A21 Campaign Benefit Concert

Hey guys!

A brother small group (Thomas Tripp and his group of awesome guys) has decided to take matters into their own hands and host a benefit concert for the A21 Campaign – an organization that fights and prevents sex slavery as well as rehabilitates girls rescued from trafficking. You know we’re pretty passionate about this kinda stuff, so check out the flier I made and share it with your own peeps!

See ya at the concert!

A21 Campaign Benefit Concert

 

*edit: Wren FCA is hosting the concert, featuring the small group’s band

Empathy in an Apathetic World

**Before you read this, prepare yourself. Don’t let this be just another blog post you skim over, please.**

We all have someone we care about on a deeply personal level. It’s in our nature to have/want someone like that, be it a friend, a husband, wife, or actual family member.

Picture someone you know, someone you care about to such an extent you really feel connected. Someone you love.

Imagine if this person were taken away from you. By force. Say this person was stolen from their home in the dead of night, and taken to a god-forsaken country to be forced to have sex for profit.

Say this person was being raped, night after night, beaten, soiled, and alone except for the people who wished them only harm.

Would this bother you?

Yes, it would. It would bother any creature with a heart, Christian or non-Christian. Because it’s wrong, especially when done to someone you love.

What if you could do something for this person, though? The one you care about. What if you could, possibly, save them; give them a better life that the one they were thrust into? Would you do everything in your power to do this?

Yes, I think you would.

Let’s take a break from this horrible image, and go back to the even more terrifying reality we live in. Every minute, two girls are captured or sold into the sex slavery.

I could go on forever about the flooring statistics about how many little girls every year are forced to suffer this terrible fate, but would that make them any more real to you?

In order for you to want to do something about it, you have to feel this problem on a more personal level.

Those girls were somebody’s daughter, sister, friend. They had real lives, and many of them could have grown into happy women with daughters and friends of their own.

That chance was stolen from them, yet do we care?

If just 1/4 of the people in America each cared as deeply for a child in the sex trade as someone they know, I have no doubt that the entire sex slavery system would be abolished in no time.

What’s standing in the way of that?

Apathy. We see, we hear, we know, yet we do not feel.

Ask God to let you feel. It will hurt, yes. Even as Jesus put his life down on the cross for us, he felt our sin, our pain, and he did everything in his power to extinguish it.

Jesus felt the wrong of this world. Now it’s our turn.

Rob Morris, president and co-founder of Love146, wrote a blog post today on this very subject. I don’t know what his religious views are, but I know he gets it. He understand God’s call to care for his people.

If for some reason you find it hard to follow Jesus’s example, follow Rob’s. He’s a modern times guy with a heart for the weak and hurting.

He’s someone we all can be.

–Dani

Forgiveness: the real “F” word

I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this, but forgiveness is one of the main things I’ve been dealing with over the past couple of weeks. I could go into this long story of how I was miserably wallowing in self-pity and anger, then how God changed me from the inside out and taught me an invaluable lesson on forgiveness, but I’ll just let you read for yourself the words He spoke to my heart that inspired such a change. Here are 14 verses on forgiveness that come straight from the Bible.

I’ve been in church all my life, but as I read these passages, I realized that I have a LOT to learn about forgiving. It’s not as easy as people try to make it seem, but it’s not impossible, either.

I hope these verses help you let go of whatever grudge you may be holding, because generally, we all have someone or something we need to let go of.

And one more thought – what does holding grudges in your heart do for you? Does it make you happy? Does it make you a better person? If our goal is to let nothing stand between us and God, then harboring grudges should be something we automatically reject.

Psalm 103:12 – God forgives in such extremities that we can only imagine.
Proverbs 19:11 – The wise are well practiced in forgiveness.
Matthew 6:14-15 – Not forgiving others actually inhibits us from receiving God’s forgiveness. Can we really afford that kind of separation?
Matthew 18:20-22 – No matter how repetitious a person’s wrongdoings against us are, we have the power to forgive them infinitely for each sin.
Mark 3:28-29 – All sins that are committed against US, as humans, can be forgiven. There is not a special case in which we have the right to not forgive someone.
Mark 11:25 – It would require a great act of hypocrisy to stand before God and ask for forgiveness, when you refuse to forgive others.
John 20:22-23 – Wouldn’t it be better for all involved if the sins were wiped clean? There is no point in grudges, because they only hurt everyone involved.
Romans 5:20-21 – Because we have God’s power and grace, we are completely capable of forgiving others.
Galatians 6:1-3 – When someone asks for forgiveness, it is not necessary for you to also give them your critical comments.
Ephesians 4:32 – The person you need to forgive doesn’t have to be repentant. basically, the only knowledge you need to forgive others is the knowledge that God has forgiven them, and God has forgiven you.
Titus 3:11 – Sins are between God and the sinner. If the sin doesn’t concern us, and the sinner has not asked for help, don’t worry about it. Deal with your own sins before you can even begin to help others.
James 5:16 – Prayer is power. Pray for others, and pray for the ability to forgive. All you have to do is ask.
1 John 2:12 – All of our sins have been forgiven. The end.

–Dani

Godly women attract godly guys. Simple as that.

Hey people!

Do yourself a favor and check out this link. It’s a blog post written by a very godly guy (David Fisher, for those of you who know him) and in my opinion, he’s right on target with what he says about godly women being more attractive.

