Worship at Church

Yesterday during church our worship pastor talked about worship and about raising our hands in worship. I think he was trying to talking to the youth specifically because he mentioned "How they shouldn't think it is weird if they see others raising their hands in worship." He mentioned that when in war, people would raise their hands in surrender. Pastor Enoch said when you go in worship you are surrendering everything to God, heart, mind, and soul. He then asked the worship team to sing part of a song again and invited all of us to raise our hands in worship if we felt led to do so. As I was worshiping tears came to my eyes. There in front of me, Elyse, who I have mentioned before in some of my previous posts, was in her mom's arms. What I saw next was just beautiful. Elyse started to sing and raised her little left hand in worship like her mom was doing. She then looked behind her mom's shoulder, saw me and waved Hi. :) What a beautiful sight to behold. A little 5 year girl worshiping. :) Praise God. :)

Tracting at Walmart.

So as I said in my previous post that I joined in Pastor Steve Sanchez's Everyday Club. Here's how my first day went. Well yesterday night Dad and I decided to go out and tract Walmart. We decided that we would hand million dollar bills to people coming in and out of Walmart. I got a couple of interesting comments to the million dollar bills.

I asked one lady.. "Did you get one of these?"

She looks at me and says "Oh." with a big smile on her face. "Is that Way of the Master, Ray Comfort million dollar bills?"

I said "Yes."

She said "I use them all the time. Keep it up!"

I said "Thanks" and she ran into the store.

I also had another lady that I handed a million dollar bill and she was pushing a shopping cart away.. Then she stopped she turned it over and started reading it. She was standing there for a while. She came back a little later asking for another one and began reading it to herself again. That was so cool.

I also had given one lady a tract before she went to the store. Some time had passed and I was about to hand the same lady another tract thinking she was a different person coming out of the store.

She said to me "I tried to cash it. It didn't work." with a smile and a chuckle. Then she said. "But I'll take another one too."

Another lady said "That it was Happy Friday" when I handed her a tract.

I also had my rejections too. One of the men I tried handing it to told me in a very thick accent. "No Good. No Good." I thought that was interesting.

Other times I tried handing people tracts and they said "No thank you." When I told them that it was free they immediately changed their mind and took it.

All in all it was a good first day for me in my pursuit to hand out 2 tracts a day or have a conversation with someone. Last night in about 30 minutes I handed out 34 tracts. Praise God. I can't wait to see what happens today. :)

Everyday Club

So yesterday I joined the Everyday Club. It is a way for Christians to provide each other with accountability and encouragement in evangelizing. Please read Pastor Steve Sanchez blog post for more info..

Here was my comment on his blog.

Hi Steve,

After much prayer and time to think about it I can’t seem to get the Everyday club out of my mind. So I’m in. I will try to hand out 2 tracts or have 1 conversation a day. I know its small but it is a start.. Maybe after some time has passed I will do more each day but I’ll start off with two. Thanks so much. I look forward to seeing what happens starting today. :)

This should be interesting since I usually don't go outside my house that much unless it is for work, school or for church. We'll see what happens. May it all be for God's Glory!! :)

Elyse and Sin

So today I taught Sunday School. I teach PreK-2nd grade. Before class started I was looking around and found a black spider hand puppet and tried to think of a way how I can use it in teaching. Today I had two girls Elyse and Sarah. Elyse is 5 and Sarah is 2. I read a story to them about God's love. I then decided to bring out the hand puppet. I asked the girls to guess the name of the spider.

Elyse said the spider's name was Poach. lol. I'm not sure where she came up with that name.

I told them that the spider's name was Sin. So I talked to the girls about the spider and how his name was Sin. He was big and black so I thought of the name Sin. I told the girls what sin was. I said sinning is when your mommy and daddy tell you to do something and you tell them no. This is where it got interesting. I then asked Elyse a question.

"Elyse, have you ever told a lie?"

She said "Yes. I like telling lies."

I said. "No you don't."

