The Gathering (NLNC Youth)

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wheezeworthy — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:02:49 -0800

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wheezeworthy — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:02:12 -0800

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catstalking — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:34:47 -0800

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that...

catstalking — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:49:00 -0700

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

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catstalking — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:29:32 -0700

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catstalking — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:23:55 -0700

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catstalking — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:22:17 -0700

genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew~

catstalking — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:39:00 -0700

genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew~

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catstalking — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:50:13 -0700

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catstalking — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:13:39 -0700

Wayfaring MD: Finding Purpose

wheezeworthy — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:54:34 -0700

Wayfaring MD: Finding Purpose:

wayfaringmd:

How do you stay optimistic, lively and happy despite all the problems and negativity around? How do you turn negativity to positivity? I guess this really boils down to … how do you find your sense of purpose? - follower who requested to say anonymous

First off, let’s get one thing straight:…

READ THIS POSTTT :D :D :D Esp you medicine type peoplez :D

A video of the buildings in the Brown School of Social Work at...

wheezeworthy — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 22:07:00 -0700

A video of the buildings in the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University of St. Louis! Doesn’t it look grand??

Here is a letter that I wrote to my freshman year self, for first years at Pepperdine. Maybe you guys will find it interesting :)

Dear First Year Pepperdine Waves Karen,

Guess what? In four years, you’re going to be in a great graduate school after graduating magna cum laude (which means a GPA of 3.7 or higher)! So stop hurrying off to do homework after dinner, and go play some guitar hero! Because screaming “I believe in a thing called love, justlistentotherhythmofmyheart” is not going to ruin your future.

Go ahead and apply for International Programs, just to keep your options open, and because it’s the exciting life-changing thing to do. Just know that it can be just as exciting and life-changing if you stay in Malibu. You can make exciting friends and have meaningful mentors as a part of Housing and Residence Life, put a moon bounce at the top of the Center of Communications and Business as a radio station manager and set yourself up to graduate in three and half years… after changing majors.

Yes, the freshman 15 is real, but no one is going to notice except your mom, because moms notice everything, even over video chat. So go easy on the Cheez-Its and Pop-Tarts, but I understand, Ralph’s runs are super fun and sometimes you just need an excuse to get off campus, even if you have a meal plan.

You’re going to think that you can’t handle some things: waiting for financial aid, being far from home, a new job, the honors program in psychology. If your definition of “handle,” means go through without the help of your friends, family, Pepperdine staff and faculty, or the catharsis of tears, or the soothing taste of ice cream, then you’re absolutely right. You can’t handle it.

But if your definition of “handle” means overcome and learn from, holding onto hope and striving to become the person you think you should be, then you can be darn sure you can handle it.

So do different things. Different from what you’ve done before, from what other people are doing, from what you know will turn out perfectly.

Because nothing is guaranteed to be perfect, and neither are you.

Eat balanced meals, get some sleep (staying up ‘til 5a on a weekend in your first year? come on.) and take advantage of free counseling. It ain’t free in the real world.

Oh and newsflash? It is NOT embarrassing to pray in public. Don’t wait to let a Texan teach you that one.

Love,

First Year WashU Bears Karen

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a..."

wheezeworthy — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:13:55 -0700

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there. It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

- Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1951. pp. 182. Print.

Make it Personal!

wheezeworthy — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 20:58:00 -0700

First three sections of Matthew chapter 9 explained:

Jesus heals a paralytic

context: many Jews had the mistaken belief that disabilities were caused by sin (see John 9, where Jesus’ disciples ask why a man was born blind, whether it was because of his or his parents’ sins), but Jesus emphasizes that disabilities are not caused by sin, and that they can be healed, just as sins can be forgiven as well. both physical healing and spiritual forgiveness can be received through faith in Jesus.

i think what’s tough about this section is that i find it hard to answer Jesus’ response to the teachers of the law: “which is easier to say, ‘you are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘get up and walk?’”

more context: Jews lived in a system where the religious authorities (teachers of the law, Pharisees, Sadducees, priests) were in power, because they either mediated the interactions between people and God (through sacrifices and religious rituals) or made rules that governed how people should live to please God (e.g. no working on the Sabbath). when Jesus was alive, these rules had gotten way out of hand, to the point where the demands were ridiculously impossible (e.g. no walking a certain number of steps on the Sabbath) so Jesus came to fulfill the law through His sacrifice on the cross, so that we can have a direct relationship with God, regardless of our sins, and outside of the rules of the man-made religious establishment

i think when Jesus asks this question, He is challenging the teachers of the law, who are outraged by Jesus’ forgiveness of the sins of the paralytic. He is saying that He has authority, as the son of God and God incarnate (in the flesh) to forgive sins. He is challenging their assumption that forgiveness of sins is impossible without earning it through obedience of rules and perfection. when He heals the paralytic, He proves that He is the son of God and that He does have authority to forgive sin.

Calling of Matthew

context: (from the Bible Quizzers’ study guide for Matthew)

Romans (who ruled the land occupied by the Jews) sold a franchise of an area to the highest Jewish bidder, allowing them to collect taxes in the area. tax collectors were told how much they had to pay the Roman government, and could keep any extra they collected. as you can probably guess, the tax collectors were often corrupt and taxed people higher than they needed to, and pocketed the extra money. the Pharisees were probably justified in lumping Matthew the tax collector along with other sinners.

so emo, rite?

but Jesus cites Scripture to emphasize how God is concerned more about humility (a humble attitude) than about works (living a perfect life). “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” comes from Hosea 6:6, an Old Testament book written by Hosea, a prophet who married a prostitute, Gomer, who was unfaithful to him, as a metaphor for how the nations of Judah and Israel were unfaithful to God. Jesus’ uses this Scripture to show that God loves us so much that He would rather have us in close relationship with Him than be alienated and isolated by impossible rules and standards (sacrifice). in the same way, the Pharisees should have mercy on the Jews, rather than demanding that they make sacrifices that don’t bring them closer to God.

