A few times a year our church does baby dedications.  We choose to dedicate babies instead of baptizing them because we believe baptism is an action you take when you turn from your old life and wash away the sins and walk into a new life with Chr…

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Whoops…missed two weeks. More on that later. Reading for October 25 was Isaiah 50-52, 1 Thessalonians 5.Isaiah 50-52:Finally – some good news for Israel! The “Servant Songs” – songs about the listening servant who will comfort the listening people, s…

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The reading for today was Isaiah 34-36 and Colossians 2. I wasn’t as prompt with this reading – I finished it up right before I started this post!The reading from Isaiah was another weird one and the first two chapters a little hard to get through. I d…

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This past week’s reading was Isaiah 17-19, Ephesians 5:17-33I’m proud to say I got this week’s reading all done by Wednesday!  I love reading from my ESV Study Bible. Half the pages are notes or maps regarding the passages. It really gives you a d…

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Okay! So it took weeks, but I’ve finally figured out how to get this blog + Bible reading thing going. It is going to be called “Tuesday Readings.”I will probably be getting my passages from BibleGateway.com under their “Reading Plans” section. I’ve ch…

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Some things I’ve been thinking about this week: Tonight I babysat my sweet niece Chloe and got to spend some time chatting with my brother-in-law, Brian. It was nice catching up with him and it’s so awesome to be able to get along with my sister and he…

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Lately I’ve been really feeling the effects of not reading my Bible like I should – and feeling the guilt, though not really doing anything to change it. I had a kind of serious break down this weekend over something ridiculous and I’ve been struggling…

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It about the power of vulnerability – we manifest humility by being vulnerable.
Vulnerability: liable to increased penalties but
Pain and suffering and discomfort and sacrifice is so countercultural.
Three fears that keep us from being vulnerable – Naked Service:

Fear of Losing the Business (of being rejected)

Enter the danger
Speak the kind truth – terminal niceness in churches
You will [...]

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Humility is not humiliation, or low self-esteem. It’s the noble choice to forgo your status and use your influence for the good of others before yourself. The ability to hold power for the good of others.
Five reasons for cultivating humility in your personal life and dealings:

Humility is common-sense

None of us is an expert on everything
Expertise [...]

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“This Guy…I don’t what to do with!”
Wherever you are, God has called you to be a steward over a vision, for the specific reason for changing something. Are you going to allow “This Guy” to stop your vision, robs your joy, and could have the power to stop an entire mission.
What does a person do [...]

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This was a moving, emotional, and challenging session.
What if we were called to work that didn’t grow and succeed. Can we confront the suddenly addictive narcotic of growth and success.
Ethiopia

Under communism the church was forced underground, pastors beaten and thrown into prison
during [...]

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WOP  no title yet.

… and responding to spontaneity. I’ve been having this vague image popping into my head for some time now. It has never been complete in my vision but yet desperate to come out. I purchased this 16 x 20 gallery wrap canvas …

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Anything that is written in God’s Word is possible for you.
Audacious Faith: being in God to do the impossible.
2 Kings 3:9-20 – Elisha dripping with Awesome Sauce
We can position ourselves and get great training…but only God can make it rain. After we’ve done all we can do, we need God to intervene.
If all you have [...]

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Seth Godin is a favorite speaker of mine…this years Summit presentation was one of his best.
Someone here today will change everything.
The notion that we can promote from a position of power…the TV-industrial complex:
Buy TV->Get more distribution->Sell More Products
Ends up with average products for average people – mass is built into our system.
Revolution is occurring destroying [...]

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Global Christian – unprecedented catalytic events are bringing the globe together.
Has the technology and events spurred us to engaging the globe, or do we retreat?
Our mission: we become witnesses of the Gospel and take the Good News across cultural thresholds…be the leaders to break through the “sound barriers”:

Jerusalem – comfort zone, speak truth to power [...]

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So far the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker has received the greatest response…amazing speaker.
Lessons I’ve learned from my parents; a story about standing up for something.
You will always face outrageous adversaries; before you can stand tall you must realize that you were born out of radical love and action. A grand conspiracy of love.
What will [...]

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 The other day I was starting to feel as if my work did not belong in the art group I belong to where I live. Most of the members are focused on the abstract, and work large. I mentioned this to my husband and as my biggest supporter he made me …

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Last Monday, July 11, my husband and I welcomed our sweet little girl into the world.  Gianna Mary-Lynne was born at 5:27 p.m., 5 pounds 7 ounces and 18.5 inches long.She was born early.  We had our 36 week sonogram which revealed that s…

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Welded holder for wine bottles used to hold cut flowers in the garden. You may want to click on photo for a larger view.
 So to keep you from guessing my son made me the holder for the blue bottle!  And I LOVE it!!
He recently acquired a MI…

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The women I work with threw a baby shower for me a friend and coworker of mine who is due with her first little girl five days before me.  On each of the tables was this poem.  I had not heard it before but I’m told it’s made the rounds on th…

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I’m giving away my copy of The Final Summit byAndy Andrews!If you would like to read this book just post a comment here or on facebook.  On Sunday 5/22 I’ll randomly choose one lucky reader!The full review is below- here I’ll just say th…

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This is mankind’s last chance. Centuries of greed, pride, and hate have sent humanity hurtling toward disaster, and far from its original purpose. There is only one solution that can reset the compass and right the ship, and it consists of only two w…

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Dear Friends I have finally been able to finish Letter to Chloe #3.  It has been a long couple of weeks and I am just now getting my days back to normal.

Those of you who follow and are friends on facebook know that my brother passed away on …

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I’ve stolen this post from my sister, Mandi, from when she was pregnant.  My goal was to record things week by week so I could remember this pregnancy.  Unfortunately, work has kept me busy and I’ve been exhausted these first weeks, so coming…

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It’s been well over a month since I last posted on this blog, so I’m not sure how many are still reading.  I thought I’d post a few updates on what’s been going on here in our house.First, I’m working full-time and have been since this summer.&nbs…

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This blog has been put on the back burner for quite some time. I’ve wanted to start posting again, and the day I decided to do something, of course, the whole blog design fell apart. I had to start from scratch and fix everything. To start, I wanted to…

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