Havah The Story Of Eve

This book by Tosca Lee has left me breathless, subconsciously floored, and renewed. The story of the Garden is told like never before. I found my Sunday school perception of Adam and Eve debunked, light was shed upon the way our culture has desensitized the story. This work just makes it so real. I felt like I was there in the valley with them, feeling the dew upon my feet and following the sights and smells of the garden. What a beautiful lesson it portrays. The mystery and power of the One, our Lord. The consequences of the human nature. Relationships. Family. Hope in redemption. 

Pour Out

"She was desperate to see Jesus again, and she overheard someone saying that he was having dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee- a dinner she would never be invited to, not in a thousand years. Of course, she normally would have no interest in attending. But she had to see Jesus. It's hard to imagine what it would take for her to walk into that courtyard. But she was so focused on Jesus that she forgets about herself. She is desperate to express the love and affection she feels for Him. What she does next is reckless, it's impulsive, it's inappropriate, and it's exactly the kind of follower Jesus wants."

"Picture the scene. Jesus is reclining at the table.This woman approaches and stand at the filthy feet of Jesus. The table grows silent. Everybody is watching. Everybody knows who she is. What is she doing? She looks around at the guests. She feels from some that familiar glare of condemnation. Others keep their eyes down, embarrassed by her presence and the awkwardness of the moment. But when she looks at Jesus, He seems to know what has happened in her heart. He gives her a warm smile. He seems delighted that she has come, and He looks at her with the eyes of a loving father watching His beautiful daughter as she enters the room. She has never had a man look at her that way before. She is so undone by that that the tears come, just a few at first, and then more. She falls to the ground and begins to kiss His feet. Soon, the tears are just pouring down her face. They begin to drip onto the dirty feet of Jesus. As she looks at the muddy streaks she suddenly realizes that His feet haven't been washed. She can't ask for a towel, so she lets down her hair. In those days women always wore their hair up in public. For her woman to wear her hair down in front of a man that was not her husband was considered to be such an intimate expression that it was literally grounds for divorce. When she did this there was likely an audible gasp. She begins washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and drying them with her hair."

"Then Luke says she had an alabaster jar of ointment. Most likely this refers to a flask that was often worn around the neck as a kind of perfume for women. As you might guess, because of her profession, this flask was quite important. She had used it a drop at a time many, many times, for many men. But now she empties it. She just empties the whole thing out. She will not need it anymore. She pours this flask, her life, on His feet, and kisses them over and over."

-Not a Fan: Teen Edition: What it really means to be a follower by Kyle Idleman 

Cell Group Meeting

    
     In our cell group we are currently reading and discussing the book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris. Frankly, we are having an incredible time growing together and learning about purity. This book is not only about dating, it describes a way of Christ centered love for ALL relationships. Here is an excerpt of what we read yesterday.

     "I fear that God might forget me. Instead of trusting in His perfect timing, I often try to take things into my own hands. I grab my life's calender from God and frantically begin to pencil in my own plans and agendas. 'God I know your omnipotent and all that,' I say... Eventually I sheepishly hand back the scheduling of my time, energy and attention, saying, 'Of course I trust You, Lord, but I just think You could use a little help.'"

     "Do you believe that God knows best? Then place your life's calendar at His feet and allow Him to handle the scheduling of your relationships. Trust Him even if it means not dating when other people think you should. When God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances."

     "'For I know the plans I have for you,' God says, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' (Jer 29:11). Let's live our todays for His kingdom and entrust our tomorrows to His providence."

     "We couldn't lay our futures in better hands. All we have to do is trust."

Presenting Self to God

While The World Watched (Kindle Edition)

 

Get this book for free on your kindle/kindle app on smart phone/computer by going on this link:

http://www.amazon.com/While-the-World-Watched-ebook/dp/B004JZYB20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347234382&sr=8-1&keywords=while+the+world+watched 

(it should say the price is $0.00, if not, then the deal is over)

 "Not many young people can pinpoint the exact date, time, and place they grew up and became an adult. I can. It was September 15, 1963, 10:22 a.m., at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama."

While the World Watched by Carolyn Maull McKinstry (with Denise George) is a moving memoir of horror and forgiveness. What struck me almost every page is that this happened less than 50 years ago. The title kept being played in my head with the question, "How could the world simply let this happen?"

The book details the accounts of the murders of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley who died when Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed. More than that though, it details the struggles of of the civil rights movement through the eyes of the author. It is simply an amazing account of two wars. One, the fight for equality for Black America, and two, the fight for meaning in the heart of a young girl who was forever changed in a moment.

I have to admit that I did not think I would enjoy this book. I assumed it would be of the "all whites are evil" variety. It was nothing of the sort. There was horror, but there was also hope. There was tragedy, but there was also triumph. There was hatred, but it was not ultimately returned - there was forgiveness.

As I finished, the same question continues to haunt me, "How could this happen?" And yet tragedy continues to flourish and the world still remains silent.

(Amazon Review)

I cried because this horror took place just 50 years ago. The depth of hatred is portrayed in such a real way. I really recommend this book, it is a thought provoking read! (And it's free

Excerpt from The Normal Christian Life

What is faith? Faith is my acceptance of God’s fact. It always has its foundations in the past. What relates to the future is hope rather than faith, although faith often has its object or goal in the future, as in Hebrews 11. Perhaps for this reason the word chose here is “reckon”. It is a word that relates only to the past- to what we look back to as settled, and not forward to as yet to be... This is faith- to believe that you have already got it... Faith always says, “God has done it.”

