Halloween

Happy Halloween, to all you who will be dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating, to parties, and pulling pranks!

When I think of Halloween, I am reminded of the nature of masks. Masks are made to show everyone a different face than you really have. It's fun to change appearance on Halloween, but sometimes people don't drop their masks afterwards. I know people who live with a mask all year round. they don't want any prying eyes to see who they really are. So, they plaster a bright smile on their face and hide their uncertainties, fears, and the self they think no one will like.

I think that sometimes that kind of thing is OK. Some people are hurtful. Maybe it's not a great idea to show everything you're feeling around them. But putting a mask on all day long, because we think that people will like us less for who we are, isn't good.

Leaving our masks on before God is even worse. He made us! He knows all of our mistakes! Hiding what we've done and telling Him a lie because we think somehow it'll be better that way, is what Adam and Eve did. They hid from God after they had eaten a fruit from the forbidden tree. Then they put on some leaves to hide their shame and hid from God. As if He didn't know all and He wouldn't notice.

God loves us so much! He wants us to come to Him as we truly are - broken, weary, tattered by life. That way He can be our Healer, Comforter, and Redeemer. He can save us from ourselves and the people around us who want to cause us harm. All we have to do is drop the masks from our faces and let God makes us new.

-Aylin

The Martyr

Here's a poem I wrote a while back about a courageous Christian during the Roman persecution under Nero -

The Martyr

“To death, to death!” The crowd it roared in glee as blood poured out of him,
They yelled and jeered in thirsty, bloody joyfulness-
They saw two brutes to entertain their grisly, sick, distorted whim,
They did not note his fearless eye, full grim and set.

He was to die, to end this life, he knew it long before the pain,
Had not his Master long ago foretold the end?
The Master said with sad, gray eyes, he said it Oh, so plain,
“There will be pain on this earth for my children.

“There will be hardships if you choose to live the life that's true and right,
All evil will see your truth and hate you for it.
For you are light and all that's good, and you will have to struggle- fight
So that your candle will not be snuffed out by the world.”

And yet, as life drained out of him, one more thing he remembered,
The Master had said that e'en if there was pain and death
That in the end, for all God's own there would be joy forever-
And as he died he saw the beauty of heaven.

-Aylin

Always

^"8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:8-10  

You see, it is when it appears that we are in our weakest state, God is in His strongest, for His power is made perfect in weakness. We should not fear, for God is, was, and always will be.

~Elizabeth

Sweetest Day?!

Last Saturday was Sweetest Day (?), it said so on my calendar. Then on the sixteenth, it was National Boss Day- a day to remember our bosses. I am sure that you saw that on your calendar. But, did you know that the sixteenth was also World Food Day? I did not see that on the calendar. Yet, one billion people do not have enough to eat, and every six minutes a child dies from starvation. On the seventeenth of October, it was World Poverty Day. That was not on the calendar either. Twenty-eight thousand, eight hundred little kids under the age of five died that day...from preventable causes. Things that would cost $1 or less. But, you already know that. We all do. But, will you please do something about it? Please visit compassion.com today to learn how you can help.

-Lizzie

You Never Let Go

"Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your staff—they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

I know we had a verse from Psalms last week for the verse of the week, but I couldn't resist! This one is so rich in praising God for His provisions for us.

This song fits so beautifully - you'll probably recognize the words, because most of them are from Psalm 23. It's by Matt Redman



-Aylin

The Whole Thing

Alright. . . So, as you've probably guessed, I like going beyond the one verse and looking at those surrounding it. So. . .

Psalm 51^[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is^[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

~Elizabeth

Autumn

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the sound of a crackling fire, the smell of pumpkin pie being baked, the sight of the maple tree leaves turning blood-red, and the feel of the nippy frost on my fingertips when I touch the door handle of the car in the morning. I look forward to cider, fire in our wood stove, and deer season.

Fall makes me in the mood to drink hot tea, knit, and draw. Especially draw. All of nature seems to be bursting forward in brilliant colors. I love to try and depict the beauty around me with my pencils or pen and ink.

So, what is your favorite season and why? What do you like about fall?

-Aylin

Pure Hearts

When I look at this verse, not only do I think of cleansing, but of purity. I stumbled across this poem a few days ago, check it out:

Taylor Swift (Saving My Love Songs)

How many times have I heard a fan cry,

“Your songs describe my life”

As the teen goes on the share

The who, the what, the when, the where

They’ve been Fearless and sung Tim McGraw

They’ve begged their guys to Jump Then Fall

I love those tunes, and she’s so sweet

But true love just can’t be beat

I’m saving my love songs, saving them for you

Waiting for the day we say “I Do”

And share our very first kiss

Dancing along to Taylor Swift   

By Kate Finman  

~Elizabeth

Pure Hearts

"God, create a pure heart in me, and renew a right attitude within me." Psalm 51:10

Psalm 51 was written by King David after the prophet Nathan had confronted David about his affair with Bathsheba and plotting to kill her husband. David saw that what he had done was wrong. He realized he needed to repent and change his heart attitude. This psalm was written out of that.

David cries out for God to give him a new, "pure heart," because he realizes his is dead in sin. He asks God to "renew" his "attitude," or in some versions of the Bible - spirit. David basically says, I realize I was wrong and I know I can't fix my heart problem - only You can, God.

