Am I walking worthy?

"That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory."

I Thess. 2: 12

Have you ever had one of your good friends start dating someone and think to yourself, "What IS she thinking??!! She deserves such a better guy than That!!" My dear friends, what do people think when they see your life in response to Christ? Since the Church is the Bride of Christ we are very much connected to Him. I know we as sinful mankind can never truly deserve Christ's love but are we a cheating girlfriend? Who or what are we putting in front of our Lord? When non-believers see our lives are they intrigued or disappointed that we can't live what we preach? Lord- give me the endurance to keep my walk pure and worthy of You in this sinful world!

SPRING!!!

Hello All! Sorry its been so long- I don't know where the last month went! :P Well Spring is here in Iowa! You wouldn't know it by the temperature.... but that's what they keep telling me! I only have one more month here at Emmaus before this summer! I'm kinda sad... I will really miss those that won't be coming back next fall! Well to catch y'all up on my life... the main event since I have posted was the Dubuque Chorale that I sing in had its performance. It was so much fun! We sang accompanied by the Dubuque Symphony- performing Beethoven's Ninth, a couple of Handel pieces, and a Haydn piece! SOOOO much fun!!! Well I haven't had time to take photos of spring yet... but when I get a chance I will! I will try to do a better job of blogging this month!!

Praise the Lord!

Hooray!!! Glory is out of the hospital now and back at home as of the evening of Sunday, Feb. 24th. Thank the Lord for all of His healing!! I have had a glorious weekend! I went to Menno Haven (a weekend long retreat) and there found encouraging Bible talks and my PARENTS! They had surprised me back showing up without telling me they would be there. It was so nice to be able to see them again.

As I prepare to go on tour with Ensemble I have been battling feelings of inadequacy and fear. The Lord showed me a beautiful verse today as I was doing my Old Testament reading in Isaiah. Have you ever watched someone who is really afraid? Their hands start to shake as do their knees. If you would ask that person what is wrong- more than likely they would tell you that they are afraid or fearful. Isaiah 35:3-4 states, "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." The enemy I have been fighting is fear- God will take care of my fear if I give it over to Him. This verse reminds me of the trust that a little girl has in her dad- a trust so strong that when she is in danger she knows that he will do all he can to help her- to save her. I think of the story I once heard about a child jumping out of a second story window to the arms of her dad when their home was on fire. Or even just the simple trust shown when most dad's play with their children in a pool. You know when the child jumps off the edge into the water knowing that her dad will catch her. Am I willing to jump? We hear about "taking the leap of faith" and I think that is what this is talking about. It is what happens after we obediently leap into our heavenly Father's waiting arms....

Lunar Eclipse

Did y'all see the lunar eclipse tonight!? It was soooo pretty! The sky was perfect too- for once it was crystal clear. Isn't our God awsome?! Such wonderful things He has created....

Worrisome times...

Hello all! Well I am still alive- I know its been awhile since I have posted anything. Much has been happening! School has been very busy and Ensemble is preparing for tour during spring break. The big news right now is my niece Glory is in the hospital... She had the flu and it turned into a collapsed lung and pneumonia. She is doing better but they expect her to stay in the hospital for at least a week. Ensemble's tour schedule is as follows...

Friday, Feb. 29th - Grand Haven Gospel Chapel in Grand Haven, MI (Concert at 7 pm)
Saturday, March 1- Jefferson Hills Bible Church in Pittsburgh, PA (Concert at 7:30 pm)
Sunday, March 2-Forge Road Bible Chapel in Perry Hall (Baltimore), MD (Concert at 7pm)
Monday, March 3- Free Day!!! We will be touring the Baltimore Maritime Museum and Inner Harbor
Tuesday, March 4- Grace Gospel Chapel in Plumsteadville, PA (Concert at 7:30 pm)
Wednesday, March 5- Side trip to Valley Forge National Park and then performing at Greenwood Hills Gospel Chapel in Fayetteville, PA (concert at 7pm)
Thursday, March 6- Free Day!! Trip to Gettysburg
Friday, March 7- Warrenville Bible Chapel in Warrenville, IL (concert at 7pm)

Through a Glass Clearly

This one makes you think.......