From where I am in the book right now, the author is dissecting Romans 6:6, and 6:11. I really got into this book during our airplane ride home from Russia and I've been reading it little by little since then. It's one of those books that you have to take in little by little. I highly recommend it. It's also one of those books where you underline sentences and jot down notes because Nee's insights are so simple and mind blowing. 

The Heavenly Man

The book I'm currently reading. You may have read it already, but I would encourage you to reread it! Brother Yun shares his story of persecution, the passion of the Chinese house-church, the miracles and most of all: the overwhelming power and majesty of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I'm only a few chapters in... but feel free to let me know if you would like to borrow it :)

Raising The Dead

Raising the Dead by Chauncey W. Crandall

It's hard to explain how powerful this book is... Read it! Especially for you who are interested in pursuing the medical field.

This is for sure a must read.

Her Mother's Hope

One thing I love about college winter break... I can read books again!
If you are familiar with christian books, you mostly likely have heard/read sometime by Francine Rivers... The Atonement Child, Redeeming Love, Mark of the Lion series, Lineage of Grace series... Awesome books. (Hadassah from Mark of the Lion still haunts me to this day.)
Anyway, Her Mother's Hope is a book worth reading. It really reminded me of why I love nursing. But this is not a nursing book, it's based on the intricate, lovely and sometimes confusing relationship between a mother and her daughter. Good read, I would gladly reread it and now I'm starting part 2 of this saga :)
AHH I LOVE BREAK!

PS: I brought Pushok to the vet today because he has dry skin. Most people said "what a sweet little thing". Haha he was so freaked out by his visit and wouldn't stop shaking. What a wuss. 

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

I'm SO excited! I just bought a book on Amazon... I have had my eye on it for a while now. And I'm super excited that it costed me under 9 dollars :) Thank you swagbucks for giving me a $5 gift card! Swagbucks is a website that gives you points for doing polls, surveys, searching... other random stuff and you can trade in points for real gift cards. Woohoo! Lol I'm really happy for my new book. And I'll be sure to let y'all know if it's worth the read!

Excerpt From My Current Reading

This is an excerpt from the book I'm currently reading titled: Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit  by Francis Chan. He is the same author from the other book I read earlier this summer entitled "Crazy Love" which in fact helped God open my eyes to so many new things I never noticed before. Let me share something with you that made me really think from "Forgotten God":

"A while back, our lack of openness to examining ourselves really hit me. Two Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door and initiated conversation. I had a lot to do, so I prepared to send them on their way. But as they began their spiel, I decided to take a few minutes to engage them. I gently told them that I found their teachings about Jesus offensive because they taught that Jesus was the same person as Michael the archangel. I told that that I believe that He is much more that one among many angels, that I believe that He is God. My visitors replied, "No Jesus/Micheal is the only archangel. There are no other archangels." So I asked them to open their Bibles to Daniel 10:13, which reads, "But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michel, one of the chief princes, came to help me" (NIV). I pointed out that this passage is clear: Michael is only "one of" the chief princes (or archangels).

This caught them off guard. They told me they'd never heard or read this before. Now that I had their attention, I said, "There is no way you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you sat down one day seeking to find God, read the Bible, and came to this conclusion that Jesus is the same person as Micheal the archangel. No one could come to that conclusion. You only believe it because that's what you were told, and I don't want to stand here and spoon feed you something else." With that, I challenged them to read the Bible for themselves, rather than simply accept that what they've been told about it. They went away that day and said they would consider doing that.

I left that conversation feeling a bit proud of myself because I stumped them and got them to question their beliefs. Yet I couldn't help but wonder whether I was fair to them. Had I ever sat down with the Bible and sought after its self-evident truth?"

Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit page 28,29

My Crusible of Suffering

I found this book in Tanya's room a few months ago... After reading it I have seen what our great-grandparent- grandparents and even parents when through under Communist persecution. I wish my grandpa were alive so I could talk to him about what he went through when he was imprisoned in Siberia. Anyway I'll show you a quote so you can get a feeling of what this book is like:                                                                                                                          "I have to always keep reminding myself that I am a man with a purpose. I am in God's plan, which means that God leads me and I need to be namely here- in the will of God... It's necessary to go forward. There is a command from heaven- survive! It is essential to live here only by faith, and to be self disciplined in thoughts, words, and deeds..."

I wouldn't say this is the most grammatically correct book (it was translated to English from Russian) but it shows the story of a man who overcame persecution, not by his own will but through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ!

Heaven is for Real

I started reading this book and I simply cannot put it down, not only does it show the innocence of a child but the glory of God and His love through His Son (who REALLY loves the children)! You just have to read it.
I have always been fascinated by the power of childlike faith, and constantly pray that I become like a child in my faith in Jesus. Weak in power, honest, trusting my Father, running to Him when afraid, having no doubts or worries, simply loving the simple things in life. Read this book after you read "Crazy Love" :)

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo (a best seller by the way!) :)

Crazy Love

I just want to quickly share about the book I've been reading and I highly recommend you read it also! You have no idea... within the two days I have been reading it, my perspective has been changing so much! God is beyond words, just awesome, and this book helps you put that back into perspective and act on it.

It's called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. And it's cool how in the book you get to look up the videos on the internet that go along with it! If you want to see what it's all about go to the website and check it out :) Please!

http://www.crazylovebook.com/

Update: Having fun, going parasailing this morning, sitting on bed smelling Natalya and Tanya make breakfast of eggs and waffles, yummy! Planning on eating at Chick-fil-a today, held a shark, walked on pier, went crazy on lazy "pool", love this hotel, loving my book :) and much more. And I miss my dog so far. Haha really! Don't really miss much else, please don't take offense, I'm just being honest :P