Now, maybe our sins don't seem so bad to us as David's do, but our hearts are dirty with sin, too. And though we don't have a prophet to point out our errors, we do have a conscience to remind us. Jesus died to cleanse our filthy hearts, and the Holy Spirit is in us to correct our attitudes and remind our spirit of godly things. If we repent and give up our proud hearts to God, He will make them new and beautiful. We don't have to remember our past sins anymore.

-Aylin

Music

Alright. . .So I'm going to apologize in advance--I'm sorry about my posts lacking length, I'm really, really (really) busy this week. That said. . .

My post today is an  amazing music video: 

~Elizabeth

My Hands Came Away Red

So, who likes fiction? I am addicted to it - and the past few days I have been reading a great book! It is called My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay. It's about six American teenagers who go on a mission trip to Indonesia. While they are there, fighting breaks out between the Muslims and the Christians, churches are being burned, and innocent people are being massacred by the Muslims. The teenagers are forced to hide in the jungle and try to find their way to safety with little provisions and Mani, their Indonesian friend.

I'm not finished with the book yet, but so far it has been amazing. It is written in the viewpoint of one of the girls', Cori's, perspective. Seeing the pain and suffering of the Indonesians through her story has been eye-opening for me. Even though the book is factious, the struggle and bloodshed in Indonesia is fact, just as it is in many other places in the world.

So, I would encourage you to check out My Hands Came Away Red! It is a great book and definitely worth the time to read.

-Aylin

Building Souls

Alright, so here's what I get out of the theme verse for this week. . .

We need to help our fellow man.

It's not as easy as it sounds, because often it means leaving more room for others than ourselves, which isn't easy. At all.

But it's worth it. :)

~Elizabeth

Peace

"Therefore, let's keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another." - Romans 14:19

Keeping peace is hard! If you have siblings, like I do, you know what I mean! Keeping harmony in the house is like a crazy balancing act on a tightrope fifty feet in the air. It's tricky - and takes a lot of practice. Building each other up isn't easy, either. The selfish pride that makes us think only of ourselves, and not the feelings of those around us, is a hard habit to break. It's a habit we're born with - or at least, I was! But I'm not the greatest person to walk the planet, and I need to remember that other people are just as important as me. And the Bible says I am to "build up" everyone. Others should be my #1 concern.

So, I need to show love, encouragement, patience with everyone. And peace. Because, without that, my life is just another meaningless, self centered existence - and that is not what God has called me to be!

-Aylin

"I Am" Nichole Nordman

Hey, Elizabeth! I read your post yesterday. It is a very interesting perspective. I had never thought of it that way before. Well, it reminded me of this song. It is "I Am" by Nichole Nordman. Check it out! -Lizzie

"I AM"

I went to my youth-group the other night, and heard a devotional that was really inspiring.
They were going through this "Names of God" series, and this guy walked up to talk about one of His names: I AM.

That was one of the parts in the Bible that confused me--what exactly did that name mean? I always took it as, "God was, is, and always will be", or "God is the Alpha and Omega" type of thing. But he looked at it at a completely different angle:

"'Who's going to listen to me when no one cares--when people at school don't listen, when no one at home bothers to hear me?'. . .'I AM.'" 

"'Who's going to help me get over this hard time?'. . .'I AM'"

"'Who's going to love me?'. . .'I AM'"

"'Who's going to help me stop doing this thing I know is wrong?'. . .'I AM'" 

"'Who's going to help me become patient?'. . .'I AM'" 

"'Who is ever going to forgive me?'. . .'I AM'"

"'Who's going to help me see myself as beautiful?'. . .'I AM'"

"'Who will provide for me if I take a step in faith?'. . .'I AM'"  

"'Who's going to help calm my nerves if I get stressed out?'. . .'I AM'"

It truly struck me, because I had been dealing with some of these. It re-assured me that He is always in control, no matter how crazy life can get. No matter how alone I feel, who's going to help me? 

"I AM"  ~Elizabeth

Oh, Boy...

I know that I've mentioned that I like to play the piano, but have I ever mentioned that I hate to play in front of people? Well, I do. I detest it. Now, I don't mind playing with a band or worship team so much because if I make a mistake, the other instruments can cover over the error, and also everyone isn't watching just me.

Recitals are bad enough, but at least I have a couple months to prepare. Not so this time. You see, Monday night a woman called me and wanted to know if I would play a couple hymns and the doxology this Sunday for her church. Somehow, I said that I would. Now I am practicing like crazy and worrying even worse.

I know that I need to calm down and give God my worry, but it's hard sometimes. He is the one who let this opportunity fall into my lap. He knows what He's doing. This will be a good experience for me to grow, not only as a musician, but also in my faith that God will see me through. So, I guess I should take a deep breath, let go, and let God.

-Aylin

On Fire

Have you ever had one of those moments where you honestly feel on fire for God? I'm having one of those. It feels amazing--I feel so ready to do anything God wants. I sometimes have trouble expressing feelings like this with words, but this is a song that really describes it: 

 

"God I want to dream again, take me where I've never been. . .I wanna go there, this time I'm not scared. . ."~Elizabeth

The Word

"In the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity." John 1:1-4

Words - the foundation of life. They are very important. God chose to use words to create life. He gave humans language so that they would be unified. Then he mixed up the language to divide the people at the tower of Babel. Words written on a stone tablet was God's way of giving His law to His people. And the salvation message comes to us today through the Word of God.

In the opening of this Gospel of John, we see Jesus in the beginning of the world. He is called the Word. It is an apt description of Him, for He created the cosmos with words and He also is the Word of Life - the salvation to all who believe.

-Aylin