Finally PayPal

So I finally was able to figure out how to put a PayPal "Donate" button on my blog. Check it out. It is the PayPal account of Greater Grace Church of the Berkshires so any donation is a tax write-off. Test it out! I'll let you know if it works :)

From the Inside Out

Isaiah 64:6 (Amplified) - For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind take us away [far from God's favor, hurrying us toward destruction].


I love thinking of this verse with the image of a child playing in the grass. Recently on a evangelism trip, P.Mihael preached from this verse and gave an illustration about that. When a child plays in the grass they fall; they get dirty. This type of "filth," is an outward display of what happened. In Isaiah 64:6 though, we don't see this, we see a "filth" that is coming from within.


The best of what I have to offer (from within) is "filthy rags." This is a very sobering thought on the mission field. "What am I doing here?" is usually the first thought I have when going through a test or trial. Very quickly followed by "Does what I'm doing have any purpose/meaning?" This thought very quickly takes me back to these two questions I have for myself. If the best of what I can offer is this dirt, this filth, then what do I really have to offer? What is so special about me? 


In an objective of myself, I am not the most qualified, I don't have the most to offer, but I do have something, walk with God. Pastor Mihael said something that I thought was so incredible, he said, "The right decisions taken in my flesh are temporal. Saying I won't drink/swear/smoke/etc are good, but taken in the flesh, only last until the next time you drink/swear/smoke/etc. It's easy to not be carnal, just believe God loves you, believe He is for you."


The thought that the best I have to offer is filthy brings me "down to earth" quickly. The main thing though, is that I need to take this a realize the full thought. Yes, my best is filth. No, I may not be the best man for the job. Above all of this though, I have a God, a Savior, who loves me and is for me. He has paid my debt. He says, "Leave that. You can't do it, let me take care of that for you." We know what 1 Peter 5:7 says, but I want to put it in the Amplified because I like the way it words it;


1 Peter 5:7 - Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.


My work could so easily become about doing what is "right" or what is "good." There is nothing wrong with "good" things, but I am not interested in the "good," I am interested in the "eternal," in what is "finished." I have a hard enough time keeping my clothes clean from the outside, why would I strice to produce something that will only dirty my clothes from the inside out? Resting in His love, His thoughts about me, His plan for me, is what drives those questions out of my mind. Along with giving me a little peace of it...


I want to leave you with a few pictures of our students preparing for our annual Art Show...

Brochure in the Works

There is a new "Missions Brochure," in the works here. Besides giving you a reminder of who we are and what we are doing here, it will also be a way to keep in touch with us and even support the work here. Keep following for more details.

Here I Stand

Micah 5:4 - "And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth."

I've been thinking about this verse a lot lately; and not just because it's in my favorite book of the Bible (wink, wink). In a world and time with so much going on, so many things going wrong, and our eyes continually being bombarded by new things "we just have to have," it's so comforting to know where we stand. We know the story about the wise man who builds his house upon the rock (Matthew 7), but do we really trust God enough to build AND feed upon The Rock? To often we lean one way or another, but never accepting all God has to offer us in our life.

1 Peter 5:7 - "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."                         The question seems to be too simple for us to understand. Either we stand in Him, with solid footing and secure hands around us, or we don't. We either cast all our care or we cast none of it. Unless we give Him everything, without holding anything back for ourselves, we rob Him of what He wants, a relationship with us. We got so easily entangled with the "day to day," my job, my relationships, my purpose, etc. that we start worrying. We start thinking, "I can take care of this one myself, I don't need to give this one to God." For a while we can actually convince ourselves this is true, but we all know how it ends, on our knees begging for His help, realizing how foolish we were (and are). In the end, truth always wins. Where we stand and where we feed is so important. It's our security and our fire and this is why we want it from the right source, our everlasting Father. We stand in Him. Our food comes from Him.