Write in Joy

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete..."

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:11:37 -0400

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

- 1 John 4:16-18 (NIV)

Maturity is not when we start speaking big things. It's when we start understanding small things.

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:57:22 -0400

lizbethanne: I love everything about this.

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:29:12 -0400

lizbethanne:

I love everything about this.

The Illusion of Choice: The Reality of Media Consolidation

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:11:00 -0400

The Illusion of Choice: The Reality of Media Consolidation

Women in the Workplace

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:53:45 -0400

Good Woman Project

Cultivating our hearts is something of an art. The practice of any art, according to philosopher Erich Fromm, requires discipline, concentration, patience and supreme concern.

1. Discipline. Within the art of cultivating your heart, the practice of discipline is as simple as focusing your thoughts on what is right, true, honest and good (you are your thoughts, never forget this – Philippians 4:8).

2. Concentration. Concentration implies living fully in the present, engaged in what is noble and right, rejecting false ideas implanted by the media (lust, sexuality as the basis of intimacy, individualism and false standards of womanhood) and also rejecting today’s greedy corporate culture that preaches entitlement above all else. When you feel you’re entitled to something, it’s easy to get caught up in emotional wrong-doings. For instance, if you’re lonely and feel you’re entitled to romance, then your heart will make up excuses if you find it in the wrong place.

3. Patience. If we fall, we get up, forgive ourselves and try again, knowing that God, our biggest fan, roots us onwards.

4. Supreme concern. The condition of practicing any art is supreme concern with its mastery. This means we must be diligent, considering the art of cultivating our hearts to be of supreme importance.

I totally read like this!

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:30:28 -0400

I totally read like this!

theanimalblog: Seven-week-old puma cub Missuula tries to catch...

Thu, 31 May 2012 20:10:17 -0400

theanimalblog:

Seven-week-old puma cub Missuula tries to catch her keeper at zoo Friedrichsfelde in Berlin, Germany. Picture: EPA/STEPHANIE PILICK

So super cute! My brother loved pumas growing up!

set-apartgirl: elicec: sketchmedesire: “This Momentary...

Sat, 26 May 2012 18:27:30 -0400

set-apartgirl:

elicec:

sketchmedesire:

“This Momentary Marriage”

Wow. That is a real woman. I don’t have words. Wow wow wow wow.

crying.

Wow. The beauty of God’s love.

of-the-lost-and-weary: haveyourway: bryandrums: whollynew: mu...

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:32:25 -0400

of-the-lost-and-weary:

haveyourway:

bryandrums:

whollynew:

musiccolliding:

stuff Christian singles hear.

brybry, I just found our vid

But seriously….

Hahah

story of my life…

blinkanditsover: A mouse diced with death when it stole some...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:47:08 -0400

blinkanditsover:

A mouse diced with death when it stole some food from under the nose of a leopard at the Santago Rare Leopard Project in Hertfordshire.

Instead of pouncing on the mouse, the 12-year-old African leopard, called Sheena, simply watched as it fed on scraps of meat thrown into its enclosure.

At one stage she tried to nudge the mouse away with her nose, but the mouse carried on eating regardless.

alecshao: Diana Thompson

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:21:36 -0400

alecshao:

Diana Thompson

Understanding What People Are REALLY Trying To Say.

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:55:05 -0400

Understanding What People Are REALLY Trying To Say.:

goodwomenproject:

You have heard it said, “you are what you eat.” A very wise nutritionist said once that this is not actually the truth. In actuality, you are what you metabolize. If your body does not absorb what you eat, it passes through and has no impact on the building blocks of your physiology.

The same can be said of the words, actions, and various other messages that bombard you daily. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that “…as we believe in our heart, so are we…” We are bathed daily in a world of people and their various responses to and interactions with us. Somewhere in those interactions we become what we allow into our hearts. This in mind, we should learn what it means to “guard our hearts above all else”(Proverbs 4:23).

Boundaries are those invisible dividing lines whereby I maintain myself as separate and distinct from anyone else. My emotions are my own. My desires and goals are my own. My values are my own. My body belongs to me and I am responsible to maintain everything that belongs to me.

I miss having a dog!!!!

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:47:41 -0400

I miss having a dog!!!!

Today in History - 4.25.1507

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:54:28 -0400

German cartographer produces world map with first recorded use of ‘America’

Photo

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:26:10 -0400

Photo

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:22:55 -0400

"Love sets us free. Free to laugh, cry, dream, give, and receive. In a paranoid, nervous..."

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:21:13 -0400

“Love sets us free. Free to laugh, cry, dream, give, and receive. In a paranoid, nervous relationship, you are placed in a hopeless cage of anxiety and guilt. Boundaries set you free to love your spouse in a way you can never love anyone else. Trust, loyalty, and promise win out over the flesh… and that is something to be celebrated.”

