Losing a sister in Christ
I just came home from a dear sister in Christ’s funeral. She had been battling cancer for a few years and it finally took her home a few days ago. There were about 600 people there and to look around and see the impact this one person had on so many others was very eye opening.
Today was a day of celebration because we know where she is now. She is in God’s presence and she is seeing His glory!
Several people gave testimony of how this woman of God was a true example of what it means to be a devoted Christ follower. They shared about her love for God that drove her on and how they would visit her to encourage and minister to her but by the time they left, she had encouraged them! I have never heard so many people say the same things over and over about how she meant so much to them and how she touched the lives of so many people.
I pray that as long as I have breath in me, I will live today as if it is my last. I pray that I will look for opportunities to share the love of Christ with someone. I pray that I, too, will have a positive impact on at least one person today. I pray that I would reflect Christ’s love to others, that I would not look at interruptions as frustrations, but as God moments. I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations on my heart would be pleasing to my Rock and my Redeemer. I pray that I don’t waste another day in mediocrity or complacency. I pray that the fire in my soul would be ignited to flames, Jesus style! I pray that I will always believe to the depths of my soul that I WILL BE A WORLD CHANGER!!!! I will pray radical prayers. I will say to this mountain move and I will stand in front of it until it does! I will be a light in this world so veiled in darkness. I will be God’s Ambassador. I will relentlessly pursue to know my Savior more intimately each and every day. I pray that my thoughts and actions will be holy and pure. Boy, I just love getting fired up on Jesus!
Letter from Swaziland
I always love coming home and seeing a letter from my little girl I sponsor in Swaziland. Here is an excerpt of it:
“Since my father went missing and my mother died last year, I stay with my 2 brothers Bheki and Mancoba in my cousin’s homestead (I just love these names!) Because of being the only girl, there is no one similar to me. I am now in grade 3 and I think I will proceed to the next class next year.
There are 5 houses at my home, 4 made up of sticks and mud and 1 with cement blocks, 3 roofed with iron sheets and 2 with thatched grass.
I want to be a teacher when I grow up.
May God bless you what ever you do things.”
My dream is to one day be able to meet her. That would be so awesome! I would love her to be able to achieve her dreams, especially of growing up and becoming a teacher.
She lives in an area being ravaged by AIDS. 42 % of Swazi’s have it. That’s almost 1 in 2. The chances that I may actually get to meet her are rare but that doesn’t stop me from having hope. Hope that the Gospel will change this dark continent and bring it to repentance. Hope that this little girl and the other 14 million orphans will have a chance to see their 20’s or to have their own children.
While I was talking with the people at Teen Mania this past weekend, I was asked what my future plans were. I told them that I planned on changing the world. They looked at me kind of funny and asked me if I really believed that. I told them that yes, I did and with Jesus, I will change the world.
One life at a time, one orphan at a time.
Isaiah 61:1
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…”
BattleCry on Nightline
Way cool, this was on TV!! Click here to watch it now. Score one for us!!
God can do what He says He can do
I have been praying for increased faith lately and God is answering that prayer! It seems like a no brainer to pray for faith but I think many people never think about it. I always think about the man who brought his son, who had an evil spirit, to the Apostles. They could not heal him! It’s in Mark 9:14-26. Verse 23 says, “everything is possible for him who believes.” EVERYTHING! I can’t even begin to comprehend what everything is! But I say, Lord, bring it on! I want everything!
The man responds, “I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief.” What do you suppose Jesus did? He healed the little boy. We can ask God to help us to overcome the areas of doubt in our lives. He is waiting patiently for us to do exactly this! I picture Him looking at me and twiddling His thumbs and thinking to Himself, “I have such awesome, incredible plans for Rachel, if only she would believe!” Today, I commit to believe that EVERYTHING is possible for him who believes. I will not box God into my small understanding of Him but will wholeheartedly believe that He can do what He says He can do.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Children’s Cup Video
God has not forgotten all the orphans in Africa. He loves them and He has a plan for them. James 1:27 commands us to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
Will you, by faith, be the hands and feet to help these little ones? Jesus loves these children and He needs our help. Watch these powerful videos and pray and ask God how you can help.