She said "Yes I do."

I then asked "What happens to you when you tell a lie?"

She said "I get spanked and sent to my room."

I then asked her if she knew what the Bible says happens to people who lies. She said "No" but I could tell she was curious.

I told her "The Bible says that liars, those who tell lies, will go to Hell. That's not a good place. You don't want to go to Hell. You want to go to Heaven." I then asked her if she knew how to get rid of sin.

She said "Well, my mom kills the spider with a shoe." lol She thought I was still talking about the spider.

I said "When you sin you have to pray to God and ask him to forgive you."

I then told her about how she need to stop sinning and turn away from her sins and put her trust in Jesus alone to save her. I could tell she got a little confused at that point.

But my day wasn't finished.

I put away Sin the spider. I then gave the girls a snack. During that time Elyse asked me to read from her little Gideon Bible she had brought to church.

"WOW!" This doesn't usually happen. I have taught them before and they have never given me that much attention. I took the opportunity and read practically all of John 14 and they listened. Praise God! It was so cool to see how by just using a spider hand puppet and a little thinking I could have this very important conversation with the girls. The seed was planted last month and it was watered some more this month. I can't wait until next month when I see the girls again. Please be praying with me for Elyse and Sarah! :)

Swings, Children and Abortion

Well I decided to take a walk yesterday. A lot of things had been on my mind lately. As I was walking I passed a playground. There was no one there. I remember playing on the playground when I was a little. So I decided I would take a few minutes aside from walking and go to the playground.

While I was there I remembered how I would like to pretend with the swings. That I would push them as if there was a little kid in there even then no one was. I would sometimes think that maybe one day I would be pushing my own children in those swings or at least swings like them. I always loved being on the swings. They were my favorite. I could just be on the swing for hours.. As I was swinging that swing again those same thoughts popped in my head again but this time they weren't happy thoughts. These thoughts brought tears to my eyes..

I guess this is why. With someone with my medical problems it's hard for them to have children. You can but you have to have medication to help it along and even then you aren't sure if it will work. Now I'm not complaining. I would love to have kids if that would be in God's plan. I guess what really makes me upset is why would someone consider aborting a baby. Every min approximately 2 children are aborted. This saddens me. Why couldn't they just have the child and if they didn't want that little baby boy or girl just have it be adopted? Those that can't have children could then adopt that little boy or girl into their family. As I pushed those empty swings I couldn't help but think there is one little boy or girl that was aborted and they never had the opportunity to be loved and be pushed in a swing.


I thought I would end this post with verses from the Bible that talked about children.

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

Yet You brought me out of the womb; You made me trust in You even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother's womb You have been my God (Psalm 22:9-10).

Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? (Job 31:15).

Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3)

This is what the LORD says--He who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you … (Isaiah 44:2)

God is in control. This I know. He had a reason for children to be here on earth. Let's give them the opportunity to be loved and not have them aborted but rather be adopted into a loving family. Let's also support the ladies who have had an abortion and are having a tough time. Let's lift them up in prayer. Let us bring to them the good news of the gospel. They need it as much as anyone else does.

Forgive Me When I Whine

Forgive Me When I Whine - Author Unknown

Today upon a bus I saw
A lovely maid with golden hair
I envied her - she seemed so gay-
And oh, I wished I were so fair,
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile,
Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two feet - the world is mine.

And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who served me had such charm
He seemed to radiate good cheer,
His manner was so kind and warm.
I said, "It's nice to deal with you,
Such courtesy I seldom find."
He turned and said, "Oh, thank you, sir!"
And then I saw that he was blind.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes- the world is mine.

Then when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue,
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do;
I stopped a moment, then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word,
And then I knew: He could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears,- the world is mine.

