set our waterbottle-filled coolers next to a lamppost, a woman caught our attention. She was sitting in a power wheelchair waiting for her bus. We had not said anything to her, when she said, "Y'all are here to talk about Jesus, huh?" We looked at each other like, woah, how does this woman know what we're here for? "I can tell," she said, "Y'all are shining with Jesus."
WOAH. Isn't that like the one thing every Christian wants to hear?? A woman who had never seen us before knows just by looking at us that we were Christians. That's an honor to me. "I can tell you're gonna feed me some goooooood food. the best kinda food. food for the soul."
These are just two of the incredible stories from our outreach that I experienced. We also got to fellowship and minister to the Burmese refugees staying in Dallas: the Karen people. I have never experienced a more loving, compassionate, beautiful people. They shone in a way that makes me want to do this for the rest of my life. I had the opportunity to play with the kids while we taught English classes to the adults/teens. It was just a really eye opening time for me, to see kids so full of love for each other, and for me. They had only just met me and they latched on in a way most kids don't do. It was different than anything I've felt while working with kids.
My last story is one that isn't my own, but is one of my favorite examples of the week of how compassionate and personal our God is. Caleb, a boy in our team, spoke about how it seemed scary to think about hearing God's voice. He felt like it would be a terrifying experience to hear our creator, and I really couldn't agree more, haha. He has trouble sleeping in unfamiliar rooms, and so one night he woke up very early in the morning. Suddenly he heard Tyler Combs (another boy in our team) say "Caleb." Caleb sat up and looked at Tyler, who was asleep. At this point, Caleb felt a little worried and lay back down. "I'm here," Tyler's voice said to him. Caleb immediately prayed that God would let him go back to sleep and stop hearing voices, as it would be SLIGHTLY terrifying to hear voices talking to you in the middle of the night. Haha. So the next day Caleb was sitting in the basement of the Church we were staying in, and heard Joseph's voice say "Caleb." Caleb looked at Joseph, and said "What?" Joseph looked at him like he was crazy and said "I didn't say anything." It was then that Caleb realized something. God was using voices that Caleb was familiar with to speak to him, because being the great God that he is, he knew that Caleb was afraid of hearing God's voice. Some of you may think, Oh, no Caleb was just hearing things. But if you were on this trip and had seen God work the way he did, I think you might think a little differently. I believe whole heartedly that God was using more familiar voices to speak to Caleb. I've seen what He can do, and I believe that this was God.
This week was life changing. I have cried, laughed (A LOT), come to a lot of realizations, and begun to see what God has in mind for my future. I've decided that after high school, I will most likely be doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With a Mission (YWAM). I think that God is calling me to be a missionary for him. Wherever that takes me, I'm not sure of. But of one thing I am sure: I am absolutely head over heels in love with my savior Jesus Christ. He has set all of our hearts on fire, and I can't wait to see how he works through all of us. We've decided as a group to begin an outreach type thing to our community. We know that God's opened a door that satan will try to close, but we're committed and ready for our Jesus to do His work.
"We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us." - Colossians 1:9-12
"Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity." - 1 Timothy 4:11-12
"I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food- catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on the truth and chase mirages. But you- keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant." - 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Keep the word moving, guys. God's coming back soon. Be ready. Allow God to use you to make others ready.
And after all, if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
Thursday, December 23, 2010
..for it is God who is working in youuu
"I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content -- whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:12-13
I'll be the first to say I am pretty hard to please. In a world where getting getting getting is number one in most peoples' lives, it's hard to remember why we're here and what this whole life thing is all about. Lately I've been reading some of Paul's letters. Today I read Philippians, and it strikes me over and over and over how incredibly at peace and content with his situation (which was being imprisoned at least 4 times and put to death by the Romans for his faith) he is. You never read about Paul complaining to his people about being in jail, being hungry or tired. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, he even goes so far to say that he is overjoyed. "I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement. I am filled with joy in all our afflictions." If you were in jail, hungry, surrounded by people that hated you because of what you believe, and wrongly accused, do you think you would be happy? Ehhhh, probably not. Paul's undying faith and contentment would of been a HUGE boost of confidence for me if I had been one receiving his letters. I mean.. geez! He says in verse 11 of chapter 4 of Philippians, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Contentment.. in any situation..
I'll be the first to say I am pretty hard to please. In a world where getting getting getting is number one in most peoples' lives, it's hard to remember why we're here and what this whole life thing is all about. Lately I've been reading some of Paul's letters. Today I read Philippians, and it strikes me over and over and over how incredibly at peace and content with his situation (which was being imprisoned at least 4 times and put to death by the Romans for his faith) he is. You never read about Paul complaining to his people about being in jail, being hungry or tired. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, he even goes so far to say that he is overjoyed. "I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement. I am filled with joy in all our afflictions." If you were in jail, hungry, surrounded by people that hated you because of what you believe, and wrongly accused, do you think you would be happy? Ehhhh, probably not. Paul's undying faith and contentment would of been a HUGE boost of confidence for me if I had been one receiving his letters. I mean.. geez! He says in verse 11 of chapter 4 of Philippians, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Contentment.. in any situation..
