did this happen at pentacost?

I'm at a youth conference, the music is loud, their up their, with their loud electric guitars, the panio, the drums, here we are, singing real loud like " Come and fill this place with your glory-- we come with our hands lifted up, come fill me!" " Hallelujah "  and here we are, repeating it like a mantra, this phrase over and over,


so loud you have to hold your ears to save your hearings, at this point you don't care what people think of you, at this point, you've sung the song so much that to its beyond meaning to you, just a bunch of words you can hardly hear yourself.  Everyone holding up their hands in worship and I'm just wishing its over soon so I don't have to stand this long.

I wish they'd hurry up and finish the song and stop repeating this meaningless words. singing about us and not about God- thats what came across to me. cause hymns arn't just hip these days to sing. Fill this place! fill this place with your glory God! we keep on singing. okay maybe I'm exaggerating but thats what it feels like.

 I look around myself and I'm feeling no spiritual while singing this and the lights are dimmed, everyone swaying, with their hands up. And than the singing stops but the instruments lull, still playing. the speaker walks up, looks like he's keeping up with the styles, skinny jeans, leather shoes and his hair slicked back, t- shirt tails not tucked in. a  mic wire hooked up on him, he checks if its on.
He prays that God would fill this place, refering to  the day of pentacost, where they were meeting up in the upper room praying and worshiping God.

and I'm thinking; What would happen if God filled this place right now? I don't think it would be peachy; some feeling we'd be still standing, we'd be knocking our knees together and scared to death, What are we really asking? we'd be filled with awe and wonder, on our faces.  It says in the Bible the Isrealites thought it was death when they saw God'd glory, and how are we demanding it? ( thats what it sounded like)

I mean, yes, I believe what happened on the day of pentecost, they were filled with the holy spirit, talking in many langauges, but does that need to happen again?
2 peter 1:3 says
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Was their music when they were gathering there at the day of pentecost? and that makes me think, is this lighting and music making me feel spiritual rather than the genuineness of it. would be be feeling this way if it were bright and we were just singing normal? and than i realize; go to a secular concert and this looks like the same thing, a sea of worshipers with their hands up and their feeling estatic, hearts beating. striking similarities

. And than this young lady gets up, after the band steps down,  she tells her testimony, its amazing; she came from nothing to something, a new creation in Christ, its amazing and than she says she had this warm fuzzy feeling when she asked God to make her real to her. and than after that, we're all supposed to ask God for that warm and fuzzy feeling too. and to me thats going a little too far. I mean, God has his ways with people, he may do a certian thing, like a vision or a dream to confirm he's real and something as gentle as a wisper to another person. And now we're all supposed to be seeking this warm and fuzzy feeling she had. But just because she had this warm and fuzzy feeling doesn't mean we all have to have it. 

And than we sing again, our mantra again it seems, loud music, the lights dimmed, all of us praying and the speaker pacing back and forth up front, feeling he had a sense we should pray for healing and brokenness, " hold up your hand if you have a need,"  

and at this time, the lights so dimmed its dark and the soft mesmerizing music is playing. And my thoughts go back again " are we just feeligng spiritual because this music and lighting?"  how many people are going to walk out of this church and think " Oh no, I didn't get that warm feeling, I must not be spiritual,"  I'm not feeling it, and what am i supposed to be feeling anyway? Honestly; I think its getting a little long; We're not praying any more, we're looking at our phones. 

Finally, the music stops, the lighting goes back on; the speaker gets up and he says his bit, than he says our youth are just so great and we are going to turn this town upside down for Jesus, we're going to have passion and when we walk down those school halls and everyones going to ask whats different about you? and I wonder how many churches he's said that to. and I'm kinda sad, cause Monday mornings gonna come and the passions gonna fade, we're gonna want more of this feeling and not feel so spiritual any more. Why can't they just teach us to live a quiet Christian life with our walk with God, that it isn't always passion. cause passion burns out, theirs dull days too. 

I mean, I don't doubt the prays we prayed that night didn't do effect, that lives were changed and impacted but over the general effect; how many people are thinking they need feelings and loud music? 

Why can't we teach our youth that we do have dull days and even when your feeling low on passion; you can have a quiet walk with God in our personal lives; read your Bible, pray. That we don't need burning passion with our hearts beating every moment of the day.  Can't we come back to those rich hymns to sing in church other than those hype songs that sing that kinda lost the rich in doctorine words. 