Click here to what the ‘Cup does. Click here for look into what these children live with every day.
To make a donation or help one of the missionaries in Southern Africa with Children’s Cup, click here.
My weekend
Well, my training in Chicago was awesome. It was a leadership training seminar and although it was a lot of information given in a short period of time, I learned quite a bit.
Today’s Teens
I am going to a Teen Mania Mission Leadership Training Seminar this weekend so I was checking out the Teen Mania webpage. I was flabbergasted at the statistics and naturally had to blog about it!
Ron Luce, president and founder of Teen Mania, came to my church and spoke about it last year and I can’t believe I had fogotten so many of the things he said.
StaggeringStatistics about Teens:
1 out of 11 attempt suicide each year.
1 out of 10 fifteen year olds and younger have gone through family divorce in their life-time.
58% have been involved in objectionable content on the web.
40% have experimented with self-injury (are “cutters”).
Use of prescription drugs (Ritalin, anti-depressants etc.) by children/teens has increased.
By the time the average child graduates from high school, he/she will have watched 19,000 hours of TV including about 200,000 sexual acts and 1 million acts of violence.
1 in 10 high school females have reported being raped at some point in their life.
Fear of violence in schools is now the leading “worry” of public school teens.
48% of high school seniors are sexually active (had sexual intercourse in past 3 months).
91% say there is NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH.
75% of teens in America believe the central message of the Bible is, “God helps those who help themselves”.
53% believe Jesus committed sin (40% of born again teens believe Jesus committed sin).
We need to wake up! What a challenge to us. This is our future generation. If we don’t get out there and start making a difference and changing the world, what will become of it? Evil is so prevalent in our society today. Do you know a young person? Read those statistics again and put that person’s name in where the statistic goes and it will make it more real. This is life and death we are talking about here!
Take them to Acquire the Fire! Click here for more information on BattleCry. It’s coming to Baltimore in May. Do something today! If you are not already praying for them, pray! Pray like never before.
Just give me Jesus!
He guards the young
He seeks the stray
He finds the lost
He guides the faithful
He rights the wronged
He avenges the abused
He defends the weak
He comforts the oppressed
He welcomes the prodigal
He heals the sick
He cleanses the dirty
He beautifies the barren
He restores the failure
He mends the broken
He blesses the poor
He fills the empty
He clothes the naked
He satisfies the hungry
He elevates the humble
He forgives the sinner
He raises the dead!
Overcoming Doubt
I will be speaking again at the Single’s ministry at church soon and am going to be sharing about overcoming doubt. What perfect timing that I am in a Beth Moore Bible study entitled Believing God! My faith has increased so much since I started it and I am already getting so much positive feedback from the ladies in the group. For the last class, I am going to ask them to share some testomonies of what the Lord did in their life through this study and I will post them here.
The last week our focus has been on Hebrews 11, the good old Hall of Faith chapter. It is so amazing to study each one of these great people one by one and see the result of their faith. I will probably incorporate some of things I have learned in class in my message and I am looking forward to it! I love to talk about how we can all grow in faith.
Have any ideas? Suggestions? I would love to hear from you. If there is an area of doubt that you perhaps struggle with and want addressed, post a comment here.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.
A day in the life of Rachel
Ok so I am driving to work this morning jamming with Sonic Flood live blaring full blast in my car when all of a sudden the music cuts off. I am sitting there wondering what could be wrong because my car is brand new, I have 600 miles on it!
Just when I was getting ready to start hitting buttons on the stereo, my car called me. Yes, you read that right. I have Onstar, which is the coolest thing since sliced wheat bread. So my car starts talking to me telling me I need to talk to an Onstar representative to finish setting up my new account. She comes on the line and we have a nice little chat. She explains all these cool things Onstar can do. If I lock my keys in the car, I just call them and they unlock it. If I lose my car in a parking lot, I call them and they honk the horn and flash the lights. (As if I would even admit to losing my car) It runs a diagnostic check monthly and emails me the results. How freaky is that? It just told me my oil life is at 95%! My car is smarter than anyone I know! So I finish up the call and once again and am having a Sonic Flood concerto in my car.