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Confidence - trust or faith in a person or thing; a trusting relationship.
holy moly, it's been a while. haha. I just have a little something to say.
2 Corinthians 7:4 - I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged. In all our troubles, my joy knows no bounds.
Julie Armstrong gave me this verse this week to kind of focus on. This book is from Paul writing to the church at Corinth, but I found myself reading this verse a little differently. This verse, although written to Corinth, made me stop and think. Lately I've had some trouble with confidence. (don't act like it hasn't happened to you). Mostly in basketball. The other night the thought occured to me, hey Jo, maybe you ought to pray about it. So I did. I fell asleep praying. The next day Julie gave me this verse, and although it's from Paul and not exactly in the context of my situation, it made me think "hey, if Paul felt this towards the Corinthians, how much more does GOD feel it for ME? I mean, God cares 100909850293847 times more about people than we ever could, so doesn't that mean God must have a whole lot of confidence in us? In me? It's kind of nice to think about how much God really does love us and how much he's rooting for us. He's just up there saying Jo, I'm right here. I made you in my image, and I'm here to help you. I have confidence in you.
2 Corinthians 7:4 - I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged. In all our troubles, my joy knows no bounds.
Julie Armstrong gave me this verse this week to kind of focus on. This book is from Paul writing to the church at Corinth, but I found myself reading this verse a little differently. This verse, although written to Corinth, made me stop and think. Lately I've had some trouble with confidence. (don't act like it hasn't happened to you). Mostly in basketball. The other night the thought occured to me, hey Jo, maybe you ought to pray about it. So I did. I fell asleep praying. The next day Julie gave me this verse, and although it's from Paul and not exactly in the context of my situation, it made me think "hey, if Paul felt this towards the Corinthians, how much more does GOD feel it for ME? I mean, God cares 100909850293847 times more about people than we ever could, so doesn't that mean God must have a whole lot of confidence in us? In me? It's kind of nice to think about how much God really does love us and how much he's rooting for us. He's just up there saying Jo, I'm right here. I made you in my image, and I'm here to help you. I have confidence in you.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
praise
Tonight I was at youth, and I LOVE singing! Worship is like my FAVORITE thing to do at church. Better than dodgeball :) Unfortunately, out of maybe 30 kids, about 5 were singing. I kept getting weird looks because I was one of the odd ones out. Shouldn't it be the other way around? The MAJORITY should be PRAISING and WORSHIPING Him! Not the minority! Psalm 98:4 says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the Earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise!". God mentioned the word "PRAISE [the Lord]" around 200+ times in the whole Bible; wouldn't you think it's pretty important? God created the world, sent his son to die for us, forgave us of our sins, not to mention the fact that he promised He would KEEP forgiving us, and PROMISED to come back. Isn't that a little incentive to praise Him?! God is AMAZING. He is PERFECT. There is NONE.LIKE.HIM! What more do you need?! My dad is in our church choir, and he's told me times of when he's up there and praising, singin out to God, and it's unlike anything. Just him and God. Sure, he may not exactly be opera material, but he BLESSES the Lord with his voice. And lemme tell ya one thing; my dad couldn't care less if you think he's weird for singin loud, because for him, he is kneeling at the feet of Jesus, in his [presence]. Guys, I can't stress to you enough how incredibly important worship is! You may hear me belting the songs out in the back, and think, man she's kind of a freak. But man guys, if you could only experience it. The feeling that you're doing something that honors God. It's unreal. People say there's nothing like the feeling you get from being saved, and I agree, being saved is... well there's no word to describe it. But worshiping? It's right up there with it. To me, it's special. It's personal.
Maybe all this is just me, but guys, if you couldn't care less about anything I've said until now, care about this;
God loves you. He loves me. He saved you. He saved us all from a fate worse than death, and He LONGS for you. He is JEALOUS for you!
Isn't that enough to give up a few minutes of your texting/social life/boyfriend/girlfriend/favorite-song-on-the-radio time? Man, it's enough for me..
Maybe all this is just me, but guys, if you couldn't care less about anything I've said until now, care about this;
God loves you. He loves me. He saved you. He saved us all from a fate worse than death, and He LONGS for you. He is JEALOUS for you!
Isn't that enough to give up a few minutes of your texting/social life/boyfriend/girlfriend/favorite-song-on-the-radio time? Man, it's enough for me..
Friday, October 1, 2010
peace and blessings.
People warned me about how my friends would change in highschool. How the people I thought I'd had all figured out would completely change. I couldn't count the amount of times my friends told me. And even now that it happens, man it hurts like junk. No matter how prepared you are for it, you can never fully prepare for that kinda thing. it's hard. real hard.
Guess that's all I really had to say.
Guess that's all I really had to say.
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