When we say " Church isn't supposed to be boring! David danced so hard and his clothes almost fell off, theirs a problem when its boring," and I go " David wasn't even in a church when he danced," " I think we lost our reverence, we start demanding God show his glory to us it kinda seems, make us feel good inside, when in reality; we should be giving glory to God in reverence, cause if God showed his glory; we'd be overwelmed and be scared. just read in the Bible about it, they were trembling with fear anytime an angel showed up and we treat it like something simple it seems. 

Okay, so I sounded a little negative  ( a little- ha! you think) about that weekend I just told you about, but I did learn something from it and had fun. I just got a little annoyed with it. 

and I don't blame you if you don't want read my blog ever after cause this was so negative  its just what I think and I'm not forcing you to think that.  we all have our opinions and that's mine. actully I'd like to hear your opinion about this. 

God bless

marriage- What I have learned

What I have realized, is that Marriage isn't the end all to a happily ever after life.

I have thought of it a while ago, I realized it;

Marriage is basically about 2 people, coming together with their own sets of problems, to live together, through sickness or health or wealth, through troubles, hardships till death!. Now thats a long time!

and I learned, that you shouldn't  be the needy wife that saps everything she needs from her husband, be the person who builds your husband up.

Proverbs 12:4

A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. 

I saw this because my older brother got married, and my sister in law, builds him up.
Its like the other part of him. Its like two puzzle peices that fit together and they keep on building on each other, like the other half.

Thats what I've learned. and its commitment. til death do us part. 

Mark 10:6-9 

"But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,  and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

thunder

 Give me the arizona rain.

When it clouds over, its warm and humid wind, the distant thunder that breaks through the sky and you can see the rain cloud coming in the sky, the pittering sound of rain on the tin roofs as you run inside so you don't get wet.
and all exitcted its raining.



the rain down in terrential sheets, splashing about in it, laughing with all your heart, seeing how far the trenches fill up and trying to catch them in your mouth, seeing the dry ground that was parched flood.















 and when it clears up, the smell after it and the rainbow, the catcus spines shining through their droplets of rain.. God's promise in the sky.


The heavenly smell after the rain,


Something I always took for granted I guess when I used to live down there, I guess I miss the desert, something about it is buatiful.


the sunsets you get, they take your breath away.

Some of you may not like the heat, its sweltering hot down there, some of you may like the ocean better.

But the desert. wow. its a peice of art.


I don't live there now, I used to though and I love it.

and all the pictures are googled

and I guest posted over here 

faithful fridays - BVS

http://joy-doodlebug.blogspot.ca/

is the BVS age shrank to age 12 or is it just that I'm old? as in 17 years old. woah! that even surprised me!










anyhow, I remember when I attended it. it was fun and I remember one year in particular. The decorations ( you know the theme like a beach theme ect ect) wasn't glamourous, the snacks were so so and the crafts- well you know.

But I remember; there were a group of guys that came from out of town to help out with the group. They were full of energy, they taught us Bible lessons like they dressed up in Bible costumes and they were a bunch of fun.

It seems to me, that we are  missing in BVS here. something. I mean I'm not against BVS but what I remember from BVS is memorizing a verse that was from the day, and singing meaningful songs.

I mean we did read a Bible lesson. we sang songs that were revved up with the beat that we sang along with.

But I mean, can't we crack the Bible open and read from there? not just a peice from a curriculum? can't we sing hymms that are normal and memorize scripture and still make it fun?

Its just a thought that I had. because I remember that year I went to BVS and all those guys were there and they made it fun for me. Not the crafts. not the snacks as much as i did that.

Please pray for this BVS  on this last day that the kids would go away with a seed planted in their hearts of the gospel.

because I want the kids that attended remember the meaningful lessons they were taught.

guest post by Rebekah

I'd like to introduce to you, Rebekah, a few days ago, she emailed me and she asked me if she could guest post on my blog I said sure.

---------------------------------

Hello Rachel's followers! I am Rebekah and I am doing a guest post for Rachel today. I have a blog called Country God Girl. Please check out my blog after you read this post! Here is just a little about myself before I go on.

• I am a born again christian
• I am homeschooled
• I have a dad, mom and 2 little brothers
• I live on a farm. The animals that we have are 3 miniature donkeys, around 40 chickens and a cat
• I like to read, write, do art, bake, decorate, clean the house, train our miniature donkeys and listen to music
• I love old things like veicles, clothes, TV shows/movies, houses, people and whatever is old

Today I would like to talk about music because I LOVE music! Some of my favourite singers are Jamie Grace and Francesca Battistelli. They are both christian singers. Here are some of my favourite songs from them.

