Some of the students from Ignite are in Guatemala (along with a few of La Croix's own) on a mission trip at New Life Children's Home. If you would like to keep track of them, you can here.

- Rob

From the Lenten Reader, by Mary Fletcher (18th Century spiritual leader and friend of John Wesley...so pardon the old English):

He calls thee to the closest union. and though he knows thou art a perverse rebel, and cannot feel a grain of love but what he puts into thee: yet he doth wait that he may be gracious, and is a thousand times more ready to save thee than thou art to be saved. And so doth he delight in that communion, that the spirit continually cries, "Come."

Tonight is Encounter, an event designed to create sacred space for you to encounter the Lord through reflection, praise, prayer and the Lord's Supper. Come.

- Rob

My favorite line from John Ortberg's "guest appearance" was actually a quote from someone else whose name escapes me now.

"Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can stand."

- Rob

Is Jesus enough for me? Is HE my portion?

Psalm 142:5 says: "I cry to you, O Lord; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

The New Living Translation says it like this: "Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, "You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life"

I have been searching my heart and asking myself that question, "Is he really what I want in life?" Or do I really want to be safe and healthy and secure and blessed? Is He my ticket to those things? Do I come before Him and try to do enough so that He'll do what I ask Him to do? Do I come before Him to beg Him to fix things or give me things? Or do I want HIM? Is He really enough for me?

Chris Tomlin sings:

All of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need.
You satisfy me with Your love and all I have in You is more than enough

Is His love satisfying me? Is all I have in Him more than enough for me?

I'm praying for Him to fill me so full of Himself that He really is enough for me...all that I need...all that I long for and run after.....then my heart won't be troubled by what is happening to me or around me. My hope will be fully set on Him. My faith will not be shaken.

Take me there, Lord.

-Angela

From the Lenten Reader this morning; Christina Rossetti, an acclaimed, nineteenth-century, English poet asks of God four basic things.

1. The gracious gift of the fear of God at such a level that it "tread underfoot all other fear."

2. Purification of heart such that all things in our lives become pure and that we may see God.

3. Removal of all idols from our hearts and any stumbling block of iniquity from before our eyes.

4. Freedom from falsehood; a purging of lies.

These four things are a great resource for entering into prayer, particularly if your prayer time has been dry lately.


- Rob

There is a jar that sits in the corner of my friend's living room. It sits on the floor under a tall, narrow, round lamp table. Most people never notice it even when the light is on. It wasn’t in some king’s castle. It isn’t as old as the hills. It doesn’t have bright colors or stunning patterns on it. In fact, it is rather unremarkable; an earthy, brown color that looks a lot like dried mud. This particular jar is plagued with tiny, barely-noticable cracks. If examined closely, you would easily see that this jar has been broken several times and glued back together. There isn’t anything important about this jar. If you were to pour water into the jar it would run all over the floor.

BUT...

in this plain, crack-filled, mud-colored jar are some beautiful flowers. Some people see those flowers as weeds, but the owner chose these flowers specifically for this jar and he tends to them so that they fill the room from floor to ceiling with the sweet smells of beauty. The aroma saturates the carpets, paint and seat cushions of the chairs and couch. It bleeds out from under the front door to greet all who visit. It seeps down the hall, following the children to their room where they do homework in the afternoon and sleep at night. There is nowhere that is not touched with the lovely scent.

May I be that jar.

- thanks to Gianetta Dunn for her contribution

...the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. - John 14:31b

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. - John 14:21

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

Our God is a god of revelation; in other words, he seeks to be known. How he is known to us is by love - when we love Jesus. How he is known to the world through us is by love - when we love one another. But this love Jesus speaks of is not a gooey emotion, but rather an active obedience. It is what it was from the beginning; choosing to submit to and obey God rather than seeking my own lordship.

Jesus asks nothing of us that he did not model. Was his love of the Father passionate? Of course. Was it characterized by feelings? Certainly not. It was characterized by Jesus' obedience even unto death - death on a cross for you and for me. That's love of Father and love of brother!

- Rob

In case you do not know them, I wanted to introduce you to Kendon and Wendy Wheeler, and the New Life Children's Home (NLCH) staff; La Croix supported missionaries. To do so, I encourage you to click on one or both of the links below. The tag line for NLCH is "children in crisis to children in Christ."

La Croix Website - Guatemala Page
NLCH Home Page

It dawned on me that this tag line applies to us all. We are all children in crisis - whether we recognize it or not - if we are not in Christ. And if we are in Christ, then he has a call and plan for us. Here is just a bit of it from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24:

Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

May God's Holy Spirit "sanctify you through and through." Please pray for the Wheelers, our friends and coworkers in Christ. We have a short-term mission team made up primarily of SEMO students who are part of Ignite going to NLCH on May 21; you can pray for them as well.

- Rob