Jesus is saying that a) the sick, the sinners are the ones who are more humble and open to Jesus’ message of mercy and b) the sick and sinners are the ones who need a doctor and God’s grace the most, respectively

Jesus questioned about fasting

context: fasting was done for mourning, and to bring people closer to God

this is a lot simpler to explain— Jesus is like the bridegroom. as long as He is with his disciples (like the bridegroom is with the guests), the disciples should celebrate, because they do not need to do things to become close to God… He is right there with them!

more context: wine skins are made of animal skin (as I understand it), and burst when new wine is poured into old ones, because they have been stretched to their limit

no one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, no one pours new wine into old wine skins, just as you can’t add a new system onto old rules. Jesus is saying that with Him, there is a new system for approaching God. you have a direct relationship with God through faith that Jesus is the son of God (and later, that His death erases our sins and allows us to approach God without shame). although Jesus is the fulfillment of the old Jewish law (matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”), He is asking us to accept this new system for approaching God, and to become new themselves.

…basically circles back to making Christianity personal :)

YAY CAT YAYYYYY

i really encourage you to find some way of consistently reading the Bible— it will help you understand and make the most out of what you are learning.

after the july 4th fundraiser — fireworks :D

catstalking — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:58:00 -0700

after the july 4th fundraiser — fireworks :D

July 4th fundraiser for 30 hour famine and more~

catstalking — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:54:00 -0700

July 4th fundraiser for 30 hour famine and more~

The means we use to accomplish a goal are just as important as the goal itself.

catstalking — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:37:05 -0700

tessaviolet:

Listening to John’s sermon at Harbor of Hope from a few weeks back.

http://www.harborofhope.org/media/sermon/davids-trust

hey it’s pretty funny actually? :D also true facts :3

"If I speak with the charm and sophistication of James Bond 007, but have not love, I am only a..."

wheezeworthy — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:54:42 -0700

“

If I speak with the charm and sophistication of James Bond 007, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.

If I have the gift of being faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive and am able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I live in Sherwood Forest and together with my merry men steal from the rich and give to the poor, and even die in the process, but have not love, I gain nothing.

A real hero, as I have learned, is patient and kind. A real hero does not envy or boast, and is not proud. A real hero is never rude or self-seeking and keeps no record of wrongs. A real hero does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. A real hero always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

If a real hero loves— he or she will never fail. The bionics of the Six Million Dollar Man will one day cease. The sword of Zorro will one day be stilled. The white stallion of the Lone Ranger will pass away.

When I was a child I thought like a child, I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me.

For the real heroes among us, these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This day and everyday, with the help of God, I pray that I will always be a real hero.

”

- Daniel Walker’s paraphrase of 1 Cor 13, which he read at his wedding ceremony.

Walker, D. God in a Brothel. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011. 24-25. Print.

richardpad: 5/17 After months of making mixed flour breads and...

wheezeworthy — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:27:37 -0700

richardpad:

5/17

After months of making mixed flour breads and sourdoughs, plain white flour with dry yeast rises like you wouldn’t believe.

Today, it was claimed that yeast was a bad thing in the Bible, and not the kingdom of heaven. Correction… :)

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

³¹He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.³²Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

³³He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” -Mt 13:31-33

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

¹⁸Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?¹⁹It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

²⁰Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?²¹It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds^[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”-Lk 13:18-20

This is a really good article that talks about how yeast was viewed by the Jewish people as a metaphor for evil, but that Jesus turns this view on its head by referring to it as the kingdom of God.

Jesus himself talked about yeast and its impact. He used yeast as a metaphor seven times in the New Testament. However, five of those times were to warn of the corrupting influence of the Pharisees, referring particularly to their teaching and hypocrisy. Even Paul used the term four times as a metaphor for evil, suggesting how a little sin can corrupt a whole believing community. Yet once in Matthew and once in Luke Jesus used the metaphor in a very different way. In a parable he used it to describe the kingdom of heaven (called “the kingdom of God” in Luke). In Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21 (NRSV) Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven [God] is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

[…]

This is the great truth: God is sovereign and holy, and therefore God will work in God’s way with whomever God chooses. And it will be good. The trap of holiness is the tendency to reduce piety and faithfulness to certain people and certain behaviors, so that God is no longer needed or consulted. Such thinking makes us believe we know what to do, who should do it, and how it needs to be done. The Israelites had fallen into that trap, so much so that many were unable to see the very Son of God before them. Jesus walked to and fro describing a God whose holiness and kingdom activity went beyond all conventional religious expectations.

found this in the dusty recesses of the church...

catstalking — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:41:00 -0700

found this in the dusty recesses of the church office:

Directions for Use: 1. OPEN BOX 2. ENGAGE WATER SUPPLY 3. MOISTEN ONESELF 4. LATHER VIGOROUSLY 5. RINSE 6. REPENT

WARNING: HABITUAL USE MAY STRENGTHEN CHARACTER