So have a look at his thoughts on the subject, and maybe check out the rest of his blog, too. Sometimes it’s just fun to see what guys actually think, and David has graciously shared his thoughts with the world through his blog =)

~Dani

Shadowfeet

I’m reading The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis right now, and it’s the most thought-provoking read I’ve had in a while. On my mind today:

“Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows.” p. 39

“Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth.” p. 40

What do I live for?

God doesn’t need us. He desires us.

We need Him, and He wants us to desire Him.

Filling our days with things other than him is like trying to quench a powerful thirst by tap-dancing. It’s just not going to work.

We’ve got to live for true reality.

–Tiffany

Small Group Recap 2/17

Here’s what went down…

FIRST of all, I’d like to welcome Bailey Claire Stokes into our small group! We’re psyched to have her join us, with all her fresh new perspective

By now I’m sure everyone knows that our small group has adopted the cause “Love146“, and that we’re in the planning stages of making a difference through this organization. Well we finally have a plan! Sort of. We’re about to buy Love146 t-shirts as a group, not only to support them financially, but also to get the word out about what’s going on. Our goal is that when people see us with these t-shirts on, they’ll stop and ask us about ‘em, since they are incredibly interesting to look at. When people do this, we are given a chance to tell them all about Love146, and maybe even our testimonies! Yeah, all this for only $18. So if you want in on this majorly-awesome plan, contact me or anyone in the small group and we can getcha set up.

Also, the lovely Ms. Anna shared with us something that is pretty darn “coincidental” if you know what I mean. Around the same time we’ve begun our interest in Love146, Anna was assigned a huge project at school where she has to make videos, write stuff, and get people involve in a good cause that they are interested in! Um, hello? Does anyone else feel God saying “I’ve got your back on this”? Well that’s what we hear. Plus, with Anna being on a time schedule, we’ve just become a lot more organized. We have specific goals now, and plans to reach them, when before, we all knew we needed to help, just not how we could go about doing that. Now it’s all good, because when God has a plan, He’s happy to share some with those who follow His call

The last key point I want to remind everyone of, is that we’ve decided to start reading the book of Acts together. No set schedule, like a certain number of chapters per day – we’re simply reading at our own pace. Our main goal is that every time we read, we’ll write down any questions we have or things we don’t understand. Then we’ll bring those questions to Tiffany and she can either answer them, or bring them to someone who can answer them. It’s a pretty good plan, in my opinion, so props to Tiffany and her dad for thinking it up! Oh and if anyone wants to join us on our journey through Acts, feel free! You can ask questions here on the blog anytime you want, especially on Ask Anything Saturdays

Please remember to keep Kendall and her family in your prayers as they begin to fight off the cancer in her mother. They’ve got a hard time ahead, but also some breakthroughs that will be good for them, in the long run. (Love you, Kendall!)

Last thing – here are some verses we brought up in small group:

1 John 4:4

Isaiah 51

–Dani

Who Ever Said Anything Bad About Previews?

A few days ago I was riding in the car on the way to church, when I decided to take some pictures with my camera. It had just rained but the gloominess was gone, and the sky was looking really pretty.

I started taking a few pictures, then a few more, until I ended up with about 25 pictures of things around me.

It made me think, and I’ve decided that people are addicted to beauty.

Seriously, we never want to stop looking at things that amaze us – things that make us feel like our world isn’t as average as we tend to think.

God knew that when He created us and the things around us.

By painting our sunsets, giving voices to birds, and awakening the blooming spring flowers, He was presenting us with what we crave – beauty.

Now of course that leads me to think some more.

In a world that is tainted by sin and ugliness, pollution and crime, we still find God’s perfection all around us.

What is it going to be like in Heaven, where nothing spoils what God intended life to be?

I don’t know about you, but I’m sure looking forward to the Real Thing, after this preview that we get on Earth.

Here are a couple of the pictures I took -

–Dani

…And Then The End Will Come.

Matthew 24:9-14:

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Kinda depressing, huh?

In this passage, Jesus is telling his disciples what they’ll have to face until He comes back, and it seems pretty darn accurate so far.

All over the world, people are being put to death because of their faith, and many people are leaving their faith altogether in order to pursue a life that the “false prophets” have set before them. Also, let’s face it, there has certainly been an increase of wickedness and deceit in the past century.

Don’t worry; it gets better.

Revelation 21:3-4

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ “

Poetry. Pure poetry.

All this suffering is going to end!  It will be as if it never happened – everything will be new.

Just think about it, at some time or another, I know I’ve coveted the relationship Adam and Eve had with God. I mean, they lived with Him, for Pete’s sake! They saw Him all day, and there was no separation.

That’s exactly how it’s going to be!

No separation. Complete intimacy. Forever, getting to worship the One who’s truly worth it.

I don’t know about you, but that makes today’s persecution a little bit more bearable, knowing that we come out on top in the end.

The end is coming, and I’m ready for it.

Are you?

–Dani

Whoa; God Loves Me? Who Knew?

Brittney gave me this verse, and I loved reading it in The Message translation…just thought I’d share

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.“
-Isaiah 43:1-4

That last part really gets to me…

God loves us more than anything in the world. Sometimes we just need a little reminder of that.

–Dani

Sisters Sold

I sat in my room tonight weeping. I’ve never felt like this. I’ve felt anger. I’ve felt disgust. But tonight, I just felt pain. I felt heartbroken.

Flip through this, and you’ll see why:
http://love146.org/slavery

I can’t get past the feeling that something must be done. These are God’s little princesses. And for the first time in my life, I don’t just feel pity or hurt for them. I feel connected to them. They are my sisters. And they are yours as well.

Sometimes perspective comes in tidal waves.

–Tiffany