This Is The Stuff (Francesca Battistelli)

Motion Of Mercy (Francesca Battistelli)

Emily (It's Love) (Francesca Battistelli)

1945 (Jamie Grace) This song is totally like me because I wanted to be born back them

God Girl (Jamie Grace) I name my blog after this song

I hope you enjoy these songs and this post!

God bless,

Rebekah

take those opportunities

I learned to take opportunities and I'm still learning.

Recently I was bored in summer.  I wanted to get ''out'' into my town being 16 years old. take oppurtunities.

and even if you do apply for a oppurtunities and don't get them, you gain experience.

like I gained experience by writing my resume for the library last october and applying, and when I was applying for a grocery store job this summer. I learned.

And I also learned, is, talk to people, ask them what their doing. see what events their doing.

Ask around.

I know that because I got together with my friend Bree, ( the same freind that the beach pictures are at)
and I asked her what she was doing. and she told me there was a youth group hang out at the beach and through her we met her friends, it was fun so ask.


And I'll take it from a few days ago, the time that we went camping, ( see last post about star gazing, bucketlist completed ) I went and  I got to star gaze!

So, moral of this is take those oppurtunities no matter how small or huge they may seem.

Actully I learned that in December of 2010, and it turned out to lead to the famous day for me March 5. 
where I gained my confidence and I have grown in that in leaps and bounds.

and also, pray about oppurtunities this summer, pray.

God will show you I'm sure.

and wait. I must admit it feels maddning to wait when your bored but its worth it. and if your really bored, clean up your room and do chores around your house.

Get of the computer and to real life.
well hope you enjoy that!

completed bucketlist 16!

I completed number 16 of summer bucketlist!


to make this story short, I did. we went camping in our boat and our friends we knew came and stayed the night with us ( in the ocean! in a boat!)

and I was quite sleepless that night. bugs were biting me. and I walked outside, in the night, i think it was around midnight. I don't know...time was infinite...

and I placed my sleeping bag on the deck and I cozied in and i looked around me. it was soo gourgous,
 the moon was half and shining bright, a few anchor lights, the trees around the water.... wow. it was gourgous.
and I shouldn've taken a picture, but I knew the flash would ruin it. and you just can't capture somethings in camara.

I captured it in my head. Click!

and awake as I starred at the sky, silent, a distent sound of a waterfall, ( and the friend next to us in the hammock snoring!)
I gazed at it and I thought how wonderful God's creations are. I mean their buatiful.

and somewhere along the lines, i fell asleep and woke up with it wet from dew.

boat deck drenched with dew

I thought it was amazing.

guest post by Piper- music

Hello World! My name is Piper LaMore. I blog over at Earbuds Are A Girl's Best Friend. 

One thing about me is that I love music. I love it so much that I can’t imagine what my life would be without it. I imagine I would be quite unable to pass the time, and I wouldn’t have the creativity and inspiration that only music can give someone.

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”

-Albert Einstein 

If I had to narrow down my favorite band, Owl City would certainly come out on top. The music just speaks to me in a way that no other music can.

To me, listening to a song is like a clean, fresh sheet of paper. That paper is just waiting to be filled with emotion, thoughts, inspiration, and whatever else you take out of the song. 

Music is a funny thing. Sometimes music is like “Why did the chicken cross the road?” The same thing over and over. But sometimes music is like an old book. Wonderful and classic.

Music is like a story waiting to be told. It’s just waiting for someone who will listen.

“A painter paints pictures on a canvas. But musicians paint there pictures on silence.”

-Leopold Stokowski

I would like to thank Rachel for the opportunity to guest post. Thank you so much Rachel!

contest

alrighty! I'm having a contest

design contest  Not long ago, Hannah wrote me a poem, about Teddy bears.

and the contest is, take a verse from the poem and illastrate it with a picture like this

you can go here and read the peom and choose your verse. can only be one.

okay! enter!

Faithful fridays- It was worth the wait

http://joy-doodlebug.blogspot.ca/

It was worth the wait.

I checked my emails so many times i started despairing. I even doubted myself sometimes.

and then it came.

the email.

From Veitnam

They had given the teddy bears away!

you see, if you don't know the story, I sent teddy bears to a christian mission to Vietnam. and that itself was a miracle i found it, it was perfect. I was just randomly searching for a christian mission in Vietnam.

And I sent teddy bears away in Febuary and I waited.


and waited.

and...well you get the idea.

and I checked my email and fancy that! and here it is!