- @annemwilson (via goodwomenproject)

Mongolia: from Disregarded to Discovering

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:40:00 -0400

By Kirk Matthews

Mongolia is at a crossroads both geographically and metaphorically. Landlocked between China and Russia, this once sleepy post-socialist country has been described as “the wolf of Asia” for its fast-growing economy (due mainly to a mining boom). An increasing number of countries and companies are trying to improve trade ties, contracts, roads and rail links to and within the land where Genghis Khan was born.

In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, gleaming Hummers growl in the traffic jams, passing new hotels, European style restaurants and even a Louis Vuitton near Sukhbaatar Square, site of massive democratic protests two decades ago to end one-party Communist rule. Just a few blocks north of Sukhbaatar Square are narrow dirt roads crisscrossing passed wooden fences guarding yurts or houses where people live without running water.

Outside of Ulaanbaatar in the countryside, nomadic herders live in yurts much the way they have lived for centuries. Yet they text and talk on cell phones as they watch horses, cows, yaks, sheep, goats and camels grazing free on open-range land, rugged land without title deeds.

Pre-modernism, modernism and post-modernism co-exist and clash in this land dominated by the revered “Blue Sky.” On mountain tops people worship nature deities and Buddha as they circle sacred cairns of rock. In the valleys below lay 20th century Soviet architecture, where a workers’ paradise was never realized. In these modern square uniform buildings, some seek new spiritualties as they also seek to get rich. People may seek the guidance of an Indian guru or feng shui, or they may see what new gadgets they can buy from home shopping on TV.

The sudden transition two decades ago from communism to democracy hit many Mongolians hard. But Gerelmaa and her husband, nomadic herders who had lived in a herders collective, fared well. The new freedoms allowed them to increase their livestock and they became rich. Then Gerelmaa’s husband suddenly left her. Distraught, Gerelmaa was walking on the open steppe by herself when she heard a voice saying “I will save you.” She turned around to see who was talking to her, but nobody was there. Scared, she thought she was going crazy. Then she heard the voice again: “I will save you.” She did not know what to think.

Later she moved to a town and a friend invited her to a Christian church. She did not know what to expect, but she went. In the church she discerned that there was a connection between the God she was hearing about and the voice she had heard before. She put her faith in Jesus.

Miraculous stories in the beginnings of Mongolian Christianity were common, with healings, sudden rains in response to Christians praying in drought-stricken regions or other supernatural encounters, like Gerelmaa’s. Today, those stories are fewer. Some might say that Mongolian Christians’ faith or passion is diminishing. Or perhaps God in his sovereignty performed miracles in frontier, pioneer situations, where Christ was unknown, to get people’s attention.

Indeed, the present-day church of Mongolia is rapidly maturing. In 1990 there were fewer than 10 known Christians in Mongolia. Today there are more than 50,000. Childlike faith that once embraced miracles is deepening through trials. Along with their Buddhist, Shamanist, agnostic or Muslim neighbors, Christians in Mongolia face health problems, the death of children and other disappointments and temptations.

Baatar recently walked into church drunk. He was apologetic, however, and asked for forgiveness from God and the people. Years ago, Baatar had been a heavy drinker, but he gave up drinking after Christians prayed for him after a serious work accident in which the doctor told his family to prepare for his death. Baatar recovered—astonishing the hospital staff—and he found new life in Christ. Later, he married a Christian wife, and the two of them have served as short-term missionaries in a restrictive Asian country.

Recently, however, Baatar’s brother died. Looking for a scapegoat, the family blamed Bataar and disowned him for being a Christian. In his despair, Baatar briefly took numbing comfort from vodka. The following week he was praising God in church with a clear mind. The vibrant, growing faith in Mongolia is not without its heart-wrenching hardships, backslidings and uncertainties in relating to the wider society.

OMF International workers, aiming to see indigenous, biblical church movements throughout East Asia, serve with Joint Christian Services (JCS International) in Mongolia, a consortium of more than a dozen agencies “to see Mongolians building and restoring families, churches and communities.” JCS members witness through and outside of work, teaching English, running sports programs, teaching in medical colleges, working with agricultural projects or helping with business start-ups. JCS members partner with Mongolian government and non-government agencies and churches so that Mongolians can find the way in a changing land.

People ask if missionaries are needed for Mongolia. What is needed are men and women willing to walk alongside Mongolian Christians, growing along with them as we seek to love our neighbors here and proclaim the gospel there in regions beyond. As the Lord is raising up Mongolian Christian leaders, what is needed is men and women willing with servant hearts.

symphosanna: so true.

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:48:40 -0400

symphosanna:

so true.

erosion-of-beauty: Sin, where are your shackles? Death, where...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:03:17 -0400

erosion-of-beauty:

Sin, where are your shackles? Death, where is your sting? Hell has been defeated. The grave could not hold the King!