I Bowed On My Knees

I had an emotionally moment in church this morning that I was not really ready for. We have a choir for the "seasoned" citizens of the church called the Sunshine Singers, and every once in a while they will sing instead of the regular choir. As I was looking through the bulletin before church started, I saw that they were going to be singing "I Bowed On My Knees". Just as I read this, they started practicing just a little bit of the song to make sure the mics were working. Tears came to my eyes, and I had a hard time holding myself together. When they actually sang the song during the service, tears streamed down my cheeks and I was sure everyone around me was wondering what was going on. This song was sung by my aunt at my grandpa's funeral in September. It was hard remembering the emotions of that day, even though we were celebrating his life, there were lots of tears and it was difficult. The words of the song also struck me this morning in a particular way as I longed to see Jesus and leave all of the struggles of this world, like studying for a crazy mid-term in Hermeneutics (just kidding!). :) The words of the song are really great, so here they are. I am learning that in the grieving process, different things will hit you at different times. Sometimes I know a certain memory or situation will be tough, and others things just are hard that I'm not expecting. But, I am thankful for God's strength for every situation, and I'm so thankful that my grandpa is in heaven praising Jesus.

I dreamed of a city called Glory,
So bright and so fair.
When I entered that gate I cried, "Holy"
The angels all met me there:
They carried me from mansion to mansion,
And oh what sights I saw.
But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for all."

Chorus
Then I bowed on my knees and cried,"Holy, Holy, Holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory, Glory to the Son of God."
Then I bowed on my knees and cried,"Holy, Holy, Holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory, Glory to the Son of God."

I thought as I entered that city,
My friends all knew me well.
They showed me the streets of Heaven;
Such scenes too numerous to tell;
I saw Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
Mark, Luke and Timothy.
But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for me."
http://www.my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/bowed.html ( you can listen to the music)

A Few Highlights

This weekend I have several big assignments to complete for school and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Instead of getting too bogged down and to hopefully keep a positive attitude (for me, Miss Pessimistic), I am going to list a few highlights and special moments, or fun things from this last week.

~ Erika and I got to have lunch today at one of our favorite places called Taco Delight. It's only about 4 blocks from the church, and so we braved the "cold" weather to walk. It was great to catch up and just chat.

~ We have had some interesting mice adventures in the office this week. While a mouse running around in my office is definitely NOT a highlight, we've had lots of laughter over the whole situation, and it's become exciting to check the closet and see how many we've caught (the count is up to 8, although 5 of those were at one time).

~ I got to have a Skype call with my sister on Thursday night. I always enjoy talking to her and any other family member and just laughing and talking.

~ Girls' Bible study on Wednesday was pretty crazy. We were trying to finish our series on Esther but we (meaning the girls) were easily distracted and talked about the most random things. We also played a rather simple version of Wheel of Fortune which was lots of fun.

Well, those are a few of the fun things from this week. :)

Living Simply

For my Spiritual Formation and Worship class this semester, we are reading the book Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster. He divides the spiritual dicsciplines into the 3 categories: the inward disciplines, the outward disciplines, and the corporate disciplines. I have been reading this week in the section of the outward disciplines, and was struck by the discipline of simplicity. Foster gave 10 ways that we can practice living simply, and these really made me think so I wanted to share them.

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
3. Develop a habit of giving things away.
4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry, like time-saving devices
5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them.
6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.
7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes. They are a trap and only deepen your bondage.
8. Obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech.
9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.
10. Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God.

Musings...

This morning as I sipped a Pumpkin Spice latte (very good for soul-searching), I read Zephaniah 3:17, which says, "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." I want to dive deep into this verse, and let it change my life. God delights in us! He delights in me. This is something that I often have a hard time believing. But I want God's love to wash over me, to quiet my soul, to show me what is truth. I hope you know how much God loves you! Perhaps like me, you need to discover this in a new way today.

This verse brought to mind a neat song based on the words of this passage. Here is the song:

"Sing Over Me" by Bethany Dillon

I live in the wonder of Your love
You rise like the sun in my heart
Even when the night draws near to me
There You are

I will wade in the water of mercy
I will walk in the light of Your will
Whatever should come against me
Teach me to be still

As you Sing over me
Draw me close to rest in Your peace
Sing over me
Oh, sing

Sing of Your unending faithfulness
That knows no doubt or fear
In the face of all that I don't know yet
Remind me of who You are

You are mighty
You will save
Rejoice over me with singing
You will quiet
By Your love
Glory over me with singing

God's Heart for all the Nations

This weekend I attended a conference on sharing the Gospel with Muslim peoples. This was really an amazing day and a half of stories and learning from former Muslims who have found the Truth of Jesus Christ. We had some good times of singing, speakers, and breakout workshops.

God is doing some amazing work among Muslim peoples, but there is much work to be done. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, and is taking over Europe and even the United States. There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world. In France for example, one out of every 6 people is a Muslim.

Muslims who become Christians face many difficulties. They must confront their families and face possible rejection. Many of the Muslim background believers face threats on their life because they will not go back to their Muslim faith. One girl who lives in Los Vegas told the story of when she became a Christian, her uncles came from India to question her. They beat her with a hard-back copy of the Qur’an, the holy book for the Muslims, and she was in the hospital for quite some time. Her father beat her up in a grocery store parking lot. But her faith remains strong, and she is committed to telling her story so that people will know persecution happens even in the US.

So what can we do? First of all, we need to pray for God to continue to reveal himself to the Muslim people, so that they will know the Truth. Second, we need to build relationships with Muslim people. This is really the best way to share the Gospel with them. This takes much time, patience and great love. We need to invite them into our homes and get to know more about their culture and religion. Many Muslims believe that Christians are no different from the movies they see of Americans and consider them to be hypocrites. We need to show them we are different by loving them with Christ’s love. Also, a huge need in many other countries is for discipleship of new believers. In Iran, for example, thousands are coming to Christ, but with no one to shepherd them and teach them the Bible, they are being led astray by anything that might have the label “Christian” on it. We need to look beyond just “converting” someone, to really teaching them to obey Christ’s commands.

This conference continued the learning process for me on outreach to Muslim peoples, and I’m excited to see what opportunities God gives me to live out what I’ve learned.