Then I get to work and I am looking in the mirror and was horrified to find another grey hair! I have been letting my hair grow back after chopping it off last year and it is finally getting to where I can put it up. I just found one yesterday! That’s two grey hairs in two days, yikes!
The reason I find this so amusing is because as I was looking in the mirror today, I was thinking, “girl, you are looking pretty good for being 41!” As soon as that thought came to me, the Lord’s words came to me too, Pride comes before a fall! Man oh man, I am not looking in the mirror anymore and I am going to leave my hair down from now on!
Here is live footage of the grey hair that two of my godly sisters in Christ (Sandra & Christy) took today so I could always remember it…
Women of Islam
I am taking a course in school entitled Christianity and the Islamic Faith and I am absolutely blown away at what I have been learning. I guess I have been naive about what is going on in other parts of the world and in other religions, even though I have been overseas several times.
I read a lot of books about martyrs and Christianity but I have been challenged to start reading books about other religions. How can I possibly be an effective witness for Christ and share His love with people I know nothing about!
I just finished reading a chapter on the women of Islam. They have absolutely no rights at all and they have to submit to men. They are not even allowed to look at them. Here are some of things they have to put up with.
They can’t wear nail polish or their fingers will be cut off. They are not allowed to wear makeup, pluck their eyebrows or cut their hair and they have to wear burqas, which is a garment that covers them from head to toe. If your arm accidentally gets uncovered, you can be killed! They are not allowed to visit male doctors, which causes many of them to simply die! They are not allowed in public unless it is Islam sanctioned and many of their homes have the windows painted black so no one can see them.
Islamic men think of women as so sub-human that even the Qur’an has no mention of where they go when they die. In Islamic heaven, men get to be eternally pleasured by women called houris, who are beautiful young women with transparent bodies. Every man who enters Jannah (paradise) is given 72 of these houris. Is it a wonder why these men want to be suicide bombers? It is the highest honor!
Oh I pray that God would intervene and that we as Christians would love these people into the truth and the Kingdom of God. I am so grateful that the Lord left us His word and that He is a God of love and compassion. I pray that my eyes will remain open and that I realize that the world is perishing. God give me the boldness and the courage to share your truth with everyone I meet!
Life is full of Surprises
I have been praying about Africa and how I can help with the AIDS orphans for quite a while now. I am trying to figure out if God wants me to live there full time or what. I am an advocate for these poor children and my heart is with them but does that mean God is calling me there to minister to them? Does that mean that God wants me to pack up my few meager things and move there? Does he want me to leave my unsaved brothers, sister and mother to go spread the Gospel there to complete strangers? As a single adult, should I date knowing God could call me to live there? Will I be able to raise thousands of dollars in support to get and stay there?
These, and many more questions have been on my mind for the last few years. I am in my last year of Bible college and I am praying that the Lord will reveal His will to me soon!
I have asked many of my friends to be prayer warriors for me and to help me to seek God in this and I am so grateful for people who I respect to speak words of wisdom and who encourage (and yes, sometimes admonish!) me.
One of my friends told me it was time to start doing something about it so I sent out an email to some friends and asked for prayer. That was 2 days ago and amazingly enough, an opportunity opened up for me to possibly go to South Africa with our youth group at church this summer.
One leader is unable to go now so there are 2 candidates vying for this position! And one of those is me!
An even greater opportunity opened up for me in that I am being sent to a seminar next weekend in Chicago with Teen Mania to go through their leadership missions training program. Our youth group at church is using them for our mission trip and in order to be a leader, you have to go through their training and be approved. Even if I don’t get picked, how awesome is that? Maybe God is opening another door with Teen Mania for me somehow. Maybe I will make more connections and my missions network will grow because of this trip. I don’t know, I can only pray that whatever happens, I have an open and responsive heart.