Blessings All Mine with 10,000 Besides by Frederick L. Kosin

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. Phillipians 1:20

"For thoses with failing eyesight, a magnifying glass is a constant companion. What a blessing to put one in front of the list of Joneses in the telephone book and actually be able to pick out the right one! A magnifying glass makes what is invisible (or unreadable) to the naked eye visible. Christ, who is invisible to the world's eye, is waiting for us to "put ourselves in front of" Him so others can "read" Him. Christ is in us, and our body and life is the glass that God uses to make Him known to the world around us. My behavior stands between Christ and the world's eyes. Just as we pick up a magnifying glass to look at something closely, so the world "picks us up," places us in front of Christ, and reads Him in terms of our lives. As a believer with Christ resident in my body, I am always giving the world a view of Christ. It may not be what He wants or is pleased with, but it takes place nevertheless. Somethimes a magnifying glass neeeds to be cleaned so it can be more effective. Since Christ is in us and visible to the world, all we are and all we do should reveal or magnify Him. If we keep our behavior clean and put our lives in front of Him, the world will see Christ clearly. If our lives are dirty through unconfessed sin, our glass is dirty and the view the world has of Christ will be clouded. Many of us give a distorted view of Christ becaouse of the condition of the glass (our lives). For this reason, many are turned away from Christ as a result of what they see through us. We are, therefore, to be tools suitable and ready for the Master's use. The blessing is that Christ lives in us and has chosen us to be the "magnifying glasses" the world uses to get to know Him. "Christ will be magnified" says Paul. We do not need to pray for Him to use us! He is waiting for us to be used What a responsibliity! What an opportunity! This is the kind of responsibblitiy and opportunity no angel ever had."

Markian Sandwiches

I learned something in New Testament Survey this morning- I know
that's why I am taking the course but this one was worth sharing! We are
studying the gospel of Mark and learning about the different literary techniques
that John Mark used to point toward his main point of the gospel- that Jesus is
the Son of God. A Markian sandwich is one of these techniques. It is
when Mark "sandwiches" a group of stories close together to make the stories
more than just stories but so that more life application or doctrinal truths can
be pulled from them. All throughout the gospel of Mark these sandwiches can be
found- for though as the Word of God all of these stories happened John Mark was
not bothered to put them in chronological order like some of the other New
Testament writers were. He uses the stories similarities or differences to
highlight a truth. For example take Mark chapter 5. Verses 22-43 tell the story
of the woman healed from her hemorrhaging problem and of the 12 year old girl
that was raised from the dead. I have color coded the similarities of the
stories that Mark included to prove his point.


22And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of
the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his
feet, 23And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at
the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be
healed; and she shall live. 24And Jesus went with him; and much
people followed him, and thronged him. 25And a certain woman, which
had an issue of blood twelve years, 26And had suffered many things of
many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but
rather grew worse, 27When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press
behind, and touched his garment. 28For she said, If I may touch but
his clothes, I shall be whole. 29And straightway the fountain of her
blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that
plague. 30And Jesus, immediately knowing in
himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and
said, Who touched my clothes? 31And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched
me? (in this similarity Jesus says something that to others seems
ridiculous) 32And he looked round about to see her that had done this
thing. 33But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her,
came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34And he said
unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of
thy plague. 35While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the
Master any further? 36As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he
saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. 37And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 38And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult,
and them that wept and wailed greatly. 39And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 40And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 41And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 42And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. 43And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.(KJV scripture courtesy of www.biblegateway.com)


Now for the similarities that are
not written down in the text- both the woman and the girl had no where else
to turn- Jesus was their, like our, only hope. Also both Jairus and the woman had
to endanger themselves by reaching out to Jesus. Jairus was an important
ruler in the synagogue and by acknowledging that Jesus had
the power to heal his daughter he would be in very high danger of
being expelled from his own synagogue. The woman on the other
hand was unclean (Lev. 15:25) and everything she got
near pretty much was unclean for a day as well. By touching Jesus she went
against the law.

The differences are there too though: Probably the most important one is that while Jairus was very well off financially, the woman had spent all of her money during the last 12 years on doctors. I think that one of the main points that John Mark was
pointing out in Chapter 5 is that Jesus is for everyone, both rich and poor. Socially accepted and shunned for being unclean. Whatever your status is; poor or rich your only hope is Jesus.The differences are there too though: Probably the most important one is that while Jairus was very well off financially, the woman had spent all of her money during the last 12 years on doctors. I think that one of the main points that John Mark was pointing out in Chapter 5 is that Jesus is for
everyone, both rich and poor. Socially accepted and shunned for
being unclean. Whatever your status is; poor or rich your only hope is
Jesus.