Drawing Challenge {Link-Up} - Luke 1:26-38

The passage for this week's challenge over at the Mavis Davis Blog is about the foretelling of Jesus' birth.  I chose to draw Luke 1:38, because I believe this is the response we all should have when God calls us to a task.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Drawing Challenge {Link-Up} - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

This week's Mavis Davis Blog drawing challenge was a tough one. The passage was 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.

"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."

I'm not ultra-satisfied with my rendering of this one...but nevertheless, here it is!

Click on the link below and join us in the challenge!

A Response to Kmart's "Show Your Joe" Jingle Boxers Commercial

Kmart has received quite a bit of backlash from their recent commercial about jingling boxer shorts.  Many are offended, stating the ad is "ridiculous," "disgusting," and even "filthy." Me? Well...  

While this commercial doesn't really "offend" me, I do find it in poor taste and lacking more of the witty sentiment I've seen in past Kmart shock value-style commercials. I'm sure many of you were not keen on Kmart's recent "Ship My Pants" and "Big Gas Savings" ads due to their obvious use of phrases that make the actors sound like they're cursing. But I will admit they've led to a few chuckles in my home. No, they're not appropriate. And no, I don't think these ads are in the best interest of kids who may be watching and mimicking. But why would I delineate between these prior commercials and the current one? Because I think it's one thing to use pseudo cuss words in an ad and another thing entirely to use genital humor in an ad. I guess my formal statement is something akin to, "Is this really necessary?"

Stand Up For Jesus (even in the "small" things)

Have you ever gotten that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you needed to take a stand for Jesus? I have. Usually that physical discomfort points to the sweet conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Who do I call it a "sweet" conviction? Well, because I'm not talking about something drastic here...I'm taking about the SUDs. In the counseling world, SUDs are seemingly unimportant decisions. I'm talking about the normal, the mundane, the daily - heck, the hourly! - opportunities we have to share Christ in small, often subtle ways.

This morning, I had one of these SUDs-type opportunities.

I was at an all-day training for work at an office in another town today (for which I wasn't necessarily REJOICING to be at in the first place!). Not too long after I'd settled into my chair, gotten comfy, and taken my first sip of break-room coffee, the trainer began asking us questions. One of the first questions asked of us was, "Who/What is the most important person/thing to you?" 

"Ultimate Sleepover" Facebook Cover

Hello to all you girls and leaders out there who attended SCBI's "Ultimate Sleepover" this year! I truly enjoyed spending the weekend hanging out you and talking about the truths in God's Word.

If you went to my breakout session on "Netiquette," you may remember me challenging each of you to use your social media presence for God's glory. Well...

At the top of this post is a free Facebook cover that matches the backdrop from the Sleepover event. Feel free to click on the image to pull it up bigger, right click, save, and set it as your banner. This would be a great way to show your faith to others and get your friends asking about the awesome time you had this past weekend. Who knows? It could even lead to some opportunities to witness, get friends involved in your youth group, invite people to next year's event...all things that may bring them one step closer to becoming Christ followers themselves!

Enjoy!

Encouraging Words

Words have the power to tear us down or to build us up. Words also have a certain "linger-abilty" to them. Have you ever experienced a conversation that just sticks with you? No matter how much time elapses or how many words follow, that ONE powerful statement made seems to clings to your mind like a magnet to metal.

In my day job, I often am blessed with the awesome responsibility of teaching parenting skills. One of those skills I teach most frequently is how to encourage or praise your kids when they do something well. This is called specific praise, to be exact.  

Drawing Challenge {Link-Up} - Psalm 9:1

The 15 Minute Drawing Challenge over at the Mavis Davis Blog this past Friday was to create artwork from Psalm 9:1.  Here is my finished piece:

I did not get a chance to create a drawing or post this till today because I took my girls from the youth group to the "Ultimate Sleepover"...a girls' conference the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana puts on each fall.  However, stay tuned, because I will be posting a collage of all the girls' artwork from the sleepover.  I have been inspired by Amy's challenges each week, so I had all my girls draw out our theme verse at the conference.  Yay, fun!

If you feel so led, please click the pic below to hop on over to Amy's Psalm 9:1 challenge yourself!

BE Titus 2

I came to know the Lord in a real and life-changing way at age 13. But as I've mentioned before, it took me a few years to really figure out what it meant to be a DISCIPLE of Christ. And I'm still learning. 

Mentors can make a huge difference in the growth process of young believers. And God designed this mentoring process. Titus 2 is probably the most hailed of the passages in the Bible that speak to older believers teaching younger believers to live as true disciples.

Commit to Purity

For a few weeks now, my pastor has been preaching a sermon series based on the letters to the churches in Revelation.  Yesterday, the sermon's focus was on the letter written to the church at Pergamum (Rev 2:12-17).  The people of that city were participating in idol worship, sexual deviance, and the like.  And the church was coming right alongside - jumping straight into the fires of sin like all the rest.  In short, the letter was a harsh rebuke to a community of professing believers who were living anything-but-Christlike lifestyles.

15 Minute Drawing Challenge {Friday Link-Up}

Thanks to Amy Davis, I have a Friday link-up drawing to post.  For today's challenge, I was to spend 15 uninterrupted minutes on a drawing of Phillipians 4:19.  I am very much a beginner at hand lettering, but I do enjoy it - so I gave it a whirl!  

If you feel so inclined, link to Amy's blog yourself (www.mavisdavis.wordpress.com) and join in the Friday challenges.  What a creative way to meditate on Scripture and get some artsy practice in at the same time!

Fellowship So Deep

Lately, I have been listening to a 2006 Caedmon's Call album called "In the Company of Angels II: The World Will Sing."  I LOVE me some Caedmon's, mostly due to their thick harmonies and their lyrical richness.  In this day of crank-it-out-quick pop hits, Caedmon's has always hearkened to an older age of more thoughtful writing.  Their music is rife with quality vocabulary and imagery...and the biblical and historical allusions abound!

The "In the Company of Angels" albums were compiled in order to breathe fresh air into old hymns and create new songs that still had that older, hymn-like structure.

One of the songs I've had on repeat (and there have been SEVERAL) in my car lately is "Fellowship So Deep."

Two Are Better Than One...

Ecclesiastes 4:6-12 (ESV) reads:

"Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.  Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?'  This also is vanity and an unhappy business.  Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!  Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?  And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Bring It Into the Light!

I once heard someone say that if you leave things in the dark, Satan and your flesh can use them for evil. But if you bring them into the light, God can use them for your good (read: sanctification).

Many times, we think we can handle things on our own. I was that child...the child who wanted to do it all by herself. Actually, I remember that being my favorite phrase for quite some time. "I can do it MYSELF!" I would frequently yell at my mother.
 

Singing...or Singing FOR THE LORD?

I love to sing. 

When I was young, I was heavy into the choir scene.  You know the type - in my church's adult choir every Sunday morning, at youth choir every Sunday night, joined the extracurricular show choir at school, starting singing solos in front of my local congregation, etc.  And I was a soprano...because that's what all good girls were.  Sopranos. High ones, at that!  In fact, I remember practicing in my room with Mariah Carey (the ultimate high soprano!) blaring on the boombox, thinking I sounded SO smooth when I could hit her notes or nail her runs.