I was thinking about Abraham today and thinking about how I would respond if God said to me, Go, leave your country and everything you know and go to where I will tell you to go…by the way I am not sure where yet, just go and I will let you know when you get there.
Yikes!
Oh Lord, that I would be ready to go. Today…Tomorrow… Next Year… Whenever…
Will You Marry Me?
I came across this on a friend’s blog and it was so funny I had to copy it! I was laughing so hard, I cried!
Martyrs for the Cause
I was reading an article in this months Voice of the Martyrs magazine and came across a poem that Betty Stam wrote when she was only 18 years old. Betty and her husband John and their 3-year old baby, Helen Priscilla, were taken captive by Chinese Communist soldiers in December 1934 for preaching Christ and being missionaries. The first night in jail the baby cried and the guards wanted to kill her but a prisoner who was just released protested. The Communists demanded “your life for the baby’s” and the man was hacked to death in front of the Stam’s.
The Stam’s were executed shortly after but miraculously, their baby was rescued several hours later by a pastor and his wife who took her to Betty’s parents who were also missionaries in China.
I love to read the accounts of Christians who have given up all for the sake of Christ. It is so easy for me to read them and then think to myself that if I was in certain circumstances, I would die for Christ too, but would I really? Am I so willing to lay down all for Him and share what He has done for me? Could I really walk away from everything I know and love in my life if He said, “Come”? I used to quote Isaiah 6:8 all the time, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for me?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” But would I really? I hope and pray that I will.
Here is the poem Betty wrote:
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes
All my own desires and hopes,
And accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all
Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.
Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt.
And work out Thy whole will in my life, at any cost,
Now and Forever. Amen.
Christian Martyr-one who chooses to suffer death rather than deny Jesus Christ or His work… Sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God…
Endures great suffering for Christian witness…
Philippians 1:20 (KJV)
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.
Flu Season
Well, I have been in bed for 6 days with the flu. I haven’t been this sick since I was a kid. I lost my voice and had the worse sore throat. It’s still pretty sore and raw and I sound like a heavy smoker, which I am not!
While on my little sick sabbatical, I have had a lot of time to think. Granted with a high fever, my thinking was not always coherent but that’s ok, because I can’t remember those first few days anyways!
I was thinking about how I am always so busy, with work, school and ministry and how being sick for a week really helped me to understand that I need to take regular sabbaticals. For me, a sabbath is sleeping in Saturday morning until 8 am and not starting laundry until at least 9 am. Somehow, I am pretty sure that when God made the Sabbath, that is not what He had in mind!
The only time I even come close to thinking about a Sabbath rest is when I have a knee surgery or get so sick, I am flat on my back. Why is this? I know part of it is my type A personality, which I am happy to say is now an A minus versus an A plus. Yes, I am growing.
When I started school this semester, I told myself that I would not get so bogged down and only work and study but that is exactly what I have done! I think I need help. It’s pretty sad to think I need help to let my hair down and get out and have some fun but it’s true.
I had a county catalog and I had no idea that they offered so many fun classes. They offer everything from pottery classes to Tai Chi to cooking. A few of them looked interesting to me and I may sign up for one of them. (As long as there is no homework or mental energy requirement).
I am also praying about getting a puppy. Isn’t he adorable?
I want something really small and easy to take care of. I used to have one similar to this one but I was a workaholic (I know, imagine that! I was an A plus, plus before I met Jesus!) and I worked too much and my poor puppy was suffering from separation anxiety. I did have a puppy sitter who used to come by my apartment and she took care of him when I was at work. She took him one weekend to her grandparents house and they fell in love with him. They asked me if they could keep him and it was a hard decision but I gave him to them. They are retired and had another little dog and they used to send me pictures.
Well, speaking of homework, I have a week’s worth to catch up on. I just got my grade for the Kingdom of the Cults, which was one of the most eye opening courses, and I got an A!!!!!!
I think I deserve to buy myself a new puppy!!!!
Living My Faith Out Loud 