He wrote me and said the two twins loved their bears to bits! they were so happy!

well, it was sure worth the wait! 

Little white bear ( the same the girl is holding) under my christmas tree in December.

when ever I looked at that picture of the two estatic girls, I smiled.

Are you waiting for something? do you feel you can't wait any longer?  pray and trust. 

Its worth the wait.

over and out!

Happy birthday Adam young! ( owl city)

Happy birthday Adam young!


I hope you have a wonderuful birthday,



eating cake and spending it with friends and family!    



I love your music!

That is the first song I heard by Owl city.

so HAPPY Birthday!

I can see your expression Piper ( :) )

p.s. what did you'all do for the 4th of july?

random tuesday remarks

Hey there, its Rachel S

and its raining. in July. gross. I bet you all would love rain in some places.

and I'm particalarly happy because I finished my book Confidential! and I wanna thank Hannah for helping me with ideas. its still in edit mode.


New obsession: I love these hats!

Because in the Avengers, no, not the one your thinking about, the 1960 tv show, in England, a man and lady, detectives.
my Dad mentioned that show to me when he saw the 2012 avengers advertised. I looked into it and I loved the shows!

Steed

and Emma


I love that show! They both out smart their enemies when their in trouble. I love it!
my favorite quote from it is

 Steed: did you hear of the whole rocket program brought over in a eye of a needle?
Emma: ingeinus!
Steed: except the carrier he lay down in a haystack
Emma: you mean their...
Steed: still looking for it



and my other favorite show is
Get smart the 1960 version

Maxwell smart and agent 99. their hilarious.

Are you beginning to realize I like old shows?


well all fur now!

and if you want to help edit a book, my book go ahead and email me.. oh ya, and before you do, read the rules on this blog 

okay over and out!

I thought he was hilarous!

design for Aili

Right now your like: two posts in one day! and this is early in the morning! com'n Rachel!
well I just have to post this.
for Aili
Aili made this cute blog and she was having a design challenge. she'd love for you to join!
join here 
and follow!

thats my entry! so go enter.

and don't forget to check the last post out and enter in Sierra's giveaway

okay thats all fur now! really it is!

Faithful fridays- we're lights

http://joy-doodlebug.blogspot.ca/


if you want to participate go and tell Joy, she'd love to add you



their watching you.


Recently, I was in the library, when a girl walked up to me. She was a girl I knew from sewing 4H club,
She used to be the girl who was non stop talking at sewing club. she was young.
She wasn't a christian. but she went to catholic school, I don't know where she got all her knowledge from but it sounded like she knew her Bible.

I had gone my way from sewing club after a year, and I helped out in VBS and she was there at our church and she always, got in my group where I was leading around to stations. now as I view it, it was God's doings.

And one year My church didn't have VBS.
And it was kinda sad to me that our church stopped doing VBS. vacation Bible school cause there was actully an eager girl that was going to these things.

And The next time i saw her, in September at the fall fair, she was kinda sad that they stopped. and It donned on me. you know, people are watching us Christians. their watching the church. weather we like it or not.

We're kinda like a light on the hill that people watch.

I woke up thinking about her recently. a few days ago. ( and this is back where I started in the  first paragragh)  I was in the library looking for a book and opening a book  I was scanning the pages when I noticed a presence of someone standing there.

And I looked up and to my astonishement saw her. Melissa. She was grown up, 13 years old. And she still remembered me.  and I was just thinking of her too!

We talked for a while, she asked me if I belived in God, I said yes and she said she remembered me saying that in our VBS, she said she missed it. and she said that did  i belive in Angels?
that there may be Angels on earth and we just may not know about it. And we talked a bit

And she left.

and I realized, people are watching us. We're little lights shining bright. It was just cool to see her and talk to her just a little while, and I hope and pray I left a little seed of the gospel in her.



Cheerio

old movies part 2

His girl friday
a high paced fun movie of a newspaper writer with...yes! Cary Grant acting in it!






My favorite Brunette
Its a hilarous movie! Bob Hope does a wonderful job being the amature detective.



Its a mad mad mad mad world.
oh boy! I lost count of the mads but its funny movie, 5 people were happend to be traveling the mojave desert, happend upon a car crash and saw a man, who was about to kick a bucket, ( die) and said he had buried money in a Park in Roserita California, under a big W. Its hilarous!




Topper
Cary Grant acts in it, and he's married to a buatiful lady. They get in a car crash in the beginning of the movie and your like: WHAT? for real? and then theirs a twist...

i liked it


so there! there is funny old movies!