With feet to take where I'd go,
With eyes to see the sunset's glow,
With ears to hear what I would know,
I'm blessed indeed; the world is mine;
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I just think I needed to hear that and maybe someone else did too.. So many times we whine and complain about things that are so tiny. We have little problems and we make them out to be much larger than they really are. We need to be blessed for what God has given us. So this poem helps remind me of the great blessings God has given me such as feet, eyes, ears, friends and family and his only Son who died on the cross for a sinner like me. I am forever grateful for that. God has greatly blessed me. I need not worry and complain or whine.

Matthew 6:25-34 says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will ear or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat? or What shall we drink?' or What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So when you begin to whine just stop and remember how much God has done for you and ask for forgiveness. I know I will be doing that starting now. :)

Whirling Wheels.

Whirling Wheels - Author Unknown

This world is like a train of cars
With God as Engineer;
And we are only passengers
Who ride away from here.

The big red sun is the light in front,
The green moon at the rear;
The twinkling stars are the signals true
To show the track is clear

The years they are the whirling wheels
That speed along the track
And often, oh how often we
Have wished they would turn back

This world is like a train of cars
That goes away from here;
And we are only passengers
Who trust the Engineer.

I like this poem very much. It reminds me of how we are not in charge of our lives and that God is. He is in control. In the poem it talks about how we are passengers who trust an Engineer. As passengers on a train we must have faith and trust in an engineer that he will know the right way to go and that he will take us safely home. It is just like us as believers. We are passengers on a train. We put our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ alone who is the Engineer. We are the passengers. The train is our life. We trust Christ, the Engineer to direct our paths.

As I also look at this I think not everyone is aboard the same train that we as believers are. There are those who are on board a long black train. A train of lost souls who are unbelievers. Those who are not saved. They trust a different engineer. That engineer is themselves. They trust in themselves because they think they can do it all by themselves. They think that they don't need God. They say that they can direct their own train. They want to be in charge of their own lives. They want to have all the control.

But we can't. We can't do it by ourselves. We need a Savior. We are all sinners. Filthy rags before a pure and holy God. How do I know this, the fact that we are all sinners? It is through God's word that we know this specifically the Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever used God's name in vain? If you have then God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart. Can't you see now that you are sinners, bound for hell and in need of a Savior? You can't make it to heaven on your own. You need to have faith and trust in the Engineer. That Engineer is Jesus Christ and he alone can save you. How do I know this you ask? Because 4,000 years a go Jesus Christ came to earth, fully God, fully man, without sin and died a horrible death on the cross for you and me. We deserved to be on that cross. We were the ones who had sinned before God. Not Jesus. But John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." That is grace. We deserved to be on that cross every one of us.. But God was gracious to us that He sent His one and only Son to take our place. Isn't that awesome!! What we must do as the filthy sinners that we are is repent, turn away from our sins which means to make a 180 degree turn. We must put our faith in Jesus Christ alone to save us. Once you have done that then you can become a passenger(born again Christian) on the train that leads to life and not the long black train that you were once on that was leading you to destruction. But you must repent, putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ who alone is the only way to save you. He alone is the Engineer. Neither you or I could become an Engineer and save ourselves. Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." So repent put your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you. He's your only hope.

God Hears Our Prayers.

Recently I have had quite a few people ask me to be praying for them. It seems like everyone needs prayer these days including myself. I know that sometimes we wonder if God hears our prayers. He does! Although it may not be the way we would like Him to answer it. We just need to trust Him. He knows what is best for us and we don't. I thought that I would use this post to write down all the verses that I could find in the Bible that talks about God hearing our prayers as believers to encourage us..

Old Testament:

Psalm 6:9
"The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer."

Psalm 34:15
"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry."

Psalm 145:18&19
"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them."

New Testament:

Matthew 21:22
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

John 9:31
"We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him."

Philippians 4:6&7
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

1 John 5:14&15
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which have asked from Him."

These are the verses I could find but there may be more that I didn't see. I encourage you all to go look in your Bibles and see if there are any others. If there is I would like to know. If you find one that you think talks about God hearing our prayers than just add it as comment. I know that we could all be encouraged by this. Thanks. :)